Worldbuilding Stack Exchange
Worldbuilding Stack Exchange

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1500 questions
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votes
5 answers

Why would someone carry a traditional longbow instead of compound bow?

I have a community with great knowledge but limited resources so bows are preferenced over guns. Is there any reason why their warriors would carry "English" long bows instead of modern style compound bows? Mainly looking for tactical excuses.
Bert Olio
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6 answers

Searching for a database of real historical names

I'm building a world builder out of a SQL database. I'm going to use an implementation of Markov chains to build up lists of 1,000's of names. I'd like those names to have some consistency, so I plan to use various mixtures of real-world names as…
Nate Anderson
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12 answers

Creature that swims in the solid ground

I have a moment in my story where the main character comes across a planet with "solid" swamps. Let me explain. Basically, there are creatures here that can swim through the ground like it was some very thin liquid, however, when any other organism…
LargeDan69
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4 answers

How to make a realistic 'giant'

Imagine a race of what we would call 'giants', each of them possibly around 8 to 10 feet (2.40-3.00 meters) tall. What differences would they need compared to us regular humans in order to function? I know that simply up-scaling organs doesn't work…
Feaurie Vladskovitz
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20 answers

How would someone destroy a dam in a world without explosives?

I'm considering the mechanics of a "shock and awe" scene in my novel which could see an old dam being brought down. The era is equivalent to that of the middle Roman empire, so introducing explosives would be far too convenient and would require…
Brereton
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9 answers

How to design a fortress in a mountain to keep it hidden, but still easily defensible?

How could a fortress that could hold around 5000 people with the technology available in medieval Western Europe (1200-1300) be built into a mountain? The fortress would be designed so it remains entirely hidden from anyone casually walking by the…
Gryphon
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4 answers

How to remove snakes from a plain?

There is an African plain, there are trees, grasses, some seasonal rivers/lakes, and snakes. Upon the plain lives a society of tribesmen (think along the lines of the Maasai Mara people) This image used with permission: Source (Alamy) These tribes…
user10945
38
votes
12 answers

Can we build a world in 1,000 years?

We have a fleet of sub-light speed generation ships and associated engineering devices/ships. Their original world can no longer support their species, and they must move to survive. The fleet of course cannot support its inhabitants forever. There…
user10945
38
votes
14 answers

Suitable real world critters for a causing mayhem (disabling comm and defense systems) via catapult?

So I have a concept in mind for a future dystopian world. The world: Technology exists on par with modern technology. This technology is not widespread; in fact, it is quite rare. Most humans do not know how to create the tech that exists and are…
James
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Is it plausible that a country developed steam engines before gunpowder?

Man, I really have to find a way to stop getting into logic dead-ends. So, in the story I’m writing, there’s this country that developed big bad war machines that run on steam engines. The way they work or if they make sense or not is irrelevant.…
rschpdr
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38
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15 answers

Archeological evidence of nuclear warfare

I'm working on a story set roughly 2 million years in the future involving future archeologists discovering evidence of a nuclear war and ensuing winter wiping out humanity. What sort of clues would survive for that long?
Semni Istiqlal
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11 answers

What is the ideal location to hide the President in the case of a zombie apocalypse?

We all love the apocalypse, except for those that are actually in it and often apocalypse media, especially zombie apocalypses, show a complete collapse of any form of government. I find this unlikely, that America; the most powerful nation on…
TrEs-2b
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11 answers

How would two ships travelling at light speed communicate with one another?

Supposed we have a ship travelling at the speed of light, or very close to it, or over. A second ship is travelling behind it at the same speed. The second ship wishes to communicate something to the first ship, but they can't transmit radio waves…
roryok
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16 answers

How to tell if intelligent life has evolved in a Game of Life simulation?

A civilization has a "magic" computer with memory and processing capacities far beyond what our physics says is possible. They decide to run a massive simulation of Conway's Game of Life with a random "big bang" initial state. The goal is to see if,…
Charles Staats
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10 answers

Create "gold" from lead (or other substances)

I am writing a setting for a role-playing game. In it an alchemist has finally found a way to create gold from lesser metals. Like his former historical models the alchemist is so jubilant over his discovery that he seems to ignore that his…
Thorsten S.
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