For a long time, I’ve wished for a fantasy setting with an open source attitude. Something with an expansive high fantasy feel, where all kinds of classic stories and roleplaying scenarios could easily fit. Something along the lines of Forgotten Realms, but with a very permissive copyright scheme, so that anyone could use it and even sell their work without permission. A setting that could collect the contributions of strangers without creating a legal nightmare for writers, just like open source software.
It seemed like an obvious idea, but I couldn’t find anything like what I was looking for. I think one reason for the difficulty is the need for a solid foundation and a curator. So, while working on an interactive novel in the setting, I’ve also been worldbuilding for about 3 years with occasional help from a couple of writer friends–special thanks to Dan and Steven.
I think it’s now in a good place to solicit contributions from likeminded people I don’t personally know, as it has a stronger core concept and some creative constraints to work with.
Veiled Age World Guide
Here, I present a proper introduction to this Creative Commons fantasy setting, suitable for a wide variety of stories by any author.
This booklet opens with some philosophical musings about the project, including what kind of fantasy world this is and why. The term I’ve been using is “Cosmic Medieval Fantasy” – it’s classic, yet high concept and weird, with sci-fi and horror aspects. Then, we’ll discuss the rules of the world in general, and finally, give sections of lore separated by theme and region. Here’s a sample:
It’s 66 pages, but don’t be put off by the page count. I might suggest just reading Chapter 2, and then jumping to whatever interests you. The goal is to provide a foundation for other creative minds to contribute lore and stories of their own, so that one day, it’ll be a setting richer than something any one mind could dream up.
How To Contribute
First, you’ll need to log in here and join the “worldbuilders” group, by going to this page and clicking the “Join” button in the upper right. That way, we know everyone posting in the Worldbuilding category has explicitly decided to share their ideas freely.
Then, post something. If there’s a Lore Jam or other community event going on, I suggest posting to its thread. Alternatively, you could create a thread about anything you want, like when fellswarm created a city of pirates, or when quayside speculated about literacy rates.
If you’re ambitious, you could write a short story that takes place in the setting, such as Memories of Menesa.
Lastly, you could reply to this thread with questions or feedback of any kind. I fully expect there to only be a couple of us at first, but I’m excited to see what you all come up with.