"What Planet are We From?"

It's an interesting question and unless you are placing your campaign setting on an Earthlike planet in a solar system like ours, one worth exploring.  There's a lot to consider that will need adjusting if you don't use some sort of Earth analogue.  Just one sun?  How many moons?  How does this affect tides?  How close are other planets and how many are there?  It seems likely that unless you have a reason to not use an Earth clone, it might be the easy and maybe even the best choice from the perspective of player familiarity.  However, if you are looking to possibly do something unusual or unique, start with some basics from NASA regarding planets around other stars.

Violence in your Campaign Setting

Aside from the violence perpetuated by the player characters in your campaign games, a GM needs to consider how much violence is inherent in the campaign setting as a whole.  In a recent EN World thread on Banditry, EN Worlder (and friend of the show ;-) ) frankthedm pointed us to Chapter Eight - Violence and its Control in the Late Renaissance: An Italian Model by Gregory Hanlon a section of text book on googlebooks called A Companion to the Worlds of the Renaissance (edited?) by Guido Ruggiero.  It touches on banditry and violence in late Renaissance times that is good food for thought when designing your own campaign setting.  Check it out for yourself.

Living Bridges

"In northeast India, a giant cliff leads into a hidden world, Meghalaya . . ."  The living bridges of Megalia are a sight to behold.  Built over generations, they are the only way the people of the area can cross the raging torrents of the river during the rainy season.  Read more here and watch a video here.

Cyclops Shark

Some photos have shown up on National Geographic News of an albino cyclops shark, fetal and taken from the womb of an adult Dusky shark.  Fascinating!

Video of OSR Maps from Samwise7RPG

Some very nice OSR Megadungeon maps were recently shared by YouTube's Samwise7RPG in video form accompanied by Music in the form of "Foretold Revelation" by Severed Fifth (it kicks in rather loud after a minute or so, so be warned!).

Biomes

If you're looking for some ecological and biological inspiration while world building, be sure to check out the website set up by the first year students from the Marietta College Department of Biology and Environmental Science.  It's got just enough information on many of the world's biomes to give an overview, just how you want to get your player's interested without overwhelming them.  It covers temperature, precipitation, geological information, flora, fauna, and the other basics needed to present a region in a complete but quick manner.  They also have lots of excellent charts and photographs to help better understand the diversity of each location.  Enjoy!

Window Dressing for Medieval Fantasy Settings

I had such an enjoyable time Google searching for Medieval doors the other day, I thought it might be fun to take a look at, if not through, Medieval windows.  Here are some of my favorites for inspiration.

I like the way they aren't lined up evenly.

That looks like an easy climb.

That took a while to make.

Bars and shutters!

There's plety more to see you surf around a bit on your own.