Deserts vs savannahs need help with world building

EldritchCoomer

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Hey, all. I'm looking to do a world building in a fantasy world which requires for it to take place in the sandy dunes.

So I need some takes on what would serve better as biome to be used for travels in this adventure. I want to know if people use these settings for their story abd what their experience or challenges were in using them in any possible.
 

TheTrinary

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"A place is just a place". Frank Herbert, lover of sand.

Real talk, it's impossible to talk about what works for your stoory without knowing your story. Practically speaking, you are going to deal with logistical issues when writing a desert. Heat. Water. Day vs. Night. Food. Weather. You have a lot to take into account that you really can't afford not to address. If those extra details are too much? It's going to hurt the readers enjoyment and believability
 

J_Chemist

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Deserts are hot asf, lack survival resources, require a lot of planning to traverse, and tend to be very anti-life in every aspect. If you're entering a desert, you'll be bringing a ton of necessities into it with the focus of it not spoiling during the journey. You'll also, if possible, will be route planning prior to entering so you can move to any watering points, landmarks, or sparse villages (if there are any) in order to resupply and rest. Move fast, move smart, beat the heat by moving at night, stave off freezing your ass off by dressing warm beneath the stars. Utilize the stars to navigate. Don't get lost. Good luck.

Savannahs tend to be easier to survive in due to the typical presence of animals (think Lion King, that's a savannah) and some forestry/plants that can be harvested. However, they are also anti-life in terms of Humans, Elves, etc. The animals here are very wild-focused and will include your characters in their food chain, and your characters will likely be at a disadvantage in a low fantasy setting (i.e; no magic and the like). But, with good wits and a strong team, you can traverse and sustain yourself in a savannah.

Edit: Just want to include that my MC was born in and lived in a desert setting. Had to do some research in it and plan things accordingly. Deserts are more habitable than you think and you can grow plenty of crops with proper farming knowledge. Like rice, for example. People have found ways to survive in the arid environment and you can do it in creative ways by just being smart about it.
 

Syringe

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The hardest part will be how you're going to fill in that great nothing in a sea of sand. Both are pretty tough to live in, so you gotta weigh up if you want a big civilization or lots of tiny ones. Wildlife is a big thing too, and since it's a fantasy setting, you can chuck in all kinds of things.

Dune had the giant worms, and Tremors had the weird blind worms, so maybe have something hostile lurking beneath the sands.

I won't lie, deserts/savannas are really hard to get right because there's a lot to consider. It's the kind of setting where it's more human vs nature rather than human vs monster.
 
D

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Hey, all. I'm looking to do a world building in a fantasy world which requires for it to take place in the sandy dunes.

So I need some takes on what would serve better as biome to be used for travels in this adventure. I want to know if people use these settings for their story abd what their experience or challenges were in using them in any possible.
I used deserts as my settings in my novel's 3rd Arc (The Demon Saint is Missing) and as a natural 'villain' in my 4th (The Elf Saint is a NEET). Writing about desert stuff is pretty easy, as long as you know its mechanics, and combine it with the 'freedom' afforded by writing fantasy fiction (you just need a sliver of Earth science to make it believable).

In my 3rd Arc, the desert is a setting. It's where the cities of the demon race can be found, and I purposefully made it quite a challenge to cross, to give the militaries of my novel obstacles (dangers of crossing desert heat and sand; there's no revolving night and day, only places where it is night, or day forever) and logistic challenges (like water supplies, food) in their maneuvers. As for problems...I didn't encounter one, for I didn't focus on flora and fauna.

285521322_119770077405469_1082969539975939251_n.jpg


In my 4th arc, the desert is a 'villain', for I'm using it to present a real, active threat to the people of the world I'm writing about (elf). To do this, I used the natural trait of the 'shifting' desert sands. Think of the Gobi Desert, which is the fastest expanding desert in the world today. As my elves try to protect their forest farms, the desert encroaches in their territories, ready to gobble up everything up to the shores of their realms.

So yeah, I guess the reasons I don't encounter too much problem with my settings are, I do researches before I write, and I don't focus too much on the world in relation to the events and the characters of my works.
 

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EldritchCoomer

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"A place is just a place". Frank Herbert, lover of sand.

Real talk, it's impossible to talk about what works for your stoory without knowing your story. Practically speaking, you are going to deal with logistical issues when writing a desert. Heat. Water. Day vs. Night. Food. Weather. You have a lot to take into account that you really can't afford not to address. If those extra details are too much? It's going to hurt the readers enjoyment and believability
Okay, for the story the bare bones of it is that the fantasy creatures live in a desert/savanna like continent with lots of towns and cities sounding the main capital all located round heavy (for desert standards) vegetation and water resources.
The world also has magi tech to make my job easier for various stuff like better life situations and transport.

I am picking this cause it's important to the race I am using abd I would love to utilize such scenarios in an interesting way as much as I can.
 

J_Chemist

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Sounds like you've got the "bullshitery" potential. What that means is that individuals in your world don't have to deal with the typical rules of our world because of "reasons" within theirs. With there being magitech, I suspect there are plenty of ways for the individuals to package up, seal, and overall transport goods and resources easily across the terrain. Regardless of the harshness of the environment, your characters won't have to deal with the typical problems.

So, to make it fun, I would tweak two things:

1. The transport systems. Nerf these. While magitech may be a thing, find a way to still make it hard for people to move from place to place. Maybe the machines they have or transports still require animals to pull them. Or, maybe they need to hit fuel depots regularly. I would definitely exclude flight mechanics as that cuts a lot of fun out of the situation. If you want flight in your story, make it super expensive so smaller places don't have casual access to it.

2. Make the desert a serious hazard. Up the temperature. Fewer watering points. More monsters. Bigger monsters. Hungrier and more dangerous monsters. Monsters that actively hunt your characters/individuals. And make killing said monsters similarly difficult.

Magitech has a lot of bullshitery potential. So, at its core, nerf it to keep things fun and creative while also making the world more difficult to live in.
 

EldritchCoomer

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Just to help. Not all Deserts are hot dry and can appear where you least expect it.

Yeah I realize this, I was thinking of making it a cool like desert with warm summer's and cool winter's with little rain that happens in sparse occasion.


Thanks for the link though helped me improve the vegetation problem by adding more patches of trees, bushes, and grass lands to it
 
D

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Yeah I realize this, I was thinking of making it a cool like desert with warm summer's and cool winter's with little rain that happens in sparse occasion.


Thanks for the link though helped me improve the vegetation problem by adding more patches of trees, bushes, and grass lands to it
Antarctica is classified as a desert. In fact, I remembered having read it as the 'world's largest desert'.
 

Kenjona

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