Worldbuilding Guides

articles

Bronze Age Worldbuilding: How to Create a Mythic Fantasy Ancient Greek Setting

This guide will show you how to build a mythic fantasy world that feels like The Odyssey, like Xena: Warrior Princess, like Hercules — but with your own geography, gods, monsters, and lore.

Fantasy Map-Making for Writers and DMs

From Inkarnate to Wonderdraft to World Anvil's interactive maps: a practical guide to fantasy map-making tools, techniques, and how to decide what your world actually needs.

Apocalypses, Blow-ups & Cataclysms: The ABCs of Worldbuilding History

Here's how to make your world history a fascinating mystery, including five ways to destroy your ancients like a wrathful god, and the tools to make sure your audience is dying to know what really happened.

Why Are Fictional Empires Always Evil? (And How to Build Better Ones)

Why does the Evil Empire keep showing up as fiction's go-to villain? And more importantly for worldbuilders, how do you create a fantasy or scifi empire that doesn't feel like a cliche?

Worldbuilding Revolutions: The J-Curve Hypothesis and the Five Pillars of Rebellion

Revolutions and rebellions are a staple of fantasy and science fiction for good reason. Here's a guide for how to write - and subvert - them in your stories and games.

Solarpunk: the Most Exciting Genre You're Not Worldbuilding... Yet

Solarpunk is a speculative fiction movement — part aesthetic, part political philosophy, part genre — built around one electrifying premise: what if we actually fixed things?

From Black Markets to Stock Markets: How Trade and Money Shape Your Worldbuilding Economy

Economics is one of the most commonly glossed-over elements in worldbuilding. Don't miss out on one of the most powerful tools available for generating conflict, culture, and depth.

The Second World Checklist: Essential Elements for Building a Traditional Fantasy Setting

Second worlds are the most common type of setting in traditional fantasy, and the most ambitious. This checklist cuts through the overwhelm by focusing on what actually matters.

Worldbuilding Politics: Using Types of Government for Better Storytelling

Worldbuilding politics doesn't have to feel like a chore, or a minefield. When you get it right, a rich vein of juicy conflict will run through the very bones of your setting. Here's a step-by-step guide.

Sensory Details in Writing: How to Make Your World Feel Real

Most worldbuilders describe what their world looks like. The best ones make you feel like you're already there. Here's how to use all five senses — and beyond — to create more vivid settings.

Worldbuilding a Pantheon: How to Make Your Gods Actually Matter

Magic Systems: A Worldbuilder’s Guide

Magic systems are a major aspect of fantasy worldbuilding. This guide explains different types of magic systems, the mechanics of how they work in your stories and games, and other creative considerations.

Worldbuilding an Alternate Earth Setting

Alternate earth is one of the 4 basic blueprints of worldbuilding. Here are the key questions you need to answer up front—and what can wait.

Frontiers in Worldbuilding: The Edge of the Unknown

Frontiers are liminal spaces on the edge of the known world—whether literal or metaphorical. Here are 5 tips for using them in worldbuilding.

Worldbuilding Communication: Tying Your World Together

Science fiction or fantasy communication is a great area of your world setting to expand, because it’s rich with possibilities.

Sci Fi Worldbuilding Essentials for Fiction & Games

Let’s journey into the imaginative cosmos of sci-fi worldbuilding. Unlock the secrets of crafting otherworldly landscapes, species, and technologies.

Urban Fantasy Worldbuilding Guide for Writers & GMs

Urban fantasy worldbuilding has its own unique elements and challenges. Here's how to approach worldbuilding this contemporary fantasy genre.

A Worldbuilding Guide to Sword & Sorcery

Sword & sorcery is a fantasy subgenre defined by its rugged heroes, mastery of the blade, and thrilling adventures in untamed lands.

Romantasy Worldbuilding: A Guide for Authors & GMs

Is romantasy a buzzword for romantic fantasy, fantasy romance, or a whole new thing? A worldbuilding guide to the tropes and trends of this popular fantasy subgenre.

Worldbuilders Guide to Science Fantasy

Science fantasy blends futuristic technology with ancient magic, blurring the lines between these two popular speculative genres.

Neon & Noir: Cyberpunk Worldbuilding for RPGs & Fiction

Enjoy tales of hackers fighting to take down corrupt corporations? Then grab your trench coat and mirrorshades as we hack into the slick, neon-drenched world of cyberpunk.

Worldbuilding Guide to Portal Fantasy

Sick of the real world? Want to escape to a place of wonder and danger? Then climb into this wardrobe as we explore PORTAL FANTASY!

Worldbuilding Treasure: Creating a MacGuffin, Artifact or Relic

MacGuffins, or quest items, are objects that propel your adventure plot. Here's how to create interesting, powerful relics and artifacts worth hunting!

Worldbuilding an Apocalypse, Cataclysm or Disaster

From epic disasters to mysterious collapses, cataclysms can layer your fantasy or sci-fi setting with legendary ruins, lost history, and compelling secrets.

Worldbuilders Guide to Fantasy Religions

Religion can be a source of motivation, magic & conflict for the characters in your game or novel setting. Here are some resources for worldbuilding one!

Guide to Biomes in Fantasy Worldbuilding

Let's talk about the major considerations when crafting enchanted ecosystems for your fantasy game or novel setting!

A Guide to Fantasy Jobs & Occupations

Used well, fantasy jobs and occupations convey a wealth of information about how your world works - literally and figuratively.

Worldbuilding Guide: Create A Fantasy Setting

This worldbuilding guide explains the 4 types of worlds, common beginner mistakes, and a step-by-step approach to create a setting for your game, campaign, or novel.

Laying the Groundwork: Worldbuilding Terrain, Climate & Maps

Let’s take a look at the concrete foundations of your setting: worldbuilding terrain, climate and maps!

Worldbuilding Checklist: 10 Easy Steps to Get Started

A worldbuilding checklist can help you create a basic setting, to start playing (or writing) faster. And you can get there in just 10 steps!

Worldbuilding Religion, Mythology, and History

History, religion, myths and legends all add depth to your fictional world. So let’s get into how to create a mysterious, misty past for your fresh new world.

Janet Forbes



April 7, 2026