Category: Volume 2

Along with setting, our residents are the most important aspect of a settlement. This includes the species and their collective dispositions, leaders and others in power or exerting influence, and whether everyone is segregated into their own neighborhoods, or intermingled. Read More …

Sovereign Powers Our settlement is either deep within a sovereign power, near the edge of its power (and therefore near another power’s border, most likely), or in a land without a power ruling it. Each scenario will have some impact Read More …

Water Supply Type and Location There must be water for our residents, which is one reason to place our settlements by water sources on maps. Our basic options are a river, lake, spring, or well; the size or number of Read More …

Determine Location A settlement’s location affects everything about the way it develops, from the reason it exists in that spot, to what it has to defend against, climate, species, culture, and more. Location is the first decision to make. Climate Read More …

If we’re using a sun unlike Earth’s yellow star, we’ll need to start there because this impacts much about our world, but otherwise little is dependent on another subject from a world building standpoint. Our biggest decision beside sun type Read More …

This section summarizes the climates in the previous several sections, making it an essential resource world builders should rely upon.

These climates have an average temperature above 10° C (50° F) in their warmest months, and a coldest month average below −3° C (−26° F). These usually occur in the interiors of continents and on their east coasts, normally poleward Read More …

Temperate climates are where most of Earth’s population lives, though that’s partly because much of our land is there. These climates have an average monthly temperature above 10° C (50° F) in their warmest months and an average monthly temperature Read More …

Dry climates produce less than ten inches of rain a year. Some areas may receive more but lose it all due to evaporation. These desert climates can be hot, cold, or mild and are generally low in humidity. The hot Read More …

Located in the tropics (nearest the equator), tropical climates have year-round high temperatures at low elevations, and average temperatures of 18° C (64° F) or higher. Of the three below, we’ll most often use the tropical rainforest climate, as the Read More …