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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

The World Builder Society NEW CHALLENGE 2/26/08!!! "Middle'o'Nowhere in a GFFA!"

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction and Writing Resource' started by JediMindTrick000, Oct 27, 2005.

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  1. poor yorick

    poor yorick Ex-Mod star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Jun 25, 2002
    For a while I was in grad school doing interdisciplinary studies in Early Modern history and literature. In this way I was going to prepare myself for a career in the food service industry. ("Dost want the hot sauce on't, milady, or would'st rather thou the mylde?")

    Anyway . . . I ended up studying a fair amount of military history. A general interest in the subject led me to other eras, and so I have a fairly decent mental catalogue of things to copy from when I feel like wiping some pitiful excuse for a civilization off the map. Er--I mean, writing about the terrible human tragedy of war.

    In my last novel, a kind of constant low-level skirmishing escalated into full-scale war, and I stole from a lot of RL sources for that. One was the sporadic and then systematic killing of Native Americans by the U.S. government, especially in the area east of the Mississippi, where there had been a long period of relatively peaceful coexistence before the hammer fell. I also stole from wars held in areas with terrain similar to the one I had invented: the Vietnam War, and the Pacific theater of WWII. I also stole liberally from the films of Akira Kurosawa, which are not actually wars at all, but look really cool with all those guys running around in Darth Vader-looking helmets. Oh--I stole from WWII air dogfights too, of course, since that's what Lucas based his space battles on anyway. So in a way, I don't really make war up at all--I copy it. In one fic (another fandom) I literally bought a book that was a firsthand account of life in Vietnam and copied the opening events and details precisely--just swapping in my own character instead. Cheatsy, yes, but I felt it was the only way I was ever going to get any authenticity. The reason I copy is that war's such a complicated business, and I (fortunately) have no personal experience with it. I don't think I could ever do it justice by trying to make things up from scratch. I suppose the authorial trick is in knowing what to copy, but in a way, that's editing rather than world-building.

    When I'm not tired I'll probably be able to think of more resources, but two very-copyable ones that come to mind are Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" (I have the cartoon-illustrated version--yayy!!) and a Discovery Channel video called "Black Sky: Winning The X-Prize." The last one isn't technically about war--it's actually about building a real-life air-to-space craft and the challenges of transitioning from piloting in an atmosphere to piloting in a vacuum. There's some really nice raw material for writing space battles in there.

    Too sleepy to try writing a fiction snippet just now, but I may give it a shot later.
     
  2. 1Yodimus_Prime

    1Yodimus_Prime Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 13, 2004
    I love playing around with how wars screw with culture, social structures, economy. Wildlife..
    Conveniently - and inconveniently - I actually have been over this in a fic of mine.
    Specifically, the topic point - 2. The effects on the planet's ecosystems .

    Of course, I used an existing world. Anobis. You can find it on the map.

    Buuut, since I do little-to-no research on that sort of stuff before writing, 90% of what I wrote about Anobis I made up myself. The only thing that I kept intact was the only thing that interested me: there had been (is still? who knows) a global civil war. In "On Yodimus", I had a lot of fun with an invented predator called a 'Belpher', whose primary source of food was these blind hummingbird creatures that lived in the flatlands of Anobis, where much of their plant-food-of-choice existed. Belphers lived on the surface, but they had their children deep in the planet's crust - which they migrated into once every year - sorta like a mammilian salmon. Because of this, they had developed thick armored shells to protect themselves from the heat down deep.

    The civil war did two things: it gave Belphers alternate high-heat locations to mate for a short period, consequently booming their population.
    : and it turned a large amount of the flatlands into marshes.

    The marshes were bad, because those thick shells made Belphers too heavy, causing them sink if they went in. But their own population boom killed off all the hummingbird creatures that lived outside the flatlands, leaving only the birds smart enough to stay deep in those marshes, consequently forcing the birds to widdle down the population of their plant-food-of-choice, which was fighting its own losing battle with the undesirable groundspace the marshes provided. Hence,thanks to a civil war, a short explosion in Belpher population actually made the species endangered, as well as two others, and altered their migration habits to boot.

    Wars are fun
     
  3. Souderwan

    Souderwan Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 3, 2005
    Ooh. First time stopping by but I thought I'd share my planet! :D

    Planet: Migruna VII

    System: Migruna

    Location: Several days travel in hyperspace from the core, deep in the Outer Rim.

    Details: Migruna III is the third planet in the Migruna system. Migruna III revolves around twin suns and has three moons. The planet is very large (about three times the size of Earth) and lush. Has three continents separated by fairly rough seas.

    Climate:Primarily a tropical climate, Migruna III is rife with woods and lush green hills and fauna. The planet experiences four seasons but the summer months are the longest.

    Population: The planet is inhabited by the Migru, a tiny creature with large ears and big bulbous eyes. The planet population is very small (approximately 50,000). Because of their excessively long life-spans (up to 1500 yrs), the Migru do not procreate frequently.

    Main Industry: The only source of Kriva juice, juice found to be more effective than any other chemical at enticing others to tell the truth. Highly sought after by government agencies. Also producers of cadrinium, a green crystal with undefined properties, largely believed to be used for jewelry.

    Context in which the planet appears: Three hundred years before the fall of the Republic, Yoda frequently visited his home planet Migruna III.
     
  4. Palpy560

    Palpy560 Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 11, 2005
    The one planet that I have given so far was only involved in the Clone Wars. Of course they had been through a few others beforehand and were sort of transformed into a war society. Able to take up arms practically at a moments notice.

    I view the Clone Wars as a virus that takes over worlds. Palpatine's little project that sucks the life out of whole cultures. The effect of the war will usually make people afraid every day of attack. They slowly become more violent and hostile.

    Take for example, Kalee, the homeworld of Grievous. In my Round Robin Fan Fic, Battle for Kalee, the world is painted as a culture struggling to regain a more simple way of life.

    Grievous is a good example because after the Huk and Clone Wars, he was transformed into a creature who was pure evil. But I believe war did this to him before he was made into a cyborg.

    Years of fighting changes people as a whole. I try to give that impression most of the time.
     
  5. Rogue_Pilot_2347

    Rogue_Pilot_2347 Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    May 16, 2005
    My system hasn't had any wars, that I know about. There is another planet I created in which the Imperials introduced a toxin into the soil and water, effectually killing everything and leaving the water pretty poisonous.
     
  6. JediMindTrick000

    JediMindTrick000 Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Dec 14, 2004
    I think you all hit the nail right on the head when dealing with war and its effects on the planet as a whole, interdependently with its inhabitants.

    To start off with, ophelia mentioned Sun Tzu's "Art of War," which I have a copy of myself, yet sadly, mine is not illustrated. Anyway, if you intend to have war as a central theme to your story, I would highly recommend reading over it. It's not a very hard read, and to say the least, Sun Tzu was a very smart man. Undoubtedly, whether it be a Jedi General in the Clone Wars, or an Imperial Commander trying to take a rebel stronghold, the principles mentioned in this book would definitely need to be used if they wanted to be successful. And many of the strategies discussed focus highly on the terrain of the battlefield, so this will help to develop your planet building and war writing capabilities.

    1Yodimus_Prime talked about war's affect on the wildlife of a world. This might not seem like a major issue, but think about it. Say your family was in the farming industry, and you always made your living off of a certain meat, but because of war (directly or indirectly due to symbiotic relationships with other species affecting by the war), you no longer have a supply of that animal. Your whole world has just been crushed. Even if it's not something that major - let's just say you always loved lightning bugs, but you haven't seen one in ages because they can no longer live in your area due to the devastation, that will affect you in some way. Maybe not drastically, but it may be worth at least mentioning in your fic.

    DarthIshtar talked about the military strategy of occupation and how that would affect the world and its populace. I'm not trying to start a separate debate here, but just look at Iraq. If you want a great case study at how hard and devastating an occupation can be for both sides, take a look at what's going on in the Middle East right now. Additionally, just think of the occupants then had a "scorched earth" policy, and left nothing in their tracks. You could brainstorm for hours on how many different aspects of life that would affect.

    And of course, correllian_ale's post about the Imperial Garrison was just about perfect. I couldn't say it any better myself, so if you want a realistic representation of how a war effort could affect a planet and its resource (and therefore its people), take a look at those ideas, write them down, and use them as a worksheet to answer the question "How would this war affect my planet?"

    Just start jotting down some of these ideas, and you will add an unbelievable amount of realism to your world and to your story.

    Thanks all for your responses! Keep up the good work.
     
  7. Meredith_Kenobi

    Meredith_Kenobi Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 20, 2005
    We-e-e-ll, I've posted my response to the War! challenge. I know you said you could post it in here, but I'm a feedback junkie. [face_blush] Valor's War
     
  8. FanakinSolo

    FanakinSolo Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    May 19, 2006
    Here's my planet info for Zav:

    Planet: Zav
    Details: Zav is a Mid Rim world that was almost taken over in the Great Beejoh War. It proudly displays many animals, foods, and rocks.
    Terrain: Zav is a complete water world, except for a 3-mile-wide strip of forest and sand 2000 miles from the equator. On the nature strip, two runways, five factories, and eight bases were constructed. Also, three underground mines were dug.
    Climate: Mostly a warm/hot planet with cool waters. Spring, fall, and summer are the only seasons.
    Nature: 3-mile-wide strip of nature 2000 miles from the equator.
    Animals/Creatures: Vazzi Bird, Freeg Bird, Monkey-Lizard, Dancing Papot Lizard, and Sliu Dog.
    Days: 30 hours
    Weeks: 5 days
    Months: 5 weeks
    Years: 13 months
    Harvesting/Mining/Trading: Harvesting: Sliu Corn, Zavvian Tree-Water, Vazzi Meat/Mining: Zavvian Water-Rock, Zavvian Sand-Rock/Trading: Yes

    It was featured in Jedi, Smugglers, and Rancors, and will also be in the Dark Plague Series, specifically Dark Plague II: No Peace, Melting Core, Crumbling Edges, and Crushed and Exiled. All of the stories will be by me/a few other authors.

     
  9. GraySaberFreque

    GraySaberFreque Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 23, 2006
    TER'JANIII
    system: Reeque Astertof(Ter'Janiii for Red Asteroids)

    Physical Details: Ter'Janiii is a planet surronded by huge red asteroids created by the explosion of Getteck(a planet in the same system)at about 2,500,000 BBY.In truth, Ter'Janiii is also an asteroid but it is the bigest asteroid in the system.It Orbits the Reeque star(the sun of the system).Ter'Janiii is the only know habitable planet in the system.Ter'Janiii is a planet covered in red dust in a constant sand storm.

    History: About 15,000 BBY Ter'Janii was settled by a group of 10,000 refugees from an unknown planet.Originally there was no set government on Ter'Janiii until the tona family came about 14,587 BBY, there are many legends about the Tona families origins but none have been confirmed or denied. According to legend, Emila Tona gave birth to three sons wich she gave role to, Jan Tona:First son and family leader, Gegue Tona: Family Merchant, and Asleuq Tona: The Slave. There are many myths about the childhood of the sons, but the only certain thing is that the ter'Janiii continue the tradition of giving their children role, the 1st the leader, the 2nd the merchant, the 3rd the slave. According to legend, the Tona family united Ter'Janiii at unknow date (estimated 14,537 BBY).

    During the clone wars, both the republic and Seperatists fought over Ter'Janiii for its rich Reeque Asteroid deposits, one of the most sturdy and strong building materials in the galaxy; able to withstand even the most powerful lasers, blasters , and even ship bombardments and missiles.Ter'Janiii though, chose to remain outside of the war in order to keep their independence.

    During the galactic civil war, the Terjaniiians signed a pact with the empire stating that as long as no military presence or or laws come to Ter'Janii, the empire would have full control over the Ter'Janiii fleet and Military as well as a early tribute.

    In the new rebublic, Ter'Janiii remained fearclly independent, even defending themselves against the Yuzahn Vong without republic assistance.But when the second Correlian inserection happened. Ter'Janiii eventually joined the republic, not wishing to end up as correlia did.

    Population: 99.9billion
    Imports: Water, ships
    Exports: Reeque Astertof, produce, and Reeque dust.
    culture:coming soon
    Architecure:Coming soon
     
  10. Cael-Fenton

    Cael-Fenton Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Jun 22, 2006
    Hello there to all.

    I am really glad that GreySaberFreque posted here and bumped this thread?else I might never have come across it. JMT, I think you did a great job?thanks for this wonderful thread! World Builder Society has got to be one of the most interesting topics I've ever come across in FFR, and I hope to be able to contribute. I'm coming up with a planet for my new QuiDook misadventure in BftS, and I hope to iron the details and PM them to JMT soon.
     
  11. jedimastercam

    jedimastercam Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Jan 24, 2007
    My Lovely Planets

    Astion
    Astion was a natural battlezone during the clone wars and many jedi were there battling when it began. Sadly, the Seps sent radioactive bombs over the planet and it was almost destroyed. The last two jedi living and a bunch of clone troopers sided with the surviving aliens of them, the Astionians, and the group built the planet back up. When Order 66 began, the troopers just blew the planet up and killed eveyone alien and two jedi on the planet.
     
  12. Master_Dmentae

    Master_Dmentae Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 17, 2006
    so basically we can just make up a planet and post it here for others 2 use?
     
  13. 1Yodimus_Prime

    1Yodimus_Prime Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 13, 2004
    "so basically we can just make up a planet and post it here for others 2 use?" - Master_Dmentae
    Yes.

    All Galaxies, Regions, Sectors, Systems, Planets, Ecosystems, Habitats, Cultures, and Populations - either newly invented or oldly invented - are welcome here. Please, post away.


    GraySaber: Ter'janiii has got some really interesting history there. (how on earth to you pronounce 3 'i's anyway? Hm. Bet that's how they pick out the tourists. ;) )
    Jedimastercam: Astion sounds like the official 'short end of the stick' planet of the GFFA. They never got a break, did they?

    It's great to see some activity over here! I love seeing new creations. Remember that, unlike our own Milky Way Galaxy, the GFFA has habitable planets orbiting very nearly every single star. That's a LOT of worlds. So let's get building people! Pick up the pace! We got deadlines to meet. This whole project needs to be finished before the Big Crunch, or we're gonna get an earfull from the Big Man. And the last time he did that, the planet flooded. I hate that.

     
  14. GraySaberFreque

    GraySaberFreque Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 23, 2006
    You mean besides being made with knowledge from wookiepedia lol.

    I always just pronouced the 3 i's like this(Iee) or (ee) it's pretty much there to make it look exotic lol.
     
  15. Cael-Fenton

    Cael-Fenton Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Jun 22, 2006
    I think I read in one of JediMindTrick's earlier posts to the thread that he would prefer to be PM'ed the information, and he would put it up in the first post.

    :confused:
     
  16. OCDatabaseSock

    OCDatabaseSock Jedi Grand Master star 3

    Registered:
    Dec 17, 2004
    JMT is not only the head of the world-builer society, but an honored member of our armed services, hence he tends to be away for long stretches of time.

    I'm pretty sure he's okay with people going ahead and posting their work here, and he'd be able to update his index later. [face_praying] I hope.

    So if you have anything Cael, I'd say go ahead and add it my friend!
    (I think Yodimus has kind of taken this thread hostage anyway, he does that randomly with many threads from time-to-time...)
     
  17. 1Yodimus_Prime

    1Yodimus_Prime Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 13, 2004
    Noo! My secret plans to take over the boards laid bare!! Quick, someone get me a press secretary who can deny everything for me!
    ;)

    That said, the shadowy, mysterious, venerable, nigh-all-powerful, OCDatabaseSock *cough*Ale*cough* is correct. JMT tends to disappear for long spans of time, understandably. Therefore, while it's important to respect the ground rules of the thread, it's really not a good idea to wait for him. Not unless you can hold your breath for months on end.

    [/hijack] :p
     
  18. JediMindTrick000

    JediMindTrick000 Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Dec 14, 2004
    And who's not willing to hold their breaths for this guy?? =) Yes, alas, the military has gotten their money's worth out of me, and I have been gone for quite a long time, but I'm glad to see you're all here and doing well. I'm stopping by to let you know that although overworked, I am doing great as well with this Navy gig I got going.

    But while I'm here, an assignment! (you know I couldn't resist)

    ORDER 66

    I know it's old news, but I think it is still such a pertinent topic in today's world, with all the conflicts going on around the world and in our own back yard. I'd love for you to take your favorite self-generated world and explain how it changed after the Dark Times, after the Empire! Feel free to discuss how the geography, architecture, politics, arts, and society of your world changed as a result of Order 66. And Enjoy. And as always, May the Force be with you.

     
  19. correllian_ale

    correllian_ale Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 20, 2005
    :eek: :D JMT!!!! Good to see you back! Good to see you safe more than anything!

    And already putting us to task. :D
     
  20. JediMindTrick000

    JediMindTrick000 Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Dec 14, 2004
    correllian_ale, it is good to see you too, my friend. And I wouldn't call it a tasking necessarily, just food for thought. As mentioned above, I'm not around nearly enough to assign tasks to be completed by you good folks. =) But in my defense, I did at least update the index on Page 1 while I was here. MTFBWY!
     
  21. JediMindTrick000

    JediMindTrick000 Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Dec 14, 2004
    NEW CHALLENGE: B*E IN A GFFA

    Alright, you know I love to get this thing going whenever I get a chance while I'm back on land, so here goes:

    You are a space explorer of whatever kind you wish (merchant, smuggler, military, etc.) and while traveling through hyperspace, your hyperdrive motivator craps the bed, you stall out, and drop out of hyperspace into the middle of nowhere. And to add insult to injury, your navicomputer is busted as well due to an electric surge from the hyperdrive. Luckily for you, there is an uninhabited planet within range of your sublight engine, and you land there for food and shelter. Now you must describe in great detail the planet onto which you have just landed so hopefully someone can come rescue you. If you wish, you can even name the planet based on your observations. Good luck and Happy Building!

    Your friendly neighborhood JMT
     
  22. JediMindTrick000

    JediMindTrick000 Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Dec 14, 2004
    Lord Thread....riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiise.

    Wassup, no one likes building stuff no mo? [face_not_talking]
     
  23. earlybird-obi-wan

    earlybird-obi-wan Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 21, 2006
    I like to share my planet where some of my characters end up after the Jedi-purge

    Planet: Moniron

    System: Moniron nebulae

    Location: Few days travel in hyperspace from the core, outer rim. Errased from the star charts by Darth Vader four years after his rise to power.

    Details: Moniron is the third planet in the Moniron system. Moniron revolves around a sun and has one moon. The planet is not large (about the size of Earth) and lush. Has four continents separated by seas. Names: Aarga, Rhova, Monira and Harada. Aarga is the most developed part and has some large cities and the capital Monir. Most settlers from other planets are on that continent. Rhova is the home continent of the natives of Moniron, the Dunai elder.
    Moniron is difficult to travel to because of the nebulae that errodes the drive

    Climate: like earth: all kinds of terrain: woods and lush green hills and fauna. The planet experiences four seasons.

    Population:
    The original inhabitants of Moniron are the Dunai elder and about 500.000.000 are living on Rhova. Dunai elder have a long life span of up to 990 years. All Dunai elder are Force sensitive but only a few of them were given to the Jedi. Dunai elder met humans and their descendants became the Dunai with a life span of about 260 years. They live mostly on Rhova like the Dunai elder.

    Main Industry:
    agricultural and main export: Husans a horse-like creature.

    Context in which the planet appears: Two Jedi-healers come from Moniron (time of prequels) and Yoda?s lightsaber ends up on Moniron. Moniron becomes the place for the new Jedi-healers academy.
     
  24. JediMindTrick000

    JediMindTrick000 Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Dec 14, 2004
    Fantastic! A contribution! I'm always glad when our personal SWU can grow. Thank you very much for the excellent work, earlybird-obi-wan. Your planet has been gratefully added to our Guide to the SWU on page 1.
     
  25. silverfighter

    silverfighter Jedi Knight star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 28, 2007
    This is a good idea for a thread. :) I think I'll write down one of my planets, and if I can come up with something later I think I could figure out the challenge.

    ~*~

    Name: Erdene (Air-din-ay)

    Location: A day's journey from Rakata Prime, just bordering the unknown regions.

    Geography: There are two main land masses, and one massive ocean splitting the two (I know that probably wouldn't work to make a habitable planet, but hey, Lucas has all desert, ocean, and snow planets :p ). Within the ocean there are scores of inhabited islands, and thousands more devoted to governmental purposes.

    Population: About 4.5 billion humans.

    Government: One royal family rules over the entire planet, and every member of the family rules over a certain section. There are a system of ranks, and for every rank you earn, the more privileges you can receive. For example, an elderly couple can be denied the proper care that is needed if they are of low rank. Any rank can be reached by anyone of any age, except for the highest rank which is the royal rank and you must be born into.

    Details: Erdene is a self sustaining planet. They sell no merchandise and expect none to be sold to them. From a young age children are taught to show no emotion except anger. They are allowed the feel the others, but only in moderation. The children of the privileged who will grow up to be the royal guard witness their first executio n at a very young age.


    ~*~

    Very dark planet, huh? :p
     
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