Questions tagged [low-fantasy]
For questions focused on worlds where magic exists, but is rare, in a world otherwise abiding to natural laws.
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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, ...
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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'...
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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....
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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 ...
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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. ...
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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 ...
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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. ...
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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 ...
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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, ...
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How to not get blinded by an attack at dawn
I'm imagining a low-tech medieval fantasy world where an attack at dawn such that the defenders are forced to look into the rising sun conveys a huge advantage. The effect on my fantasy humanoids ...
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Antler Helmet: Can it work?
Lord Woodesy wants to have a glorious antlered helm! But he has heard that having antlers, horns, or other projections on a helmet can be severely detrimental in conflict since they can be grabbed or ...
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The effects of a lifetime wearing an Iron mask [closed]
Man with the Iron mask
In my story I have a character who is of high nobility who is forced to wear an iron mask covering his whole head to hide (unspecified) birth deformities. Other than eyeholes ...
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Best mythical creature to use as livestock? [closed]
Imagine a world where all the magical and fantastical creatures that exist in mythology or folklore actually exist. Everything from dragons, griffins, goblins, harpies, trolls, etc. - they can taken ...
user60764
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Geological Explanation for an Unusually Temperate Northern Mountain Valley
So I'm working on a home-brew D&D setting and I have this idea for the my campaign to take place in a large isolated Valley completely surrounded by mountains. I also had the idea to have these ...
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How can the remains of a god's corpse be kept off the black market and out of the hands of mortals?
A demigod is a mortal being infused with divine energy. This essence comes from a divine spark in their soul that activates due to some external traumatic event. This spark is very rare, and most ...
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What would define kingdoms in a fantasy setting? [closed]
Preface: This is a very abstract question since it really would depend on the worldbuilder, and the type of setting they are trying to build.
In Established Works
In works such as Lord of the Rings, ...
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What are the best weapons and armour for fighting underground? [closed]
Assuming a human society possessing technology on par with the High Medieval Age, circa 1100 AD.
The humans have adapted to living underground after ~3000 yrs. Their skin has less melanin, making ...
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Where to employ domesticated goblins in a fantasy world?
Goblins are small, diminutive humanoid creatures. They are approximately the size of a small child, they are short-lived, and they have very low intelligence.
In my fantasy world, goblins have been ...
user60764
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How can I conceal the presence of magical beasts from humans for a few weeks?
I am in the process of fleshing out an alternate world where, following an unnatural super-storm (think cold snaps down to -30°C and heavy snowfall in the 4ft range [1.2 m] inside of 8 hours) in the ...
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Challenges for using a bull as a character's mount
I'm writing a character for a fantasy setting, and I wanted him to be a gruff half-orc war master whose mount is a bull. I wanted to know if there has ever been an actual historical use of bulls or ...
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How can a devil reincarnate himself on earth without being noticed?
The devil is alive, and he walks among you.
Eons ago, there was a battle between a powerful deity and a devil from the nine realms of hell. The losing devil, to avoid being killed, broke himself ...
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How could these giant animals travel oversea?
I've got these 2 giant apes like creatures who are too heavy to go on the ship to be taken to another continent. What are some ways that they could possibly get across the sea? This is a medieval epic ...
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How advantageous is an invisible sword?
An adventurer has come into possession of an invisible sword. How advantageous in a duel or skirmish would this be? Good for a one-time trick, a significant advantage throughout a fight, or even a ...
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How can medieval-like coalition defeat or force a modern army into submission? [closed]
In my story, there would eventually be a final battle between a modern/high tech army from Earth and a coalition from another world. What are ways that the coalition can gain victory? Given that they ...
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What kind of a unit/army would prefer fighting from a low ground position?
It's a well-known fact that attacking or defending from a high ground gives a wide range of advantages over an opponent occupying a lower position.
I'm DM-ing a campaign where PCs are about to defend ...
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A deadly decadent court of seers. Any ideas on how court intrigue would be altered if every noble and government official could see into the future? [closed]
The fortune tellers take over...
I'm supposing an ancient world in which a specific class of magic users, called Gazers, were able to use their powers to massively increase their own wealth (...
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How to realistically implement magic-users in medieval warfare?
So, I’ve seen other settings before where magic-users – mages, sorcerers, wizards and similar – are basically gods. There have been fantasy stories where a mage can singlehandedly wipe out an army, ...
user54563
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Medieval gem values
I'm working on developing a realistic economy for my setting, but one thing my research has failed at is finding numbers that I can use to create a gem system that can be used to price gems of various ...
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How would you realistically set up bat racing on an island?
One of my main characters lives on an island where people bet on bat races. My story is set up so that bats are domesticated and race one another in dark caves. The bats would use echo location to ...
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Realistic fantasy Orcs [closed]
I want to figure out what kind of effects following physical attributes and in-universe conditions would have on Orc populations, society and warfare in a realistic low-fantasy setting:
Physical ...
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How would a human like species be able to swallow body parts whole?
My fantasy species has the ability to swallow small to medium appendages whole. They're known for biting off and swallowing hands and feet. A snake like jaw could work but how would it still maintain ...
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How to form a government in the underworld? [closed]
During a business trip to hell one day, I managed to meet up with Mr. Satan and his adviser(pet) Mr. Hitler for an exclusive interview. Let's cut straight to the point I've found out that the lesser ...
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What does a Dracula-esque villain need to maintain a magical castle and a variety of minions?
Picture this: there is a high fantasy world with a majority of humans, but in recent times there have been other, monster based species gaining traction (i.e werewolves, naga, harpies). In this ...
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What would a sentient, intelligent, but very small bird use as a ranged weapon against human or larger armored targets?
So I have sparrows, which are sentient and intelligent, which are physically exactly still just the same, no extra hands or anything, so any weapon would have to be held in the feet or somehow ...
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