How to Worldbuild a Fantasy Settlement

Settlements are an important part of any world and are intimidating to beginner world-builders and writers. Settlements can be as large as megacities or a small community living in the woods. It requires a lot of thought to make a good settlement. Through this guide, beginner world-builders can learn the aspects of settlements and create their own. I spent years worldbuilding so this has examples and options to give you a more thorough understanding of each part.

World-building isn’t a direct process; many writers start with one idea and build the settlement around it. It isn't a requirement to follow the steps in order. Many ideas can be built around a central idea. For example, the idea of a corrupt church or government in a settlement and building things around that. Or a specific magical artifact that needs a settlement to house it.

The order of steps was chosen for simplicity. If your process differs, you can still learn a few things about making settlements.

Remember, writing has almost infinite possibilities. I included options and examples in the steps, but that doesn’t mean that there are only those options and anything outside of the options should be ignored. Options are made from tropes and general uses of settlements; they are not binding. It is okay to invent your own. My examples are free to take for your settlements.

Remember! This is all fiction; it doesn’t need to be realistic if the story or setting doesn’t require it. 

Have somewhere to write down information on your settlement

This is up to you, some writers/world-builders prefer notebooks, word documents, Google Docs, a note app on the phone, or anywhere else that works for you. 

Write as many ideas as possible down and as in-depth as can be written. It is important to write down ideas so you don’t forget about them.

Recommendation: Put headings on the document for each step to make it easier to read later.

Decide what kind or kinds of creatures live in the settlement. The type of creature and their features and abilities would affect aspects of a settlement. Settlements can have a wide mix of species as their population.

For demography, there aren’t options since which creatures/races are in the world is up to you. These can be made by you or taken from tropes. Trope races are elves, dark elves, dwarves, humans, orcs, giants, dragons/half-dragon species, or half-demon/tiefling.

Examples of how the creatures’ abilities/traits affect a settlement.

If there is a population of large people, then they would need larger buildings, roads, and more resources.

If there is a population that is poison-resistant, then they would not care about poison in the water or eating foods that contain deadly poisons, Anyone without the poison resistance would be less likely to visit the settlement for fear of accidental poisoning. 

If a population can breathe air and water, then they could live in a partially submerged settlement. 

If there is a population of people who climb walls, then buildings should be built on them.

If there is a population of people with night vision, then the settlement should not have any lights at night. Instances of fire should mainly be used for heating and not lighting since people can already see. But a lack of light would make it harder for others to stay in the town, so if the settlement values tourism, they may have a sector of their settlement that has lighting.

Strong populations can be stereotyped as tribal-like settlements. The leaders are the strongest members. These are often used in fantasy with orcs or giant races.

Popular uses of demography as plot points

Racial tensions: A lesser race that is looked down upon or groups of races trying to take over under their view of their race's superiority.

Slavery: Have a specific race either as the sole slave class or make up the majority of slaves.

Near-Extingntion: Race be hunted down for ingredients or out of fear for their power. The race would be less common and either feared or frowned upon.

Larger settlements, in most cases, have a deeper history and more people/factions involved. Choosing the size of a settlement affects its complexity. Smaller settlements are easier to write about since they lack the complexity of large cities. but, they are often more boring. 

Here is a little cheat sheet to help.

Hamlet (>100 people)

Village (100-1,000 people)

Small Town(1,000-20,000 people)

Large town(20,000-100,000 people)

City (100,000 to 1 million people)

Large city (<1 million people)

The government of settlements would reflect the wider government. The head or heads of smaller settlements and larger settlements would be different depending on the government of the nation.

The government of a settlement can be as simple as one person who has legal control or has factions that fight for power over large cities.

List of common governmental systems.

Monarchy: Ruled by a royal family. There are two common options for how settlements function: either by being directly under the influence of a lord or a free town.

• Under the influence of a Lord, it can be direct, with the Lord living in the town and dealing with political issues, or the Lord putting someone in charge who obeys them.
• Then free towns can be controlled by a group that is elected or whoever is the highest-ranking government official. 

Oligarchy: Ruled over by a small group of people. The leader of a settlement would most likely be someone related to one of the oligarchs or someone who obeys them.

Theocracy: Ruled by religion, positions in government are connected to positions in the church or the religion. The highest-positioned person in the religion would be the leader of any settlement. Theocracies often have mandated religious beliefs.

• Theocracies could also be similar to other governments as long as the highest person in the government holds a special role in religion. An example would be Egypt, They had Pharaohs who were believed to be gods.
• The religion of a theocracy would affect the government. If the religion has a leader god, then the theocracy may have one leader. But if the gods work more as a council then the theocracy may as well.

Democracy: Democracies have elected representatives in charge of the government. For settlements, democracy would have a collectively elected leader who obeys the centralized government of the civilization. There are also cases of town councils. Town Councils are elected members of the community who deal with issues by voting on how to act. 

Authoritarian: The ruler holds absolute control over the government and the people. They would gift higher roles to those who are loyal to them, such as heads of settlements or multiple settlements. Athoraitatiran leaders tend to value obedience. Large settlements can be controlled by a family member of the civilization leader.

Meritocracy: A civilization that gives high positions based on skills and abilities. In this form of civilization, the leaders of settlements would be those who have the skills to perform the leadership role. 

In cases of imperialist colonies, the head of the settlement would be someone from the main nation who is most likely a government official/nobility/preist. Citizens who are from the main nation would normally have a higher standing in society.

Factions are any group that holds power in a settlement. Factions can either be in the government or influence the people.

Options for factions

Faiths: Religion is often a very powerful force in settlements, especially in worlds where gods exist. Religions control populations’ thoughts, actions, feelings, and outlooks. Religions are often instilled in people as they are born, so the religion someone follows can say a great deal about them. Religions hold community since major religious events tend to be events to bring followers together. Religions can impact every aspect of a settlement

Ex: A religion of a darkness deity. Effects species if the deity is a species-dependent god, such as Dark elves only worshipping this deity. The followers of the religion would be more active at night since they feel like it is connected to their deity. The followers would build their houses to be darker and include symbols of their deity on clothing, homes, and objects. When speaking of secrets the people would make notions of the truth being lost in the deity’s darkness. Populations get off work at 3 am. Have holidays for eclipses, so they can perform rituals such as going to cathedrals and praying. When praying in churches, the windows are shut to allow total darkness inside cathedrals.

Merchants: Merchants can hold power in any society. The wealthier the merchant, the more officials they could bribe and policies they could get to be made. This could be for the better if the merchant funds charitable organizations and tries to push policies for the better. Merchants can be used as idols for the working class who strive for wealth or they can be well known for their charitable organizations. This faction tends to not be prominent in small villages unless they have a profit to be made.

Guilds: Guilds are common in Fantasy. Guilds are organizations that bring together similar people of an occupation or role. Examples are the adventures’ guild, blacksmithing guild, merchants’ guild, warriors’ guild, and alchemist guild. There are a lot of ways these can be implemented, but because any form of guild is an organization of a lot of people who often serve an important role, these organizations would be powerful. There can be multiple guilds of a specific type for example 4 adventurers guilds that fight to be the highest one in a large city. 

Political/Governmental Factions

• Royalty/Nobility: Rarely would the nobility want to advance anything, they are often satisfied with the status quo unless there is a critical issue. However, this can be ignored if you want a kinder royalty or nobility. Factions of nobility or royalty can be divided between different nobles or royals. 

Ex. Factions that each back up a certain prince who may become king or a group that supports a progressive noble and his policies over a more conservative one. 

• Conservative: These are groups who want the government to play limited roles in people’s lives. These include lowering taxes, less business regulation, and fewer social safety nets. This is the party of traditional values that dislikes change. They can go hand in hand with nobility and royalty.

• Progressive: These are groups that seek reforms to benefit the population. Popular policies are social safety nets and worker’s rights. These can also be the values of the revolutionary group.

• Moderate: These are groups that act as the middle ground between progressives and conservatives. 

• Revolutionary: A common trope in stories includes revolution against a tyrannical ruler. These are more secretive than the other factions if they have to fear government action.

Industry/Trade makes the settlement worth existing in a wider civilization or world. Settlements shouldn’t exist if the wider civilization doesn’t need them. This can be a certain material or product, mining, farming, on a trade route, fishing, or production. A settlement may have a main trade, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t contain others. It is common for settlements to collect resources from their environment so every town may have lumberjacks but there could be one town that gets a specific wood that is used most commonly.

A few possible options for Industry/Trade

Trade: These are placed along a vital trade route for traders to pass through. Trade settlements tend to be larger since they have a constant income from taxes on goods. Trade cities would offer a lot of markets and inns for merchants. These settlements tend to focus on an abundance of craftsmen and merchants.

Ex: A constant stream of wagons carrying merchants passing through a large city with large markets and wide roads for wagons.

Resource Collection: Settlements that focus on resource collection have the widest variety, depending on the resource, these settlements could be capitals, nations, or small lumber villages. The more valuable the resource, the larger the settlement would grow. If the resource is valuable, it may bring about industry, which would be set up in the settlement to avoid transportation fees. 

• Company Town/Camps: Made by a company or government. Can be made from slaves or workers who are paid in money that can only be used in the stores the company sets up. These are small settlements that have no infrastructure and are only made to collect a resource. These can advance into an actual settlement. 
• Mining: These can be more profitable in comparison to lumbers. Mining settlements also bring in blacksmiths and a wide variety of people to follow. Mining can be even more luscious depending on what is being mined, gold or valuable materials could elevate the settlement to become larger. Then, even if the resource runs out in the area, the set-up infrastructure of trading the resource is still there, which might make it a historically significant settlement or trade-focused.

Ex: a town that mines a precious gem, this town would grow with many people who hope to find the gemstone. 

• Unique: Settlements that collect a fictional resource, such as magic rocks, magic in the air, magical creature parts, or special plants. 

Harbors: allow transportation across the sea and the collection of fish to be sold. These settlements would include a lot of fishermen selling their stock and ships. The settlement could also have a lot of inns, taverns, and public amenities since it could be vital for travel. Harbors can act as vital locations for a nation's military.

Ex: A harbor relishes in trade with foreign nations, so they are constantly overflowing with goods that fetch a high price deeper inland. These harbors grow and build around trading foreign goods and whatever they collect from the sea.

Farming: Farming required a lot of land, but farmers still needed a hub for socializing and community. Farmers are the backbone of any civilization, they can be part of small villages in the middle of fertile land or towns. 

Tourism/Significance to a Group: This can be a beautiful place that many higher-class people would visit and bring tourism to a location. This could also be a place of significance, such as historical sites, national parks/beautiful places, religious sites, or maybe it is a place where an academy was made. 

• Historical sites: battle sites, tombs of historical figures, old settlements, old libraries anything that is from the past that a group doesn’t want to be forgotten or destroyed. These settlements can be luxurious or small, it depends on how significant the history is.

Ex: A crypt that has been used for 1000 years and includes important figures.

• National Parks/Beautiful Places: These are naturally beautiful places. These can be some magical, beautiful place or something real, such as a tropical island, forests, waterfalls, mountain ranges, ect. Anywhere beautiful, the rich would like to make houses or visit. 

Ex: A small tourism town on the beach of a sea of glittering gem-like water that can’t be moved. Tourism allows the town to grow.

• Religious sites: These can be anything religiously significant, such as the tomb of a saint/god/angel, the home of a religious artifact, the birthplace of a deity/angel/religion/ a member of the religion, and anything else. 

Ex: The blood of the Goddess of Annihilation and Silence is stored in a massive black cathedral, around which a town was built. Followers of the faith arrive at the town to pray and perform their faith. Increased income allows the town to grow.

• Academy: This effect is found in the real world if a school of any type is built in a small town, the town will experience growth. Especially if it is a school that is high-class. 

Ex: a school for blacksmithing was built in a small town then blacksmiths would come to the town to teach. Then suppliers would start bringing supplies to the town. Then the increase in income allows the town to improve.

Defenses are important for settlements of all kinds, defenses can be police, guards, militias, or nothing.

Amount: The amount of police or defenses would show certain sides of the settlement or the wider civilization. A lot of defenses would only exist in settlements that need to be protected. Protection reasons are commonly under the constant threat of monsters, to protect a vital location for the supply route of the civilization, and to protect a military point. A very prevalent police force could also symbolize public unrest or a tyrant ruler who wants their people to be constantly watched.

Ex: A hamlet that doesn’t face danger may only rely on themselves to defend themselves from wild animals. 

Skill/Equipment: The higher the skill or equipment quality of the defense would show one of two things, the strength of the defense force and the importance a settlement has. Large cities may have well-armed police while farming towns may have nothing but a militia with rusted weapons. The kind of equipment can also show culture.

Ex. A knight with a god’s emblem engraved in gold on their armor reinforces the church’s hold on people by punishing people who insult the faith or a barbarian wearing mostly animal skins. 

Settlement locations are often decided to build a trade/industry. Settlements that are meant to gather resources should be next to those resources. Another important thing to consider when placing settlements is where they get food and water.

Ex. A harbor relies on the ocean for a majority of its needs but they still rely on trade to enjoy commodities that aren’t sea-based.

Options to consider when making a settlement.

Meeting the population’s needs: Settlements have needs, so most settlements are founded in a way to meet the needs of food and water. Ancient real-world settlements were normally found next to large rivers or lakes for ease of drinkable water and agriculture. However, there are exceptions to having settlements be self-sufficient settlements.

• If a settlement can’t meet its needs, then it needs to import supplies, which would require the settlement to have another reason to be placed in a location(Trade/Industry, or any other reason)

Ex: A settlement placed in a place in order to fulfill the needs of a ritual that the king is planning. 

Ex: A settlement in the mountains that harvests a rich silver. Because the location cannot produce enough food for the population, people often leave the settlement and buy food and goods.

The settlement’s shape and structure: This is how the settlement works with the land and how the settlement is shaped. This can be natural features that the town is next to or built around landforms such as rivers or lakes. This can be made magical if the town is split into multiple parts that are on floating islands or have its climate controlled via magic. 

Ex: A settlement’s shape may be in the shape designed for a ritual.

Ex: A faith in a moon god might make all their settlements in the shape of phases of the lunar cycle. 

Surrounding landscape: The land around a settlement is also important to the settlement itself. Where the location is can have a direct impact on what the population is and how they act.

 Ex, A Harbor would value a sea god, mainly eat fish as their main meat, and their ways of speaking could be influenced, such as making mentions of the sea when describing things. A common phrase may be about stinky fish or someone being as beautiful as the sea.

Climate: The climate would decide what biome a settlement can be in.. This option would make the world feel more realistic, if you don’t like it then you can ignore this option. To make the climate of the settlements more realistic, remember a few tips.

Humidity: It is more humid the closer the land is to the ocean/large water source and the equator. 

Heat: The area should get hotter the closer it is to the equator, but this has exceptions such as deserts. Deserts are hotter because of the lack of cloud cover, lack of vegetation, and low moisture

Biome’s proximity: There should not be an arctic biome next to a tropical rainforest. Having intermediary biomes between arctic and tropical rainforests would increase the distance but also make it more realistic.

Landscapes can also be unique, especially in fantasy, since they don’t have to obey normal laws. 

Ex: a biome that is cold next to a desert because of a magical artifact that spews out cold magic. So the climate is colder, and the civilization could either be aware or unaware. If they are aware, you could include settlements that collect the cold magic to explain why there would be settlements in certain places. If they are unaware, the nation may choose a large amount of coal mining and lumber to keep warm. Then how much wood/coal one has is a show of wealth.

This is what the buildings are made of and how they are built. Architecture is what is described, the roads, the layout of the settlement, the buildings, and any public amenities. Architecture can be used To make characteristics of a settlement into a physical form. 

Ex. Instead of explaining that a rich house is rich, have the pattern of every wealthy family having a gold door or roof or door knob.

 A few common distinctions in architecture are.

Size: The larger houses or estates are, the more wealthy the people who live there are.

Cleanliness: How clean the roads or houses are. If everything is covered in dirt and the houses look dirty, then the settlement would be on the poorer side. The cleaner the houses are, the more wealthy the family living there is. 

Complexity: The more complex houses, the more expensive they are. Complexity refers to the design of the house, such as engravings in stone, a variety of materials, foreign materials, the number of windows, and how the home looks. This again shows how much wealth a neighborhood or street possesses.

Sectors of a Settlement: Large settlements like cities can be sectioned off to make small groups. The sections can be based on social class, wealth, race, job, religious affiliation, and faction affiliation.

Uniqueness: it is important for making an interesting settlement so it is easier to remember. Although, not all settlements need to be interesting, only those a story will take place in or players of a TTRPG will explore. A few details of the architecture can really make a settlement feel more unique. Here are a few examples that can be altered or used.

Ex: A wide use of water channels, extra tall buildings, buildings made entirely out of stone, and every building being carved with the image of a deity or king. 

Ex: Every shop/market has the engraving of the controlling force’s emblem in the settlement which symbolizes that it is official and pays tax. 

Ex: A settlement that may worship a sun deity may have their settlement made in a way so they can watch the sunrise. Maybe there is a long and wide road that goes through the center of the settlement, which allows people to group up and look up and down the road to watch the sun setting and rising.

Ex: Tribes, may use buildings that can be broken apart easily if they move around or are made of very commonly found resources from the woods and animals.

Ex: In the center of the town there is a large tower that acts as the center of a powerful guide or academy.

Thank you for reading! I hope you learned something and have new ideas for your settlements!

Sources for photos,

https://mhsmirador.com/news/2021/01/14/college-board-announces-2021-ap-test-structure/

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https://taberman.artstation.com/projects/9NwX1R

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https://www.deviantart.com/edilsongomes/art/The-council-of-wizard-kings-955464777

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