The Quick Questions About World Building Thread

That is very much a thing that happens, I fear!

(cf: I mispronounced "tilde" for a long time—I read it as "tie-ld" (i.e. as though the "e" at the end affected the "i" within), rather than as "til-duh".)

Edited by ArsThaumaturgis on Apr 23rd 2022 at 9:31:16 PM

I'm making a character sheet in the sandbox, can I ask for input here?

Shoot people can't directly betaread form post.

I have concept for a superstate that's founded in an alternate/future history by Belarus, Russia and Ukraine, with Kiïv as the capital, in a throwback to Kievan Rus' (which the three countries' respective nations all claim cultural descent from). It later on sees the other European post-Soviet states, including the few whose populations are not Slavic in either ancestry or native language like the majority are (e.g. Hungary), and even the Asian ones eventually accede into it as well. The superstate had been founded as a multinational federal union, and is the culmination of a decades-long social movement across Eastern Europe born out of a disdain for all the ethnic discrimination that tore apart the Slavic peoples from each other and led to Slavic oppression of non-Slavs, whose spiritual founder espoused a vision of a supranational union of Slavic states as well as a "Slavic supranationality"^note National identities exist as a "lower" level below this supranationality. Compare German nationality versus the various German subnationalities. that reinvents "Slavicness" to decouple it from the old-fashioned paradigm of biological essentialism and base it strictly on a shared culture that takes the best values of its members' national cultures and synergizes them, creating something between a melting pot and a salad bowl — a multitude of national cultures that mutually influence each other in positive, constructive ways and are tied together by the single supranational culture that intersects them all, the ultimate result of which is greater than the sum of its individual parts.^note FYI "Slav" would still usually refer to the eponymous supraethnicity in-universe in an anthropological context; this is held separate from its meaning in a societal context.

What seems better as a name for this superstate?

• Vyacheslavia, from Slavic vyache ("greater") and either slava ("glory") or "Slav" (from proto-Slavic *Slověninъ; more on that word's etymology here).^note Yes, I was inspired by the given name Vyacheslav. For the record, there is precedent for a given name sharing the same etymology as a country's name, especially in the Slavic world; compare Yugoslavia and Yugoslav, for example.
• Miroslavia, from Slavic mir (alternately meaning "peace"^note Here intended to allude to the superstate's adherence to pursuing peaceful resolution to conflicts whenever feasible, in a break with the warmongering and militarism of past Russian/Soviet regimes., "world"^note Here intended to allude to the cosmopolitanism of the reinterpretation of "Slavicness" by this superstate's new ideology, i.e. anyone can become "Slavic" by embracing Slavic culture. or "prestige") and and either slava ("glory") or "Slav" (see above).
• Vsemiroslavia, adding Slavic vse- ("all", "omni-", "pan-"), to Miroslavia. Compare Slavic vsemir ("universe, cosmos, world").

For further context, the superstate would be known as both the "X Union" and the "Union of X Republics", with X standing for the adjectival form of the superstate's name.

Personally, I'm leaning towards Miroslavia, but for some reason having the name start with "M" is bugging me, compared to having it start with "V".

Edited by MarqFJA on Apr 25th 2022 at 4:21:02 PM

May I have some RandomDrops for farm animals in an RPG Mechanics 'Verse, please?

Edited by Shyhero on May 1st 2022 at 8:01:44 AM

Meat, wool, eggs, and milk come to mind offhand.

Otherwise, let's see... Cow's horns might be useful (spell components, perhaps?). Tails might also drop.

Of course, to some degree the drops will likely depend on what the game-protagonist is likely to use: if there's cooking, then food items seem likely; if there's crafting, then materials toward that (leather, bone, wool, etc.) might be found; if there are spells that require reagents, then odder things, like cow-hoofs or chicken-claws might appear; and so on.

So, the above suggestions aside, what sort of things might be useful to the protagonist of the RPG in question?

Entrails, for magical purposes.

Horns are good ones I didn't think of.

It's for a farming isekai, the farmer receives an enchanted skinning knife that they find out can give them meat without killing the animal. It does some harm and it's annoying but they live.

Ah, well. Let's see... Eyes are a delicacy in some places, I think, and blood is used in some recipes. Feathers can be useful. As can be bone.

And, well, this being a farm, manure could be quite a useful drop.

Hides. Repeatedly skin the cattle and pigs to make leather.

Horse penises for making the ultimate zombie?

Anyone have ideas for names of a Nazi-like party under Imperial Germany. I'm thinking of a Germany that combines the two. Which I figure would be like WW 2 Japan.

What's your thought process behind that? If I can ask.

Like how'd you come to that conclusion?

Into the war, Japan became a one party state under the heavily nonarchist Imperial Rule Assistance Association party. I figure that combining the Nazism party with Imperial Germany would result in a similar situation. Especially when based on the ideas of Houston Stewart Chamberlain, who was called Hitler's John the Baptist, and who was an ardent nonarchist.

I'm sorry, what exactly is "nonarchist" in this context?

Monarchist*

All right that makes more sense.

I'm not super sure that'd work out given that Imperial Japan was less a monarchist society and more a military junta and the monarchists in Germany were bitterly opposed to the Nazi party to the point of violence, sabotage, and attempted assassination.

The Pan-German League might be what you are looking for?

I think I'll go with simply "National Party". It's short and simple and is based on South Africa's leading party during Apartheid.

You could go with "Volkist" instead of "National"; Nazism did kinda have a predecessor in the Völkisch movement.

Edited by MarqFJA on May 31st 2022 at 5:40:41 PM

Bit of a weird/silly question, but I need independent opinions.

What would a world look like if it treated Gasshole/Fartillery seriously?

What do you mean by "treated seriously"?

Your world would have to be pretty darn cartoony. This is some Ren and Stimpy levels of nonsense.

Quick question: what are some reasons that a space colony hundreds of years in the future, cut off from all contact with Earth, might develop its own religion? Or, more accurately, revive bits of old religion from the settlers' ancestors and create a new religion out of that?

Cultural inertia and isolation, political machinations from parties with an agenda.

Any number of things could happen, pick whichever one will best service the rest of the plot.

Unexplained phenomena, resurgent proselytizing religions, religious organizing/organizations, or, of course, aliens posing as religious figures (or actual religious/magical action) depending on your universe. But any reasoning which works on Earth works here too.

Prophecy, revelation, and visions might also provide an impetus towards a new religion.