Forums » RP Discussion » World-Building Help?

does this go here?


Soooo, hi!...

Um, I'm not very good at world-building; Any world-building I've done in the past has been on a character-by-character basis, BUT! as of late, I've been wanting to move my fandom characters over to an original universe so I can not only feel more free to do what I want with them, but also so I can work on them for art examples and professional type things!

But anyway, dumb intros aside...

Help?

I've been using Notebook.ai for a bit, but I don't have the ability currently to sub to premium to get all the pages (which, honestly, would be a ton of help), so as of currently, I'm working on building up a word document FULL of ideas and things for what I'm thinking of doing.

What I ask of y'all:
1. Throw questions at me! If it'll help me build my world, I want to answer it!
2. Do you find that some built worlds lack explanation on x thing? What do you find those often are and what would you like me to build upon if I were to do so with those items?
3. Any resources? Questionnaires and things that might help me?
4. If y'all are willing to do an art trade with me (mostly of characters), I would love to have them! I would also love to look out for artists to commission to do landscape pieces / environment building, but that's not as big of a priority right now (half because it just isn't and half because I have no money... lmao)
5. ??? Other???



Anyway: Any help y'all give is super appreciated, and I look forward to any help y'all might have to offer!!



I'll change this as is necessary

What is the scope of the world you want to create? Is it an actual planet, a continent, or even just a city? Or maybe some other scope like a pocket plane? Making a whole planet is going to be much harder, since to make it feel realistic you will probably need to fill it with a variety of cultures, languages, religions, etc!

What are some quick keywords you want people to associate with your setting? These may include genre descriptors or mentions of the most important features. Examples: steampunk, fantasy, airships, grimdark, magical, mysterious, high-tech, crystal power, fluffy, etc.

I'm ideally going for an entire planet, but I'm trying not to stretch myself out too thin, if that makes sense? Like I said, I've never done this before, so I'm sort of going at it with random ideas as they come; I'm at more of the bare-bones stage right now

That being said, it's mainly high-fantasy, magical, maybe a bit dark if I get further into it and decide to go that route, which wouldn't surprise me

What sort of stories are you looking to tell in your world, or what sort of stories would you like to see hosted in the world.

What about the world shapes, drives, and colors those stories?

What are the biggest political parties/political factions/popular rulers, and how would your characters be divided amongst them?

What percentage of your world is made of water? How much of that water of fresh water how much is salt water?

How many species and how many races of those species are there on your planet?

Which pole is the coldest, which the hottest? North or south?

Are there many connected contitents or is there much water inbetween most of the continents?

If it's high fantasy with magic, you absolutely have to set rules for how magic works ahead of time. Who can use it and why and what is it capable of? Do you have to study or is it innate or both and how do they differ? Is it like the force, or is it connected to the earth or is it drawn from another plane of existence? Giving magic rules and limitations grounds it, allowing it to feel realistic even when it obviously isn't.

If you really want to get nitpicky, setting the theory behind the way magic functions can save you a whole deal of trouble.
Especially if it is something 'supernatural that is granted by the world'. At least having a rough idea on whether it is a form of energy or a sort of sentient particle, or whether the thing that influences it is located in an accessible area (think: world tree from eastern sagas).

How much do Gods influence the world if they exist? Are their powers magical or is it a form of divine power? What is the difference? Can they even compete.

Especially later on, these are interesting questions to ask.

Edit: To clarify, the last questions are more on the manner of: Can a sufficiently powerful user of the arcane influence the divine to his bidding?
Also interesting: Do different approaches to the same magical power result in different outcomes? (think, casting the spell from runes, a witch circle/ritual, a spoken sentence or command or as a result of a prayer to a higher power, here. This is not something I have ever seen implemented but always found fascinating to think about)

I'm a little too happy with myself since I already answered this one huhuhuh > : 3

All very good questions, thank y'all a ton!!
I've gotten a few ideas too > : 3

I suggest collecting those random ideas and boiling them down into simple concepts, then putting them on index cards. Places, legends, magic systems, cultures, languages, historical events, etc. Then you can combine and arrange them in different ways to see if anything clicks. Maybe 2 cards fit together in some interesting way! Maybe you can begin to form some kinda map! This may help you turn your sea of ideas into something more cohesive

You can use your existing characters to reverse engineer, too--like if you have a character who uses elemental magic powered by crystals, you'll have to find a home in your setting for the source of those crystals. Same goes for any passing mentions of cities, countries, etc.

I just want to say that I've been creepin' on this thread and all of these questions are super helpful for worldbuilding! I'm working on my own world as well, so yeah. Thank you all. o3o And happy brainstorming!

most of these questions come from failed 'on-the-go' creations. I have struggled with ill-fitting systems more than once because I did not fully think things through to the end at the beginning.

As a sidenote, creating original, non-restrictive but fair magic systems is incredibly frustrating so don't feel bad if you 'take' some inspirations from somewhere else.
To name a few: The idea behind Alchemy in the Fullmetal Alchemy series is very (dark) intruiging.
Magecraft from the Type-Moon universe Very detailed, no need to read everything
Fate/Stay Night

Also helpful articles on the matter:
Rational vs non-rational Systems
A reddit thread about favourite systems, you might be able to find something inspiring here

If you're looking at planets/climates for the world you're building, there's a few resources listed in this post: http://lextales.tumblr.com/post/169310146116/world-building-literally

Resources: http://lextales.tumblr.com/post/145979894781/world-building

General world-building prompts: http://worldbuildingjune.tumblr.com/prompts http://lextales.tumblr.com/post/167461935951/worldbuilding-things-that-might-have-been-missed http://lextales.tumblr.com/post/164734568326/wondrousworldbuilding-i-will-continue-to-build
http://lextales.tumblr.com/post/148310264316/writersrandomramblings-overlooked (probably has overlap with some of the questions in the second link in this section)
http://lextales.tumblr.com/post/150320843871/intelligent-weapons-and-other-intelligent-items
http://lextales.tumblr.com/post/151789112474/preparing-the-armies



Other interesting things: http://lextales.tumblr.com/post/149894302496/medievalpoc-growing-your-iceberg-crafting-a http://lextales.tumblr.com/post/163117639026/worldbuilding-city-structure-models (<--this one's a little dry, but fascinating) http://lextales.tumblr.com/post/101137685126/thewritingcafe-anonymous-asked-are-there-any (food) http://lextales.tumblr.com/post/99949080741/thewritingcafe-a-lot-of-people-are-trying-to (diversity)
http://lextales.tumblr.com/post/75395691227/thewritingcafe-basics-genres-alternate (general thoughts about fantasy as a genre)

Personally, I enjoy taking inspiration from real world cultures and politics to shape my world.

My biggest story, Land of the Divines, is set on the continent of Gaia. As far as everyone knows, Gaia is the entire world. I haven't decided if there's another mega continent or not, yet, but that's not the point.

My races are all inspired by one real world culture or another. High Elves are heavily inspired by Japanese culture, their little continent even being called Sengoku, and their names are very much fantasy names but with a slightly Asian feel to them, like Imizu, Tsuna, Kaito, Jyn, etc. My Wood Elves, on the other hand, take inspiration from the great native tribes of North America. They have no real name, except for People of the Woodlands, as it translates from their Language to the common tongue. There is no central governing unit for them, nor is there really any central unified religion.

My Dwarves are likewise inspired from real cultures. My Mountain Dwarves, who carve into the mountains to make their homes, are inspired by a combination of the Norse people, with their architecture and aesthetics, but also mixed in with a heavy dose of Roman, as far as their political system and caste system. The Hill Dwarves, or Wood Dwarves, are vastly different, more inspired by the Celts and Scots of the British Isles, especially when it comes to their devotion to the land and more druidic approach to religion. And yes they wear kilts. They even differ in aesthetics, with Mountain Dwarves preferring more straight lines and sharp angles, more geometric shapes, while the Hill Dwarves prefer more sweeping lines and curves to their style.

Humans are always as vast and varied as can be. They don't really have vast kingdoms, though there are a handful of large kingdom/city-states that do exist. The two biggest of mine are Peluria, a monarchy based initially on England but eventually becoming something wholely it's own, and Kortez, a more barbaric and violent warlike people.

My setting even has an Orcish Civilization, based on a combination of Mongolian and Chinese cultures, even going so far as to attempt to build a massive wall to protect them from the Orcish Horde to their north, the far more traditional barbaric and nomadic tribes that unite to lay waste to everything in their path.

I have other groups, as well, both to the far south and north of Gaia, but these are the major powers, really, of my setting in the center of Gaia.

I found that, if you just start with a concept and start writing, things start falling into place. Don't be afraid to look EVERYWHERE for your inspiration, cause you never know where you'll find that perfect piece to add to your puzzle.

If anyone brought it up I didn't see it, but for coming up with a magic system I highly recommend giving Brandon Sanderson's laws of magic a read. It won't necessarily help with world building as a whole but making the actual magic work well, well...I haven't read any author who does it better.

here ya go