Treatise on Worldbuilding

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Maeve
The Dragon & Game Designer
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Treatise on Worldbuilding

Post by Maeve »

bla
Last edited by Maeve on Mon Dec 20, 2004 5:06 am, edited 1 time in total.
[i][b][color=orange][size=92]Smile and carry a big stick.[/color][/b][/i][/size]
Torigm Khace

Post by Torigm Khace »

excellent beginning, let me take a stab at the next part,

...ck were the shores of Nearden Falls
and blacker were the souls
who travelled through this small small town
gathering up the coals.

One place were worldbuilding can begin is in a small part of the world such as a single town and small cave and developing a piece of the world one town or countryside at a time. This kind of world building allows a world to develop in response to the actions taken by PCs and major events

Another type of worldbuilding is designing the entire world and dictating everything that is in it and allowing PCs to explore the world. The actions of the PCs have some effect on the world but it's not as great since where they are going and what is there is already pre-made.
Maeve
The Dragon & Game Designer
Posts: 15536
Joined: Thu Oct 03, 2002 1:29 pm
Location: The Netherlands

Post by Maeve »

LOL! you beat me too it Torigm. I'm working on some material based off the research I'm doing for my own novel. (Okay, so sue me. Everybody here is doing some kind of personal development for either a game or a novel or both, and your dragon is no exception ;) )

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A setting creates the stage where you play is set. Your readers will look for the familiar (if you make it too exotic or farfetched you might lose your audience half way), yet at the same time yearn to escape into your story, creating a suspension of disbelief. They are entering a contract with you, the writer, that you'll make the story realistic, believable, no matter what fantastic elements are introduced, and that they are able to understand what is going on. There is an inner logic to the setting, without readers going "hey, but what about... ?" in protest.

Don't be fooled into thinking that creating a setting for your novel to take place in is something for historic, fantasy and sci-fi genres only. In contemporary novels accuracy in the setting is even more important as mistakes will glare out to readers. What are the elements that make the area where your novel is situated special? What does it add to your novel; why could it only have taken place right there?

Whether you are creating a fantasy/historic/sci-fi novel or a completely contemporary one, you will still need to ask yourself how your world looks. Even if you are not acutely aware of it at the start all kinds of little elements will slip in during the writing of your story. So stop right there and make it a concious choice that will improve the consistancy of your novel.

Some elements will be easy to define, but you still need to answer the question for the specific area that your work is taking place in.

GEOGRAPHY, CLIMATE AND ECOLOGY
Creating a nation, or even an entire world requires some thought on the size of the planet, the amount of landmass versus water, the location of large rivers, delta areas, oceans, the location of mountains, any volcano's, grotto's, cliffs, natural seaports etc. What about satellites like the moon. One, two, many? Their gravity will influence the tides and sea currents, not to mention the impact on culture, religion etc. What kind of star consellations can be seen from the surface of your world?

The climate of the area will be influenced by the geography. Are there any seacurrents (warm or cold) that run past the area you are writting about? Does your planet have seasons? This seems logical but if it is near the equator, or on a planet without a tilt the climate will be very stable and the same all throughout the year. Areas close to sea will be more humid and more windy than landlocked areas. Generally they will be cooler in summer and warmer in winter as the sea is a tempering force.

Finally, add life. Considering the geography and climate what kind of plants would be available? Are there plains, forests, swamps? Are there any unique plants? What kind of "corner of the market" do they have? What keeps them in check? What of the fungus in the area? What kind of small animals and insects feed on the plants and/or fungus? What kind of animals feed on them in turn? Work your way through the pyramid, and remember that big predators need large feeding grounds. Don't litter your world with monsters without giving them the means to survive.

By considering this you also have a bigger overview on the minerals and natural resources that are available in each area. It is what will keep your population alive, and will influence strategic decisions that they make. Here are some key resources that have influenced human history on Earth:
  • salt - used to preserve food, vital for survival, and also needed in minor amounts for a healthy diet. Some salts are used in forging iron.
  • herbs - both for cooking and medicinal use, includes some flowers
  • honey
  • spices - a luxury used in cooking. Spices include nutmeg, sugar (made from cane or roots), pepper, cinnamon, saffron, coriander, mustard. Other luxuries to consider are cocoa (to make chocolate), citron fruits, coffee and tabacco.
  • vegetables - onions, leeks, garlic, beans, potatoes
  • nuts: almonds, walnuts, chestnuts, hazelnuts
  • fruits: strawberries, cherries, apples, pears, cranberries, mulberries, gooseberries, grapes
  • alcoholic beverages: beer, wine, mead, cider
  • glass (created by sand)
  • crystal & gems
  • metal ore: iron, bronze, copper, silver, gold
  • from the hunt: game and furs
  • from herds: diary products, meat, leather, wool
  • from agriculture: grain (wheat, rye, bayley), hennep etc (for cloth), plants for dye
  • cloth: linen, velvet, silk etc. This also includes thread.
  • crafts: weapons, pots & kettles, tapistries, jewelry, furniture
Be careful with some of these resources as they grow/form in different climatezones or geographical areas. Does your nation have access to them? Does your nation have need of them? These resources might proof big motivators in your nations development, influencing economy, society and history.

By defining all this you can now draw a rough map, even if just to keep your facts straight. It will be easy to see where ports and other cities are likely to pop up (for instance at intersections of roads) and the resources will help define the economy of your nation.

RACE
Race in fantasy and sci-fi settings is usually considered to mean the species that are considered intelligent and can therefor interact and sometimes even interbreed with each other. Traditionally fantasy knows elves, halflings, gnomes, dwarves, orcs, goblins, trolls and even dragons to make up a nations population, whereas sci-fi is a far more free genre, creating a variety of aliens in various degrees of being humanoid or not.

Are there races other than humans in your nation? What are their physical characteristics? Where do they live, with whom do they interact? Do they have a single culture, a single trade, or have varieties between cultures developed? Are your races a symbol for a concept like "nobility" or "progress"? How can you make that a tool in your writing?

Are you using "template races" like elves then make a concious choice to follow tradition or to throw it overboard to come with your own vision. Be aware of the fact that your readers will make assumptions about the races based on their own knowledge of mythology. If you create completely new races you will have to provide more background to them than you would with a standard race.

In settings that have no other race than humankind the term race is sometimes used to indicate a tribe or cultural heritage which may come with certain physical characteristics such as a dark pigmentation, red hair or small eyes. This to our contemporary eyes may seem a fact of life, but to face an African scholar would have been a cultural and even religious shock to an European peasant from the Middle Ages.

Whether there is a single race or several, make sure you have the numbers right. The intelligent races are considered the head of the pyramid you created above. Can they live like this? Are they destroying the balance? If so, why? Are any of the races causing the others directly or indirectly to become extinct? Consider the plight of the Neanderthaler, who could not keep up with the Cro Magnum Man who created language and overall was more flexible, and so the Neanderthaler was forced into the mists of time. Are there any ancient races that have become extinct in your world? What legacy did they leave?

TIME PERIOD
Whether you create a complete new world with its own history, or you take Earth as an example, you will have to decide in what timeperiod of history your story takes place in order to define the details of your setting in a consistant and realistic way. Try and pinpoint it down to a century, possibly even into smaller units of 25 years if the timeperiod is close to our own contemporary timeline.

For instance there is a huge difference between 300 years BC, 1 AD and 300 years AD. Even though that is all Roman time it moves from one of the worlds earliest democracies with to an empirial dictatorship that in the end embraces christianity instead of their wide pantheon. Likewise the early medieval age (500-800 AD) the middle medieval age (800-1200 AD) and the late medieval age (1300-1600) are hugely different in culture, level of technology and even religion. It is the difference between the relatively primitive Vikings and the refined culture that brought forth De Medici.

HISTORY
A firm timeline from the earliest days to as far into the future as you need for your story is essential. As you get closer to the point in time of your novel use less broad strokes and add more detail. Here in contained is the explanation for your setting. Why has a certain family risen to the throne? How has the division of labor between classes grown? Is there age old rivalry between nations? As you create your story you will stumble over more and more of this backstory, and for ease of reference (making sure you keep your facts straight) it can be added to the timeline. It will also help you consider the broader logic of events, trends in culture, economy, politics etc.

At this stage consider alternative history. If your planet or nation is slightly different from Earth, did it influence the outcome of history? Are other groups of people in power, did certain defining events (i.e. the rise of christianity or the reformation, the black death, the renaissance, the enlightment, the invention of the steammachine or the computer) no longer occur or did it take place sooner? How does that influence the other areas of development?

RELIGION, MYTHS & LEGENDS
Spiritual believes and stories: religion, myths and legends are a little bit of both on a sliding scale. Religion is the day to day spiritual believes of a people, including the (social) structures that go with it. Myths can be part of a religion, the stories of prophets, or stem from an earlier civilisation, a disused religion saved as stories that are still known and are being retold, only partly fused with current religion. Legends are the epic stories of heroes and myseries that are still close in the timeline of your character, and details have only partly faded into the mists of time. They have a core of truth, an event that happened for instance. Legends about kings, treasures, wars etc. In early societies they form the backbone of a peoples history, an oral tradition of storytelling predating books and other ways of storing information.

Scholars who have studied mythology have determined there are a few main categories in myths.
  • creation - how the world and everything within it, including the gods, came into being. Examples include Genesis and Gaia
  • natural phenomena - things that man feared and threatened its existance were easier understood and therefor controled by these stories.
    Elements (Fire, Water, Air, Earth), weather (storms, ice) etc
  • heroic - mortals or demi-gods involved in stories that explain why society is as is
  • apocalypse - the end of the world as we know it, and its rebirth.
Myths are often filled with symbolic meaning in addition to their straightforward explanations: growing of age by killing a father, reaffirming hierarchy, law and order in society by sketching a mirror society that does everything the other way round etc. At times the older myths can reflect civilisations that were around before they were replaced with the current ones. For instance the war of Zeus and the other gods upon the Titans to capture the Olympus probably reflects the tribe of greeks replacing the older local barbarians, a transition in power.

When considering one or more sets of belief systems or religions there are a few things to consider. The core of religion is a set of philosophical questions about the purpose of life, good & evil and the essence of divinity. These are influenced by the kind of society there is (nomadic herders, agriculture, towns etc.).In addition to this there are several choices to make as regards the structure of religion and the day to day rituals and ceremonies that shape the religious life.
  • How many gods are out there? Many fantasy novels use the concept of multiple gods, usualy presenting an element or in higher civilisations a philosophical concept like love, war or wisdom. A historic example would be the Greek pantheon. Usually there is some kind of hierarchy, and there are many myths associated with the gods and how they interact both with each other and the world. This is called polytheism. In contrast monetheism knows only one god covering all aspects of live and being omnipresent. Judiasm, Christianity, Islam are all monotheistic. Variations include the recognition of other gods outside the realm, but following only one god (e.a. Buddhism), and the existance of a double entity that are each others opposite: good and evil, light and darkness. An historic example would be Catherism, a variation of Catholicism in the Middle Ages that put equal importance on God and Satan. This religion, variations of which spread through North Africa and the South of France, was whiped out by an internal cruscade by Rome on these "heretics".
  • What kind of god is out there? Animism is the widespread believe, usually in a more primitive society, that all things have a soul, or contain the souls of forefathers: stones, trees, animals etc. These simple things are therefor worshipped. In the Greek/Roman variation of divinity the gods have a clear humanoid personality with a limited view, powerful emotions and weaknesses. The gods are in charge of practical matters, such as a good harvest, safe travel etc. and their help is enlisted as well as rewarded when that help is granted. In this the gods are a constant part of everyday life, with a clear, intervening presence. In monotheism the trend is for omnipresent, all knowing, all powerful gods who are not part of creation itself, and rather are looking form the outside in, providing spiritual guidance but without direct divine intervention. An avatar or prophet might be send to deal with the faithful instead. Priests usually try and reach for the non-material, spiritual, by leading a life of chastity, poverty and over all acesism. This is called transcedency. In the Bible you can see the transformation from an interfering god (Old Testament) to a more transcedent god (New Testament).
  • Structure - the scale and level of science of your society will help determine how complex the structure of religion is. Maybe all your herding tribe needs is a single priest, perhaps with an apprentice to whom he can pass on all the lore. In contrast a civilisation with towns, seaports and an agriculture supporting townlife and trading will need a whole network of priests, cooperating together with one or more "managers". They will tend to the flock, but also maintain temples and other quiet places of reflection to pacify and/or control the gods (their main task) or to generate knowledge to come to a better understanding of the gods (their secondary task), spread the worship, and thus heighten the power, of the gods (usual the task of evangelical sects or orders) and in some way generate income to support the day to day working of religious trappings (another vital task of a larger network). This also introduces the possibility for conflict and politics within the religious network, with different sects vying for power within the structure, or trying to change society according to their ideology.
    The Catholic Church is the easiest example of a large religious structure. Their managment of the network included a law and order system (the Inquisition) and layers of managers (Abbots, Bishops, Cardinals, the Pope). In a way the Mother Church still was (and still is) a highly selfsufficient, effective organisation. There are also many oppertunities for strive and conflict between the different priests, orders and sects.
  • Daily Life Think about how the concept of your religion would be reflected in the daily life of your characters. Are there any holy signs or symbols? Religious animals? What kind of observances are made, i.e. not eating meat during certain periods of time? Are there holy days, festivals etc and how are they marked? How do people pray? How often? Is there a holy book, or other religious writings? Do your characters need a priest to commune with the gods and interpret holy texts for them, or do they have a more individual relationship with the divine? Are there rituals to mark relationships, growing up etc.? What other ceremonies do priests perform? What kind of miracle's and other proof of the divine do the priests offer? Do the priest use magic of any kind? What role would zealots, heretics, and simple folk play ?

MAGIC AND THE LEVEL OF SCIENCE
If you are creating a fantasy novel you will need to consider the use of magic carefully. It is the one thing that seperates this genre from the rest. In contrast in Sci-Fi the technology will form a powerful background for your setting. The technology level also plays an important role in setting the flavor of your historical novel.

If you decide on magic you will not only have to define what magic is (how is it accessed, how scarce is it, what sacrifices must be made to wield it, hiw widespread is it, what can and can't you do with magic) but also what impact it will have on society and its science. What inventions become obsolete with the appearance of magic? Is there magical transport like airships or portals? Are there magical ways of communication? Magical ways to print books? What will happen if your nation is inundated with love potions? What about mindcontrolers? How does one wage a magical war? What prize does society pay for the use of magic?

In a non-magical society it is science that limits and flavors society. Here are some break through scientific inventions that helped shape society on Earth:
  • the wheel - facilitating trade, and allowing nomadic tribes to owe more and heavier items in general, as well as allowing for the creation of many a machine, to name just some effects. Note that not all societies have used the wheel. The Incas never had much use for it on their rocky mountain trails.
  • the longbow - The English would not have beaten the French in the Hundred Year War if not for this inventive new weapon that made arrows even pierce armor. It had an emancipating effect as knights were no longer as invincible as they once were compared to mere peasants.
  • the printing press, making books much cheaper and easier to produce, facilitating a wider spread of literacy and better general knowledge of the public, which in turn is believed by historians to be one of the turning events that facilitated the creation of democratic states.
  • the steamengine - first invented by the greeks who had no use for it (slaves are cheaper than large iron machines), long forgotten and then reinvented in the 18th century when there was a shortage of labor. The steamengine and the industry it created are considered the first steps towards the Modern Age.
  • the computer - need I say more? This moved technology beyond the mere capacities of a single or even collection of brains (known as universities), making science pass boundaries never before believed possible such as space travel, as well as making the world even smaller through faster communication.
Take a look at what you have determined of the comparative time period of your setting, and consider how that limits the science your characters have access to. What tools do they wield? What scholarly concepts are they familiar with? what economic need is there for inventions to be used?

SOCIETY AND CULTURE
Now that you have created all the natural resources and given some thought to some of the philosophical, scientific and spiritual questions that face your nation, it is time to describe the structure that brings all of this together.

There is the political aspect of government: is your society feudal (with a warlord and vassels, and peasants working the land in exchange for protection), an oligarchy (a small group of patricians sharing the power between them), a democracy (everybody has a vote),a tiranny (one person ruling absolute through terror and intimidation, using lots of minions) etc. What are the political issues in your nation, and how are they movitated by the national resouces, enhanced by the available magic/science, enticed by religion? How do does your nation interact with its neighbors?

Government is not all there is to a society. What classes or groups are there in your nation? What are their distinctive characteristics? How does each group contribute to society? How is this supported by religion?
What are the major social issues? Is there poverty? How are the elderly and the sick taken care of? What kind of tabooes are there ? What is considered a crime? How are the breaking of tabooes and crimes punished?

The culture of a society is very much formed by education. Do all groups get an equal education or are there differences, in level of knowledge, in quality or quantity? What causes differences, the status in society, gender, religion? What forms of art are practised in your society: sculptures, paintings, music, poetry, novels? What themes surface and is there a link to myths, legends and religion?

The list of natural resources you made, together with the other details of society should give you enough indicators to sketch the economy and the main bulk trading goods. Does trade play a great role in your society? What kind of jobs pay the most? What kind of barter system is there, is there coinage? Where are the oppertunities for eager merchants and crafts people?

These are the basic building blocks of society. However, your research will not stop there. Consider all aspects, all props, that will play a role in your story. Can you describe it realistically?
  • Food - What kinds of food are available? Herbs? Spices? How available are they? Bound to a particular season? What food items do well in trade and why? What differences of food are there between the different classes of society? How healthy is all the food they consume, and does that come with side effects that have a long ranging impact? What is the etiquette surrounding food? How is it served? What are festive foods?
  • Clothes - How does the clothing differentiate between gender, kids and grown ups, classes in society? what kind of cloth is used? What colors? How expensive are dies, threads, cloth? Do people make their own clothing or are there tailors? How is the cut of the pattern, how do clothes get on and off? What kind of undergarments are there and how are they significant? What is the current fashion and why, are there politicial or social ramifications? What is the link between climate and clothing? What is the link between local ecology and clothing?
  • Ships - How are ships build, what is the techonology used? How are the different parts of the ship named? What kind of terms do sailors use? What kind of profanity? What hierarchy exists on board, how does that link to the rest of society? How expensive is it to make ships? What is the primary use of ships? What other uses of ships exist and how?
  • Animals - what kinds of animals will feature in your story not in nature but as part of society? What do they look like? What is their function in society, their status: are they pets, modes of transport, food, aids in the hunt? Suggestions are herd animals (sheep, cows), farm animals (pigs, chickens), transport animals (donkeys, horses, oxes), hunt animals (dogs, falcons). How are they taken care of? What is the name of their tack, how is it worn, how is it taken care of? What are they fed? How are their main body parts called? What kind of verbs are associated with these animals?
  • Transportation - how do people travel by road, water, air, time, space? How does that influence society? How are all the modes of transportation called? Is magic or science involved, how? Can all classes society use the mode of transportation, how expensive is it? Which kind of transport will be used for which purpose?
  • Combat - which weapons are available, what kind of armor, defenses? If this drawn on historic knowledge are you sure you have enough details on the material, how they operate, how they were made, what their strengths and weaknesses are? What are the verbs and nouns associated with its use? What kind of combat style is preferred in your society? Armed combat, martial arts, live chess?
  • Language - Apart from a common language (lingo franca) are there any other languages? What are you basing your languages on? Be aware that a make belief language may actually mean something in some existing languages. Be sure you are not being silly or rude. Don't over use the apastroph.
  • Buildings - The buildings your characters live in will be influenced by society and the natural resources available. They will have been developed over time. What material is used to build them? How do they build them, is it small scale? time intensive or not? How is the culture reflected in decoration and shape? What are the limitations imposed by the level of science? Are there any dogma's of religion that influence the buildings and their decoration? How do people live in them, in groups, smaller or bigger family units, gender segregated? What other functions do the buildings serve? What kind of defenses are build into these buildings, if any? How would the layout of a town look like? How do they deal with sanitation? How do they get water?


As you can see answering these questions might even lead you to new twists in your plotline, as well as creating a realistic and complete atmosphere.

In the links library you will find a number of links to research all these subjects.
Last edited by Maeve on Mon Dec 20, 2004 10:56 pm, edited 14 times in total.
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Guest

Post by Guest »

Species/Race Development

This is actually a template I have used to develop worlds in games and books. It takes it from an astrological point of view so can work for science fiction and fantasy. Even if you have a fantasy story it is probably a good idea to develop the world scientifically as well.

The most macro level of world development happens with the species. This is from where all world-building and game development comes from. A player makes characters based on a species and developers create star systems and organizations from the same. There may not be a whole lot of detail on this part of development, but it is the core of everything in a fictional environment.

This section explores what is information is needed for a species and how this information is applied.

This is a standard template used for describing a species. Although it is not very lengthy, it does give an overall experience of the species, their general biology, society, and history. This is the real core of what players, Game Masters, and writers need to know about a species.

Common Attribution:
This is the name of the species according to what the species commonly calls themselves. For example, Homo Sapiens call themselves "humans", so "Human" would be a Homo Spaien's Common Attribution.

Categorical Attribution:
This is the official scientific name of the species.

Population Data
How many of this particular species are currently in existance.

Civilization Class
This is a common way to determine what technological level the species is. The classification is broken down as follows:

Type A: Intergalactic Society
Type B: Interstellar Society
Type C: Interterrestrial Society
Type D: Terrestrial Society
Type E: Continental/National Society

Additionally briefly notate the nature of the society:
Industrial - Creates and distributes its own resources to perpetuate the society
Imperial - Takes control of other society's resources to perpetuate the society
Economic - Buys and redistributes other society's resources to perpetuate the society
Scientific - Researches and expands knowledge to share resources with other societies

Overview
A brief overview of the species, about three to four paragraphs, that explores their origin, early society history, an overview of their social structure, their general place in interstellar society, and their general relationship with others in the galaxy.

Evolutionary Analysis
Generalized description of what animal kingdom the species is a member of and how it compares to other species. Notation on how long ago they evolved into their current state. How its current state compares to its prehistoric state.

Explore the climates and environments the species evolved in and how that affected their evolution. Mention about when intelligent society formed, how, and what form it took. Where did these early societies forms, how did they relate to each other and what major events lead them to present-day society.

What is their current evolutionary state, social state and how has the species advanced as well as where the species advancement is headed. What environments do they settle in and how does their current evolutionary state relate to that.

Biological Analysis
This is different than an evolutionary analysis, in that it explores the actual appearence and functional biology of the species. How do they move (bipedal, quadrapedal, etc), what animal kingdom do they belong to or what animals are they related to, how many limbs and extremities do they have, what kind are they, what purpose do they serve, what is their general physical description and why do they appear this way, what do they eat, and what are their circulatory, skeletal, and reproductive systems like?

Ecological Analysis
This is an exploration of the species natural habitat and their history within various habitats. What atmosphere content, air pressure, and temperatures do they need to survive and what climates do they prefer? How has their evolutionary ecology affected their biology?

Sociological Analysis
What, overall, is their social nature (peaceful, warlike, paranoid, etc). Explain in a paragraph or two what the species is like as a people and who they relate to others as well as how others perceive them.
Guest

Post by Guest »

Star System Development

Although this may not usually be used in traditional fantasy games, it is important to know the astronomy of your world's star system. What kind of stars it has, the planets and how they are viewed from your world are all integral concepts, especially for societies that depend on the stars. Don't necessarily reject this part of world building because you are in a fantasy genre.

This section will walk you through how to create a Star System and all the information that is need on this level of development. The more detail that is provided, the easier it will be to go onto building the system's worlds.

The developer must decide not only what the primary species residing in this system is, but what the society as a whole is. This is a loose description that can summarize the social placement of the star system.

Star System Interstellar Relations
Not all Star Systems may have contact with other civilizations, but those that do must be outlined. This is referring directly the to the system's political and economic relationship with other systems. The diplomatic categories to outline are:

Political Allies: star systems that the system is obligated to assist politically
Economic Allies: star systems that the system is obligated to assist economically
Open Trade/Sanctioned: star systems on friendly terms that openly trade with the system or is financially supported by the system
Trade Embargo: star systems on semi-friendly to hostile terms that do not trade with the system
Political Truce/Treaties: star systems that had conflict resolved via a truce and/or treaty (be specific)
Cease-Fire/No-Fly: star systems that the system is not permitted to go to (notate why and any applicable treaties)
Pending Negotiations: star systems that have uncertain relations based on the outcome of existing negotiations with the system
Cold War: star systems on hostile terms in wartime conditions without regular warfare
Hot War: star systems on hostile terms in wartime conditions with regular warfare

Star Astronomical Statistics

The developer must follow a process to determine what the astronomical units for his or her star(s) is. Statistics must be figured for every star he or she chooses to have in the system. Although almost anything is possible, it should be considered that multiple stars in a system are relatively rare if that system can support life. Also hot and fast burning stars alive long enough to allow for evolution, although cultures can may immigrate there

Following is the process for developing a star:

As the developer you must determine where in the galaxy your star system is located. This is partly for figuring out interstellar travel in a science fiction story, but also to figure out the nature of the sky in fantasy settings. A system that is in the center of a galaxy will have a much thicker starfield than one on the outskirts. Depending also on its position one could generally make out the shape of hte galaxy as well.

Think of the galaxy as a sphere. The closer to the center of the sphere you go, the more stars there are and the younger they are. The galaxy is spinning like a vortex in water, throwing suns far into space. The youngest and hottest stars are in the center and the oldest and coldest stars are on the boundary of the galaxy. The spiral also exists on a somewhat small plane, if you go too high in the sphere you will leave the star field. This is a general idea, too, because there can be old cold stars in the center and young hot ones on the outskirts, but you can at least have a guideline with this.

Given those parameters, determine where in all of that you would like your star system. If you place it toward the core of the galaxy, you will likely have multiple stars affecting your system, smaller planets in tight orbits around a very hot sun(s). If you place it on the outskirts, you will probably have a large, cold, red giant with fully developed worlds and gas worlds spanning a huge radius. Sol System like systems would fall somewhere in the middle. You can also have an old sun toward the core, if you place the system above the normal star field.

Finally name all of the planets in the system. Both the number of planets and their names is entirely up to the Developer.

Refer to the following star chart and choose your star's class. Choose values given within the ranges provided for each category. In many ways, those values will determine what your planets will be like. If you choose a star too hot or cold for life to exist, your planets will have to be settled with protective shelters such as biodomes and underground cities. Also if the star is young then the system is also young, so the chances are most of the planets in the system will have high tectonic activity. Likewise, if a star is old then the system is probably old and most of the planets will be gaseous. A happy medium would be something like the Sol System with an average heat, size, and age.

That is not to deter you to create systems with more 'extreme' conditions, just realize the consequences of doing so. Readers and players may not accept your system because the planets could not fit the star you chose and vice versa. Glaring improbabilities such as a white dwarf star having a tropical planet in its orbit should be avoided to keep scientific integrity in the story or game.

<table width="100%" border="1" cellpadding=".5">
<tr>
<td>Class</td>
<td>Notes</td>
<td>Celcius</td>
<td>Mass (kg)</td>
<td>Radius (km)</td>
<td>Life Support (km)</td>
<td>Lifetime (bill Earth yrs)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>F</td>
<td>Planets with life</td>
<td>6,926 - 5,926</td>
<td>3.18E+30 - 2.37E+30</td>
<td>1,140,620 - 876,330</td>
<td>381,474,900 - 216,917,100</td>
<td>1.6-6.88</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>G</td>
<td>Planets with life</td>
<td>5,756 - 5,296</td>
<td>2.0895E+30 - 1.27758E+30</td>
<td>785,915 - 608,562</td>
<td>1,373,309,640 - 2,677,804,200</td>
<td>9.180 - 17.9</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>K</td>
<td>Red; could support life</td>
<td>4,976 - 3,786</td>
<td>1.5721E+30 - 1.20594+30</td>
<td>546,663 - 445,815</td>
<td>97,238,700 - 47,871,360</td>
<td>21</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>O</td>
<td>Very large, hot, fast burning</td>
<td>47,726 - 32,726 </td>
<td>1.790028E+32 - 4.6341836E+31</td>
<td>10,015,200 - 6,648,980</td>
<td>1.4885E+11 - 44,879,400,000</td>
<td>.02-.009</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>B</td>
<td>Hot and fast burning</td>
<td>32,726 - 10,226 </td>
<td>1.68553E+31 - 3.184E+30</td>
<td>5,890,885 - 2,058,680</td>
<td>34,108,344,000 - 1,458,580,500</td>
<td>.01-.475</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>A</td>
<td>Fast burning</td>
<td>9,246 - 7,306 </td>
<td>5.77E+30 - 3.184E+30</td>
<td>1,884,805 - 1,189,305</td>
<td>1,099,545,300 - 438,322,140</td>
<td>.583 - 1.29</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>M</td>
<td>Small and cold</td>
<td>3,576 - 2,236</td>
<td>1.01E+30 - 1.99E+29</td>
<td>435,383 - 63,986</td>
<td>4,187,440 - 2,543,166</td>
<td>Very long</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>E</td>
<td>Very small, cold</td>
<td>1,526 - 526</td>
<td>1.592+29 - 7.96E+28</td>
<td>45,207 - 123,103</td>
<td>942,467 - 329,115</td>
<td>Very long</td>
</tr>
</table>
<br>
<br>
Choose values for the following categories based on the star chart: Class, Average Temperature, Mass, Radius, and Age. You must also come up with a value for Visual Luminosity (how bright the star is). Astronomical charts always use the sun as a gauge for this value. Generally, the hotter the star the higher its Visual Luminosity.

Star System Politics

If your society is not interstellar or interterrestrial, you can skip this.

This section should not be used to get into the nitty-gritty of all the political factions within the system, but rather look exclusively at the star system's politics in relation to other star systems. Developers will have ample opportunity to discuss politics within the system further down the road in their world building. Include the following topics when describing the politics of your star system:

Go into detail about political allies, political truces and treaties, cease-fires and no fly zones, pending negations, cold wars, and hot wars. Discuss the overall picture of the star system's political role in relation to other star systems.

Summarize the political structure of the system as a whole and how it handles domestic and foreign affairs, how the system works, who is in charge, how leadership is appointed, the various branches and departments of the system-wide government (if any), the military, how the military works, and any other detail that provides a reader a good picture of the overall structure of politics surrounding the system as a whole. If there is no unified government or a single entity running the system as a whole, mention how the system handles outsiders or represents themselves to others, also summarizing the larger influences and their operations.

Star System Trade and Economy

This section should not be used to get into the nitty-gritty of all the economical factors within the system, but rather look exclusively at the star system's economy in relation to other star systems. Developers will have ample opportunity to discuss economy within the system further down the road in their world building. Include the following topics when describing the economy of your star system:

Go into detail about economic allies, open trade and sanctioned systems, and trade embargos.Discuss the overall picture of the star system's economic role in relation to other star systems.

Discuss the overall economic activity of the system. Go into detail about the economic system the star system chooses to use with other systems and if it is a unified star system, discuss how this economic system works within the system itself. Detail its major resources, interstellar demands and interstellar supplies. Mention any economic movements or system-wide practices, such as unified currencies, stock markets, etc. Also relate the economy with the system's government if there is one and how it is regulated.

Star System History

This is not a history of all the individual societies within the star system, but rather of the system itself. Discuss the major events that affected the whole system throughout living history. Be sure to explore the territorial, economic, religious, political and social aspects of the system's history in detail.

Star System Society

Provide an overall picture of the star system's society. Include art, literature, sports, past times, foods, customs, slang, biases, prejudices, traditions, religions, political movements, architecture, music, education, media and entertainment, social classes, worldview, and any other detail that will provide a picture of the people there. The social aspects you go into should be somewhat universal throughout the system. Do not include social aspects specific to a culture within the system because you will detail those things later on in the world building process.

Also include the latest major happenings in the system on all social aspects. Mention various headlines, ongoing problems and any social issues that may apply. You may also mention main social figures, leaders, celebrities, journalists, etc. This is an opportunity to apply reality to your system. Only mention current events that are important to the star system as a whole.
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World Development

This section goes into detail about developing a planet or moon. The processes listed will provide a complete picture of the world from a scientific point of view, but more importantly how it incorporates with a story setting and what writers would use this place for. Worlds can yield new species, cultures, civilizations, and organizations. By creating a world with a society you must take into account all of the nuances of that society and what organizations are necessary. Potentially, each organization the world yields will require development on its own, as well.

Planet Scientific Name

The name of the planet's star and the order it is in the system.

Indigenous Name
This is the planet's common name according to the residents or local society.

Orbital Radius
Firstly, you must decide if this planet can naturally support life. It is possible to have civilizations outside a star system's life zone, but they will have to be protected with biodomes or underground settlements. If you want your planet to be within a star's life zone, choose an orbital radius that falls within the star's "terrestrial equivalent" (a value you should have decided for the system's star during the Star Development process).

Radius
Arbitrary, but use this scale to get an idea on how big a radius is relative to other planets:

World Size:
• Micro (radius < 100 km)
• Small (radius >100 km, but < 5,000 km)
• Standard (radius > 5,000 km, but < 10,000 km)
• Macro (radius > 10,000 km, but < 50,000 km)
• Giant (radius > 50,000 km)

Density
It is assumed your planet has an iron core. The density is relative only to how big you want the iron core to be and that will directly affect the planet's gravity. If you choose a core other than iron, it must be a realistic substance and you will need to track down the value of that element's density to determine your planet's density. You shouldn't have to be a chemist, but make it realistic given your limitation of resources. As a guide, remember that to get Earth's level of gravity, the density must be 5.52. Always measure density in grams per cubic centimeter.

Acceleration Due to Gravity
This is an important value when describing your planet because a society's architecture and lifestyle is greatly dependent on what the planet's gravity is. The Earth's gravity (9.8 meters per second per second) should be used as a guide. If your gravity is higher or lower than you like, you can adjust your planet's density and/or its radius to correct it. For ease of formula calculation you can simply compare your planet to Earth, to figure out its gravity.

Since we are simply comparing to Earth to make this calculation easier, you must first figure out what your planet's radius when compared to Earth is. Earth's radius is 6,378 kilometers. Divide your planet's radius in kilometers by Earth's. For example, if your planet's radius is 10,500, then divide 10,500 into 6,378, resulting in 1.64 (or in other words, your planet is 1.64 times the size of Earth). This is the value you will need to figure out your planet's gravity.

Divide the density of your planet by Earth's density (5.5 grams per cubic centimeter). Make sure that your density is converted to grams per cubic centimeter before figuring out this value. Take that result and multiply it by your planet's radius relative to Earth (the value you figured out in the previous paragraph). That value will be your planet's acceleration due to gravity in meters per second per second.

For example, if your planet's density is 3.5 and its radius compared to earth is 1.64, you would do the following: divide 3.5 into 5.5 resulting in .636. Multiply .636 by 1.64 resulting in a gravity value of 1.04 meters per second per second. Compared to Earth, that is almost 9 times less, so you can see how much an affect density has on gravity.

Mass
This is an arbitrary figure, but refer to the mass of planets in the Sol System for reference:

Sol: 1.98892E+30 kg
Mercury: 2.302E+23 kg
Venus: 4.869E+24 kg
Earth: 5.9742E+24 kg
Mars: 6.4191E+23 kg
Jupiter: 1.8987E+27 kg
Saturn: 5.6851E+26 kg
Uranus: 8.6849E+25 kg
Neptune: 1.0244E+26 kg
Pluto: 1.3E+22 kg

Keep your planet's mass some what relative to its radius.

Year Length

To figure out how long your planet's year is, you will need to do some math based on values you already have. For ease of math, you will be comparing your planet to Earth on this equation as well. Firstly, you must figure out how many AU's your planet's orbital radius is. Divide your planet's orbital radius by 149,598,000 kilometers (make sure your orbital radius is in kilometers). That is your planet's AU value. For example if your planet is 789,588,235 kilometers from the star, its AU is 5.27 (or 5 times farther from the star than Earth is).

Multiply the AU value three times (or cube the value). For example, if your planet's AU is 5.27, cube that to result in 146.36. Take the square root of that value, resulting in 12.09. This is 12.09 years SST.

If your planet is closer to the star than Earth, you will need to break down the resulting years into months and/or days. For example, if the AU of your planet is .021 you would do the following. Cube .021 resulting in .0000092 and then take that value's square root, resulting in .003 years SST. To convert that to months and days, multiply it by 365 to find how many days that is, 1.095 days. To convert even further, multiply .095 by 24 for hours, resulting in 2.26 hours and again multiply .26 by 60 to find the minutes, 15. This planet's year is 1 day 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Length of Day
This is an arbitrary figure. It is unreasonable to have a day less then 8 hours or much more than the planet's year.

Axial Tilt
You will need to decide on this to determine your planet's climate patterns (if there is an atmosphere). A planet with a titled axis has seasons, because there are parts of the planet that are farther then the sun at varying times. The more the tilt, the more extreme and long the seasons are.

A planet with a vertical 90 degree axis receives direct light at the equator and all parts of the planet receive an equal amount of light, therefore there are no seasons. Although there are no seasons, the planet will have colder temperatures at the pole than at the equator. Additionally, if the orbit is elliptical (the farther into the system the planet is the more elliptical the orbit is), then it can have small, less extreme seasons. Days and nights would be equally lengthened.

A planet with a horizontal 0 degree axis would have half the planet constantly in sunlight and half the planet constantly in darkness. There would be no seasons and the sunny side would be extremely more hot then the dark side. Days and nights would be equally lengthened.

It is unrealistic for a planet to have the same temperature and/or climate globally, even on worlds with extreme distances, unless the planet is very small or asteroidal.

Moons
List all of your planet's moons and provide radius and orbital radiuses for them. You can world build them using this overall process when you are done with the planet. You need the radius and orbital radius values though, to create the planet's overall picture. Moons and rings are arbitrary and you can create as many as you want but with realistic sizes and distances. The moon's radius is arbitrary, but should be at least half the size of the planet (there are exceptions, e.g. Pluto and Charron).

You will also need to know the moon's density. Again, this is arbitrary, but assuming it has an iron core (most do), it's density directly affects the moon's gravity. Refer to the notes about figuring out the planet's density.

No matter what the radius or density is, the moon's orbital radius must fall outside the "Roche" limit on its orbital radius, otherwise the orbit is unstable and the moon would go crashing into the planet. To figure out the boundary outside which you can place the moon(s), do the following: take 2.423 and multiply it by the radius of the planet and then take that value and multiply it by the density of the planet. Divide that into the density of the moon. That is how many kilometers away you have to place the moon, at minimum, to avoid it becoming a massive meteorite. You can place the moon as far out as you want, within reason. At one point, the planet will lose it's gravitational affect of the moon.

Finally, you will want to calculate how long it takes for your moon to get around your planet. This could have a significant impact on your planet's society, so should be figured for every moon you have. It is easiest to figure this out by comparing your planet to the Earth.

First, figure out how far out the moon is in Earth's radii. Take the distance in kilometers out the moon (orbital radius) and divide it by the Earth's radius, 6,378 kilometers. For example if your moon's orbital radius is 12,600 kilometers, divide 12,600 into 6,378 resulting in 1.97 Earth's radii.

Next, figure out the mass of your planet relative to the mass of Earth by dividing your planet's mass by Earth's mass, 5.9742E+24. For example, if your planet's mass is 2.8E+24 then divide 2.8 by 5.9742 resulting in a relative mass of .47.

Take the Earth's radii equivilent (in our example, 1.97) and cube it. Our example of 1.97 cubed, is 7.64. Take this result and divide it by your relative mass. In our example we'll divide 7.64 by the relative mass of .47 resulting in 16.25. Square root that value, our example results in 4.0311. Now multiply that result by 1.4 and that is the time in hours it takes for the moon to go around the planet once, 5.6 hours in our example.

The formula for the prior calculation is Time is equal to 1.4 times the square root of radius cubed over mass.

Planet Class

Next you must figure out what your planet's Helic Class is. This will indicate what you intend to do with the planet's life, if there is any. This class sytem is an original creation of Laveaux and is arbitrary. It is only for providing a system for picturing worlds. Following the following process to determine your planet's class:

A planet is first classified by its proximity to the system’s star: Local (less than 100 million kilometers), Distant (less than 500 million kilometers), or Remote (greater than 500 million kilometers)

Its second classification is its relative size to a standard world (radius between 5,000 kilometers and 10,000 kilometers). Worlds with a radius of 100 kilometers and less are called “micro”, worlds with a radius of 5,000 kilometers or less are called “small”, worlds with a radius between 5,000 kilometers and 10,000 kilometers are not distinguished, as they are considered average, worlds with a radius of 10,000 to 50,000 kilometers are called “macro” and worlds with a radius greater than 50,000 are called “giant”.

The third set of classifications are derivatives of planetary qualities starting with status of life, amount of water and overall atmospheric condition. A planet’s life status ranges from inorganic (never had life), extinct (once had life), dormant (has life, but it is not ecological), and ecological (has life). Its water status ranges from terrestrial (0% hydrosphere coverage), semi-terrestrial (1-10% hydrosphere coverage), pangaean (20-50% hydrosphere coverage), archipelagan (50-80% hydrosphere coverage), hydrospheric (80-100% hydrosphere coverage), and gasious. Finally the planet is classified by its primary atmospheric condition: Arctic, Tropical, Temperate, Arid, or Void. The terms in the third set are truncated as follows:

• Inorganic = Inor
• Extinct = Ext
• Dormant = Dor
• Ecological = Eco
• Terrestrial = Terra
• Semi-terrestrial = Sem
• Pangaean = Pan
• Archipelagan = Arc
• Hydrospheric = Hydro
• Gasious = Gas
• Stellar, Arctic, Tropical, Temperate, Arid and Void are not truncated, as they are the last term in the classification set.
• If a trunctated word ends in a vowel and the following word begins with a vowel, the first term’s vowel is dropped and the following vowel remains. For example, a dormant hydrospheric arid world would be truncated to dormhydroarid and the vowel dropped to be dormhydrarid. Or an ecological archipelagan arctic world would truncate to ecarcarctic (eco/arc/arctic).

The final classification is for combined classification. If a world has transformed from one type to another, both types are used in the classification but combined with “catalytic”. For example a world that was once Distant Extinct Semi-terrestrial Void but is now Ecological Semi-terrestrial Arid would be truncated and classified as Distant Extsemvoid Catalytic Ecosemarid.

Classifications are abbreviated with the first letter of each classification, capitalized, followed by a lowercase abbreviation of each subsequent qualification. In the case of a catalytic classification the term catalytic is abbreviated with a “greater than: (>) sign. In the previous paragraph’s example, the classification would be abbreviated as DEsv>Esa..

Chart of Classification:
Proximity to System’s Star:
• Local (< 100 million km)
• Distant (>100 million km, but < 500 million km)
• Remote(>500 million km)

World Size:
• Micro (radius < 100 km)
• Small (radius >100 km, but < 5,000 km)
• Standard (not noted in Classification system) (radius > 5,000 km, but < 10,000 km)
• Macro (radius > 10,000 km, but < 50,000 km)
• Giant (radius > 50,000 km)

World Qualities:
• Life Status: Inorganic (inor), Extinct (ext), dormant (dor), ecological (eco)
• Hydrosphere Coverage: Terrestrial (terra), Semi-terrestrial (sem), pangaean (pan), archipelagan (arc), hydrospheric (hydro), gasious (gas)
• Atmospheric Condition: Stellar (star-like atmosphere - gas giants, etc), Arctic, Tropical, Temperate, Arid, Void

Example of an application of the Planet Classification System:

Type DDcDE: Distant Dorhydrarctic Catalytic Distant Ecohydrotemperate (DEht>Eht)

This is a world that was once classified as Distant Dorhydrarctic, but the conditions changed for one of a variety of reasons causing it to be a Distant Ecohydrotemperate. Distant Dorhydrarctic were once-living (or are living), but now are frozen worlds, geologically and ecologically dormant. Some change in the climate, geology or position in the system may cause it to warm up and create a Distant Ecohydrotemperate world. Distant Ecohydrotemperates are colder than Ecohydrotemperates, but certainly habitable by many species. The atmospheres are often thinner than Ecohydrotemperates and the planets themselves are usually much older, yielding nominal surface features and a huge spectrum of ecology. It is extraordinary for a sentient species to evolve on a DDcDE, simply because the transformation to DE would have occurred geologically recently. There are plenty of simple life forms and even a few complex ones, however most sentient lifeforms on DDcDE worlds are extra-terrestrial immigrants.

Primary Atmospheric Composition
Although this is completely arbitrary, Earth-like creatures require Oxygen and Nitrogen in their atmosphere. This is an opportunity to really figure out how you want your planet to be. If there is no atmosphere, mention that here. For ideas, view the composition of planets in the Sol System.


Average Surface Temperature
This is mostly a result of the planet's proximity to its star, but is also complicated by the atmosphere. Very thick and dense atmospheres are more hot than thin ones. Likewise, atmospheres with active climates may be cooler than ones without atmospheres. A lot of surface temperature is also dependent on either how much solar radiation hits the surface or how much is trapped by a thick atmosphere. Put your surface temperature in Celsius. Earth's average surface temperature is 7 C.

Atmospheric Pressure
This is an arbitrary measure, bit is somewhat realted to composition. In kilopascals note how heavy the atmosphere is. Earth's is 101.3 kilopascals. For ideas, look at the statistics of the Sol System.

Escape Velocity
This is how fast an object must be going to leave the planet's atmospheric and gravitational pull. The escape velocity is the square root of 2 times the planet's gravity times the planet's radius. Convert the radius from kilometers to meters by adding three zeroes. When you've arrived at your solution convert the answer to kilometers by dropping three zeroes.

Geology
Explain the cooling process during the origination of the planet, mentioning the tectonic activity up until the geological present. As a planet cools the heavier materials sink and the lighter materials go to the surface and may crack into continental plates. If the planet is young, the cooling process may still be in affect and tectonic movement is more active (resulting in multiple volcanoes, lava flows and earthquakes), however if a planet is really old it may have finished its cooling process and be completely dormant on tectonic activity. Earth lies somewhere in between. Mention any major volcanoes, mountain ranges, craters, and seabeds that were formed. Name these geological landmarks.

Discuss the size, dimensions, topography and names of the planet's continents. Also discuss any oceans, seabeds are plains (planitias) that exist, as well as their names. Place the major geological landmarks on these land masses or oceans. Mention where the plates are and how and/or if they are moving.

Mention common elements, rare elements, and if anything needs explanation surrounding that, put it here. Remember any organic compound has to be explained, even if the planet is extinct. How have has all of the geology come together to create the planet today and mention any main points you may have missed.

Meteorology
If your planet has no atmosphere you can skip this, otherwise you will need to explore the planet's climate, weather, air, and sea in detail. You should already know if the planet can naturally support life, must be terraformed or settled with manmade protection. Even if your planet can support life, you should consider if it is old enough with a climate stable enough to have life evolve there on its own. It is likely there are more life-supporting planets than there are planets that had life evolve on it. Whatever the case, explain that as an introduction to your planet's climate and then work from there on figuring out the details.

Overall, provide a since on how warm or cold it is compared to Earth. You may have already figured out an average surface temperature. Using Earth as a guide, make decisions about the atmosphere. Thick atmospheres will trap solar radiation and make a planet warmer, also thin atmospheres will let more solar radiation in. Thick atmospheres can also complete deflect solar radiation causing the planet to be cooler. Large planets will have extreme temperatures from the poles to equators whereas small planets will have a closer margin of temperature variances. The type of star will reflect how close the planet should be for a certain temperature. If you want Earth-like conditions, but your star is a white dwarf, the planet will have to be much closer (refer to the life-zone of your star). If you want your planet to be cold, put it on the far end of the life-zone and likewise, if you want it to be hot, put it closer.

After you've worked out it's position to the star and the type of atmosphere, as well as its thickness, you should have a pretty good idea on the overall condition of the planet. Describe this in as much detail as you can, mentioning its overall temperature, different climates, and seasons.

Next, decide what your planet's hydrosphere coverage, if any. How much of the planet is an ocean? This will directly contribute to your planet's climate, weather patterns and humidity. Using the HCC table as a guide, determine its coverage:

Wet planets mean more cloud cover, precipitation, climate changes and storms. Dry planets mean less cloud cover, still air, and slower air currents. A planet's hydrosphere coverage directly determines the planet's overall humidity. Remember that most life cannot exist on a planet without water. Now that you have an idea on the overall type of climate you are up against, determine major air and water currents. There direction and positions are arbitrary, but the amount of them and their intensity depends on how wet or dry the planet is. You will also need to explore how the rain falls and in what parts. This is also dependent on the humidity of the planets, but you can also use your currents to figure the details out. Now you can figure out the average temperatures in various places based on your currents, climate, rainfall and other factors. It is best if you use a map for this. Whether or not you do, describe this all in detail using the geological locations you've already created.

Life
If your planet has evolved life on it, describe the various forms that are prevalent on the planet and a brief discussion on how they evolved. Mention what lifeforms are sentient and what ones are not. Don't try to be a biologist, unless you are. Stick to the animal kingdoms we know about, unless you are creating a new species (which requires much more detail).

Also discuss any lifeforms not indigenous to the planet that has become integrated into the ecology. For planets that did not evolve life, discuss how extraterrestrial life fares on this planet and what they need to do to adapt and/or survive.

Politics
This section should not be used to get into the nitty-gritty of all the political factions within various world nations, but rather look exclusively at the world's politics in relation to other worlds. Developers will have ample opportunity to discuss politics within the world further down the road in their world building. Include the following topics when describing the politics of your star system:

Go into detail about political allies, political truces and treaties, cease-fires and no fly zones, pending negations, cold wars, and hot wars. Discuss the overall picture of the planet's political role in relation to other planets. Discuss various international territories, interterrestrial customs processes, interterrestrial trade, interterrestrial tensions, trade embargos, conflicts, and its overall political position in the star system.

Summarize the political structure of the world as a whole and how it handles domestic and foreign affairs, how the world works, who is in charge, how leadership is appointed, the various branches and departments of the system-wide government (if any), the military, how the military works, and any other detail that provides a reader a good picture of the overall structure of politics surrounding the world as a whole. If there is no unified government or a single entity running the world as a whole, mention how the world handles outsiders or represents themselves to others, also summarizing the larger influences and their operations.

Trade and Economy
This section should not be used to get into the nitty-gritty of all the economical factors within the world, but rather look exclusively at the world's economy in relation to other worlds. Developers will have ample opportunity to discuss economy within the world further down the road in their world building. Include the following topics when describing the economy of your star system:

Go into detail about economic allies, open trade and sanctioned systems, and trade embargos.Discuss the overall picture of the world's economic role in relation to other worlds.

Discuss the overall economic activity of the world. Go into detail about the economic system the world chooses to use with worlds and if it is a unified world, discuss how this economic system works within the system itself. Detail its major resources, interterrestrial demands and interrestrial supplies. Mention any economic movements or worldwide practices, such as unified currencies, stock markets, etc. Also relate the economy with the system's government if there is one and how it is regulated.

History
This is not a history of all the individual societies within the world, but rather of the world itself. Discuss the major events that affected the whole world throughout living history. Be sure to explore the territorial, economic, religious, political and social aspects of the world's history in detail.

Society
Provide an overall picture of the world's society. Include art, literature, sports, past times, foods, customs, slang, biases, prejudices, traditions, religions, political movements, architecture, music, education, media and entertainment, social classes, worldview, and any other detail that will provide a picture of the people there. The social aspects you go into should be somewhat universal throughout the world. Do not include social aspects specific to a culture within the world because you will detail those things later on in the world building process.

Also include the latest major happenings in the world on all social aspects. Mention various headlines, ongoing problems and any social issues that may apply. You may also mention main social figures, leaders, celebrities, journalists, etc. This is an opportunity to apply reality to your world. Only mention current events that are important to the world as a whole.

Geography
Discuss the overall geography of the planet and where the political boundaries are. This is simply an overview of all the regions of the planet and who is settled there (if anyone). You will not need to go into detail on the nations themselves yet.
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Nation Development

This section goes into detail about developing a nation or region. The processes listed will provide a complete picture of the region from a scientific point of view, but more importantly how it incorporates with the story setting and what players would use this place for.

By creating a nation you must take into account all of the nuances of that nation and what organizations are necessary. Potentially, each organization the nation yields will require development on its own, as well. Clearly, a region without a nation will not need social development.

Official Nation or Region Name
A region is a large area with natural boundaries, whereas a nation is an area with political boundaries. Use the full official name for the region or nation here

Indigenous Name
The common name for the region or nation, used by the inhabitants.

General Statistics
-Official Language
-Capital
-Largest City
-Area
-Population
-Currency
-Anthem

Geography
List geographical features such as mountains, rivers, oceans, etc., as well as the geographical boundaries, size, and dimensions. Discuss various natural resources found here, as well as geological elements, and natural occurrences. How does this region compare to the rest of the world in its size, features, and resources? Discuss the climate, temperature, rain patterns, and overall weather patterns as well as sea/ocean/lake patterns. Finally, discuss the ecology, plantlife, animal life, and ecology.

List and briefly describe and compare major cities, settlements, or landmarks in relation to their geographical location and significance. Describe major travel routes, method of transportation, and overall geographical relationships.

Go into detail on political boundaries, both internationally and within the nation. Describe how the boundaries are form and a brief outline of the nation or region's history in terms of geography.

Summarize the geographical, meteorological, oceanographic, geological, and environmental significance of the region.

Politics
Describe the political structure of the nation or region and their political relationship with other nations as well as their internal political structure. What is the nature of the government? Who runs the government? What are their overall processes? How are laws created, implemented, and enforced? How does the government work with its citizens and how does it work with other governments? Provide a brief history of the development of the government.

Describe the military in detail. How is it organized and what are the major divisions, tactics, and processes for the military? Who runs the military? What kind of resources do they have? How are they deployed and for what reasons? Provide a brief history of the development of the military.

Go into detail about political allies, political truces and treaties, cease-fires and no fly zones, pending negations, cold wars, and hot wars. Discuss the overall picture of the nation's political role in relation to other planets. Discuss various international territories, international customs processes, international trade, international tensions, trade embargos, conflicts, and its overall political position in the world.

Summarize the political structure of the world as a whole and how it handles domestic and foreign affairs, how the world works, who is in charge, how leadership is appointed, the various branches and departments of the system-wide government (if any), the military, how the military works, and any other detail that provides a reader a good picture of the overall structure of politics surrounding the world as a whole. If there is no unified government or a single entity running the world as a whole, mention how the world handles outsiders or represents themselves to others, also summarizing the larger influences and their operations.

Provide an overview on how the government and military work both internally and internationally and discuss political organizations.

Economy
Describe the nature of the economy, how it works, how it is regulated and how it is measured. How does this economy relate to other nations? How does it work internally? Describe the major economic resources, capital and forms of trade. Discuss the currency and its value relating to other nations. Briefly discuss the history of the economy and what it's current state is.

Go into detail about economic allies, open trade and sanctioned systems, and trade embargos. Discuss the overall picture of the nation's economic role in relation to other nations.

Discuss the overall economic activity of the nation. Go into detail about the economic system the nation chooses to use, discuss how this economic system works within the world itself. Detail its major resources, international demands and international supplies. Mention any economic movements or nationwide practices, such as unified currencies, stock markets, etc. Also relate the economy with the nation's government if there is one and how it is regulated.

Summarize the economy and discuss various economic organizations.

Society
Provide an overall picture of the nation's society. Include art, literature, sports, past times, foods, customs, slang, biases, prejudices, traditions, religions, political movements, architecture, music, education, media and entertainment, social classes, worldview, and any other detail that will provide a picture of the people there. The social aspects you go into should be somewhat universal throughout the region.

Also include the latest major happenings in the world on all social aspects. Mention various headlines, ongoing problems and any social issues that may apply. You may also mention main social figures, leaders, celebrities, journalists, etc. This is an opportunity to apply reality to your nation.

History
Discuss the major events that affected the region throughout history. Be sure to explore the territorial, economic, religious, political and social aspects of the world's history in detail.

Other Additions
Flag
Seal/Symbol
Geography Map
Political Map
History Map(s)
World Map
Guest

Post by Guest »

Ha this all reminds me of a game I used to play when I was like, 9 and all alone in our dark basement (not really but I was a bit of a sad case then) and I would create a map of a world, stick nations there and write a chronology of that world from like, year 0 to the present day. I would then reenact events and so on with toys. Anyways, I still have files and files in our loft with all the information about those countries with everythign mentioned above included, from national identity to the average gdp of the population.

Then I found Civ II of course...
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