Creating a fantasy world...what do you like/dislike?

[Mr.PlanetEater]

I've created many a fantasy world, and I've found that when it comes to naming things the easiest thing to do is pick a real-world cultural equivalent for your fantasy race (if there is one) and name all things in that language. For instance, in one of my fantasy worlds the Ormaren (Orcs) are based largely off of Visigoth/Early Germanic culture so their names reflect that with many being combinations of a German color words and their social class; for instance a blacksmith might be named Roter Schmied (Red Smith).

What you will want to do is avoid making the cultures 100% equivalent, try to think of unique elements to diversify them. Again using my previous example, while the Ormaren draw a lot from Germanic tribe culture they have the unique quirk of being a Matriarchal Society.

Obviously you don't have to use this method of naming, but I find it makes for names that a lot more readable than some made up fantasy names that are usually an unfathomable cluster of consonants and vowels such as 'Kavjkale'*

*Granted, depending on what language you use as a template for naming this can still occur especially if it's a language that doesn't have different words for things but rather just tacks multiple words together.

 

[EHKOS]

I like glowing flora. Pretty colored giant mushrooms and all that. I also like to have huge background lore that can be discovered.

 

[Vault101]

[
snip.

thanks for the encouragement!

Unless you can provide some really good justification, I don't think you should include dragons.
.

what about dinosaurs?....a world where people ride dinosuars?

Oh one more thing I do like/dislike:

Try not to have everyone talk funny. Yeah its kind of endearing that EVERYONE in D&D or LOTR talks with a weird, pseudo-british, olde timey accent but it's also not really logical nor is it easy for everyone to follow.

for a second I thourght you ment don't make 99% of the dialouge "funny banter" which is a serious problem in Uncharted, thats somthing I'll have to try and avoid as I think I fall into that trap

also "fly you fools" does make perfect sense in context

 

[someonehairy-ish]

The first thing to remember is that you don't need to tell your readers everything, but you do need to know everything. You have to have an absolute and total understanding of all of your setting's histories, cultures, characters and places. If you do, that should come through in your writing, and your reader will feel that what they're reading is just the tip of the iceberg, and that there's a whole living, breathing world outside the limited scope of the story. The world can't only exist as a place for your protagonist to be, it has to operate by itself.
This will also make you much less likely to contradict yourself.

...

When I come up with a setting, I tend to find that what I require from the setting will determine how it develops. Decide what's required for the story to work on a basic mechanical level, then draw on that to inform the setting. For instance:
I came up with a story where I wanted the native humanoid inhabitants of one continent to be meeting humans (from another continent) for the first time. For this to be possible, sea travel in the setting had to be impossible for some reason; otherwise humans would have spread to this isolated continent long ago. I decided that the sea had to be extremely dangerous, perhaps wracked by intense storms and full of monstrous creatures.
Once I'd decided this, I figured that the sea would end up being embodied as an angry god or devil or something similar in the myths and stories of the setting's cultures. It ended up being my setting's equivalent of hell. From this, I ended up getting a very unusual ocean-centric system of beliefs and superstitions, completely different from any existing fantasy culture.

You could do something similar. Figure out what major way you want your setting to differ from reality, in a way that directly helps the story, and then draw on that to invent a unique world that still makes sense in itself.

 

[DoPo]

what about dinosaurs?....a world where people ride dinosuars?

So far you have a post apocalyptic (maybe), sci-fi-ish (maybe), setting with a religion worshipping firejesus and now dinosaurs? I'd so love to read some of that. Not joking - it sounds so awesome.

 

[Vault101]

So far you have a post apocalyptic (maybe), sci-fi-ish (maybe), setting with a religion worshipping firejesus and now dinosaurs? I'd so love to read some of that. Not joking - it sounds so awesome.

I seriously want to have lazer guns too....

problem there is logically they can't have lazer guns and have society being in a less advanced state as the tech is advanced

[small/]of coarse what if peopel co-exist with dinosuars because earth was dying so they sent out some kind of ark/spaceship with was suposed to find a new world but did a "weird space thing" (I think though you can only go foward in time) and went back in time...but they dont know that[/small]

I'll work somthing out XD

 

[renegade7]

I like to base it on a kernel of reality or have some real world influence, or on pre-existing mythology. Medieval Europe has some good stuff but in my opinion has been done to death. I tend to focus a little more on...well just about everything else. Feudal Japan is a current favorite of mine, but I also really liked ancient Rome, Greece, China, Egypt, Native America (mostly middle and south) and the Middle East.

Look no further than Avatar: The Last Airbender for what is, in my opinion, a perfectly constructed fantasy world. Plenty of detailed history and depth, so there is meaning to everything that happens beyond just "This evil dude is evil and needs to be stopped or else evil". The magic and supernatural stuff is made very believable (and most importantly) integrated very carefully into the story, it's not a deus ex machina to explain every last thing.

The spinoff series Legend of Korra also does a fantastic job with its use of supernatural elements in a more modern setting. It integrates magic into what a more modern and presumably scientific and secular society.

But most importantly, a good fantasy world- in fact, any good fictional world- creates wonder. Not everything need be explained, and the best fantasy writers take note of this. Series like Avater, TES, Golden Sun, and even seemingly simple ones like Pokemon (fantasy need not be in a setting based on something that happened hundreds of years ago) work because they engage the reader/player/viewer with a sizable measure of information, but leave plenty of things for the audience to guess at.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

I don't know what I'd specifically like to see, but I do know you need to make sure that every inch of your sociopolitical system - every word related to your fantasy races' respective cultures - needs to have weight.

I run a play-by-post RPG forum. It's pretty much an everything-goes setting that mixes Urban Fantasy and High Adventure along with a ton of other small touches, but one of the common problems I've seen from contributors is that they come up with a deity or a new cultural group, they pioneer some new approach to magic and then, that's it. It's never anchored in the world. It's never explained and is never meant to feel native to the greater universe. It just *is*, and the rest of us players are expected to nod our heads and like it.

Make sure everything has a reason for being where it is and for doing what it does. Avoid putting stuff in "because it looks cool".

Here's my rule of thumb: the more utterly awesome an idea initially feels like, the more it's likely to end up being a flash in the pan. Concepts that grow on you and take shape bit by bit as nuggets of internal logic that snap together over the course of days feel a lot more cohesive. The longer and harder a conceptualization process is, the more satisfying the final product will be.

Otherwise you're stuck with fun ideas, yeah, but they're either very thinly veiled rip-offs or just not terribly good upon deeper inspection.

 

[uzo]

When I'm doing more 'fantasy' settings, I usually name things after the geography or something related to the concept. A city famous for gladiators I will name 'Arena', a deity of agriculture I will name 'Saffron', a town situated on a river in a well-known wine region I will name 'Vines-upon-Pelt' ('Pelt' being the river, known for having many otters).

This helps to flesh out your history and gives regions uniqueness. 'Vines-upon-Pelt' we can already say is famous for wine and pelts - you could stretch this further and have other regions jealous of their rich soils, fine wines, and luxurious otter pelts. However, with all the arable land turned over to wine production, Vines-upon-Pelt is absolutely dependent upon neighbouring regions to provide regular provisions such as wheat, cheese, and turnips.

Additionally, you could flesh out the religion and local customs too. As a big part of the local economy is based off the pelt of the local otter, it is considered a crime to go fishing in the Pelt River (much like shooting the King's Deer) because the fish are food for the otter, who in turn provide income and homes for the residents of Vines-upon-Pelt. Perhaps for only 1 week a year this is a special festival where people are allowed to catch a single fish each which is given as an offering to the aforementioned diety Saffron, to ensure a good harvest of succulent grapes and healthy otters.

Now, we can extend it further still. Arena, the regional power centre, is a metropolis most famous for its gladiatorial and military schools. The rural areas, Vines-upon-Pelt included, pay tribute to Arena's rulers in the form of local produce and taxes. Regular shipments of wine, in particular, are a necessity for keeping soldiers relatively pacified. Another thing could be prostitutes imported from the lower classes of the outlying towns. Perhaps some girls (boys, even?) are so desperate to avoid this fate they drown themselves in the Pelt River. Maybe a further local legend says that those who drown in the Pelt River reincarnate as otters ... thereby their fate is sealed and they will end up in Arena, in one form or another (perhaps a way to dissuade the suicides?).

So there ya go ... we've formed a superficial description of a local area in a fantasy setting which is far more detailed than anything in Eragon, for example. And they made a freakin' movie out of that shit.

As far as language goes, unless you're a linguist like Tolkien I wouldn't bother trying to develop anything in much detail. Stick with what you know - in this case, I presume, English. And most curse words are several hundred years old, they just weren't written down. And if you're uncomfortable with that, you can still be just as vulgar using perfectly acceptable vocabulary.

I always recall 'Twelfth Night' where Sir Toby tells Sir Andrew his new wig 'hangs like flax on a distaff' (ie looks like a giant penis on his head) and he hopes 'to see a housewife take thee between her legs and spin it off!' (ie 'sit on my face and tell me that you love me!'). Ahh joy. I got to say that line in high school whilst smiling at the school reverend and his pretty (but equally clueless) daughter. Shakespeare did indeed write for the common man!

EDIT: BTW ... It's very interesting going through everyone's posts on this. It's clear we all have rather strong views on how to write the next 'Game of Thrones'.

 

[Old Father Eternity]

With a little eleboration regarding peculiar laws of nature and how the people evolved to take advantage of them, magitek and alchemy could flourish in that particular dimension/universe, allowing for both fantasy and sci-fi elements to coexist.
Super-refined minerals and metals via alchemy for various crafting and construction purposes, magitek constructs, weapons and implants.

Language of course should be the one you are most familiar with and/or plan to make make it available, though a few words in a srange tongue here and there does not hurt. As to how the language is spoken, a per character based on their background
But there are of course wiser thoughts than mine out there.