BUILDING A WORLD
DETERMINE TERRAIN
The following are rules for placing terrain on a previously generated planet. To begin building your world select a region on you map and roll 36 pairs of Destiny Dice to form a Destiny pool. This Destiny pool will be used to determine the size of terrain areas found in a region. Next roll the Terrain Type die and use the Destiny pool rolled earlier to determine size and nature of the terrain area.
TERRAIN TYPES
This section will go over the different terrain areas generated for your selected region. Sometimes terrain areas overlap one another.
Highlands: Highlands cover any rough terrain including hills, mountains, plateaus and basins, table or broken lands, cliffs or gorges, and other rough terrain. If Highlands are rolled, roll the Highlands die once per Destiny die to determine which of the below features the Highlands consists of.
- Hills: Common elevated terrain area, but shorter than mountains.
- Mountains: Elevated terrain area, taller than hills.
- Plateaus or Basins: Elevated or depressed terrain area, often with cliffs at their edges
- Table or Broken Lands: Elevated often flat topped terrain area or rugged minimally elevated terrain.
- Cliffs or Gorges: An escarpment that separates two different elevations or a narrow steep sided depression.
Badlands: Badlands cover any barren terrain including deserts, shrub lands, tundras, and other barren terrain.
Grasslands: Grasslands cover any grassy terrain including steppes, savannas, and other grassy terrain.
Woodlands: Woodlands cover any forested terrain including forests, jungles, and other forrested terrain.
Wetlands: Wetlands cover any watery terrain including swamps, marshes, coastal and riparian, moors, mires, glaciers, and other watery terrain.
TERRAIN SIZES
Use the Destiny pool rolled earlier to determine size and nature of the terrain area rolled by choosing 1-4 dice and multiplying the total by 1 + the total of 0-4 additional dice selected from the Destiny pool. This is the number of 30 mile hexes each terrain area takes up. If Highlands are rolled multiply the total by 2. Next roll one Fate die per Destiny die used for each color pool to determine features of the terrain area (if over 4, add additional results or roll additional die). Keep track of the Triumph and Tragedy dice used to help determine the nature of features generated for the terrain area. If you want to add more randomness when picking the above die, you can roll Fate pool die to determine what die to pick, choosing a Triumph die for every + rolled and a Tragedy die for every - rolled.
TERRAIN FEATURES
This section will go over the different features generated for a terrain area. If at any point you run out of destiny die to use treat remaining features as having rolled a 1 (alternate between Triumph or Tragedy).
Red Fate Pool: For most terrain types, the red Fate pool is used to determine if the generated terrain area is arid (+), humid (-), or somewhere in between ( ). For Highlands it is used to determine if the terrain area is volcanic and if there are active (+), dormant (-), or no ( ) volcanoes, vent fields, or geyser fields. Each + or - is an active volcano, vent field, or geyser field if the area is active, and each + or - a dormant volcano, vent field, or geyser field if the area is dormant.
White Fate Pool: For most terrain types, the white Fate pool is used to determine if the generated terrain area is warmer (+), colder (-), or somewhere in between ( ). For Highlands it is used to determine if the terrain area has hot springs (+), cave systems (-), or neither ( ). Each + or - is a hot springs field if the area has hot springs, and each + or - a cave system if the area has cave systems.
Green Fate Pool: For most terrain types, the green Fate pool is used to determine if the generated terrain area is dense (+), sparse (-), or somewhere in between ( ). For Highlands it is used to determine different things depending on the Highland type.
- Hills: Used to determine if a hill area is high and/or rugged (+), low and/or rolling (-), or somewhere in between ( ).
- Mountains: Used to determine if a mountain area is high and/or rugged (+), low and/or smoother (-), or somewhere in between ( ).
- Plateaus or Basins: Used to determine if an area has a plateau (+), a basin (-), or a mix of both ( ).
- Table or Broken Lands: Used to determine if an area has a table land (+), a broken land (-), or a mix of both ( ).
- Cliffs or Gorges: Used to determine if an area has a cliff (+), a gorge (-), or a mix of both ( ).
Blue Fate Pool: The blue Fate pool is used to determine if the generated terrain area has any water features and if they are beneficial (+), detrimental (-), or none ( ). Each + is a beneficial water feature, and each - a detrimental water feature. If water features are rolled, you will need to also roll the water feature die as well to determine if the water feature is one of the below. Water features can be placed within terrain areas. When this happens either displace the existing terrain to the border of the terrain area, or instead replace part of the existing terrain area.
- Seas: The terrain area is either along a coast line or there is an inland sea within it or along one of its borders. Choose from the Destiny pool die used for this terrain area earlier to determine the size and nature of the inland sea rolled by choosing 1-4 dice and multiplying the total by 1 + the total of 0-4 additional dice selected from the Destiny pool die used for this terrain area.
- Lakes: The terrain area has a lake within it or along one of its borders. Choose from the Destiny pool die used for this terrain area earlier to determine the size and nature of the lake rolled by choosing 1-3 dice and multiplying the total by 1 + the total of 0-3 additional dice selected from the Destiny pool die used for this terrain area.
- Rivers: The terrain area has a river or rivers within it or along one of its borders. Choose from the Destiny pool die used for this terrain area earlier to determine the number and nature of the rivers rolled by choosing 1 die, this is the number of rivers in or along the border of the terrain area. If multiple rivers are rolled use the same die result for each one. Choose a source for the river near or in the terrain area and create a path to a sea, lake, or another river that takes it through or along the border of the terrain area.
- Rapids: The terrain area has a river or rivers with a rapids section within it or along one of its borders. Choose from the Destiny pool die used for this terrain area earlier to determine the number and nature of the rapids rolled by choosing 1 die, this is the number of rapids on a river in or along the border of the terrain area. If multiple rapids are rolled use the same die result for each one. Choose a river or rivers already in or along the terrain areas border to place the rapids or create a new river if there are none. Choose a source for the new river near or in the terrain area and create a path to a sea, lake, or another river that takes it through or along the border of the terrain area.
- Falls: The terrain area has a river or rivers with a falls section within it or along one of its borders. Choose from the Destiny pool die used for this terrain area earlier to determine the number and nature of the falls rolled by choosing 1 die, this is the number of falls on a river in or along the border of the terrain area. If multiple falls are rolled use the same die result for each one. Choose a river or rivers already in or along the terrain areas border to place the falls or create a new river if there are none. Choose a source for the new river near or in the terrain area and create a path to a sea, lake, or another river that takes it through or along the border of the terrain area.
- Canyons: The terrain area has a river with a canyon section within it or along one of its borders. Choose from the Destiny pool die used for this terrain area earlier to determine the size and nature of the canyon on a river in or along the border of the terrain area rolled by choosing 1-2 dice to determine length of the canyon with a width of 1. Choose a river already in or along the terrain areas border to place the canyon or create a new river if there are none. Choose a source for the new river near or in the terrain area and create a path to a sea, lake, or another river that takes it through or along the border of the terrain area.
Bone Fate Pool: The bone Fate pool is used to determine if the generated terrain area has any civilization features and if they are beneficial (+), detrimental (-), or none ( ). Each + is a beneficial civilization feature, and each - a detrimental civilization feature. If civilization features are rolled, you will need to also roll the civilization feature die as well to determine if the civilization feature is one of the below.
- Cities: The terrain area has a city or cities within it or along one of its borders. Choose from the Destiny pool die used for this terrain area earlier to determine the size and nature of the city rolled by choosing 1 die, a 1-3 is a town (1,001-5,000), a 4-5 is a city (5,001-25,000), and a 6 is a metropolis (25,001+).
- Ruins: The terrain area has a ruin or ruins within it or along one of its borders. Choose from the Destiny pool die used for this terrain area earlier to determine the number and nature of the ruins rolled by choosing 1 die, this is the number of ruins in or along the border of the terrain area. If multiple ruins are rolled use the same die result for each one.
- Darklands: The terrain area has an area of Darklands lying beneath the surface within it or along one of its borders. Choose from the Destiny pool die used for this terrain area earlier to determine the size and nature of the Darklands rolled by choosing 1-4 dice and multiplying the total by 1 + the total of 0-4 additional dice selected from the Destiny pool used for this terrain area.
