Since magic is such an important aspect of fantasy, the temptation is to focus on that to the exclusion of everything else. The assumption is that mundane issues are “normal” and don’t need to be detailed in any way. In most settings, however, most of the people aren’t spellcasters. By not dealing with these aspects of the setting, you’re effectively ignoring the majority of what’s going on.
One of these aspects that receive short shrift is the world of the warriors. This misses a lot of opportunity to create interesting and intriguing characters and insights into a society. Examples of settings that focus on this are Martial Arts/Kung Fu settings, military thrillers, and even settings like the Conan the Barbarian series.
Much like the spellcasters, you should look at how different groups of warriors deal with each other. Do mercenary companies have a high status because they are seen as protectors of caravans, or are they scum because they compete with the soldiers. Are there different military groups (e.g. Army and Navy, royal guards vs. general military, police vs. army, etc.) who have some sort of rivalry? Are there warrior schools that teach different types of martial arts? Do they develop rivalries, alliances, and deal with things like street wars? How do they interact with, say, wizard schools?
Are there warrior organizations beyond the military and teaching platforms? There could be warrior guilds, merchant trading houses who employ their own armed forces, or parts of the underworld that use muscle in their operations.
Much like the Mystic World, consider coming up with a Hierarchy of Social Estates for the setting. Are pit fighters, pugilists, and gladiators given high status, slaves, or somewhere in between. Do members of the Silver Falcons have a higher status than other mercenary groups? How do soldier ranks work? Is the ruling Agent or Agency from the Warrior class?
In Myos, guards for caravans are typically mercenaries who work freelance, whereas ship captains typically use the same people for the long term. The Order generally enjoy a higher status than other warriors because they are made up of Priests.
As always, thank you for reading. Next week, I’ll be talking about the Underworld. Let me know if there are things you’re interested in seeing in the future.
See you next week!
