Epic Worldbuilding History?

[PerryLynn]

Hi guys!

Does anyone have a world with thousands of years of history? Especially one that advances in technology over the years?

 

[pmmg]

Well...my world goes from the stone age to a steel one---does that count? or are you looking for more modern inventions?

 

[PerryLynn]

That's cool! Yeah, I'm wondering if there is any medieval to scifi-like

 

[pmmg]

Im'ma say no from me.

I am not ready to take on SciFi.

 

[PerryLynn]

I'm with you there

 

[pmmg]

There are members here writing stories less in the medieval age. They all wander in and out throughout the day. I am sure you will catch some.

 

[Incanus]

I do have about 2000 years of history in my world.

It's mostly epic fantasy in a lower tech 'historical' setting.

However, the way magic works has some overlap or parallels with technology. It would take too much space and time for me to explain it all here, and I want readers to learn about it naturally as the story develops anyway. There is some science to the way it works.

Here's what I'm NOT doing with magic:

different schools of magic
magic divided into elemental categories
powering magic with blood, body parts, pieces of soul, etc.
learning/memorizing spells

 

[ThinkerX]

I reverse and back again.

Tens of thousands of years ago, the Ancient Aliens terraformed several planets. Starting about ten thousand years ago, they began importing members of primitive races (notably humans and goblins) as servitors and test subjects. Many members of these races went rogue and reverted to a tribal lifestyle. Others were organized into vassal states charged with supplying food and raw materials.

As the alien's numbers declined, they genetically imbued select servitors with enhanced psi ability (their tech was psi based.) The ancient alien civilizations met with disaster a little over three thousand years ago. The vassal states became independent nations, but the alien tech was destroyed or semi-functional. Lingering enclaves of the aliens continued to import humans and others until their societies collapsed about 1700 years ago.

Meanwhile, the psi-enhanced people developed their talents in unusual directions and became the first wizards.

The former vassal states treasured what tech they could salvage, but it was mostly beyond their ability to replicate. Bad choices on their part saw the most powerful of these nations destroyed by barbarian hordes. As time went by, other primitive nations began inventing tech from scratch.

'Currently, the tech level ranges from 'savages with swords' to enclaves with 19th-century tech - bicycles, balloons, explosives, complex clockworks, and cameras. Messages are sent thousands of miles in days instead of months via hundreds of semaphore towers.

Another century sees (electric) cars and railroads, among other things.

 

[PerryLynn]

I do have about 2000 years of history in my world.

It's mostly epic fantasy in a lower tech 'historical' setting.

However, the way magic works has some overlap or parallels with technology. It would take too much space and time for me to explain it all here, and I want readers to learn about it naturally as the story develops anyway. There is some science to the way it works.

Here's what I'm NOT doing with magic:

different schools of magic
magic divided into elemental categories
powering magic with blood, body parts, pieces of soul, etc.
learning/memorizing spells

Oh cool! That sound interesting. Is there any technological advancement, or is that not really a thing?

 

[PerryLynn]

I reverse and back again.

Tens of thousands of years ago, the Ancient Aliens terraformed several planets. Starting about ten thousand years ago, they began importing members of primitive races (notably humans and goblins) as servitors and test subjects. Many members of these races went rogue and reverted to a tribal lifestyle. Others were organized into vassal states charged with supplying food and raw materials.

As the alien's numbers declined, they genetically imbued select servitors with enhanced psi ability (their tech was psi based.) The ancient alien civilizations met with disaster a little over three thousand years ago. The vassal states became independent nations, but the alien tech was destroyed or semi-functional. Lingering enclaves of the aliens continued to import humans and others until their societies collapsed about 1700 years ago.

Meanwhile, the psi-enhanced people developed their talents in unusual directions and became the first wizards.

The former vassal states treasured what tech they could salvage, but it was mostly beyond their ability to replicate. Bad choices on their part saw the most powerful of these nations destroyed by barbarian hordes. As time went by, other primitive nations began inventing tech from scratch.

'Currently, the tech level ranges from 'savages with swords' to enclaves with 19th-century tech - bicycles, balloons, explosives, complex clockworks, and cameras. Messages are sent thousands of miles in days instead of months via hundreds of semaphore towers.

Another century sees (electric) cars and railroads, among other things.

Oh neat! Kinda rebuilt societies with the idea of magic and how that would change things.

 

[ThinkerX]

Oh neat! Kinda rebuilt societies with the idea of magic and how that would change things.

The magic is not that impressive. Think of faith healers whose cures work sometimes and flop the rest. Think of 'remote viewers' whose visions are good, except when they are not. Think hypnotism ramped up to an '11' on the 10-point scale. A wizard with the correct telekinetic touch *might* be able to shatter a boulder - or he might crack it a little. Another spell acts as 'superglue' - sometimes. Fireballs? No. Igniting a candle (or somebody's clothing thirty pace off - maybe. Sleep spell? Usually. Illusions? Yes, but they take props, plus most have flaws that alert folks can spot. Calming/enraging/summoning animals is another common trick. Levitation? Maybe. Weather magic? Iffy.

A typical trained wizard will have a solid grasp of 2-5 of these knacks, and weaker skills in 2-5 others. There are many 'wizards' who have only weak skills in 2-3 of these abilities that they augment with trickery and potions.

Then there is Summoning, drawn from Lovecraft and ancient magic. The servitors who mucked around with this brought down their inhuman master's civilizations - and died in the process. Currently, wizards who delve into this tend to get torched by the Inquisition.

 

[PerryLynn]

The magic is not that impressive. Think of faith healers whose cures work sometimes and flop the rest. Think of 'remote viewers' whose visions are good, except when they are not. Think hypnotism ramped up to an '11' on the 10-point scale. A wizard with the correct telekinetic touch *might* be able to shatter a boulder - or he might crack it a little. Another spell acts as 'superglue' - sometimes. Fireballs? No. Igniting a candle (or somebody's clothing thirty pace off - maybe. Sleep spell? Usually. Illusions? Yes, but they take props, plus most have flaws that alert folks can spot. Calming/enraging/summoning animals is another common trick. Levitation? Maybe. Weather magic? Iffy.

A typical trained wizard will have a solid grasp of 2-5 of these knacks, and weaker skills in 2-5 others. There are many 'wizards' who have only weak skills in 2-3 of these abilities that they augment with trickery and potions.

Then there is Summoning, drawn from Lovecraft and ancient magic. The servitors who mucked around with this brought down their inhuman master's civilizations - and died in the process. Currently, wizards who delve into this tend to get torched by the Inquisition.

I like it. something new out there

 

[Queshire]

I love mixing sci fi and fantasy. It's one of the main things of my setting. Some of it is just little jokes like Star Trek style replicators that work by conjuration magic or instead of beaming down to a planet you have a mage open a portal down to the surface.

Still, I've put some thought into it.

Dwarves are one of the oldest space faring races. Their craftsmanship helped of course, but their experience living underground meant they weren't as vulnerable to cabin fever or other psychological effects of long term space travel. The generations spent living in their mountain holds translated into generations living on Colony Ships slowly making their way across the stars. In modern day FTL means that such generation ships aren't needed, but they've transformed into massive citadel ships traveling through space.

The Elves were some of the first to develop magical FTL. It was limited to gates connecting specific systems in a spiderwebbing network, but having FTL at all meant they could actually have an insteller nation instead of independent colonies. Advancements in magical FTL has rendered such elf gates obsolete, and a failed bid at godhood caused the Elven kingdom itself to shatter. Still, they're one of the most prominent races in space.

Those are just two examples. I've tried to come up with a sci fi twist for all the classic fantasy races.

 

[ThinkerX]

I love mixing sci fi and fantasy. It's one of the main things of my setting. Some of it is just little jokes like Star Trek style replicators that work by conjuration magic or instead of beaming down to a planet you have a mage open a portal down to the surface.

Still, I've put some thought into it.

Dwarves are one of the oldest space faring races. Their craftsmanship helped of course, but their experience living underground meant they weren't as vulnerable to cabin fever or other psychological effects of long term space travel. The generations spent living in their mountain holds translated into generations living on Colony Ships slowly making their way across the stars. In modern day FTL means that such generation ships aren't needed, but they've transformed into massive citadel ships traveling through space.

The Elves were some of the first to develop magical FTL. It was limited to gates connecting specific systems in a spiderwebbing network, but having FTL at all meant they could actually have an insteller nation instead of independent colonies. Advancements in magical FTL has rendered such elf gates obsolete, and a failed bid at godhood caused the Elven kingdom itself to shatter. Still, they're one of the most prominent races in space.

Those are just two examples. I've tried to come up with a sci fi twist for all the classic fantasy races.

sounds like the old AD&D Spelljammer

 

[Finchbearer]

Yes to both questions. But I have to assume that when you say technology, you mean spaceships. I don’t do spaceships, but within any 1000 year time span you would expect technology to change and evolve. You could describe going from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age requiring a lot of new technology.

 

[skip.knox]

Yes, though I'm not especially interested in the tech advancement side. I've put some thought to it and actually have two stories set in post-medieval times.

Do you have something specific in mind?

 

[Queshire]

sounds like the old AD&D Spelljammer

Oh yes, that is 100% one of my inspirations. (I was so disappointed in 5e's version of Spelljammer.) Still, I aim to be more tech-y than Spelljammer. My guys might utilize runic circuitry in constructing their ships, but it's still circuitry.

 

[ThinkerX]

Oh yes, that is 100% one of my inspirations. (I was so disappointed in 5e's version of Spelljammer.) Still, I aim to be more tech-y than Spelljammer. My guys might utilize runic circuitry in constructing their ships, but it's still circuitry.

There are spacecraft in my worlds - or rather there were.

Much of 'Empire: Judgment' is set on a crashed alien spacecraft taken over by a demon lord.

 

[Super Fantasy]

Many of my writings are about distant futures.

 

[MrNybble]

Depends on the series pull history from. One has over twenty thousand years of history, the other around eight thousand.

The Twenty thousand year one is more of a classic medieval fantasy. Not counting the millions of years dragons have been around as they don't tend to keep good records. Lots of long lived humanoid races that can have multi-century life spans tend to make established history. As for tech, it doesn’t get past steam power. With magic around, there isn’t much need to research much non magic tech. That and the planet they are on have a very active dual core that throws out random magnetic spikes. Plays havoc with electronics.

The Eight thousand year history story is sci-fi. Think of alien amish nomads in space that have tech just short of micro processors. Besides religious reasons, they have run into dozens of other extinct cultures that died from their own tech advancements. Even when presented with advanced tech from other races they avoid it. Could say this is a low tech culture in sci-fi story. A small short lived race that moves around the galaxy in hollowed out asteroids and moons.