Worldbuilding Tips for starting your new world!

[@theatheistpaladin]

Wait, You are telling me that the first step of worldbuilding is not creating a new fantasy language from scrap?

[@WorldAnvil]

Hah! Shocking, I know ;)

[@BennysGamingAttic]

I thought you had to start with plate tectonics, atmospheric density and how long it takes for fantasy seeds to germinate in their respective climates

[@julianiemeyer1010]

of course it can be! Follow Tolkien off the cliff, it's great down here, we have gnarglesnomphs.

[@valkeakirahvi]

Wait, I've been doing it wrong all along :(

[@__-bk6mm]

@@valkeakirahvi Nah you're fine there is no correct or right approach for everyone, only what is right for you!

[@SpanishOxid]

Question 1: What is my MOTIVATION? 00:44 Question 2: What is your GENRE? 2:48 Question 3: What is your SCALE? 4:48 Question 4: What is your MOOD? 8:36 Question 5: What is your THEME? 11:50 Question 6: What is your CONFLICT? 15:10

[@Evanarix]

The first time I started writing my current story I abandoned it due to worldbuilder's disease. I got so entangled in the little things that I ended up not enjoying it at all. This was really helpful and a much-needed warning because I realize now I was going down the same path again XD FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS

[@WorldAnvil]

This (being entangled and worldbuilders disease) is LITERALLY the reason that Dimitris made me World Anvil in the first place, and started this whole mad escapade! So I totally understand, and I'm glad the video helped! :D

[@williamspd]

@@WorldAnvil We love Dimitris!

[@WorldAnvil]

@@williamspd Me too! (That's good, I guess - I married him! :D )

[@williamspd]

@@WorldAnvil World Anvil is like an amazing dream I had once turning out to be a) real and b) better in reality than the dream. It is pretty mindblowing :-) That he made it for you is another high note :-) I'm fanboying, but I think a little bit of that is OK once in a while. I'm so excited about what I'm going to do with World Anvil. I mean, what CAN'T I do with World Anvil? That's right - nothing! I'm already thinking '5GB? That won't be enough....' lol

[@Dan4CW]

Janet is my new favorite KZbin personality.

[@WorldAnvil]

:o You are so sweet! I'm glad you're enjoying the vids :)

[@jjhh320]

3 years old and still relevant today. A lot of good info, especially the idea of focusing worldbuilding around themes as well

[@WorldAnvil]

Thank you so much for saying so! 😊

[@calebtucker7948]

I just wanna thank you Janet and all the people working on world Anvil. It's such a damn amazing tool. So glad I found it 😋

[@NickStrife]

"A plage of genres".. That's how I would describe the world I uave created.. Depending on which city or continent you are, it can feel like an entire different mood/theme/conflict..!

[@j.j.663]

same man, same

[@Intelexual]

Likewise

[@FloraJoannaK]

A good intrapersonal skill to have, is to be able to critique and judge ones own work, and see bits which require attention. I've been writing since my early teens, and found out quickly that most early drafts - doodlings, really - were not usable by themselves. I think a good attitude for anyone starting to write, is that the vast majority of what you are going to write is not going to be level with what you want. The skill is in seeing what things are, in general, good, and which bits to abandon, and which ones to develop. I'd advice any starting writers to write, first of all, as much as one can, and develop technique and 'ear for tone' which are far more important than finished bits. Don't be afraid to reset an entire world, and start from scratch, with maybe 10% of the original world or universe present in the new one. Don't fear making mistakes. You can learn from them, and it is especially important to apply a 'meta level' to your writing, being able to analyze your process and method. Having someone critique your text is good, but being able to jduge yourself is better. In WWII, tactical bombers would hit the same target several times in order to ensure the target is out of order - for Allies, it was worth spending the munitions to save lives. German pilots would approach Soviet targets from the enemy side of the front i.e. circle around the enemy and fly towards the friendly front, as tank armor is the weakest in the back, being fired from behind suddenly is a an effective anti-morale technique and if the pilot was shot down, he would likely parachute or crash into friendly controlled territory. These techniques show a realist approach to warfare: same I like to apply to writing. Develop technique to write so much, that some of the material will be your desired quality. Should your material not meet the level, know which bits to use in the future, how to best salvage from a reset project, which techniques work for you. You really can't train writers. It's all maieutics, in the end. One more thing about genre and tone. Don't limit yourself to conventions or decide early your world or novel (don't know about RPG campaigns) will follow a certain archetype in literature. I find it best to refer to real world academical sources to get ideas from-- am I writing of a scientist of 1800s tech level? Best read some Kant and skim through the Origin of Species and some Newton. Lord in a city state with feudal politics? Machiavelli, and why not Robert Filmer-- Magical school of healing? It helps to understand chemistry and have an idea of human physiology. How do people die in this world etc.-- It is all fiction, but if looking to create a full continent with its nations and political players, it is best to stick to things which have ready examples on Terra. Being well read, having a solid understanding on several fields of study from philosophy to natural sciences, history and psychology will help a writer. "Books are made of books." It is not required, but a polymath will be able to tackle far more ambitious works than someone heavily specialized. Nothing's wrong with creating a fairytale-like island with one side having eternal winter, and the other summer. But why the weather? Reason needs not show in the text, but something to ponder for the writer. One of the most frustrating things for the reader is to have immersion broken because something happened because the writer wanted it to happen, and Superman's strings show, or the actor looked straight into the camera-- Tone is important, light vs dark, character agency etc. are as well, and a writer ought to be aware of these, but ought not to trouble over them before having reset several times, and world built for some time. Focus on volume, is my advice to starting writers. Build technique and your 'ear for tone', but be aware of more advanced things like theme and so. These work for me. What may happen, is that a writer will find himself writing a text, which kind of 'picked him/her' and the written work is actually part of the writer's own stream of consciousness. It's feels great to be able to pick a point in the story, and have ideas readily written down, and start hatching them, with ideas popping here and there which one was not even aware of before. Also, typing speed. I find it good to be able to type roughly as quickly as I speak, which adds to dialogue realism.

[@WorldAnvil]

it's certainly true that writing is re-writing! Some great points here :)

[@FloraJoannaK]

I think the earlier one begins considering rewriting, and 'carousel bombing' ones ouevre, the better. It's not only the finished product which needs attention, but the entire process. Critical for longevity, the way I see it: learn one technique, which may be a bad habit, it is really difficult to unlearn if it gives decent results - but could be better. So that way, sticking to genre may be useful, as conventions can help kick-start. Thinking outside the box with writing. Not something that can be taught. I'd simply encourage starting writers to try and think, and write in an aggressively idiosyncratic manner, just for practice's sake. Someone might have an idea they'd describe as 'Silly, too out there!' and never develop it because they resist their instinct, but I think instinct is the best way to decide what to write of. Not pick a subject, and start writing, doing research, but doing research in general, then writing down ideas and formulating wholes which one finds fascinating and interesting, and then pin-pointing what ought to be known for the whole to work, and reading more on that. 'What would *I* want to read?' Personal passion for some archaic or highly specialized subject matter can be extremely good reading. Thinking of Gravity's Rainbow, Moby Dick or Blood Meridian.

[@carlycchapman]

World Building Motivation: I want to build a new world to write a fantasy story and novel. What I hope to get out of it: I would like a creative outlet, but also I just like writing in general. Making characters and world brings me joy, even if I have trouble wording things and getting my ideas out in a story format. I would also say it’s a good challenge to help me think more instead of just sitting at home and mindlessly watching KZbin and Hulu all the time, along with trying to improve my writing in general. What’s your genre?: Young Adult, Medieval Fantasy, and bits of Romance. I also want a lot of magic and strange creatures, but also regular weapons, like swords, bows and arrows, crossbows, etc. My Scale: A Supercontinent with multiple countries, provinces, Kingdoms, and cities is my ultimate goal. However, I plan to start with just a few cities and then I’ll build on that later. Moods: I want the overall series to be more on the grim side, with bits of bleak and neutral thrown in. On the dark to bright scale, I’d say I want it to be anywhere between neutral and darkest, depending on what’s happening in the moment. With bits of bright as well so it’s not the same thing over and over again. Themes: Overcoming the odds, Coming of Age, The Circle of Life, The Strong Do What They Can and The Weak Do What They Must, and Everything Has A Price Conflict: A war between two Kingdoms threatens the livelihood of every person living in these locations, whether it be farmers or royals, this war threatens them and their kin and peers It's a lot to take on, but I figure, if I want to write something, I may as well go all out and actually take time working on it rather than quickly throw something together that's crappy and put it on KDP.

[@thefirsttalker6776]

Usualy I have problems with videos like this one, because one of my biggest flaws is getting jealous. So when I listen to people telling me how to do something, because they know what they are talking about is not making me motivated, but demotivated with thoughts like "who am I compared to them, it is senseless to try anything, I will just make some crap and get depressed after". I don't know why, your videos are different and I really feel motivated to continue working on my project. Thank you for amazing advices, it will for sure help me with working on my world and plot of a novel. Sorry for all grammar mistakes, english is not my first language. Happy New Year!

[@Quartzier345]

As a person who struggles with the scope of her world and as a new DM, this list is insanely helpful to keep me thinking in a micro rather than a macro scale. What are my new players going to do at level 1 if all the conflicts and plots I build are complicated, with lofty goals and epic stakes? The reminder to keep themes cohesive but to be sure to create contrast in my world was helpful, too.

[@partycrashr92]

One thing I've found incredibly helpful (after a few campaigns to learn...) was that your players won't necessarily care what story you've created. This isn't to say they never will. As the DM, you get to see the whole picture, from macro to micro. You understand the motivations/desires of every NPC you've created. You have the plot in mind that you think should take place. The trick is to roll with the punches and cater to your players' desires. If you try to railroad your players, they will, almost certainly, derail it. What I've figured out (both as the player and DM) is to let the events unfold as they may. I would say players are much better at forming an opinion of something on their own based on their own motives rather than being told to like/dislike something. In other words, create your grand plot and let the players decide what side of the fence they fall on. You can have your grand plot (I know I have mine) and let it advance as it will, they players will figure out their own stance as the plot continues. Railroading is the worst thing you can do to your players, I learned from experience. While it may make for great storytelling later, your players will "hate" you afterwards. I have a campaign that I planned out far in advance with a great story that died because the players knew they were being railroaded. To be fair, that was the experience I got as a first time player, which I replicated as a first time GM to other first time players, so I didn't know any better at the time.

[@theatheistpaladin]

Motivation: To shut up the voices that scream at me "Write me" Genre: Science Fantasy with a Military core. 3 main factions. High Fantasy Magepunk, Steampunk Alchemists, Solar/cyberpunk tech. Scale: Starts small and grows to inter-galactic saga from a Mult-versal threat. Mood: Grey yet wonderous at points. Theme: Dragons vs spaceships! Magic on artificial worlds like shell worlds and Dyson rings.

[@WorldAnvil]

HAH - your motivation sounds like mine! :D

[@jchinckley]

Write It! I wanna read it!

[@thearnoldarmy1899]

Just binge watching all these for the billionth time because your voice helps me focus now after watching so many videos.

[@NosebleeddeGroselha]

This Grim-Noble Dark-Bright scale is gonna help me a lot! I've been trying to decide the mood I wanna give with the world I wanna build and this is gonna make things much much easier for me. I think I'm even gonna do a slightly different mood for different regions in my world, since I'm gonna write multiple stories in the same shared universe. Once my maps are ready, I can maybe color-code them in this mood scale 🤔 this is gonna be so much fun aaaaaah~

[@jamesadamsfl]

Mood and theme are things I’ve only recently been able to really start thinking about. Scale I kind of accidentally fell into. Thanks, this Video was a big help.

[@TheSinicus]

As someone with a severe case of Worldbuilder's Disease, I must say this is great! Perfect tips to help you stay focused on what's important. Keep up the great work, Janet!

[@WorldAnvil]

Glad to hear that! and thanks! :)

[@wellard32]

Absolutely loving these guides, this video will become a regular touchstone to support my world building. Also “we are at the end, let’s make tea” is definitely a catchphrase I’m steeling!!

[@Vokalplus]

I'm just starting out with WA and this video answered a lot of my questions, thank you!

[@WorldAnvil]

Wonderful! I’m so glad to hear it! Welcome to the community :)

[@thescienceemporium2606]

My motivation is to apply a language. Szÿan dzakha ultlhzos! Pronounciation: scian jaxa ulshos!

[@sheekyking]

You've talked about the literary elements in which I was hoping, after so many videos, others would have covered! Thank you so much

[@ravenwitch5569]

Why I want to build a world... CAUSE I CAN

[@WorldAnvil]

That's a damn good reason! :D

[@spookyspider2820]

yup. i just want to write a world right now but i’m just getting tips on how to put your world building into a novel not on how to do it.

[@everlyw7892]

Cuz I’m in quarantine lol.

[@julianiemeyer1010]

I think that there should be a difference in setting and genre. The issue is that we use the same language to describe both. Setting is for the world building but your genre is based on a combo between your plot and setting. For instance, my friend is writing a book that is set in a near future earth that has a space station with spun gravity, aside from the setting it is devoid of most the typical scifi genre bits and the plot is focused on a school aged boy going to school on the station and learning to make friends. To be honest it reads more like 'non-genre' fiction save the setting. Tolkien is a good baseline for detail into a decently fleshed out world. I don't think he burned out either. ;) My setting: Motivation: To best Tolkien at overly detailed world building. Genre: Low Hard Magic in a medieval level technological level Scale: Three major continents, an underwater civilization, four dimensions, 10k years of history, 17 languages in 7 language families, 53 major religions, 210 separate countries, detailed trade routes, multiple layered cosmology, etc. Mood/theme: Depends on the story and locale that someone is reading. Ranges from Nightmarish fever dream lovecraftian to inner city gumshoe grit, to political intrigue, to pretty much anything. Conflict: depends on the locale, era, and character being focused on. I'm writing a detective fiction set in one city of one province of one country on one continent in that monster of a setting. I consider that one more murder mystery genre than any of the setting tags. At the same time i'm writing a lovecraftian horror story of a man who learns too much about the underlying workings of the setting and goes mad to everybody around him. Despite being in the same setting, I do consider these two to be different genres. But I think of genres as more of a guide to figure out what causes conflict and what effectively solves it. If either part of the conflict is rooted in science and technology, it's sci-fi, magic and mysticism is fantasy, the whodunnit of a murder is a mystery, the existential terror of nasty things is horror. This definition can unfortunately stretch a bit thin when you get into medieval technology and the story about how a new technological advancement hits the society (the story of the printing press hitting Europe in my mind could be looked at as science fiction) Ah well, I already know I have a strange philosophy in regards to this topic.

[@theoretical_chaos7712]

your motivation is the best thing i have ever heard, i wish you luck

[@-arche-7926]

My motivations: Philosophical exploration: Im playing with tribes, that live in Anarchie, Kommunism, Socialism, Monarchies and Dictatatorship. Its compleately mad! (I love it!)

[@AD_Gray]

This was incredibly helpful! Thank you! I hadn't thought about these parts of my world-building

[@WorldAnvil]

Glad it was helpful!

[@ernestoaragon87]

Very thorough. This will be very useful for my project. Thanks for sharing!

[@jonathanfesmiresteampunkau6983]

Well, we clearly live in a Grim Dark world.

[@professionalmemeenthusiast2117]

Depends where you live. I'd class most wealthy countries as Grim Bright: people live in great conditions, but good people can still get randomly murdered and their deaths will mean nothing.

[@Seraphina-Rose]

2020 says "yep" 🥴

[@ihavealifeyaknow6827]

Motivation: Becuase I'm going to do a J. R. R. Tolkien and nobody is going to stop me Genre: Fantasy (with some modern elements because I am NOT having genre appropriate clothes, and nobody will tell me otherwise.) Scale: A Continent size scale. Mood: Neutral Theme: Pfft, my book isn't about the plot, it's about the characters. Conflict: Two empires going to war, and the characters are going to fight for their side (the "right" side) and get the main character back to The First Existence (long story short, he fell from the first to the second and got mixed up in all this).

[@KnotofDara]

Read Ted Dekkers Circle Saga. Thatll very much help you a bit with this.

[@yegortsukerman6356]

TLDR; Thanks for these tips! Really helpful stuff here. Motivation and Theme are things I have never really stopped and considered but thinking about it, I can see why these things would be important. Knowing WHY I'm building my world (Creative Expression/TTRPG Setting/A Fun Experience for my Players) I think will go a long way as I will always be looking back to see how my game is serving these motives and will help me stay on task whenever I'm running a game.

[@DrZuky]

Learned lots from this tips. And She is freaking adorable :)

[@williamobrien9666]

Thank you for summarizing this so well. I now have a method for defining my worlds other than hoping I remember how things feel...

[@WorldAnvil]

So happy this was helpful! It's time to grab your hammer and go worldbuild! 🙌

[@cypherzeros]

Thanks for this! Been working on a process for novel writing. This was helpful.

[@WorldAnvil]

I'm so glad this was helpful

[@robpegler6545]

I have a world map, but for the moment my campaign is focused on one large province (roughly in the middle) so that's where the construction work is currently underway. The only reason I even have a world map is because my players have all described the far-flung places their characters hail from, and it's nice to know where they are. Sooner or later we'll take a proper road trip and fill in some details.

[@WorldAnvil]

That's a great way to do it - sketch out the big stuff in the roughest detail, but focus your worldbuilding push on a smaller area!

[@rashkavar]

A lot of this is stuff that's hard to not consider when piecing together a world. Well...unless you're a linguist, I suppose. But having a formalized collection of questions to consider is going to be a big help. Thanks!

[@WorldAnvil]

you're very welcome! Good to keep the answers somewhere safe to go back to, as well! :)

[@FullyBookedCoach]

Where has WorldAnvil been all my life?! A new obsession!

[@WorldAnvil]

Whoop whooop! Happy to be here now to help you! We only started in late November 2017 :)

[@timothyperrigoue3997]

This was helpful in organizing my thoughts for creating a Steampunk RPG. Will be coming back to World Anvil where previously I found it a little overwhelming... it has been a couple of years and I really MUST have a place to coordinate all the items in/on "post it" notes, 3" x 5" cards, and assorted notebooks that have been piling up for a number of years. Thank You.

[@DonaldSimsProduction]

Thank you for all of your efforts, Ja'net!

[@WorldAnvil]

You are so welcome! Thanks for watching!

[@merry1251]

Such a great vidéo! Thanks for all these advice

[@jonvoj3468]

I always stuck there lol: Motivation: I want write amazing novel, think about the places and characters Genre: Historical fantasy, epic fantasy, dark fantasy Scale: Continent + islands Mood: Grey Theme: ._. Conflict: ._.

[@kata.klettke6164]

Fantastic and helpful video - helped me pinpoint the things I somehow felt that were not in the right place in my world yet. Now to let it simmer on the anvil until the solutino is ready and tells me about itself x)

[@WorldAnvil]

Happy simmering, and may the Forge be with you!

[@imperialadvisoraremheshvau3788]

Thank you so very much for this. One request, these are wonderful but could the haminess be turned down half a notch ?

[@stonerocks0]

Cool, thought-provoking video! This presents both a thorough, structured approach and specific examples to help 'root' the concepts. Thanks!

[@PatheticBarrel]

I guess I've always been doing this, just without the Grim/Noble Dark/Bright thing. Will definetly have to have a think on this.

[@WorldAnvil]

It's a choice, and it won't necessarily suit all kinds of worldbuilders to use it. But it can definite add a lot to a world!

[@teambellavsteamalice]

Loved the bloopers at the end, and Jessica 😍 one of my fave vampires... Nice tips, GoT isn't really grimdark compared to 40k should have put that one in the corner! 😁 Do you have any tips for world RE-building? I'm thinking and analysing for fun ALL the time, so when I read about a setting or any story I tend to notice plotholes and missed opportunities. I just love complex settings that span millennia, like 40k, vampire the masquerade and the DnD setting called Dark Sun. Over time a whole set extra content, tweaks and major fixes forms a kind of "head canon". At least in my mind it's always better than the original. Not hard if you take what's good, create what's missing and fix what's inconsistent. That does make it hard, or near impossible to use anything as-is. Also, where to stop, how much detail to go into? Like I said, millenia of events. Just highlights affecting the current situation could be a staggering amount of changes and additions but also even more references to what one keeps. So most of all, how does one document this type of world building that is in part adding to an already vast amount of information? What is the best way to share these homebrew alternate versions?

[@claudiavarrone8146]

Motivation - Because I always wanted to combine the universes of my top 3 favorites + make a video game - so why not make a video game with these 3 amazing universes combined in my vision?! Genre - A low magic dark fantasy with high fantasy creatures set in medieval times (GOT meets The Witcher meets Dark Souls) Scale - 2 continents + islands Mood - Starts in a neutral/grey era torn by war that falls into the depths of a grimmest/darkest world Theme - Politics and wars between races/kingdoms and their respective houses that're then threatened by something ancient, dark, and other-wordly. Conflict - I guess my theme sums it up. A world AT war turned into a war FOR the world.

[@nathanbeale2453]

"different rpG compaigns" "they're taking the hobbits to isengard!"

[@evecampbell3069]

Do you have any videos or tips for people with mental disabilities? I can't write to save my life and I have trouble concentrating. I have this great idea though and I've always wanted to try your site. Thank you for the videos!

[@dianemarycowan4938]

This was a great way to learn Worldbuilding

[@WorldAnvil]

Thank you so much for saying so 😍💕! In the spirit of asking for feedback, what was most helpful bit of knowledge 🤔?

[@MalosPrime]

This just what I need for my Science Fantasy/Superhero hybrid adventure series.

[@WorldAnvil]

Fantastic! this sounds awesome - are you writing it on WA (and when do we get to see it?) :)

[@MalosPrime]

I'm currently working on it at world anvil. But I'm not sure with type of superhero setting. I'm thinking of an alternative world were superhumans and elves live at odds while preparing for the space race. While at the same time the main character uses his skills as an astrophysicist to progress the field of science. The world is more noble bright but with Neutral tones.

[@WorldAnvil]

@@MalosPrime Wow - sounds fascinating!

[@MalosPrime]

Thanks, but after working on it, I've decided on a futuristic world based on futurism. It'll still have elves and such, but it will be more like a superhero story instead of bizarre mix mash of ideas.

[@__renaissance_man__]

Totally new! Thanks for the suggestions

[@WorldAnvil]

Of course! I hope they are useful and that your world will be super amazing! 🥰

[@charlenequiram1145]

So helpful! Thank you.

[@WorldAnvil]

You're so welcome!

[@QuadteRr]

My motivations are to have fun, tell an interesting story and to practice in writing. Genre: High magic fantasy with an element of science fiction (a region where people blend science and magic) General fiction: adventure The Scale is one continent with five major settlements of gnomes, including a drifting glacier wih science mages living there The mood is Neutral/Noble Neutral/Bright with potential darker tones The theme is overcoming the odds. How interesting. The video talks about a character from a farming community, who is an expert in robotics. My main character is from a farming/mining community of magic users, and he is the only one who cannot use magic. So he starts learning excessively. However, the technology is also banned in this community in favor of magic, so he learns languages. The conflict: The White Midas Glacier comes to the south Coal tribe a.k.a. Coalition every year for a day to take their currency, coal, which they don't need, and the White Midas Glacier gnomes really do for a set of reasons. They turn some coal into diamonds and pay them back. This whole event prevents inflation. However, one day the Glacier does not come. The economic crisis arises. So the main hero is sent through the continent to find out the reason for the abscence of the Glacier for the first time in centuries. On his journey he will meet: - The king of a country who comes up with laws so over-the-top and "Unique", that for others to understand his motivations he literally needs a guy who can read his mind to interprete the causes of his actions; - The White Raveness, a woman who can talk to and sometimes control crows; - The tribe of Gardener Goblins, who live in the Undergardens, the cave system under all of the continent, and use literal gnomes as gardening gnomes; - The scientists who try to come up with a way to transfer magical energy through some kind of electric wires to power people and machines, - And the Midas Glacier gnomes, who are trying to create the first human being on the continent through genetic manipulation and molecular structure modification.

[@robenkhoury7079]

That is beautiful

[@Fjolvarr]

I... might have made a world that's grim/bright. Where everyone feels upbeat and things aren't that bad, but be slowly decreasing the brightness as threat looms to increase a feeling of hopelessness.

[@WorldAnvil]

that sounds really cool! One of the things I didn't make clear in the video is that mood or tone can frequently shift somewhat in different locations and throughout the plot of a story - so things become more grim as the plot progresses, for example. Is that the kind of thing you're talking about? LotR is a great example of geographical zoning on this too - Mordor is super gritty and dark, but Rivendell is a bright haven. That adds really great texture to your worldbuilding as long as you don't zone too much!

[@Kntrytnt]

Look into We Happy Few. It's an Xbox game you can watch people play. It's a really grim, very creepy world, which is hidden behind a thin layer of makeup and hallucinogenic drugs.

[@FantaSea849]

Motivation: Need to let off some steam. Genre: Mid-Magic Fantasy, Supernatural, (Maybe if fanfiction if I can't get my Mystery Skulls Animated obsession to let up) Scale: Undefined for now, but since it's some version of sub-heaven that expands in order to deal with overpopulation, I'll focus on one region at a time and see where that gets me. Mood: Neutral Bright Theme: If I were to ever to write stories about this, I'd say it would focus on a kind of slice of life theme, with a few conflicts few and far between. The main conflict: An army of evil spirits intends to invade and the inhabitants have to use whatever they're got at their disposal to combat the threat.

[@fiesesalien]

Hm, i never did those things and i am more than just fine with world building. I work in a very chaotic way and my players like the world i crafted and i still craft it absolutely on the fly. If i have an idea that fits into one of the countries, i put it in. Found worldanvil and now i have to fiddle with all it can offer to me and it made my work a little harder for now. YET! Those tips are great! Stay crunchy.

[@WorldAnvil]

As I always say - if it's working then it's not a mistake! And if you#'re already an experienced worldbuilding, then you've probably developed your own method too! Which is awesome!

[@oz_jones]

All Flesh is Grass is an amazing name for a grindcore album.

[@WorldAnvil]

xD LOL! What would the first song be called?

[@danthiel8623]

Genre genre? Basically a true to life genre.

[@WorldAnvil]

So, Slice of Life 🍰 😁?

[@danthiel8623]

@@WorldAnvil yes that hehe

[@craz2580]

I made up an entire world just so i could put everything i draw and imagine in it

[@WorldAnvil]

That's awesome 🥰 - and a wonderful way to showcase your work to the world, too, if you wanted 🤩😊!

[@adrianelvis9931]

great vid.

[@Marinthees]

Glad I found this channel :)

[@WorldAnvil]

Me too! Welcome to the happy worldbuilding and minor craziness channel! :)

[@ssssafia]

Motivation: I've been sitting on too many ideas for a campaign setting, and I'd really like to try my hand at DMing. Genre: I'm making a high-fantasy setting, with elements of east Asian folklore/fairy tales and a heavy focus on exploration. Scale: I'm mostly focusing efforts on one very large continent, though I don't know if supercontinent is the correct term. I want a very large and vast land with infinite opportunities for exploration. Mood: I want the mood of my setting to be colourful and vast, filled with unexplored ruins and mysteries waiting to be uncovered. I want my setting to fill the players with wanderlust. Theme: Nature and wonder is to be cherished and preserved. In my setting, magic and nature are one and the same, and they are something that must be nurtured and taken care of, not just by some people, but by everyone. The theme of preserving beauty should be strong in my campaign, but I don't think it needs to be the main moral of every (or even most) arc(s). I expect this campaign to last for a long time, and that means telling varied stories with equally varying messages. Conflicts: Again, given that I'm making a long-term campaign, there will probably be a lot of different conflicts. From small things like the party having a rivalry with a group of tomb-raiders, to dealing with eco-terrorists or groups that threaten the magical environment.

[@WorldAnvil]

this sounds awesome! Can't wait to read more!

[@ismirdochegal4804]

My advise on that befor you go to big: wehter you have regional map, or a world map. An interesting map is one with lots of interesting locations and landmarks in it. Distance is of some importance. The long forgotten ruin full of powerful artefakts right next to the main high way makes no sense. But I would just think of places that could be interesting to the players and only than put them on the map, when the players say they want to go there.

[@Raurie4]

Seems like i should scrap the full world for now and focus down on the serene expanse region thats for my current game.

[@WorldAnvil]

Raurie Sime Remember that you don’t have to build everything with the same level of detail! You can have a rough sketch of the main big areas, and then go detailed on the main areas you’ll be working on! That means that you’ll still have some rough info about the other areas when you need to mention them :)

great tips

[@WorldAnvil]

:D Thank you! I'm glad they could help! If you have any questions, you know where to find us!

[@nirvanawayne9503]

Motivations: creating and developing a rich sense of culture and history for the peoples of my modern, imperial world. Genre: ranging from tribal times to the rise & fall of empires. Scale: 1 continent Mood: the goal is to make it a rather grim world. Since I usually build 1 culture and get too attached to it to let them die or fight wars. So my goal is to have a lot of conflict and disease etc. And the influence characters have would strongly depend on their position in the power hierarchy, just like in today's world. So I'd say rather neutral. Theme: my goal would be to explore a rather dark theme, although allowing there to be positive changes as well is something I'd want too....

[@WorldAnvil]

Sounds like an amazing start to an amazing world!

[@GerSan1979]

Very helpfull video, thanks a lot!

[@laraleepn]

so, you mention a couple of times to add these questions and your answers to your world's meta-page at WA. What is the meta-page and where do you create it? I've tried to search for the term in the codex and no luck. Perhaps I missed it in watching/reading the helps.

[@ExLibrisbyMikeBooklover]

Great advice Janet!

[@WorldAnvil]

Thanks!

[@AssasinZorro]

This is a wonderful set of questions, I have some answers set in stone without thinking of them, and I usually start with main conflict that in turn sets the theme and details of the world to justify the conflict. Is there a list of those questions somewhere on WorldAnvil or is it listed somewhere on your Discord? I'd love to have those tables of information accessible easily

[@WorldAnvil]

Hey there - thanks very much! You can check out the associated blog here: blog.worldanvil.com/2018/11/24/worldbuilding-tips-for-starting-your-new-world/ which has the genre and mood tables as images, and most of the other slides as lists!

[@olafmeiner4496]

I wish World Anvil and this video had existed when I started world building for my RPG campaign four years ago. Now I feel like I made every possible mistake. It had no consistent theme, mood,... anything. And at times I hated it for that. Motivation: Having a world for my RPG campaing to play in. Genre: High Magic Fantasy Scale: Starting national, going global plus evil realm, a bit of politics thrown in. Mood: I never got this right. It was supposed to be neutral dark but actually felt too cheerful for that. Theme: Good running Evil. The good player characters are branded as Evil Overlords Conflict: Global war Good vs. Evil, the PCs stuck in the otherwise empty moral gray zone. Can't be too good or the evil minions rebel, can't be too evil or you loose your soul. Do anything too extreme and either side might declare a cruisade on you. Problem was: My players wanted Sword and Sorcery style Heroic Fantasy.

[@maximeteppe7627]

about the mood, I would say the difference between grim and noble is not necessarily about the impact of a single character, though that is definitely a component, but how morally simple the world is. If the difference between light and dark is clear, it's easier to pinpoint who the big bad is and punch him/her the face, whereas a morally grey world has no clear source of all evil that you can face all at once. Which is why I would argue that star trek is further on the grim scale than people often assume, because however luxurious the world is, there is still conflict and moral pondering aplenty. it is brighter than star wars as in the world is more pleasant overall, but also grimer in the sense that all races can fall for bigotry, or enter into wars. And a third dimension I would add is whimsy. The disk world is not all that bright: there is plenty of injustice and horribleness to go around, but it there is always something surprising around the corner to make the reader laugh. A work of fiction can be very dark and cynical in its outlook, but take some of the edge off that way. Arguably warhammer 40K is grim dark whimsy, given the variety of species and superpowers, whereas something like 1984 is terribly mundane on top of being hopeless.

[@petrdavid7434]

Where in the table would you put The Expanse?

[@WorldAnvil]

That's a great question! As a setting on the Dark to Bright setting, The Expanse is pretty neutral as a whole, but there are many diverse aspects - so some areas would be dark (e.g. the Belt) whilst others are pretty bright (e.g. Utopian Earth). In terms of agency within the plot, it's more towards the noble than the grim side - with James Holden being the epitome of "noble" style character agency. Obviously these things are subject to interpretation, but I'd call it a neutral Noble world. What do you think?

[@claracarlin3052]

1 storytelling 2 sword and sorcery 3 continent 4 black neutral 5 blame and guilt 6 how expectations and blame can affect the view of the world and peoples actions

[@WorldAnvil]

These are GREAT guiding answers, and they stir interest too! The setting you describe feels almost like the Witcher series in grimness. Wonderfully done! Have you added these to your meta data page on your world?

[@tjtrewin]

Motivation: Parody world Genre: Genre blend. Prehistoric + science fantasy anyone? Scale: Janet's Mind-Realm Mood: bananas Theme: bananas, velociraptors, worldbuilding, sometimes cake, face words, and books Conflict: a plague of genres invades the realm causing facewords to become corrupted

[@WorldAnvil]

I love it! Now grab your hammer and GO WORLDBUILD!

[@nathanbeale2453]

don't forget the zombies and ninjas!

[@casimiriii5941]

Tj Trewin needs more bananas, always more bananas. Reminds me of unɡlued maɡic cards, ɡarbaɡe pale kids, or Shrek, parody world lol.

[@nerissacrawford8017]

The patient zero bit had me cackle. LOTR franchise is a big fucking boy! 🤣

[@WorldAnvil]

He is though! 🤣😂

[@nerissacrawford8017]

@@WorldAnvil I don't disagree! 🤣🦖

[@NoverMaC]

I wanted to write a novel but got distracted with the worldbuilding but i got distracted from the worldbuilding by the conlangs so.... yeah.

[@blaircolquhoun7780]

L;m writing a fantasy novel about a quest to destroy an evil sword called the Sword of Mikiclich. How can I make it realistic?

[@LilArenaGame]

Thank you

[@WorldAnvil]

You're so welcome!

[@DAsObiQuiet]

I would really love to have that Grim/Dark/Noble/Bright table in the World Anvil... *hint hint*

[@WorldAnvil]

Hahahahah! It won't go into the interface, as we're trying to keep that as clean as possible.... but Wwe could legit put it on the blog!

[@AshtonSnapp]

Aight, lets see... Motivation: Wanna make a TTRPG system, making a generic one is hard so I need a setting to influence game design decisions Genre: Fantasy. Don’t know if its high magic, mid magic, or low magic yet. Early industrial tech level. Tone: Definitely more on the noble side, as I want player actions to have consequences, but this is generally malleable by the GM. And kinda meh in terms of dark/bright. Scale: 🎶A whole new world🎶

[@robbiecolebrook1380]

I'm trying to get a fantasy book series going but I want it to have both magical and technology and am trying to base of the GOT map but more on a globe scale but because of my autism I'm having difficult to try and get it go so I need more help if u could provide it I would be ever so grateful. The object is where this evil wizard is trying to break free form his dimension, but until he is strong enough he is using his follwers, soliders and people who made a deal with to help him do it, some ares are rich and great and some are poor and horrible somewhat like the world is now but like I said more GOT time if thta makes sence, could world anvil help with this or would it be better for me to draw it out and do it like that. Again if you could help me I would be ever so greatful.

[@StephenWebb1980]

She's adorable. Great tutorial!

[@Castheknotted]

Im specifically making a space opera steampunk thieves guild about ninjas campaign

[@WorldAnvil]

charles galkamax Hahahahah! I hope this is true - it sounds LEGENDARY!

[@Castheknotted]

@@WorldAnvil i mean you came up with the idea, im just running it

[@Castheknotted]

Ill leave a link when we stream it

[@BirbMonster]

I have a question how can I reasearch the future for my sci fi world

[@WorldAnvil]

Great question! we have a stream this sunday (5th October) with worldbuilding professor Trent Hergenrader, who would be a great person to ask! Otherwise, I'd recommend a) thinking about future problems, their impact on the world and how they could be solved b) read about the most recent scientific breakthroughs and consider how they could be applied, and how they might change the world c) delve into scifi and get inspired by other writers. You can't research the future but you can definitely create an interesting version of it for your audience!

[@kdcthelioness]

Motivation: The story I'm writing refused to be set anywhere other than a freshly created world. I begged, but it would not relent. Genre: Science fantasy. The Fae terraform new planets for their empire, but they also have a (semi) mystical connection to the entities that are the "souls" of those planets. Scale: It starts on one backwater colony planet that is still in the process of being terraformed, but there are some trips to older worlds for Court functions. Mood: neutral-gray? There's political corruption, but the characters have agency (or do they? They certainly think so at least). The world(s) seems scary, but there's power in kindness. Theme: Kindness is not weakness; survival can be its own triumph. Conflict: environmental threats as well as political intrigue

[@WorldAnvil]

I love how you describe the story as "refusing" to be set in a specific setting. Sometimes it does feel that way! These ideas are all amazing 🤩

[@necraeclipse589]

Where do you find this meta page?

[@WorldAnvil]

It's coming!

[@MalosPrime]

also what about a world of Bright Neutral?

[@WorldAnvil]

Great question! The sliding scales are meant to be just that - theoretically any combination is possible - Grimmest Bright, Bleak Neutral, etc.Bright Neutral would be a Utopia where no one has extraordinary agency to change the world - maybe something like a kids show set in a bright world, but with a non-shifting status quo. An example might be the world of Avatar (the blue people) before the humans showed up.

[@professionalmemeenthusiast2117]

@@WorldAnvil I'd say the real world is a sliding scale of Neutral Bright to Grimest Darkest.

[@KnotofDara]

What would be some good examples of anti hero fantasy?

[@WorldAnvil]

Batman! Macbeth! Deadpool! All awesome antiheroes :)

[@ProjectEchoshadow]

I have no motivation I started out of boredom and so I’m writing stuff.

[@WorldAnvil]

ProjectEchoshadow so you’re motivation is to entertain yourself! That’s awesome!

[@ProjectEchoshadow]

World Anvil Worldbuilding my pen name is Ace, the Jester because I’m here to entertain

[@WorldAnvil]

@@ProjectEchoshadow love that!

[@dominantshxrk4649]

👏

[@baronkimble5378]

Janet, with the crazy eyes in the thumbnail

[@WorldAnvil]

YARP! I'm all about those crazy seyes

[@imstillwater8039]

why is lgbt a genre? woudn't that fall under other genres like romance?

[@WorldAnvil]

Great question 🤩! Not all LGBT books have a romance main plot or are mainly about a romantic relationship. From what I've read, the LGBT genre is defined by both 1) which community audience the books are intended for, and 2) a type of plot that revolves around self-discovery/acceptance despite one's social environment. However, I recommend checking this out too - how we defined genres change all the time. Thanks for the question. I hope this makes sense 😊!

[@wordigirlstar]

I always think of these things and even more. I think of TOO MUCH. TOO MUCH TO WRITE DOWN. But, I know that I must get started somewhere, or these stories will never make it out of my brain alive. I don't care about knowing too many intricate details and backstories like Tolkien lol. My brain does that involuntarily anyway, so I have no control.

[@AllThatJaz22]

Where is the 'World Meta Page?'

[@WorldAnvil]

It's coming! ;)

[@thePrairieFox]

@@WorldAnvil is this available yet? I just signed up and went looking for it and was quite lost as I had never used WorldAnvil before.

[@Exsulator2]

I just realized, that a "neutral grey" world, the middle of this scale, doesn't reeaally tell you much about whats going on, does it? As in, the scales are more usefull the furthe to one extremety the story goes, however, what do we gain from knowing that a world is doubly and utterly netural?

[@WorldAnvil]

This is an interesting insight! If the world itself of neutral, this might signify a kind of balance, that perhaps a story could focus on when the balance was disturbed. - Some great examples of neutral grey worlds (let's say, worlds that exist just for existing) come from Studio Ghibli worlds like Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and The Wind Rises. While there are villains, he does paint a neutral grey perspective of the world which that characters adapt to and eventually center at.

[@Exsulator2]

I suppose "balanced" could also be interpreted as "realistic" in a sense, at least for the grim/noble scale. A narratie which is indiscriminate, allowing both the good, the mundane, and the terrible. Meanwhile the dark/grey/light scale are all inherently realistic depending on where on earth you're born, so I guess that makes sense too

[@aratheonfantasyworld1514]

World building disease? Never heard of it... But I must build more....

[@WorldAnvil]

😅😂😂

[@JugheadJones03]

This lady should be a professional teacher. : )

[@WorldAnvil]

Aw~! Thank you - worldbuilding is one of my favorite topics I could go on about. - Are there any tips you would add or are excited to use 😃?

[@ethancoster1324]

Our World came from the mind of The Divine. Whose tool of creation forsooth design.

[@WorldAnvil]

You had me at rhyming couplets! :D

[@JoseAngelC]

I miss your glasses! (I guess you don't ;) )

[@WorldAnvil]

Hah! Some days I wear contact lenses - but I'll take it under advisement ;)

[@JoseAngelC]

World Anvil Worldbuilding I promise your glasses would have a fan club (I’d volunteer to preside it). Although I wear contacts too

[@WorldAnvil]

@@JoseAngelC Hah! Alright then! I'll try to crack them out sometime! :D

[@Hiraether]

Give Tolkien a break. There was no one to role play with in those days. ~ All Worldbuilder's need to know that Tolkien is sampling his works from real material and by no means wrote all of that. Most of Tolkien's references just aren't in English until he wrote about them. By all means sample, but don't try to understand or rewrite it all, as even Tolkien doesn't try to do so. Do use his language systems to make new words, especially names. It's great for flavor and gives your cities, items, heroes, etc. the weight of thousands of years of lore without you the GM needing to understand or even completely know all of the information. We should expect the players to surpass our own knowledge within the games, and the student to become the teacher. It is then that you dive back into your books and find more mysteries for them, and not before, as otherwise you will get the worldbuilder's illnesses. Stay a step ahead though, & make it look easy.

[@WorldAnvil]

I'm a big 'ol fan of Tolkein! Just because he had worldbuilder's disease (in my opinion) doesn't mean he wasn't a freaking pioneer! He also taught my grandmother English at Oxford, so we have a family connection to him, too! :D

[@timexyemerald6290]

lol dark souls

[@NoHandle44]

She looks like Barbra from RoosterTeeth.