Worldbuilding 2018
Jan. 19th, 2018 09:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
marsdragonHello! Relax and have fun, and I hope this is a pleasant exchange for you.
I'm hard to squick (don't take that a challenge) so feel free to go dark in any way you want. I'm fine with rape/noncon, incest, kinky stuff, gore, horror, all of it. I'm fine with major character death, downer endings, and bad guys winning. I can't think of any overall DNWs, and I'll put any canon-specific ones in the right section.
Overall I like explorations of culture and morality from the perspective of the characters in their worlds, how technology has effected a society, myths and legends, pop culture, and explorations of daily life, away from all the world-saving. I like finding out how characters fit (or don't fit) into the restrictions of their culture, though I'd like to avoid issuefic. I also like explorations of mechanics for my game canons.
Don't feel like you have to include all characters. I'm not sure that's even a rule for this exchange. Whatever, write what characters you feel like.
Suikoden
No Characters, Original Characters
Worldbuilding: Academic Writing, Worldbuilding: Runes, Worldbuilding: Technology
Let's Plays for I-V
Canon notes: I've only ever actually played I and II, though I more or less know what happens in the other three. I'm fine with referencing all of them if that's what you need, but if you're going to specifically focus on one I'd rather it be the ones I've played.
Prompts:
What does history have to say about all these wars and revolutions? What do future historians argue about? Are there camps that refuse to acknowledge any influence of the True Runes, or are destiny and the 108 stars accepted thing in the Suikoden world? How about some discussion of the fallout of the wars, or trying to fit the games into a larger narrative? Do people argue over Silverburg strategies?
Or political analysis, either current or historical. I find it hard to believe that Highland just rolled over and was happy to be conquered by Jowston, so what happened later? Does anyone lay the blame on Jowy's terrible, terrible decisions? Barbarossa's backstory is remarkably like the story of a Suikoden game, what do people make of him getting overthrown within a generation? What does that mean for the Toran Republic? And actually, how does the transition from Scarlet Moon Empire to Toran Republic go? Are there even any major differences?
Or how about a treatise on runes? I'm really curious about how the Vancian magic system works in-universe - it always seems like such a game thing. How can you tell how many spell charges you have left? What does it feel like to have an affinity for a class of runes? Are there any runemasters besides Jeanne? Are runes used for anything besides battle? Do hospitals eventually just start buying Water and Flowing runes by the dozen and handing them out to nurses? Can regular, non-True runes influence their masters in any way?
How does technology evolve in the Suikoden world? Every game has an elevator, but does anyone ever get beyond that? Rune-powered technology? (it's entirely possible other games have that and I just missed it) Does any one country get an industrial revolution before the others, and how does that tilt the balance of power?
Giant Robo
Any/No Characters, Original Character(s)
Worldbuilding: BF Organization, Worldbuilding: Governments, Worldbuilding: IPO, Worldbuilding: Newspapers and the media, Worldbuilding: Technology
Available: DVD in English, horrifically expensive Blu-Ray in Japan, *coughcough* List of torrents. (you want the EG release)
Laserdisk linear notes, with lots of extra details about the characters and setting.
Extra info that's literally friend-of-a-friend, so take or leave it as you will. Might inspire some ideas, though.
Prompts: This is another big one, because there's just so much room to worldbuild here. Really, if you want to take any of the little scraps from the linear notes and expand them, that would be wonderful. More about the GR Project! More about the Magnificent Ten! More about backstories! More adventures! Anything.
More specifically, what sort of governments are there in the GR world? Do they openly know about BF and the IPO, or is it a secret? How much are they controlled by either organization? How good are they at navigating a path between the organizations? How about the media, do they know? What's the reporting like? Have reporters ever gotten where they're not supposed to be? If the public knows about BF vs the IPO, are there movies? TV shows? Books? Any scandals been broken, on either side?
Technology! Tell me all about the robots. Small ones, big ones, helpful ones? Supposedly the BF Organization has most of the robots, but are there any being used outside the two organizations? Or outside of robots, what was it like when the Shizuma Drive was first revealed? Did anyone hold back on upgrading their old car? Were there laws passed about it? How long did it take to take over the world? Is there anyone still using old technology? Did they get super smug during the seven days? Or how about after the series ends, what do people think of the improved Shizuma Drive? Does anyone ever try to clean up the atmosphere with the incredibly dangerous chemical just hanging out up there?
And then the two primary organizations, BF and the IPO! Tell me all about how they're organized and the nitty-gritty of working for one of them. How do they recruit? Do they ever try to recruit the same person at the same time? I'm picturing an IPO stand right across from a BF stand at a job fair. What does a propaganda poster for either side look like? How do the mooks get health care? Can they take vacation? How do you get promoted? A day in the life of a mook at any of the bases we just hear about in passing would be so great. Does anyone know someone on the other side and just kind of overlook it so they can keep their drinking buddy/gaming group/knitting circle? How much does anyone know about Big Fire himself? (and how did a teenager end up in charge in the first place?) And hell, what are Achilles, Garuda, and Neptune doing when they're not going along with Komei's plan? Speaking of that, tell me more about Komei's schemes and annoying all the rest of the Magnificent Ten. Does the IPO have any plans to assassinate him, and how do those work out? There's so much more I could ask here, but I'll leave it to your imagination. Just tell me more about this world!
Chrono Trigger
Any/No Characters, Original Characters
Worldbuilding: Archaeology, Worldbuilding: Day of Lavos and aftermath, Worldbuilding: Magic, Worldbuilding: Telepad, Worldbuilding: Zeal
Let's Play of SNES version
Let's Play of the DS version
Canon notes: So let's just pretend Chrono Cross never happened, okay? Including the extra ending in the DS version. None of that happened.
Prompts: So...what kind of historical record are we looking at, after our merry band of time travelers runs through history a few times? Between Zeal and the party, Chrono Trigger's world should be a goldmine of out-of-place artifacts, what do people make of them? Are theories about Zeal taken as seriously as theories about Atlantis here? What about the entire Reptile civilization? Does anyone ever perform a scientific investigation on the remains of Tyrano Lair? Do the theories about it change over time? Where the hell did the Rainbow Shell come from, anyway?
What sort of civilization existed in 1999? Did they try to fight Lavos at all? Did they have any sort of space program, and if so, what did the astronauts see? What was the immediate aftermath like for the survivors? Did they have robots to help them, or did Mother Brain immediately rebel? If she didn't, how long did it take her to give up? How did people survive for 300 years?
I'm down for any sort of worldbuilding about magic. Once the game is over, do any of the party keep researching magic? What abilities do they find? Who originally discovered magic? Did it help humanity survive the Ice Age? What kind of discoveries did the early mages find? When did they split off from the rest of humanity? What about mystics/fiends, we see some on the Mountain of Woe in Antiquity, and they seem to have their own magic. Where did they come from?
The telepad just...it changes everything. The game just leaves it as a plot device, but that's where fans step in! Lucca has flat out invented teleportation. What are the limitations? Does she improve on it later? What does that mean down the line? Can the telepad be mass produced? How does that change the transportation industry? By the time 1999 rolls around, are telepads still used, or were they forgotten?
And then Zeal, which offers a ton of possibilities on its own. What's their culture like? Religious beliefs? Festivals? How many of them are there, and can they actually sustain their population as-is? How long have they been living above the clouds? How do they replace all the water they lose in that pretty waterfall? What are their crops? The cuisine? Writing? What kind of stories did they tell? Was any normal citizen worried about the Queen and the future? If the four magical elements are light/fire/water/shadow, is there any significance to the fire/wind/water books?
Final Fantasy VI
Any/No Characters, Original Character(s)
Worldbuilding: Espers, Worldbuilding: Magicite, Worldbuilding: Myths and legends, Worldbuilding: Technology, Worldbuilding: World of ruin rebuilding
Let's Play of the SNES version.
Prompts:
Espers! How do they live in their other world? What's their culture like? How do they manage themselves? Do they have stories about the War of the Magi? How are those different from the human versions? Are any the same? Do they know what's happening in the human world at all? Were human/esper relationships common before the War of the Magi? Did Odin or Maudin know of them?
And then there's magicite. What are esper death rites like, when the deceased become magicite? Can one communicate with the dead esper? Can other espers learn magic from their fallen comrades? (well, Terra can, but she's not exactly all esper) What happens to the esper if their magicite is completely smashed? What's it like for the party to learn magic from the espers?
What sort of myths and legends do people tell each other? There's probably a lot about the War of the Magi, what do they say? Do they have any relation to the truth? Are there stories about espers the party later meets? What's it like, to meet a character from a tale? Are any espers treated as religious or folkloric creatures? (Siren, patron esper of opera singers!) When centuries have passed, will anyone remember the party? What will those legends be like?
Technology! How does magitek armor work? What's the construction and maintenance like? Who designs them? Is there a cadre of engineers in the back of the empire? What are they like? Do any of them have connections to the other technological power, Figaro? What do people in the Empire think of all the machines they have to deal with? Is there technology we don't see backing up the world? How much tech can be recovered in the World of Ruin?
Speaking of the World of Ruin...how the hell is Jidoor still going along? (look, I'm just saying, I would've looted them first) How does the opera house get back on it's feet? Did Maria survive? How are people eating with no crops? Do they bother trying to reintegrate the Kefka Cultists back into society? What are politics like after Kefka falls? Are there still monsters after the magic goes away? Does this cause any problems? (like, what's for dinner?) Further into the future, has the world rebuilt, or are some things just irreplaceable?
Final Fantasy IV
Any/No Characters, Original Character(s)
Worldbuilding: Destruction of the Lunarians' planet, Lunarian culture, Summoners, The Crystals
Let's Play of the GBA version.
Legends of Localization comparison of various translations.
Canon notes: I haven't played Interlude or The After Years, though I know what happens in them. So feel free to reference, but don't focus on them.
Prompts:
How did the Lunarians planet get destroyed? Was it somehow self-inflicted? How many of them were able to get away? What was it like in the final days? Did anyone have to be left behind? Were Kluya and Fusoya born then, or were they born on the Moon? Did any of them try to escape in another direction?
And what was the Lunarian's planet like before it was destroyed? They all had magic, so what sort of society does that create? Does their technology run on magic? What are their songs and stories about? What do they consider 'good'? Does Golbez have any trouble adjusting to Lunarian culture when he rides off with Fusoya? Do they ever wake up the rest, and what sort of society do they build when they do?
More about summoners in general! How is their village set up? What are their customs and culture? What sort of things do they do to make a contract with summoned beasts normally? Do any of them ever go to the Feymarch? What does it mean for a summoner to go there? (Do they have horns? Or anything to represent horns?)
The crystals are kind of weird in FFIV. They exist, they have power, and there's like eight of them for some reason. Anything exploring more about them would be great! Most kingdoms on the surface have built their kingdoms around their crystal, how did that arise? What are the differences in how the kingdoms think about their crystal? Are there rituals? Holidays? Where did the Crystals come from? How did people find out about their powers?
悪魔城ドラキュラ | Castlevania Series
Death, Dracula, Lisa, No Characters, Original Character(s)
Worldbuilding: Alchemy, Worldbuilding: Belmont clan, Worldbuilding: Monsters, Worldbuilding: Other vampire hunters or organizations,Worldbuilding: The church
Let's Plays of a number of entries. (And more on Youtube, but uh...good luck if you don't already know the series)
Canon notes: So, just to establish, I like Lament of Innocence and I don't like Legends. I like Mathias being Dracula, and I'm not a fan of Sonia being the first Belmont to kill Dracula and then banging Alucard. I'm perfectly happy with a story about Sonia fighting some other monster, if that's what you want, I just don't want her killing Dracula and then tainting the Belmont line with his cursed blood. (or having a relationship with Aluard at all. I don't ship him with anyone [...besides Soma])
Prompts:
Gonna break standard a bit and talk about characters before I get into the worldbuilding. What was Dracula up to after LoI? Did he deliberately hunt down other vampires to get more power, or did they come to him, or did he just let Leon handle it? What did Orlox and Carmilla do to get spared? Did he have to fight Chaos to get control over it like Soma did? How did he bind the power of dominance to his soul?
And what is up with Death? Leon calls him divine, he works for whoever owns the Crimson Stone, he doesn't talk to Soma at all. What is going on there? Does he show up for Belmonts when they die? Does he ever have to leave to go usher some souls into the afterlife when the castle is around? What's up with the mini-Death in his SotN art?
And then Lisa is also a way to ask about the villages around the castle. Pre-CV3, do they know a vampire is in the castle? How do they deal with it? Did Lisa try to convince them to get along with the monsters at all? What did either side think of that? How did the monsters feel about her in general? Were there differences in opinion? IGA's headcanon is that she was of holy blood. How did that work with marrying Dracula? Did she have any family?
Alchemy! How does it work? How does it differ from the magic Charlotte and Yoko use? Does anyone still use it by the time PoR and AoS roll around? Has anyone tried to steal books and tools from the castle? How did that work out? (probably badly) Does anyone ever try to re-create the Ebony and Crimson Stones on purpose? Can anyone use it, or does it take a special talent?
We don't usually see the Belmonts as strange and cursed in the games, so something focusing on how they don't quite fit in with the people they're sworn to protect would be interesting. Maxim says he wanted to protect Juste from having to be the Belmont heir, how would that work? Have there been any Belmonts who just bailed on the whole vampire hunting trade? What if the current Belmont dies with no kids? What do they do when Dracula isn't around? Do they get paid, or do they just routinely rob Dracula for cash? What tales do they tell about the previous generations? What were they doing between LoI and CV3, and how did they scare the populace so much?
We know there are a bunch of other vampire hunters out there, but we rarely get to see them. (good place to bring in Nathan, who is just kind of weird otherwise) Do they have their own founding legends? How do they feel about basically always being second-rate to the Belmonts? What are some organizations besides Ecclesia? What did they focus on? How close did any of them get to succeeding? Were there any survivors? (note: I'm fine with Dracula winning any confrontations in this category. Let the vamp get some kills in sometimes)
The church in CV must be weird. It hires witches, when did that start? With Sypha? How did that work with Lisa just *mumblemumble* years before? Does anyone ever notice that if Dracula is some sort of devil, what does that say about God? What was Celia's little cult like? Are they right, and the world really does need some sort of Manichean anti-God? Because that was declared heresy centuries ago. Church politics when you have to decide who's going to run the witch's division that fights against vampires has got to get...interesting.
And then monsters. I love the monsters. How do they get along? Are there factions inside the castle? Who decides what monsters end up where? Who gets stuck with relighting the candles? Do they survive from incarnation to incarnation? If so, what's it like waking up and having to figure out a whole new castle layout? The games seem to hint they come from the Chaotic Realm/the Abyss, what's it like there normally? How do they get summoned? Really, anything giving the monsters more personality would make me very happy.
Sailor Moon
Original Character(s), Any/No Characters
Worldbuilding: The Senshi in Crystal Tokyo, Past Life Memories, Dark Kingdom Life and Culture
Apparently on Hulu and Viz's site.
Prompts: I love the other eras of canon, like the Silver Millennium and Crystal Tokyo. How does Crystal Tokyo actually function? What are the senshi's duties? Are they just guards, or do they have governmental functions? What sort of challenges do they face in the new world? What about the economy, social changes, really anything. ...how many rules and processes do they have set up to deal with Usagi being Usagi?
For Past Life Memories, I'd be really into seeing how the Silver Millennium is different from modern-day Japan, and if it's ever jarring to the Senshi to have these memories of living somewhere so different. What exactly is different? How do the memories come through? Do the Senshi ever get all their memories back? (I legit can't remember if this happened on the show of not) What did the Senshi do back in the Silver Millennium, and does that change any of their dreams in the present? How messed up is it to know that all these planets used to have civilizations and now they're all just gone? Or were there survivors? That could link up to Crystal Tokyo, just saying.
Dark Kingdom life! They survived for so long, what's their day-to-day like? What do they eat? Do they even need to eat? What's considered honorable and respectable in their culture, and what isn't? What are their customs, rituals, superstitions? Are there yoma that don't make it to the front lines? What do they do? How did the Dark Kingdom start, and did it differ from how they ended up?
X
Original Character(s), Any/No Characters, Shirou Kamui
Worldbuilding: The two Kamui being twin stars, End of the world after the Promised Day
Canon notes: Yuzuriha survives the Promised Day if anyone does. This is the rule. (if it's total game over, then whatever)
Prompts:
The two Kamui's being twin stars is interesting, especially when they basically switch personalities over the course of the manga. When did the Monous + Tooru figure out the secret? How did they do it? How did the whole Twin Star thing work when Fuuma is older than Kamui? Is there a deeper relationship than just what we see in the manga so far? How do Fuuma and Kamui affect each other?
I'm down for whatever you want to portray as life after the end. Survivors? No survivors, just nature? If humanity dies off, what's to stop another species from arising and figuring out technology? Would that species also be destroyed? (has that happened before?) What sort of apocalypse destroys humanity without also killing off most higher lifeforms? If there are survivors, how do they get along? What's the Earth like 10, 20, 50 years after the Promised Day?
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Original Character(s), Any or No Characters
Worldbuilding: Hunter's Guild, Gods changing or merging, Food, Enslaving demons, Demon Fusion
You're stuck buying these. They're available on the eShop, though.
Canon notes: Bringing in Apocalypse stuff is fine.
Prompts: I'd like ot find out more about the Hunter's Guild. Apocalypse does a great job with filling it out, but I'm always ready for more. A look into other Hunter's daily lives? Special missions, routine missions, making reports, handling logistics for such a big and important organization? Maybe some conflicts with the Ashura-Kai and the Ring of Gaea...or unexpected co-operation? Or a look into the early days, or an incident that forced a rule to be created or changed.
The identity of gods/demons is weird and fluid in SMT, so I'd love anything dealing with that. Beelzebub in Apocalypse was changed from Baal and manages to come back, what was that like? What about any of the other gods related to Baal? What happened to them? Or Danu merging with Black Maria and passing her power on to Nozomi, but then she remains as a spirit in Apocalypse. What's up with that? Does the Black Maria Danu still exist? Can Nozomi meet up with Black Maria...or even have her in the party? What kind of tensions would that cause? Then Odin and Dagda were once the same god, but split apart. What caused that? Human worship, another force, what? (How awkward is it when/if Nanashi fuses Odin later?)
Food! Everyone eats demons in Tokyo, but they don't seem to have livestock per se. Has anyone tried? Why did they stop? What do they do for vegetables and spices? What new kinds of cooking have come about since the Ceiling? Are there still restaurants besides the Hunter Bars? What would a menu look like? Maybe a rich person sends hunters out on a job to get some rare ingredient... For the end of SMTIV proper, how does food change once the Ceiling is gone?
We meet an enslaved demon during Apocalypse, is this common? Do other demons try to mount rescue parties for friends? Dwarves usually count as part of the fairy kingdom, so does the enslavement of one or more cause problems for Nozomi? And since the demon is introduced as specifically enslaved, how does that differ from making a demon part of your party and fusing it away at will?
Speaking of demon fusion...I love this part of the series, and I've love anything that goes into it. The mechanics? Fusing away a beloved demon? The demon's perspective on it? Can a demon refuse to be fused? What about special fusions? And the compendium! Demons are just data that can be stored in a guantlet/smartphone then combined to make new demons, which raises all SORTS of metaphysical questions. Have any scientists really studied this (besides Stephen)? Has Stephan written any reports, or notes on the Demon Fusion Program? Is Mido just a helpful interface, or something more?
I'm hard to squick (don't take that a challenge) so feel free to go dark in any way you want. I'm fine with rape/noncon, incest, kinky stuff, gore, horror, all of it. I'm fine with major character death, downer endings, and bad guys winning. I can't think of any overall DNWs, and I'll put any canon-specific ones in the right section.
Overall I like explorations of culture and morality from the perspective of the characters in their worlds, how technology has effected a society, myths and legends, pop culture, and explorations of daily life, away from all the world-saving. I like finding out how characters fit (or don't fit) into the restrictions of their culture, though I'd like to avoid issuefic. I also like explorations of mechanics for my game canons.
Don't feel like you have to include all characters. I'm not sure that's even a rule for this exchange. Whatever, write what characters you feel like.
Suikoden
No Characters, Original Characters
Worldbuilding: Academic Writing, Worldbuilding: Runes, Worldbuilding: Technology
Let's Plays for I-V
Canon notes: I've only ever actually played I and II, though I more or less know what happens in the other three. I'm fine with referencing all of them if that's what you need, but if you're going to specifically focus on one I'd rather it be the ones I've played.
Prompts:
What does history have to say about all these wars and revolutions? What do future historians argue about? Are there camps that refuse to acknowledge any influence of the True Runes, or are destiny and the 108 stars accepted thing in the Suikoden world? How about some discussion of the fallout of the wars, or trying to fit the games into a larger narrative? Do people argue over Silverburg strategies?
Or political analysis, either current or historical. I find it hard to believe that Highland just rolled over and was happy to be conquered by Jowston, so what happened later? Does anyone lay the blame on Jowy's terrible, terrible decisions? Barbarossa's backstory is remarkably like the story of a Suikoden game, what do people make of him getting overthrown within a generation? What does that mean for the Toran Republic? And actually, how does the transition from Scarlet Moon Empire to Toran Republic go? Are there even any major differences?
Or how about a treatise on runes? I'm really curious about how the Vancian magic system works in-universe - it always seems like such a game thing. How can you tell how many spell charges you have left? What does it feel like to have an affinity for a class of runes? Are there any runemasters besides Jeanne? Are runes used for anything besides battle? Do hospitals eventually just start buying Water and Flowing runes by the dozen and handing them out to nurses? Can regular, non-True runes influence their masters in any way?
How does technology evolve in the Suikoden world? Every game has an elevator, but does anyone ever get beyond that? Rune-powered technology? (it's entirely possible other games have that and I just missed it) Does any one country get an industrial revolution before the others, and how does that tilt the balance of power?
Giant Robo
Any/No Characters, Original Character(s)
Worldbuilding: BF Organization, Worldbuilding: Governments, Worldbuilding: IPO, Worldbuilding: Newspapers and the media, Worldbuilding: Technology
Available: DVD in English, horrifically expensive Blu-Ray in Japan, *coughcough* List of torrents. (you want the EG release)
Laserdisk linear notes, with lots of extra details about the characters and setting.
Extra info that's literally friend-of-a-friend, so take or leave it as you will. Might inspire some ideas, though.
Prompts: This is another big one, because there's just so much room to worldbuild here. Really, if you want to take any of the little scraps from the linear notes and expand them, that would be wonderful. More about the GR Project! More about the Magnificent Ten! More about backstories! More adventures! Anything.
More specifically, what sort of governments are there in the GR world? Do they openly know about BF and the IPO, or is it a secret? How much are they controlled by either organization? How good are they at navigating a path between the organizations? How about the media, do they know? What's the reporting like? Have reporters ever gotten where they're not supposed to be? If the public knows about BF vs the IPO, are there movies? TV shows? Books? Any scandals been broken, on either side?
Technology! Tell me all about the robots. Small ones, big ones, helpful ones? Supposedly the BF Organization has most of the robots, but are there any being used outside the two organizations? Or outside of robots, what was it like when the Shizuma Drive was first revealed? Did anyone hold back on upgrading their old car? Were there laws passed about it? How long did it take to take over the world? Is there anyone still using old technology? Did they get super smug during the seven days? Or how about after the series ends, what do people think of the improved Shizuma Drive? Does anyone ever try to clean up the atmosphere with the incredibly dangerous chemical just hanging out up there?
And then the two primary organizations, BF and the IPO! Tell me all about how they're organized and the nitty-gritty of working for one of them. How do they recruit? Do they ever try to recruit the same person at the same time? I'm picturing an IPO stand right across from a BF stand at a job fair. What does a propaganda poster for either side look like? How do the mooks get health care? Can they take vacation? How do you get promoted? A day in the life of a mook at any of the bases we just hear about in passing would be so great. Does anyone know someone on the other side and just kind of overlook it so they can keep their drinking buddy/gaming group/knitting circle? How much does anyone know about Big Fire himself? (and how did a teenager end up in charge in the first place?) And hell, what are Achilles, Garuda, and Neptune doing when they're not going along with Komei's plan? Speaking of that, tell me more about Komei's schemes and annoying all the rest of the Magnificent Ten. Does the IPO have any plans to assassinate him, and how do those work out? There's so much more I could ask here, but I'll leave it to your imagination. Just tell me more about this world!
Chrono Trigger
Any/No Characters, Original Characters
Worldbuilding: Archaeology, Worldbuilding: Day of Lavos and aftermath, Worldbuilding: Magic, Worldbuilding: Telepad, Worldbuilding: Zeal
Let's Play of SNES version
Let's Play of the DS version
Canon notes: So let's just pretend Chrono Cross never happened, okay? Including the extra ending in the DS version. None of that happened.
Prompts: So...what kind of historical record are we looking at, after our merry band of time travelers runs through history a few times? Between Zeal and the party, Chrono Trigger's world should be a goldmine of out-of-place artifacts, what do people make of them? Are theories about Zeal taken as seriously as theories about Atlantis here? What about the entire Reptile civilization? Does anyone ever perform a scientific investigation on the remains of Tyrano Lair? Do the theories about it change over time? Where the hell did the Rainbow Shell come from, anyway?
What sort of civilization existed in 1999? Did they try to fight Lavos at all? Did they have any sort of space program, and if so, what did the astronauts see? What was the immediate aftermath like for the survivors? Did they have robots to help them, or did Mother Brain immediately rebel? If she didn't, how long did it take her to give up? How did people survive for 300 years?
I'm down for any sort of worldbuilding about magic. Once the game is over, do any of the party keep researching magic? What abilities do they find? Who originally discovered magic? Did it help humanity survive the Ice Age? What kind of discoveries did the early mages find? When did they split off from the rest of humanity? What about mystics/fiends, we see some on the Mountain of Woe in Antiquity, and they seem to have their own magic. Where did they come from?
The telepad just...it changes everything. The game just leaves it as a plot device, but that's where fans step in! Lucca has flat out invented teleportation. What are the limitations? Does she improve on it later? What does that mean down the line? Can the telepad be mass produced? How does that change the transportation industry? By the time 1999 rolls around, are telepads still used, or were they forgotten?
And then Zeal, which offers a ton of possibilities on its own. What's their culture like? Religious beliefs? Festivals? How many of them are there, and can they actually sustain their population as-is? How long have they been living above the clouds? How do they replace all the water they lose in that pretty waterfall? What are their crops? The cuisine? Writing? What kind of stories did they tell? Was any normal citizen worried about the Queen and the future? If the four magical elements are light/fire/water/shadow, is there any significance to the fire/wind/water books?
Final Fantasy VI
Any/No Characters, Original Character(s)
Worldbuilding: Espers, Worldbuilding: Magicite, Worldbuilding: Myths and legends, Worldbuilding: Technology, Worldbuilding: World of ruin rebuilding
Let's Play of the SNES version.
Prompts:
Espers! How do they live in their other world? What's their culture like? How do they manage themselves? Do they have stories about the War of the Magi? How are those different from the human versions? Are any the same? Do they know what's happening in the human world at all? Were human/esper relationships common before the War of the Magi? Did Odin or Maudin know of them?
And then there's magicite. What are esper death rites like, when the deceased become magicite? Can one communicate with the dead esper? Can other espers learn magic from their fallen comrades? (well, Terra can, but she's not exactly all esper) What happens to the esper if their magicite is completely smashed? What's it like for the party to learn magic from the espers?
What sort of myths and legends do people tell each other? There's probably a lot about the War of the Magi, what do they say? Do they have any relation to the truth? Are there stories about espers the party later meets? What's it like, to meet a character from a tale? Are any espers treated as religious or folkloric creatures? (Siren, patron esper of opera singers!) When centuries have passed, will anyone remember the party? What will those legends be like?
Technology! How does magitek armor work? What's the construction and maintenance like? Who designs them? Is there a cadre of engineers in the back of the empire? What are they like? Do any of them have connections to the other technological power, Figaro? What do people in the Empire think of all the machines they have to deal with? Is there technology we don't see backing up the world? How much tech can be recovered in the World of Ruin?
Speaking of the World of Ruin...how the hell is Jidoor still going along? (look, I'm just saying, I would've looted them first) How does the opera house get back on it's feet? Did Maria survive? How are people eating with no crops? Do they bother trying to reintegrate the Kefka Cultists back into society? What are politics like after Kefka falls? Are there still monsters after the magic goes away? Does this cause any problems? (like, what's for dinner?) Further into the future, has the world rebuilt, or are some things just irreplaceable?
Final Fantasy IV
Any/No Characters, Original Character(s)
Worldbuilding: Destruction of the Lunarians' planet, Lunarian culture, Summoners, The Crystals
Let's Play of the GBA version.
Legends of Localization comparison of various translations.
Canon notes: I haven't played Interlude or The After Years, though I know what happens in them. So feel free to reference, but don't focus on them.
Prompts:
How did the Lunarians planet get destroyed? Was it somehow self-inflicted? How many of them were able to get away? What was it like in the final days? Did anyone have to be left behind? Were Kluya and Fusoya born then, or were they born on the Moon? Did any of them try to escape in another direction?
And what was the Lunarian's planet like before it was destroyed? They all had magic, so what sort of society does that create? Does their technology run on magic? What are their songs and stories about? What do they consider 'good'? Does Golbez have any trouble adjusting to Lunarian culture when he rides off with Fusoya? Do they ever wake up the rest, and what sort of society do they build when they do?
More about summoners in general! How is their village set up? What are their customs and culture? What sort of things do they do to make a contract with summoned beasts normally? Do any of them ever go to the Feymarch? What does it mean for a summoner to go there? (Do they have horns? Or anything to represent horns?)
The crystals are kind of weird in FFIV. They exist, they have power, and there's like eight of them for some reason. Anything exploring more about them would be great! Most kingdoms on the surface have built their kingdoms around their crystal, how did that arise? What are the differences in how the kingdoms think about their crystal? Are there rituals? Holidays? Where did the Crystals come from? How did people find out about their powers?
悪魔城ドラキュラ | Castlevania Series
Death, Dracula, Lisa, No Characters, Original Character(s)
Worldbuilding: Alchemy, Worldbuilding: Belmont clan, Worldbuilding: Monsters, Worldbuilding: Other vampire hunters or organizations,Worldbuilding: The church
Let's Plays of a number of entries. (And more on Youtube, but uh...good luck if you don't already know the series)
Canon notes: So, just to establish, I like Lament of Innocence and I don't like Legends. I like Mathias being Dracula, and I'm not a fan of Sonia being the first Belmont to kill Dracula and then banging Alucard. I'm perfectly happy with a story about Sonia fighting some other monster, if that's what you want, I just don't want her killing Dracula and then tainting the Belmont line with his cursed blood. (or having a relationship with Aluard at all. I don't ship him with anyone [...besides Soma])
Prompts:
Gonna break standard a bit and talk about characters before I get into the worldbuilding. What was Dracula up to after LoI? Did he deliberately hunt down other vampires to get more power, or did they come to him, or did he just let Leon handle it? What did Orlox and Carmilla do to get spared? Did he have to fight Chaos to get control over it like Soma did? How did he bind the power of dominance to his soul?
And what is up with Death? Leon calls him divine, he works for whoever owns the Crimson Stone, he doesn't talk to Soma at all. What is going on there? Does he show up for Belmonts when they die? Does he ever have to leave to go usher some souls into the afterlife when the castle is around? What's up with the mini-Death in his SotN art?
And then Lisa is also a way to ask about the villages around the castle. Pre-CV3, do they know a vampire is in the castle? How do they deal with it? Did Lisa try to convince them to get along with the monsters at all? What did either side think of that? How did the monsters feel about her in general? Were there differences in opinion? IGA's headcanon is that she was of holy blood. How did that work with marrying Dracula? Did she have any family?
Alchemy! How does it work? How does it differ from the magic Charlotte and Yoko use? Does anyone still use it by the time PoR and AoS roll around? Has anyone tried to steal books and tools from the castle? How did that work out? (probably badly) Does anyone ever try to re-create the Ebony and Crimson Stones on purpose? Can anyone use it, or does it take a special talent?
We don't usually see the Belmonts as strange and cursed in the games, so something focusing on how they don't quite fit in with the people they're sworn to protect would be interesting. Maxim says he wanted to protect Juste from having to be the Belmont heir, how would that work? Have there been any Belmonts who just bailed on the whole vampire hunting trade? What if the current Belmont dies with no kids? What do they do when Dracula isn't around? Do they get paid, or do they just routinely rob Dracula for cash? What tales do they tell about the previous generations? What were they doing between LoI and CV3, and how did they scare the populace so much?
We know there are a bunch of other vampire hunters out there, but we rarely get to see them. (good place to bring in Nathan, who is just kind of weird otherwise) Do they have their own founding legends? How do they feel about basically always being second-rate to the Belmonts? What are some organizations besides Ecclesia? What did they focus on? How close did any of them get to succeeding? Were there any survivors? (note: I'm fine with Dracula winning any confrontations in this category. Let the vamp get some kills in sometimes)
The church in CV must be weird. It hires witches, when did that start? With Sypha? How did that work with Lisa just *mumblemumble* years before? Does anyone ever notice that if Dracula is some sort of devil, what does that say about God? What was Celia's little cult like? Are they right, and the world really does need some sort of Manichean anti-God? Because that was declared heresy centuries ago. Church politics when you have to decide who's going to run the witch's division that fights against vampires has got to get...interesting.
And then monsters. I love the monsters. How do they get along? Are there factions inside the castle? Who decides what monsters end up where? Who gets stuck with relighting the candles? Do they survive from incarnation to incarnation? If so, what's it like waking up and having to figure out a whole new castle layout? The games seem to hint they come from the Chaotic Realm/the Abyss, what's it like there normally? How do they get summoned? Really, anything giving the monsters more personality would make me very happy.
Sailor Moon
Original Character(s), Any/No Characters
Worldbuilding: The Senshi in Crystal Tokyo, Past Life Memories, Dark Kingdom Life and Culture
Apparently on Hulu and Viz's site.
Prompts: I love the other eras of canon, like the Silver Millennium and Crystal Tokyo. How does Crystal Tokyo actually function? What are the senshi's duties? Are they just guards, or do they have governmental functions? What sort of challenges do they face in the new world? What about the economy, social changes, really anything. ...how many rules and processes do they have set up to deal with Usagi being Usagi?
For Past Life Memories, I'd be really into seeing how the Silver Millennium is different from modern-day Japan, and if it's ever jarring to the Senshi to have these memories of living somewhere so different. What exactly is different? How do the memories come through? Do the Senshi ever get all their memories back? (I legit can't remember if this happened on the show of not) What did the Senshi do back in the Silver Millennium, and does that change any of their dreams in the present? How messed up is it to know that all these planets used to have civilizations and now they're all just gone? Or were there survivors? That could link up to Crystal Tokyo, just saying.
Dark Kingdom life! They survived for so long, what's their day-to-day like? What do they eat? Do they even need to eat? What's considered honorable and respectable in their culture, and what isn't? What are their customs, rituals, superstitions? Are there yoma that don't make it to the front lines? What do they do? How did the Dark Kingdom start, and did it differ from how they ended up?
X
Original Character(s), Any/No Characters, Shirou Kamui
Worldbuilding: The two Kamui being twin stars, End of the world after the Promised Day
Canon notes: Yuzuriha survives the Promised Day if anyone does. This is the rule. (if it's total game over, then whatever)
Prompts:
The two Kamui's being twin stars is interesting, especially when they basically switch personalities over the course of the manga. When did the Monous + Tooru figure out the secret? How did they do it? How did the whole Twin Star thing work when Fuuma is older than Kamui? Is there a deeper relationship than just what we see in the manga so far? How do Fuuma and Kamui affect each other?
I'm down for whatever you want to portray as life after the end. Survivors? No survivors, just nature? If humanity dies off, what's to stop another species from arising and figuring out technology? Would that species also be destroyed? (has that happened before?) What sort of apocalypse destroys humanity without also killing off most higher lifeforms? If there are survivors, how do they get along? What's the Earth like 10, 20, 50 years after the Promised Day?
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Original Character(s), Any or No Characters
Worldbuilding: Hunter's Guild, Gods changing or merging, Food, Enslaving demons, Demon Fusion
You're stuck buying these. They're available on the eShop, though.
Canon notes: Bringing in Apocalypse stuff is fine.
Prompts: I'd like ot find out more about the Hunter's Guild. Apocalypse does a great job with filling it out, but I'm always ready for more. A look into other Hunter's daily lives? Special missions, routine missions, making reports, handling logistics for such a big and important organization? Maybe some conflicts with the Ashura-Kai and the Ring of Gaea...or unexpected co-operation? Or a look into the early days, or an incident that forced a rule to be created or changed.
The identity of gods/demons is weird and fluid in SMT, so I'd love anything dealing with that. Beelzebub in Apocalypse was changed from Baal and manages to come back, what was that like? What about any of the other gods related to Baal? What happened to them? Or Danu merging with Black Maria and passing her power on to Nozomi, but then she remains as a spirit in Apocalypse. What's up with that? Does the Black Maria Danu still exist? Can Nozomi meet up with Black Maria...or even have her in the party? What kind of tensions would that cause? Then Odin and Dagda were once the same god, but split apart. What caused that? Human worship, another force, what? (How awkward is it when/if Nanashi fuses Odin later?)
Food! Everyone eats demons in Tokyo, but they don't seem to have livestock per se. Has anyone tried? Why did they stop? What do they do for vegetables and spices? What new kinds of cooking have come about since the Ceiling? Are there still restaurants besides the Hunter Bars? What would a menu look like? Maybe a rich person sends hunters out on a job to get some rare ingredient... For the end of SMTIV proper, how does food change once the Ceiling is gone?
We meet an enslaved demon during Apocalypse, is this common? Do other demons try to mount rescue parties for friends? Dwarves usually count as part of the fairy kingdom, so does the enslavement of one or more cause problems for Nozomi? And since the demon is introduced as specifically enslaved, how does that differ from making a demon part of your party and fusing it away at will?
Speaking of demon fusion...I love this part of the series, and I've love anything that goes into it. The mechanics? Fusing away a beloved demon? The demon's perspective on it? Can a demon refuse to be fused? What about special fusions? And the compendium! Demons are just data that can be stored in a guantlet/smartphone then combined to make new demons, which raises all SORTS of metaphysical questions. Have any scientists really studied this (besides Stephen)? Has Stephan written any reports, or notes on the Demon Fusion Program? Is Mido just a helpful interface, or something more?
