Every worldbuilder develops their own process over time. Some people use notebooks. Others rely on spreadsheets, fancy software, or a mountain of sticky notes. After more than a decade of running tabletop RPGs, I’ve experimented with quite a few methods myself. These are the tools that have become part of my worldbuilding toolkit and continue to help me bring my worlds to life.
Obsidian
I’m pretty old school. For years I wrote notes on pieces of paper, note books or Word files. I have a shitty memory so every time I had ideas popping in my head, I had to write it down. I ended up with tons of notes scattered everywhere and not enough organisation to look them up when needed without taking forever.
A few months ago I gave Obsidian a try and good lord, I wish I did it sooner. Obsidian is a tool with which you make your own wiki. Which is so much fun to make and feels great when looking for info you wrote. Obsidian is very easy to use and it’s free!
Basically you create a “vault” where you write everything you want related to your vault. In my case I started writing entries about my D&D homebrew world Lumaesyl. You can link those entries between them and build your own wiki page saved on your computer (or phone if you use the app version). You can search what you write with the search bar, which is far easier than turning pages of paper endlessly.
One cool feature is the graph. Every entry is a dot linked to other dots (if linked). So if you write about a kingdom and about a related king, those two subjects could be linked. Building in the process a network of info about your world. After a few years of writing, your graph will look like a galaxy. Pretty satisfying.
AI
Alright folks, put down your torches and forks please. Hear me out. I’m not saying you should use AI to generate your content, your lore, your adventure hooks or whatever. Making them is part of the fun of being a GM. It happened that sometimes I brainstormed ideas with AI just to see if something might be worth digging a bit more. Most of the time it’s not that great to be honest.
But there is one thing that I suck at: naming stuff. And AI speeds things up a lot. Yes, there are tons of name generators on the web but sometimes I need specific guidelines to be respected for my world and instead of looking over dozens of websites, I just use AI. Another thing I use AI for is illustrations. And yes, it will always be better to have illustrations from real artists but for my campaign with my friends, AI is enough. If I would sell a product though, I would prefer to reach an illustrator to do the work. And again, it’s just faster than looking for a suitable image we need for our hobby.
Map making
I love maps and making them myself, it is so rewarding, especially when you show it to your players and they’re like “What? You did that yourself?”. Even if it isn’t a piece of art, most people will appreciate the effort you put in it. If you don’t like drawing, they are tools like Wonderdraft or Inkarnate that can help you create gorgeous maps. If you don’t use maps in your game group, I would suggest you give it a try. Giving your players a map is one of the best way to introduce your world without boring them with info dump, to create curiosity and engage them. It works wonders.
Other media
Inspiration is the art of stealing and adding your own twist. Novels, movies, TV shows, music, painting, video games, all those things can spark your imagination and can give you a little push to create something on your own. Even better, have a closer look on the things you love and use that to make your own world, your own settings.
History books
I love history. Since I was a kid I’ve been drawn to mythologies and ancient civilizations. It has always been a part of me and it is very present in the way I GM, especially during the exploration phase. If you’re curious enough, you’ll realise that our history is the best inspiration we need for world building.
The most famous example is G.R.R. Martin taking inspiration from the Wars of the Roses to write A Song of Ice and Fire. Even Tolkien, the king of fantasy, used medieval stories like sagas and such. And just like them, if you open some history books, what’s inside would probably spark your imagination better than any fantasy novel.
The players
Oh boy! Don’t we love when the players start talking about what they think might happen in the following sessions, what this weird NPC is about, and so on?
Letting your players talk without interrupting them as a GM is one of the best inspirations you could have. Several brains, sharing ideas without noticing you’re still here, taking notes. Sometimes, your players have better ideas than you. And when the time comes, they will have the satisfaction to say “Hey! We were right!”.
But please, if this happens, never tell them you did.
At the end of the day, tools are only tools
Obsidian won’t make your world interesting. AI won’t make your lore compelling. Maps won’t magically create immersion. The most important thing is curiosity and not forgetting to have fun. Everything else is just there to help you in your journey.