"Deep Dive" Framework (Bottom-Up Worldbuilding)

Step 1: Focus on a Small Locale

• Define a Specific Starting Point: Choose a small area—such as a village, town, or neighborhood—to ground your worldbuilding.

• Establish Core Details: Outline the economy, daily routines, key resources, and local customs. Think about how people survive, work, and celebrate.

• Root in Science: Ground the environment in realistic geography and ecology. Consider factors like climate, topography, and local flora and fauna to make it feel believable.?​

Step 2: Build Societal and Cultural Layers

• Develop Social Structures: Identify social hierarchies, power dynamics, and cultural norms. For instance, who holds power here? Are there guilds, religious groups, or a ruling family?

• Integrate Local Customs: Introduce unique cultural traits—festivals, music, rituals—that distinguish this location. These details offer players or readers a sense of place.

• Tie Culture to Environment: Reflect the environment in the culture. If it’s a fishing village, does water hold spiritual significance? Are local myths tied to the sea?

• Questions:

  • What unique customs, festivals, or beliefs define the lives of its residents?

  • Who are the key figures in this community, and what roles do they play in maintaining its culture and stability?

  • What resources or trades sustain the economy, and how are they impacted by the larger world’s conditions?

Step 3: Expand to Neighboring Regions

• Introduce Nearby Areas: Expand outward logically, introducing other regions that have a natural relationship with the starting locale (e.g., trade partners, rival settlements).

• Consider Relationships and Tensions: Define how these regions interact. Is there competition over resources, or historical animosity?

• Scale Complexity Gradually: As you add regions, maintain a natural progression, ensuring each new layer builds on what you’ve established.

• Questions:

  • How does the geography or climate of this region shape its people’s way of life?

  • What is the relationship between neighboring towns or villages—are they allies, rivals, or neutral?

  • What natural landmarks or mystical sites do the people revere or fear within this area?

Step 4: Introduce External Threats or Forces

• Identify Localized Threats First: Start with small threats relevant to the area, like bandit raids or seasonal floods, that bring tension and urgency to the locale.

• Expand to Larger Forces: Gradually introduce regional or even global threats, such as invasions, magical disasters, or economic shifts. Each external force should logically affect multiple areas, adding complexity to the world.

• Ground Threats in Reality or Myth: Create believable consequences for these threats, drawing from the world’s ecology, history, or mythology for added depth.

• Questions:

  • What is the main external force or threat, and why has it begun to impact this region?

  • How do residents view this threat—do they see it as an opportunity, a curse, or a test of resilience?

  • Are there local factions or individuals who benefit from, or actively oppose, this external force?

Step 5: Integrate History and Mythology

• Craft Local Legends: Begin with myths and folklore relevant to your starting point, providing historical or supernatural explanations for landmarks, festivals, or names.

• Weave a Layered History: Add historical events that explain current societal structures, alliances, or enmities. Myths can give context to larger world elements, hinting at other places and times.

• Link Personal and World History: Use character interactions to reveal how local myths and histories affect individuals, letting history become a living part of the story.

• Questions:

  • What historical events or legends are still remembered in this region, and how do they affect daily life?

  • Are there any ruins, artifacts, or relics that link the present to the past?

  • How has the region changed over generations, and what lasting effects have previous conflicts or alliances had?

Step 6: Introduce Technology or Magic

• Begin with Simple Uses: Introduce magic or technology in small, community-driven ways. For example, a village healer might use magic only for injuries or ailments specific to the local area.

• Develop Logical Growth: As you expand, show how neighboring regions approach magic or technology differently, depending on resources, beliefs, or history.

• Tie Innovations to Conflict: Introduce political or social conflicts as certain regions monopolize or outlaw certain technologies or magical practices, adding realism and tension.

• Questions:

  • How is magic or technology currently used in daily life, and who has access to it?

  • Do neighboring regions view magic or technology as a resource, a threat, or a divine gift?

  • Are there laws or restrictions on certain magical or technological practices, and what conflicts arise from them?

Step 7: Create a Living World with Dynamic Interactions

• Develop an Evolving Landscape: Treat each region as a living entity, affected by both internal changes and external forces. Track how threats, alliances, and conflicts impact societies over time.

• Allow Regions to React: Give each area agency, reacting logically to developments elsewhere. For example, if a nearby region becomes a magical hotspot, others may grow suspicious or send spies.

• Introduce Personal Stakes: Use the small, initial setting as a home base, grounding characters emotionally and allowing readers or players to care deeply about what happens to it.

• Questions:

  • How do nearby regions impact this area through trade, alliances, or rivalry?

  • What recent events have altered the physical or social landscape of this region?

  • Are there areas where change has led to public support, fear, or resistance?

Step 8: Deepen Through Character-Driven Exploration

• Reveal Through Characters: Use the perspective of characters, as Rothfuss does with Kvothe, to experience the world organically. Allow their journeys to introduce new elements without overwhelming detail.

• Use Emotion and Personal Impact: Show how the locale, cultures, and threats affect characters emotionally. Their reactions give depth to the setting and provide a sense of scale.

• Expand the World Through Discovery: As characters travel or interact with new people, reveal more layers of the world’s history, culture, and conflicts in small, meaningful pieces.

• Questions:

  • How do characters’ personal backgrounds shape their interactions with magic, technology, or tradition?

  • What emotional ties do characters have to their home region or its culture?

  • As characters explore, what hidden histories or local beliefs come to light through their experiences?

 

Final Advice: Use this framework to create a layered, cohesive world. Focus first on detailed, small-scale realism, then add depth with cultural nuances, societal dynamics, and external threats. The world will feel like it’s growing organically with each addition, engaging players or readers by immersing them in a believable, interconnected environment.  Check out the 1000 questions to ask about your world to drill into more detail.