Here There Be Dragons: Map Making for Authors and Game Masters

[marycatelli]

which of course promptly ties every kind of world-building


Prevailing winds, mountains, the necessity of knowing the logic.  And the observation that often you don't have to worry about croplands because your characters don't know and don't care.  There are readers who don't care much either but then the ones that do care will mind.

One writer had a city planted by a wizard because a city was needed in a location where there was no water, or useful crops, or anything else a city would need.  So the wizard planted it there and supplied everything, even trade routes, and it was a rather depressing location because it was dependent on him.

One had once used a module where his players had to defend a city of a billion people which had one church and one space port from an army of a thousand orks.  His characters, like the audience, wondered why they couldn't give the populace baseball bats and go at it.

Travel times.  Teleportation is straight out unless set up.  And even then you probably want to limit it.

Non-Euclidean geography has more fun!  But you do have to set it up early and then ensure it doesn't always help the characters.

Comments

[mythusmage.livejournal.com]

Then you have people who refuse to see the sights.

[marycatelli]

sometimes happens when you don't make them intriguing enough.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

The cropland thing has always bugged me--that and people's seeming lack of understanding of how much support an army needs (this despite of how much support our current armies need) in terms of food and supplies, etc.

I think most people don't stop to think about where and how actual cities grow up: at crossroads, for trade. At river mouths and harbors (again, for trade!) At seats of religious or secular power (but then these are usually situated near water or some other significant feature).

I had a novel in which some places couldn't be accessed without teleporting, and where travel along the ground could make you dizzy and sick, because the locations of things moved. (It's trunked now--but not because of those elements.)

[marycatelli]

I brought up that inns will naturally be situated along the road at gaps of a day's journey.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Very good point!

[marycatelli]

One does one's best. 0:)

[marycatelli]

Depends on what sort of strings you hang on it. A lot of FTL is effectively teleportation, but most writers have you have to go out into space, away from a system, to use it.

Wise, often. On a galactic level, putting teleportation devices in every corner can mean you can destroy the distance. It's a rare story that can be told when another planet's no farther than around the corner, without the different planets being superfluous to the tale.

[marycatelli]

Yeah, a lot of drives do that. On the other hand, a lot of them fiddle around with ripples in space time and quantum effects to make it instanteous.

[marycatelli]

Yeah, it sounds like you still have space, which is the danger with teleportation.