WORLDBUILDING TEMPLATE

Government Structure
 Select your type of government
 Name the different government positions and the titles for government officials
 If there are elections: who can vote, run for office, hold office (gender or class
restrictions)
 If hereditary, how are disputes in the line of succession handled?
 If a theocracy, how are people of other cultures/beliefs treated? How are non-
believers treated?
 How content are the common people with their current government? How
aware are they of upper level politics?

Social/Economic/Political Hierarchy (Class Structure)

 Number of class levels, as well as equivalent levels in different spheres of
influence
 What separates classes, how clear are the distinctions between classes
 How much interaction between classes occurs
 Rigidity/mobility - how easy is it for someone to improve their standing or be
cast down
 Last names/titles - who gets them and why?
 Privileges, responsibilities of each class
 Gender roles/levels within each class
 How concerned is each class with bloodlines
 Status of bastards, and does it change depending on class

Economics
 What type of economic system exists in your culture?
 Industrial stage
 Is this a period of relative prosperity or economic depression?
 How involved is the government in matters of trade?
 How culturally valued is each stage and type of labour?
 What forms of money are used? Do they have a credit system? Loans? Interest?
 Any form of unemployment benefits or UBI?
 Automation replacing workers at any/all steps of the economic production
process?

Political/Social Ideology
 What does the government prioritize (policy, budget)
 What is the government’s stance on controversial issues
 What does the country and culture as a whole prioritize? What ideas, successes,
or progress is celebrated? Which are ignored?
 Where is the “glory”? Why? Does it pay well? What are the non-financial perks
of these roles or jobs?
 Who is seen as important? Who is invisible or undersirable? Does everyone
agree?
 Party slogans
 What do different political groups stand for? How much support does each
group have? Does the party or person in power need the support of opposing
factions?
Language and Naming
NOTE This section does not cover the technical aspects of conlang (creating a
useable, speakable language)
 Are there physical attributes (like forked tongues, differently shaped jaws, etc)
that would alter the way the people speak and thus alter how their language
developed?
 What sounds are most common to their language? Are any unique to their
language?
 How are towns/cities named?
 Do people have last names/surnames/family names?
 Are there common elements to first names?
 How similar is their language to that of their neighbors or trade partners?
 How common is it for someone to speak more than one language?
 Is there a written language? Who learns to read it? Who learns to write it?
 If there is more than one language, is one “the common tongue”? How will you
show people speaking languages other than the primary one of the story?

Religion
 Separation of church and state?
 Is there more than one religion in your world or in this country/culture
 How fanatical are the followers
 How familiar is the common lay-person with technical aspects of their theology?
 Does your culture, or a subset of your culture, believe in deities as beings with
power?
 Number of deities, their genders, their physical traits
 Regularity of church services, differences between regular services and
feasts/festivals/holy days
 Type of service, who can attend, how mandatory is it to attend
 Style of church buildings, does this differ between urban and rural, who built it,
when it’s built, etc
 Holy Book - is there one at all, what is in it, who has access to it
 Symbols, myths, legends, holy stories, imagery
 Formality of priesthood, training, ranks & hierarchy
 Gender of priesthood
 Names/terms/titles for buildings, officials, ceremonies, etc.
 Level of involvement in secular politics, or is it a theocracy

 Marriage traditions and views on divorce from a religious perspective

 Birth/naming traditions within the religion
 How do religious leaders handle blasphemy?

Magic
 Does it exist in your world
 If it exists as a real force in your world
o Is it common knowledge that some people can do it or is a secret
o How many people can use it, is it genetic or learned or both
o Is it book/spell based, intuitive, elemental …
o Non-magic users who know about magic, what do they think of it
 Magic Users:
 o How do they find out they can do magic?
o How are they trained?
o What are the limits and boundaries of magic, what can it do, what can it
never do, what is safe, what is dangerous
o What tools are required
 Magic and Healing
o What can it fix, what can’t it fix
o Who can do it, who has access to healers
o Is this in place of medical sciences or in addition to?
 If it exists in your world as a made-up or fake thing
o Are charlatans common? Are they believed?
o Is it just something from fairytales, legends, and story books?
o How are fictional stories of magic viewed by scholars or the church?

Legal System
 How formal is the legal system and the law enforcement system
 Who makes the laws, who enforces them
 Corruption within law enforcement
 Does the gender/class/”race”/gender identity/family standing of the victim or
suspect impact enforcement
 How are you viewed if you are a suspect/convict/victim, does the type of crime
change how people see you
 Are there different agencies for different types of crime
 Is there cooperation between the law enforcement agencies of different
countries/cultures? Does the allied/enemy status of two countries change how
they coordinate laws between them? Is there an international court of law or
international police force?
 For all of the below: what is considered criminal, how serious is the offense, how
is it investigated, social views on the crime/criminal/victim
o Property and Possession laws
o Business and Taxation
o Bodily Harm Laws
o Speech Laws
o Treason
o Family Law
 Church involvement in law enforcement, are they welcome or seen as meddling,
what types of crimes do they concern themselves with, overlap between legal
and moral
 Magical implications on the law
 Medical Malpractice laws
 Sex work

Organized Crime
 Is there organized crime in your world? Gangs? The Mob?
 How big is it? What crimes are they involved in?
 Who in law enforcement or the government do they have dealings with?
 How aware is the average citizen that there is organized crime going on?
 How open are gang/mob members about their affiliation?
 Are there secret symbols/tattoos/handshakes/code words? How do members
recognize each other?
 Who is trying to bring them down and why? What resistance are they meeting?
  What about organized bands of rebels or revolutionaries? How are they viewed
by law enforcement?

Education
 Formality and duration of education
 Differences by class/parentage/wealth/profession/gender/location

Inter-racial relations
 How do people/governments view
o Members of their own race/culture from different countries
o Members of other races/cultures either living in their country or living
abroad
 How does opinion differ by gender (both the gender of the opinion holder and
the gender of the “other”)
 How does opinion differ by region (again, both perceiver and perceived)
 Inter-racial children - how does it affect citizenship? How are they treated by the
people around them?

Music/Fashion/Food
 Who dances? When? Formal functions versus informal gatherings, religious
traditions, the arts/performances, etc.
 Styles of music, musical instruments, who has access to which instruments, how
much formal training
 Status of “artists” in any genre (musicians, painters, sculptors, writers, dancers)
among different classes
 Who pays artists to create, who buys art, who attends shows
 Differences in style and training between classes
 What foods are important culturally, special recipes for special occasions
 Are any foods, art forms, or fashion trends considered holy?
 Is food ever part of religious functions (offerings, group meals)?
 Types of fabrics and dyes, who has access to what
 Make up, who wears it, why, when - is it approved of or frowned upon? Where
do they get it? Who makes it?
 Tattoos - do they exist? Who gets them? How are they done? Are they
religiously important, part of a faction/group, or rebellious counter-culture? How
do people view people who have tattoos? Are certain types/styles more
acceptable than others?
 Hair: are there hairstyles distinctive to different classes, genders, races,
regions?
 Facial Hair - is it culturally acceptable for men to grow beards? To be clean
shaven? Do beard lengths or styles have significance (profession, status, life
stage)? Does this vary between classes? Does this vary between regions? Does
this vary between seasons?
 Salons & Barbers
 Body hair - cultural opinions on body hair (arm pit, chest, leg, pubic, eye brows,
arms) on men and women

Science, Medicine, and Technology

 Level of scientific/technological advancement in any and all fields
o Chemistry
o Biology/Anatomy
 o Botany/Agro-sciences
o Physics
o Zoology/Animal Husbandry
o Computer Technology
o Infrastructure
 Cultural views/practices around personal cleanliness, food cleanliness in prep
and storage
o Are they aware of germs?
 How is scientific study and advancement viewed by the church
 How is scientific study and advancement viewed by magic users
 How aware is the general population of different scientific theories?
 Do you have electricity?
 Medical doctors
o How are they trained
o Who (class, gender, race) can become what type of doctor
o How advanced is their medical knowledge
 How are people with missing limbs or lost usage of limbs viewed/treated
 How are the blind and deaf treated/viewed
 How are mental health issues (depression, anxiety, agoraphobia, ADHD, etc)
viewed/treated culturally/treated medically
 Downs Syndrome, Autism Spectrum, and other genetic or life-long conditions -
are they known, how are they treated culturally, how are they treated medically
 Are there charlatans, fake doctors, or “quacks”
 How is herbal medicine viewed
 How are the medical practices of other cultures viewed
 Menstruation - products available?
 Fertility & Birth Control
 Medical Transitioning for Trangender Individuals
 Medical diagnostic and surgical technology - what is available? Purely
science/tech or magically aided?
 Advanced biotech
 Technology as Entertainment
 Technology for Communication
 Technology around Security
 How would extreme climate/geographical changes affect all types of tech?
(extreme cold, underwater worlds, extreme heat, high levels of radiation, high
chances of EMPs from natural sources, stronger or weaker planetary magnetic
fields, etc)

The Military & Secret Services

 How large is the military? How much of it is land, air, or sea based? How much
of the land based army is foot soldiers vs calvary (or tanks and other vehicles
depending on tech levels)? How much of the military is always military
(standing army) vs how much is “in times of need only” (reserves or hastily
trained in emergencies)
 Training
 Military hierarchy: chain of command, who do they swear oaths of loyalty or
service to, how do different military ranks compare to political or religious ranks
 When not at war what role does the military play in society?
 What separates the military from the law enforcement agencies? Is there any
overlap?
  How do people of different classes or sects (church, magic users, scientists,
common people, etc) view the military, military research, and war in general?
 What is the tech level of the offensive and defensive tools used by the military?
Strictly science/tech or blended with magic?
 How much money does the government spend on the military (wages, research,
weapon building, etc)?
 Are soldiers/knights responsible for any of the costs they accrue (buying their
own weapons, armor, ammunition, horse, paying for damages, etc)?
 Are they aware of PTSD? What do they call it? How do they treat it? Do people
ever deny it’s a thing or deny how serious it can be?
 If magic is real in your society, are mages/magic users allowed to join the
military? Are they forced to? All of them or just those with “useful” talents?
 How much are military members paid? Does this increase during times of active
duty? If there’s no war are they paid at all?
 What about military or political spies? Do they exist? How are they selected and
trained?
 What about handlers? People to handle the data that comes back?
 Is spying a regular thing or only during times of open conflict?
 What about cyber-spying? Data mining?

The Supernatural/Myths/Legends
 Do creatures we view as “supernatural” or “fictional” in our world exist in your
world as fiction or real beings?
 Does their existence affect law enforcement?
 How are the fictional stories about them viewed?
 What about beings such as “the tooth fairy”, “Santa Claus” or “The Easter
Bunny”? Do you have similar fantastical beings tied to holidays, life events, gift
giving, etc? Are they real or just stories?
 Fairy Tales, legends, myths, old wives tales, parables
 Do you have a “lost” city or civilization (Atlantis, Shangri-la, etc)?

Architecture/Civic Planning
 What building materials are available based on geography? What building
materials are available based on tech level (smelting quality, power tools, etc)?
 What architectural style are you basing your society on?
 How does geography and local climate affect your buildings?
 How do households and businesses bring water in?
 How do households and businesses dispose of waste?
 How do cities, towns, municipalities dispose of waste?
 Rural/urban divide
 Roads
 Transportation
 Travel laws
 Decorative architecture such as statues, parks, murals, etc.
 Permissions/Codes/Permits
 Communications Networks - what is available? Who has access? How reliable is
it?
 Postal Service - does it exist? How formal is it? How are messages
carried/moved?

Trade
  Trade within the country/region’s borders - do different regions produce
different resources? Which ones? How valuable are they? How are they moved?
 What do local markets look like? How is it different between rural and urban
regions? Is it a daily or weekly market?
 Trade between countries/regions - how is it regulated? Are there specific
resources they are allowed or forbidden to trade?
 What does the country’s currency look like?
 How is the “exchange rate” between different countries with different currency
handled?
 Is there direct trade (6 eggs for a dozen potatoes; 4 chickens and a pregnant
pig for a young milk cow, etc) or trade for money or both?
 Are there banks?
 Are there merchant or craft guilds?

Aging & Pregnancy

 Physical Questions - what is the average life expectancy of this species? How
long does a pregnancy last? At what age do they hit puberty? At what age are
they physically mature? What is the physical reproductive process for this
species?
 At what ages are they considered:
o Infant
o Toddler
o Child
o Youth/Teen
o Legal adult
o Middle-aged
o Senior/elderly
o Old
 Are there special celebrations to mark transitions between life stages?
 Are there jobs or tasks within the community that are required of or reserved for
specific age groups?
 How is aging viewed within the community?
 What physical changes occur during the aging process?
 At what age can the childbearing members of society physically begin bearing
children?
 How concerned are they about parentage/lineage/who the father is? How do
they view pregnancy outside of marriage/cohabitation?
 Under what circumstances is a pregnancy celebrated? When would it be viewed
as a negative?
 Are there special celebrations to mark a birth? When are children named?
 How involved in the pregnancy are other family/community members ? How
involved are they in the birth? Who gets to be “in the room” when the birth
occurs?
 Are there superstitions around pregnancy, birth, or naming babies? Religious
requirements? What are the “consequences” of flaunting these non-medical
traditions?

Marriage
 Who are they allowed to marry
 What are the legal requirements and/or benefits of marriage? What rights does
a spouse have? In what situations?
  How formal is the wedding service?
 How are widows/widowers treated? How are divorcees treated? Does their
age/gender affect how they are treated?
 For what reasons, if any, is divorce allowed?
 Are there special celebrations to mark marriage anniversaries?
 Are people allowed to or even required to live together before having a formal
marriage or before their union is recognized?
 How many spouses can a person have under the law? Under religious tradition?
 What about consorts? Mistresses or lovers?

Death, Funerals, and the Afterlife

 Does your culture believe in an afterlife? What does it look like?

 How does a person’s soul/spirit gain entrance to the afterlife? What are the
consequences of being denied entrance to the afterlife?
 Is there a “right” or “wrong” way to dispose of a body?
 Traditions and rituals surrounding the interment of the remains
 Traditions and rituals surrounding the preparation of the remains
 Traditions and rituals around mourning the dead
 How does your culture view dying?
 Are there celebrations to remember those who died before?
 Are there celebrations to mark the passing of famous people? What do you need
to do to get one of these public celebrations?