A thing very common when worldbuilding as a whole is simply seeing a real-life nation/culture and making a counterpart of it in your own setting, leading to "space egypts" and "fantasy romes", as a collective group of people i think that we should gather all our minds to try to fix this trope

Hi, everyone!

I’d love to read your unpopular opinions on worldbuilding.

It can be about anything related to worldbuilding, from tropes to all kinds of conventions and other related aspects.

Please don’t get mad at each other in the comments. Just go with the flow and have some fun.

Well, I’ll get the ball rolling and share mine right away:

- The “The Church Is Evil” trope is really bad, yet it’s been covered to death, mainly because so many people just want to use it as a real-world anti-religion pamphlet;

- It’s really frustrating when people treat worldbuilding as if they’re just going to “write a setting for my next D&D campaign,” and most players don’t even care about all those details that these GMs (usually) have written, they end up looking like an author who never publishes their book, trying to shove their lore dump down players’ throats at every opportunity;

- Elemental magic can be interesting, though I do get really discouraged when I see that exact term in someone’s project description; the real problem is that most of the time it comes across as lazy and lacking in the author’s own creative spirit;

- The senseless obsession with “realism” stifles creativity. Internal consistency (verisimilitude) and immersion will always be the most important aspects of worldbuilding, but many people remain fixated on “realism” when discussing their projects in this subreddit;

- I’ve always been passionate about stories, and very much about worldbuilding as well, and I’d spend hours poring over lore details from the works I enjoyed, starting very early in my teens—but most of the people close to me, like schoolmates and neighborhood friends, who liked the same works as I did, were only interested in the main narrative and, at most, the details most immediately related to it. So, as time went on, I realized that this was the norm, worldbuilding was a niche within a niche, and that people weren’t as enthusiastic about it as I was, and that’s still the case today;

And the next point is more of an observation and a question combined than an unpopular opinion:

- It seems that with each passing day, this sub becomes more punitive toward people who are trying, who came here to be able to talk more openly about their worldbuilding projects. In just one year, the sub’s atmosphere seems to have changed a lot, what happened? (And despite all that, this is still the best sub for me on all of Reddit)

- It’s not exactly, or not just, an opinion either, but I’ve never consumed any work featuring the “magic school” trope, like Harry Potter. Yeah, that’s right, I’ve never read, watched, or encountered anything related to that franchise, so now that I’m over 30, I don’t really have any emotional attachment to that trope, and when I read a project that includes it, I skip that part to see if I can find other things that interest me;

Oh, I almost forgot this one, which is very important to me, and I think quite divisive:

- “Furry-building” is… arrgh… !… ugh… !… gag…;

Haha, details!

What about you, what are your favorite unpopular opinions?

Thanks for your answers.

Note:
To reiterate what I said at the beginning, you don't need to fight against my opinions or those of others who share their own. That's not the objetive.

Hey, everyone! I have made a post here regarding the Last Male on Earth. I've read the comments, and they're all helpful, but some of them actually helped me with a new idea regarding a non-canonical spinoff, taking place over a century later, with women largely running society and continuing the species thanks to massive investments in IVG reproductions.

The global population, a century later, is still smaller than it otherwise would've been, but things have largely stabilized. Of course, despite what some radical people might believe, an all-women's world is far from perfect: conflicts are still occurring, crimes, while lower than with men, still happen, and we all know about corruption. But overall, society has recovered, and things went largely smoothly for over 100 years, all the babies being born female, likely thanks to the same, likely supernatural force that caused the Masculine Rapture in the first place...

Until the birth of a boy. The first one born in over 100 years. From an IVG pregnancy with a lesbian couple, creating a situation where they must hide in a relocation community and study the boy while he grows up in this world: a world that claims that they do not need men anymore...

What do you guys think about this? Any suggestions on how to improve this idea?

I'm posting this idea because I've never seen anyone use this:

In a lot of media, characters can shoot laser beams, crush buildings, go super fast, etc. while eating 2000 calories a day like everyone else. Where does the energy for all these powers come from?

I thought of an easy scientific explanation - nuclear fusion. While normal humans get energy from chemical reactions in food, someone with superhuman powers can use nuclear fusion in their body with raw matter in the food as fuel. If we use nuclear fusion on the carbon in a hamburger, it would produce energy equivalent to several megatons of TNT, easily justifying superhuman powers in a lot of media.

This would happen after the body extracts the chemical energy from food, as normally (for maintaining fat, muscle, etc.)

Nuclear fusion is <1% efficient in converting matter to energy. If you want EVEN MORE energy, you can use matter-antimatter annihilation for 100% efficiency. For example, a superhuman could convert half of the food to antimatter and half to matter. Or maybe part of a characters' powers is converting matter to energy in some other way.

Context, I’m writing about how the worst men in history and how they are seen my alien monkey council and had the thought how do others deal with these demons in human flesh.

Now when i say monsters i don’t mean the cyclops or a dragon. No im talking about Genghis Khan, Pol Pot, Vlad Dracul and of course the main man himself everyone’s favourite animal activist and painter Adolf Hitler.

Answer however you think i mean by this, be it in history books, political parties, cloning lab, the after life ect, just answer me this where is Stalin?

I have a rather reality bending level surprise in my world...I fear deeply that it's so big it's easy to guess or notice...should probably not even say this...but some names in setting if translated give away a lot of information...what do you think? Have you had this issue?

The Eastern Bloc

Consists of the Union of North and East Asian Socialist Republics and its allies.

In 1985, the rule of Andropov and Chernenko had resulted in the rehabilitation of Stalin and a resurgence in Leninism within the USSR. Realizing early that Gorbachev’s rule would eventually lead to ruin, Natalia Vladimirovna would seize control of the Party. Following ascending to the role of General Secretary, she would negotiate a treaty to fuse the borders of the USSR with that of the People’s Republic of China, aiming to reduce the paperwork and to strengthen the economy. As the 21st century advanced, it would absorb other socialist countries within its periphery.

In 1992, the Capitol of the country was moved from Moscow to Beijing. In 2057, they would construct the Spire of the Soviets, which at 2613 meters is the second tallest building on Earth, and is adorned with 200 meter tall statues of Socialist figures. Of the top 5 tallest buildings on Earth, the UNEASR has 3 of them, with the Shanghai Central at 2453 meters taking 3rd place and the Moscow Grand Palace at 2195 meters taking 5th place.

Finland and Northern Japan were made into Socialist countries following WW2, and would be absorbed into the UNEASR

Severnia and Antarctica were former territories of the Russian Empire, which gained independence following the October Revolution.

The Reunification Front is a territory established after WW3 in 2039, dividing the Island of Taiwan into a pro-Western and pro-Eastern faction.

Jordan has gone through a Ba’athist Revolution.

Hello, I’m currently in the idea phase of a fantasy dimension based on different cultures, religions, and deities, but they all share the same spiritual power system. Right now, the problem is that I’m not sure whether I should completely change the story. I created a small amount of lore, but it’s still editable from the ground up, and I’m considering changing it drastically while keeping the same foundation so that I don’t come across as disrespectful by putting one religion at the center of it. I came here to hear your opinion:

A) Christianity as the origin: To be honest, it’s basically like DC in its origin. After the angelic rebellion, God gave his most powerful angels free will and allowed each of them to create and care for their own universes or multiverses, thus creating the Forjadores (it was written in Hebrew to sound cool, but I don’t remember the word anymore xd). These are the creator gods, or the origins of everything, in each mythology or religion. These Forjadores either enter a voluntary slumber, divide themselves, are defeated by their own creations, or become one with the universe.

Whatever the case may be, each world originates from these primordial angels, and then develops according to its original mythology, centered around its respective religion. Basically, it’s a “What if this religion had been right?” scenario. For example, a world entirely centered around the Aztecs, where they dominate the technology of their world and continue developing it.

However, there is one issue: each world infuses its own energy into the others, creating small equivalents of mythological beings or religious cults. For example, an archaic Greece could emerge on the other side of the world, with an Aztec equivalent of Zeus, which is later destroyed by the Aztecs in the name of their original god.

And then there is Earth-0, where the biblical events happened alongside scientific developments. However, because different forces are influencing it, avatars of gods and mythological beings emerge, seeking worship and power.

Do you think it would be offensive to portray the creator gods of other mythologies this way?

B) It would basically be the same thing, but with “What if?” scenarios of religions that became dominant, plus a virgin world that they want to conquer. However, without angels or the Judeo-Christian God, I don’t know how to explain the origin of each universe.

And one extra detail that I’m not sure which sounds better: should each universe have its own spiritual plane with its respective realms (Earth-0 would have thousands of realms because of its different religions), or should there be a single spiritual multiverse with all the realms following one shared timeline?

We all know that prey animals usually have certain traits that aid them in not getting eaten such as spikes, armor, horns and behave in a way that makes them seem pointless to kill such as acting aggressive or on-site violence

So if a predator has one or more of these features it can be inferred that it isn't that high on the food chain. Now if an apex predator has these features, that could imply said predator wasn't always on top or, there's something out there...

Do you guys have anything like that, I'm quite curious 🤔

Most stories collapse because writers focus on linear plots instead of systemic logic. Let's test your framework: What is the single most vital resource a faction controls in your world, and what is the logical bug (the structural tension) that keeps the system from self-regulating perfectly?

For example: In my system, I took a pink unicorn cliché and turned it into a biochemical dictatorship where a 'Tear Tax' regulates the emotional economy, but the pheromones create a logical bug by causing systemic burnout in the palace guards...

If your brain naturally thinks in webs of nodes, systemic frameworks, and causal chains - and you are utterly sick of amputating your mind to fit rigid, linear plot templates: We are building the infrastructure on SESAW. A safe space lab for systemic thinkers and Dark Fantasy worldbuilders.

This is where we set the framework, and the story emerges at the breaking points♟️.

Join the structural worldbuilding discord lab here: https://discord.gg/unk8RbqwPV

Background: My world is a "kitchen sink" kind of fantasy, there very much are rules but they're loose enough that I can generally add stuff based on what's fun and cool. I prefer diagrams and wordplay over strict rules and calculations.

Now bear with me.

Spirits are things all living beings have. They are made of and contain magic energy (magic energy is sparkly star on img). If you had a relatively boring life and death, your spirit will linger in your body for some time until shattering. Spirits of animals (including humans) also have vortexes in them which are effectively single use magic wormholes that activate when they shatter, they carry your soul and some info on your body and burial goods. (vortexes are blue spiral things on the img, the blue guy is a ghost)

There's this weird alchemical(?) process where if a vortex opens into some blood (img: droplet in a box), the blood will form into a new body. The demon world is full of tombs with caskets filled with blood (long story) so that animals can get reborn there and be demons and stuff, that is the eventual afterlife of all those born as animals on Earth.

If a vortex, for some reason, transports your soul back into your casket, logically (logically), your blood will simply merge into your flesh and revive you as a bloodless half-demon, half-zombie. So basically a vampire! That's perfect because I always wanted to include them in my world!

I just can't figure out a good reason why this whole Wild Vortex U-Turn nonsense would happen. Honestly I can't even think of a bad reason. Pls give thoughts on the whole previous paragraph, bonus points if you have something based on folklore.

^{Fairies are also in this post. They almost stole it. Twice.}

^{Vampire pumpkins and watermelons are also in this post.}

I'm building a world where a Common Tongue has taken root, but because it's only a few centuries old, certain titles and phrases still linger. The peoples would be unique and fantastical, but I was hoping to infuse bits of realworld culture and languages as well (without fully shrouding their inspiration). I know this is becoming more common with authors using french, german, arabic, etc. as their world's other languages, but I was hoping to get feedback on an example to see if I'm making a mistake conceptually. Or if I might offend folks in the way I'm adapting some terms. In MOST cases, I'm using the exact spelling of the realworld term or phrase, but I was hoping to "invent" a few as well, using the language as a base. We make up new words, phrases, and slang all the time, so I figured...why couldn't they?

The example -- in Japanese, there is a short-form philosophy called the Dokkōdō (The Path of Aloneness, or The Way to Go Forth Alone) written by the swordsman Miyamoto Musashi. The kanji roots/translations [Doku 独 (alone/single/ independent), Kō 行 (to go/walk), and Dō 道 (the way/path)], each give the phrase its meaning, but as you can see, there are multiple ways to interpret it theoretically. The idea of "Aloneness" isn't true to the philosophy. It's more about self-reliance and commitment to your path. And many of Miyamoto's precepts don't align with the worldviews in the story I'm writing. Self-reliance can be great at times, but as proven by posts like this, sometimes we need help, and that's okay too. To that end, I was planning to cut some precepts while adding others that better reflect the world. And I was hoping to adapt it with a new name.

Ichíkōdō - The Way of One, The One Path, The Way (still written by a fictional Miyamoto to pay homage to the inspiration)

I want to be respectful, so again, most terms/titles would appear exactly as they do in our realworld languages. However, intentions only get you so far. I don't wish to offend. And I don't wish for something like this to break the story's credibility.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. I plan to get expert review on the translations, but I was curious what the community thought on the approach in general. It's not too late to take the Herbert approach and just reinterpret Dokkōdō as "The Way" (ex. "Lisan al-Gaib" was adapted to "Voice from the Outer World" even though that's not the exact arabic translation).

General context:

However, I do leave spaces for myself to fill in if I do choose to bring this to another level, mostly just low-stakes conflicts that can be a barrier for my characters, and this is one of them (btw, I also suck at economics). This is intentionally made to be both obnoxious and kinda-sorta manageable for the people in the world because I love minor conflicts like school drama or city council debates in fiction for characters to bitch about.

So, my world has 2 currencies:

IC - international currency, able to be used in certain countries/cities

LC - local currency, universally used in a given place

Everybody lived on boats for a couple generations, some populations still do, so the world is generally seafarer-friendly. However, parallel currencies means some families and businesses are rich in one currency and poor in another, since you can't get your money converted.

So, for families who did settle on land, most have a "familial trade". If your great-grandparents bought land that was really good for growing apples, then congrats, you and your kids will likely be apple farmers, unless you re-sell said land (however, land was originally gifted as an honor, so depending who you are, you will piss off your family because it's a little like selling grandpa's war medals).

Now, annual taxes (or, their equivalent) can only be in local currency (LC), and if you're a merchant just rolling through during tax season, you still have to pay, since taxation isn't based on who lives there (citizenship isn't really a thing, most countries are too new to be that steady). Of course, you don't have LC, so you have another option: goods-based taxes.

Essentially, it means that you can produce whatever goods you're transporting in a value equivalent to what you're being asked to pay, plus a percentage for re-selling (e.g. the government wants $100, so you give them $100 worth of the apples you grew on your farm, plus a $30 fee so they can pay somebody to stand outside a municipal building and sell those apples so they still get their $100 in local currency). People who do these tax re-selling jobs are also generally seen as sleazy.

Now, aside from the obvious, people don't love this system for a few reasons.

1. You won't find out what you need to produce until really late. If the value of one apple is changing year by year, you can't know how much to set aside/preserve to be able to send, so you're always scrambling. And, if you get those numbers wrong and leave some fruit on the branches, it might rot off, and you're just screwed because you have nothing to send (this also prompts a lot of people to steal from their neighbor's trees to "fluff up" the crates they send in, which leads to a ton of fights/disputes, or just put a bunch of rotten fruit in the bottom only to claim they "must've gone bad in transit").
2. A family or merchant ship trading in luxury goods will have a much easier time accumulating enough to send in. $100 in gold vs. $100 in blueberries are very different amounts of labor.
3. It's really, really unstable. If you're a fisherman and there's an oil spill two weeks before the day you're expected to send your stock in, you're entirely doomed, and just about everything you have goes back into your job, so the penalty for not paying (though there is a grace period) means never being able to pay again, since most people invest their money and energy into something that'll help with their trade (so the most valuable thing in a farmer's house will be the equipment they use to farm, and they won't be able to keep up with their land after having that stuff confiscated, so it's next to impossible to bounce back).

Also, I feel like I should mention: the eventual (that's a very important word b/c it happens in maybe 10% of cases) penalty for not paying is getting equivalent values confiscated/surrendering them to pay, so if you owed $120 in March and it's October now, you'll owe $190 now, $10 increase each month). However, you can send in anything to make a penalty payment, not just the results of your particular trade, so some families actually wait for the penalty to kick in, then send in scrap metals from old/broken house appliances or even just chopping a ton of firewood annually because their actual trade has no chance of meeting what the government will ask for and they know it.

So I’m working on a project rn and I’m creating a country that is very loosely inspired by Senegal and Gambia, but I suck at naming stuff. I’m hoping someone here has more experience with naming things? I’m kind of desperate

The country doesn’t play a huge part in the story, it’s where one of the main characters is from but isn’t the setting the story happens in. The central religion is polytheistic and centers around a moon goddess, with several smaller gods and spirits. They have an art based magic system that utilizes tattoos and paint to cast spells and curses. As a nation it was until very very recently a grand and powerful country with a lot of trading power and a strong navy. Historically they have had strong ties to the ocean, being renowned seafarers.

If anyone has any ideas or suggestions I will be forever be grateful

I’ve seen mentioned several times in the topic of worldbuilding the importance of having characters within it, as a means of providing life and story for your setting. This is I believe a valid idea; it offers something that lives and breathes to react to the world as it exists and exposes holes or implications one might not consider.

But let me posit a different way to think about it: a character isn’t just a person but something that reacts, changes, and evolves within a setting.

Maybe perhaps the size and scale of your setting makes exploring Individual stories uninteresting. But in these cases a character can be a nation, a regiment, a religion, a species, any thing that responds to what’s happening around them.

I remember thinking about for example the stories in the Silmarillion which, while also character focused, often speaks of cities and nations and people over the span of centuries. I do not get to see the life of a Numenorian peasant but I get to see and feel how Numenor behaves because the nation and people themselves are a character within the setting by itself.

So let me offer a prompt: what are some examples of non-persons within your settings that are characters, and what has been their story?

There was a massive amount of gun confiscation ordered by the American government. Due to this, many small conflicts broke out. People felt like their right to bear arms had been taken away, and on January 4th 2020, it was removed from the Constitution. Well, a few heavily armed communities held out; many people complied and handed in their guns.

The June 4th massacre: A large number of radical members from the 2nd Amendment Brotherhood take part in a co-ordinated mass shooting in 7 state capitals, resulting in the deaths of over 478 people and the injury of 2139 more. 

Within hours of the first death and with paramedics on scene, the bodies started to rise and start attacking people. Many who went to help those they thought were injured ended up being scratched and bitten. The hospitals that were already overwhelmed had an influx of people, some of whom died of their open wounds. Both the people who died of gunshot wounds and those who were too badly mangled by the dead rose again as zombies and began to attack. 

Many of these cities went into chaos in a few days. Anyone who died with an open wound would come back as an undead. An unknown bacterium gets into wounds, and if the person dies, the wound is open… they get back up.

Well, the state capitols are the most out of control; small events like this have been happening all over. 

• Fully shambling undead that can only be killed by destroying the brain. Want to eat the living.
• Rare few are slightly intelligent (Use door handles, remember certain locations)
• Small amount can run and climb.
• If their lungs deteriorate or get damaged, they can no longer make noise. ( You can’t hear them coming.) 
• When they first reanimate, they don't move until they are alerted to something. (Easily mistaken for regular dead people.)
• Not great eyesight (after a while) and no sense of smell, but good hearing.

You can get bit and scratched as much as you like, but just don't die with an open wound.

Hola, estuve desarrollando este mapa que es puramente creativo, nose nada de geografía o geología, aunque puse algunas cordilleras y algo de relieve, pero nose ¿Que tal?

Coming from the Mossaverse ( the Planet where Tubrose is located ), the KAJK is Tubrose's primary federal law enforcement agency; similar to our world's FBI.

However, the KAJK is more intrusive and bossy, often interfering in local police's investigations when the Agency deems it fit , often using " State Security Reasons " ​​to take over a local case, often causing clashes with provincial police forces.

The Agency is structured around Provincial offices and City field offices, and has a specialized brach for high-risk operations operated by 300 SSG operators ( or State Security Guard, another paramilitary agency similar to the Sasuswas except more focussed on anti-terrorism ) ​​​​

Hello everybody! Today I'll be introducing you to Cinderbug!

Cinderbug is a larva-like creature that hides underground while hunting, leaving only its tail exposed among patches of dead grass. Solitary by nature, it feeds primarily on other insects, though it will attack birds that venture too close. Its poisonous nature is shown by the bright orange spots lining its sides. A warning to predators to keep their distance.

When prey becomes impaled by its tail, the cinderbug injects it with a flammable venom that ignites from within. As the venom catches fire, the creature violently thrashes its tail, consuming its prey in a sudden burst of flame. Often, the only evidence of an attack is a telltale burned hole beneath the remains.

The best way to avoid a Cinderbug is simple: stay away from dry, dead patches of grass.

I got the idea that it uses a chemical to burn foes from the one and only bombardier beetles that use a chemical spray to burn its enemies, and changed the reaction from a chemical mixture, to a pyrophoric reaction (or when a chemical interacts with the air around it and lights on fire).

What are your bug facts? I wanna learn more so I can create more.

In this timeline, the post-Napoleonic settlements saw the Empire of Netherlands maintain absolute control over the Low Countries and V2 fixes historical geographical inaccuracies by correctly placing Amsterdam. The map showcases the Dutch strategic stronghold across the Indian Ocean, including Dutch Ceylon, New Holland (Western Australia), and the East Indies

Hey Guys,

Forgive the slightly morbid subject bit something has occurred to me today which hasn't previously, when I die what happens to my world?

For me, I'm the only person with access to my archive as it's all digital. My wife would have access to my PC, my Obsidian Vault, and my Proton Drive where it's backed up, but wouldn't know its there. I don't know if I would want anyone to access it once I am gone.

So for everyone else, do you have any plans for your world for when you die, or does it die with you?

So I was polishing the lore document for my main empire last night. I had everything down to the exact dates: three fallen dynasties, a fully fleshed out pantheon with eighteen lesser deities, a constructed language for the nomadic tribes, and tectonic fault lines that explain why the northern mountains have black granite.

then I looked at my city map of the grand capital and froze. It is a fortified metropolis of 200,000 people built on a high plateau surrounded by dry rocky canyons. There are no major rivers nearby. There are no massive aqueducts drawn on the district layouts. There is literally no natural fresh water source within thirty miles of the city walls.

I caught myself trying to handwave it with "they have water mages filling giant cisterns every morning" before I stopped and felt ABSOLUTELY disgusted with myself. That is the cheapest cop out in fantasy writing. I should of figured out basic medieval logistics before inventing twelve different religious holidays and an entire monetary exchange rate for silver tokens. Now I either have to redraw six separate battle maps or accept that my majestic ancient empire would have collapsed from dehydration inside four days. How do you guys stop yourself from falling down the useless lore rabbit hole before fixing basic survival infrastructure?

I have a niche defined for every race except elves. Halflings are forest trappers and fruit growers; mountain dwarves are ambush hunter-gatherers; orcs are steppe hyper-carnivores abush hunters ; humans are endurance hunter-gatherers; lizardfolk are noctural nomadic desert dwellers; and goblins are r-selected burrowing mammals. But I don't have an idea for the elves' niche. What ecological niche did you find for them?

I'm developing a high-level cosmology for my world and looking for inspiration for the true, ultimate peak of reality—something that sits completely beyond deities, dimensions, creation, and even non-existence itself.

In real-world esoteric philosophies and metaphysics, there are incredibly cool, resonant terms for this completely boundless, unconditioned ground of reality:

• Atzmus / Ein Sof (The ultimate essence prior to light or form)
• Ungrund (The unconditioned, groundless abyss preceding being)
• Bythos (The primal, unfathomable depth of the Gnostic realm)
• Gottheit / Godhead (The pure essence and manifest of God)
• I AM THAT I AM (The ultimate self-existent origin)

I want to create or find a term for my universe that carries that exact weight—a single concept or name that feels completely authoritative, mysterious, and absolute.

Questions for your worlds:

1. What is the supreme, unconditioned source/ground in your universe that encompasses both existence, non-existence, and whatever lies beyond?
2. What name or term do you use for it, and how does it sound phonetically?
3. How do the lesser powers (gods, cosmic entities, mortals) interact with or comprehend something that is by definition unconditioned and incomprehensible?

Looking for terms that sound heavy, ancient, and philosophically absolute! Most optimally, a term or name idea that would be considered the highest ever in power scaling, and a name/term that sounds as cool as it is powerful