Patrica C. Wrede's Worldbuilder Questions

History of a Specific Country

• Who are the rivals or enemies of this country? How close are they physically? How powerful?
• Who are the heroes and villains of each country's history (e.g., Washington and Lincoln in the U.S., Henry V in England, etc.)? Why are they heroes, and what does this say about the country and people?
• How accessible is this area? What natural features mark the borders? Who are the neighboring countries/peoples and what are they like?
• Why did people settle in this area in the first place--strategic location, trade route, water transport, minerals, good farming, etc.? Have things changed much since, or do people still depend on whatever brought them here in the first place?
• How do the weapons of this country compare with those of surrounding cities and countries? Have there been recent innovations that may upset the balance of power, or is everyone more or less equal?
• How many people are there in this country? How does this compare with world population? What is considered a small town/large town/ city in terms of number of people?
• How diverse is the population of this country--how many different races (human or non-human), creeds, etc. normally live in various cities and towns in this country? In what percentages?
• Is population shifting from rural to urban, south to north, mountains to coast, etc.? Why? What effects has this had on the places being left? The places gaining people?
• Is magic legal here? All magic, or only some types? Do laws governing magic vary widely from country to country, or are attitudes generally similar?
• What does this country import? Export? How important is trade to the economy? How is currency exchange handled, and by whom? What is the system of coinage used, and who mints it?
• How much of this country is farmland? Forest? Desert? Mountains? Plains?
• What are the primary crops (e.g., potatoes, cotton, tobacco, coffee, rice, peanuts, wheat, sugarcane, etc.)? Are any grown mainly for export?
• What crops can not be grown here because of the soil, climate, etc.?
• What water resources are available here, and for what uses?
• What wild animals, actual or imaginary, live in this area? Are any of them potentially useful--e.g., for fur, whale oil, hides, magical ingredients, hat feathers?
• Which animals, actual or imaginary, are commonly domesticated in this area? Which aren't here, but are elsewhere? (Example: water buffalo in India vs. oxen in Europe vs. camels in desert areas).

Skip to: Top or page information.

Donate by PayPal!

Donations are not tax deductible and do not buy access, products, or services.