A Dungeon Master's Guide to Designing Fantasy World Geopolitics
Understanding the geopolitical forces at play in your fantasy world can transform it from a static backdrop into a dynamic, living entity. By applying real-world principles of geography, climate, and resource distribution, you can create plausible societies, enduring conflicts, and compelling narratives. This guide distills the insights from Baron de Rop's analysis of Faerûn to help you build a robust and believable geopolitical landscape for your own campaign setting.
Phase 1: Laying the Foundation – Climate & Geography
The physical world dictates the possibilities for life and society. Start by sketching out the fundamental geographical features of your world, considering their impact on resources.
Water is Life (and Society):
Identify Major Water Sources: Rivers, lakes, seas, and even massive glaciers are crucial.
Glacial Impact: If you have glaciers, consider their long-term effects:
Mountain Carving: Deep channels and valleys in areas below the ice.
Debris Fields: Scattered boulders and outcrops in lowlands, carried and deposited by glacial movement.
Floodplains/Bogs: Further from glacial foothills, where water accumulates.
Resource Distribution: Glaciers inform where arable land, stone, and metal ores might be easily accessed (e.g., runoff supporting fertile valleys, exposed rock formations).
Sea/Oceanic Influence:
Wind Patterns: Determine prevailing wind directions. Winds carrying moisture from oceans will drop it as rain when they hit elevated terrain.
Rain Shadows: The leeward side of mountain ranges will be arid or barren due to moisture being "wrung out" on the windward side.
Coastal Rainfall: Areas close to the coast will likely receive consistent sea-based rainfall, supporting lush growth.
Rivers and Lakes:
Fertile Land: River valleys and lake basins are often the most fertile areas, ideal for agriculture.
Transportation Arteries: Rivers provide efficient, cost-effective transport routes.
Terrain & Resources:
Mountains: Source of stone and metal ores. Act as natural barriers, influencing population movement and defense.
Forests: Provide timber for construction and fuel. Indicate areas of consistent rainfall.
Grasslands/Steppes:
Rainfall Indicators: Lack of trees or lush grass suggests arid conditions and lower rainfall.
Migratory Fauna: Consider if large herd animals (like bison or wildebeest) exist that prevent tree growth by trampling. If so, this explains why a fertile plain might remain a grassland rather than a forest.
Nomadic Lifestyles: Arid grasslands often support nomadic herding populations.
Swamps/Marshes: Impede movement and trade, making regions harder to access or develop.
Scale Matters:
Define Your Map's Scale: Understand the vastness of your regions. Is a "forest" the size of a national park or a small country? This influences travel times, resource availability, and the scope of conflicts.
Distance & Cost: Remember that overland travel is significantly more expensive than water-based transport (up to 20 times!).
Phase 2: Populating the World – Societies & Interactions
Once your geography is set, think about how different populations would emerge and interact based on these physical realities.
Cities & Settlements:
Harbor & River Mouths: Large cities often arise at defensible natural harbors or at the mouths of wide, navigable rivers, enabling trade.
Resource Access: Settlements thrive where there's easy access to essential resources: water, fertile land, timber, and building materials (stone, metal).
Strategic Locations: Consider choke points, defensible positions (e.g., mountains on two sides, flanked by water), or resource hubs.
Growth Potential: Cities with diverse resource access and good trade routes are poised for greater growth and wealth. If a prime location isn't a major city, ask "Why not?" (e.g., a historical disaster, a powerful magical threat, a societal choice).
Trade & Economy:
Water Dominance: Water-based trade is king. Settlements with river or sea access will naturally become economic hubs.
Overland Trade Routes:
Purpose: If roads exist, especially through difficult terrain, they imply a strong economic incentive (e.g., highly prized rare commodities).
Maintenance: Such roads might be remnants of fallen civilizations, or require significant ongoing investment.
Support Structures: Look for smaller settlements or outposts spaced about a day's travel apart to support caravans (like the Silk Road).
Resource Needs vs. Availability: What resources does one region have in abundance, and what do they need that another region possesses? This drives trade and potential conflict.
Security & Conflict:
Defensibility: Geography plays a massive role in a region's defensibility.
Natural Barriers: Mountains, large rivers, dense forests, or coastal cliffs can provide significant protection (e.g., Northern Italy's defensible position).
Open Plains: Flat, expansive terrain is notoriously difficult to defend and often becomes a historical "war-torn region" (e.g., Poland).
Threats from Neighbors:
Nomadic Warriors: Arid steppe regions can breed tough, mobile warriors (like the Mongols) who, when their populations grow too large for their land to support, may invade more fertile, settled areas.
Maritime Threats: Island chains or coastal populations can pose significant threats to mainland trade through piracy, privateering, or controlling sea lanes.
Strategic Control Points: Identify locations whose control gives dominion over larger regions (e.g., islands controlling a coast, or a mountain pass controlling trade).
Societal Development & Culture:
Resource Abundance & Stability: When basic needs (food, clothing, shelter) are easily met, populations can pursue higher levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, leading to cultural advancements, art, science, and luxury goods (e.g., Renaissance in Northern Italy).
Resource Scarcity & Isolation: Regions with limited resources and difficult access to broader economies may foster:
Self-Reliance & Mistrust: People are isolated and have to make everything themselves.
Tribalism & Infighting: Poverty and limited opportunities can lead to internal strife.
Lack of Education/Advancement: Without exposure to external ideas, scientific and magical advancements may be slow or non-existent.
Toughness: People from harsh environments are often hardy and formidable.
Phase 3: Refining & Injecting Fantasy
Once you have a plausible baseline, it's time to layer in the magic and fantastical elements of your world.
The "Why Not?" Question:
For every real-world geopolitical expectation you've set up, ask if your world's magic, creatures, or lore provide a compelling reason for it not to happen that way.
Example: If a rich river delta isn't a major city, is it because a powerful dragon lairs there, or a perpetual magical blight makes it uninhabitable?
Example: Are roads through a perilous mountain range maintained by magically enchanted constructs, or by a specific group whose unique abilities make it feasible?
Fantastical Influences on Geography:
Magical Storms/Climate Control: Does a powerful wizard control the weather, influencing rainfall patterns?
Elemental Rifts: Do elemental energies shape terrain in unusual ways, creating impossible mountains or perpetually burning forests?
Divine Intervention: Did a god's act create a unique resource or transform a landscape?
Racial/Creature Geopolitics:
Resource Needs: Do certain races have unique resource requirements (e.g., dwarves needing specific ores, elves needing ancient forests)?
Environmental Preferences: Do they thrive in specific biomes (e.g., drow in underground caverns, minotaurs in labyrinths)?
Natural Defenses/Advantages: Do their innate abilities (flight, burrowing, magical resistance) change their interaction with terrain?
Predatory/Prey Relationships: How do dangerous creatures affect settlement patterns and trade routes?
Historical Layers:
Fallen Civilizations: Use ancient ruins, forgotten roads, or abandoned cities to hint at past geopolitical realities that have shaped the present. What brought them down? How did their fall change the landscape of power?
Long-Term Consequences: Consider the lasting impact of major historical events on the current geopolitical map (e.g., an ancient war that left a region barren, a magical cataclysm that isolated an area).
Phase 4: Testing & Iteration
Your geopolitical map is a living document.
Ask Questions: Constantly challenge your assumptions. Why would people settle here? What would they do? What would they need? Who would they fight?
Interconnectivity: Ensure that the choices you make for one region have logical ripple effects on others. A war in one area might disrupt trade for another; a new magical discovery in a third might shift the balance of power.
Conflict Drivers: Use your geopolitical insights to generate plausible conflicts, alliances, and rivalries. Resource scarcity, trade route control, defensible borders, and historical grudges all make for compelling story hooks.
By systematically applying these geopolitical considerations, you'll create a fantasy world that feels more grounded, dynamic, and ripe for adventure, providing a solid foundation for countless campaigns. Good luck, Dungeon Masters!
The Primary Source for this paper was an amazing video mentioned in the top, linked below.