Worldbuilding Resources
A big list of worldbuilding resources available around the web.
Essentials
- /r/worldbuilding - If you are into worldbuilding and you do not know about this place yet, this would be the first link you should click. They also have their own list of resources, many of which are also included on this page.
Starting a World
- Culture-making checklist - neitherworldstories.blogspot.com
- Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions
Mythology
- Alpine folklore
- Aztec mythology
- Beowulf
- Finnish mythology
- Germanic mythology
- Greek mythology
- Kalevala
- Medieval legends
- Norse mythology
- The 4 stories we tell ourselves about death - Stephen Cave
- Worldbuilding: Fantasy Religion Design Guide
Astronomy
Demographics
- Biome reference
- Crash Course Biology: Ecology - Rules for Living on Earth
- Hypothetical types of biochemistry
- On the Ecology of the Orc
Culture & Politics
- Culture-making checklist - neitherworldstories.blogspot.com
- Government of a Late Medieval Village
- How much land does it take to support one human being?
- List of calendars
- Medieval Life & The Hundred Years War
- Medieval Life
Demographics
- Functional Model of the Late Medieval Village
- Medieval Demographics Made Easy - Tools: rpglibrary, donjon
- Medieval English society
Economics
Climate & Ecology
Flags
War
Guides
- 25 Things You Should Know About Worldbuilding
- 7 Deadly Sins of Worldbuilding
- RPG World Building Series by sr2joker
- World Building Series by PhDnD
Magic
Inspiration
- Crash Course World History: A series on the history of the world, covering pretty much everything. Notes.
- Past Challenges from /r/worldbuilding: Random challenges for the world building community.
Language
Law
Magic
Maps
- /r/imaginarymaps
- A pretty simple guide to basic tectonic scenarios, part 2.
- Ascension's Atlas Style Tutorial - Revised Presentation (video).
- Ascensions' Atlas style in Photoshop
- Cartographers' Guild* PlaTec - Plate Tectonics simulator
- Historical city locations based on defence and commerce
- History of cartography
- lands - World generator using simulation of plates, rain shadow, erosion, etc.
- Madness of a Modern Writer's Map Making Series
- Tectonics.js - 3D Plate Tectonics in Your Browser
- The Cartography Guild's "Cartographer's Choice" Winners
- The History of Cartography - 6-book series on cartography. PDFs available.
Guides
Inspiration
- Crash Course World History: A series on the history of the world, covering pretty much everything. Notes.
- Past Challenges from /r/worldbuilding: Random challenges for the world building community.
Nobility and Politics
Religion
- Alpine folklore
- Aztec mythology
- Beowulf
- Finnish mythology
- Germanic mythology
- Greek mythology
- Kalevala
- Medieval legends
- Norse mythology
- The 4 stories we tell ourselves about death - Stephen Cave
- Worldbuilding: Fantasy Religion Design Guide
Real Projects
Software
- Donjon
- Flag Maker
- Free World Building Software
- Marvelous Designer - 3D tool for making clothing.
- Megacosm
- Planetary Habitability Laboratory - Software Tools
- TerraChronica
- Vue - Realistic scenery generator.
- World Machine - Terrain generator.
Random generators
Unsorted
- http://io9.com/7-deadly-sins-of-worldbuilding-998817537
- http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2013/09/17/25-things-you-should-know-about-worldbuilding/
- If The Earth Had Rings Like Saturn
- The Relativistic Rocket - The math behind spaceships travelling near the speed of light. A calculator also exists
Space
- Atomic Rockets, projectrho.com: A must-read for any sci-fi worldbuilder.
- If The Earth Had Rings Like Saturn
- The Relativistic Rocket - The math behind spaceships travelling near the speed of light. A calculator also exists
TvTropes
Cliches can serve both as warnings and inspirations.
- Adventure-Friendly World
- Always Chaotic Evil
- Blue Blood
- Fantasy Counterpart Culture
- Fantasy World Map
- Five Races
- Forbidden Zone
- Heroic Fantasy
- Law of Cartographical Elegance
- Left-Justified Fantasy Map
- Literature: The Tough Guide to Fantasyland
- Low Fantasy
- Magic A Is Magic A
- Medieval European Fantasy
- Medieval Stasis
- Our Orcs Are Different
- Royal Blood
- Schizo Tech
- The Empire
- The Fair Folk
- The Federation
- Weapon of Choice
- World Building