Idea #2 ... compare this to Helios and I'll choose which one to do :D

[TheOnlyGhost]

Setting: A small planet that is over 90% of nothing but forest...



Inhabitants: Lack of technology like here on Earth, yet the people are extremely civilized and full of good heart. Everything food related and shelter related is shared and equal.

Transportation methods: Walking/running ... horseback ... future transportation found in forest possible.

Weapons of the trade: Bow and arrows (sometimes with poison tips) ... crossbows, knifes, small swords, leather/studded armor only.

Plot: The inhabitants of the planet help a nearby planet of civilized aliens by teaching them how to survive on the forest planet and help each other out living as a huge "community" of different species. These aliens greatly respect the humans (that's the race I will use on the forest planet) and return the favor of gratitude with food, water, and any supplies but refuse to give their own technology for risk of self-destruction that was witnessed 3500 years ago on a planet 80 light years away (Earth). Many years of prosperity go by until one of the aliens get a parasite from the forest that has never been discovered yet (a new species, the first of it's kind) ... it takes control of the alien ... and as the infected host/alien are in a line up with the non infected aliens while the chief (leader) of the forest planet gives them supplies and their teachings...

The infected alien seems to shoot the chief in the head, yet the people that witnessed it only saw the back of the chief so it was hard to make 100% certain that the chief was actually struck and most likely dead from the shot. The infected alien takes the chief to the massive forest and brings it back to where the parasite originated from ... eventually killing the host alien, the parasite leaves it's host and takes control of one of the forest beings to protect it's pray (the cheif) ... the inhabitants of the forest planet, who never entered the forest since everyone that had gone in there had perished, are forced to go in for the first time to save the cheif, assuming he is even alive, and to kill the parasite freeing them from it's future clutches.

Many new species and dangers are discovered in the forest and they have to adapt quickly.

What do you think?

[Ihime]

This sort of communism doesn't actually work without a significantly different revision of how communications and social structures work, because someone who cheats the system has more to gain and power naturally collects in fewer hands. Additionally, the basis of civilization comes from increased per capita efficiencies at providing basic living needs such as food, water, and shelter; increased efficiencies come from improved technology. So, a lack of technology implied in your hunter-gatherer communistic society would stop civilization from developing because the workload to provide basic needs would prevent time from being freed up for labor specialization, which is where civilization comes from. Remember that things like agriculture is also a type of technology.

Additionally for the plot, how are you going to help a nearby planet when you lack the technology to reach the nearby planet? You're trying to do primitive and spacefaring at the same time.

[Devonus]

I think wiz is a debby downer.

[Zook Murnig]

He has a lot of really good points, though. A fantasy world needs to work, or else it's just half-assed fanfiction. Or Twilight.

[Devonus]

oh i agree, the only thing is he doesnt' offer any solutions, only whats wrong with it.

[Mordelain]

So, explain demons, dark elves that still use steam but have guns...

Fantasy has a grounding in reality, it does not live exclusively by it's rules.

Communism as an ideal is politically flawless...add Earth humans, on the other hand, and you're bound for trouble. As far as ideas go, Ghost, Helios in form with the structure of the second would be a good place to work from.

[Slayer of the Rot]

So you can turn a bowl of chocolate pudding into model with E-cups with magic, but you can't go to an entirely different world?

Who gives a fuck about the how-to getting there. Magic for fuck's sakes, its the old fall back.

[Zook Murnig]

But at what point to you stop saying "it's magic" and actually have a society deal with its problems? And where did they learn all this magic? And what powers it?

Trust me, I'm all for the "it's magic" answer, but just saying that it's magic and leaving it at that is just a big a pitfall as ignoring the problem to begin with. It's better to say "it's magic" and then go into how that affects the social structure, where the energy comes from, what potential supply problems could arise, etc. That makes the setting interesting. If everything is solved by "magic" with no consequences, then there's no room for adventures and heroes and struggles.

[Slayer of the Rot]

I have no bloody idea what you're talking about. What I was talking about was getting to this place, since someone said something about "space-faring" being a problem. I mean, Caden Law sucked the life out of a forest and nuked someone with it. The right person can just move you from here to there regardless of distance and dimension.

Actually I don't even know what this thing is about, this planet or whatever. It just struck me that someone worried about travel in a fantasy setting. Carry on, ladies and gents.

[TheOnlyGhost]

As far as ideas go, Ghost, Helios in form with the structure of the second would be a good place to work from.

How do you mean?