Questions tagged [urban-fantasy]
Questions for incorporating fantastical elements into the modern world (20th century or later), with an emphasis on cities.
2
votes
2answers
100 views
Designing a constrained spell-crafting system for the modern world [on hold]
I am attempting to construct a magic system for a fictional modern world akin to ours. In this world, like ours, magic has largely been forgotten, so it is no longer part of the world and has had no ...
1
vote
0answers
122 views
How can there be endangered humanoid species? [closed]
In my urban fantasy, I have several human species that coexist with humans. I'd imagine some like species such as who're classified as Faeries have a stronghold to have intercommunication with humans. ...
3
votes
5answers
214 views
Needing help with “New York” worldbuilding in 1920s setting [closed]
I have been writing a fantasy novel for the past 12 years. The story is mostly finished (as far as the storyline and plot goes), but I have been having some trouble with worldbuilding. The story is ...
5
votes
5answers
203 views
Would subways/trains be adapted to be practical for various fantasy species or would something else be invented?
The title says my question exactly. Also if another mode of general transportation were invented for a landlocked city, what would it be? Below are the specific fantasy species that I am dealing ...
7
votes
5answers
1k views
Some science or graspable logic behind a whole new world below the ocean on earth
So not trying to wander into flat earth theory here, But a hidden fantasy world (of elves) in the present day. How would we explain it. There is no contact whatsoever between the two world. Could ...
-5
votes
1answer
139 views
I want to make a super OP dragon that breathes fire underwater [duplicate]
I want to create a super Over-Powered dragon that can:
Breathe fire
Breathe fire under water
Not harm itself while breathing fire (either above water or under water)
I would like answers that are as ...
4
votes
2answers
278 views
Procedure for a bite from a fanged humanoid, and resulting effects
I am currently working on a story idea involving vampire-esque fanged humans, they require blood for sustenance once or twice a month, and are willing to pay. It goes through special canals, so they ...
4
votes
3answers
191 views
Public Transit for Merfolk
In an urban fantasy type world, how exactly would public transit work for merfolk?
Situation A: The merfolk are living in a big cross-species city that also has humanoids. For purposes of this ...
10
votes
5answers
854 views
Can sustainable farming be done in the suburbs in this supernatural post-apocalyptic scenario?
So, here's my situation: my first book revolves around an unknown entity giving modern day humanity an assortment of supernatural powers. Every week a new power is given to everyone on Earth over the ...
5
votes
1answer
181 views
Centaurs in an Urban Fantasy [closed]
Okay trying to make this as narrow as possible. I hope.
I have world where magic has returned in modern times. It came back in 2010 but the story takes place in 2018. In this word some people have ...
1
vote
0answers
74 views
Physical Force Generation- Applications, weaknesses, and the science behind it [closed]
I've been developing this anti-hero, "Vicious," for a few weeks now- but I need some help concerning the specifics. Vicious has an ability known as "physical force generation." From any point on her ...
0
votes
1answer
78 views
What would stop a witch from telling everyone about magic [closed]
In my urban fantasy world, magic users exist alongside regular people without them knowing. The world's history is the mostly same as ours except that magic secretly existed the entire time. Real life ...
2
votes
3answers
154 views
How would I create a society in which the known world has collapsed due to a demon influx
In my story, I wanted to have a world in which humanity had nearly gone extinct from being eaten by demons but eventually the demons ran out of humans to eat and thus died off or went into a sort of ...
2
votes
4answers
240 views
How could “power control” laws be enforced with the fewest violations of civil liberties? [closed]
The central premise of my story is that one day in the year 2017, an unknown entity starts imbuing humans with supernatural abilities. A quick rundown of the system:
Every human over the age of 13 ...
7
votes
2answers
198 views
What would a beach look like if prolonged exposure to humans made the sand change color?
So one of the supernatural elements in my urban fantasy story is a system of "aura-syncing" that explains how various supernatural abilities extend to one's clothes and belongings. A full explanation ...
2
votes
2answers
263 views
Everyone can heal very quickly. How does this impact forensics and criminal investigations?
So the central conceit of my story is that everyone has various superhuman powers in modern day America, and one of the powers that everyone has is a superhuman healing factor. Anything we'd classify ...
10
votes
5answers
617 views
Would the collapse of civilization make turning into a vampire and colonizing the ocean floor a sane idea?
One idea I've always wanted to try writing is the concept of vampires exploiting their lack of a need to breathe and generally low-maintenance biology to escape the brunt of the sun's rays by living ...
4
votes
2answers
160 views
What kind of a following could a religion/cult get in a year if its prophet had actual demonstrable magic powers? [closed]
So the first phase of the story I'm writing is the year-long leadup to the utter collapse of society and infrastructure brought about by humanity's sudden ability to use supernatural powers. And one ...
0
votes
3answers
154 views
Everyone a Girl Touches is Erased from Existence. (Need help Ironing Out Details.) [closed]
I have basic a premise but I need some insight...
"A young protagonist has a curse: anyone she touches with her bare flesh gets erased from existence."
The plot and mechanics that I have so far are ...
5
votes
5answers
472 views
Anatomically correct Dungeons and Dragons Mimic?
This one’s a bit of a stretch, so bear with me. The classic monster in table top games and video games alike: a monster that can imitate the shape of things (mostly treasure chests) to lure in people ...
0
votes
2answers
219 views
How, if at all, would gender dynamics change if women became just as strong as men? [closed]
I'm doing a story about a modern-day world where everyone over the age of 13 has supernatural powers. An unknown entity suddenly granted humanity this ability out of nowhere and without warning or ...
7
votes
9answers
495 views
How would prisons handle superpowered inmates?
A major plot point of my story that's been bugging me for a while has me wondering what exactly the (specifically American) prison system could and would do to deal with the fact that the entire ...
30
votes
9answers
4k views
Would a weaponized priesthood violate separation of church and state?
The Situation
For reasons unimportant to the question all divine/infernal beings ceased contact with humanity in the dark ages. For reasons equally obscure they are now back and busier than ever. Law ...
3
votes
1answer
215 views
How would humanity organize long distance communication using an astral projection power?
So I’m writing an urban fantasy story where humans start getting supernatural powers from an unknown source, and as several of these powers were intentionally and maliciously designed to wreak havoc, ...
43
votes
5answers
5k views
Would a demon be afforded civil rights?
Synopsis
For reasons unimportant to the question all divine/infernal beings and deities took a hiatus from interacting with the earth in the dark ages. For reasons equally obscure they are back and ...
5
votes
8answers
737 views
Death toll of a week without technology?
So the climax of my urban fantasy story, long story short, involves a supernatural event taking place in the modern time sometime around March on a Saturday, 12:00 PM EST, that renders guns and ...
24
votes
6answers
6k views
How to differentiate between demonic possession and mental illness?
It turns out that all of the deities and various demons, angels, and spirits are real. The super natural world took a hiatus since the dark ages for reasons not relevant to this question and for ...
2
votes
6answers
347 views
Can a technologically developed society make a tree to be like AI(Artificial Intelligence) and make it communicate with humans?
Is it possible for a technologically developed society to make some invention which could allow trees to be like AI (Artificial Intelligence) and communicate with human?
To be like AI (Artificial ...
7
votes
3answers
293 views
How much of an advantage in medieval-style combat would it be to have four arms with pivoting shoulders?
So I'm writing a story about humans of the modern world being given various superhuman powers by an unknown entity, which eventually causes society to partially collapse and turn into a bizarre mash-...
1
vote
7answers
252 views
How would one design infrastructure in a world where people can disable technology with their eyes?
So, the central conceit of my story is that one day in the modern times, everyone on Earth over the age of 13 starts getting superpowers. While some of them are possible to remove (but only if ...
4
votes
9answers
439 views
How to mitigate the economic impact of immortality?
So, I'm writing a story about the modern world after a mysterious event starts giving humans superpowers. While most people can only keep a couple of them at a time, there were a few that everyone ...
17
votes
6answers
3k views
How quickly could the fashion industry react to new humanoid fantasy races?
So in my urban fantasy story, among other things, new fantasy races suddenly start appearing in the modern world via the system I outlined in this thread:
Reasons to voluntarily change into a ...
13
votes
11answers
1k views
Reasons to voluntarily change into a fantasy race?
So one of the biggest quirks of the world I'm building is that, along with supernatural powers suddenly becoming real in modern day, the human race is granted multiple separate opportunities to ...
0
votes
0answers
33 views
Designs for residential and office buildings if human - like creatures had flying capabilities [duplicate]
A few moons ago I came up with an idea for a planet in my universe where the inhabitants are very human, with the only exception that they have flying capabilities (whether magical or wings, I know ...
1
vote
5answers
931 views
Applications of Limited Kinetic Energy Manipulation [Superpower]
I see that similar questions have been asked before, but I have yet to find a sufficient answer. I'll try to keep it short. I'm currently working on a story involving a soldier who discovered he's ...
4
votes
2answers
186 views
Rotating city in a fantasy world
In my fantasy world, the world is covered in a massive ocean that is miles deep in all directions, the only "land" are massive bodies of gods that dot the blue world. How these bodies got here is not ...
1
vote
2answers
146 views
How many people can can a self sufficient city, protected by a magical barrier, fit per square mile?
The city of Sanctury has been holding back the volcanic apocalypse for 174 years, and has grown to 60,000 people. The question is, if everything needed for life is grown within the city, how many ...
2
votes
4answers
247 views
If there was another realm full of magical beings, how would they cover it up to the general population?
I'm writing a story in which witches from the "higher realm" visit the "lower realm" (Earth) with a consistent frequency. However, most of, us mortals do not know it. How can I accomplish such a cover ...
9
votes
6answers
529 views
What are some magic-based environmentally-friendly alternatives that can mirror our technology on Earth? [closed]
The fantasy world I'm writing in is populated by elves, fairies, vampires, humans, etc. It has a handful of portals connecting it to large modern-day cities on Earth as we know it. These portals are ...
-2
votes
1answer
154 views
How to turn/ lead the purest and most strong willed people to the dark side or evil path? [closed]
How can I turn the purest and most strong willed good people to the dark side or evil path? For example the main characters Natsu and Naruto from the animes Fairy Tail and Naruto, they are one of the ...
36
votes
16answers
10k views
How powerful would the church become if demons regularly visited Earth?
Setting: the walls between Dimensions have grown thin. This allows malevolent creatures, who for lack of a better term we shall call demons, to enter our world.
Details:
The demons are on ...
5
votes
4answers
600 views
Modern polytheism, who are the new gods? [closed]
Background:
By spreading themselves too thin, and then through a series of events the current mono theistic gods accidentally kill themselves. (This is very sad, and I don't wish to offend anyone ...
8
votes
8answers
2k views
How would a fantasy airship operate?
I want to incorporate hot air balloons as a means of common travel in my fantasy world, but I recognize that hot air balloons aren't really "propel-able". My question is, how would someone ...
5
votes
3answers
275 views
How do you keep magical creatures trapped in a closed village while allowing for expansion?
Magical people such as trolls, vampires, and nopperabou have had a complicated relationship with nonmagical folk. They were mostly sworn to secrecy, but not everybody followed that oath. Nonmagicals ...
5
votes
5answers
1k views
Would a guard dog be afraid of a walking, talking fantasy skeleton? [closed]
Suppose that there was a standard fantasy skeleton, walking, talking, essentially a live human but minus the fleshy bits. Call it magic, whatever, it's here in our modern world, and it's up and doing ...
12
votes
14answers
5k views
How to keep wizards and other magicial creatures from taking over the government? [duplicate]
In most urban fantasy, powerful wizards and other magical creatures form their own societies with their own governments and politics (The Magical Congress of America, for example). They seem very ...
1
vote
3answers
267 views
How can I explain a sudden rediscovery of magical capability on humans? [closed]
First I apologize if this question or similar already exists.
In my world, humans are naturally very powerful creatures (think of it as in "magic" since it's not really important in the question ...
7
votes
9answers
743 views
How would the role of the church change in this post apocalyptic world?
A super-natural vampire plague has ravaged the world. Millions have been turned in the USA alone, everyone lives in fear of a vampire attack.
In this world vampires can be killed by a stake to the ...
10
votes
4answers
463 views
Could fairies be a hominid subfamily?
By "fairies," I'm referring to the eldritch horrors and creepy-crawlies of Celtic folklore, not the glittery pixies with butterfly wings.
My urban fantasy setting puts a sci-fi spin on supernatural ...
9
votes
9answers
2k views
How to make magic different from science [duplicate]
I am building a world that has both magic and technology. I'm wondering how to make magic that is different form fields of science such as biology or chemistry.
Simply put I don't want magic to ...
