>>66942901
You should have done ages or something for them to show as an example of how it works so you could ease them into it.

>>66942901
I don't see the point.

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>>66942918
I did a bunch of work on how the orbital mechanics of various bodies in the solar system worked.

I based the calendar off of that. I'll just explain briefly:
>every year has either 286 or 287 days, it alternates because the year is 286.502 days long
>There are 6 months in a year ranging from 46 to 48 days in length, always an even number, this is because the largest of three moons has a 47.75 day orbital period
>Each month is separated into two halves, High and Low, this is because the second moon is in a resonant orbit with the largest, and has 1/2 the orbital period
>each week is 8 days long because the smallest moon is an a resonant orbit and has a 1/6 orbital period
>each year is set into a Time or Age, the current age/time is declared by the current leader of the religion that invented the calendar. The current age is the 87th year of The Time of Division.

Lol is this what happens when someone from worldbuilding general actually has a group to spew their autism on just use the real world calendar if you want players to remember dates

>>66942956
Well, clearly you enjoyed yourself and I won't fault you for that, but most players just want to play. Their ages won't matter for the most part, so to your players they probably just see it as busywork that gets in the way of playing.

You've given them a calendar they can reference and engage with, and that's good enough, I think. When you start spouting weird dates, it will give your game a sense of verisimilitude. If they can't make sense of it, then it's their fault since they already have a calendar.

>>66942956
>I did a bunch of work
Rookie mistake.

>>66942956
>I did a bunch of work on how the orbital mechanics of various bodies in the solar system worked.
Yeah, but did you prep anything for the actual game?

>>66942956
This would all be super cool to design if one of your players came to you and told you that they wanted to play an astronomer, and wanted detailed astrological bodies to study, but designing all this detail and assuming the players would be interested in it was a mistake. To most players all it amounts to is irrelevant background decoration. If you're all about astronomy, that's cool. Feature a little bit of it in some of your adventures. But expecting the players to be on board with it playing a central role in how they play the game will quickly wear out their patience. Unless you get super lucky and find the perfect player for you who shares your interest, in which case, congrats, you won the lottery.

>>66942901
>>66942956
So, was this a scifi or fantasy campaign? If it was scifi, I can see the point of doing all of this work, but a fantasy world doesn't really need a detailed analysis of the orbital mechanics behind keeping it bound to its star in a livable orbit.
I don't wanna discourage you from doing what you want when creating a setting, but do keep in mind that players are probably not going to be interested in whatever you applied yourself to the most, especially if it's minutiae we don't really think about in real life.

>>66942956
Providing the calendar is fine, but it looks like you may have frontloaded them a bit hard. I would have provided the calendar, told them to add 1 year to age per 4.5 years they had written down (making very sure that they know aging effects are also accounted for in the same way), and work towards getting them fluent in the calendar, such as by using the in-universe term, then stating exactly how many days you mean before they can get too confused.

Also
>3 moons
You did model how that would effect the tides, right?

I created a calendar too anon.
>4 seasons
>each 30 days long exactly
>120 day years
>each solstice is a national if not international holiday
You see the goal is to make the calendar easier to use so that players will remember dates... you fucktard.

>>66942901
Autistic worldbuilding that doesn't serve the fun of a campaign is a detriment to the game.
Using a weird calendar, unless there is a plot relevant reason, is an example of worldbuilding not serving the fun of the game.

>>66942956
Jesus christ. Write a novel, and even then no one will care.

>>66942956
>I did a bunch of work on how the orbital mechanics of various bodies in the solar system worked.

"Hey guys, want to play D&D?"
"Sure, I've heard it's really fun!"
"Perfect, we'll get together on saturday and spend an hour or two learning about fictional calendars."

what the fuck were you thinking OP?

>>66945997
>You did model how that would effect the tides, right?
Fuck off. OP is already a retard for modelling orbital mechanics in anything but an extremely hard sci fi game played with a bunch of engineers or Kerbal autists. In any other scenario that shit is irrelevant.

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>>66947296
calm down, spaz. I'm sure it was sarcasm.

>>66942901
>tell them to also calculate their ages using the adjusted year length
This is wrong. Don't do this. Even Exalted, which explicitly has an alternate calendar with a 425-day year, still has growth rate adjusted to the calendar so you don't have to do the bullshit busywork of recalculating how old your character is in Earth years vs. Creation years because it's fucking bullshit.

>>66946199
Man I wish I was playing in a Rune Factory Campaign
Sounds Comfy.

>>66947278
Kek

>>66946199
>30 days
>not 28 for even four-week months

>>66947608
The main quest of the campaign is to fix the calendar

>>66947647
So, roman empire situation where some ruler added an extra period of time named after himself? Except instead of an extra month, it's two extra days for each month?

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>>66945997
>You did model how that would effect the tides, right?
I calculated the relative tidal strength my three moons exert on my planet. Previously at a point in the distance past there was a single major moon. This was ruined for everyone when the moon got cracked into a lot of pieces.

I calculated the relative strength of each moon then graphed them using this formula:
>0.632349537sin((pi2x)/7.235)+2.082950733sin((pi2x)/21.705)+1.988557227*sin((pi2x)/43.41), x from 0 to 43.41

When graphed it looks like pic related. The Y axis is in tidal strength relative to the strength the moon exerts on the earth. The moons are in a 1:3:6 resonant orbital period pattern, and so their cycle repeats every time the furthest moon completes it's orbital cycle (43.41 days).

The pattern has a very large tidal bulge towards the beginning and end of each cycle with a much more calm middle period.

>>66947296
>>66947343
I actually did do it.

>>66945908
It is a game set in a fantasy setting experiencing late industrialization, so the mid to late 1800s.

>>66945673
Yea, one of my players compared it to the Urza saga actually, which I found odd.

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>>66949828

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>>66949828
What is wrong with you?

>>66942901
>hey guys instead of using time lengths you know by heart, instead learn this new shit just for my game. you'll never use it again, but I want you to expend time and energy learning it!"
gee faggot, what do you think?

>>66942956
>I did a bunch of work on how the orbital mechanics of various bodies in the solar system worked.
holy shit no one cares.

>>66950576
>>66950552
I think it sounds kinda neat. It gives a setting a sense of depth.

>>66947296
>not catching a joke this slow-pitched
I don't think you get to go off about autism, anon

>>66949828
I mean you do you. But I hope you understand that you can't expect players to care about that level of detail. You're doing this for your own enjoyment.

>>66950633
I think what would give the setting a lot more "sense of depth" is having actual places and social groups and plots that involve the two. Knowing that my DM spent a shitload of time on figuring out the tides and creating a calendar that he expects us to learn would only make me think that he's going to expect that same level of insane attention to meaningless minutia on my end.

I would still play, but tell you my character is 'almost middle aged, but his parents died before he learned his birth year and doesn't care' to make a point. If you were cool with it we'd carry on as normal.

>>66942901
>Did I do wrong? Was it too much to ask?
Yeah, I'm afraid so. I know it may seem a very trivial thing to you and many other Anons, to do as you asked. But what I'm seeing is a DM who failed to "read the table" and have a good grasp of the kind of game your players want to play.

>>66951326
Consider the following: Players are expendable. If someone doesn't want to play your game they can leave.

>>66949828
The setting is cool, I hope you let your players do astronavigation by hand if you put all of this effort in

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>>66949828
Holy shit, anon, that's the express reason why I don't use more than one moon. Here's to you, you absolute fucking madman.

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>>66949828
Holy shit, is this what people expect out of their GM?

>>66954303
No, we just find it fun.

>>66942956
wasn't it easier to tell them there's only 6 months and that they would be one year younger every 4?

>>66942901
This thread is pure insanity
Tell me more about this setting Anon

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>>66954689
I post about this setting on /tg/ fairly frequently. I both write fiction in the setting and run campaigns in the setting.

I have more info in the map thread over here:
>>66940439
>>66940463
>>66940480
>>66940516
>>66940543
Here is another map of a textured political map.

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>>66949828
How can you be so smart yet so dumb?

>>66954802
We call that autism.

>>66954802
Autism is literally this.

>All of these people hating on quality worldbuilding
The fuck is wrong with you /tg/? This shit is fantastic.

>>66954773
Please tell me you have at least one hobby that isn't related to this world of yours. Preferably one which exercises your mind and body like golf, or at least one that gets you outside and socializing with real humans.

>>66954303
OP literally started the thread with how his autism was a turn off for the players.

>>66954884
Quality worldbuilding is a great thought exercise, but should never be presented to your players in this level of detail. Nobody but the creator cares, and most players are immediately turned off by this crap they don't care about. The best worldbuilding is done in conjunction with your players with a level of detail that they decide.

>>66954968
>The best worldbuilding is done in conjunction with your players with a level of detail that they decide.
>The best worldbuilding is done in conjunction with your players
No. Stop pushing this meme of 'collaborative worldbuilding'. Most players are a pack of retards lacking a single creative bone in their bodies.

>>66954968
>but should never be presented to your players in this level of detail.
Why the fuck not? This is the kind of shit I crave as a player. Give me more GMs like this.

>Nobody but the creator cares
False. The creator just needs to find someone that does care.

>The best worldbuilding is done in conjunction with your players with a level of detail that they decide.
The best worldbuilding is done with effort and passion over extended periods. If a player doesn't care about something, they can ignore it unless it has a mechanical or narrative impact. If they want to be involved in worldbuilding, they can ask to be.

Your preferred methods and level of worldbuilding are not the only way to do things. Take your hobbyhorse out of your asshole.

>>66954884
Games and novels alike, most worldbuilding is bikeshedding and window dressing at the end of the day.

>>66954995
t. unpublished author

>>66955099
If you think 'collaborative worldbuilding' produces compelling settings and plots your head is so far up your arse that whoever can pull it own will be crowned the next king of england.

>>66955099
Shit response.

>>66955122
>Your head is up your ass if you want to collaborate with other people

>>66954884
like every product it needs to be sold well.
Nobody wants a fucking calendar as the first document in a game. what the game is about and what the players interact with should be the introduction of the game.

>>66942956
I'm probably in the minority but I'd love some autistic worldbuilding like that.

>>66955135
Production of settings by committee, unless there is a unified creative vision, does nothing but muddle the themes and overall tone of a setting. One needs only look as far as games like Dawn of Worlds to see this.

Most players neither want or are able to produce a collaborative coherent product, and will simply either disengage or answer what ever is best for their own character.

>>66955152
>Nobody wants a fucking calendar as the first document in a game.
No, but every quality setting book is going to have a section dedication to chronology and astronomy.

>>66942956
You did nothing wrong OP, I wish I was a player with a GM that cared that much about developing an original setting to experience.

>>66942956
Your setting is good OP. Don't worry.

>>66955191
Players also don't like the sensation that they lack agency over their character before and during the game. Collaboration is the heart of RPGs and is what differentiates them from novels. Your view that collaborative storytelling is synonymous with design by committee is extremely telling about your views on player agency and engagement.

>>66955327
Players participate in the game through the actions of their characters, not by designing the setting with you. That's why they're players and not co-GMs.

>>66955342
The setting exists in the service of those characters and should be able and ready to adapt to them for greater mutual enjoyment. The players' contribution to the setting need not be direct, you see.

>>66955400
Give me an example of something you consider good player world building.

>>66955436
Not that anon, but this is roughly what I remember of a conversation between me and one of my players.
>"GM-kun, I want to play a barbarian"
>"Well I have a variety of barbarian tribes in my setting. My favorite are the guys raiding the crashed starships for skymetal."
>"I was thinking more like playing a barbarian tribe that rides dinosaurs."
>"That sounds cool. How did they tame dinosaurs?"
>"I dunno, magic?"
>"So like they use druids to shape the dinosaur's mind as it grows up? How about they hand them out as some kind of bonded pet?"
>"I want my barbarian to ride her mother's raptor."
>"Okay, maybe they're not bonded at first and she has to earn its trust as they travel?"
>"I like that lets go with that."

I think the work you put in is crazy and respectable but as a player Id care about an in universe calendar as much as the one in real life which is to say not at fucking all.

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>>66954773
>>66954773

Aight. Here we go, OP.

Tell me everything.
I want to know who the superpowers are in your world.
The Biggest cultures.

What each country's people look like.

Fucking hit me.

>>66955436
The DM asked for suggestions for ports we could visit during an extended boat trip. Someone suggested a port that was an important religious site for the cleric. After hashing out some details, the DM filled in the blanks and it was a really cool session.

>>66942901
This didn't happen. No one is as stupid as OP claims to be.

>>66955492
You're talking about Golarion and there are actual dinosaur riding barbarians already. See, I don't have a problem with shit like this, but it isn't worldbuilding. Your player is just asking for something and you are helping them out. They are not making any real decisions or providing anything more than absolutely basic input. If this is what constitute collaborative worldbuilding then it hardly qualifies.

This is still the GM providing all the actual content so it is tonally consistent with the rest of the setting.

>>66955539
He's trying real hard to convince us he's this retarded though

>>66955544
Moving goalposts

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>>66942956

>>66955530
See, all that really means is that up until that point the GM didn't have anything planned. I for one dislike both playing in games like this and GMing games like this. When it turns into asking the GM for something and getting that each time it turns into a mess of ideas with hardly anything overarching it all. What's worse is many players will demand things either absolutely butt fuck retarded or have no ideas.

>>66955539
Read the thread. I think it did.

>>66955580
>You're having badwrongfun
>My players are retards, so all players are retards

>>66955625
I would say the number of players who are retarded is far higher than competent players.

>>66955544
No, I'm not. I'm running my own homebrewed setting where the primary world is post humanity Earth with nanomachines as magic, the gods are mad AI who recreated their creators from the corrupted gene banks of a crashed space station, and every race is actually an offshoot of genetically modified humanity. The Junal tribe didn't exist until my player asked for them. It's collaborative worldbuilding, even if I'm doing most of the work fitting them into the setting. But she's actually as autistic as am I so she wrote out the god they worship and their cultural norms and everything, so it wasn't too much work anyway.

>>66955400
>The setting exists in the service of those characters
No it doesn't. Not every game has to be about the player characters. Not every player wants that.

>>66955492
That's not world building. That's not even character building.

>>66955768
By necessity every game is about the player characters, because without them showing up there wouldn't be a game. Sure, it doesn't have to be directly written by and for them, but the spotlight should never leave them.

>>66955785
Worldbuilding isn't just autism taking over and explaining exactly how the astrophysics of trinary lunar systems works. Sometimes it's as mundane as a single tribe.

>>66955790
>By necessity every game is about the player characters
Not at all. It just told from the parties collective respective, but they do not need to be central to the plot or world. At all. The spotlight can easily be on something else and there's nothing wrong with that, as player characters are not main characters or even major powers in every game.

>>66955768
>Not every game has to be about the player characters.
Ah yes, I love the game where I play as Bumble Fartnugget, the lowly dirt farmer and the GM tells me of the adventures of the legendary hero. Such fun.

>>66955820
No, every game needs to stroke player ego and enable wish fulfillment otherwise there's no reason for them to play.

>>66942901
>I did a bunch of work
Nope. Anytime my players want something in "my world" I have them flesh it out. I simply integrate it.

>>66955820
>The spotlight can easily be on something else and there's nothing wrong with that
No, the spotlight cannot be on something else. Because then you're sitting there dictating to your players what NPCs did. If you want to do that, then go try to write a book.

>>66955809
Nah anon, worldbuilding is building the actual world. Saying that this tribe is called Shibbledibble and they ride giant badgers isn't worldbuilding, figuring out how they fit into the geopolitical landscape, what relations they have with the surrounding cultures, and how their presence in the world affects the PCs is.

>>66955873
>>66955824
You don't have to be the biggest dick heroes in the setting, that's silly.

>>66955882
>No true worldbuilder starts at ...
Worldbuilding isn't always macro in scope. Sometimes you have to start with a single PC and their place in the world before you do anything else.
Also:
>Tell story of PC's origin
>"world building is how their presence affects the PCs"
bigthonk.jpg

>>66955895
No, I would gladly play as Bumble Fartnugget, the lowly dirt farmer, as long as it's a game about being dirt farmers and the story focuses on me and my fellow dirt farmers. If the story goes anywhere besides us dirt farmers, it seems kind of silly for us to even be there, doesn't it? Because then, it's just a bunch of sweaty nerds listening to a lecture, and that's not much fun.
I don't care about being the biggest dick in the room, I care about the story being about my dick.

>>66942901
>hand players a calendar
Okay. This is fine.
>tell them that all dates/times/etc. in game will be made in reference to this calendar
All right, makes sense.
>tell them to also calculate their ages using the adjusted year length
Nope, this was a mistake.
See, players are fine with whatever flavor you have to the world so long as you don't make them engage in too much complex thought. They're fine being told something, and may even try to remember it. But the point at which you make them do additional math or try to figure out how the physical mechanics you've described actually WORK, you've lost them.

>>66955809
>Sometimes it's as mundane as a single tribe.
What is the name of this tribe? Why is that their name? What is their primary source of food? How do they obtain it? What significance does it have in their culture? What are their gender and sexual norms? Do they reserve any specific colors for use to specific people within the tribe and why? How do they keep track of time? Where do they go for water? Who teaches their hunters to hunt and how? How are these lessons passed on between generations? What's their preferred material for hunting tools? Do they have any special rituals they perform during or after or before a hunt? Why do they perform these rituals and what do they mean to them? Do they create jewelry and out of what materials? Are their any patterns in their clothes and jewelry that have meaning and what are they? Any ritualistic or aesthetic body modifications like tattoos, piercings, or brands and what do these markings mean to these people? Can we explore their phonology? What are their consonants and vowels? Does the language appear tonal? Do I notice any similarities between their word for spear or stick with another language I know? Do they augment their spoken word with specific gestures or even a fully developed sign language? Is it common to see their women in public? Even when pregnant or with an infant? What about their toddlers, do I see them playing freely or are they kept under strict observation? How old do children appear to be when they're put to chores? Why do their parents choose that general age? What about their elderly? What roles do they appear to play and why? Are they adorned with any special garments or regalia? Do I hear singing at all while at the village? Any musical instruments? What do these people call the sun(s)? The moon(s)? Do they have names for the stars or constellations? What does the village smell like on average? Do they cook in individual huts or do they have some sort of kitchen set up?

>>66955895
>"Your players are the spotlight of your game"
>You just want to be the strongest heroes
I think you're just intentionally ignoring the point, but just in case: Spotlight and power are not the same thing. Just sitting around a table dictating to your players what your NPCs did is weird and masturbatory. Write a book instead.

>>66956057
So you're saying the GM can never take the spotlight from players?

>>66956049
>Name
>History
>Hunting materials
>Rituals
These things are important.
>Village smell
>Names of the sun, moon, and stars
>Language tone
These are autism.

>>66942956

Does this calendar impact on the game in any way? Have you designed a puzzle where they have to unlock a vault by arranging an orrery's star positions appropriate to the month?

I appreciate the effort into making something distinctive but while your months are different lengths I take it that your day is still 24 hours long. Unless it measurably impacts on the gameplay don't burden the group with it at the start, just mention it when it becomes relevant.

>>66955995
>Sometimes you have to start with a single PC and their place in the world before you do anything else.
That's called character generation, not worldbuilding.

>>66956085
History will involve the names of the sun(s), the moon(s), and stars, which will involve the specifics of their spoken languages (or maybe even written, if it's taboo to speak audibly of certain things). The village smell is a good indicator of the cleanliness and health of their general environment, their cooking methods and habits, and even vanity items like perfumes or incense, which could lead to a whole host of traditions to explore.

>>66956134
No anon, if the world isn't centered around the players and their characters it has no reason to exist and shouldn't be bothered with.

>>66956085
Trust me, the village smell gives the players a lot more useful information about the place than the name, and so should be a higher priority.

>>66956080
Can never? No. You can do whatever you want Should never? Yes. A cutaway gag or cutaway exposition works in comics or TV because it's a visual medium, and passing PoV to another character in a movie works because there's no players involved behind the scenes. But you shouldn't move the spotlight away from what's happening around the players. Dictating the story isn't a good way to run a game in my opinion. Unless you're drawing the cutaway like a comic or something, but if you are holy shit that is way too much work.

>>66956170
No, fuck your druid, fuck your ranger, and fuck anyone that has enhanced smelling as a racial trait.

>>66956151
The game should be centered around the PCs, not the world, you absolute retard. At least do the ironic strawman right.

>>66956180
>Should never? Yes.
Then why have a dedicated GM? Why not just have each player rotate the role of GM or storyteller in turns as the session goes on?

>>66956191
>thinking you need enhanced smell to determine whether or not the locals poop on the street

>>66956205
The world is contained within the game, mouthbreather. If I have an apple and the apple is in a box and that box is moving around a person, guess what? The apple is also moving around the person, numbnuts. Objects tend to inherit traits from their parent container.

>Strawman
Use the word correctly, for fucks sake.

>>66956138
This is one of those cases where autism seems more important than it actually is. Because no player is going to ask what their sun or moon is called unless you specifically bring it up. These things simply aren't important to running the actual game, even if they seem super important to you in the moment.
>>66956170
Only if it's out of the norm. If it's within the norm, then there's no point in bringing it up.

>>66956206
>You should never dictate to your players what NPCs they can't see or interact with are doing
>"Then why have a DM at all? Just have players tell you whats going on"
Because if you don't have a DM then there's no world to take part in? You can't honestly be serious, so I'm a little confused as to why you'd even try to equate these two things.

>>66956257
>Because no player is going to ask what their sun or moon is called
I do it all the time. I love conlangs and always put pressure on GMs for more details in and out of game.

>Only if it's out of the norm.
You don't know what the normal smell is for a village unless you ask that. Or am I not supposed to have any agency as a player and trust my GM to tell me that specific detail?

>>66956283
>Because if you don't have a DM then there's no world to take part in
Not true at all, the players can build the world and run it together, without a DM.

>>66956335
You're reminding of that shit comic where the players succeed from their GM and declare every encounter dead and themselves receiving enormous amounts of loot.

SIFYN, friends, SIFYN
Save It For Your Novel

>>66956312
>I do it all the time. I love conlangs and always put pressure on GMs for more details in and out of game.
I'm glad to hear that. Honestly, more people need to have weird interests. But you should know by now that it isn't the norm. It's an idiosyncrasy specific to you, and probably the people you play with now if they've been exposed to you enough.
>You don't know what the normal smell is for a village unless you ask that.
No, but your character does. So unless it's out of the norm, then "like normal" should suffice as an answer. Which most of the really deep autism questions can be answered that way.

>>66943040
Based and Hack & Slash -pilled

>>66956335
Oh, so you're being intentionally obtuse. Well, for the record, moving the spotlight away from your players has nothing to do with that at all.

>>66956397
>But you should know by now that it isn't the norm
neither is playing ttrpgs, why is this important?

>but your character does.
No they don't. A character doesn't know anything the player isn't also aware of.

>>66956469
>Why is this important?
Because DMs don't have to cater to your specific idiosyncrasy.
>A character doesn't know anything the player isn't also aware of.
This is some advanced thespian autism right here. So that means your character can never have a knowledge skill you yourself do not possess?

>>66956417
So which player should the spotlight be focused on, why should it be on them, when is it okay for another to player to take that spotlight, and why?

>>66956547
>Because DMs don't have to cater to your specific idiosyncrasy.
Yes they do, I'm the player. If they don't want to, they can say so and have to allow me to do it for them.

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>>66956469
> A character doesn't know anything the player isn't also aware of.
.... Tell me you're not serious.

>>66956559
>which player should the spotlight be focused on
It isn't a zero-sum game. But if you must play favorites: Then whoever you like the most.
>why should it be on them
You're the one arbitrarily dividing them, so you tell me.
>when is it okay for another to player to take that spotlight, and why?
See above.

But keeping the spotlight on your players, plural, as a whole is fairly easy. And you're probably already doing it, because I doubt greatly that you actually sit at your table and dictate what NPCs do in the background where they aren't visible to your players.

>>66956578
If the character is aware of something, their player is also aware of it.

>>66956240
>The world is contained within the game, mouthbreather.
That's where you are wrong, retard. It is the game that is contained within the world, not the other way around.

>>66956616
>If a character is aware of something their player is aware of it
You should play more Time Mage. Temporal recursion is a bitch.
But yes, that's usually true. That doesn't mean a character cannot have knowledge the player themselves does not possess. If you're playing a random peasant then your character knows what a random peasant town normally smells like, even if you do not not. So when you inquire about what the town smells like, then your DM can say "nothing out of the ordinary" and it completely answers your question. It may not be autistic in its specifics as you like, but it is an answer.

>>66956612
>But if you must play favorites: Then whoever you like the most.
Terrible.

>You're the one arbitrarily dividing them, so you tell me.
I'm not though, I asked you to. And you say "whoever you like the most."

>See above
Ok, but what if no one else is your favorite?

>because I doubt greatly that you actually sit at your table and dictate what NPCs do in the background where they aren't visible to your players.
I do all the time, and my players enjoy it. Between letters from NPCs, hidden threats, rumors, and more. It's really fun.

>>66942901
>>66942956
Can I just tell you that my character is 32 years old and you just be ok with that?

>>66956656
The world does not exist beyond the game mate. That's not how this works. If you want your world to exist outside of a specific game, just write a novel and spare us your fanfics.

I think the only calendar stuff I told my players in my home game was:

> 360 days in a year, 6 days to a week, 5 weeks in a month, days are 24h long.
> Current year naming is based on some historical event that you really don't need to worry about unless you REALLY want to get into the history/lore of the world. The year when we begin the game is XXXX

>>66956696
Even if he writes a novel, the world doesn't exist outside of a session of reading said novel. It's all individual instances of a basic world template that might be shared between multiple readers, but without a reader the world within a book is undefined and meaningless.

>>66956670
>Intentionally ignoring my word choice of players
I know you're just being intentionally obtuse, so I'm not gonna bother responding to this bit.
>I do all the time, and my players enjoy it.
Great. Unironically, no sarcasm, that's great. I'm glad it works for you and your group. It isn't how I run, nor would I like to play in something like that. I bet you have a pretty thespian group that gets pretty deep into character.

>>66956729
Why would you even tell them that? It's meaningless information to your players and has nothing to do with the game being played.

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>>66954920
>exercises your mind and body like golf
>like golf

>>66956739
>I know you're just being intentionally obtuse
No, I'm just using the answer you gave. If you didn't want to give that answer, why did you? If you don't want to answer a question, then don't. Just stay quiet.

>>66956760
Your team sucks. Literally, just the worst.

>>66956776
No, you're not. You're intentionally ignoring the fact that I said players, not player, and acting as if that's some gotcha. It's not. I'm clearly referring to your players as a collective group, and there's no way to infer that you should fixate on a single player from my word choices. I pointed out that you are the one arbitrarily dividing the player group into individuals, and you ignored that too. I then flippantly gave an answer intended to underscore how nonsensical that line of questioning is. But congratulations, you've baited me.

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>>66942901
I fucking love your autism OP. Don't listen to these guys, make a new rule set for this world and sell it online. Follow your fucking dreams man.

>>66956818
>if you must play favorites: Then whoever you like the most.
This is what you said, and it implies a singular player. You started in the right direction by mentioning that it's not a zero-sum game, but then you went the opposite direction for some reason.

>>66942901

Kickstarter this lol.

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OP here. I am confused by all of this. The response seems really polarizing.

>>66956914
whats the tech level of the countries? politics? cultures?

>>66956914

Basically it's either

A. People who recognize that 99.9% of players won't care about this kind of detail and will resent being asked to

or

B. People who think this shit is hilarious.

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>>66956914
Op, here's my advice, the naysayers want a different experience from RPGs than you do.l Follow your dreams, develop it, post a full ruleset and lore somewhere on the internet, the people who don't want that kind of thing from games can ignore it, but the people who do want it will fucking love it.

>>66956941
*I say follow your dreams.

>>66956941
>>66956914

True. I wouldn't hate having to do this, but I can understand why some people would. JUST DO IT

>>66956205
No, the story should be centered around the PCs, and the story is placed in the world.

>>66954773
Birdboi is that you?

>>66942956
I appreciate your work anon, but you should really calculate your players' ages yourself

>>66949828
Your autism is glorious. Please tell us more about your setting.

>>66942901
Seeing as you made a calendar, did you make any sort of magical modifiers? The idea of specific signs and constellations(and decans etc.) affecting magic is old and present in real life magic systems, so why not inject that as a use for a calendar? Check out GURPS Thaumatology for an example of how to split that up.

>>66956914
You are a wonderful specimen, do not change.
Although you might want to take into consideration that your players can accommodate far fewer details in their heads than you do.

>>66942956
Always Unique...

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>>66942901
>hand players a calendar
>tell them to also calculate their ages
>>66942956
>orbital mechanics
>>66949828
>I calculated the relative tidal strength my three moons exert on my planet.

>>66942901
>Did I do wrong?
Yes, you failed to realize that your group is not as autistic as you are. I mean this completely literally, and not as an insult.
>Was it too much to ask?
Yes. It is unreasonable to assume that anyone else is invested in your world to the point that they give two shits about the calendar system, especially before the campaign has even begun. You can choose to be okay with them not being invested, or you can help them get invested by running a great campaign, and maybe then they will.

>>66956914
Here's what I would want you to do if I were a player in your game.

Scrap having to calculate ages so you know when your birthday is. People live for the same number of years they do on Earth. Keep the calendar though because I find fantasy calender's to be neat.

The problem with having this is that it isn't just going to apply to calculating ages now at character creation.

Imagine a scenario where a player asks about an NPC "How old is this guy?" How do you answer ? If you give them their in setting age then the players have to do the math again, in their head during the game to get to what they wanted to know "How do they look?".

If you give them the equivalent in Earth years, well then what was the point of them doing their calculations ? What's the point in having it at all ?

I'd tolerate - probably even like it - it in a novel because at any point in a novel I can stop and think for as long as I damn well please. But you can't stop and think like that in a conversation of any kind (especially when you're acting like you are when putting on a character) without chipping away at the verisimilitude. And you already HAVE to do more than enough of that in a ttrpg as it is, don't add more, it just isn't worth it.

>>66942901
Here's what you do in situations like this.
Make the system for yourself. If the players ask about it, elaborate. If not, keep it out of their sight.

>>66956914

Further to >>66963178

Even Tolkien gave all his dates in the Gregorian calendar. Why ?

Watsonian: The text of LotR is a translation into English, as part of this translation the dates were converted.
Doylist: It's easier for the reader to make sense of, they don't have to refer to an index with a calendar.

>>66942956
You're like that creepy science teacher that talks about how his wife was his first date

>>66955133
Shit response.

>>66956312
You will never be free

>>66942901

no anon everyone wants to learn a new fucking calendar system when they play a game.

>>66955209
>quality

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OP, you have to understand, and I'm going to explain this the best I can. The only kind of person I can think of that would care about that shit would be a pedantic, autistic asshole. If I was in your group, I would not only not care about any of this shit, but I would feel INSULTED that you would think that I would care, because, to me, the only kind of people who would ask about that stuff would be a pedantic asshole. Thus, when you present me with this kind of autism, I would feel as if you were calling me, or thought that I was, a pedantic asshole.

>>66942956
So it's clear that this is the kind of thing you care a lot about in your world. And that's fine. Make the world that you want to make.

But when your players are showing up to play, they're not looking to fuck around with your made-up calendar. They're looking to play D&D.

Now sometimes your made up calendar, or your orbital mechanics, might be relevant - or might just be something to sell the secondary world. One of your players might be keeping watch at night and find themselves just idly looking up at the twin moons in the sky. The players could be looking to plan something over a stretch of time, and this would be a good time to mention "by the way, this world's calendar is different. Here's the quick version of it." And by quick I mean "their year only lasts 286 days, and their months are about 6-7 weeks long."

>>66942901
>>66942956
>>66949828
God bless you, you wonderful DM. We need more like you.

>>66942901
I love it OP
If they cant spend a fucking minute doing some simple calculations to determine their adjusted age they arent gonna be very ideal players for this game you are running, but I love the effort and desire.
I've always wanted to put more CRUNCH in my games but trying to get them to play a bit of GURPS rather than fucking DnD is proving to be a chore
weh

>>66962721
It gets worse. Go to his spread sheets he linked. He has population densities for every country. He’s mentioned he calculated planetary albedo before.

>>66942901
Did you teach them your made-up language and force them to RP in this non-English language as well?

Because it's the same idea.

OP this shit is good if your players ask for it, otherwise it's way too much.
It's quality work that would be better appreciated in a novel, or if you held multiple campaigns within this same setting.
Maybe if one of your players suddenly asked for detailed information on time or populations or geography, show them this stuff. Otherwise, it overwhelms them, their autism levels are too weak, they just can't hang.

>>66949828
I would play with you OP, you sound like a cool autist.

>>66966587
>urbanization rates
>800 named and listed cities.
Jesus Christ.

>>66954773
These maps are super fucking cool. They look professionally done. How can people think this isn’t a good thing?

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>>66956469
>A character doesn't know anything the player isn't also aware of

I want to be your player. Do you play online at all? I want this. Hit me. Please.

>>66966828
Because most of the "players" on /tg/ want a casual waifu or hfy video game with zero actual depth beyond simple mechanics.

>>66967104
>>66966828
The fact people don’t appreciate professional grade maps baffles me.

>>66945579
>>I did a bunch of work
>Rookie mistake

Top kek

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>>66949828
Holy shit I'm glad I'm not the only one who does this. I've been using a similar method to figure out the force the two moons in my setting exert on the tides with one of them being 1.1x the size of earth's moon and the other being 0.90x. The second, slightly smaller moon is also twice as fast as the other (which uses a standard lunar cycle. I used someone else's equations so I'm uncertain if my math is correct but using this formula I have a rough idea of how the seas are acting up. I've also been keeping in mind this formula: TidalForce=Amplitude×sin((Frequency×T)+Phase)

This way I can calculate how high or low the tide is at a given time! None of my players gave a shit (except the Selkie) until now where they have to figure out a way to cross the not!Mediterrean ocean to get to not!Egypt.

>>66942956
You're amazing OP. I just used the French Republican calender for the days, weeks and months for the Northern Continent and the Egyptian calender for the South since they were similar (and a crucial plotpoint as the humans in the North were originally exiled from the other continent and basically wiped their not!Egyptian roots in an attempt to distance themselves from their ancestors). I use a similar system for Ages except the North uses Dynastic ages while the South continues to follow the main religion's sometimes arbitrary division of time.

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>>66942901
>>66942956
>>66949828
>>66954773
>>66940543

>>66967457
How do the tides matter if you're in the middle of the ocean?

>>66942901
>hand players a calendar
>tell them to also calculate their ages
>>66942956
>orbital mechanics
>>66949828
>I calculated the relative tidal strength my three moons exert on my planet.

if you make this work with the magic sistem you would have literally the best game ever

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>>66945579
Soo fucking true dude what the fuck

>>66942956
If all GMs were like you then all the weak bitches who only want "roll to hit" encounters would be weeded out. Please keep doing you

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>>66942901
>>66942956
Pointless busywork.

Your players don't deserve you OP. I hope you find people who can put as much effort as you did.

This is the most polarizing thread I've seen on /tg/ in a while.

>>66956469
>A character doesn't know anything the player isn't also aware of

There go my charisma checks and magic casting

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>>66942901
>>66942956
>>66949828
my nigger

>>66970428
>You're not aware of what your character is saying to seduce someone or what spells they can cast
Sounds like you need to put some effort into roleplaying instead of using abstracted values to solve your issues.

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>>66969815
It really is

Fuck this hobby

>>66942901
>>66942956
This level of autism is why people say worldbuilding is retarded.
Holy shit man

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>>66942901
Holy shit this is wild.
The way I see it, it's really good to have this shit thought out, but keep a strong don't ask, don't tell policy. If players are interested, they'll ask, and then you can drop all this deeplore on them bit by bit, and then they'll see you as a genius instead of a weirdo forcing them to calculate their age based on your weirdo autism calendar.

That being said, I would personally find this shit awesome.

Bump

>>66942901
If only you all knew how deep the rabbit hole goes.

>>66966587
Is he Trollsmyth?

I recognize OP. He's called Birdboi over on /lit/. This is only scratching the surface of an autistic rabbit hole that has no bottom. Hours of rambling on religious theory and speculative biology is all that lay before you.

>>66976632
A man of many names, but he's aka Slowcogs.

>>66976763
Also DHB.

>>66963285
>his wife was his first date
>creepy
Whore

>>66976892
>>66976763
>>66976632
How the fuck do you people know who he is?

>>66954303
>is this what people expect out of their GM?
No. What people expect from their GM is prescient wish-fulfillment that somehow keeps them interested, immersed, and engaged, but that they also don't have to put any work or thought into.

>>66954773
You're an amazing DM, your players don't deserve you. I wish any of my DMs were remotely competent, I miss being a player.

>>66963406
> The only kind of person I can think of that would care about that shit would be a pedantic, autistic asshole
Found the rollplayer. If you even play /tg/s. learn to play a character and immerse yourself in a world, faggot.

>>66977636
There’s an important distinction between “playing a character and immersing oneself in a world” and “learning an entirely fictional calender system with accompanying astronomy, world history, and probably languages”
As much credit as tolkein deserves for having made up all those languages, he deserves just as much for not writing LotR in only those languages and demanding everyone else learn them.

>>66942901
Honestly I'm doing a similar thing for a setting I'm making. In short
> Years are the same length as real life
> A year has thirteen(13) months of twenty-eight(28) days, with six hours of non-calendared time between years, Dishonored-style
> There is no night, the world lives in perpetual afternoon
> days have eight hours dawn, eight hours dusk, and eight hours twilight
> twilight functions as night
> the six hours between years are the only 'night' people know, and it's a big deal for a variety of reasons in a variety of cultures
> Basically planned on giving players this info bit by bit whenever it becomes relevant.

Is this a bad idea?? Should a homebrew high fantasy setting not include this stuff?

>>66954303
no I am very easily amused with basic sword and sorcery stuff for example

gimme a princes and a dragon and ill have fun

Don't tell people anything about the world unless they ask or it's important to what the PCs are involved with at the time.

>>66977636
How's that book coming, hemmingway? Still not published?

13 months, 28 days a month, with New Year's Day being an extra day at the end. Simple.

>>66954773
Oh my god it's THIS guy.

I love you x

>>66955649
I really like this!

>>66954773
>Aujaung, of The Mouths And The Voices
riverrun, past Eve and Adam's?

>>66942956
You sound based and autistic