Maps Workshop — Developing the Fictional World through Mapping. Most of the books I’ve written have started with a map. Not with an idea, or a character, or a theme. With a hand-drawn map, doodled out first while I was sitting and keeping someone else company, or while I was on break, or when I couldn’t think of what to write and had no ideas to speak of and knew that if I drew a map something would come to me. Some of the maps were fairly artistic from the start. Some began on napkins or the backs of throw-away paper, and only became things of any artistic merit after they’d served their initial purpose of handing me an idea for a novel. Now I know this is a weird little quirk of mine, and I can’t guarantee you that if you’ll just draw a map, it will give you a novel that will sell.
But on the chance that what works for me will work for you, too, I’ll go through the steps I use in doing my maps, and maybe my process will spark something for you. I have favorite tools for mapping. This first map is going to be your continent. Okay. Now… Good luck. Worldbuilding: Fantasy Religion Design Example. Working through the Fantasy Religion Design Guide, our first step is to decide on the scope of religions on the world we are creating. For the purposes of this exercise, we’ll have two different religions for two different cultures, although their areas of influence may overlap as in the real world. The world could easily have more religions, but following rule #1 of Dungeoncraft (never force yourself to create more than you need) and because a clash of religions isn’t part of the early campaign, two religions is actually more than enough for now.
If this article wasn’t designed to show some religious variety we would probably only detail one religion. For the first religion, we’ll follow up on one of the examples (using an object–a chess board–to show the relationships between the gods of a pantheon) mentioned in the Fantasy Religion Design Guide. The second example illustrates an atheistic religion meaning a religion centered around a concept instead of a god. Chess Example Religion. Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions. Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions: Peoples and Customs. Worldbuilding: Fantasy Religion Design Guide.
By Joe Wetzel (joewetzel at gmail dot com) [If you like this article, check out the other Worldbuilding articles on this website using the sidebar navigation.] Depending on your campaign setting idea, in the early stages you may only need a bare minimum of details about your religion. In cases like these make sure you flesh out any particular deities you need (for example if a character is a Cleric or Paladin describe that god in at least bullet points and note any needed game statistics or mechanics such as the god’s domains) and build up the religion later when it is needed or when you have an intriguing idea. This also gives you an opportunity to see how the players react to your religion’s skeleton and build on what they like and what is important to your evolving setting and story. But if religion, gods, or a pantheon is a key aspect of your campaign setting idea, you’ll want to work it up in detail early during your fantasy world’s development.
Multiple Religions? Nature of the Gods. Religion in fantasy novels | helluo librorum. Since no one burned my house down after the Tolkien post, I’m going out on a limb here and talk to you about using religion in your fantasy novels. Generally speaking, when building worlds in fantasy novels, the religions of your world will be a reflection of the religions here on good old planet earth. So I’m going to offer a few suggestions – take them or leave them: Know thy religion. If you’re basing your world’s religion on an existing faith thoroughly understand those beliefs. Understand the core beliefs. Avoid stereotypes. Religions don’t kill. Treat all religions with respect. Don’t be malicious.
World building is a difficult process; as a fantasy writer you are creating a whole social order, and you want it to be believable. A few articles to see: If you’re looking for a checklist of questions to ask when world building, go to the SFWA blog where Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions by Patricia C. Like this: Like Loading... Please visit my web site at: www.teresafrohock.com. Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions: Peoples and Customs. Patricia C. Wrede's Worldbuilder Questions: Index. Index About This Page This page is not Patricia Wrede's web site. So far as I know, she doesn't have one. So if something is broken send your comments or complaints to me: webmaster@larseighner.com. This page is not for young fans of Patricia C. Wrede and the worlds she has created.
This page is not about her books, her characters, her specific worlds, and it is not about her. This page is about creating fantasy worlds. This page (actually the many pages in this section) are derived of a number of postings Ms. Originally the questions did not have the sort-of-alphabetic arrangement I have given them here. I put the questions on the web many years ago and obtained Ms. The implications of all of that are: these pages have no connection with any software product, any building-block toys, game creation system, or any other product which uses the word "Worldbuilder" as a trademark. Index of Patricia C. Worldbuilding Tools and Software | Enderra. Donjon; RPG Tools.
Ground Zero II | Carloslabs. Have you ever wondered what would happen if a nuclear bomb goes off in your city? With Google's Maps framework and a bit of Javascript, you can see the outcome. And it doesn't look good. Now with Nuclear Fallout, Wind and Pressure Just what you need to be safe in these turbulent times: enter the address of that boss, teacher, colleague or loved one; select a weapon and a damage map mode.
By clicking repeatedly on "Fallout" you can change the wind direction at the moment of the explosion. Where's the older version? Still hosted with us - Just click here to see it Copy and paste the following to mashup the Ground Zero II script into your own website or blog: A ZIP archive with the source code can be found here. Science Caveat The damage caused by a nuclear explosion is affected by a multitude of variables, and some of these require powerful super-computers to be simulated properly. Project: 200903A. World Building Links | Enderra. There are a many great resources on the web when it comes to worldbuilding, and some of the best are not even dedicated to the craft but are generic scientific resources.
I’ll attempt to collect everything that is useful – and I need your help to update this list. Please send me links you think should be included, and I’ll take a look. Since there are so many links, I’ll group them into categories: About World Building – What is worlbuilding all about? General links about the topic.How-To’s and Guides – Guidelines, advice, tipps, tricks, and general articles on how to build worlds.Other World Building Resource Collections – Sites that collect world building linksSoftware and tools – A little digital help to assist you with building worldsMaps and Geography – Information on map-making, cartography, and the general geographic makeup of a conworldWorld building project sites and blogs – Sites about worlds being builtShakespeare & Dragons – Worldbuilding Podcast Linguistics and Con-Languages. Free Version | Coat of Arms Design Studio. For Fantasy Writers : The Writing Nut. Choosing Names for your Characters Baby Names Country Baby Name Box: Fantasy, Folklore & Fairy Names Baby Names & Meanings Behind the Name: The Etymology & History of First Names English Baby Girl Names 1000 Most Common Female/ Male Names Historical Name Generator Medieval Name Archive Ever Changing Book of Names Fantasy Name Generator Names to Run Away From Really Fast Orc & Goblin Name Generator Serendipity’s People & Place Name Generator Seventh Sanctum Name Generator The Elvish Name Generator The Fairy Name Generator The Name Generator The Pagan Name Generator Twin Names for Twins Making Up Your Own Language The Language Construction Kit Holly Lisle’s Create A Language Clinic How to Create A Language Elven Phrases Chris Pound’s Language Machines Mapping Your Fantasy World How to Draw Original Fantasy Maps for your Fiction How to Draw Original Fantasy Maps for Your Fiction – Video Fantasy Map-maker Cartographer’s Guild The Map Room Mapmaker Plus Fantasy Mapmaking 101 Mapmaking for Fantasy Writers Ye Old Mapmaker Magic.
Patricia C. Wrede's Worldbuilder Questions: Index. Index About This Page This page is not Patricia Wrede's web site. So far as I know, she doesn't have one. So if something is broken send your comments or complaints to me: webmaster@larseighner.com. This page is not for young fans of Patricia C. Wrede and the worlds she has created. This page is not about her books, her characters, her specific worlds, and it is not about her. This page is about creating fantasy worlds. This page (actually the many pages in this section) are derived of a number of postings Ms. Originally the questions did not have the sort-of-alphabetic arrangement I have given them here. I put the questions on the web many years ago and obtained Ms. The implications of all of that are: these pages have no connection with any software product, any building-block toys, game creation system, or any other product which uses the word "Worldbuilder" as a trademark.
Index of Patricia C.