The Power of Geography (Use Natural Resources) | Worldbuilding
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ก.ค. 2024
- Check out the start of this worldbuilding series here: • How to Start Worldbuil...
In this episode of our Worldbuilding Series, we delve into the transformative power of geography in crafting fictional worlds. Discover how terrain shapes empires, the lore behind a simple lake, and the intricate balance of fantastical and plausible elements in geography. From the majestic peaks to the vast deserts, explore the storytelling power of natural landscapes.
We'll also uncover how natural resources like minerals and forests drive economies, the impact of climate and weather on inhabitants, and the critical role of natural hazards in narratives. Plus, learn the art of creating iconic landmarks that bring depth to your fictional universe.
This video is a must-watch for writers, game developers, and tabletop roleplayers eager to enhance their worldbuilding skills. Whether you're crafting a new universe or refining an existing one, you'll gain insights into making geography a compelling and integral part of your narrative.
If you find this video helpful, please consider giving it a like, and don’t forget to subscribe to the channel for more content on storytelling, worldbuilding and fantasy writing.
#Worldbuilding #WorldbuildingAdvice #WorldbuildingGuide #WorldbuildingTips #Storytelling #StorytellingAdvice #StorytellingGuide #StorytellingTips #FantasyWriting #CreativeWriting #WritingAdvice #WritingTips
00:00 Geography in Worldbuilding
00:51 Foundation of Geography
02:04 Geographical Features
04:34 Natural Resources
06:17 Climate & Weather
08:22 Natural Hazards
09:59 Legendary Places
Alternative title ideas (for the algo)
- How To Use Geography In Worldbuilding
- Why Your World’s Geography Is Much More Important Than You Think
- World Building Geography (The Physical Foundation Of Your World)
![[TH] 2024 PMWC x EWC Main Tournament Day 1 | PUBG MOBILE WORLD CUP x ESPORTS WORLD CUP](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/f5Coja1zCzo/mqdefault.jpg)
Transform Your Fantasy Writing in Just 5 Minutes a Week: Sign Up for the Tale Tinkerer Newsletter here => thetaletinkerer.com/newsletter/
I like how each of your videos fit together like puzzle pieces.
It shows when I compare stories I like and see how the tips work and it also brings my own story together when I find ways to use them.
Thank you for the kind words - really glad to hear you're getting some value out of the videos :)
This guy is so underated
Let's see if we can't keep our community of creatives growing here. I'll certainly do my best to improve and keep adding value :)
Amazing video as always! Quick suggestion, could you put the videos in this worldbuilding series into a separate playlist on your channel? I feel it would be easier to go through, especially as the series gets longer. Keep up the great work!
Thank you for the positive feedback. I've added the fundamentals series as a separate playlist now as well - hope this helps :)
Welcome back!
Thank you, glad to back back creating :)
I have a mountain range in my novel. It was the residence of the dragons before The Dragon Decimation. The giants reside in a portion of it as well. I could add resources for people to risk going there. Thanks.
The mystical aspects of that mountai range with both dragons and giants having a history there certainly sounds like a great opportunity for rare resources to be found there, yes. I'd just make sure that these resources are properly included in the rest of the world. If they are all-powerful, the question would be why there isn't more focus on gathering them for example.
@@TheTaleTinkerer I do have a substance known as Xenodine which is the hardest substance in my universe I could have some be there and it would fit with one of the characters having their replacement arm made out of it after losing it to a dragon she slayed.
If you're worldbuilding for a sci-fi story, then yes, the geography should be plausible. However, if it is a world teeming with magic then mountains, rivers, forests, and other features can all exist because of magic or some event. Many cultures have stories about how land features were formed (Gods, trolls, Paul Bunyan); in a fantasy world, these legends could be true. The Greek, Romans, and Japanese even associated different features with spirits (daemon) and kami which often personified specific features such as the Greek dryad, naiads, and oreads. With that in mind, a mountain range could be the physical form of a god or daemon instead of something natural.
After saying all of that, I have to admit that I'm not sure how this would affect the world. If lakes, rivers, forests, and mountains were actual gods or spirits how would the people use the resources? Would they or would it be considered sacrilege? If a mountain was a physical god, would there even be ore in it to mine?
Even the weather and seasons could be completely controlled by Gods instead of being natural. Many cultures have storm gods (Zeus, Thor, Perun, etc) and have myths to explain the seasons- the most famous of which is the myth of Persephone, Hades, and Demeter. There is a similar story in Slavic mythology with the goddess of death and winter Morana. If weather or seasons was controlled by the gods, this could place a heavy cultural significance on festivals associated with these gods! Don't anger the storm god or he'll cause a flood. Don't cross the goddess of winter or the snow will come early. There could even be spirits of rain and snow that cause sudden changes in the weather. Again, I emphasis how this would drastically affect how the people in the world act. Staying in the good graces of the gods would be paramount- honoring the gods would likely be the bedrock of the society.
With this type of worldbuilding, most of what is talked about in this video could be completely magical if the respective gods have completely control. Personally, I'd prefer writing a story where the gods seldomly interfere so that most of this (the landscape, weather, seasons, etc) can be natural. The people would still fear the wrath of the gods, but the world wouldn't be as unpredictable. Maybe there are even signs that herald "divine intervention" from a god or spirit. Creating some type of balance with this would allow fantasy writers to have landscapes that don't make scientific sense without over doing it; yet there could still be places in the world that are special because they have gained the favor of a god or spirit. A city in the middle of a desert could be a thriving oasis because they patron a minor rain god/spirit. On the other hand, daemons causing mischief could make for great conflict!
That's the train of thought watching your video sent me down! I'm currently writing a fantasy comic that will have a full pantheon of gods that are more than just myth. I still need to create each of the gods, the creation myth, and other myths that will tie back to worldbuilding. I already intended to incorporate some of the ideas I explained above but writing it out like this held me expand the idea.
Really appreciate the in-depth comment. And yes, you are correct, that in fantasy almost everything can simply be explained by magic or intervention of deities. I would argue though that there is a risk of losing the reader if your world lacks any logic or relatability whatsoever. You always face the risk of creating a "Deus ex machina" by simply saying "this was god A" or "that was solved with magic" if it lacks deeper in-world logic at least.
So I do prefer to ensure having things grounded and logical UNLESS I deliberately choose to strive away from it for the sake of my world (which I gave some examples for in the second episode of this series: "Design Your Universe (Science Isn’t Everything) - Worldbuilding Series - Ep. 2") :)
@@TheTaleTinkerer I definitely see how that could be a risk with it feeling like a deus ex machina, but at the same time I don't want to create a pantheon of gods and never get to use them. My hope is that as long as I avoid the conflict in the story being solved through divine interventions that having gods in the story wouldn't weaken it. The gods also abide by a set of rules or in-story logic; they are confined to their own domains so the goddess of the moon cannot influence who dies any more than she could control the weather. Basically, my story is gonna be very reliant on in-world logic for reasons I'll get to.
The main themes of my story are "exploration" and "the world is dangerous". The continents are vast, and the oceans are even more so. This makes travel difficult, to say the least. In order to have large continents and large oceans, I've had to scale up the size of the world to be larger than Earth. However, I don't want the gravity to be different so, again, I have to explain this with magic since it wouldn't make scientific sense. Like in the Norse creation myth, my world was made from the body of a god (or goddess) which means I have to decide how this would affect natural forces. Even simple natural laws that seem obvious to us, such as rivers flowing down hill, could be completely reverse.
However, that's not what I want for my world. I only bring up the possibility of what the world could be like to consider everything. What I'm currently thinking is that there will be naturally formed mountains, rivers, etc. However, the ones that are connected to a god or spirit will be special; these mountains would be taller and resistant to erosion, the rivers might be crazy in size, or they could even flow uphill instead of down. While it will be fun to create features of the world that stand out because of the influence of gods, spirits, or magic I still want to include natural weather patterns, landscapes, and climates.
Most of the time, gods and spirits will cause problems that will need to be solved. I'll use this sparingly, but I do like the idea of the weather suddenly changing or something else happening cause a god or spirit took offense to something. The worldbuilding aspect that this creates intrigues me; I might incorporate the idea at a larger scale in the history of my world when the gods intervened more. There are a lot of myths about disasters caused because of the gods (Atlantis, Trojan War, etc).
I tried to keep this short, but as you said, I'm very "in-depth".
@@Andrewtr6Appreciate the depth :) And it certainly sounds like you've put some serious thought into the foundation of your world.
That already limits the risk of creating issues like a deus ex machina. In the end, there are countless ways of approaching the design of a universe, gods and beyond. And they could all lead to amazing stories if done right.
So I'm certainly not advocating that there is only one way - just trying to share insights and help people on their own way :)