Fantasy Guide to Worldbuilding
You have built your world, congratulations. Now to fill it. With people . I dislike people. This is why I created my own fantasy worlds. We get to say who goes and who stays. We are the Thanos of my world, but I’d never hurt my babies (*peter, sobs*).
Sadly, we are going to have to use some of my Geography notes, so sit tight and enjoy some Leaving Cert level info.
Population density: How many live where? Cities will usually be choked full of people. Towns will be full and villages sparsely populated. There are reasons for this.
Push and pull: People tend to go where the stuff. Pull factors are usually food, water, peace, jobs and shelter. Push factors push people away. These are usually war, famine, disease and occupational: the four horsemen basically. Explore why people gather where they do.
Daily life: What is the daily routine for your subjects people? What do they do when they get up? Where do they go? What do they do in their spare time? Make up a time sheet to help you and give you an idea.
Rank: Who is in what station in life? Is there a rank system? Perhaps there are peasants and nobles. Or maybe there’s a caste system. Or feudal system. How do characters feel about their rank.
Jobs: Some jobs may be desirable like king and some may be total shit fests like customer service. Jobs fit the land. On an island, fishing and water jobs may be common. In a forest village, forestry or cabin building. I will put up a list at a later date.
Clothes: What do they wear? Clothes seem a boring part of this process but it can be fun. Borrow from history and mix and match. Are there clothing laws? What are clothes made out of? Are they dyed? What colour is common? Clothes fit with climate and what resources they have.
Appearance: Remember kids. Whitewashing is a crime. If you are writing about a desert land, your characters cannot physically be caucasian unless they moved there from a colder place. Please don’t whitewash.
Next post: language and culture
