I started world building as a role play gamer when I was in university. My plan was to make a place for my friends’ characters to exist. I wanted somewhere with a layout, a system, recurring people and places.
With game worlds I start with where players’ characters will meet, usually a trope heavy tavern. From there I move on with my map. Where are places in relation to the rest of the world? Your start point is the centre of your universe and then you move outward. A trope filled tavern becomes your town. Your town expands to add countryside, people, and landmarks. Eventually the next town is filled in.
When I started for a game world, I was able to step back and plan the towns, the maps, the landmarks. The map is made beforehand. Even the encounters can be fabricated and prepared.
I started with towns and names, roads, distances, and terrain. I added an economy, a legal code, major characters within the world who would be known, institutions both private and state operated, institution leaders, politics and political hierarchies.
Story world building is similar but different. I can still start with Trope Tavern and the gruff and surly bartender. The difference comes in the expansion. When you build a world for gaming you need to know what’s to the west as well as the east. For your story you only need to worry about the direction you have the plot take your characters. Player characters have free will, written characters follow the plot.
I let my writing evolve as the plot went along. With my first novel I had only three towns, on a map, in something that resembled a squiggly line. When I moved to the follow up, I added other towns. That was the first time I drew the map. That was the moment of expansion. That was when the world took shape; not beforehand to prevent getting stuck but sitting back and taking a moment to draw the bigger picture.
The largest difference I have found between the gaming world building and world building as an author is that the world’s rules are far more open to me. In a role play game environment there are certain factors that are part of the game’s rules: magic spells, how magic even works, races and how they are described and defined, character classes and the traits and abilities that are associated with them, etc.
When I build a world writing, I can still have magic, but I need my system. I need to make my fireball slightly different from the fireball in a game book. I work to have similar but different spells. It’s a challenge; my best advice is to keep a record of spells each character knows and what motions and words are used to make the spell work. Keeping consistent with spell power levels is also a factor; you can’t have an apprentice magician raining down hellfire that destroys an entire town as their first spell. I have a personal preference for magic, magical, or supernatural abilities to have growth and development. If you never conjured water, you shouldn’t be able to create a tidal wave on the first try. If you’ve never cast a charm or compulsion spell you shouldn’t be starting by dominating someone’s mind. In this way my characters learn new spells through development and progress. I try to make their spell development make sense. I developed this opinion from working to help play test and develop the magic talents within the CASTE role play game system.
Another aspect I focus on is what is in which town. Every town in fantasy has a town hall, a tavern, a blacksmith, but a magic school, trade guild, military training centre, or black market may only exist in a few areas. I try to make sure the locations make sense; for example, the thieves’ guild is not located next door to the main garrison.
World building, keeping it all straight. Everyone will have their own system for organization. Early on I used folders and paper to record the names and traits of characters in certain places. Now I make folders on my computer and have a file that lists my taverns, my town institutions, my character personalities. It’s much easier to have a quick reference guide somewhere that searching through pages and pages to find a single reference to remember a hair colour or which eye twitched as the character became enraged. Organization when building your magic system is a huge asset. Spell books and lists on the side help immensely. I treated spell lists for writing the same as gaming. Each character has their page(s) of paper with spell names, trigger words, gestures, and a description of the effect. Spells used, taught, or mentioned by your lesser characters are also good to keep track of somewhere. The guide on the side helps for consistency with minimal disruption.
I hope this perspective and these thoughts help someone out there.
Author Bio
Don is a long time role-playing gamer. He claims that magic and spells are his biggest thing. He’s credited for the magic of the CASTE role play system:
C-A-S-T-E.org
as a contributor in the pdf rulebook–a 40 page magic compendium. Hailing from Canada, Don also has one book published (Not Another Quest Story) and is working on his second in the series.
Don is also working on two short stories. The first is being submitted to an anthology, and the second is currently in the editing stage. You can visit Don on his Facebook Page or check out his independently published YA novel below.
Not Another Quest Story
by Don McEnery
Pelus is a simple boy yearning for something more in his life. Torrell is an experienced adventurer looking for pupils. It seems like a good match. Pelus felt like he was ready for anything. From training for adventure, to mercenary escort work, to fighting for their lives in a gladiator arena he learns what his new life really means. The young man finds that he may have plunged into a life he did not expect.
A role playing game style adventure story featuring a fledgling adventurer coming to terms with a new world full of clichés, humour, and adventure.
Excerpt
I’d like to personally thank Don for volunteering to guest post on this topic. My family pastime is gaming. We tend to play more board games that have a lean toward role playing, and I’ll be posting an article entitled Worldbuilding Board Games on Wednesday, January 9. Stay tuned!
Happy Monday to all!