I think the extremely long timelines are because of having long-lived races, not the other way around.  Someone thinks, "If I want to know how this happened, I'll go ask an elf that was alive then."  So the next step is to stretch out the timeline so that elves don't know it.  Whereas in many cases it would make a lot more sense to have the elves not live as long, or at least not be around the campaign world as long.  You can get around the problem with a little more subtlety by having elves be extremely xenophobic and isolationists--and hey look, that's been done too.

That's an example of the kind of thought that sometimes leads to sub optimal world building:  Trying to come up with some bizarre reason to make a race, class, creature, magic, etc. fit the world instead of deciding what kind of world it is going to be, and then picking all the other stuff to match.  The more kitchen sink the world gets, the bigger the problem--at least in someone's eyes.   

Quote from: Ocule on April 24, 2022, 05:25:34 PM

-time locked, most fantasy settings set in a pseudo medieval period spend way too much time there. They like get to the Middle Ages and just stop inventing shit. If your medieval period is 10,000 years long that's excessive.

-magic is too common for how little it effects the world. For a medieval setting they have a surprising lack of medieval problems.

I often wonder if these two could be related. In our magically barren world, we as a species are pushed to invention to make our lives easier. If magic is real, or even common, it could make the drive to invention muted IMO. This could slow progress of technology. Much of this would depend on the commonality of magic, and how it is wielded. In many societies, magic could be common enough that there is little need for technological advancement, in others it could drive the non-magic masses to create FASTER in order to compete. Sadly, in most games, this dynamic is not explored either way.

I appreciate TSR D&D having more restrictions on Resurrection spells than during WotC. Just the "each [rez] permanently lowers your Constitution 1 point" (IIRC with also a permanent cap, so even Wishes cannot undo it). Then add System Shock, because the spell could succeed but you might just not make it coming back. And then there was the natural age limit, which meant bringing you back so old and frail you're just gonna give up the ghost again.

It was one of those things that I thought I wanted 'fixed' when playing TSR, but in seeing things in 3e and later realized I missed the sense of defined limits. Sometimes restrictions really help the imagination. And one learns to appreciate endings.

But this is a fun topic. There are a lot new settings out there that feel far more sloppy in their people pleasing. Take a stance, embrace the implications, and let us decide if it is a place we want to explore. Trying to please everyone (be it a product that is a mere cash-grab or afraid to take chances) makes pabulum that pleases little to no one.

The constitution loss is permanent, but can be reversed with a wish, because wish raises the score, it doesn't restore it. What it is is the initial constitution score is the maximum number of times you can be raised or resurrected - even if your constitution loss is compensated for somehow, that's your limit. So what you're going to see is after being killed and raised a few times, a character will want to retire from adventuring.

Also, Resurrection is a 7th level priest spell, which means the caster had to be 14th level or higher. Even if 2e's more generous racial level caps are used, only a Half-Elf would qualify, and they don't have that much extra lifespan to tolerate being aged 3 years by casting the spell.

If prime requisite bonuses are used, an Elf capable of casting 7th level spells could be 15th level as a priest, so finding a high level elf priest willing to perform the resurrection would be the easiest way. But then it's also not just a matter of casting the spell, the deity needs to approve it. If the deity doesn't want a particular character being brought back to life, resurrection isn't going to work either. Also, anyone who is capable of casting Resurrection is going to be quite powerful and influential, and may be happy with improving their position politically by leaving the assassination target dead. Manshoon isn't relying on Fzoul Chembryl to resurrect him, for instance.

This is distinct from Raise Dead, which is a 5th level priest spell, doesn't require the priest to have 18 wisdom, and doesn't impose any penalties on the priest casting it. There you just need to make an appropriate donation to the temple where you're getting raised, and it will be easier to find temples doing it just for a profit. You still need to account for poison or disease, so if you carry out the assassination by poison, and the poison is still in the system, they'll die right away again. It's also limited by how long the body has been dead, and parts aren't restored. So decapitate the assassination target and bring the head back and there's no raising possible.

The 'world of hats' cliche in setting annoys me. All dwarves are mining gruff types, all elves are fruity nature lovers, etc, etc. This extends to fantasy human cultures as well.

Also, if you have a high-magic/magi-tech setting, recognize there will be repercussions (not all of them bad, though). You might want to advance your overall world depiction from the usual medieval/Renaissance to something closer to Victorian era or even pre-WW1.

Quote from: Ocule on April 24, 2022, 05:25:34 PM
Thinking lately about sins against world building related to ttrpg s I can't ever seem to find a world that avoids these traps.

I'm going to just put your conditions in bold and answer each directly for my own setting (the default for the system I'm finally done writing beyond grammar/layout edits) since I had similar complaints and tried to answer them as part of my setting.

-global pantheons, most seem guilty of this. The entire word worships a single pantheon.
I have four competing religions just in my starting region with similar, but different enough to cause theological strife in three of them and a fourth that is monotheistic and claims the others are worshipping false gods entirely. The assumption is each region has its own religions and sects.

-time locked, most fantasy settings set in a pseudo medieval period spend way too much time there. They like get to the Middle Ages and just stop inventing shit. If your medieval period is 10,000 years long that's excessive.
The only history anyone is 100% certain of in my setting occurred in the last 200 years. History from the last 2000 years is fragmented and about as good as our understanding of Rome. History from 5000 years ago is little more than myth and legend and ancient ruins akin to the pyramids of Egypt. The world is currently just starting to recover from an apocalyptic event and pre-cataclysm clearly had tech more advanced than the present society can replicate.

Also relevant, the setting is only intended as a snapshot of time. The extant sapient species and their conflicts with each other are those alive right now... other than humans, most have existed in the world for hundreds or at most a few thousand years and the presumption is that, if you checked back in 1000 years from the setting's time, many would be extinct or on their way there. It's basically a period akin to when modern humans and Neanderthals co-existed.

-gods are ever present, communicative and all powerful. This just strips mortals of their agency and meaningful choices.
No one in my setting can even prove the gods even really exist or which ones are actually real. "Divine" magic might just be arcane magic (a sufficiently advanced technology) with an AI mediator (at least if you believe certain arcanists).

- resurrection, god I hate this spell. It really lowers the stakes. High profile assassination of emperor bigus dickus? Shame he's obscenely wealthy and is just gonna be brought back to life shortly.
By default it only works within a relatively short time frame if the person really has some pressing reason to come back and, no, being a ruler doesn't seem to be enough (apparently the afterlife is something so beyond earthly comprehension that only those who have things like selfless quests to complete seem to come back.

Or you could use the optional rule that raise dead only works at all if started within 10 minutes of death... making it more like saving someone who's only "mostly dead." The GM Guide includes discussions of how to tune them to achieve certain genre expectations and already tested optional rules for tweaking things to fit.

- the power of magic in the world should be proportional to its rarity, I'm surprised faerun hasn't just fallen due to the law of entropy.
First, Faerun is a hell dimension run by a sadistic overgod and where turning someone into an undead to free them from the gods' clutches is arguably a moral act. It deserves so much worse than just falling due to entropy. It needs to be consumed utterly by the Far Realm, lost forever amidst the things that cannot be.

Second, combat magic in my setting is about as effective as a strong warrior with a good weapon. It's main advantage is allowing people who'd never be able to physically complete to have an equalizer (it's not an accident in my fluff that far more women/older men employ it as adventurers than young strong men do). There's numerous bits of minor magic that is still quite common; leftovers from before the apocalypse, but the bigger the effect, the rarer it becomes (even that which is readily available tends to have a price in what some players have referred to as "peasant years").

-magic is too common for how little it effects the world. For a medieval setting they have a surprising lack of medieval problems.
As mentioned, my setting is more post-post-apocalyptic and only "medieval" in the way Thundarr the Barbarian is. There's the odd airship, some places have reengineered steam power or have arcane engines. There are teleportation circles, but without the sigils of a destination circle they can't re-establish the network that made the fallen civilization truly global in scope... making finding those sigils in the ruins one of the larger treasures (in a bring back the previous civilization sense) someone could find.

-world peace is the rule, seriously too many campaign settings have every nation of similar alignment just allied or friendly with each other. When there is war it's some evil necromancer or orc horde never just mundane reasons where politicians try and get people killed. Peace is the exception not the rule
No alignments in the game and the default setting has strife both within and without the various realms is the rule.

The Free Cities hasn't had a successful peaceful transfer of power in its 200 year history.

The Elven kingdom is buckling under its own oppressive caste system and theocracy.

The Orc empire (who are Roman Empire style rather than Mongols) is in a four way civil war between the heirs of the last Emperor who died/ascended (if you believe the Orcish branch of the broader Via Praetorum religion) and this often spills over onto their neighbors as resources and slaves can help their faction win the civil war.

Ironhold is facing a war of attrition as the bulk of the Orc Empire lies right against its border and their resources are limited.

Riverhold is run by kleptocractic oligarchs and is facing a Robin Hood style rebellion growing in their territory... that's just within the default region that's barely 100x150 miles in area.

-meaningless titles, nobility in worlds like faerun mean jack shit other than occasionally being called lord or sir. Even knights should be loaded with cash. Fitted Medieval plate armor accounting in terms of modern currency is like buying a Ferrari and easily can cost in the millions.
The Free Cities doesn't even have nobility. It's got an elected Warden for each of its wards/districts (who in turn elect a First Warden from among their number to be head of state) and each community has its own elected Sheriff (who appoints deputies as are needed for the territory) and Justice. Given the entire population is barely 35,000 this is deemed sufficient.

In more fuedal areas they have many different titles from region to region, but they basically boil down to Warrior (knight, baronet), Lord (baron, chief, reeve) and Overlord (king, prince, emperor, duke).

-language barriers, they should exist.
In my setting, dialects change even with regions and can impact communications. For example within the region of Old Praetoria there is Classical Praetorian but also differing dialects for the Bloodspear, Free Cities, Ironhold, Riverhold and the Toria tribes that is roughly analogous to the differences between Classical Latin and the Vulgar Latin spoken in different parts of the Empire that eventually became the Romance languages... or in this case more like the many variations of Italian until it was formalized relatively recently... since other regions from the Praetorian Empire have their own dialects that are even less familiar than the ones common to Old Praetoria.

- cultural diversity and cultural exchange. Quit sticking random outliers smack in the middle of things. Cultures bleed over on each other, historical maps showcase this the best you shouldn't have Mongolians popping up between france and Spain.
The Free Cities were an Elven "protectorate" for 150 years and only became independent of them (because the elves needed their troops to protect their heartland from the orc empire that was still unified under its Emperor). Their clothing styles are still very Elven, but deliberately feature far less ornamentation or embroidery (the wealthy set themselves apart by using more exotic materials; like hydra leather that self-repairs scuffs and scratches) as a way to set themselves apart from their former overlords. The most recent trend has been adoption of some cultural elements from the Toria Tribes to the north as they played a major role in liberation the Free Cities from its previous king (Malcer the Mad - a religious zealot who only came to power when his father and older brother were killed in an accident) by the man currently serving as First Warden... most notably their more egalitarian system of government and tolerance for their religion (the First Warden became a convert to the Old Faith during his time in exile and so demanded religious tolerance as part of the Free Cities' new charter of government since the majority were followers of the Via Praetorum and they'd just gotten free of one madman who'd been forcing his radical interpretations on people).

-your kingdoms aesthetic should represent their environment. You aren't going to have a landlocked kingdom or even mostly landlocked kingdom subsist primarily on seafood.
The Free Cities sit mostly on a peninsula between a large lake and a Mississippi-like river. Their primary protein is fish and their staple grain is oats. The capitol is Blackspire, the bottom 24 floors of a ruined skyscraper in which city blocks are effectively squeezed onto each floor. The upper hundred floors lays in a twisted wreck to the southeast and has been the source of much of the steel used to forge their weapons and armor since their founding.

That said, they are also sitting at the crossroads of three trade routes (the large river which remains navigable for another 150 miles, the network of smaller rivers that feeds the lake, and along the major land route up and through the eastern mountain pass to the lands of Bestia) so they are reasonably cosmopolitan or, at least, not openly xenophobic towards strangers who show up on the docks or in a caravan along the East Road.

So, that's how I answered those issues in my own setting.

If gods are real and powerful (but not all-powerful), single-pantheon worlds can arise when gods destroy or absorb one another (and their followers) in holy wars. These can be recent or very, very old events. In some worlds, the current age may even be the late stages of such events.

Quote from: Ocule on April 24, 2022, 05:25:34 PM
Thinking lately about sins against world building related to ttrpg s I can't ever seem to find a world that avoids these traps.
-global pantheons, most seem guilty of this. The entire word worships a single pantheon.

I agree with some of your points, but many of them seem to be just a personal preference thing.  For clarity of discussion I'll break out my responses to the different points.

On global pantheons, if there is just one actual pantheon and they actively interact with mortals, it would make a lot of sense that there would be just one worldwide pantheon.  If there are multiple actual pantheons or less interactivity, then multiple makes sense.  It could also go the other way around.  If a religious jihad/crusade conquered the world in the name of an imaginary or actual god then one pantheon would make sense.  And ancient Israel turned to idols when Moses went up to the mountain after experiencing a series of massive miracles.  Short version, either way is fine as long as it's consistent with the rest of the setting.

Quote from: Ocule on April 24, 2022, 05:25:34 PM
-time locked, most fantasy settings set in a pseudo medieval period spend way too much time there. They like get to the Middle Ages and just stop inventing shit. If your medieval period is 10,000 years long that's excessive.

We have exactly one data point on what a world's historical advancement should look like, our own.  I don't think that's enough to draw any strong conclusion from.  Throw in fantasy elements or changes in science, and it would make sense that something completely different would happen.  As an easy example, if magic works much better than technology, there's not much reason to research tech.  And if magic is also difficult to improve through research, advancement will be slow overall.  Or if there's just no good way to generate electricity then you'll never see anything like our modern age. 

Also considering that the the stone age went on for millions of years and the period of ancient history for thousands, I think just about any world design choice for historical advancement is fine as long as it's consistent with the rest of the setting.

Quote from: Ocule on April 24, 2022, 05:25:34 PM
-gods are ever present, communicative and all powerful. This just strips mortals of their agency and meaningful choices.

See Greek, Roman, and just about any other mythology for counterexamples.

Quote from: Ocule on April 24, 2022, 05:25:34 PM
- resurrection, god I hate this spell. It really lowers the stakes. High profile assassination of emperor bigus dickus? Shame he's obscenely wealthy and is just gonna be brought back to life shortly.

I hate resurrection too, but it just results in a world that's weird, which is fine if that's what you're going for.  Personal preference.

Quote from: Ocule on April 24, 2022, 05:25:34 PM
- the power of magic in the world should be proportional to its rarity, I'm surprised faerun hasn't just fallen due to the law of entropy.
-magic is too common for how little it effects the world. For a medieval setting they have a surprising lack of medieval problems.

These two belong together.  Common powerful magic should change the world.  If it doesn't, then that's a worldbuilding error.  A world with medieval society and technology but advanced magic isn't really "medieval" at all.  It has advanced technology of different sort.

Common, powerful magic also results in a world that's unfamiliar to us, which makes gaming more difficult because our real world intuition doesn't apply to game event.  I would avoid such for that reason, but if that's what's wanted there's nothing inherently wrong with it.

Quote from: Ocule on April 24, 2022, 05:25:34 PM
-world peace is the rule, seriously too many campaign settings have every nation of similar alignment just allied or friendly with each other. When there is war it's some evil necromancer or orc horde never just mundane reasons where politicians try and get people killed. Peace is the exception not the rule

Agree with this one.  Lots of folks seemed to think history was over until Russia got antsy a few weeks ago.  On the other hand peacetime makes for a different type of adventure, so if that's what's wanted, then why not?  Also, historically, large regions of the Roman Empire and China were at peace overall for extended periods of time.

Quote from: Ocule on April 24, 2022, 05:25:34 PM
-meaningless titles, nobility in worlds like faerun mean jack shit other than occasionally being called lord or sir. Even knights should be loaded with cash. Fitted Medieval plate armor accounting in terms of modern currency is like buying a Ferrari and easily can cost in the millions.

See modern UK for counterexamples.

Quote from: Ocule on April 24, 2022, 05:25:34 PM
-language barriers, they should exist.

Yes, but it makes playing the game more difficult.  I love how the real world has many languages each reflecting the culture of the speaker.  But dealing with that in a game is tedious.  Sadly, most of my games have a lingua franca in addition to local languages.