What areas exist in your world?
 

OK, I was just wondering, since I'm sitting here working on my homebrew, what areas exist in your worlds? Specifically, do you have areas analogous to real-world civilizations, and if so, what are they?

For the record, I've got an area kinda like Medieval Europe(hasn't been named yet, the players just refer to it by the names of the different countries; however, I've been debating attaching the name Consoltian to it); I'm using Nyambe for Africa; The East is a huge land, of which Rokugan is but a part of it; and then there's the as-yet unnamed Far West, which will be a free land, similar to the Americas when the Native Americans lived here.

The Yuan Empire (Post-Genghis Mongol Empire) is the largest part of the Northern continent imc and extends from the Sea of Storms westward to the Dravoi Lands (Eastern Europe). The Yuan EMpire has its capital at Ti'en the City of Heaven

Across the Straights of Alba from Dravoi is Cruithne (sort of Celtic Britain-cum-Western Europe). The people of Cruithne are split into three groups - the Nemed of the North and West are divided into warring clans, the swamp dwelling lowlanders of 'the Tays' live in semi independent villages along the River Tay and the River Cymry. The Cymry are the Third group and the most 'Feudal-like' of the cultures having Knights and Castles.

Off the Eastern coast of Yuan is the Island of Khitai (SE Asia/Imdia) dominated by the Khmer and Chalda (Indian). South of Yuan is the Great Desert of Indehan (Central Asia/Middle East) which includes the 12 Cities of the Khali-Magra, the Nation of the Esharites and Bishnagar largest city in the world and center of global trade.

South of Indehan is the Continent of Anziko (Antedilluvian Africa - dominanted by a gigantic fresh water sea). Significantly influenced by legends of the Medieval Africa Empires - Mali, Kanem-Boru, Songhay, Axum and Hausa.

South East of Khitai is found the Many Islands of Hawaikinui (Polynesia) where my current campaign is set.

A currently Undefined Continent (An-Huaca) and long narrow island (Tolton) lie east of Hawaiki.

My world is fantasy Europe city states. North is a viking clanish area and to the east American Plains (horse) Indian/nomad tribes. The west is the sea, controlled by the Elfs, which for the most part is a pirate life (families have island bases but sail the seas, controlling it with an iron fist).

Hyboria
 

We game in Hyboria (of Conan) so we pretty much have it all:

Aquilonia: Holy Roman
Nemedia: Germany
Brythunia: Early Britton
Zingara: Spain/Italy
Argos: Greece
Koth: Poland
Stygia: Egypt
Black Kingdoms and Kush: Africa
Vendyha: India
Iranistan and Turan: Middle east
Khitai: China/Cathay
Kamboulja: S.E. Asia
Hyrkania: Mongols
Asgard & Vanaheim: Vikings
Hyperborea: exactly..but with necromancers




Em

Wow! It sounds like you guys create much bigger worlds than I do. I find that if I make a world that large and culturally diverse, it makes my main problem, that of getting PCs to absorb their culture and act within its customs and ideology, even harder.

I guess one of my worlds is vaguely like what the Byzantine Empire was between 550 and 630. But then, the analogy is very poor. It's also like Eriador after the annihilation of Arnor, which is problematic as it is not like the 7th century or 10th century Britain and Gaul on which Arnor appears to be based.

The other, not much to compare it to. It's an ice age.

Blackshirt 5, if you're interested in help/resources for making your far West land, let me know. I've done a lot of work in the past on North American RP.

Yeah, I have all of the medieval regions in my setting as well. The PCs are in the typical 'European' setting, with an isolated 'Far East' over a mountain range that they are aware of and wastelands & deserts to the south. The north has glacial barriers and the west is the great sea.

Beyond each of these boundries lies a separate world of sorts, and once I manage to lay out each they will get to adventure there frequently.

Call it boring, but it keeps things simple and even the fighter player can follow what is where without being reminded by a crude map.

My current setting centers around a league of far-flung city-states which either correspond or conflate some real world cultures.

Eris is ur-Imperial capital; Rome, Babylon, New York, maybe a bit of Czarist Moscow.

Gallina is a Venice from the Renaissance stuck in the caldera of a volcano.

Narrayan is sort of a French/Indian fusion. A port city ruled by merchants and lawyers.

Hannikum is kinda Aztec/Islamic {with a good deal of voodoo thrown in}; an ostensibly monotheistic theocratic city complete with ziggurats, slaves, and human sacrifice --oh, and domesticated dinosaurs.

Osamu-Ishii is Asian-themed. A mix of Polynesian, Japanese, and wuxia-films

Well my homebrew that I'm still developing is very Western Medieval. I figure if I want to do fantasy Asia, I'll do historical Asia with a touch of magic, not Rokugan.
However, I do have a few distant areas in my campaign that deviate from the Western European norm:
1. Naðor-A frozen kingdom located (literally) at the ends of the earth. The inhabitants are a hardy race of men (loosely) based on Scandinavian cultures as well as tribes of "barbarians" which are (very loosely) based on Inuit and native Siberian cultures

2. A desert kingdom which I haven't named yet-It's kind of a cross between Arabian and Spanish culture (kind of like Moorish Spain). The land contains some of the biggest cities of the world as well as riches and decadence.

3. The Lands of the East-Very mysterious oriental kingdoms. Because they are seperated from the main continent by thousands of miles of wasteland, there is little contact between the Lands of the East and the West. Travelers who have been there describe a very "exotic" and different culture. Unlike the West, where magic is feared and despised, it is practically venerated in the East. Unlike the main religion of the West, a monotheistic church, the people of the East practice a animistic and transendental religion. (Although this sounds kind of like fantasy Asia, it is NOT Oriental Adventures. Players can not play Samurai and Ninja from the East. In fact, I don't plan on players going to the "Lands of the East" in my campaign. I don't really have them developed much. They exist mainly for an explanation for the origin of many of the magics and magic items in my campaign.)

Do they eat minstrels there? ;)

MAIN CONTINENT
Dark Hegemony - the 'BOVD' nations ;)
Korthet - French/German/Italian/Spanish
Nordd - Norse
Pearl Coast (Qanin) - Middle East
Thane - Britain (more Celtic than English)
Vastride - Mongol/Native American

OUTLYING AREAS
Adlivun - Inuit/Siberian
Jahtan - Tibetan
Katayinga - Africa
Morderijistan - India/Maya
The Morningstar Isles - Kambujah (SE Asia), Khitai (China), Yozokuri (Japan)

Note that most of these areas are almost completely undeveloped, as most of my campaigns so far have taken place in either Thane or Morningstar Isles.

And I thought that no one would pick up on the obscure Monty Python reference!

This might sound ridiculous some GM's, but I develop my world as the players explore it.

Right now it only consists of a large continent, with large coastal cities and coastal trade/fishing. There is only one large inland city, which lies in the dead center of the traderoute between the two coasts.

In the largely unexplored wilderness in between there are occassional ruins of an old, lost empire.

As my players investigate more, I'll flesh out more of the world.

Cedric

That's actually how I'm developing my world right now Cedric. I only started with a vague idea of what was where to have references of what to tell my players, and now I'm filling out the world as they explore it. It gives me a sense of urgency, trying to stay one step ahead of my players. Also, they can give me really good ideas in game.

Ooo fun question

IMC there is Medieval Europe/Ren Faire/Arturo Celtic area, Howards Hyperborean style (lot of this) a Asian Hybrid (A little of everything as one confued culture) Horse Nomads, Fae, Tolkiens Shire (more or less) a Renisance Italo German Area (Venice mixed with German Flavor), Colonial American (Yankee Traders, sort of) Mageocracy, Psionic Dictatorship, Eastern European, Victorian British- Roman Imperium, Bronze Age like Matriarchy, something like Steven Brust's Dragera crossed with Glen Cook and an Indo European Society

I'm sort of busy with a book on dragons right now, so I haven't been able to do much with my setting. I'll relate what I do have.

The world of Ki has but three areas laid out. The first is The Wolf Folk Sea, a long, narrow body of water in the middle of the main continent. The southern shore is a land of grassy plains and low hills along the shore, with small rivers. Inland it gets more arid, the grasses fading away to scrub. Trade is by coster and caravan. Minerals, gems, spices, etc.

The northern shore is mountainous, spurs and ridges sometimes reaching down into the sea. The climate ranges from Mediterranean along the coast to Arctic in the highest peaks. The cities of the north shore are coastal. Independent city states engaged in trade with each other, and the cities of the south shore. The culture here is Phonecian/Sumerian.

The second area is known as The Unicorn Plains. A vast grassland crossed by a pair of large rivers to the north of the mountains north of The Wolf Folk Sea. Two cultures dwell here. One is a bit like the American frontier around 1830. Villages and small towns established along the rivers and the creeks and streams that feed them. The other can best be described as Japanese Mongols. Orcs who raise unicorns for riding, war, milk, food, and trade.

To the northwest of The Unicorn Plains is a forested land I haven't named yet. The culture here is about the closest to Central European as I'm apt to get. At the center of the plot complications here is a theocratic dwarven state, determined to bring their enlightenment to the rest of Ki, whether the rest of Ki wants it or not.

They are opposed by a secretive elven kingdom, and their goblin allies.

BTW, the elves are not overtly secretive. Matter of fact, they appear to be rather open. But, if you're good at reading people you'll learn that those elves don't tell you as much as you thought they did. They prefer to misdirect than stymie inquiries. The curious have a hobby, they get to keep their secrets, and everybody's happy.

The goblins enjoy the hunting rights they've gained through the alliance, and keep their councils to themselves.

Imaginatively, I base my campaign out of Venice.

Things get more original from there.

Well, to be fair, I've substituted demihumans into certain nations (germanic people are now elves, steppe nomads are orcs). And I've thrown in a couple of extra powers, like dragons ruling chosen towns, or marauding goblins roaming the countryside, or the Necromancers of Babylon. But for the most part... it's just history simmered gently in the Pan of Fantasy.

Nope thats exactly how my world developed - it is a group of seperate settings combined into a single world.

So for instance I started about 20 yrs ago doing very much vanilla stuff which became the basis of Cruithne but soon shifted (as I got older) into more exotic stuff like the Mongol-Inspired Yuan Empire (Genghis Khan is one of my personal irl heroes).

About 10 yrs ago Anziko was developed as an entirely new campaign and then placed south of the Yuan Empire with Idehan in between as my Anziko PCs travelled North seeking a lost city in the Desert. (I've got a huge folder of notes on Afrikan myth stored at my Parents house somewhere). Later the descendents of these characters made contact with Cruithne via the Trade hub of Bishnagar

My current campaign is set in Mythic Polynesia and although it includes some cursory contact with the coast of Khitai. The Peoples of Hawaiki no nothing of the Cultures on the Continents.

As of right now...a land mass and a few islands. I know I'm lame! :(

My campaign takes place in the year 2113 -- 2,113 years after the fall of the First Empire, which was like the Roman Empire, except that with the magic at its disposal, it spanned the Earth and was colonizing several nearby planes.

Something Very Bad happened, but no-one is really sure what -- Divination magic won't reach back farther than that date, and the thousand years of war with demons destroyed most records.

(More on history here: http://klimt.cns.nyu.edu/~fishman/DnD/dhe-history.html)

By this point, one thousand years since the demon-hordes were driven back, the human kingdom of Luxoria is experiencing a Renaissance. They have peace, prosperity, and good neighbors -- elves to the west and dwarves to the east. It's a land of plenty under the watchful eye of Raelor, the LG Sun God, and his pantheon of assorted non-evil co-Gods.

For geography, I'm using Earth. Luxoria is the Great Valley of California. The elves live in coastal redwood forests (which cover most of the west coast). The dwarven Barrony takes over what in our world is the Sierra Nevada range. To the north are misty fey lands, to the south are wastelands.

(There's a picture here: http://klimt.cns.nyu.edu/~fishman/DnD/kingdom.html)

-- Nifft

There is a long gone Atlantis style empire that has left a great legacy throughout the world. A gypsy-like race but heavily waterborne claim to be the descendents.

The most powerful player today is the Dorian Empire, kind of like the Holy Roman Empire mixed with the wars of the English and French.

North are "barbarians" based on the native americans of the Pacific Northwest and the Inuit further north.

There is a race of very ancient and mysterious people similar to Tibetans.

There is an alliance of City-States with influences drawn from ancient Greece, the Hanseatic League, and the United States (it includes an occult conspiracy).

There is an era recently like a Quixotic Spain, but currently in a civil war that has destroyed the high ideals of the older generation.

The east is based on dark ages europe, with a more rugged ethic and constant warfare/changing borders.

Another area spans from Egypt to the Central-East.

The far east has a Chinese like empire and south is a conglomerate of African and Aztec culture, with a high priest-king who demands tribute and human sacrifice from feudal states in order to stave off the cosmological end of the world.

Out from there across the ocean are countless islands that get more and more strange...

In Urbis, I have quite a few parallels to the real world:

Atalus: A mixture of Rome and Venice.
The Flannish Cities: Northern Germany and the Netherlands.
Gawaris Desert: Arabian peninsula, with a definite Arabian Nights theme.
Hamajan Mountains: Himalaya.
Lake of Dreams: Egyptian and Babylonian/Sumerian influences.
Norfjell Wastes: Scandinavia.
Parginian Rim: Italy, Spain, and Portugal.
The Siebenbund: Switzerland (the image of Swiss halflings was just too cool to resist...).
Magrith, Surtus, and Calturus: Venus, Mars, and Pluto as imagined by H.P. Lovecraft.

Of course, this being Urbis, these aren't identical to their real world equivalent, but all have their unique twists - like lots of city-states with populations ranging into the millions, magical Nexus Towers that suck the life force out of slum dwellers, golem-drawn railroads...