Tolkien-Inspired Worldbuilding Template for Fantasy Fiction
Worldbuilding Template for Fantasy Fiction and Fantasy Table Top Game
Today marks the birthday of J.R.R. Tolkien, who is often touted as the “father” of modern fantasy. His world, Middle-earth, is still to this day one of the most flushed out fantasy worlds, helping the stories of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings feel immersive and believable. Being such, it’s only fitting to celebrate his birthday by diving into the art of building a conceivable world with this worldbuilding template.
1. Physical World:
Let’s start at the base of your story—the world your characters exist in. By exploring what the landscape looks like, you can tailor your story to the specifics of your region, helping to add a level of realism to your world.
Here are the points to consider:
Geography: Envision a diverse landscape comprising continents, mountains, rivers, and forests, meticulously shaping the world’s terrain and climate.
Image Source: Wikipedia
Make sure your geography makes sense! Research how rivers form or how mountains change a climate before making it a permanent part of your world.
Maps: Create a visual aid—a map—to guide readers through the sprawling expanse of your imagined world. Regardless of the complexity of your world, a map can deepen audience immersion.
Flora and Fauna: Populate your world with vibrant flora, mythical creatures, and unique species, painting a vivid ecosystem teeming with life.
Try replicating real world locations for the type of plants and animals that would thrive in your locations’ climates.
2. Cultural Aspects:
Once the landscape for your world has been set, you can begin to think of how people interact with your world. Consider the landmarks where your kingdoms and cities reside. How do they affect the people living there? Is there a major landmark that sparked a religion? Is there a landmark making it hard to pass between regions, thus create two societies with different languages? By using the details of your physical world, you can create realistic cultures.
Here are some additional factors to think about for this worldbuilding template:
Civilizations and Societies: Craft varied societies, each with its customs, hierarchies, and societal structures, influencing how characters navigate their world.
Make your societies feel unique from one another. If they are too similar, your audience might struggle with distinguishing the two.
Religions and Beliefs: Develop intricate belief systems, pantheons, and myths that shape cultural identities and influence the daily lives of inhabitants.
Languages: Construct languages or dialects, complete with scripts and linguistic nuances that breathe authenticity into different regions.
3. History and Lore:
Something that Tolkien accomplished in his world was in-depth history and lore for Middle-earth. While not all readers enjoy diving into the exact nuanced history of your world, it can be important for you as the worldbuilder to make decisions. Creation myths, major historical events, and legends and folklore help dictate how your civilizations function and interact with one another.
Creation Myth: Enthrall readers with a captivating creation myth or historical timeline, anchoring the world’s origin and significant events.
Maybe the creation myth has changed over the years due to who controls a region. This could affect believes in different regions, potentially leading to conflict. This is just one of many examples that could help bring your world to life.
Major Historical Events: Outline pivotal moments, wars, and conflicts that have left an indelible mark on the world’s present state.
This could even change your geography. Was there a war that destroyed a section of land?
Legends and Folklore: Introduce legendary figures, myths, and folklore, enriching the world’s depth and providing cultural context.
Take the example listed above under historical events and extrapolate: maybe part of your world’s folklore is that the site of that war is now haunted and that’s why no one wants to live there.
4. Political Systems:
While politics isn’t everyone’s cup of tea when it comes to fantasy (couldn’t be me), knowing how a region is controlled decides the rules for your characters. Are they under a strict government that creates hurdles for their journey? The government could also be the exact opposite. What if the only rule was chaos and your characters had to constantly fight for their belongings? This type of worldbuilding creates intriguing and distinctive conflicts for characters.
Governments and Rulers: Detail diverse forms of governance—monarchies, councils, or dictatorships—that govern different regions or civilizations.
Not sure where to start? Search examples of various government powers in the real world. While it’s not recommended to copy a current government one for one, it could serve as a jumping of point.
Power Dynamics: Explore the intricate web of politics, alliances, and power struggles that dictate the fate of nations.
Politics and alliances create tension for your story. There could be different ruling parties that create tension within a region. Or in A Queen’s Game, I used political intrigue to drive tension by making the reader unsure of who they could trust. This angst creates a page-turning experience for your reader.
5. Magic and Supernatural Elements:
This is the stuff that sets fantasy apart from other genre, making it crucial to nail for your world. By creating a unique magic system and intriguing supernatural elements, you can make your world stand out.
Magic System: Define rules, sources, and limitations of magic, incorporating unique spells or abilities that influence characters and the world.
Magic systems could be its own blog post because there are so many ways you could design the magic of your world. If you’re unsure where to start, try learning from the best. This free lecture from legendary fantasy writer, Brandon Sanderson, breaks down how to build a soft or hard magic system.
Need help creating a magic system? Checkout my free workbook!
Supernatural Elements: Introduce mystical beings, entities, or systems, each contributing their essence to the world’s mystique and allure.
What makes your world fantasy besides the magic system? Are there fantasy races? Is there a sentient forest?
6. Economy and Trade:
This section is just for you, worldbuilder. I’m going to be honest, no one wants to read paragraphs on the intricate economic systems or trade relations of a world. If you say you do, then I have to assume you’re lying. Yet these elements are still important because it sets up another boundary for your world.
Economic Systems: Outline trade routes, currencies, and economic structures that support civilizations and drive societal progress.
Deciding how people can make money—or even who—creates a good canvas to set your characters on.
Commerce and Trade Relations: Showcase trade alliances, economic disparities, and the impact of commerce on societal dynamics.
These details are significant to help decide political tensions within a city, kingdom, or even regions. Use them to your advantage below when we get into Conflict and Threats.
7. Technology and Innovation:
Not every fantasy story needs to be set in medieval times. By describing the technological progress of your societies, you can give your audience a better idea of what is possible in your world. This leads to what innovations and discoveries could be made during your story.
Technological Advancements: Describe the level of technological progress—be it medieval, futuristic, or magical—and its influence on societies.
Innovations and Discoveries: Highlight groundbreaking inventions or discoveries that shape the world’s progression.
8. Daily Life and Culture:
What does a daily life look like for your characters before the start of your story? Think about what and how they interact with their surroundings.
Daily Practices: Detail daily routines, housing, food, clothing, and societal norms that ground readers in the everyday lives of characters.
Arts and Entertainment: Explore art forms, literature, music, sports, or festivals that enrich cultural experiences.
9. Conflict and Threats:
This is the part of the worldbuildling template where the details come together to create a unique and fleshed out world. Take the various aspects you listed out above and focus on how they can create conflicts for your world, thus potential conflicts for your characters.
Internal Conflicts: Unveil societal tensions, cultural clashes, or ideological rifts within civilizations that breed conflict.
External Threats: Introduce external dangers—wars, invasions, natural disasters, or supernatural calamities—that test the world’s resilience.
10. Character Interaction and Journey:
Now we’re at the end of this worldbuilding template where you get to decide how your character interacts with everything above. Using what you’ve outlined, apply notes on how it will impact your characters.
Travel and Exploration: Map characters’ journeys through diverse landscapes, encounters, and obstacles that shape their growth.
Cultural Exchange: Showcase interactions between characters from different cultures, fostering alliances or sparking conflicts.
Crafting an immersive world needs meticulous attention to each facet outlined in this worldbuilding template. While it seems overwhelming, I promise you it is not only possible, but necessity. These elements combine seamlessly to establish a captivating universe that fully immerses your audience and enhances the overall storytelling.
Continue with the World Building series by reading the how to build a magic system blog next! (It comes with a free workbook). Read it here.