Questions tagged [worldbuilding-process]
For questions about the process of creating a new world or changing and developing an existing one, as opposed to questions about some element of the world being created or changed. NOTE that this is NOT a generic, catch-all tag; this tag should be used to address the process, meaning HOW you world build, not what you are building. See also the extended tag information for when to use this tag.
429 questions
3
votes
3
answers
659
views
Review request for the Empire’s transportation stack?
Intro
Setting
A century or two into the future, humans encounter and ultimately end up joining the Galactic Empire. Humanity, which abandoned the concept of the warp drive with the negative results ...
- 6,982
6
votes
4
answers
673
views
How can I make a 2D FTL-lane map on a galaxy-wide scale?
I want to finally get around to actually making a map for my Sci Fi worldbuilding project I have been slowly working on for the last few years. For context, this setting takes place in the Milky Way ...
14
votes
9
answers
730
views
How to Organise/Present Built Worlds?
Suppose one has mostly completed a worldbuilding project, and made a setting detailed enough for its purpose (e.g. running a TTRPG campaign in one). How should the available information be presented/...
- 2,021
18
votes
7
answers
3k
views
World Building Knowledgebase - How to write good Military World Building
This is a migration or re-post of something I posted in the Meta, which received good reviews:
Here is the Meta Post - go check the Meta out, it is where us cool-kids hang out.
This is going to be a ...
- 35k
2
votes
2
answers
130
views
Habitable Ice belt Planet for fantasy Novel [closed]
I've been building a fantasy novel with my brother for quite sometime and when it comes to axial tilt, planetary layout and construction neither of us are experts so I've come to the bright minds here ...
- 29
-1
votes
1
answer
101
views
How would you make a city magical not just a setting but also as a character [closed]
I wanted to build a story where the main character is reincarnated into a fantasy novel and knows that there is no way that he will be able to keep up with the absurd increase in power of the main ...
3
votes
2
answers
152
views
Making Australia more humid
I need Australia to support vast areas of african savanna-like environment, and if possible mammoth steppe-like in the colder regions. Turning the deserts into savanna would be a requisite.
What would ...
- 1,456
2
votes
4
answers
190
views
How should I improve my fantasy map? [closed]
This is a map based on one of my old sketches, I would like to know how I should make it seem more realistic. Thanks!
- 39
7
votes
10
answers
3k
views
How could double damage be explained in-universe? [closed]
I'm creating a tabletop role-playing steampunk fantasy game. Within the game are elemental weapons and spells similar to the ones in Borderlands. One of the elements is Slag. An organism or structure ...
- 5,420
0
votes
0
answers
147
views
Are these ocean currents for my planet plausible?
This is my first attempt at worldbuilding anything at this point. I heavily modelled my first planet after the Earth as my baby steps. I wanted to experiment with how climates on the planet would be ...
9
votes
2
answers
627
views
River valley civilization in woodland steppe?
I'm creating an antiquity-age earthlike world starting at the early bronze age. One of my continental interiors is a large, fairly flat, hot steppe region predominantly covered in steppe woodland, ...
- 153
3
votes
1
answer
198
views
Stability in my habitable planet orbiting a binary system
I'm making a worldbuilding project mainly focussed arround an habitable planet that orbits a binary system and I have a question about my system.
My planetary system is an S-type (A main star in the ...
3
votes
1
answer
161
views
Fish Tank For Merfolk [closed]
I haven't seen any questions like these, but please do tell me if it is a duplicate. What I need to know is:
How large would a tank need to be for a merperson -maximum length around 9 feet long from ...
- 765
3
votes
1
answer
79
views
Binary Star System Physics
I am envisioning a planet that has two orbiting stars: a small yellow-white F class and a larger orange K class star. The stars were once closer and created a more tumultous tectonic history but since ...
- 165
5
votes
2
answers
174
views
Could a planet have metalloids but very few metals?
Could advanced technology be created by an intelligent species on a planet where there are very few true metals and only large amounts of metalloids? I envision a planet sparse in accessible metals, ...
- 165
1
vote
1
answer
117
views
What are some things to keep in mind while designing a binary planet system with a sun-like star? [closed]
My planets are both the same size as Earth, with about the same water:land ratio. They are tidally locked to each other, but not the star. I don’t know much about planets and orbits and other things ...
- 249
-1
votes
2
answers
105
views
What types of themed maps should I put for my Fictional Planet? (Sorry for making it opinion based) [closed]
I have been working on this Fictional Planet for about 4 years and reset a couple of times along the way. I started working on maps of the whole planet with themes. So far, I have land features, ...
7
votes
9
answers
2k
views
Building a fictional city on a deserted island from scratch
I am writing a fantasy story in a fantasy world and I have a question about the development of cities. One of the major kingdoms in that world decides to build a city on a newly discovered deserted ...
- 127
9
votes
15
answers
4k
views
is there any way to make firearms work in a fantasy setting alongside swords and armor and stuff?
So, I'll try to keep this simple. I've had an idea about adding firearms in a setting alongside sword users and the like with the caveat that everyone in this setting is capable of some type of magic. ...
- 323
16
votes
5
answers
3k
views
How might weapons and armor evolve in a world where Humans coexist with Dinosaurs?
I'm thinking of writing a story where due to magic, a bunch of Neolithic tribes get sent to the Late-Cretaceous Period.
While I was coming up with the idea, I realized that living with dinosaurs may ...
3
votes
1
answer
213
views
Could these Tectonic Plates produce my map's landforms?
Using a Fractal Generator, I generated the attached map. I really like the shapes of the Continents & Islands, and want to preserve as much as possible. But, I also want realism, and realize I ...
- 809
2
votes
3
answers
350
views
Where would mountains make sense on those land masses?
I created landmasses thanks to Azgaars Fantasy Map generator.
It was not based on any consideration so far, like tectonic plates due to lack of expertise. It was done purely based on a personal ...
- 29
1
vote
0
answers
76
views
How much light would pass through ice? [closed]
I am writing a book in which a civilisation lives in the remnants of a giant crater with a dome of ice over the top. This crater is huge, I'm talking about 200 square miles huge, so this is a very ...
7
votes
11
answers
5k
views
Realistic version of White and black magic
So this is for my magic system since it's based on the real-world system. In my novel in the works named Successors magic works by bending the rules of science but not breaking them. Examples include ...
- 113
4
votes
3
answers
5k
views
What is the size of the largest possible flying animal? Realistically speaking?
I’d like to create fantasy creatures that can fly using their own realistic physiology without magic or any kind of supernatural power. Many references on the internet mention that popular dragons ...
- 49
0
votes
2
answers
637
views
What long term effects would an eruption of the ring of fire have on Earth? [closed]
We all know about the ring of fire, and we all know what happens when a volcano erupts.
For context: this is set in the near future, with humans living in high-tech protective domes during/following ...
- 443
3
votes
3
answers
3k
views
How much could a real world quetzalcoatlus carry? [closed]
This question has been asked in dnd5e, and that is all google is pulling up for me is dnd related. Is there a study or a simple explanation anyone has I can look at? I'm looking to see if it would be ...
- 701
12
votes
3
answers
4k
views
Could a planet orbiting a star have a habitable moon and this moon have its own moon orbiting it?
Could a star system exist where a body orbiting the star has an inhabited planet moon orbiting it instead of the sun? And the inhabited planet moon has its own smaller satellite.
I have very little ...
- 141
0
votes
2
answers
676
views
What traits would a human have in an oxygen rich environment?
I'm having trouble finding research surrounding this question. If humans evolved in a more oxygen-rich environment, what would their evolved traits be?
For context: I'm creating a post-apocalyptic ...
- 443
6
votes
1
answer
261
views
Could earth like planet support a second moon, if it was approximately 1/4 of real moon size?
I would like for my world to have two moons. I think it would look simply stunning at night. Also, I came up with a pretty cool idea for a "God Eye" cult. When the smaller moon would have ...
- 143
-2
votes
2
answers
212
views
What's a good way to give a character a realistic edge in a post-apocalypse setting? [closed]
What's a realistic way to give a protagonist character a fighting edge against enemies with great numerical superiority, without making them superheroes? What's something believable?
1
vote
2
answers
376
views
The Finer Details Of A Global Ocean Planet
Some statistics (forgive the redundancy):
Radius - 5,400 mi or 8,690.458 km
Diameter - 10,800 mi or 17,380.915 km
Circumference - 33,929.2 mi or 54,603.754 km
Mass - 7.33x10^24 kg or approximately 1....
- 11
9
votes
1
answer
808
views
Guidance: How to Create Sensible Plate Tectonics
This is a community-wiki question
Worldbuilding Stack Exchange regularly hosts questions asking either how to establish plate tectonics based on an existing planetary map or to judge the suitability ...
- 132k
4
votes
2
answers
304
views
I'm trying to conceptualize the layout of a village/town, but having trouble [closed]
So I'm currently attempting to lay out a large city and the geography surrounding it, but it's proving much more challenging than I thought. Whenever I try to lay it out, it's messy and unrealistic. ...
- 41
1
vote
3
answers
185
views
What could be a compelling reason for an incestuous race to diversify into clans? [closed]
I'm writing a litRPG novel and have created an incestuous race called Purus (a temporary name). Purus are a long-lived race that can live for up to 1000 years. They possess unique magical powers, ...
- 431
3
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Could my planet be habitable (Or partially habitable) by humans?
Set up
I'm currently building a planet that I want to have both alien life forms and humans. It has the following traits:
Humans migrated from Earth a long time ago, but only landed on the planet 24 ...
24
votes
7
answers
6k
views
When countries combine, how do they pick a new name?
I am writing a story where two countries decide to merge into one larger country, but I am having trouble figuring out what they would actually name the new country.
At first I though that they would ...
- 2,087
15
votes
9
answers
3k
views
Is there such a thing as "too much detail" in worldbuilding?
I'm currently working on my own world and something I always wonder when worldbuilding is if I'm putting in "too much detail".
One of my favourite parts (and one of the most important in ...
- 151
7
votes
5
answers
554
views
Litmus Test for whether my worldbuilt cultures are too close to modern America/Britain/etc
I was listening to a video on how to write, and the person giving the lecture said something along the lines of "I'm bored with stories where the setting is supposed to be in the far-flung future,...
- 109
3
votes
1
answer
472
views
How can I build a successful empire ruled by a malevolent ruler? [closed]
Right now, I'm trying to build an empire (based on byzantine) that is set as the main enemy.
In an empire, does the ruler interact with their people? What is their empire's history?
The empire I'm ...
- 65
2
votes
6
answers
322
views
Why do my fox people believe in their gods at all?
The gods of my fictional world are Uri, Tempest, Selenite, Iris, and Aylin. Another thing- they're all foxes. (The world is set in an exclusively-fox island, where foxes live on the island and develop ...
47
votes
17
answers
7k
views
What is a good way to make an abstract board game truly alien?
Necessary background info: So I made a hard(ish, there is FTL but it's fairly restricted and that's about it in terms of scientific implausibility) science fiction worldbuild. There is the "Oval&...
- 579
16
votes
5
answers
4k
views
How would I go about naming a fictional country located on Earth?
I'm having quite a bit of trouble naming a fictional country I've created. So far, I've created its history, inhabitants, laws, government, etc. and I have simply used "the country" as a ...
- 369
2
votes
2
answers
263
views
Can planet with three moons, have one tidal-locked both on rotation and revolution?
I'm a new D&D 5E Dungeon Master and I've found out recently about tidal locking.
For the first RPG setting I'm preparing with a friend, the planet the players will be on has 3 moons. Me and ...
- 123
19
votes
9
answers
3k
views
What kind of tactical situation/s would be best approached with trained jetpack pilots?
I'm writing a story where there's a civil war fought by people with weapons and technology based on 50s experimentals, kind of like a subtle "What-if" aesthetic.
How can I manipulate what ...
7
votes
2
answers
290
views
Magic Systems: Advice for developing opposing forces [closed]
Dumbledore fights Voldemort from the Harry Potter series of films. Nothing says "opposites" like two different colors incapable of overcoming each other and dripping like magma to the floor.
...
- 132k
1
vote
1
answer
169
views
How to explain different spirits and species within them? [closed]
I’m not too sure how to explain this, but I have a universe set in a modern world where basically humans co-exist alongside supernatural beings.
I have the usual creatures and monsters like vampires, ...
- 19
4
votes
1
answer
246
views
No idea where a current should come from
I was designing a continent and I placed it pretty far south of the equator and far from basically everything (just below 20 degrees south) and have now run into an issue with the ocean currents on ...
- 53
3
votes
2
answers
289
views
What would be a good way to make a star map? [closed]
Recently, I was working on my fantasy world's zodiac, when I realized that I still hadn't worked out how the constellations were supposed to fit together in the night sky. This caused me a good deal ...
- 503
1
vote
0
answers
132
views
Algorithm for creating realistic flying (voxel) islands [closed]
I am currently working on a part of a game that has voxel-based terrain, a bit like Minecraft. There are different kinds of „blocks“ like stone, dirt, sand, etc. But the story/setting requires that I ...
- 19