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How should I go about skin tones in my world?

@Purple-Cat flagThe Worldbuilder The Worldbuilder forum 6 comments schedule
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@Purple-Cat flagThe Worldbuilder
The Worldbuilder

A while ago I made a map detailing what I thought each areas dominant/most common skin tone might be depending on climate(I’ll figure out how to attach a photo later). And now I want to revisit it to hopefully make it more accurate but I’m not sure how to do that.

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@Serpentess language
verified_user Mod

Something I learned a while back was darker skin tones are more common in hotter climates, while lighter skin is found in colder climates. In other words, if they’re closer to the equator, natives are more likely to be dark skinned. While folks native to places closer to the north/south poles are lighter skinned.

It has something to do with the way skin processes sunlight. Darker skin absorbs sunlight better and gives more protection against sunburn. Lighter skin can’t absorb sunlight as well and is more delicate, in a sense, so it is more susceptible to sunburn. Hence why folks in colder climates are lighter skinned.

Now, this is just something I saw while researching one time. I’m no expert, so yeah. But, hopefully this helps, even if it just inspires you.

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@Purple-Cat flagThe Worldbuilder
The Worldbuilder

This is an older photo of skin tones in my world, the colours behind it are the climates. Some constructive criticism would be nice, especially one what areas should be lighter or darker tones since I’m pretty sure alot of it is inaccurate. Don’t mind the light purple circle in the left of the photo, that one doesn’t count.

@Masterkey

Is that pocket right in the middle of the red stripe a pale skin section? Is that where your equator is?

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@Purple-Cat flagThe Worldbuilder
The Worldbuilder

Yes, the red is where the equator is, I’m not sure what you mean by pocket. This is from a couple years ago so it needs an update

@Masterkey

I mean in the equator there looks to be a lighter-skinned section. If that's the case, then I'd echo what someone previously said and try to generally vary skin color based on how close to the equator they are. The closer to the equator, the darker the skin. This is based on the tilt of the earth and stuff. Then you can vary it a slight bit based on where deserts and huge mountain ranges of snow and stuff like that are located.