Heheheheh

You can also try to guess this pride flag

Quote from AEDorsay >>

Getting there. 4 left.

Settling on a ring of six cities around the big one, making it a holy land. This will give a mix of "civilized" lands and then a broad ring of "uncivilized lands". Will still have all the "normal" biomes.

Sacred Numbers are 6, 7, and 8.

1. The Sea of Sand - a vast desert area of dunes and mysteries!
2. The Dark Forest - A forest that is scary and rumored to be dangerous.
3. The Frozen Wastes - A really cold place where it's always snowing. Suited for crags.
4. The Shadow Marsh - A swamp where everything wants to kill you.
5. The Volar Islands - An island that floats. On the sky, specifically.
6. A Volcanic Mountain - Wreathed in fiery smoke, hiding a deep secret
7. A Grand Old City -- Filled with monumental architecture, and ancient and holy place that the six Kingdoms war over.
8. A Mighty Maze -- A many branched mystery of magnificence.
9. A Legendary Labyrinth -- The terrifying complex of paths and patterns.
10. Meandering Caverns — a tunnel complex.
11. The White Necropolis - A city or tomb filled with undead or other spooky monsters like giant bugs
12. The Mystical Mountains -- treacherous and high
13. The Spine of the World -- a long chain of mountains
14. The Highland Bog -- a highland marsh known to be the abode of spirits.
15. The Highlands -- A great plateau, cold and rugged steppe lands
16. The Celestial Mare -- a massive ancient ship, ghostly and terrifying.
17. The Well of Souls - A large and powerful arcane thingy that makes magic in the surrounding area more powerful, and perhaps more chaotic.
18. The Badlands - An area so ravaged by war (mortal or otherwise) that no hint of the previous terrain can be made out.
19. The Thinny Wilds - An area surrounding an uncontrolled gate to another plane, warped to match the portal's destination.
20. Brilliant Woods -- A magical forest filled with fantastical beasts and abundant in magic
21. Brilliant Brambles -- a massive hedge of thorny fruiting and flowering plants that surrounds the Brilliant Woods.
22. The Isles of Myst -- Misty islands holding many secrets. Among them...
23. Cymraeg -- an island that's actually a turtle.
24. The Sea of Tears -- A shipwreck graveyard, either the lair of a monster , between the Sea of Storms and the Sea of Despair
25. The Empty Quarter -- A dry, barren desert where even sand is said to flee
26. Thalassica -- the underwater ruins of an ancient city.
27. The Maelstrom - A giant, constantly swirling whirlpool usually between two landmasses.
28. The Salt Mines -- deep underground mines for a precious commodity
29. Ancient Mines -- From They Who Came before, occasionally re-discovered.
30. The Great Jungle -- A mighty, near impenetrable jungle said to harbor fearsome and fearful foes
31. The Whispering Rainforest -- To the south a jungle of near constant rain
32. The Forgotten Island: An island where time seems to have stopped, as the island is dominated by dinosaurs of all kinds
33. The Emerald Forest: Dense jungles full of ancient cities buried deep beneath the jungle's roots, where ancient temples with hints of human sacrifice peek above it's dense, green tops; populated by the most venomous of spiders and snakes
34. Caverns of Despair: What exactly happened to the people that once called the depths of these caves "home" has been "forgotten" - and most say, the people purposely forgot it and refuse to speak of it. Whatever happened, the dread and despair that emanates even at the entrance of the cave feels like an overwhelm mist that clings to the flesh, seeps into the pores and devours your hope. The drops of water echoing in the caves, each sound like children, who cry out for their parents, long gone...
35. The Blood Swamps: A swamp that was the scene of a great, and horrific battle, that lasted for so long, that the very soil itself became red and swamp like. The battle was so ruthless that there was no time to recover the dead, and those bodies sank into the red soil... and now, this dreaded land, where this battle once took place, has turned into a swamp of crimson fluid, whose dead reach out to pull those foolish enough to try and cross it...
36. The Hollow Moon --Dyson Ring 
37. The Endless Sea -- The great Ocean around the whole of the the lands
38. The Surient Saltu -- Carnivorous Jungle --
39. Carcassia --The Interior of a Kaiju
40. The Daughter's Egg -- The Mother Ship, an egg shaped form in the heavens, always near the The hollow Moon. It is said the Thinny Wilds lead to it.
41. Stones of Power - Five, tall, grey stones rise out from the world's surface. The mystery of the stones has long been debated.  Efforts to unearth the five stones have been wrought with ill fortune for those who try to do so, from mysterious, uncurable illnesses, to fatal accidents that are freaky in nature. During certain celestial moments - the five stones glow with incredible power.
42. The Great Scar -  A cut, over 277 miles long, upon the world. Cliffs of red stone tower over a river that runs along the Great Scar, during the torrential rains that sometimes wash over the land, cause the red stone to wash into the river, turning the waters red like blood.
43. The In-Between - An environment that doesn't follow the rules, where nothing belongs, strangely barren, empty as if nothing has ever existed here. 
44. Ground Zero - Akin to a giant crater, where the rules of the world break down; emits a strange energy that causes things that enter it to glow with a strange greenish light, can cause physical mutation, sometimes madness or crushing melancholy.  Perhaps people will awaken latent psychic powers, which may or may not still manifest after leaving the site.
45. Godrood -- Towering well over 500 feet tall and 50 feet width, the largest tree known rises above its children, varying in height from a young and stout 50 feet to 300 feet tall. It is so vast, and its branches so great grew unique branches that other trees and seeds have settled and grown upon it, and by itself became a great forest within a great forest. The canopy of the massive tree is so large that it provides and has created it's own ecosystem beneath it.
46. Mare Ignis, The Sea of Fire -- a massive, molten lake of fire and lava, roughly 350 miles in length and 160 miles wide. The air around it is poisonous, but plants thrive.
47. The Voes River -- a river said to be magical and spectacular, where spirits dwell.
48. The Whirlwind: A massive, perpetual tornado that flings around several small islands that people somehow still live on, maybe it has to do with the fact that time (& therefore the flinging) is slowed down

 

 
How many more do you need for this?
I feel like I've added a bit, so I always try to step back - because if you ask for something creative - especially around world building - I will spew out ideas all day long.

It's been a few pages since I saw an update for this - so I am curious if you got what you need - and if you did - when we gonna see what you do with all of this?

Quote from SirTawmis >>

Quote from AEDorsay >>

Getting there. 4 left.

Settling on a ring of six cities around the big one, making it a holy land. This will give a mix of "civilized" lands and then a broad ring of "uncivilized lands". Will still have all the "normal" biomes.

Sacred Numbers are 6, 7, and 8.

1. The Sea of Sand - a vast desert area of dunes and mysteries!
2. The Dark Forest - A forest that is scary and rumored to be dangerous.
3. The Frozen Wastes - A really cold place where it's always snowing. Suited for crags.
4. The Shadow Marsh - A swamp where everything wants to kill you.
5. The Volar Islands - An island that floats. On the sky, specifically.
6. A Volcanic Mountain - Wreathed in fiery smoke, hiding a deep secret
7. A Grand Old City -- Filled with monumental architecture, and ancient and holy place that the six Kingdoms war over.
8. A Mighty Maze -- A many branched mystery of magnificence.
9. A Legendary Labyrinth -- The terrifying complex of paths and patterns.
10. Meandering Caverns — a tunnel complex.
11. The White Necropolis - A city or tomb filled with undead or other spooky monsters like giant bugs
12. The Mystical Mountains -- treacherous and high
13. The Spine of the World -- a long chain of mountains
14. The Highland Bog -- a highland marsh known to be the abode of spirits.
15. The Highlands -- A great plateau, cold and rugged steppe lands
16. The Celestial Mare -- a massive ancient ship, ghostly and terrifying.
17. The Well of Souls - A large and powerful arcane thingy that makes magic in the surrounding area more powerful, and perhaps more chaotic.
18. The Badlands - An area so ravaged by war (mortal or otherwise) that no hint of the previous terrain can be made out.
19. The Thinny Wilds - An area surrounding an uncontrolled gate to another plane, warped to match the portal's destination.
20. Brilliant Woods -- A magical forest filled with fantastical beasts and abundant in magic
21. Brilliant Brambles -- a massive hedge of thorny fruiting and flowering plants that surrounds the Brilliant Woods.
22. The Isles of Myst -- Misty islands holding many secrets. Among them...
23. Cymraeg -- an island that's actually a turtle.
24. The Sea of Tears -- A shipwreck graveyard, either the lair of a monster , between the Sea of Storms and the Sea of Despair
25. The Empty Quarter -- A dry, barren desert where even sand is said to flee
26. Thalassica -- the underwater ruins of an ancient city.
27. The Maelstrom - A giant, constantly swirling whirlpool usually between two landmasses.
28. The Salt Mines -- deep underground mines for a precious commodity
29. Ancient Mines -- From They Who Came before, occasionally re-discovered.
30. The Great Jungle -- A mighty, near impenetrable jungle said to harbor fearsome and fearful foes
31. The Whispering Rainforest -- To the south a jungle of near constant rain
32. The Forgotten Island: An island where time seems to have stopped, as the island is dominated by dinosaurs of all kinds
33. The Emerald Forest: Dense jungles full of ancient cities buried deep beneath the jungle's roots, where ancient temples with hints of human sacrifice peek above it's dense, green tops; populated by the most venomous of spiders and snakes
34. Caverns of Despair: What exactly happened to the people that once called the depths of these caves "home" has been "forgotten" - and most say, the people purposely forgot it and refuse to speak of it. Whatever happened, the dread and despair that emanates even at the entrance of the cave feels like an overwhelm mist that clings to the flesh, seeps into the pores and devours your hope. The drops of water echoing in the caves, each sound like children, who cry out for their parents, long gone...
35. The Blood Swamps: A swamp that was the scene of a great, and horrific battle, that lasted for so long, that the very soil itself became red and swamp like. The battle was so ruthless that there was no time to recover the dead, and those bodies sank into the red soil... and now, this dreaded land, where this battle once took place, has turned into a swamp of crimson fluid, whose dead reach out to pull those foolish enough to try and cross it...
36. The Hollow Moon --Dyson Ring 
37. The Endless Sea -- The great Ocean around the whole of the the lands
38. The Surient Saltu -- Carnivorous Jungle --
39. Carcassia --The Interior of a Kaiju
40. The Daughter's Egg -- The Mother Ship, an egg shaped form in the heavens, always near the The hollow Moon. It is said the Thinny Wilds lead to it.
41. Stones of Power - Five, tall, grey stones rise out from the world's surface. The mystery of the stones has long been debated.  Efforts to unearth the five stones have been wrought with ill fortune for those who try to do so, from mysterious, uncurable illnesses, to fatal accidents that are freaky in nature. During certain celestial moments - the five stones glow with incredible power.
42. The Great Scar -  A cut, over 277 miles long, upon the world. Cliffs of red stone tower over a river that runs along the Great Scar, during the torrential rains that sometimes wash over the land, cause the red stone to wash into the river, turning the waters red like blood.
43. The In-Between - An environment that doesn't follow the rules, where nothing belongs, strangely barren, empty as if nothing has ever existed here. 
44. Ground Zero - Akin to a giant crater, where the rules of the world break down; emits a strange energy that causes things that enter it to glow with a strange greenish light, can cause physical mutation, sometimes madness or crushing melancholy.  Perhaps people will awaken latent psychic powers, which may or may not still manifest after leaving the site.
45. Godrood -- Towering well over 500 feet tall and 50 feet width, the largest tree known rises above its children, varying in height from a young and stout 50 feet to 300 feet tall. It is so vast, and its branches so great grew unique branches that other trees and seeds have settled and grown upon it, and by itself became a great forest within a great forest. The canopy of the massive tree is so large that it provides and has created it's own ecosystem beneath it.
46. Mare Ignis, The Sea of Fire -- a massive, molten lake of fire and lava, roughly 350 miles in length and 160 miles wide. The air around it is poisonous, but plants thrive.
47. The Voes River -- a river said to be magical and spectacular, where spirits dwell.
48. The Whirlwind: A massive, perpetual tornado that flings around several small islands that people somehow still live on, maybe it has to do with the fact that time (& therefore the flinging) is slowed down

 

 
How many more do you need for this?
I feel like I've added a bit, so I always try to step back - because if you ask for something creative - especially around world building - I will spew out ideas all day long.

It's been a few pages since I saw an update for this - so I am curious if you got what you need - and if you did - when we gonna see what you do with all of this?

 
I still need a couple, but I've been working on the map and muttering about "impossible people", and softly asking "why do I ask people for ideas and commit myself to things like this", and groaning about "I cannot locate that feature there, as it requires a more temperate climate assuming the standard axial tilt, so maybe I would have to drop it on its side -- but then if I do that I have to move this, that, and those"; and then of course there's the "why doesn't this just autosave every 250 changes for me"?

When is going to be longer than I expected, because I've been fiddling with the basis for the map for three days, lol. I finally settled on a kind of layout, though, and so am sketching in the features now. Probably see it late next weekend.

Quote from Gnomarchy >>

Actually a fun fact about my family: my last name exists only in the U.S. and only among a very small group of people (mostly my extended family). I ran this by a professor who deals with genealogy, and he suggested than the most likely theory is that my surname was twisted by the folks at Ellis Island when my family arrived in the U.S. Incidentally, this makes it hard for me to hide on the internet.

 
I feel ya. I’m one of the last dozenish people on the planet with my last name. We’ll be extinct once I’m gone.

That's like, one of the "I'm attracted to [personality type]" ones. I'm gonna guess it's the one where you're attracted to really smart people.

Edit: lol

Quote from AEDorsay >>

Quote from SirTawmis >>

Quote from AEDorsay >>

Getting there. 4 left.

Settling on a ring of six cities around the big one, making it a holy land. This will give a mix of "civilized" lands and then a broad ring of "uncivilized lands". Will still have all the "normal" biomes.

Sacred Numbers are 6, 7, and 8.

1. The Sea of Sand - a vast desert area of dunes and mysteries!
2. The Dark Forest - A forest that is scary and rumored to be dangerous.
3. The Frozen Wastes - A really cold place where it's always snowing. Suited for crags.
4. The Shadow Marsh - A swamp where everything wants to kill you.
5. The Volar Islands - An island that floats. On the sky, specifically.
6. A Volcanic Mountain - Wreathed in fiery smoke, hiding a deep secret
7. A Grand Old City -- Filled with monumental architecture, and ancient and holy place that the six Kingdoms war over.
8. A Mighty Maze -- A many branched mystery of magnificence.
9. A Legendary Labyrinth -- The terrifying complex of paths and patterns.
10. Meandering Caverns — a tunnel complex.
11. The White Necropolis - A city or tomb filled with undead or other spooky monsters like giant bugs
12. The Mystical Mountains -- treacherous and high
13. The Spine of the World -- a long chain of mountains
14. The Highland Bog -- a highland marsh known to be the abode of spirits.
15. The Highlands -- A great plateau, cold and rugged steppe lands
16. The Celestial Mare -- a massive ancient ship, ghostly and terrifying.
17. The Well of Souls - A large and powerful arcane thingy that makes magic in the surrounding area more powerful, and perhaps more chaotic.
18. The Badlands - An area so ravaged by war (mortal or otherwise) that no hint of the previous terrain can be made out.
19. The Thinny Wilds - An area surrounding an uncontrolled gate to another plane, warped to match the portal's destination.
20. Brilliant Woods -- A magical forest filled with fantastical beasts and abundant in magic
21. Brilliant Brambles -- a massive hedge of thorny fruiting and flowering plants that surrounds the Brilliant Woods.
22. The Isles of Myst -- Misty islands holding many secrets. Among them...
23. Cymraeg -- an island that's actually a turtle.
24. The Sea of Tears -- A shipwreck graveyard, either the lair of a monster , between the Sea of Storms and the Sea of Despair
25. The Empty Quarter -- A dry, barren desert where even sand is said to flee
26. Thalassica -- the underwater ruins of an ancient city.
27. The Maelstrom - A giant, constantly swirling whirlpool usually between two landmasses.
28. The Salt Mines -- deep underground mines for a precious commodity
29. Ancient Mines -- From They Who Came before, occasionally re-discovered.
30. The Great Jungle -- A mighty, near impenetrable jungle said to harbor fearsome and fearful foes
31. The Whispering Rainforest -- To the south a jungle of near constant rain
32. The Forgotten Island: An island where time seems to have stopped, as the island is dominated by dinosaurs of all kinds
33. The Emerald Forest: Dense jungles full of ancient cities buried deep beneath the jungle's roots, where ancient temples with hints of human sacrifice peek above it's dense, green tops; populated by the most venomous of spiders and snakes
34. Caverns of Despair: What exactly happened to the people that once called the depths of these caves "home" has been "forgotten" - and most say, the people purposely forgot it and refuse to speak of it. Whatever happened, the dread and despair that emanates even at the entrance of the cave feels like an overwhelm mist that clings to the flesh, seeps into the pores and devours your hope. The drops of water echoing in the caves, each sound like children, who cry out for their parents, long gone...
35. The Blood Swamps: A swamp that was the scene of a great, and horrific battle, that lasted for so long, that the very soil itself became red and swamp like. The battle was so ruthless that there was no time to recover the dead, and those bodies sank into the red soil... and now, this dreaded land, where this battle once took place, has turned into a swamp of crimson fluid, whose dead reach out to pull those foolish enough to try and cross it...
36. The Hollow Moon --Dyson Ring 
37. The Endless Sea -- The great Ocean around the whole of the the lands
38. The Surient Saltu -- Carnivorous Jungle --
39. Carcassia --The Interior of a Kaiju
40. The Daughter's Egg -- The Mother Ship, an egg shaped form in the heavens, always near the The hollow Moon. It is said the Thinny Wilds lead to it.
41. Stones of Power - Five, tall, grey stones rise out from the world's surface. The mystery of the stones has long been debated.  Efforts to unearth the five stones have been wrought with ill fortune for those who try to do so, from mysterious, uncurable illnesses, to fatal accidents that are freaky in nature. During certain celestial moments - the five stones glow with incredible power.
42. The Great Scar -  A cut, over 277 miles long, upon the world. Cliffs of red stone tower over a river that runs along the Great Scar, during the torrential rains that sometimes wash over the land, cause the red stone to wash into the river, turning the waters red like blood.
43. The In-Between - An environment that doesn't follow the rules, where nothing belongs, strangely barren, empty as if nothing has ever existed here. 
44. Ground Zero - Akin to a giant crater, where the rules of the world break down; emits a strange energy that causes things that enter it to glow with a strange greenish light, can cause physical mutation, sometimes madness or crushing melancholy.  Perhaps people will awaken latent psychic powers, which may or may not still manifest after leaving the site.
45. Godrood -- Towering well over 500 feet tall and 50 feet width, the largest tree known rises above its children, varying in height from a young and stout 50 feet to 300 feet tall. It is so vast, and its branches so great grew unique branches that other trees and seeds have settled and grown upon it, and by itself became a great forest within a great forest. The canopy of the massive tree is so large that it provides and has created it's own ecosystem beneath it.
46. Mare Ignis, The Sea of Fire -- a massive, molten lake of fire and lava, roughly 350 miles in length and 160 miles wide. The air around it is poisonous, but plants thrive.
47. The Voes River -- a river said to be magical and spectacular, where spirits dwell.
48. The Whirlwind: A massive, perpetual tornado that flings around several small islands that people somehow still live on, maybe it has to do with the fact that time (& therefore the flinging) is slowed down

 

 
How many more do you need for this?
I feel like I've added a bit, so I always try to step back - because if you ask for something creative - especially around world building - I will spew out ideas all day long.

It's been a few pages since I saw an update for this - so I am curious if you got what you need - and if you did - when we gonna see what you do with all of this?

 
I still need a couple, but I've been working on the map and muttering about "impossible people", and softly asking "why do I ask people for ideas and commit myself to things like this", and groaning about "I cannot locate that feature there, as it requires a more temperate climate assuming the standard axial tilt, so maybe I would have to drop it on its side -- but then if I do that I have to move this, that, and those"; and then of course there's the "why doesn't this just autosave every 250 changes for me"?

When is going to be longer than I expected, because I've been fiddling with the basis for the map for three days, lol. I finally settled on a kind of layout, though, and so am sketching in the features now. Probably see it late next weekend.

 
Here's some more ideas to throw at the wall...

Decided to look up the 7 Wonders of the World and see if I could D&D’esque some of them for you, to see if they fit for you…

Colossus of the Forgotten Protector: The truth of this towering (100 foot statue) remains a mystery. A foreboding figure with shield in one hand and sword extended in the other – stands on the edge of a port town – sword pointed out toward the ocean. Local legends believe that perhaps, long ago, it represented some deity or hero, who was once a great protector of the area. The statue is believed to ward off any who would dare think of raiding the port town – for fear of bringing down the wrath of this forgotten deity or hero. It is said, on some nights, when the moon hits the Colossus just right, its eyes light up to guide ships lost at sea.

Based on the Colossus of Rhodes and Statue of Liberty. The part about the glowing eyes was inspired when I looked up the Lighthouse of Alexandria.

The Isle of Fauna: This island is like no other island, in that the amount of fauna – many of them unique solely to the island exist here. Many have tried replanting or taking seeds from the Isle of Fauna, only to discover that the plants rapidly die, once departing from the island. Legend states that once, a King in search of a Queen, found someone on an exotic island – and wished to make her his Queen. He did all he could to win her heart, but she could not bear to leave her island, surrounded by the magnificent unique beauty. It is said that the King, then prayed to a goddess – who in turn demanded the king give up his eyesight – for he would need to love the Queen, not for her physical beauty – but the beauty of her heart – and this goddess promised to create an island, near his Kingdom that she could easily visit. The King, without hesitation removed his own eyes for the love of the woman who would be his Queen. The two married, and are said to have both been buried on the Isle of Fauna, when they died.

The idea of the island itself is based on Hanging Gardens of Babylon. I created the lore of the King and Queen to give the island some mystery.

The Coliseum of the Gods: There is a massive coliseum in the middle of a ruined city. Half of the coliseum is in ruins – and the town around it – only the stone pillars remain. It’s unclear what may have happened – if some fiery star from above laid waste – striking the coliseum and the town – and continued until it disintegrated further away – however, on some nights – if you are near this Coliseum – you can hear the sounds of cheering and weapons clashing – though there is nothing visibly seen. It’s speculated that whatever disaster struck the coliseum and the town – happened so quickly that those who perished in it – did not know they died – and so their restless spirits continue what they were doing at their moment of death.

Inspired by the Coliseum in Italy.

Stonewall: Hundreds of years ago, a King, fearful of the barbarians to the Northern Wastelands, began building a wall to protect his Kingdom. The wall soon branched into neighboring Kingdoms, whose Kings, also fearful the barbarians would then raid their lands since the other was no longer accessible – added to the wall, expanding it on both sides, ever to the East and West. The wall, to this day, continues to be built and is over 20,000 miles in length.

Inspired by the Wall of China, if that wasn’t obvious. But you can see how it’s also got a touch of Game of Thrones, with the White Walkers to the North, now that I think about it…

The Wizard Tower of Peezar: This tower, firmly planted into the ground has a very unusual lean. The first six floors of the tower are beneath the ground. It’s believed that the Wizards who once ruled this tower, sought to shift the tower into another dimension for fear of some attack – however, the effort had been too much and the tower reappeared back into the world, with it submerged below the ground and wildly tilting. The tower has since been abandoned and there are rumors that spectral figures of old wizards, bound to the tower, now haunt its halls.

Obviously the Tower of Pisa, for which I even loosely named it after.

Quote from ChoirOfFire >>

That's like, one of the "I'm attracted to [personality type]" ones. I'm gonna guess it's the one where you're attracted to really smart people.

Edit: lol

 am i missing something? I am dumb, but which post is thsi responding to?

Quote from AllMightyLordOfDND >>

Quote from ChoirOfFire >>

That's like, one of the "I'm attracted to [personality type]" ones. I'm gonna guess it's the one where you're attracted to really smart people.

Edit: lol

 am i missing something? I am dumb, but which post is thsi responding to?

 
I think it’s a response to one of the flags.

Quote from IamSposta >>

Quote from AllMightyLordOfDND >>

Quote from ChoirOfFire >>

That's like, one of the "I'm attracted to [personality type]" ones. I'm gonna guess it's the one where you're attracted to really smart people.

Edit: lol

 am i missing something? I am dumb, but which post is thsi responding to?

 
I think it’s a response to one of the flags.

 Ahh, that makes sense.

QOTD: what is something a DM did in a game you played in (or something your players really enjoyed, for those forever DMs. *Cough* Dorsay *Cough*) that you thought was really cool. whether it me a homebrew mechanic, a plot point/arc, monster tactics, etc. 

One thing I enjoyed as a player was one of my Dms would allow the party to roll arcana checks to use spells in unorthodox ways, like using control flames to make a candle explode

Quote from AllMightyLordOfDND >>

QOTD: what is something a DM did in a game you played in (or something your players really enjoyed, for those forever DMs. *Cough* Dorsay *Cough*) that you thought was really cool. whether it me a homebrew mechanic, a plot point/arc, monster tactics, etc. 

This is one that I managed to execute effectively, but I would generally use sparingly. I ran a horror one-shot where I conspired with one of the players to have her betray the others. The style was loosely based on a Betrayal at House on the Hill sort of game. Before the game, I had each player list a few of their characters' fears, and handed that list straight to the traitor. Nobody suspected her either, because she was a very novice D&D player.

For all that family history stuff, I have Scottish, Irish, and German blood. My Grandma has lectured me on our family history as we walked around our family's land (a dry scrub desert) and showed me all the graves of my ancestors back to the first ones who came from Germany. I know the Scottish side of my family left behind an old castle to come to America.  

Quote from AllMightyLordOfDND >>

QOTD: what is something a DM did in a game you played in (or something your players really enjoyed, for those forever DMs. *Cough* Dorsay *Cough*) that you thought was really cool. whether it me a homebrew mechanic, a plot point/arc, monster tactics, etc. 

One thing I enjoyed as a player was one of my Dms would allow the party to roll arcana checks to use spells in unorthodox ways, like using control flames to make a candle explode

 As a player, I had one DM really immerse our characters into the premade campaign by taking our backstories and motivations and tying them into the story. I know this isn't super unusual and should be a standard practice, but I haven't been in a game that did it as well as he did. 

As a DM, I ran a Christmas one-shot that involved snuffing out the Ghost of Christmas Past. The players really liked the skill challenge they had to succeed in to do it.

Quote from AllMightyLordOfDND >>

QOTD: what is something a DM did in a game you played in (or something your players really enjoyed, for those forever DMs. *Cough* Dorsay *Cough*) that you thought was really cool. whether it me a homebrew mechanic, a plot point/arc, monster tactics, etc. 

One thing I enjoyed as a player was one of my Dms would allow the party to roll arcana checks to use spells in unorthodox ways, like using control flames to make a candle explode

Our party met an NPC. Seemed neat and in need of assistance. Took her along with us. Long story short, she turned out to be a reincarnation of a necromancer we had killed, and we unknowingly led her right to people she and her evil group were looking for, culminating in a shocking betrayal and battle. Our DM pulled off RPing this character for several weeks and it completely took us by surprise.

Nooooo! we fell to the second page. quick! I gotta think of something.

so, as a wizard you can copy spells from other wizards right? Well, I have copied Wall Of Text from Dorsays spellbook, because I am totally a wizard. 

I wanna talk about elves, specifically the elves of my homebrew world, cause who doesn't love ideas that you can steal form other DMs and call your own (please feel free to use this if you like it, I am by no means a professional or anything, so this is probably gonna be okay at best). Elves in my homebrew world are an ancient people suffused with magic, like normal D&D. now, just throw all they Fey stuff out the window, cause that all went to Gnomes. (side note: most races in my world have a medium sized version and a small sized version, so if you want a graceful fey trickster, thats just a medium gnome) but thing is, in the history of my world, the god of spellcraft & wizardry (not magic, magic is a force of the universe, and those are governed by primordials) wanted to know the origins of the world, so they went to the god of knowledge, distracted them with powerful illusion magic which did not work, the god of knowledge knows everything and knew they were being tricked) but it was ordained by the goddess of destiny that Amorian (god of spellcraft) would figure out the origins of the world. so Zelmron (god of knowledge) let Amorain access the It-trilic'sues (aka book of all knowledge) and figure out the origins of the world. what Amorian learned angered them so much they performed a dark ritual, that would blight the sorrounding land but ultimately fix all the wrongs that had been done (which is its own long story involving a flying lizardfolk cleric from the tundra, a snake person paladin from the jungle, & a cyborg kobold rogue from the desert.) the surrounding land was the kingdoms of the dwarves, who were forced underground, as the humans living in the mountains were warped into the Oblin race (basically goblinoids, bugbears are boblins, goblins are goblins, & hobgoblins are hoblins). this also split Amorians mind in two, one side embracing the chaos of magic, & the other focusing on mastering magic and using it as a tool. this caused a schism within the elves, as the elves who liked chaos split off and became land elves and began planning war on the sky elves, who lived in their resplendent, gleaming cities. the sky elves, fearing the chaos the land elves would cause, took their cities to the air (thats right, the floating magic empire you hear about on every DND world, it aint ruins in mine, its still around) and now float far above the landscape. so thats elven history on my world. 

Land Elves: the land elves live in the woods, after leaving the cities of the sky elves. they are known as cannibals and violent, reclusive warmogerers, though whether this is true or the propoganda of some nation that for some reason decided to trust the word of sky elves is unknown. they do not master magic, instead preferring to use it as the Flow, as they call it, dictates. 

Sky Elves: live in floating cities, scouring the land for subjects of their nightmarish science experiments. they are ruled by the Illithids (fun fact, you can play as one whos connection the hive mind has been broken and is therefore not as strong as a normal mind flayer.) which are star elves given the "blessing" of amorian, though scholars are puzzled by why the god of magic would give out the blessing of becoming an abberation. maybe the overgod who created the world has been corrupted by an alien evil and is now trying to bring about the worlds downfall, but then again, who can really say for sure? they love to trap other people in their dungeons and subject them to all sorts of awful mutations & flesh warping & other horrible stuff (fun fact: star elves used this process to create Ooze people/Plasmoids, who have since gone to space and become hippy communists. yes I just made that a thing, move along)

Sea elves: some elves just got tired of all this drama and decided to go build Atlantis and not care about the surface. oh yeah, they are perfectionists who worship the gods of knowledge and perfection. arcane magic is forbidden within their society, considering what happened.

Space Elves: the sky elves decided to create super soldier elves, so they made the space elves and enslaved them. eventually, the space elves revolted and left for space, along with the plasmoids and other races. space elves are basically Gith who hunt elves rather than other Gith.

Dorsay, have I mastered the Wall Of Text spell or do I still have some work to do?

One of my favorite re-interpretations of elves is that of Robert Schwalb in Shadow of the Demon Lord (look for the "Terrible Beauty" supplement). They lean in to their immortality, and have become bored, decadent, hedonistic, and cruel toward mortal races.

Dare say my post style is the anti-Dorsay. I prefer to keep it short.

Quote from AllMightyLordOfDND >>

QOTD: what is something a DM did in a game you played in (or something your players really enjoyed, for those forever DMs. *Cough* Dorsay *Cough*) that you thought was really cool. whether it me a homebrew mechanic, a plot point/arc, monster tactics, etc. 

 

As a forever DM - I often try to do unusual things. For example, in a recent session - the party (a group of five level 13, along with some NPCs) were attacking a Behir, while trying to also free a captive dragon - and the Paladin ended up the subject of the Behir's swallowing attack (after already taking a lightning bolt of metric damage). So in the Behir's gut I got very descriptive of the acidic damage - and on the next round, I rolled for the Behir and it rolled a 5 on the d6 which means it could use another lightning breath. Targeting the cleric and anyone behind her - I described to the Paladin how he hears a loud boom coming from the inner bowls of the Behir - and suddenly, as he's trying to stay above the acidic liquid of the Behir's stomach - his hair stands on end - and he sees a blue light rapidly approaching - and he's thrown out - with the lightning bolt out of the Behir's mouth (to make a save at Disadvantage since he's literally riding the lightning bolt). Naturally this is not what would normally happen - but it created a far more memorable moment that we all laughed at.

Quote from SirTawmis >>

Quote from AEDorsay >>

Quote from SirTawmis >>

Quote from AEDorsay >>

Getting there. 4 left.

Settling on a ring of six cities around the big one, making it a holy land. This will give a mix of "civilized" lands and then a broad ring of "uncivilized lands". Will still have all the "normal" biomes.

Sacred Numbers are 6, 7, and 8.

1. The Sea of Sand - a vast desert area of dunes and mysteries!
2. The Dark Forest - A forest that is scary and rumored to be dangerous.
3. The Frozen Wastes - A really cold place where it's always snowing. Suited for crags.
4. The Shadow Marsh - A swamp where everything wants to kill you.
5. The Volar Islands - An island that floats. On the sky, specifically.
6. A Volcanic Mountain - Wreathed in fiery smoke, hiding a deep secret
7. A Grand Old City -- Filled with monumental architecture, and ancient and holy place that the six Kingdoms war over.
8. A Mighty Maze -- A many branched mystery of magnificence.
9. A Legendary Labyrinth -- The terrifying complex of paths and patterns.
10. Meandering Caverns — a tunnel complex.
11. The White Necropolis - A city or tomb filled with undead or other spooky monsters like giant bugs
12. The Mystical Mountains -- treacherous and high
13. The Spine of the World -- a long chain of mountains
14. The Highland Bog -- a highland marsh known to be the abode of spirits.
15. The Highlands -- A great plateau, cold and rugged steppe lands
16. The Celestial Mare -- a massive ancient ship, ghostly and terrifying.
17. The Well of Souls - A large and powerful arcane thingy that makes magic in the surrounding area more powerful, and perhaps more chaotic.
18. The Badlands - An area so ravaged by war (mortal or otherwise) that no hint of the previous terrain can be made out.
19. The Thinny Wilds - An area surrounding an uncontrolled gate to another plane, warped to match the portal's destination.
20. Brilliant Woods -- A magical forest filled with fantastical beasts and abundant in magic
21. Brilliant Brambles -- a massive hedge of thorny fruiting and flowering plants that surrounds the Brilliant Woods.
22. The Isles of Myst -- Misty islands holding many secrets. Among them...
23. Cymraeg -- an island that's actually a turtle.
24. The Sea of Tears -- A shipwreck graveyard, either the lair of a monster , between the Sea of Storms and the Sea of Despair
25. The Empty Quarter -- A dry, barren desert where even sand is said to flee
26. Thalassica -- the underwater ruins of an ancient city.
27. The Maelstrom - A giant, constantly swirling whirlpool usually between two landmasses.
28. The Salt Mines -- deep underground mines for a precious commodity
29. Ancient Mines -- From They Who Came before, occasionally re-discovered.
30. The Great Jungle -- A mighty, near impenetrable jungle said to harbor fearsome and fearful foes
31. The Whispering Rainforest -- To the south a jungle of near constant rain
32. The Forgotten Island: An island where time seems to have stopped, as the island is dominated by dinosaurs of all kinds
33. The Emerald Forest: Dense jungles full of ancient cities buried deep beneath the jungle's roots, where ancient temples with hints of human sacrifice peek above it's dense, green tops; populated by the most venomous of spiders and snakes
34. Caverns of Despair: What exactly happened to the people that once called the depths of these caves "home" has been "forgotten" - and most say, the people purposely forgot it and refuse to speak of it. Whatever happened, the dread and despair that emanates even at the entrance of the cave feels like an overwhelm mist that clings to the flesh, seeps into the pores and devours your hope. The drops of water echoing in the caves, each sound like children, who cry out for their parents, long gone...
35. The Blood Swamps: A swamp that was the scene of a great, and horrific battle, that lasted for so long, that the very soil itself became red and swamp like. The battle was so ruthless that there was no time to recover the dead, and those bodies sank into the red soil... and now, this dreaded land, where this battle once took place, has turned into a swamp of crimson fluid, whose dead reach out to pull those foolish enough to try and cross it...
36. The Hollow Moon --Dyson Ring 
37. The Endless Sea -- The great Ocean around the whole of the the lands
38. The Surient Saltu -- Carnivorous Jungle --
39. Carcassia --The Interior of a Kaiju
40. The Daughter's Egg -- The Mother Ship, an egg shaped form in the heavens, always near the The hollow Moon. It is said the Thinny Wilds lead to it.
41. Stones of Power - Five, tall, grey stones rise out from the world's surface. The mystery of the stones has long been debated.  Efforts to unearth the five stones have been wrought with ill fortune for those who try to do so, from mysterious, uncurable illnesses, to fatal accidents that are freaky in nature. During certain celestial moments - the five stones glow with incredible power.
42. The Great Scar -  A cut, over 277 miles long, upon the world. Cliffs of red stone tower over a river that runs along the Great Scar, during the torrential rains that sometimes wash over the land, cause the red stone to wash into the river, turning the waters red like blood.
43. The In-Between - An environment that doesn't follow the rules, where nothing belongs, strangely barren, empty as if nothing has ever existed here. 
44. Ground Zero - Akin to a giant crater, where the rules of the world break down; emits a strange energy that causes things that enter it to glow with a strange greenish light, can cause physical mutation, sometimes madness or crushing melancholy.  Perhaps people will awaken latent psychic powers, which may or may not still manifest after leaving the site.
45. Godrood -- Towering well over 500 feet tall and 50 feet width, the largest tree known rises above its children, varying in height from a young and stout 50 feet to 300 feet tall. It is so vast, and its branches so great grew unique branches that other trees and seeds have settled and grown upon it, and by itself became a great forest within a great forest. The canopy of the massive tree is so large that it provides and has created it's own ecosystem beneath it.
46. Mare Ignis, The Sea of Fire -- a massive, molten lake of fire and lava, roughly 350 miles in length and 160 miles wide. The air around it is poisonous, but plants thrive.
47. The Voes River -- a river said to be magical and spectacular, where spirits dwell.
48. The Whirlwind: A massive, perpetual tornado that flings around several small islands that people somehow still live on, maybe it has to do with the fact that time (& therefore the flinging) is slowed down

 

 
How many more do you need for this?
I feel like I've added a bit, so I always try to step back - because if you ask for something creative - especially around world building - I will spew out ideas all day long.

It's been a few pages since I saw an update for this - so I am curious if you got what you need - and if you did - when we gonna see what you do with all of this?

 
I still need a couple, but I've been working on the map and muttering about "impossible people", and softly asking "why do I ask people for ideas and commit myself to things like this", and groaning about "I cannot locate that feature there, as it requires a more temperate climate assuming the standard axial tilt, so maybe I would have to drop it on its side -- but then if I do that I have to move this, that, and those"; and then of course there's the "why doesn't this just autosave every 250 changes for me"?

When is going to be longer than I expected, because I've been fiddling with the basis for the map for three days, lol. I finally settled on a kind of layout, though, and so am sketching in the features now. Probably see it late next weekend.

 
Here's some more ideas to throw at the wall...

Decided to look up the 7 Wonders of the World and see if I could D&D’esque some of them for you, to see if they fit for you…

Colossus of the Forgotten Protector: The truth of this towering (100 foot statue) remains a mystery. A foreboding figure with shield in one hand and sword extended in the other – stands on the edge of a port town – sword pointed out toward the ocean. Local legends believe that perhaps, long ago, it represented some deity or hero, who was once a great protector of the area. The statue is believed to ward off any who would dare think of raiding the port town – for fear of bringing down the wrath of this forgotten deity or hero. It is said, on some nights, when the moon hits the Colossus just right, its eyes light up to guide ships lost at sea.

Based on the Colossus of Rhodes and Statue of Liberty. The part about the glowing eyes was inspired when I looked up the Lighthouse of Alexandria.

The Isle of Fauna: This island is like no other island, in that the amount of fauna – many of them unique solely to the island exist here. Many have tried replanting or taking seeds from the Isle of Fauna, only to discover that the plants rapidly die, once departing from the island. Legend states that once, a King in search of a Queen, found someone on an exotic island – and wished to make her his Queen. He did all he could to win her heart, but she could not bear to leave her island, surrounded by the magnificent unique beauty. It is said that the King, then prayed to a goddess – who in turn demanded the king give up his eyesight – for he would need to love the Queen, not for her physical beauty – but the beauty of her heart – and this goddess promised to create an island, near his Kingdom that she could easily visit. The King, without hesitation removed his own eyes for the love of the woman who would be his Queen. The two married, and are said to have both been buried on the Isle of Fauna, when they died.

The idea of the island itself is based on Hanging Gardens of Babylon. I created the lore of the King and Queen to give the island some mystery.

The Coliseum of the Gods: There is a massive coliseum in the middle of a ruined city. Half of the coliseum is in ruins – and the town around it – only the stone pillars remain. It’s unclear what may have happened – if some fiery star from above laid waste – striking the coliseum and the town – and continued until it disintegrated further away – however, on some nights – if you are near this Coliseum – you can hear the sounds of cheering and weapons clashing – though there is nothing visibly seen. It’s speculated that whatever disaster struck the coliseum and the town – happened so quickly that those who perished in it – did not know they died – and so their restless spirits continue what they were doing at their moment of death.

Inspired by the Coliseum in Italy.

Stonewall: Hundreds of years ago, a King, fearful of the barbarians to the Northern Wastelands, began building a wall to protect his Kingdom. The wall soon branched into neighboring Kingdoms, whose Kings, also fearful the barbarians would then raid their lands since the other was no longer accessible – added to the wall, expanding it on both sides, ever to the East and West. The wall, to this day, continues to be built and is over 20,000 miles in length.

Inspired by the Wall of China, if that wasn’t obvious. But you can see how it’s also got a touch of Game of Thrones, with the White Walkers to the North, now that I think about it…

The Wizard Tower of Peezar: This tower, firmly planted into the ground has a very unusual lean. The first six floors of the tower are beneath the ground. It’s believed that the Wizards who once ruled this tower, sought to shift the tower into another dimension for fear of some attack – however, the effort had been too much and the tower reappeared back into the world, with it submerged below the ground and wildly tilting. The tower has since been abandoned and there are rumors that spectral figures of old wizards, bound to the tower, now haunt its halls.

Obviously the Tower of Pisa, for which I even loosely named it after.

 

 

Oh that's a neat idea. Here's my reinterpretation:

Great Pyramid of Giza = A colossal jade pyramid that inexplicably rose from the earth. Nobody can find the entrance, but every fifteenth evening passers-by can hear a faint singing from within.
Colossus of Rhodes = An ancient construct superweapon used by earlier civilizations to defend reality from encroaching aberrations. Since the development of psionics, the use of such weapons fell out of style.
Hanging Gardens of Babylon = miles-wide growths of greenery descend from the heavens, and are home to primordial plant creatures and otherworldly fey. Nobody has yet been able to reach their top, if there is one.
Lighthouse of Alexandria = An extraplanar beacon that serves to connect planar travelers with the material plane. When the beacon is extinguished, magical travel to the material plane becomes unpredictable and dangerous.
Mausoleum at Halicarnassus = A city of ancient humanoids who lived in the time before a death god, and thus before the concept of death. They are not happy about being immortal, however, because they still age.
Statue of Zeus at Olympia = A statue to a long-forgotten greater god. After this god fell, reality was radically realtered into its current state. The statue occasionally compels onlookers to perform rites and quests with seemingly no rational end.
Temple of Artemis at Ephesus = A vast temple-grounds devoted to a hunter deity. Abominations and misbegotten godspawn occasionally spawn nearby, and the deities servants make a ritual of hunting them down.

QotD: What are some other Table Top Games you've enjoyed? Is D&D your first? If so, what got you into it?

I realize this has been asked before in this 188 page thread, but we've got quite a few new people who have wandered into here. 

/flex

Ability scores: 11 14 12 12 17 11