Creating a unique, immersive setting one world at a time

A guide for authors, gamers, and hobbyists

The Complete Art of World Building brings together volumes 1-3 in The Art of World Building series. This how-to guide will make readers a master of inventing imaginary worlds and help a setting stand out from the multitude of fantasy and SF worlds audiences see.

Creating Life (#1) teaches readers how to create gods, species/races, plants, animals, monsters, world figures, and even undead. Creating Places (#2) teaches how to create planets, moons, continents, land features, bodies of water, sovereign powers, settlements, interesting locales, and maps. Learn the different government types, how climate impacts vegetation, and consistently calculate how long it takes to travel by horse, wagon, sailing vessels, dragon, or in space. Cultures and Beyond (#3) teaches how to create cultures, organizations, armed forces, religions, the supernatural, magic systems, technological and supernatural items, languages, names, and various systems our world will have, from health, educational, legal, and commerce, to information systems.

The series draws on author Randy Ellefson's quarter century of world building experience and will quickly turn a beginner into an expert, making a time-consuming project more fun, easier, and faster. Ellefson shares his experiences, lessons learned, and insights, including how much of your creations can realistically be mentioned during storytelling, how far creators should go, and what the benefits/risks to each approach might be. Elevate your work above the competition.

Build better, faster.

The Art of World Building Workbook: Fantasy Edition is designed to inspire world builders to write down their ideas in a physical book that can be taken wherever they go. Filled with writing prompts and plenty of room to expand, it covers the aspects of world building that the series it is based on, including: the universe, solar systems, planets and moons, continents, land features, sovereign powers, settlements, interesting places, history, gods, species/races, plants, animals, monsters, world figures, maps, cultures, magic systems, religions, items, military groups, organizations, and additional systems such as education, health, legal, and more.

From his best selling series, The Art of World Building, author and world building strategist Randy Ellefson has collected some of his best advice from every chapter in small, bite-sized tips. All three books are represented in the topics covered:

Creating Life - analogues, species/races, gods, monsters, word figures, plants, animals, and undead.

Creating Places - planets, continents, land features, sovereign powers, settlements, land travel, water travel, space travel, time and history, places of interest, and drawing maps.

Cultures and Beyond - cultures, organizations, armed forces, religions, the supernatural, systems of magic, items, languages, names, legal systems, educated systems, commerce, health systems, and more.

Creating a unique, immersive setting one world at a time

A guide for authors, gamers, and hobbyists

The Complete Art of World Building brings together volumes 1-3 in The Art of World Building series. This how-to guide will make readers a master of inventing imaginary worlds and help a setting stand out from the multitude of fantasy and SF worlds audiences see.

Creating Life (#1) teaches readers how to create gods, species/races, plants, animals, monsters, world figures, and even undead. Creating Places (#2) teaches how to create planets, moons, continents, land features, bodies of water, sovereign powers, settlements, interesting locales, and maps. Learn the different government types, how climate impacts vegetation, and consistently calculate how long it takes to travel by horse, wagon, sailing vessels, dragon, or in space. Cultures and Beyond (#3) teaches how to create cultures, organizations, armed forces, religions, the supernatural, magic systems, technological and supernatural items, languages, names, and various systems our world will have, from health, educational, legal, and commerce, to information systems.

The series draws on author Randy Ellefson's quarter century of world building experience and will quickly turn a beginner into an expert, making a time-consuming project more fun, easier, and faster. Ellefson shares his experiences, lessons learned, and insights, including how much of your creations can realistically be mentioned during storytelling, how far creators should go, and what the benefits/risks to each approach might be. Elevate your work above the competition.

Build better, faster.

The Art of World Building Workbook: Fiction Edition is designed to inspire world builders to write down their ideas in a physical book that can be taken wherever they go. Filled with writing prompts and plenty of room to expand, it covers the aspects of world building that the series it is based on, including: the universe, solar systems, planets and moons, continents, land features, sovereign powers, settlements, interesting places, history, gods, species/races, plants, animals, monsters, world figures, maps, cultures, magic systems, religions, items, military groups, organizations, and additional systems such as education, health, legal, and more.

He swore an oath to protect all life. Now he must kill to survive.

Being a knight at the Renaissance Festival is easy, but when Ryan is magically kidnapped to another world, the quest he must do might leave him dead. Mistaken for a dragon-slaying knight, he must kill the dragon queen to be sent home.

At least he is not alone. Three of his friends are kidnapped beside him, all of them mistaken for the Ellorian Champions. The real heroes have been missing for years, but they may hold the key to keeping everyone alive.

Creating a unique, immersive setting one life form at a time.

CREATING LIFE (THE ART OF WORLD BUILDING, #1) is a detailed how-to guide on inventing the heart of every imaginary world - life. With chapters on creating gods, species/races, plants, animals, monsters, heroes, villains, and even undead, it draws on the author's quarter century of world building experience. Pointed questions, and an examination of answers and their repercussions, will help readers decide on goals, how to reach them, and whether they are even worth pursuing. Always practical, Creating Life will quickly improve the skills of beginners and experts alike, making a time consuming project more fun, easier, faster, and skillfully done.

Unlike other world building guides, the series discusses how to use your inventions in stories while balancing narrative flow with the need for explaining your world. Tailored examples illustrate this. Extensive, culled research on life forms is provided to classify and understand options without overwhelming world builders with extraneous details.

Storytellers, game designers, gamers, and hobbyists will benefit from seven free templates that can be downloaded and reused. CREATING LIFE will help your setting stand out from the multitude of fantasy and science fiction worlds audiences see. THE ART OF WORLD BUILDING is the only multi-volume series of its kind and is three times the length, depth, and breadth of other guides.

Creating a unique, immersive setting one culture at a time

A guide for authors, gamers, and hobbyists

Written to help fantasy and science fiction storytellers, game designers, gamers, and hobbyists, CULTURES AND BEYOND (THE ART OF WORLD BUILDING, #3) is a how-to guide for filling an imaginary world with fascinating societies. It includes chapters on creating culture, organizations, armed forces, religions, the supernatural, magic systems, technological and supernatural items, languages, names, and various systems our world will have, from health, educational, legal, and commerce, to information systems. You'll learn how to leverage real world cultures while making them seem original. Even those who've never invented a world will soon be masters as the author's decades of experience walk readers through using pre-made templates that make world building faster, better, and easier to complete.

Invent interesting laws, crimes, and punishments that involve imaginary creatures or technologies, and learn how to leverage trial by ordeal and other judicial acts from Earth's past. Determine how much education is available and what form it takes. Create currencies for different places while keeping them easy for your audience to fathom, plus learn how to determine the value to assign labor, materials, products, time, and more. Master the art of creating naming styles for different societies. Fashion new military groups in gritty detail. Dream up sensible rules for magic, its practitioners, the supernatural and what happens when things go wrong. Learn what kind of files you'll need to create, how to organize them, and get jump started with a dozen free templates you'll use again and again.

CULTURES AND BEYOND is the third volume in THE ART OF WORLD BUILDING, the most in-depth, multi-volume series of its kind.

Build better, faster.

Creating a unique, immersive setting one place at a time

A guide for authors, gamers, and hobbyists

CREATING PLACES (THE ART OF WORLD BUILDING, #2) is a detailed how-to guide on inventing the heart of every imaginary world - places. It includes chapters on creating planets, moons, continents, mountains, forests, deserts, bodies of water, sovereign powers, settlements, and interesting locales. Extensive, culled research on each is provided to inform your world building decisions and understand the impact on craft, story, and audience. You'll also learn how and when to create history and maps. Experts and beginners alike will benefit from the free templates that make building worlds easier, quicker, and more fun.

Learn the difference between types of monarchies, democracies, dictatorships and more for realistic variety and believable conflict. Understand how latitude, prevailing winds, and mountains affect climate, rainfall, and what types of forests and deserts will exist in each location. Consistently calculate how long it takes to travel by horse, wagon, sailing vessels, or even dragon over different terrain types and conditions.

CREATING PLACES is the second volume in THE ART OF WORLD BUILDING, the only multi-volume series of its kind. Three times the length, depth, and breadth of other guides, the series can help fantasy and science fiction creators determine how much to build and why, how to use world building in your work, and whether the effort to create places will reap rewards for you and your audience.

Creating a unique, immersive setting one life form at a time.

CREATING LIFE (THE ART OF WORLD BUILDING, #1) is a detailed how-to guide on inventing the heart of every imaginary world - life. With chapters on creating gods, species/races, plants, animals, monsters, heroes, villains, and even undead, it draws on the author's quarter century of world building experience. Pointed questions, and an examination of answers and their repercussions, will help readers decide on goals, how to reach them, and whether they are even worth pursuing. Always practical, Creating Life will quickly improve the skills of beginners and experts alike, making a time consuming project more fun, easier, faster, and skillfully done.

Unlike other world building guides, the series discusses how to use your inventions in stories while balancing narrative flow with the need for explaining your world. Tailored examples illustrate this. Extensive, culled research on life forms is provided to classify and understand options without overwhelming world builders with extraneous details.

Storytellers, game designers, gamers, and hobbyists will benefit from seven free templates that can be downloaded and reused. CREATING LIFE will help your setting stand out from the multitude of fantasy and science fiction worlds audiences see. THE ART OF WORLD BUILDING is the only multi-volume series of its kind and is three times the length, depth, and breadth of other guides.

The Art of World Building Workbook: Sci-Fi Edition is designed to inspire world builders to write down their ideas in a physical book that can be taken wherever they go. Filled with writing prompts and plenty of room to expand, it covers the aspects of world building that the series it is based on, including: the universe, solar systems, planets and moons, continents, land features, sovereign powers, settlements, interesting places, history, species/races, plants, animals, monsters, world figures, maps, cultures, religions, items, military groups, organizations, advanced technologies like A.I. and spacecraft, and additional systems such as education, information, health, legal, and more.

The Art of World Building Workbook: Sci-Fi Edition is designed to inspire world builders to write down their ideas in a physical book that can be taken wherever they go. Filled with writing prompts and plenty of room to expand, it covers the aspects of world building that the series it is based on, including: the universe, solar systems, planets and moons, continents, land features, sovereign powers, settlements, interesting places, history, species/races, plants, animals, monsters, world figures, maps, cultures, religions, items, military groups, organizations, advanced technologies like A.I. and spacecraft, and additional systems such as education, information, health, legal, and more.

Creating a unique, immersive setting one culture at a time

A guide for authors, gamers, and hobbyists

Written to help fantasy and science fiction storytellers, game designers, gamers, and hobbyists, CULTURES AND BEYOND (THE ART OF WORLD BUILDING, #3) is a how-to guide for filling an imaginary world with fascinating societies. It includes chapters on creating culture, organizations, armed forces, religions, the supernatural, magic systems, technological and supernatural items, languages, names, and various systems our world will have, from health, educational, legal, and commerce, to information systems. You'll learn how to leverage real world cultures while making them seem original. Even those who've never invented a world will soon be masters as the author's decades of experience walk readers through using pre-made templates that make world building faster, better, and easier to complete.

Invent interesting laws, crimes, and punishments that involve imaginary creatures or technologies, and learn how to leverage trial by ordeal and other judicial acts from Earth's past. Determine how much education is available and what form it takes. Create currencies for different places while keeping them easy for your audience to fathom, plus learn how to determine the value to assign labor, materials, products, time, and more. Master the art of creating naming styles for different societies. Fashion new military groups in gritty detail. Dream up sensible rules for magic, its practitioners, the supernatural and what happens when things go wrong. Learn what kind of files you'll need to create, how to organize them, and get jump started with a dozen free templates you'll use again and again.

CULTURES AND BEYOND is the third volume in THE ART OF WORLD BUILDING, the most in-depth, multi-volume series of its kind.

Build better, faster.

From his best-selling series, The Art of World Building, author Randy Ellefson provides more than 3000 World Building Prompts to inspire creators for everything they might want to invent.

Creating Life - species/races, gods, monsters, word figures, plants, animals, and undead.

Creating Places - planets, continents, land features, sovereign powers, settlements, land travel, water travel, space travel, time, history, and places of interest.

Cultures and Beyond - cultures, organizations, armed forces, religions, the supernatural, magic systems, items, names, legal systems, education systems, commerce, health systems, and more.

The power to heal only comes when she believes.

On her quests to other worlds where elves, dragons, and magic are real, Anna can save the dying - and destroy the undead. But on an Earth where magic has awoken after a thousand-year sleep, the gods do not answer her.

And yet other people are casting spells and healing the wounded, dealing death and bringing life. Some have come from other worlds, and now nowhere is safe.

No one understands why it's all happening - or that Anna and her three friends mistakenly triggered the awakening. To save everything that she loves, Anna must face her destiny as The Light Bringer, or the new reality they unleashed may destroy all life.

He swore an oath to protect all life. Now he must kill to survive.

Being a knight at the Renaissance Festival is easy, but when Ryan is magically kidnapped to another world, the quest he must do might leave him dead. Mistaken for a dragon-slaying knight, he must kill the dragon queen to be sent home.

At least he is not alone. Three of his friends are kidnapped beside him, all of them mistaken for the Ellorian Champions. The real heroes have been missing for years, but they may hold the key to keeping everyone alive.

The Dragon Gate (The Dragon Gate Series, #1)

Being a knight at the Renaissance Festival is easy, but when Ryan is magically kidnapped to another world, the quest might leave him dead. Mistaken for a dragon-slaying knight, he must kill the dragon queen to be sent home.

At least he is not alone. Three of his friends are kidnapped beside him, all of them mistaken for the Ellorian Champions. The real heroes have been missing for years, but they may hold the key to keeping everyone alive.

The Dragon Gate (The Dragon Gate Series, #1)

Being a knight at the Renaissance Festival is easy, but when Ryan is magically kidnapped to another world, the quest might leave him dead. Mistaken for a dragon-slaying knight, he must kill the dragon queen to be sent home.

At least he is not alone. Three of his friends are kidnapped beside him, all of them mistaken for the Ellorian Champions. The real heroes have been missing for years, but they may hold the key to keeping everyone alive.

Will impersonating a legend cost him his life?

While being mistaken for one of the missing Ellorian Champions has made Eric afraid for his life, playing along during quests has also saved him from death. He just wants to be free of the danger, but now the real champions' families have captured him and his three friends, stripped them of power, and put them in chains.

If his quest to recover a dragon egg from the trolls who stole it is thwarted, his fear of never getting home to Earth may come true. Can Eric live up to the reputation of Andier, the Silver-Tongued Rogue, and persuade his captors he had nothing to do with the real Champions' disappearance? Or must he and his friends try to fight their way to freedom?

Learning to create a unique, immersive lifeform one podcast episode at a time.

World building strategist Randy Ellefson turned his successful book series, THE ART OF WORLD BUILDING, into a popular podcast of the same name, with episodes loosely drawn from each book in the series. The transcripts of 15 episodes are collected here, based on a theme: they're about CREATING LIFE and inspired by chapters of that volume. Ranging from 25-35 minutes each, the episodes discuss gods, species/races, plants, animals, monsters, heroes, villains, and even undead.

More improvisational and freewheeling than volume one, CREATING LIFE - The PODCAST TRANSCRIPTS (THE ART OF WORLD BUILDING, #4) goes into more detail about everything. Different subjects that are found across volumes are woven together more fluidly here. While one entire episode covers something not found in volume one, the other episodes cover familiar territory but with a new spin. This edition is designed for those who want to dive deep, and for fans of the podcast who'd like a permanent, written copy.

No other world building podcast provides transcripts you can take with you. Whether experts or beginners, storytellers, game designers, gamers, and hobbyists can take their fantasy and science fiction worlds to new levels, benefiting from the author's quarter century of world building experience.

Build better, faster.