The Elemental Empire
The Empire is going to be the first location in the world that I develop, just because I have the clearest ideas for what it is and what I want to explore with it (though 'most' does not imply 'a lot'). It's basic inspiration is from the Roman Empire of history - and this CCWH video...
I like the idea of a major power in turmoil, and at a turning point in its evolution. The Elemental Empire is pretty much split into two halves, Western and Eastern, that are the same civilization in name only. The threats to the West of the Beastmen and the Demons in the East are driving the Empire's halves in different directions. The Empire itself is a descendant of the ancient Wizard's Kingdom, which was destroyed in a magical disaster that turned most of the Humin population at the time into undead, creating the undead (which had not existed before then) and the Silent King, the ruler of the undead from the sunken city south of the Empire.
One of the themes I like from this video, and Rome's history, is the division of power between one person (or a small group) and many people or the population at large. Like the video says about Rome being a "Monarchy, Aristocracy and Democracy" - which makes for a complicated balance of power. That also makes a dynamic tipping point for campaigns, do the adventurers want to support one side or another in that complicated balance of power - or do they want to destroy it altogether?
A big theme of the Elemental Empire is that it's a martial culture, it was founded to protect everyone from another disaster like the fall of the Wizard Kingdom, and the periodic disasters that befall the world. I want it to be a more enlightened warrior society though, a little closer to the ideals of chivalry and Bushido and not so tyrannical (of course, that could also be an option for a GMs setting - I have to think about how to call out, or write/ format, all the different ways a group can slant the setting for the stories they want to tell). That warrior heritage can lead to civil war under a charismatic general, as in the example of Rome, which is another cool potential campaign plot point.
The Oligarchy
To the East of the Elemental Empire, on the neighboring continent, is what I'm calling The Oligarchy (at the moment) that was inspired by this video on the Greeks and Persians...
What I want to do with the Oligarchy is create a religious government, a complicated but mostly benevolent one. I'm not calling this the Theocracy because I want this government to embrace the idea of religious tolerance, thus it is not ruled by one single religion but a consortium of several. It's also it's own Athens and Persia, it was a scattered group of warring city-states during the period of the Wizard Kingdom, was attacked and nearly destroyed by the WK, and then suffered a civil war when it's own "Spartans" who were shamanistic and embraced the wild, un-tameable power of nature migrated (or were driven) to the south of the continent. The remaining people in the north banded together under the guidance of their gods, and found a way to build a common cause through their religions (yeah, this is a fantasy world since I'm having separate groups of people find common cause through their different religions instead of using those differences as a reason to kill each other, which is all too common in our real world).
I really like the idea of a tolerant empire, one that is the "melting pot" ideal. I also want a civilization that is driven by religion, since in most of human history religion in one form or another has played a major part of society - but in most RPG settings the gods are just a convenient way to get healed or brought back from the dead. The Oligarchy is also a contrast to the Elemental Empire, where the Empire is martial and expansionist, the Oligarchy really just wants to be left alone. A sort-of-crusade by the Empire coupled with an attack from the southern mystics led to a war that ended the last age, and the final disaster of the age's turning was the arrival of demons in the world.
The Mystics
I really hate this name, but I'm not sure what to use yet. This civilization is inspired by this video on China, in a general way...
The idea I have right now, which is very much a work in progress, is to actually take the broad theme of a "mandate of heaven" or a way to live and rigid social structure that is defined and imposed by an outside power, and combine it with the sort of "pack leadership" of wolves. Yeah, I'm getting really weird here. The mystics are a group of barbarians and druids in D&D terms, and they live according to how they see nature as revealed by nature spirits and patterns in nature. Unlike the Oligarchy, their neighbors to the north (and separated by a really big wall or other barrier) they do not directly commune with any gods, instead they believe that life and nature itself is structured in a certain way and it is their duty to live in accordance with those principles. I also want to go against stereotypes and make this a female-focused society. These people revere nature and life, and women are the half of the species that create life, so women are the ones in power and control overall, and are valued more than men. So this is going to be a matriarchal society. I don't have a lot of solid ideas for this group yet, so it's going to take some heavy thinking to flesh them out, but I want them to contrast with the Oligarchy - the Mystics are individualistic, wild, have a single unified outlook on life while the Oligarchy are communal, orderly and embrace many different viewpoints.
The Wildlands
A small continent populated by animal-like races attacking the Empire to the east sounds like a good place to draw inspiration from the Mongols...
One thing I'm having trouble deciding is if these "Mongols" are on the verge of expanding into the Empire (and maybe rest of the world) just prior to the sorts of things described in this video, or if they did do those things in the past, likely being the reason for the downfall of the Wizard Kingdom. Or both, hard to decide. What I like about this video is how it clearly shows the Mongols as both a force for good and a force for bad - history, and life in general, is complicated and rarely is anything all good or all evil. Something I want to keep in mind for all of these civilizations, they all need to have their good and bad points, and that is not only interesting writing it also opens the door for a group to slant somebody if they want a clear "good guy" or "bad guy." I think having a complex core will make it easier for each table to develop the setting they want to explore. And it sets a good precedent of thinking about both the good and bad of civilizations, organizations and people.
The Five Kingdoms
This is going to be my Medieval Europe, so here's a CCWH video on it...
Honestly though, this is the one video that is the least inspirational - I've just set the pattern of positing videos so I wanted to continue it. Really, I'm not sure what to do with this continent. It's meant to be the stereotypical western fantasy setting, something a bit more familiar to most gamers than my Romanesque Elemental Empire. Exactly what to do with this place I'm not sure though, beyond "it's the feudal kingdoms." I'm wondering if it might be a power that has been untapped globally, and so the other major civilizations are eager to make it an ally in their struggles - or if maybe it's a new power on the scene that is beginning to expand and eager to crush all the other civilizations... choices, choices.
The Broken Lands
I don't currently envision this landmass having an actual civilization. I'm thinking it might be the uninhabited remains of the first civilization, a land of ruins and wreckage from an ancient disaster. It might also hold some secrets to developing new magic or technologies, or it might be full of lessons from the failed actions of past governments. I don't know what to do with it exactly.
Some Final Thoughts
That wraps up the major powers that I've developed at the moment, and some of the inspirations behind them, along with a little I've posted about my races before this is the foundation of my world. There are a couple of other things that have inspired my thinking on this new setting, so I want to leave you with two more videos...
As the above video talks about, history is not just people and governments but also processes and systems. And it's something to remember that there was a lot of trade and contact between different civilizations in the past, even though my own home of North America was not as tied into the global civilization before the modern age. For my world I think I want most of these cultures to be trading with and connected to each other in some way.
And another thing to consider is that those background processes and systems can also lead to disaster, like this two videos talk about...
This systemic disaster is not just interesting in a historical perspective, but it could also make a cool element for creating impending doom in a campaign. You can kill a dragon terrorizing a town, but fighting the world itself, either nature or hidden systemic collapse, is a lot harder. For a certain type of game that might be fun, so it's something to remember.
Okay, so that's a lot of stuff. This is going to end up being a really big world. Which is good, it's easier to ignore parts of a setting you don't want to use than to create all new stuff. This gives me a lot to think about in terms of society and history, but this is a fantasy setting - so next week I'm going to look at the fantasy part, magic. Until then!
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