Let's Worldbuild Together: Crafting a Community Zine!

[michoverse]

ing to adapt an action-shooter-survival-horror type of games into a comic medium without losing their essence while trying to keep things as variable as possible because games like DooM tend to be very repetitive in nature so direct translation leads to a lot of repetition. It takes a lot of effort, but I think this is much more interesting and rewarding than another excruciatingly boring endless stream of humanoid character designs or another history lesson about how many tons of turnips each kingdom grows each year (seriously, why the hell do you need a hundred

Art is done for the sake of art...if the end goal is a story I would totally agree that wasting time on world building is detrimental but what if the goal was world building for the sake of world building...because we're passionate about it. For me my primary passion is always world building, then it's character and environment design, then finally comes the story...it's not the best thing for the story, but I am happy with it. Plus the world could lead to a table top or a videogame not a comic or a novel...or it can lead to nothing...just for fun.

[michoverse]

thank you!
the monsters could be creatures in the world captured by a person, these creatures can then be enhanced with tools, robotics, biotech, magic and other... they could be cute companions or deadly weapons or even both. Actually the idea came to me when I was discussing with friends how the monster collecting genre (pokemon, digimon,...) usually targets kids and it would be interesting if there where a darker more mature version...and it evolved into this.
now for the question of eco system, the realms of the Michoverse are varried and each has their ecosystem with different creatures and food chains, with their tech and magic.

[michoverse]

sure, anything you can contribute with will be much appreciated!

[michoverse]

I love the artwork (especially with the note under it...feels like in a scientific journal)
and I was thinking that mana beasts dissolve back into the mana sea (energy everywhere) when they die, but I like the idea for there to be fossils, so maybe some mana beasts can partially die, leaving behind a skeleton or some form of remains which could be revived...

[michoverse]

extra lore: the mana beasts could be stored in spirit containers which are like bottles that can be made in many different ways. The mana beast in spirit form can enter and exit the bottle. Outside the bottle, if there is enough mana in the air or the summoner (we need to find a cooler name for the summoners or players) can provide enough mana, then the mana beast can materialize and exert its full power.
Of course these bottles or spirit containers (also need a cool name) are only for mana beasts, but a summoner can capture other creatures in different methods.

[michoverse]

these spirit containers designs originate from the real "Endless Forest". Other designs like that in my comic Orielle, which look metallic and sleek originate from the the "Consumed Realm" aka the demon realm or Hell...

[michoverse]

If you want, sign your art with the name you want featured if we end up using your art, giving credit where it's due is very important for us!

[michoverse]

this is what a high level mana beast could look like...I love how imposing it is

[CAOMouse]

Did the world already have the mana beast in the beginning, or the mana beast suddenly appear in recent years?

[michoverse]

At first, everything was mana, and then the mana started specializing and adapting and from the mana, the mana beasts were born. Then later on some mana solidified into matter and became different creatures that evolved and we got the humans, elves,... so technically mana beasts are among the oldest life forms.

[JWZagst]

I love worldbuilding! Created quite a few for my various stories in the past XD. To give you an idea of the kind of stuff I generally come up with, I'll explain some of the aspects of the world that will be depicted in my upcoming webcomic, Kai Hexum.

The world is called Azi'alaga, and it technically had three versions that occupy the same space at different vibrational frequencies- the Mortal Realm, the Fae Realm, and the Demon Realm. The barriers between them are thinnest in the Mythwater Expanse, an extradimensional ocean. You can see the White Moon Sa'aluna from all three Realms, but each has its own smaller, secondary moon: the Mortal Blue Moon Krystaria, the Fae Green Moon Wil'demane, and the Demon Red Moon Malsuphur.

The lesser moons are ancient structures left behind by the Old Gods, and while they orbit the planet, they emit trails of Mana called the Moonweave. Magic users in Azi'alaga channel Mana from the Moonweave up above. There are also ancient runes inscribed on the moons that can be recited as incantations to achieve more complex magical effects. This is called the Arcane Tongue, but is usually reserved for scientists using telescopes and other devices to view the inscriptions on the surface of the moons.

Anyway, that's just to give you an idea of what worldbuilding. When I get gone from work I'll post some ideas for your world.

[michoverse]

I love the idea of the realms being in the same space at different frequencies.
Also the Moonweave sounds cool, are the ones who channel this mana moonweavers? that would be a cool name
and btw in the Michoverse the moons are also structures left by...well technically not by gods but by something...it's a known tradition in many places to carve faces in inanimate objects, said to give them a persona and with time they form a soul...even the moons are carved, but no one knows who carved them...

[JWZagst]

The term Moonweaver won't be revealed until much later in the story, but they're basically agents of the Old Gods who helped construct the secondary moons. There a lot of deeper lore to that, but right now that part is still fluid since it won't really come into play until much later in the story, so I probably won't develop that part too much until it becomes relevant XD.

There are also other things at play that I haven't finalized yet that could effect exactly how I portray the Moonweavers - such as the Court of Echoes, which is a secret society of host bodies who are possessed by "Echoes," soul shards of ancient god-adjacent beings.

The Echoes hop from body to body over the millennia and try to orchestrate the world's affairs from the shadows. Their exact purpose is still being refined in my head, but basically they seek their original bodies, which are sealed away in vaults in the Mythwater Expanse, and these vaults are equipped with enchantments that cause them to teleport back and forth across the Expanse and three Realms whenever a vault senses an Echo getting close to it. Thus, the Echoes cannot seek their vaults themselves and must act through various proxies.

The magic users who the story centers around are generally referred to as Battlemages. The first major story arc is the main characters competing in the World Battlemage Tournament, with the hopes of winning a Realmstone - this is a crystal realm anchor that prevents sea vessels and airships from being pulled into the Fae Realm or Demon Realm when traversing the Expanse. All seven main characters have their various reasons for wanting to explore the Expanse, and they team up to win a Realmstone so they can go on their individual quests, but also get pulled into a larger overarching quest as well.

And that's pretty badass to have carved moons! Reminds me of the moon in Majora's Mask XD.

[CAOMouse]

If they are the oldest, they must affect the evolution of human, maybe create a lot of new human species, animal species that rely on their power. Also can technology even exist? If human has magic, we won't develop smart brain, because magic is more powerful than muscle and brain, many species will give up their muscle and brain entirely, only focus on magic, such as body that better control magic. We may look like alien if magic exists before life.

[michoverse]

I can recognize a fellow world builder from the passion when you speak about your world...and the best thing about world building is leaving unanswered or unresolved questions for yourself so that not only the reader, but also the world builder is continuously discovering the world.

[michoverse]

Technology could be more like magic tech, stuff to enhance themselves. Magic is just like chemistry and physics, it is a science and technologies could evolve around it.
Now the many humans idea is actually very interesting...in the michoverse, humans were the origin of most other humanoid species:
(from orielle chapter 4 or 5)

but now you just gave me a new idea, to create other starting species than humans, each with their own evolution tree

[CAOMouse]

If the magic appears after human, then this is true, but if magic appears before life, then even the bacteria and virus are affected, they will evolve into magical bacteria, then become something alien like.
It's easier to insert magic after human, so we will see how human react to magic: a new resource but also a new threat.
It's hard if you insert magic in the beginning of universe, but also more potential to create cool things. Magic is a new fundamental force, similar to gravity, so planet can form weird shapes according to this new magic force.

[michoverse]

what you're talking about is a soft magic system, one that has no rules, one that is just magic. This system could work well in certain narratives in storytelling but usually in world building a hard magic system is preferred, a system with rules...magic here is a science just like chemistry is the science of manipulating substances and provoke certain reactions, magic here would be the science of manipulating mana and provoking certain reactions with it.
I suggest you watch a few youtube videos on soft and hard magic systems if you haven't, you won't be disappointed.

[CAOMouse]

Sound interesting, I will go and watch them right away

[michoverse]

these sand demons are created with a sand demon core, you throw the core into the desert sand and a sand body forms. With time and bonding the sand demon core forms a sand egg that hatches later into a living sand demon creature that can be raised and grows stronger.