Mentally Terraforming - In the beginning

O.k. just ignore my previous post!. Well not all of it, the welcome still stands and the song is frankly a highlight and the bit where i said i would put these homebrew gaming background posts under a set title so you could skip 'em if you like, dont ignore those bits but the moaning....forgive me my moment of whinging, it was a touch rubbish!.

Right all that done and out of the way i will begin properly. Welcome to a new section type thing for the blog and for me. You know in my last post (which if you have'nt ignored it yet you can do so here) i mentioned that i wanted to share the building of my own gaming setting to.... well im not actually sure why. Maybe it will help others to come up with their own by learning from my mistakes or perhaps give you bits to use or even you can use it to game or rpg in if you are challanged in that way. Feel free to do any of the above. I guess i want to share the ideas i have come up with to give flavour to some of my games that i share on here above just the silly stuff i do (which i will undoubtedly still do) and get it 'on paper' (i understand that a screen is not paper before you all start!) and out of my head!. After all its my blog so i guess a little self indulgence is allowed!. Also i am asking for any feed back you wish to give, feel free to chuck in ideas if you want to, go on , its fun!. So if you see the title 'Mentally Terraforming' it will be one of these types of posts.

Today i am just giving a VERY brief overview of the area in which all of this will happen by detailing the land itself, i will go into detail by breaking it into areas and covering the nations and features of these as i do so. I will also point out that i set nothing in stone and am bound to miss stuff as i go, this is not in any way a 'polished' product but more a trip into my odd little world!.

The world of........
First off i have not come up with a set name for the place. I feel that the nations are more likley to be inward and judging the others as separate entities rather than part of a land mass being a fantasy world based on medieval(ish).....er stuff so each will maybe have a differing idea of the size of the world and a different label for it. Thus i have not given a set name as i am writing from a 'neutral' viewpoint. Maybe one will 'stick' as it develops?.

Look, i done a colouring!.

Alright i admit it, i could have used a fancy tech based bobbins to do a digital version but when it comes to tech im a bumpkin of the highest order and am more comfy with sharpies and the kids crayons!. So thats all i have to go on!. maybe if you back up a few paces and squint a bit it will look passable!. It does show a basic layout and shows the major features in terms of the larger rivers and mountain ranges and the central sea that will be important as we go further in!. As i said before i will show more detail in each area in later posts.

Important things to cover at this stage are:

The land is human centered (im a Martin fan, sorry!), i think human based fantasy worlds give so much to identify with and force you to recognize all actions as not 'good vs evil' but in terms of our own morals. I still features some fantasy creatures but humans dominate and if other races have existed they have been replaced  by man (or maybe got pee'd off and just went somewhere else!). 

Size and shape: the land mass coves an area of 2.9 million square miles (which makes it the size of Australia according to google). The human population is roughly 66 million people (which is about the same as France if google is to be trusted). In terms of economic influence the strongest area in terms of wealth and influence is the mid west, which is  sort of a late medieval deal with signs of  early industrialization ruled by guilds. Followed by the south east region, which are sort of  medieval Japan with a mystic bent. The other areas work backwards from there, ranging from medieval to dark age to tribal iron age ( to orcs which are another story!). Economic influence is key to power in this world as in our own and the rout to evil is often the desire for it!.

Magic and faith: Magic is not widespread and not accepted unless sanctioned in more 'developed' nations. It has a greater importance in less civilized cultures and is normally revered. It is not a controlled force bent to the will of the user but the latent power of creation focused through some individuals that work as 'lightning rods' for it, they have far less control over this than in other fantasy settings and cannot 'choose' to use it, its inbuilt and the only choice they have is weather they can learn to control it. It also tends to have an effect on the users mental state meaning most magic 'users' are unhinged and tightly wound, often bordering on insane!.

In terms of religion the more civilized areas only use it for ceremonial reasons, having moved away from the beliefs of the past. Faith tends to be more of a feature in wilder communities where it is seen as the most important part of life. There are exceptions to these situations, one nation has walled itself off due to the right to religious freedom. But the more the nation has come to rely on its influence and economic power it tends to focus less on its beliefs of the past.  

So thats a few bits and pieces to get the ball rolling. Hope it is in somewhere close to interesting!. Next time i will look closer at one area to start fleshing things out.

Anyway, till next time.....