How I Created an Entire Fantasy Universe From Scratch

[@TheTaleTinkerer]

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[@Dragonmoon1598]

Excellent breakdown. As you said, it doesn't require vast knowledge about the universe, but a general understanding of how your universe works to accommodate the story. Your creation has three primary celestial bodies, and while not similar to our solar system, you have at the core the sun, moon, and Earth. So, while your own creation, it is similar enough to our reality that you don't lose the reader with the explanation. As a fan of DND, the concept of mutilple deities is very appealing. It not only brings a sense of both order and chaos to the world but opens up a number of story options. Though that same animosity could be found with a singular divine being as schisms are very likely to occur. Finaly, yes establishing the laws, rules, and guidelines of physics, technology, and magic in the world early on is key to a more balanced foundation. As you begin to narrow your focus on the finer details by establishing the bigger picture first, you decrease the chance of contradictions or overpowering certain creations.

[@TheTaleTinkerer]

Glad to hear the video was to your liking :) And yes, I tend to be a fan of pantheons as well but obviously, there are more alternatives to that, so I at least had to mention some other options here ^^

[@StonedPriest]

I was actually planning on working on this this weekend. I have pantheon, but I need to work on celestial bodies.

[@saint037]

me too but I am going for a flat earth terra infinita model, I'm still not sure how to approach space tho

[@TheTaleTinkerer]

In that case, I hope the video can at least help you a bit with that task :)

[@TheTaleTinkerer]

@@saint037 If you feel you are struggling about the space aspects of your worldbuilding project, maybe try to think about how much is needed to focus on the world you want to build. Or maybe think about ways how space is less relevant for now. For example, your entire world could be surrounded by a magical space mist that "blocks out" any interference from the outside, allowing you to simply dictate the exact type of laws and circumstances you need for your world without sacrificing the opportunity to dive into more scientific research later. It would even leave opportunities for storytelling later when that mist starts to disappear or people find ways to break through :)

[@saint037]

@@TheTaleTinkerer the importance of space in my flat earth model is that space is only accessible from the normal earth part of the world. Beyond the south wall is where celestials come from and the reason they actually come to earth is to have access to space in the world history events take place that cause the celestials to return where they came from this space mist is perfect, because when celestials were with the humans, they knew how to go past it and now, technology has come far enough for humans to also be able to do it(going to space is basically a myth from stories about these celestials) what the celestials wanted from space, I'm yet to fully flesh out😅

[@germoneysuniverse7908]

I can't stop watching your videos! SO far they are all amazing and very inspiring! Worldbuilding is such a fulfilling activity, I love it so much!! I have been working on my world and playing with character ideas and plot ideas for almost 20 years now and last year I finally started writing everything down and taking classes to refine my craft. The results speak for themselves and I am having the most fun ever!

[@TheTaleTinkerer]

Thank you for the kind words. Really glad to hear that you can find some value in the videos 🙂

[@BIackstrength]

The origin of the universe is not a necessity at all if your story is limited to a "small" land world. I think the worldbuilding should in general start from the scale of the story and then be expanded only you need it for your story. Starting big only increases the chances to get stuck in worldbuilding.

[@TheTaleTinkerer]

That is absolutely true, and one of the things I emphasize with worldbuilder's disease in another video. For a series like this though, where I try to walk through all steps of the worldbuilding process, it is difficult to take a "story first" approach because the story is obviously different for every individual. So I'm trying to provide enough information about all the different larger brackets of things to cover, so that people then can narrow down on what they actually need :)

[@Gaia_Gaistar]

My universe was created by a cosmic being named Dr. Funtastic who rides a cosmic surfboard and is radical as cosmically possible. It never comes up in the story lol.

[@Andrewtr6]

My world was created through the intervention of powerful primordial forces (gods) rather than anything natural. Similar to Norse cosmology, this world will be "held" on a branch of a celestial tree which also connects to other realms. Each of the realms appears in the sky like how we can see the planets in our solar system (but larger). Like the planets, each realm would be named after a god; that god would also be the ruler of that realm. I haven't created the gods or the realms yet but the ones I have in mind are a realm of the gods (equivalent to Asgard), a realm of death ruled over by the goddess of death, and a realm of demons (and chaos) ruled over by the equivalent of Satan. Also considering a realm for Fae which act like minor gods in my story. Despite my cosmology, I still want stars in the sky. It's low priority, but I eventually want to create constellations with myths tied to them. I haven't tied in how the sun or moon(s) fit into this yet either. Magic and technology in my world have the opposite interaction. Electrical systems distort the natural flow of magic (leylines) causing spells to not work or be weaker.

[@TheTaleTinkerer]

Sounds you've spent quite some time on these aspects already :) I did consider to keep stars as well despite the "unnatural" creation story of my universe but in the end, I decided against it to keep a larger focus on the three inter-connected planets and the Ethereal Sea.

[@gamez4dayz117]

You know I expected you to be more popular, you are a lot of help

[@TheTaleTinkerer]

Thank you for the kind words. I started this channel on the side less than a year ago and only really went all in 2-3 months ago. So who knows, maybe there is more growth in the channel's future 🙂

[@gamez4dayz117]

@@TheTaleTinkerer I hope you can make it.

[@LordAteag]

You've earned my like.

[@TheTaleTinkerer]

Thank you for the support 🙂

[@SCPilot]

This is an awesome video. Oh no! You used Solara! 😭 I had actually picked that name for the sun and the sun goddess for my setting. Oh well, back to the drawing board. 😆 Still this is a very thought provoking video. And I thank you for the advice too.

[@SCPilot]

Please note I’m being silly. I had already planned on changing the name of the sun and sun goddess by the time I watched this video so it’s cool. This helps me refine my setting some as in my setting three entities fought each other: the Void, a being of pure evil, and a being of good, light, and arcane magic. The good being sacrificed themselves to destroy the Void and evil entity causing the Big Bang but the universe was in utter chaos that planets were flat and flipped through the air like coins and suns were born and then died and then reborn sometimes in reverse. Even Chaos was in chaos. Even simple mathematical equations didn’t make sense like 2+2 = 🐟 fish! Then the gods came into being and used arcane magic created order.

[@TheTaleTinkerer]

Names are free to use (unless copyrighted somehow) so don't feel restricted by an in-progress project :-)

[@reidchikezie1161]

Great video bro ❤

[@TheTaleTinkerer]

Thank you - glad to hear it was valuable for you :)

[@renealbrechtsen9743]

In my world, I have several different cultures that all have different belief systems (some are polytheistic, others are monotheistic, etc). I've also been playing around with the idea that they all believe in one deiety (or deieties). Do you have any suggestions on how something like this could work ?

[@TheTaleTinkerer]

You are mentioning both polytheistic and monotheistic and the idea of having them believe in one or multiple of the same deities. That makes it a bit difficult to give exact suggestions that cover everything, because there obviously are different scenarios depending on who/how many they believe in etc. But, just to give some input for two possible scenarios: 1) The cultures could share a common religious origin, but over time, their interpretations and practices have diverged. Each culture might emphasize different aspects of the deity or deities, leading to unique religious expressions. For example, one culture might focus on a deity's aspect as a creator, while another might worship the same deity as a destroyer or a protector. 2) In a polytheistic framework, different cultures could worship the same pantheon of gods but have a particular patron deity that they hold in highest regard. This allows for shared religious festivals or places of worship, while still maintaining distinct cultural identities. Hope that helps :)

[@renealbrechtsen9743]

@@TheTaleTinkerer definitely helpful. What I'm thinking is that they could all have a common sun god or something like that. Similar to the ancient romans, greeks, aztecs, etc, and then branch out from there for the polytheistic cultures.

[@Andrewtr6]

My first question would be, do these deities exist and have influence over the natural world, or do they only exist in the beliefs of the people?

[@renealbrechtsen9743]

@@Andrewtr6 they definitely exist. Dunno how much influence they would have though.