Worldbuilding Checklist (Turbo Mode)

Are the laws of nature and physics actually different in this world, or are they the same as in real life? How does magic fit in? How do magical beasts fit in?

Normal physics + Aether stuff. See Magic.md

Is this generally an earth-like world? Is it an “alternate Earth”?

Earth-like

Are there different human races, whether or not there are non-humans like elves or dwarves? How does the cultural and ethnic diversity of this world compare to the real world?

Normal human races plus tons of others. How?

Colonialism, Human Geography, and avoiding tropes

Can we artfully avoid tropes of colonialism, white savior-ism, and historical whitewashing while making the game fun? Well, maybe.

It seems there are two main reasons why major regions of Earth "fell behind" others:

• Lack of resources due to unreasonable connections (aka horses and the atlantic ocean)
• Unfavorable climate/biome in Africa and central Australia

I might go so far as to say that it's not a question of "falling behind" in tech, but rather of isolation. The Mongols might be said to be "behind" the Song Chinese and the Caliphate, but look how that ended up. The Mongols were at least aware of their existence--I doubt the Masai knew or cared of the existence of anything north of the Nile.

So one easy answer is to avoid geographic isolation (unless, perhaps, it works in favor of the isolated, instead of against them). But is it so easy to believe a world where all lands are fertile and easy to traverse? Especially given that the Sahara--the chief source of isolation of sub-saharan Africa, natch--is something of a statistical certainty on any Earthlike world? I mean sure, we can mess with axial tilt, multiple suns, etc, but let's stick with what we know.

Maybe it all just comes down to adaptation. The Mongols didn't have fertile farmland for population, and there's nothing "advanced" per se about horses and bows. But their adapation to their environment helped them meet and exceed the capabilities of their neighbors. In the real world, some environments are just not fair--especially vast deserts and dense jungle--but with magic, anything is possible!

Here's the rule:

• If you have a rough natural environment, you adapt by getting good at magic. (including monsters)
• If you have a nice environment, you favor technology.

How long have there been people on this world? Did they evolve, or did they migrate from somewhere/when else?

Everyone is native and has a common ancestor. Sylvans are touched by natural magic, Elementals by elemental power, etc. The common ancestor is not "human".

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?

World population figures are similar to Earth's interwar period. Large empires are in the 50-100 million range, huge ones higher. Median countries have a few million, small ones 6 figures.

Where does magic power come from: the gods, the “mana” of the world (as in Larry Niven’s “Warlock” stories), the personal willpower or life force of the magician, somewhere else? Is magic an exhaustible resource? If a magician must feed his spells with his own willpower, life-force, or sanity, what long-term effects will this have on the health and/or stability of the magician? Do different races/species have different sources for their magic, or does everybody use the same one?

See Magic.md