Overheard a guy at the library say his fantasy world had no rivers and it broke my brain

He said he just forgot about water logistics and now I'm stuck wondering how my kingdoms would even trade grain or fight wars without a single river to move stuff, has anyone else hit a weird worldbuilding gap like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

finley_gonzalez491mo ago

Oh man I totally get what you mean about those weird gaps... I was building a desert empire once and spent weeks on their religion and social structure and then out of nowhere realized I had no idea what they ate. Like I just assumed they had food somehow but never actually thought about where it came from. Ended up having to completely rework their whole trade system because they didn't have any farmland nearby. Now I always make sure to sketch out at least a basic map of where resources come from before I get too deep into the culture stuff. Rivers are one of those things you don't realize matter until they're gone and suddenly everything falls apart.

michaeltorres1mo ago

Ngl though, is a river really that huge a deal for fantasy trade? Back in the day people used pack mules and carts on dirt roads for centuries before canals got big. Rome built an empire on Mediterranean sea trade, not river barges. And for fighting wars, you can siege a city without a river just fine if you have supply wagons coming in from the rear. Honestly a world with no rivers sounds kind of unique. You'd have to get creative with well systems and seasonal rains filling up basins. Maybe they dig massive aqueducts or use wind-powered pumps. It could force some interesting engineering culture instead of just copying standard medieval river towns.

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