I'm plagued by homebrew worlds. This is my latest idea, which I kinda like, but I'm hoping I'll like it too little to start building in earnest. So .. tell me why this sucks =)
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It is a child of many mothers, a long and winding road - and here in the north, no one really knows how it started. We don't really have any clear picture of when it ended. At least a thousand years ago, though. That's how long ago the last elves gave up the fight, and retreated from this reality to ... wherever.
We have only slivers of the story. From the earliest ages, the elves had ruled the earth, and the goblins were a mere nuisance. But time passed, and goblins breed fast while elves breed slow. And over time, the elves went from controlling everything, to controlling most of everything, to holding their borders firmly, and finally into a slow retreat as the goblin tide slowly overwhelmed everything. And then they left. Or so the story goes - for all we know, they were all slaughtered.
And so only we remain. The mortal races, the denizens of the north: Humans, halflings, gnomes - a scattering of dwarves. Goblins are ill equipped to deal with the cold. It's one thing that they dislike it - but they are creatures of the jungle and the desert, and while they are very good at dissipating heat, it means they're very bad at retaining it. Goblins freese to little goblicles in winter. And they're somewhat weaker than the larger humanoids, so they can carry less food and firewood and so on.
They do try, though. They seem quite determined to extend their dominion across the world, and so now a summer passes without goblin incursions. But we have the cold, and the mountains, layers upon layers of fortifications, and we only ever have to wait for winter to kill them, if we cannot.
But recently, there's been talk: That we could push back. That if we took the lowlands, we'd have more arable land. We'd be stronger, we could support larger populations. Within a generation, we could push even further. We could end the age of goblins. We could create, for the first time, an age of men!
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I dunno why the elves never seem to make it in my homebrew settings. It's just their fated path, to walk into extinction I guess. By the way, goblins includes all of goblindom: Goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears, and also wargs and wyverns and so on. The north includes the races mentioned, in addition to ogres and giants. The forces of the north might also have griffons and giant eagles.
Anyways, basic worldbuilding. All comments and ideas welcome, but I'm really mostly posting this as a point of reference for myself.
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Sounds really interesting. If you've read World War Z, you may see parallels with how humans eventually took the upper hand against the zombies, namely that zombies freeze in the winter, and become easier to hunt. That leads to seasonal cycles in zombie activity that can be managed, like real-world disease. What will be interesting is how goblins will plot to warm up the world.
I once created a world atlas, and one of the regions was an entire empire created and occupied by illiterate goblins. It was named "The Ghukliak Kleptocratic Federation." Their capital city had an airport, a stage theater, and even an orphanage. It was a fascinating society.
I dunno why the elves never seem to make it in my homebrew settings. It's just their fated path, to walk into extinction I guess. By the way, goblins includes all of goblindom: Goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears, and also wargs and wyverns and so on. The north includes the races mentioned, in addition to ogres and giants. The forces of the north might also have griffons and giant eagles.
Anyways, basic worldbuilding. All comments and ideas welcome, but I'm really mostly posting this as a point of reference for myself.
I hate elves too. They have it coming, with those silly ears. And they live wayyy too long. How can you trust a creature that looks half your age and is still older than your grandma? No, I say! No elves for me!
Anyways. Really cool world and lore. I’d rather play as a goblin than as a human, though.
Sounds really interesting. If you've read World War Z, you may see parallels with how humans eventually took the upper hand against the zombies, namely that zombies freeze in the winter, and become easier to hunt. That leads to seasonal cycles in zombie activity that can be managed, like real-world disease. What will be interesting is how goblins will plot to warm up the world.
Never engaged with WWZ - maybe I should have. I've felt like, post I Am Legend, the world drowned in various types of undead and viruses causing undeath.
I don't think the goblins would heat up the entire world. It would, overall, be easier to send less cold susceptible slaves and allies, and create maybe bubbles of summery warmth for themselves. Otherwise, we're already halfway to an Athas scenario =)
I once created a world atlas, and one of the regions was an entire empire created and occupied by illiterate goblins. It was named "The Ghukliak Kleptocratic Federation." Their capital city had an airport, a stage theater, and even an orphanage. It was a fascinating society.
Whoever steals the crown becomes Emperor so long as he can keep it? =D
I hate elves too. They have it coming, with those silly ears. And they live wayyy too long. How can you trust a creature that looks half your age and is still older than your grandma? No, I say! No elves for me!
Anyways. Really cool world and lore. I’d rather play as a goblin than as a human, though.
Well - I don't so much hate the elves as I think they get away with too much because they're pretty, and less prone to actual raiding than the orcs. The elves, by their actions, are clearly evil. They only leave their forests to save the world when it's absolutely clear that humans can't do it alone. Otherwise, they'd happily let humans do all the hard work, while they eat fruit and drink wine and watch the war live on cable-scy.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
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I'm plagued by homebrew worlds. This is my latest idea, which I kinda like, but I'm hoping I'll like it too little to start building in earnest. So .. tell me why this sucks =)
---
It is a child of many mothers, a long and winding road - and here in the north, no one really knows how it started. We don't really have any clear picture of when it ended. At least a thousand years ago, though. That's how long ago the last elves gave up the fight, and retreated from this reality to ... wherever.
We have only slivers of the story. From the earliest ages, the elves had ruled the earth, and the goblins were a mere nuisance. But time passed, and goblins breed fast while elves breed slow. And over time, the elves went from controlling everything, to controlling most of everything, to holding their borders firmly, and finally into a slow retreat as the goblin tide slowly overwhelmed everything. And then they left. Or so the story goes - for all we know, they were all slaughtered.
And so only we remain. The mortal races, the denizens of the north: Humans, halflings, gnomes - a scattering of dwarves. Goblins are ill equipped to deal with the cold. It's one thing that they dislike it - but they are creatures of the jungle and the desert, and while they are very good at dissipating heat, it means they're very bad at retaining it. Goblins freese to little goblicles in winter. And they're somewhat weaker than the larger humanoids, so they can carry less food and firewood and so on.
They do try, though. They seem quite determined to extend their dominion across the world, and so now a summer passes without goblin incursions. But we have the cold, and the mountains, layers upon layers of fortifications, and we only ever have to wait for winter to kill them, if we cannot.
But recently, there's been talk: That we could push back. That if we took the lowlands, we'd have more arable land. We'd be stronger, we could support larger populations. Within a generation, we could push even further. We could end the age of goblins. We could create, for the first time, an age of men!
---
I dunno why the elves never seem to make it in my homebrew settings. It's just their fated path, to walk into extinction I guess. By the way, goblins includes all of goblindom: Goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears, and also wargs and wyverns and so on. The north includes the races mentioned, in addition to ogres and giants. The forces of the north might also have griffons and giant eagles.
Anyways, basic worldbuilding. All comments and ideas welcome, but I'm really mostly posting this as a point of reference for myself.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Sounds really interesting. If you've read World War Z, you may see parallels with how humans eventually took the upper hand against the zombies, namely that zombies freeze in the winter, and become easier to hunt. That leads to seasonal cycles in zombie activity that can be managed, like real-world disease. What will be interesting is how goblins will plot to warm up the world.
I once created a world atlas, and one of the regions was an entire empire created and occupied by illiterate goblins. It was named "The Ghukliak Kleptocratic Federation." Their capital city had an airport, a stage theater, and even an orphanage. It was a fascinating society.
I hate elves too. They have it coming, with those silly ears. And they live wayyy too long. How can you trust a creature that looks half your age and is still older than your grandma? No, I say! No elves for me!
Anyways. Really cool world and lore. I’d rather play as a goblin than as a human, though.
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Never engaged with WWZ - maybe I should have. I've felt like, post I Am Legend, the world drowned in various types of undead and viruses causing undeath.
I don't think the goblins would heat up the entire world. It would, overall, be easier to send less cold susceptible slaves and allies, and create maybe bubbles of summery warmth for themselves. Otherwise, we're already halfway to an Athas scenario =)
Whoever steals the crown becomes Emperor so long as he can keep it? =D
Well - I don't so much hate the elves as I think they get away with too much because they're pretty, and less prone to actual raiding than the orcs. The elves, by their actions, are clearly evil. They only leave their forests to save the world when it's absolutely clear that humans can't do it alone. Otherwise, they'd happily let humans do all the hard work, while they eat fruit and drink wine and watch the war live on cable-scy.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.