This is the second part of this series on how to create a campaign setting for fantasy role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons. In this part, we’ll develop the big picture of our world.

• Introduction: Why write a new setting and how to start?
• The Signature and the Big Picture
• The Details
• Tools, Inspirations, and Resources
• The Process
  • People
  • Monsters
  • Places
  • Events

• The Maps
• The Development

The Signature and the Big Picture

1. The Signature

The most iconic element of your setting probably fits in a single sentence, and it’s what your players will remember most. “Oh, right! That’s the setting where the good-aligned knights fight the dragon queen!”

This element doesn’t need to be original, but it often will be, and it’s probably one of the reasons you’re creating a new setting in the first place. For the purposes of this guide, we’ll call that element the signature of your world.

Some examples of a signature might be:

• A legendary item: a lance that lets mortals slay dragons, or a cursed ring that grants power at the cost of your soul.
• A defining trait of the inhabitants: everyone is born with a mystical animal that embodies their soul.
• The world itself: a floating, ring-shaped city at the center of the multiverse.
• A unique kind of magic: spells that drain health, age, or the life of a loved one.
• A defining event: an eternal war between angels and demons raging across the mortal plane.

These are only examples, a signature can be whatever defines your world most strongly.

Example: In my case, I see three major elements:

The world is trapped in an ice age.

Monsters dominate the world.

The races are not the standard D&D ones.

I’ll focus on the first: the ice age. I want my players to remember this campaign as “the one where the world was frozen.” The other elements will still matter, but this one will define the tone and imagery of the setting.

Art property of Wizards of the Coast

2. The Big Picture

Now we’ll turn the signature into the big picture, the combination of the most important elements that shape your world. This is the foundation on which all other details will rest.

When building our “worldbuilding house,” we start with its foundations. One classic approach is the GRAPES method: Geography, Religion, Achievements, Politics, Economics, and Social Structure.

However, I’ll adjust it slightly to better fit my process. The elements I’ll focus on are:

Geography, Religion, Politics, Social Structure, Magic, and Inhabitants.

I group economics under politics (since they’re hard to separate), and achievements under social structure. I’ve also added Magic and Inhabitants, both vital for a fantasy world, especially one meant for role-playing games.

Usually, when people use GRAPES, they go in order, but that’s not what I recommend. Instead, start from your signature. Identify which of these elements it connects to, and build outward from there. That way, every piece of your world supports the style of game you want.

• If your signature is a magic item or spell, start by developing the magic system.
• If your signature involves the people, start with the inhabitants.
• If it’s the world itself, begin with geography.
• If it’s an event, choose based on its nature:
  • A war → Politics or Economics.
  • A divine cataclysm → Religion.
  • A technological revolution → Social Structure.

3. The Main Element

Once you know which elements to develop, you can begin the actual worldbuilding process. Here are some tips to make it smoother.

3.1 The main element deserves the most attention

Your main element, the one tied to your signature, should be the most detailed part of your setting. It’s the core of your story and what sets the tone for everything else.

3.2 Other elements can stay broad (for now)

You don’t need to define everything at once. Develop only what comes into play in your campaign. Add more detail as your story unfolds, this keeps your world flexible and avoids creative burnout.

Art property of Wizards of the Coast

Example

Here’s the description for my main idea:

A campaign setting for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition.

A late-medieval, low-magic world struck by an ice age. Monsters far stronger than humans roam freely, pushing humanity to the brink of extinction. A few rare demi-human races still exist, but they are unlike the traditional D&D ones and even rarer than humans.

The tone is survival horror: life is already harsh because of the cold, and monsters make it worse.

The signature of this world is:

A world frozen by an endless ice age.

I didn’t include “low magic” in the signature because, while it’s important, it’s secondary to the frozen theme.

Art property of Wizards of the Coast

Now let’s expand the major elements:

• Geography: The world is a flat disc whose center was plunged into an ice age. Toward the outer edges, the climate grows warmer, but also more dangerous. The farther from the center, the stronger the monsters and the rarer civilization becomes. Some say these creatures come from beyond the world’s edge, or from an underworld below.
• A sea of icy clouds shrouds the skies, dimming even noon to twilight. Nights are long and frigid. Rivers are frozen but still vital for drinking water. Vegetation survives in twisted forms, massive trees with exposed roots. Monsters stalk these forests, awakened by the age of frost.
• Religion: The gods caused the clouds. I prefer fewer gods overall, so my world will have two divine rulers, benevolent deities who now control the world, and three exiled underworld gods who once ruled before being overthrown. Those banished gods sent the clouds as vengeance, aiming to destroy what the good gods built.
• Inhabitants: The races of this world are divine creations. Besides humans, there are three humanoid races: one tall and strong, one short and agile, and one spiritually attuned. Yet none of them are alone, the monsters, who existed before the gods’ arrival, are reclaiming their ancient dominion and annihilating civilization.
• Magic: There are two kinds of magic, which I’ll represent mechanically in the game. Humanoids use nature magic, while monsters wield blood magic. Both can be creative or destructive, but their methods and consequences differ greatly.
• Social Structure: Civilization is collapsing. Survival is the only law. Small groups of humanoids cling to life in isolated settlements, but the farther from the world’s center, the fewer, and more desperate, these communities become.
• Politics: Even in these dire times, factions compete for power. Some military groups defend settlements from monsters, but demand harsh tribute in return, forcing people into labor or conscripting the strong. There are no major wars yet, but peace is fragile.

Art property of Wizards of the Coast

Conclusion

The world now has a rough shape. It’s still hazy, but that’s fine, we’ll refine it over time. In the next entry, we’ll add more details to bring it to life and start turning these broad concepts into something your players can explore.