7/13/2023 0 Comments Fantasy general 2 races![]() But what if everything was revealed and developed at a slower pace? What if quality wasn't sacrificed for the sake of quantity?ĭoes it matter then that the world has dozens of significant competing/allied/warring civilizations? Is the total amount irrelevant as long as you are telling a proper story and only focusing on a small number of races at a time? Or is there a literal breaking point where you need to just cut out a huge chunk of your world and streamline things? I'm sure if you read a fantasy novel and it threw 20 races at you in the first few chapters you'd get annoyed or lose interest. How many intelligent species - ones with actual cities, governments, militaries, and systems of commerce - are ideal? How many until they become excessive? Where is the line? Is it solely dependent on the skill of the author? Would people still love LOTR if it had triple the number of species involved? Now let's pretend we're strictly discussing the worldbuilding of a fantasy novel. Do each of those subgroups count as one separate species? If so, doesn't that artificially boost the number of available races by a ridiculous amount? Like into the 100s or 1000s? Is that still acceptable? Players and DMs can use as many or as few of these things as they choose though, right? So everything exists and functions at the discretion of the users. And let's not even get into Dragon types. You can have a dozen different Giants and a slew of Goblinoids. In D&D, depending on the supplements you utilize, you could have 20 unique types of Elves or Dwarves, or just one of each. How many noteworthy, sapient races are optimal or even permissible? Something with a dozen or less truly impactful races.īut what's the unwritten rule on this? What's the consensus? Does a setting become a mess if you up the number of races to 20? 30? 50? 100? Even if you really spread them around and flesh them out? Perhaps something like the early Warcraft games before things got crazy, or the limited but well-done selection of extraterrestrial life in franchises like Warhammer 40k or Mass Effect. Some people prefer a less convoluted, more focused approach to worldbuilding. Similarly, I grew up a big Star Wars fan and always enjoyed the sheer, practically absurd number of alien species in that universe.īut I see how that could overwhelm some people. I remember reading through all the handbooks and adoring the variety of creatures, sentient or not, and their assorted subraces or subtypes. Personally, I've always been a proponent of "bigger is better" and fell in love with settings like D&D (Forgotten Realms especially, but I like them all) when I was young. ![]() ![]() I've seen some opinions on this in the past but I'd really like to get a bit more of a "definitive" answer in the topic. We also encourage users to register an account. (#worldbuilding on :6667, or 6697 for SSL) Looking for more active discussion? We have live chat communities that are active just about 24/7! Make sure to read the chat rules first Discord Server Snoonet IRC Channel There is also a curated list of resources compiled via Discord. Remember to check out the wiki for lots of resources and tips on starting out! Unsure why context is important? Consider reading our Why Context? essay. Full Subreddit Rules Modmail ResourcesĮvery post needs context! Consider using our context template to get started. We have high standards for on-topicness, respect of other people and respect for creative effort. This subreddit is about sharing your worlds, discovering the creations of others, and discussing the many aspects of creating new universes. For artists, writers, gamemasters, musicians, programmers, philosophers and scientists alike! The creation of new worlds and new universes has long been a key element of speculative fiction, from the fantasy works of Tolkien, Le Guin and Howard, to the science-fiction universes of Burroughs, Delany and Asimov, and to the tabletop realm of Gygax, Barker and Greenwood, and beyond.
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