Worldbuilding Topic – The Fire Thieves Studio

World of Eos: 8 Questions to Build Up your City

12Mar

By CharlesNo Comments

Culture, Environment, Original Worlds, Unnamed Fantasy Setting, Worldbuilding Exercise, Worldbuilding Process, Worldbuilding Topic

World of Eos: 8 Questions to Build Up your City

Previously: We determined the three original seats of human civilization on Eos. Each was pitched by the servant of a god to the humans living in the creshold valley. Each servant then guided the humans who aligned with their philosophy to the location where they would build their city. Today we're going to develop the first of those cities in a number of aspects. We're starting with Banderlin. Banderlin was built by the followers of the god Infra Dev. The values he upholds are hard work, labor, honesty, stability, tradition, and dedication to the tried-and-true. These values will inform some of the details, but I want to expand out even further, into the general inspirations for this location and this culture and define some more specific elements. So this will be kind of a bra...

Fantasy Ramble: Balancing Unique Content and Generic Expectations

22Feb

By CharlesNo Comments

Storytelling, Worldbuilding Topic

Fantasy Ramble: Balancing Unique Content and Generic Expectations

So, when you are designing a fantasy setting, there are two forces that you have to balance. This is giving me trouble with my current setting at the moment: That which is already known and assumed about a fantasy setting, all the genre-based clichés, the tropes, the things people assume are probably true about your setting lacking any other information; and the nuanced details. The things you've put in that are unique, different, twisted, and more your original content. On one hand you don't want to rely too much on assumed generic content. I mean... we're creatives, yes? We are worldbuilders and dreamers of dreams, we want to be seen as original and visionary writers for the most part. Yet if the world is completely separated from what people know and expect, you run into some p...

The Making of a New World: Genre, Aesthetic, & Tone

9Nov

By CharlesNo Comments

Original Worlds, Storytelling, Unnamed Fantasy Setting, Worldbuilding Process, Worldbuilding Topic

The Making of a New World: Genre, Aesthetic, & Tone

Picture a blank piece of paper in front of you; the first page of a thick pad. There is a sharp pencil in your hand with a pristine eraser. These are the first tools of worldbuilding. Thus far I've discussed many techniques and strategies for developing a unique and original world, including what kinds of details are needed to help devise cultures, non-human races, religions, climate, map-making, and other aspects. So now it's time to actually go ahead and put these practices into action. Hopefully I'll be able to get some input from you, my readers, as well, though as the blog is still new I might have to reach out on facebook to get that feedback. So where do we begin? Oftentimes, you may begin with the idea you want to work with andbuild out from that concept, rather th...

Breaking-Down the Post-Apocalyptic Journey in 7 Easy Steps

2Nov

By CharlesNo Comments

Storytelling, Worldbuilding Topic

Breaking-Down the Post-Apocalyptic Journey in 7 Easy Steps

One of the best ways to prepare yourself to present an idea, especially a fairly major thematic idea like, say, the world-as-we-know-it having ended, is to explore that concept in the various forms it takes. What parts are universal, or at least extremely common? When you have a handle on those elements, you can better adjust them to your own story needs. So today we are exploring the recipe of a fictional Apocalypse, what kinds of considerations you might want to take into account. I've broken down Apocalyptic Stories into 7 Phases. Many stories may use all or some of these elements, or begin at any point in the timeline. Phase 1: The Signs In this phase, the world is presented as we currently know it. Every day life. The beginning of the story is "Every day, this happen...

Keep in Mind: When Creating Ancient Religions for your New World

26Oct

By CharlesNo Comments

Culture, Religion, Worldbuilding Topic

Keep in Mind: When Creating Ancient Religions for your New World

The purpose of this post is to ask the question: How can I make a fictional religion for my world feel less "fantasy" and more authentic to an ancient world? There are a number of aspects that are taken for granted in high-fantasy settings, as they have become tropes of the fantasy adventure genre, and leaked over from modern religions, but they aren't really the way things were for a lot of the ancient monumental religions of the past. Hopefully some of the ideas I'm talking about here will help you think of your created religion in new ways, to help you simulate that ancient world feeling. To clarify, I'm discussing mostly western religions (greek, roman, nordic, judaic) here. That doesn't mean these things can't apply to other religions, just that I don't personally have as m...

How to Make a Monster Part 5: Divine Enforcers

19Oct

By CharlesNo Comments

Monsters, Storytelling, Worldbuilding Process, Worldbuilding Topic

How to Make a Monster Part 5: Divine Enforcers

The foruth and final monstrous archetype is the Divine Enforcer. They are the punishers of transgressions and the keepers of sacred and forbidden places. Sometimes they are the twisted results of previous transgressors, ones the gods have already punished through a monstrous transformation, or they the creation, even the children of those who have transgressed. More than any of the other monster archetypes, Divine Enforcers are often tragic figures. Divine Enforcer Examples: Godzilla, Sekhmet, Bloody Mary, Medusa, Asterion (The Minotaur), Frankenstein's Monster, The Krampus, The Mummy, Lucifer Common Features OriginPunished: A human or being who was perfect/unblemished and was transformed into a monster. Created: Made in a lab or through magical experimentation,...

How to Make a Monster Part 4: Corrupted Humanity

12Oct

By CharlesNo Comments

Storytelling, Worldbuilding Process, Worldbuilding Topic

How to Make a Monster Part 4: Corrupted Humanity

The third Monster Archetype on the list is Corrupted Humanity. These represent the fear of our own internal desires, the fear of betrayal, the fear of good turning to evil, or evil impulses being unleashed by some corrupting influence. The evil is often a combinatio of something from without, and something from within. As one would expect from the name, corrupted humanity is most often something that starts as human, and was changed by that outside influence. The key elements are going to lie in determining the nature of that influence, and what exactly is unleashed, as well as how the human body is then transformed into the monster. Corrupted Humanity Examples: Vampire, Werewolf, Wendigo, Doppelganger, Mr. Hyde, Zombies, Eugene Tooms, Ghosts, The Possessed Dog Soldiers, one ...

How to Make a Monster Part 3: Twisted Reflections

5Oct

By CharlesNo Comments

Monsters, Worldbuilding Process, Worldbuilding Topic

How to Make a Monster Part 3: Twisted Reflections

This week we discuss the second Monstrous Archetype: the Twisted Reflection. As I talked about in Part 1, the Twisted Reflection represents a familiar evil, a sin committed by ones own society such as pollution or fascism, amped up to an extreme degree and thrown back at us. This very often takes the form of an alien invader or intruder, because the purpose of such a monster is to teach a moral lesson... to place us as the victims of our own societies mistakes. I think for this reason it appeals to science fiction more than fantasy, because it is helped by a certain amount of feasibility. It is easier to believe in aliens intruding upon our real lives than in centaurs showing up at our local tavern. Twisted Reflection Examples: The Martians from War of the Worlds, The Visitors ...

How to Make a Monster Part 2: The Primal Predator

28Sep

By CharlesNo Comments

Monsters, Species/Race, Worldbuilding Exercise, Worldbuilding Process, Worldbuilding Topic

How to Make a Monster Part 2: The Primal Predator

Last week I talked about the 4 Monster Archetypes I am using the Primal Predator, the Twisted Reflections, the Corrupted Humanity, and the Divine Enforcers. This week I want to break down the Primal predator and see if we can build some of our own. Primal Predator Examples: Xenomorph, Jason Vorhees, Jaws, Demogorgon, Graboids Common features: Physically Superior either by natural ability, supernatural benefit, or mastery of it's environment (an environment where we are disadvantaged.)Natural Advantages: Hypermetabolism, Great Strength, Natural Carapace (usually bulletproof of course), Dense Bones, Acidic Blood/Spit, Regeneration, Thermal Vision, Claws and Teeth, Voice Mimicry, Heightened Senses, Tentacles, Venom, Quills, SymbiosisSupernatural Powers: Immortal, Undead, Py...

How to Make a Monster Part 1: Starting from Scratch

21Sep

By Charles1 Comment

Monsters, Worldbuilding Topic

How to Make a Monster Part 1: Starting from Scratch

Monsters. When you create an original setting, you may often need a monster to terrify your characters and our audience. Or a plethora of them to fill out a wider world. It can be perfectly fine to draw something from mythology, traditional monsters, and adjust them for your needs. The multitude of worlds writers have created are filled with ten thousand different interpretations of the classics... the vampires, and the werewolves. You cna also just make up something weird and made of a multitude of strange parts that no one could ever have thought up before. But what actually makes a monster? What is the difference between a monster and, say, an animal, or a tormented soul, or just another form of life that we don't understand? Examining this question, as we are about to do, c...