# Neurothrope Muses on Ironsworn World-Building tags: #thoughts , #game/rpg/ironsworn ![[Neurothrope Avatar.png|ilnR|300]] *See:* [[HPotS 000 - Building Your Truths|Ironsworn - Hollow Places of the Soul]] > First we pick the saddest, gloomiest, most depressing place possible for our setting - Scotland. Or fantasy Scotland, rather. Nothing says fun times like incessantly awful weather and generally miserable conditions. The Ironlands sound wretched. Sign me up. > > Next we determine the previous home was ravaged by plague. How original. Nothing spices up a game world like a deadly pandemic. It really helps explain all the marked enthusiasm and optimism of the Ironlanders. > > The name Ironlands comes from everlasting bad weather. Shocking. Who could have guessed? The creativity on display here is mind-blowing. I can't wait to slog through this place. > > Ruling warband chiefs fight over a nonsense crown while everyone else tries not to starve or freeze. Politics at its finest. I'll make sure to cozy up to the most violent moron I can find. > > Our pantheon is absentee landlord gods who abandoned their worshippers. Nothing questionable or problematic there. I look forward to mature theological discussions by the fire. > > Magic is rare but dangerous because power-hungry loners never cause issues. I'll be sure to look up the local crazy witch and enroll as warlock-in-training. > > Monsters haunt the wilderness but politely avoid villages. Very considerate of them. I'm excited to go camping. Bring lots of puntoons and holy water. > > And the piece de resistance - the narrator loves mindflayers for reasons no one should investigate. I can't wait to end up in one of their intellect devourer breeding pits. Just stellar. > > This should be a delightful world full of roses and sunshine. I'm glad it doesn't default to every overused fantasy cliché ever. That would be truly disappointing and not at all what I hoped for when I woke up this morning. > > Well, time to go rope myself into helping some random village with no safety nets, infrastructure or sanitation. I'm absolutely certain this will end well for all involved. Please save my burial spot - I prefer swamp. > > -- Neurothrope-00