You've defined your universe. Chosen your galaxy. Placed your world beside its star. Now, it's time to stand on solid ground.
This chapter is about the birth of the world—the moment when your planet, realm, or dimension begins to exist as something more than an idea. Before people build cities or cast spells, there must be a place for them to live, breathe, and exist.
Let's build that place.
Step One: How Was the World Formed?
Understanding your world's origin story helps anchor everything that comes after. Ask yourself:
Was your world...
Forged by natural forces? A result of planetary formation, tectonic shifts, and time?
Created by a god or cosmic being? Sculpted by intention—crafted like clay or sung into being?
Born from destruction? A fragment of a larger world, a prison for ancient entities, or the aftermath of universal collapse?
Grown or evolved? Perhaps your world is alive, organic, and still growing like a seed or a living organism.
Your world's birth influences its terrain, history, and tone. A scarred, ancient world will feel very different from a freshly born realm still shaking off stardust.
Step Two: Physical Properties and Planetary Rules
Now decide on the fundamental traits of the world itself:
1. Size and Shape
Is your world Earth-sized, smaller, or a massive gas giant with a habitable moon?
Is it round, flat, hollow, layered, or an infinite plane?
Does it loop? (Walk far enough and you return to where you started?)
The shape of the world changes how people perceive it—and how it physically functions.
2. Gravity
Is gravity Earth-like, heavier, or lighter?
Does gravity shift by region or even by time of day?
Is gravity natural or artificial, perhaps controlled by ancient machines or magical cores?
Think about how gravity affects:
Architecture (do they build upward or low and wide?)
Movement and combat (leaping, falling, flying?)
Creature design (do things float, slither, or stomp?)
3. Time
How long is a day? A year?
Are there seasons? Do they last for days, years, or centuries?
Does time behave normally, or does it spiral, fracture, loop?
Consider:
Does time pass differently in different regions?
Is there time magic? Time gods? Time sickness?
Time is one of the most powerful tools in worldbuilding—it affects calendars, rituals, aging, and even memory.
4. Atmosphere
Is the air breathable? What's in it?
Is the sky blue, green, or forever storming with energy clouds?
Is the weather natural, or controlled by something—or someone?
Atmosphere changes the feel of your world. A thick fog, low visibility, or constant auroras could become a cultural or mystical norm.
Step Three: Elemental Balance
Decide what fundamental substances make up your world:
Does it follow the classical Earth elements (Earth, Air, Fire, Water)?
Or are there unique elements—like Void, Ether, Crystal, Dream?
Is the planet made of stone, ice, glass, bone, or something stranger?
Maybe elements shift by region. Maybe there's an area ruled entirely by liquid metal or floating wind-islands. You set the rules.
Step Four: Core Mysteries and Phenomena
Ask yourself: What makes this world special?
Is there a core crystal powering the planet?
Are there floating continents or sky rivers?
Does the planet whisper to those who listen? Is it alive?
These features may never be fully explained in your story—but they're what make the world yours.
You might even include a few unexplained phenomena:
A never-ending storm in the east
A sea that reflects stars instead of clouds
A forest that reconfigures its layout every night
The best worlds feel like they extend beyond what we can see.
Bonus: Let the World Speak for Itself
Before we move on to building cultures, civilizations, or magic systems, take a moment to listen to your world.
What sounds fill the air? What do people hear at night?
What's the first thing a traveler sees when they arrive?
What are the colors of the sky, the soil, the moon?
What stories do the land and stars whisper to those who dream?
This is your stage. Your home. Your mystery.
Let it live.