Steve Jackson Games - Site Navigation
Home General Info Follow Us Search Illuminator Store Forums What's New Other Games Ogre GURPS Munchkin Our Games: Home

Go Back   Steve Jackson Games Forums > Roleplaying > GURPS

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 04-24-2016, 08:09 PM   #21
Landwalker
 
Landwalker's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Cumberland, ME
Default Re: [Practicum] Procedural World-Building Test Run

Chapter 5
  1. Determine Size
    (3d6 > 14 | 4d6,2d6 > 18,8) Our newest entrant will be a Large, 18-day by 8-day region. That's going to be about the largest region yet, so it should probably either go north, east, or south of the Infernal Human Mountains, or southwest of the Semi-Civilized Dwarven Hills.
  2. Climate and Terrain
    A (3d6 > 11) means that we're looking at Same Climate, Same Terrain. Tacking this region on to the Alpine Mountains of Infernal Humania would result in a ton of mountains... but that might not be a terrible thing. So, Alpine Mountains it is! My plan is going to be to run this region basically east-to-west and actually wrap it around the entire northern section of the map so far.
  3. Civilization and Settlements
    The civilization roll (3d6+2 > 14) indicates a "-1" level of civilization. Despite bordering multiple regions, some of which are Civilized, since I used the Infernal Human Mountains as my "base point" for this region, that means I"m also using it for the civilization level, so this gives me my first Wilderness region!

    A large Wilderness region gets 1d6-5 towns, so this particular stretch of mountain range will be receiving (-1) zero settlements.
  4. Population Type
    1d6,1d6 (4,4) shows that these untamed heights are sort-of-inhabited by... more Dwarves! Actually seems to be playing into patchwork's idea above about a state of collapse of a formerly united Dwarven realm.
  5. Theme
    Even more in-line with pathwork's idea, I roll up a (2,4) Historical theme for the region! Given the absence of civilization, that sounds to me like a region littered with the ruins and abandoned castles of bygone generations, and perhaps the sites of noteworthy ancient battles, as well. This land has a lot of history... just not much of a present.

It's getting a bit late here, and that region took longer than I expected because of its size (the generation of the region is quick, but the map-making piece takes a while in Hexographer because you're doing it hex-by-hex and the borders are vertex-by-vertex), so this'll be the only addition for this chapter. But, hey, a little more of the world takes a little more shape, and that's what this is all about.

----------

The World So Far
Landwalker is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-24-2016, 09:27 PM   #22
patchwork
 
patchwork's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Default Re: [Practicum] Procedural World-Building Test Run

Your imgur map shows them as semi-civilized, but you refer to it as wilderness here.

Since I didn't expressly say so earlier, I'm enjoying your project.
patchwork is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-24-2016, 09:41 PM   #23
evileeyore
Banned
 
evileeyore's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: 100 hurricane swamp
Default Re: [Practicum] Procedural World-Building Test Run

Quote:
Originally Posted by patchwork View Post
Since I didn't expressly say so earlier, I'm enjoying your project.
Ditto... it's actually making me want to do the same.
evileeyore is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-25-2016, 05:18 AM   #24
Landwalker
 
Landwalker's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Cumberland, ME
Default Re: [Practicum] Procedural World-Building Test Run

Quote:
Originally Posted by patchwork View Post
Your imgur map shows them as semi-civilized, but you refer to it as wilderness here.

Since I didn't expressly say so earlier, I'm enjoying your project.
Ah, you are correct! It should be Wilderness, I just screwed up labeling it on the map. I will correct that in the next round.

And also, glad that you're enjoying it!
Landwalker is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-25-2016, 08:50 AM   #25
ericthered
Hero of Democracy
 
ericthered's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: far from the ocean
Default Re: [Practicum] Procedural World-Building Test Run

Quote:
Originally Posted by evileeyore View Post
Ditto... it's actually making me want to do the same.
Hah! Me too, and I've already done a partial version once.
__________________
Be helpful, not pedantic

Worlds Beyond Earth -- my blog

Check out the PbP forum! If you don't see a game you'd like, ask me about making one!
ericthered is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 04-25-2016, 09:15 AM   #26
Landwalker
 
Landwalker's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Cumberland, ME
Default Re: [Practicum] Procedural World-Building Test Run

Chapter 6
  1. Determine Size
    (3d6 > 8 | 1d6-2, 1d6-3 > 1,1) A teeny Tiny region, only a day across in all directions (actual results were zeroes, but the minimum is 1, of course).
  2. Climate and Terrain
    Since I now know that there are mountains to the north, I'm going to decide that the river meeting Snow Elf City from the west is also flowing northwest-to-southeast. So I'm going to make this place this new region "upstream" along that river.

    Extending an Alpine river upstream takes a 1d6 (5), revealing another Alpine River region.
  3. Civilization and Settlements
    The civilization roll (3d6 > 8) indicates a "+1" level of civilization. Since we're "leaving" a Civilized region already, that just means the new region will also be Civilized

    A Tiny Civilized region gets 1d6-5 cities and 1d3-2 towns, so this particular region will enjoy no cities and one town.
  4. Population Type
    1d6,1d6 (3,1) means that this short stretch of river is inhabited by Humans. But are they in cahoots with the infernalists downriver?
  5. Theme
    My initial 1d6,1d6 roll is (5,4), which is "re-roll or choose". I'm kind of creatively flat this morning, so re-roll it is! (2,3) means that this region's theme is Haunted. Spoooooky. Maybe not in cahoots with the infernalists, but it's unclear at this time whether these humans are involved in the necromantic arts, or are "simply" living among the ghosts of those who came before them.
    Man, this region is so small I can barely even fit all the labels on it.

Chapter 6a
  1. Determine Size
    (3d6 > 13 | 4d6,2d6 > 14,8) Yet another Large region, just a bit smaller than the Wilderness Mountains from last chapter.
  2. Climate and Terrain
    I have a few possibilities about where to put this new region. I could keep moving north and probably get into some truly arctic lands. I could go east of the Wilderness, east or south of Infernal Human Mountains, southwest of the Semi-Civil Dwarves, or I extend one of the river branches one way or another.

    I think for this I'm going to move southwest of the dwarves, though. So we'll be progressing from Semi-Civilized Temperate Hills. 3d6 (13) means "Same Climate, Same Terrain", so more Temperate Hill country!
  3. Civilization and Settlements
    A 3d6 (9) shows +0 relative civilization, which means we're looking at a Large Semi-Civilized hill country here.

    Large Semi-civilized regions get 1d3 towns, so this area will boast two towns.
  4. Population Type
    1d6,1d6 (2,2) indicates that there are Humans in these here hills.
  5. Theme
    (6,5) yields another "Re-roll or choose" result, and I get (2,4) Historical on the re-roll. More ruins or something!

Chapter 6b
  1. Determine Size
    (3d6 > 11 | 2d6,1d6 > 6,3) Here we get a nice, cozy Small region, perfectly average in size.
  2. Climate and Terrain
    This region is going to go due-west of Snow Elf City, south of Haunted Humans, north of Semi-Civil Religious Dwarves. I think I'm going to be using the Civilized Snow Elves as my starting point.

    (3d6 > 11) Same Climate, Same Terrain, which means Alpine River! It also means yet another new river. I think this one is going to flow south-to-north out of the Dwarven Holy Hills, so I'll probably drop a small lake in that region to act as a source.

    Since I've already generated a "width" for this region, I'm going to deviate a little from the "long and snaky" template for river regions and make this one a little "fatter", but with a very sinuous, winding river to "make up for it".
  3. Civilization and Settlements
    A 3d6 (10) is another +0 relative civilization, so another Civilized region!

    A roll on the settlements table yields one city and one town.
  4. Population Type
    1d6,1d6 (4,6) Perhaps conveniently, these are human-inhabited lands, so they may end up meshing well with the Civilized Humans in the Tiny Haunted region to the north.
  5. Theme
    (4,6) means that, like the Snow Elves, these humans are Rich. This world's alpine latitudes are proving to be both very profitable and very hazardous.

---------------

The World So Far
Landwalker is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-25-2016, 10:37 AM   #27
ericthered
Hero of Democracy
 
ericthered's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: far from the ocean
Default Re: [Practicum] Procedural World-Building Test Run

I think the entire system is skewed towards "Profitable and hazardous"

I had a thought-- perhaps the demons cause the snow!
__________________
Be helpful, not pedantic

Worlds Beyond Earth -- my blog

Check out the PbP forum! If you don't see a game you'd like, ask me about making one!
ericthered is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 04-25-2016, 01:35 PM   #28
kreios
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Default Re: [Practicum] Procedural World-Building Test Run

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruno View Post
That's... not correct. They split in our region, and that page shows multiple graphics with rivers splitting, including some examples of the Mississippi.
I might have worded that too strongly. Perhaps I should rather say that they usually don't split.


Also, Landwalker: Your map looks gorgeous, and I applaud your Hexographer talent.
kreios is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-25-2016, 01:52 PM   #29
Landwalker
 
Landwalker's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Cumberland, ME
Default Re: [Practicum] Procedural World-Building Test Run

Quote:
Originally Posted by ericthered View Post
I think the entire system is skewed towards "Profitable and hazardous"

I had a thought-- perhaps the demons cause the snow!
It's very possible... those ice demons do get up to all kinds of chicanery.

The system is definitely skewed towards hazardous, especially depending on how certain themes are interpreted, but for a Dungeon Fantasy-style world generator, I think that's a good thing. My work so far is overstating the system's "prosperity-generation," but on the other hand, having a contrast between wealthy civilization and dangerous everything-else may not be a bad thing.

Quote:
Originally Posted by kreios View Post
Also, Landwalker: Your map looks gorgeous, and I applaud your Hexographer talent.
I'm glad you enjoy it! Hexographer is pretty simple to use, but it is proving to be more time-intensive than I expected. With something like AutoREALM, you can map out a region in a handful of quick clicks. With Hexographer, especially if you're also inserting regional borders like I am, there's a lot of clicking that requires a fair amount of precision, so it's hard to do it very quickly. I'm running something like about 20-30 minutes per region between the generation, the map-creation, and the write-up.

That said, when I go back and decide to make tweaks, it's much easier to change a handful of things in Hexographer than I remember it being in AutoREALM back when I used that program in eons past, and handling regional shapes in general is much more me-friendly.
Landwalker is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-25-2016, 02:35 PM   #30
evileeyore
Banned
 
evileeyore's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: 100 hurricane swamp
Default Re: [Practicum] Procedural World-Building Test Run

Quote:
Originally Posted by kreios View Post
Also, Landwalker: Your map looks gorgeous, and I applaud your Hexographer talent.
Yes, yes! Walker has way more patience than I would have with the Hexographer process*, I'd be hand drawing these maps on hex paper and then scanning them (eventually when done - I don't own a scanner).




* I've tried all sorts of map-making programs in the past and they all confound me... and I'm used to using CAD and drafting programs (or I used them in the past... like 15 years ago, which may be part of the problem)
evileeyore is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Fnords are Off
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 07:08 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.