Tone & Setting Alignment
Noble vs. Grim & Bright vs. Dark
What is Tone/Setting Alignment?
Noble vs. Grim - Tone
Determing Noble / Grim
- How much agency do protagonists / antagonists have?
- How permanant are the actions of heroes / villains?
- How common are heroes or villains?
- How self interested are the people of this world?
Bright vs. Dark - Setting
y-axis represents the general 'feel' of the world or setting. It's in the air you breath, the food you eat, the ground you tread upon. Most commonly these terms will correlate with how naturally good or evil the setting is, or rather how frequently the average occupants of a setting will experience either hope or despair. Life within a Bright world are often very safe and peaceful, even if that peace is often at the cost of personal liberties. Dark settings are more akin to a hopeless abyss. Things could always improve, but doing so will usually involve great irreversible sacrifice.
Determing Bright / Dark
- What is the life of the average citizen like?
- Is the world filled with hope or wracked by despair?
- What is the general morality of the world?
- What are the general aesthetics of the world?
| Noble | Knight | Gray | Bleak | Grim | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bright | Noblebright Things are good and always will be good. Heroes are plentiful and good natured. The world is a peacful place full of hope.
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KnightbrightWhile things can occasionally get tense, a select group of heroes is all that it take to bathe the world in light and keep evil forces at bay.
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GraybrightA world of adventure and discovery. Often less about changing the world, and more about exploring it as it is.
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BleakbrightThe agency of the indvidual is slipping away. Either by choice or force, the world is kept safe even at the cost of personal liberties. A utopian democracy where citizens might have a say, but can influence very little within the grand scheme of things.
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Grimbright Peace and prosperity are assured through superior force. The evils of the world are kept at bay, at the cost of the indvidual. A utopia built upon a foundation of unseen despair.
|
| Glow | NobleglowThe world has seen better days, but the people still live comfortable lives and happy existences. A single champion can shape the entire world as an avatar of justice.
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KnightglowOccasionally unruly, the driving combined efforts of groups can collectively alter the world and shape its very nature. Organizations are actively seeking to improve the livelihood of eveyone, even if met with frequent opposition.
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GrayglowOften a large place filled with many beings, the effects of a single person can often be lost in a universe of decisions. Evil may have a role to play, but the world often self corrects with an overwhelming force of hope.
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BleakglowWhile hope wafts through the air, things are bad and a mere stumble away from getting worse. Heroes and villains alike may fight for their own objectives, even if the world at large often has its own plans and intends to see them through.
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GrimglowUsually your dystopia with a silver linning of hope. There is often an active effort to stoke the embers of resistance, to make a better world. Even if met with limited success.
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| Core | Noblecore Often fighting over a teertering world between virtue and chaos, a single hero is all that is needed to turn the tide and decide the very fate of the universe.
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KnightcoreHanging on a thin thread between hope and despair; given enough effort, groups of indviduals may be able to make a dramatic effect on the world. Even if true permanence is just beyond reach.
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GraycoreThe world is neither good nor evil, but possesses some degree of both. Heroes do not decide the fate of this world, but the collective efforts of everyone partaking in it will shape the direction it takes. As close to the real world as you can possibly get.
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BleakcoreFilled with protagonists doing bad things with good intentions, proverbally passing the hot-potato of despair from one party to the next. The only way the world can improve is a complete cultural overhaul.
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GrimcoreThe world exists as it is and it always will. Stagnation rules the day, and the status quo will always be preserved by the powers that be. The world is neutral because the natural order is enforced.
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| Dim | NobledimEither actively recessing into an age of darkness, or on the verge of escaping one. Heroes have the power to steer the course of the future, even if doing so almost garuntees sacrificing their life in this noble pursuit.
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KnightdimThe line is blurred between criminals and leaders as those in power are pushing ever further towards oppression. Life for a commoner is hard and getting harder -- key figures among the community stand as the final word; occasionaly banding together to suppress any opposition of their collective power.
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GraydimLife sucks and the powers that would be are often bickering too much to make it better. While small sparks of faith preside in the people, they'll be fighting an uphill battle against organized relgions, governments, and even the elements to improve things.
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BleakdimThings never seem to go well for the protagonists at hand. While almost always escaping the cold grip of death, characters in these worlds are often constantly tormented by misfortune and have seldom much power to prevent it.
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GrimdimLife is rough, one moment you're a hero, the next a corpse. Many agents may be struggling to achieve their own objectives, but in doing so will cause the end of another's journey, and eventually their own.
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| Dark | Nobledark The world is ruled by suffering and misery, while the overall setting can be a miserable place to exist the actions of a single individual can often be enough to turn the tides and carve out a niche of peace.
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KnightdarkA rugged place to live, often run by criminals, thugs, and other seedy characters. Despair has made a home on the streets, yet the organized actions of key groups would be enough to fuel embers of hope, or snuff it out altogether.
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GraydarkAs it stands, things are bad, and the only way to fix it would be through hard work on a grand scale. The world is evil because people accept it as evil, and insufficient change has been made to rectify it.
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BleakdarkThe world is a dumpster fire, and there never seems to be enough water to put it out. As opposed to making the world better, many would rather find ways to live with how it is now. Even if doing so means either sacrificing your life or your morality.
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GrimdarkThe world is hopeless and all is lost. The lights of hope are quickly extinguished under the trampling foot of evil influences and ill-intentions.
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Tone & Setting WorldAnvil Map
Add your world to the Map!
If you'd like to have your world appear on this alignment map please contact me! I'd be more than happy to offer such an oppourtunity to anyone who is interested. When making a world submission application please include the following information in your message:- World Title
- Author to Credit
- The chosen mood-alignment for your world
- A brief description of your world and why it belongs in your chosen alignment
- The article block ID for your world meta or chosen landing page, it will look something like this:
[articleblock:0247f295-c3a6-42b9-afdf-ca6967925af5]
You can obtain a copy of it at the bottom of any given article by clicking on the 'copy article block' button - a screen cap of the above map with a rough estimate where you believe it belongs
Limit one per person
Contact Me
Contact me through one of the portals below to make your own contribution to this page!Add this map to your world!
Map Code:
[map:6dfd4f3f-43fb-41f4-869a-da065eb99f84]
Article Code:
[articleblock:0247f295-c3a6-42b9-afdf-ca6967925af5]
[map:6dfd4f3f-43fb-41f4-869a-da065eb99f84]
Article Code:
[articleblock:0247f295-c3a6-42b9-afdf-ca6967925af5]
This is a really cool way of seeing settings. Like you, I didn't really see my world fitting in with the generic scales, and you've kind of made up for that by expanding it all. :) I'll have to have a long thing about where my world belongs.
Yes! I didn't feel enough creative freedom with the other mood alignments, so now here we are. When you discover where Etrea lies, let me know! I would be happy to include it here as well.
It's really interesting to see where various WA projects sit on the Grim-Bright//Noble-Dark continuum laid out like this. At least as of 8/21/20, looks like most of us are fans of noble stories. I wonder if it's because of how many of us are role players, seeing as RPGs tend to value individual agency? I'm not sure how to send images through WA, but I'd love to be on the map! Reading through the definitions, I'm pretty sure my own world (Manifold Sky) would fall smack-dab in the middle of KnightGlow territory. Because the Manifold is self-contained and sparsely populated, every person's story matters to some degree. There's still a lot of the world to discover, and scientific and cultural advancements promise to bring a brighter future - but only if the factions don't destroy themselves first The block link for the world primer is
The Manifold Sky Primer
Sorry, the contents of that block are articleblock:beb38181-d1a9-44ed-b95f-646ca689d5a0
Yesss! I'm very happy for you to include Manifold Sky. Your world now rests upon the map. I would concur with the conclusion many worlds will likely ere' on the side of noble. WorldAnvil has made a considerable effort in smoothing out the world-building process and the act of running TTRPGs through them. Most of the current community likely values and cherish the control and creative freedom that comes with the joint story-telling experience of such games.