Incorporating Disruptive Elements

Finding Equilibrium in Your Fantasy Worldbuilding

A portion of Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s The Allegory of Good and Bad Government

A simple guide to incorporating fantastical elements into your worldbuilding.

As you are compiling your list of lists, all the things that will make up your world, highlight those items which would be disruptive to life as we know it. Immortality, dragons, time travel, magic… you get the idea.

For those disruptive elements, then follow this 3-step guide:

RARITY

How prevalent are the disruptive elements? 

If we are talking about time travel, does one person know how to time travel, do 1 million people know, or somewhere in between?  It doesn’t have to be exact (although it could be), but it gives you a sense of scale and complexity. 

PROXIMITY

How close are these disruptive elements to the center of action? 

If a kraken (or a colony of kraken) lives just off the coast of a major trading hub ― the impact is far greater than a kraken which stays close to some remote ice shelf. 

In Westeros, the people of the North are always looking over their shoulder towards the Wall, wary of what lurks beyond, but in King’s Landing or Dorne, the level of interest is far less.

BARRIERS TO ENTRY

This could also be described as limitations.  What limitations are imposed on the disruptive elements? 

To access magical powers, what does one need to do to obtain or maintain such powers? 

In the case of a kraken, perhaps it is sensitive to changes in water temperature and loath to leave frigid waters.

This simple 3-step guide can help you contextualize and streamline your worldbuilding… and figure out how these disruptive elements would alter the equilibrium of your world.

What are your thoughts?  Would you add to, or change, any of the steps?  What worldbuilding hacks work for you? Leave a comment!