Worldbuilding
In this inaugural video for my Worldbuilding tutorial series, I wanted to take a look at two high-level practical concepts before beginning the endeavor. First, what is your intent in building a world? Second, what is the scope of your project? The answers to these two questions will drive many of the choices you make, where you focus, and so on.
While you can begin building a world from anywhere, it helps to start by determining the structure of its natural laws. In this video, we look at how to do that and what choices you face as you begin. We’ll investigate the degree of realism you might seek, how familiar or strange you want it to feel, and if you want a quirk to set it apart. We also take an initial dive into those core cosmological concepts of cosmogony, religion, the broader universe, geography, magic, and races.
When developing the creation story, the Cosmogony, of your fantasy world, it is easy to overlook a critical question: Who has Perfect Knowledge of your world’s origin? The answer to will have enormous ramifications for the cultures, religions, history, and especially beginnings of your world. In this video, we investigate the possible answers to this question and weigh their costs and benefits.
When developing a fantastical world, one of the fundamental foundational questions you’ll face is “How did it all begin?” Or even, “Did it all begin?” Your world’s creation story will ripple through every layer of your universe, shaping its cosmogony, mythology, history, religions, and even what happens in the “present day.” In this video, we explore four critical topics that set a foundation for your worldbuilding. Why does the world exist? How was the world created? What did the world come from? Can you skip cosmogony entirely