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Differences in worldbuilding based on genre?


Veino
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So, I do a lot of writing, and a lot of worldbuilding, across a multitude of genres. I was wondering if any of you others do the same if you've had any different kind of ideas for how worldbuilding works depending on the genre. Working on a few space opera/science-fantasy settings for various projects now, plus some more traditional high fantasy. Any thoughts on the differences? Or how genre affects your process? 

Aure entuluva! Day shall come again! - The Children of Hurin

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Honestly, I think there are more similarities than differences. Whether it's a space opera or high fantasy, if they are set in original universes, you have to create races, species, background history, cultural backgrounds, etc. The main differences would in creating the worlds' technologies and how magic works. After all, for earth-based/real-world historicals or medieval-magical settings, most of that is done for you based on history.

 

Altering a fandom genre to fit the vision a person has for their RPG is daunting enough. You have to document what is the same in the fandom and what is different so your members know what is what. In world building, you are creating an entire universe which means loads more information is needed for your member base (in my humble opinion). Now, a caveat to this is that I have seen original RPs set in a myriad of worlds that has very little to no lore and they seem to run just fine.

 

So, my process starts with the inkling of an idea often inspired by a random bit of history, something I've read, etc. This grows into a vision and deciding on what, if anything, will be incorporated from other creative endeavors. An example is my high-fantasy/sword and sorcery site - it is an original universe, but it melds concepts from other fandoms and even from good old Earth. Therefore, I don't bill it as 100% original. So, I do look at that aspect first and foremost.

 

Next is level-of-effort estimate for bringing the concept to fruition and ending up with an appealing premise and playable universe. For Aereth, from first discussions with my co-founder to opening the site for play (original incarnation) took maybe two months. Of course, I had been thinking about it forever. When my co-founder had to retire and I put the site on hiatus for a rewrite and relaunch, that took me more than a year and I constantly underestimated the time it would take for each phase. That was compounded by my own extended LOA due to illness. I learned that I needed to factor in real-world delays in the future when estimating dates for my member base.

 

Now, I have my setting, premise, look, and general idea ducks in a row and maybe even an outline written up. I start creating the lore, the site, etc. This is usually done in parallel because somedays I feel like writing documentation and some days I want to pick at the actual mechanics.

 

In all instances, I leave the value-added documentation to last. These are things that are not required for a soft-open type launch and can be added on later or expanded on later if there is interest. Concentrate on the things needed for your central land, realm, continent, solar system, planet, etc. first.

 

No matter the genre, my process is basically the same. I created a space-opera once loosely based on the Honor Harrington universe concept. I took the lore-minimalist approach and only added the different tech levels, one or two alien species, etc. It actually did not last very long. Made me sad. But, it also took me far less time and effort to launch.  It kind of made me wonder if that wasn't mirrored in the lack of interest by my members. Aereth does not have a large member-base but the interest level is more intense.

 

Bottom-Line: What differentiates my process seems to be dictated by my own level of enthusiasm and interest for the project and the world I'm building regardless of the genre. Lots of rambling for this two-sentence conclusion!

 

I would love to hear from others on this!

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Someone somewhere went to sleep and dreamed us all alive.
Dreams get pushed around a lot, and I doubt if we'll survive.
We won't get to wake up, dreams were born to disappear.
And I'm pretty sure that none of us are here.
~ None of Us Here by Jim Stafford ~

 

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Things change depending on the genre for me, but the rough plan is usually the same:

 

I will youtube and check out various sources for the setting. If it's space opera i remind myself of various settings and how the lore works. If it's history i check historical elements from similar places. These for me trigger character ideas and they link to race ideas. 

 

After this I start listing notes and locations. I like to start in smaller circles then widen out. So it might be 2 kingdoms to 5 maximum compared to a space setting. For single locations like historical fantasy they take place in the same type of landscape. It's just territories. But for space ones I consider star systems, fake systems, planets, and that can lead to subcultures. 

 

Now compared to a supernatural setting...i know what species i want, then i know some character ideas and stick to a singular city or town. I condense those much more than space because there's a lot of options and i need to condense to a reasonably playable area. 

 

I tend to know what  I want out of SPN more than other fantasy or sci-fi, so i have more of a wider net to cast for options. That means more time to think, more ideas floating about, and an often longer time picking lore. 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

These are all really good thoughts. Thanks y'all! I think the biggest struggle so far has been the sense of scale. It gets a bit overwhelming. Not that a single world isn't also massive, but it feels much more manageable than a star cluster, per se. 

Aure entuluva! Day shall come again! - The Children of Hurin

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