The Complete Art of World Building (Audiobook)
The Complete Art of World Building (Audiobook)
4.6 Stars, 72 Amazon Ratings (as of 1/2024)
Creating a unique, immersive setting one world at a time
A guide for authors, gamers, and hobbyists
The Complete Art of World Building brings together volumes 1-3 in The Art of World Building series. This how-to guide will make readers a master of inventing imaginary worlds and help a setting stand out from the multitude of fantasy and SF worlds audiences see.
Creating Life (#1) teaches readers how to create gods, species/races, plants, animals, monsters, world figures, and even undead. Creating Places (#2) teaches how to create planets, moons, continents, land features, bodies of water, sovereign powers, settlements, interesting locales, and maps. Learn the different government types, how climate impacts vegetation, and consistently calculate how long it takes to travel by horse, wagon, sailing vessels, dragon, or in space. Cultures and Beyond (#3) teaches how to create cultures, organizations, armed forces, religions, the supernatural, magic systems, technological and supernatural items, languages, names, and various systems our world will have, from health, educational, legal, and commerce, to information systems.
The series draws on author Randy Ellefson’s quarter century of world building experience and will quickly turn a beginner into an expert, making a time-consuming project more fun, easier, and faster. Ellefson shares his experiences, lessons learned, and insights, including how much of your creations can realistically be mentioned during storytelling, how far creators should go, and what the benefits/risks to each approach might be. Elevate your work above the competition.
Build better, faster.
Audio Book Sample
Narrated by Randy Ellefson.
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Table of Contents
Creating Life TOC
Introduction
- Introduction
- Where to Start
- About Me
- Free Book
- Disclaimers
- The Chapters
- Templates and Newsletter
Chapter 1 - Why Build a World?
- Why Build a World?
- Using Analogues
- How Many Worlds?
- A Caveat
- A Question of Depth
- The Problem of Exposition
- The Value of Influences
Chapter 2 - Creating Gods
- Creating Gods
- In Science Fiction
- In Fantasy
- Pantheons
- Mythology
- Characteristics
- Behavior
- Where to Start
Chapter 3 - Creating a Species
- Creating a Species
- Species or Race?
- Should You Create Your Own Species?
- Habitat
- Disposition
- Appearance
- Gods
- Characteristics
- Worldview
- Relationships
- Supernatural
- Technology
- Combat
- The Value of Influences
- Where to Start
Chapter 4 - Creating World Figures
- Types
- Fame
- Dead or Alive
- Possessions
- Steeds and Ships
- Relationships
- History
- Where to Start
Chapter 5 - Creating Monsters
- Creating Monsters
- Defining Monster
- Origins
- Habitat
- Motivation
- Characteristics
- Where to Start
Chapter 6 - Creating Plants and Animals
- Should You Create Plants and Animals?
- Plants
- Animals
- Purpose
- Where to Start
Chapter 7 - Creating Undead
- Creating Undead
- Should You Create Undead?
- The Mind
- Classification
- Numbers
- Prerequisites and Prevention
- Time Dead
- Origins
- Goals
- Appearance
- Traits
- Death
- Where to Start
Appendices - The Templates
- God
- Species
- World Figures
- Monster
- Plants
- Animals
- Undead
Creating Places TOC
Introduction
- Introduction
- Where to Start
- About Me
- The Chapters
Chapter 1 - Case Studies
- Two Straits and a Sea of Enemies
- Stopping an Empire
- Mountains and Murder
Chapter 2 - Creating a Planet
- Creating a Planet
- The Sun
- Moon(s)
- Other Planets
- Stars
- Asteroids and Comets
- A Planet
Chapter 3 - Creating a Continent
- Creating a Continent
- Multiple Continents
- Which Hemisphere
- Plate Tectonics
- Seas vs. Oceans
- Bays and More
- Islands
- Where to Start
Chapter 4 - Creating Land Features
- Creating Land Features
- Mountain Ranges
- Water
- Forests
- Prairies/Grasslands
- Wetlands
- Deserts
- Settlements
- Where to Start
Chapter 5 - Creating a Sovereign Power
- Sovereignty
- Roles
- Branches of Government
- Parliamentary Systems
- Government Types
- How Many Powers to Invent
- Invent for Today
- Population Count and Type
- World View
- Location
- Relationships
- Ways to Identify a Power
- Reputation
- Where to Start
Chapter 6 - Creating a Settlement
- Creating a Settlement
- Location
- The Population
- Zonings
- Settlements Types
- Defenses
- History
- How It Is Known
- How Many Places to Create
- Where to Start
Chapter 7 - Travel over Land
- Travel over Land
- Mode of Travel
- Obstacles
- Calculation Preparation
- Calculations
- The Template
Chapter 8 - Travel by Water
- Travel By Sea
- Some Terms
- Ship Rates
- Ship Types
- Privateer
- Ship Speeds
- Weapons
- Personnel
- Where to Start
Chapter 9 - Travel in Space
- Travel in Space
- The Realities of Space
- Propulsion
- Distance
- Ship Structure
- Where to Start
Chapter 10 - Creating Time and History
- Creating Time and History
- Sample Entries
- Creation Myths
- Time
- Uses for History
- Event Categories
- Where to Start
Chapter 11 - Creating Places of Interest
- Creating Places of Interest
- Ordinary Ones
- Extraordinary Places
- Phenomena
- Ruins
- Shipwrecks
- Event Sites
- Meteors
- Where to Start
Chapter 12 - Drawing Maps
- Drawing Maps
- Continental Maps
- Drawing the World
- Settlement Maps
- Dungeon/Ship Maps
- Map Generation Software
Appendices - Templates
- Sovereign Powers Template
- Settlement Template
Cultures and Beyond TOC
Introduction
- Introduction
- Where to Start
- About Me
- Free Book
- Disclaimers
- The Chapters
- Templates and Newsletter
Cultures
- What is Culture?
- Culture Depictions
- Creating Culture
- Where to Start
Organizations
- Group Types
- Common Traits
- History
- In and Out
- Where to Start
Armed Forces
- Locations
- Their Weapons
- Their Defenses
- The Road to Becoming One
- Identifiers
- Those Who Serve
- History
- World View
- Where to Start
Religions
- Overview
- History
- Beliefs
- Names
- Followers
- Worship
- Locations
- Identifies
- Clergy
- World View
- Combat
- Afterlife
- Where to Start
The Supernatural
- Supernatural Energy
- Magic Paths
- Alternate Realities
- Supernatural Beings
- Prevalence
- The Impact
- Where to Start
Systems of Magic
- Principle of Good Magic Systems
- Do We Need a Magic System?
- Types of Magic
- Magic Prevalence
- Where Does Magic Come From?
- Social Aspects
- What's in a Name?
- Are Spells Needed?
- The Life of Wizards
- Creating Limits
- How to Invent Spells
- Where to Start
Items
- All Items
- Regular Items
- Magic Items
- Technological Items
- Where to Start
Languages
- Should We Create One?
- The Medium
- Our Options
- How to Hire Someone
- Where to Start
Names
- People Names
- Place Names
- Uniqueness
- Leveraging Existing Names
- General Tips
- Techniques for Inventing Names
- Name Generators
- Where to Start
Other Systems
- Education Systems
- Health Systems
- Legal Systems
- Commerce
- Information Systems
Conclusion
- Goals
- Abide By Rules
- Tying It All Together
- Approaches
- Top Down
- Bottom Up
- Random
- What to Do?
- File Storage
- Get Organized
- World Building Coalitions
- Last Words
Templates
- Culture
- Organizations
- Armed Forces
- Religions
- Supernatural Energy
- Supernatural
- Magic Systems
- Spells
- Legal
- Monetary
- Education
Availability at Retailers
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I have all three and you really can't go wrong with this series. Incredibly detailed, informative, and helpful. In the end, you know so much more about doing this and it makes you get your world building done. His slogan "build better faster" is spot on
I can't recommend these enough. See my individual reviews of the books
The endorsements from Greenwood and Anthony are right. I can't say it better. Get the books.
Ellefson asked his newsletter to add reviews to his new store here and I'm more than happy to. I can't recommend this enough. I have this and several others and they're all so detailed. I lost count of the things I never thought of that he mentions. It's also well written and easy to understand. The books are well organized and I know where to find anything I'm looking for.
I got this for my writer son, and he has thanked me more than once. It's apparently very good and has given him all sorts of ideas. It's nice to see him so excited!