I see all the time people saying online that you should "always" start small and inside-out, but that's just stupid generalization, everyone works differently. The way I look at it, all comes down to the methodology you use, because either Big to small or inside-out needs simple but specific foundations to work: When starting from the Outside, or "the bigger picture", the setting needs to be very cohesive to work, so starting from the Geography (no necessarily a map) then climate, culture, and politics (in that order) is the best way. After ALL that done you will have a rich and interesting world as the base for any storyline. But when starting from the Inside, or small scale, the focus needs to be the Characters and relationships. You can add a fantastical concept on top of it, but social interactions are universal in any kind of world no matter how crazy it is, and if you don't have a solid, cohesive and interesting world to draw upon, you really need great characters and interactions to make it work. Doing that well lets you put the world on a second or even third plane of the story. So in short, the decision here from where to start to how to develop a setting is basically playing to your strengths. Figure out what you are good at or likes better, and think about what that needs to work. The rest just falls in place when you start putting in the work. And most importantly, trust yourself, you can do this!
If you aim for a "realistic" world as in more grounded, I'd say that geography is a great way to start because geography played one of, if not THE, most important roles in development of human society. You don't have to go the full blown tectonic plates way, but just having a basic understanding will get you very far. Once you have your basic continents, rivers and mountains it's easy to recognize areas of interest, rich with resources and in the middle of trade routes. From here you can develop cultures. And if you have different races, it's much easier to localize them - humans tend to live near rivers and oceans. Start there and then flesh out the other races as you please depending on their relationships with the humans.
Starting with plate tectonics is actually somewhat easier, as you just draw some shapes and continents (somewhat) naturally spring to life, and using winds and ocean currents you get believable biomes without much effort, so if someone feels like they are not creative enough to build a whole world I'd suggest this approach. Worked really well for me. However, you don't have to start from geography to get believable conflicts/cultures. You can start with an idea, start world building and once you're comfortable enough to draw a map, retrofit everything. Again, this worked well for me, I had an idea (2000 year long war) and once my map was done, I saw a perfect strait that would generate this conflict, biomes naturally aligned so that civilizations would meet and clash, and if they didn't you could tweak either the concept or the map.
@@billionai4871 It's easier if you understand it :) I built my last world this way and I am pretty happy how it turned out. Some people just can't be bothered to watch an hour of that on RU-vid. As far as the idea goes, I'd say it depends on what you are building the world for. Is it a book? Or a DnD campaign? Or something entirely different. Of course that the main plot is the most important factor. But what I was referring to in my previous comment is if you don't have a clear idea what your world should look like and where should the main conflicts lie.
@@Pijetlo91 Yeah, I agree with you, I was just expanding your comment for anyone else that could be interested, but stuck. About plate tectonics: Artifexian has a video of less than 10 minutes on the subject, and a hands-on example that is 18 minutes long. It's not quite as difficult as people think :)
The world in my head is a desert-sea: a vast desert pocked by oasis that have formed around gigantic towers of crystal (the fallen shards of a dead old-one's prison). These crystals repulse the burrowing predators (bulettes, kruthik, purple worms, and the like) that roam the land, making them safe for habitation, and like the trees in a rain forest water in the upper atmosphere condenses around the towering crystals, gathers in crevices, and pools at the base, creating the oasis where trees and other plants can grow, and people can gather in their shadows to shelter from the scouring winds and brutal sun. Humans and Half-Orcs are dominant, with Orcs living in the outskirts as roaming barbarians, and the other races are present but not dominant. Roads exist, made of mining the smaller shards and laying them across the desert to drive off the burrowing creatures, and are maintained by a mafia-like group who report to the sheikhs of the oases, but would like to take over. However, a new discovery threatens the monopoly on trade routes - the invention of ships that can hover over the desert, which are a faster, more secure way to ship goods from oasis to oasis. In tone, it would be something between Arabian Nights and the Wild West, with the ships acting as stand-ins for trains. Conflicts would exist between the mafia and the ship-wrights, the sheikhs and the merchants, the mafia and the sheikhs.
That actually sounds kinda similar to my new setting. It's a desert region out of a larger world, because I know a smattering of climate stuff and dislike ____ planets. It's based on the American southwest because that's where I live. A few centuries ago, humans opened a gate between universes to this setting and found met the elves. The elves are bug people that sense emotions, and so are nearly pacifists. They're getting the start of a hive mind and at the beginning of the bronze age. A series of misunderstandings led to war, and faced with an endless robot legion the elves detonated a mind wiping spell to wipe everyone's memories, accidentally giving the droid minds in the process. So now the setting is in a kinda 'Wild West' phase, with robots starting to decipher their garbled code and decipher the codes echoing from the stars, humans experimenting on techno-magic locomotives, and elves trying to jumpstart their hive mind's transition to deity-hood. It's only half finished, but it's definitely founded on my denial of 'normal' fantasy tropes. Among other things, in 'big magic monster' slot usually reserved for dragons, I have hydras that are venomous ambush predators that gain heads as they grow before splitting into a bunch of little hydras.
I remember doing my first ever map step by step with you and now i just doodle lightly on paper whatever i want my world to be. Thank you for being an amazing guide for creating maps. Keep up the great work!
Great video! I've always loved world building as a kid, but I've been getting more into it now that I'm DMing! I would love a video about factions and /or political systems. They're so far out of my expertise that I just don't know where to start.
Je kan kijken op Fandom en dan de wiki ‘Mapperdonia’ opzoeken. Daar kan je verschillende voorbeelden zien voor worldbuilding uit een politiek perspectief.
So pleased to see something like this! I've been struggling with how to get a world building project going for a while and while I'm no stranger to these ideas I think this is a nice refresher. Personally I find the hardest thing is trying to get my head around that initial concept or purpose; asking "what do I want to do with this setting?" and getting a satisfying answer is difficult at times.
Just found your channel recently and it’s reignited my passion for worldbuilding and writing, and thanks to you I found wonderdraft and have been hooked since! Big thanks to you and keep making amazing videos!
This is a great video! You covered a lot of territory in this. Very informative. I'm excited to see where this series goes. Keep up all the good work you do.
Thank you so much for the advice!! I'm finally getting into comic making(4 years a waiting too)and world building and scripting is a huge part before the drawing actually happens. This really gave me some good ideas on how to do the things I want to do.
Excellent topic! Also, for those who want to bring interesting leaping stones to worldbuilding medieval scenarios I recommend a look on: *Vornheim - for creative city designs and urban crawls. *Veins of the Earth - a completely different way to see the undercaverns of your world. *Cthulhu Dark Ages - for those looking for a more grownded low fantasy feel. *Frostbitten and Mutilated - for adventures in the frozen north, but you can adapt to any wilderness biome. *5e hardcore mode / Mörk Borg - for a more brutal Dark Souls like world. *Dungeoncraft - this channel will blow your mind about how to handle magic in the old school way, overcome critical issues that will appear anytime in a campaign and superb hacks to spend more time playing and less time worrying .
Would love more videos like this, and on this topic. It’s probably the one thing that has kept me from jumping in and getting started. I always overanalyze this part, and end up leaving it all together. Do I use an existing campaign world? Then I start worrying that I don’t have all the details of that world. What if my players wonder into a part of the world that I haven’t learned about yet? I can wing it and put a random city there and just change the world to fit my campaign. But what if later I learn that an actual and pivotal city called Baldur’s Gate actually does exist right where I put my made-up city? And then OCD kicks in. Should I then rather just make my whole own world? Then I start getting overwhelmed by everything I “think” I need to come up with from scratch - maps, continents, deities, factions, currencies, provinces and authorities, weather systems, calendars and holidays and towns and cities and alllll their names, and every character in every single one of them!!! And and and and. Then panick kicks in. As you *might* be able to tell, this is a part of this game that truly intimidates me, lol.
I really relate to this. I'm trying to start a campaign and I'm a very new DM, Ive tried running from modules but I'm always scared I'm going to mess things up with improv and contradict the module. I think a happy middle ground is a campaign setting, with those, all you need to do is be internally consistent, regardless of the book, and you can tell your own story. Then for the story, I'm going to plan the first ark, so maybe 3 sessions or so, and the local area. Enough to start running something, then expand on it as I need it.
I definitely can relate. I’ve felt all those same feelings. My answer is to plan on building a setting that evolves over time. That might hurt the OCD, but it is the only way I can move forward with world building. I know I am creating things that I won’t like in a couple years, and I am borrowing things from other settings that I will want to stop borrowing at some point. but I just keep going. Progress over perfection.
Its a bit messy of a process, but i have a bit of a fusion between inside out or outside in. I like to write a location with something happening in it. Then you can see whats different in this world that caused it to be that way. From there you have the pitch that can help you build your world.
Outside-in is a lot easier if you use an outline method instead of narrative. You fill in the big bullet points, then start hitting the smaller ones until you've got enough to fill the players' peripheral vision, (aka broad strokes and a few details) then focus down one bullet point ladder to build your starting area.
I just recently found this channel, and it's helped me out and inspired me a lot! As someone who is thinking of making a world, either for the sake of it or to develop it into a roleplay, these videos are perfect! Keep up the good work!
Anyone else ever get stuck on certain parts of world building? You’ll spend hours filling out details about language and geography and then spend 5 minutes working out your lords and ladies. Like one day I sat down and came up with unit sizes and equipment amounts for an army that was only talked about in passing.
I agree. The only wrong way is to not start. I recommend bottom up (or micro view instead of macro). WHen I did "Big Picture" I developed locations and details nobody will ever see because they are a continent away from where the players are exploring. I'm better off using the time to develop unique locations with memorable characters, but ones that can be used wherever the players decide to go. My current world is simply a glacier region located right beside a magically sustained jungle. (The players were unsure if they wanted cold or jungle, so I gave them a world with both as options.)
You’re a fantastic RU-vidr 🌈💙 I’m so glad I found you I’m currently working on a very long novel and I agree with so much of what you say! I would love to share my map someday when it is all done.
Wonderful topic and something I've delved into myself. Big fan of the inside out vs outside in part and lots of good tips that I can take with me for future content. Thanks Nate for the great content. You've inspired me to start drawing more with pen and paper, as I've always gone full digital.
Anyone have any tips for actually writing down your ideas? I have the problem that I have fully fleshed it ideas but I can never think of the words to describe them exactly. It’s just kinda frustrating. I’m doing an in-depth world for an open world roleplaying thing.
Im also making my own rpg . and my current approach is the the writing doesn't have to be a best selling novel. Your only describing the basics at this point . even if you wind up printing just the basics in easy English your still successful and like he said . leave a little space for the players to add to your game . so if your game lacks a few types of armor but you've covered the basics then the players will figure out the stats on the armor the want to add to your game . as far as great wording just try not to repeat the same words over and over . find different words for the same thing . blade , edge , sharpness . idk lol. thats about all the advice i got .
I would write it like a history book, and have chapters for different topics; Wars, trade, political structure, religion, etc. that way you can skip around and work on ideas as they come to you.
@@kiranpranathi I second this. I'm writing a book and world anvil has many categories of information when creating characters, religions, governments, etc. Many of the categories were things I didn't consider at first, but the more I filled in, the more I had a concrete understanding of what I wanted and why.
@@thesasoriphoenix world anvil is cool, but imo, to be very helpful (in my case) u'd have to pay the membership thing to have acces to everything, thing i can't do, so it's frustrating. if anyone has another site wich is helpful (and free) to organize his world, i would be glad ^^ (merry christmas btw)
I really like starting with names, or starting from small details and building the world around it. I've tried starting outside in, but I end up stopping after a while because I continue to see how much work I have left and I get bored. When I start small, it makes me want to continue fleshing it out, linking the areas together in unison.
Right now all I have is a general idea and a character for essentially a story I want to write, but in the form of a free-form journal from that character’s perspective. It’s hard for me to start with just this character and work outward but I don’t want to scrap it 😅
I AM NOT KIDDING But that map at 3:56 was a piece of inspiration for one of my main world maps! On mine its a continent located on the northwest section of the world of Yumekuni, and its called Withosrai ( Wi-tohs-rai), a major section for the Yumekunian race, and is near the legnedary Divine Tree of Yalos ( like that large tree from Avatar.).
Purpose: fun Type: gamemastery or concept Inside-out or Outside-in: that's the same for a moebius shaped 7 dimensional setting Map: a 5 dimensional approximation of that moebius Premise: metaphysical creatures with three stats (oomph, awesomesauce and discombobulation)
I am working on a 2D-videogame (so far by myself). I want players to be able to visit towns all over the continent which means there will be 8-10 vastly different peoples. I noticed that basing my game on ancient Europe helps a lot with gamebuilding.
I'm making a world and I started with a map of the planet then went to a continent and then provenance but now I'm starting with a town and I'm building outward showing you can switch when ever you want
@@jakehopkins6989 interesting I just already new what races I wanted and it's actually coming along really well my cousin is doing some art work for me and I cat wait for it
I am definitely an outside-in builder, I have a world that is split in half by this huge magical storm around the equator I am working on all major cities, capitals, and towns but have left all of small villages and hamlets off of the map so I can fill in as needed so players can still build the world and of course being part of guilds or churches plays a political part in the land.
Probably the most useful video you could do would be showing people how they can use history to develop worlds of their own. Kind of a DIY primer. After that all they need is their imagination. Generally I find a large percentage of gamers now just want someone else to do their work for them.
So, I'm new to cartography, and I bought all the necessities. However, I just read that certain paper is for certain mediums. I have the strathmore 400 fine tooth sketch pad, like you in semi older videos. Will I have a problem inking, if using microns? I know they arent supposed to bleed, but with the type of paper I'm using, I wanted to ask first before inking my first map! Thanks for the help, and all the informative content!
I think you’ll be totally fine. I’ve never met paper that didn’t agree with the microns, and I pretty much pay no attention to different paper for different mediums.
@@WASD20 okay cool. I'm diving all in on cartography, and your videos have definitely inspired me! It's crazy, I came to youtube for a few pointers for my homebrew map, and here I am picking up a new hobby! I look forward to your future videos, and the fact that you responded is super cool. I cant wait to learn more from you, and wish you the best in your endeavors! Inking my first map tonight.
I world build from lens of developing a full-fledged media franchise similar to Star Wars, LOTR, Dragon Age, etc. Not much of a gamemaster myself, I'd rather design a new tabletop rpg. I've been working on a couple of settings since my early teens so much of it pretty set. Not into improve settings created right there at the table because world-building is something I'd like to do professionally. My settings are a bit derivative but always have a twist. My preference is for worlds that have a more realistic and ambiguous morality to them. No "Rebellion of Good Guys" vs. "Empire of Bad Guys" in my worlds. I'd portray both sides as having a point and both sides kind of being assholes, just like in real life. Morality is relative to me and that shows in my work. I've coined the term "mythsploitation" for my fantasy setting as it has more themes in common with "exploitation" films such as the Hateful Eight than Lord of the Rings despite the aesthetic similarities with Middle-earth, with a lot of gangsters and organized crime thrown in for good measure. I apologize for the comments essay lol I am just so passionate about world-building and enjoy sharing that passion with others.
I have allways been comming up with small words in head all my life, but in mid 2014 I came up with a more serious world that I stopped developing just a few months ago. However it is just thoguths, I have written anything down. It is Sci-Fi, the story starts in present time in litteraly Earth and develop intill ~2250. Most main characters are immortal. They started to travel to other universes, and there’s were I started to make another World. This new world is more fanstasy but it takes place in like late industrialism. Since it’s not earth I have a lot more freedom, I keep comming up with new places and creatures. A bit to much that may be hard to put into the story. I can’t really stop myself from comming up with random stuff fictional animals ans their entire food chaine, I even added another planet in the same solar system and a long story how it got colonized long ago. So much stuff.
Interestingly, I Don't Really Build Outside In Or Inside Out, Starting In The Middle With A Continent Or Region, And Then Mostly Working On Worldbuilding Within That Region, While Also Having A Few Ideas Of What's Outside It, That Perhaps Could Be Told In Tales From Old Travellers Or Merchants. Once I Finish The Region I Can Work On Other Outside Regions, Should I Need Them More Developed, And I Already Have An Idea For Said Regions, Making It Easier To Work On Them!
Hey, Nate you probably won’t see this comment, but can you please make a video about The font that you use on your map, it looks cool and I really want to know how to write like that
would you say starting with a terrain map i.e making the geography using something like inkarnate then using the geograpy to place citys and building the story around the map, or building a map around a story would be easier.
The best advice I can offer is to take worldbuilding step by step. Your players are unlikely to know the names of every king of every country, in fact it's unlikely they will know the name of every country. So you don't need to have done all that work. Far better to detail the world "they" know. Who's the local blacksmith, the cleric of the local church, and the local trader, etc.
well I started my homebrew world with the gods and how the persons even came to be,the to the historical events,the thing that is cool is that there is no present,past or future,the campaighns just happen is one time pheriod,some of my champaighns are named: Blackling 456 The great purge Blackling 3448 The Rimworld and Blackling 1985 the grey tide(legacy of Dicatoreich) these are my campaighns that I've done so far,3448 is done,while 456 is in progres and 1985 is just in early acces ,once I finnish 456 I'l launch that too on rolegate
I have a general setting where I'm building from system and culture out. My cultures are based on amalgamations of real world cultures, and I'm not sure how to construct the geography without just remaking a simplified version of Earth. What do?
Is there a video like this where you hold up a small red book called something something DM? I can't remember the name of the book but it's a smaller red book...
@@MrMagicman00100 Likely guesses -- The Kobold Guide to Worldbuilding, Fantasy Art and RPG Maps by Jared Blando, or one of the Lazy Dungeon Master Books by Mike Shea.
@@WASD20 I appreciate your input. Im a new dm and have been watching so much stuff. And the video was on while I was doing something else so I'll take look at the books you suggested
So far I build my five races how, magic works government sorta, religion, gods and goddesses, the races features, I have yet make enemies yet besides demons and monsters. Technology level is magic plus science with wooden airships etc etc
Since the worlds I build are typically for book manuscripts, I also ask myself what is your "philosophical" purpose for building this world? All storytelling is ultimately a kind of "preaching" of ideas-- so what are you trying to say? Toilken's Middle Earth is about little gods handing off custodianship of existence to imperfect mankind. Narnia is Christian allegory. Oz is a battle between the elites and the poor. So, worldbuilder, what's your message?
A green-screen background would take a lot of effort to look as real as this does and honestly I doubt Nate has that much time. It's totally real (he's just got some strong lights on his face)
I very rarely see worlds in which magic and the supernatural aren't a thing. I think the political and economic intrigue and biological species are far more interesting than ghosts and demons going rawr.
I'm sorry that these people from project eidos seem to think roleplay nerds are no smarter than toddlers, the way they market their content. You just have to see for your self. The standard option is way too expensive for its contents and the only way you get all of the rather standard fantasy genre anything is to pay double... I hope I'm not mistaken, but the deal doesn't sound very attractive to me, though I did get exited about it enough to check all of this out, but only to make a fair assessment; I assure you ;-)
