Worldbuilding Stack Exchange
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1500 questions
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19 answers

What can be used as a money in a high-fantasy magic world where noble metals are in practical use?

Imagine a high-fantasy magic world where magic has the place of a science. Noble/rare metals – such as silver, gold, platinum – have the ability to conduct magic energy, which is commonly used in all areas of life (imagine, for comparison, a world…
norlin
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Advantages of "Spider Mechs" over Tanks?

I've seen the discussion on how bipedal mechs are inferior to treaded and wheeled vehicles in almost every way. However, all of these questions appear to be related to bipedal mechs. I'm wondering if spider mechs have any advantages over the…
Sydney Sleeper
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31 answers

Reason for an exterior control panel on a space ship

In my story, the AI on a space ship has been corrupted, causing it to try to kill all living occupants. The ship is on a collision course with a planet, and the main controls are inoperable due to the AI (crashing in to the planet happens to be the…
ScienceKeanu
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How long would it take to “domesticate” humans?

If aliens came down to Earth and enslaved humanity, how long would it take to selectively breed the humans to make them more docile and less resistant to their alien captors? For example, if they just bred the most friendly and least aggressive…
Jayden Harris
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Why would a large percent of an otherwise sane population regularly play a virtual game that could get them killed

My world is basically the same as our own but with slightly more advanced cybernetics and virtual technology. Specifically, they have a technology to create true matrix level virtual worlds. The most popular of which is based on a fantasy RPG. Users…
Bryan McClure
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Would a squad of soldiers who can shapeshift into T. Rexes be useful in a modern battle?

Take a country in the modern day, like the U.S., which routinely makes use of weapons such as guns, artillery, drones, tanks, et cetera. Now imagine that everyone in one of its elite squads of soldiers suddenly gains the power to shapeshift into a T…
JNW
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4 answers

How do I begin to explain that my orcs may survive by eating soil?

In my RPG campaign setting the orcs are tougher than most other races. In hard times they can eat wood (small bushes and fresh pieces of trees). In really hard times they can eat healthy soil and survive enough to continue their march/siege, but…
StandardEyre
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What would be the most effective way of keeping a psychopath with a spaceship from wreaking severe havoc in a suicide crash?

Any spaceship over several hundred tons is an extremely dangerous weapon in the wrong hands, particularly if it's intended for reentry. Made mostly of metal and possibly shaped to be able to breach an atmosphere without trapping enough air and…
neph
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What natural phenomena could make an island unreachable?

If an island in a sub-tropical region were to be unreachable because of natural phenomena, what could those phenomena be? The people trying to reach said island have 17th century seafaring technologies.
Alex Hintermann
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33 answers

Stumped: What would replace 'names' in an alternate history?

I have an alternate history epoch taking place in 10th Century Islamic Renaissance, but I have a large Bedouin tribe that does not use anything to indicate a person's name or identity. This is a big Catch 22 every time I try to wrap my head about…
Mikey
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21 answers

How could a magical, sentient library defend itself?

This magical library is old as the history of magic itself, storing scrolls and tomes of all† spells ever devised by powerful wizards and apprentice mages alike. The scrolls are ready to be activated at once, and may be used as a trap. They cannot,…
Vylix
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Would descendants of Earth people stranded on another planet eventually forget about Earth?

The world I'm building would be based on a new planet discovered and colonized by modern humans (us, essentially). But then some disaster or another happens, and the end result is that all contact with Earth and other humans is lost, and only a few…
Timst
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31 answers

Why leave magical runes exposed?

So, just to clarify, you needn't worry about vague rules - this question is relevant to my own fantasy universe. In this such universe, magic is not a separate energy, it is the ability to control energy (heat, light, electricity etc) much in the…
XenoDwarf
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What do you do with all the bodies?

A popular story line is that some rapidly spreading plague kills 95% of the human population. That's 7,125,000,000 decomposing bodies that have to be dealt with quickly before flies and bacteria spread "normal" disease to the remaining 375,000,000…
RonJohn
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Any motivation for racism still existing in a transhumanist future?

Humanity is immortal. You can backup your mind, you can choose your body, biological or robotic, in any shape or form. In a universe like that, there is any motivation for racism to still exist?
Malkev
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