Questions tagged [low-fantasy]
For questions focused on worlds where magic exists, but is rare, in a world otherwise abiding to natural laws.
75
questions
16
votes
11answers
4k views
Can a low-tech sailing ship tell how deep the water is?
I'm trying to figure out the challenges faced by a low-tech civilization mapping its world. They have access to roughly Renaissance level technology, plus some (not very abundant) magic.
One question ...
2
votes
0answers
44 views
What sort of jobs would exist for the average peasant or member of the gentry/burghers in an early modern world? [closed]
Basically, I'm looking for a list of any and all potential jobs that people could have in a 1500-1650s time period. I'm trying to make sure I really color the world full of occupations (when needed) ...
8
votes
6answers
2k views
How could liquid nitrogen weapons exist in a medieval society?
It’s been awhile since I’ve been on here, and in all that time, I’ve developed my fictional world by a lot.
But I’m still confused by something.
You see, the society of my world is one modeled on ...
5
votes
7answers
269 views
How Many Soldiers are Needed to Patrol/Defend a Medieval Wall?
I have a walled city in a medieval RPG setting. It's out in the middle of a desert and has an impossibly efficient means of acquiring water and producing food off of farmland inside the walls (magic ...
9
votes
3answers
581 views
“African” states alliance?
To start this off I will dispel preconceptions: Africa had great empires and was not technologically inferior to Europe before the invention of guns. They had quilted armor (the equivalent of ...
2
votes
4answers
1k views
How Much Gold to Pay Off Death Sentence? [closed]
So, you've got a fantasy kingdom that has had the better part of its treasury stolen by a dragon. They tracked the dragon back to its lair and trapped it permanently inside... but the dragon refuses ...
-1
votes
0answers
62 views
Would a medieval city police be possible? [duplicate]
So, there's this royal free city, I created as a "starter location" for a story. The reason behind my choice is that these places had some autonomy, walls, and staple right. Now, that's perfectly ...
0
votes
1answer
112 views
In battle, how many soldiers would an indestructible fighter be worth? [closed]
There is a magical set of armour that protects its wearer from all physical harm. The armour is absolutely indestructible; blades will break against it, battering rams would bounce off it, even ...
8
votes
5answers
267 views
What binary poisons could work when ingested?
What are two non lethal substances that will combine to create a strong poison when ingested close together?
Hopefully my character would be able to drink one of the substances mixed in to a wine or ...
4
votes
1answer
118 views
Class system economy
I want a class system in an enclosed citadel with Roman times technology.
It is based around the idea that the farmer class work the land to bring food to the entire country.
All farm lands are ...
2
votes
2answers
72 views
Would the ability to magically reduce one's body mass/density allow for higher mobility, nimbleness, agility and speed?
I want one of my characters to be a full blown "ninja".
By this I don't mean an actual japanese ninja mind you, but merely someone who embodies the various tropes that ninjas have become associated ...
8
votes
8answers
1k views
How effective would a pole-arm blunt weapon be?
No metal weapons allowed I'm limiting this to wooden or composite ones only (for example the use of something as tough or harder than lignum vitae and other materials).
I accept far fetched answers ...
15
votes
6answers
3k views
If it could be shaped, would chitin from giant insects make decent body armor?
I found a previous question on using chitin from giant insects to make weapons and armor, but the answer left out something I had considered for the medieval fantasy setting I'm developing. The answer ...
9
votes
6answers
2k views
How to trap and kill a T-Rex-like creature?
The story: in a fantasy iron age world, a T-Rex-like animal (actually more like the size of allosaurus) has emerged from the forest and started killing people. The animal always retreats to the forest ...
4
votes
7answers
555 views
What Stops Dragons From Causing Ecological Collapse?
In my setting Dragons evolved on a n isolated continent far from where man evolved. But in the past thousand years dragons have been introduced to the human inhabited continent, which is filled with ...
8
votes
7answers
242 views
Best Military Use of Mercenary Giant Ape Men?
In my setting there is a race descended from Gigantopithecus blacki.
These creatures retain much of their ancestors physical features, such as:
•An impressive height of 2.75 meters (9 feet in freedom ...
21
votes
9answers
4k views
How to utilize dragons that are too small to ride in warfare?
Dragons in my setting are significantly smaller and less physically powerful than most depictions. The large males reach about 100 kilograms and just over two meters tall. This means that they ...
7
votes
5answers
2k views
What is the maximum population density in a settled land where farming and homesteading is impossible?
Let’s say that early middle ages humans discovered and expanded into a newly discovered land. Those humans made a concentrated effort to populate this new territory; they shipped several ships of ...
3
votes
2answers
113 views
Magic system involving contracts with a mysterious being [closed]
I am planning a series of fantasy novels, want to make sure my worldbuilding makes sense. I will focus on the magic system for now but I do think that some basic context of what kind of story I am ...
48
votes
20answers
7k views
How to make this “friendly war” plausible?
I'm trying to come up with this scenario in a sort of "medieval fantasy" setting.
There are two towns. One, Caertydin is a large city with all the appropriate tropes, while the smaller town, Siege is ...
5
votes
4answers
186 views
Biological Features Necessary for a Humanoid to Have a Much Higher Rate of Reproduction?
So for this question there’s a Mad Scientist/Dark Lord that wants to engineer a race that can out breed mankind and carry him to victory. He has access to sufficiently advanced genetic engineering/...
1
vote
0answers
91 views
How Large could this Optimized Preindustrial Population Get?
There are a lot of questions on this site about historical population levels and densities, and they have good answers about taking into how hard it was to survive in the past, and how inefficient ...
7
votes
9answers
452 views
Medieval military tactics, given the presence of a single invincible champion in every nation's army
The setting is low fantasy medieval. Magic (and other supernatural things) belong exclusively to the realms of the gods, and are not for mortal beings to wield. However, there is one major exception.
...
25
votes
10answers
10k views
What early middle ages weapons would suit an extremely strong child?
I'm worldbuilding low fantasy with technology level of the early middle ages. Very few of the people could tap into psionic power, which makes them faster and stronger than common people. Average ...
4
votes
0answers
62 views
How would a Jupiter sized planet impact humanity? [closed]
So while worldbuilding I was pondering the effects of such a large planet on humans and their development alongside magic, technology, society, etc. So the planet is like Earth in water/land ratio, ...
51
votes
14answers
11k views
Why do goblins never form societies bigger than about 500 members?
The goblins in my world are classical fantasy goblins. They aren't too smart, have primitive technology, live in tribes, and use tamed boars, wolves, and other wild animals. They usually have a boss, ...
63
votes
23answers
11k views
Why would people bury their dead in tombs when they might become zombies?
This is partly a Skyrim-inspired question, but also relevant to a story I'm trying to flesh out.
In this world, magic and necromancy are perhaps not commonplace, but certainly not unheard of. Walking ...
3
votes
1answer
128 views
Anatomical Feasibility of a Humanoid Derived from Orangutans?
Of the living great apes, humans are most closely related to the chimpanzees and bonobos. We retain quite a few features from that side of the simian family, and it got me thinking about what a ...
22
votes
16answers
5k views
Modern military equipment in a fantasy world
So we've (re)discovered a portal to a magical realm akin to 12th century Europe but with magic. We have giants, trolls, dwarves, wizards, etc. One faction calls upon our aid. Invoking a supposed ...
3
votes
2answers
120 views
How does this dragon's self-defense mechanism not burn the user?
A type of dragon in my world, simply named the Thick-horn, has a well-known mechanism to use to defend itself despite its clumsiness.
They are freakishly large, tend to be slow, and find it hard to ...
12
votes
8answers
5k views
Could accuracy compensate for lack of strength in archery?
Setting:
I'm worldbuilding a medieval fantasy which I try to keep as realistic as
possible. In my world, fantasy races are subspecies of the humans, which I define as compared to humans:
Humans (...
5
votes
6answers
232 views
How would the dwarven Stone Sense work?
Dwarves have been a popular character race for fantasy stories since at least J.R.R. Tolkien.
Common lore bestows upon dwarves a unique and all-encompassing relationship to the stone that composes ...
30
votes
14answers
7k views
In a world without stars, how would travelers navigate at night?
On Earth, sailors would navigate the oceans at night by using the stars as guides; since there are no landmarks in the ocean like there are on land (save for the occasional island), that's pretty much ...
15
votes
10answers
3k views
Justifications for Axe Bayonets
A rather simple question in my opinion compared to my typical: Why would a nation with Napoleonic age technology and weapons use axe bayonets over the more standard 'spear-like' bayonets? They were ...
2
votes
1answer
127 views
The daily life of a dream eater
The dream eater is a supernatural creature that looks like a young woman, except for white hair and pale blue skin. They must eat the dreams of others to sustain themselves, and are a rare sight ...
5
votes
6answers
296 views
Why would two completely different species, who are newly adjacent to each other, not go to war?
Say portals randomly opened up on Earth that lead to an occupied alien planet, the denizens from one planet can survive on the other, and it's confirmed for both sides that the portals were not ...
27
votes
15answers
9k views
How does an immortal vampire king hide his vampirism and immortality?
I am aware of this question, but I think my situation is somewhat different. In the low-fantasy setting I'm working on, the king is a vampire in a world in which vampirism is punished by death. But ...
11
votes
5answers
346 views
Traveling in a world with ever-changing landscapes
I am trying to build a fantasy world which is not made of matter, but of raw imaginative power. This world has an overall fixed shape, bound to the memories of a sleeping godlike being, but everything ...
4
votes
6answers
185 views
Would separate species of sentient dinosaur cooperate?
I’m planning on writing another story as well, but I’m further into the concept of this one.
It takes place in a fictional prehistoric age that combines elements from the Jurassic, Cretaceous, ...
6
votes
5answers
315 views
What would be the most practical way to use a dragon's scales as armor?
I'm working on a roleplaying game in a medieval fantasy setting with a focus on crafting and I am having trouble visualizing how armor made from scales of creatures would be assembled; both for art ...
31
votes
18answers
11k views
How does an all-female medieval country maintain itself?
Here's a question that came up while I was tinkering with a setting I'm working on.
How would a small city-state, with a population in the tens of thousands, where all children were girls, sustain ...
17
votes
8answers
2k views
what would allow for the use of cannons but not handheld guns
I'm looking to create a low fantasy world set in roughly the equivalent of the dark ages such that cities are defended with castle walls and armies are equipped with swords, axes, spears, bows, ...
-1
votes
1answer
133 views
why can't vampires and werewolves be together [closed]
People are always writing stories about how werewolves and vampires can't be together, but why though? they may not like each other, but what if a wolf and a vampire were to find love one day. wouldn'...
4
votes
4answers
325 views
Fantasy Air-Ship Design
I am a little obsessed with the 'Planetary Romance' genre - Edgar Rice Burroughs etc - and especially the idea of a setting in which interplanetary travel is in craft that resemble ocean going vessels....
3
votes
3answers
232 views
How long will modern society remain in the archaeological record?
I have an extreme far future setting (we're talking hundreds of thousands, if not millions of years) wherein humanity has speciated and reverted to a cultural and technological level very similar to ...
22
votes
13answers
5k views
Fantasy Military Arms and Armor: the Dwarven Grand Armory
I'm having some trouble coming up with arms and armament for my fantasy world's dwarven race. I have a few ideas for what they could wield but I'd like a few more to really make this army feel Alive. ...
0
votes
2answers
165 views
Major empires have been destroyed. Results in numerous independent cities [closed]
I'm in the process of building a world for a D&D 5th ed campaign which is due to kick off in the new year and I'm looking for some feedback on a time line, political climate, etc. for the world ...
14
votes
10answers
4k views
How to design an effective polearm-bow hybrid?
Full disclaimer : I acknowledge full well that in real life hybrid weapons are completely silly and impractical but I'm currently writing a fantastic-ish story where power fantasy is a key element. ...
2
votes
2answers
341 views
In a stable medieval fantasy population, what should be the yearly birth rate per 1,000 people? [closed]
For a human or human-like stable, small settlement population, living in medieval fantasy, how many yearly births per 1,000 inhabitants are expected?
Assuming:
There is no major epidemic.
There are ...
28
votes
15answers
7k views
Would dual wielding daggers be a viable choice for a covert bodyguard?
In the setting of a royal court in a stereotypical 'medieval' low-fantasy world, the royal princess must obviously be guarded. Assuming this society sees it as 'unbecoming' for a woman to be armed, ...
