World Building: Making the realistic fantasic (and visa versa.)

Hi there, I'm a huge world-building nerd. Making secondary worlds for TTRPGs, novels, and other works is one of the big passions in my life and one which I've spent 30 years doing (in some form or another.) My worlds have been used in numerous IPs, though I' must protect their privacy. 

Anyway, that's not what you're here for. This post has the world-building tag and so you've likely come here to learn some world building techniques or maybe to be inspired. I can do that. Let's get on to this post's big world-building tip.

Make the fantastical realistic and the realistic fantastical.

This is a cornerstone technique if you ask me. It's how I make convincingly real fantasy worlds without sacrificing all the fun to the altar of serious realism. Though, this is all abstract. Lemme hit you with an example.

Dragons. What if our fantasy world had dragons? They're super iconic so they're good example fodder. Since they're so fantastic, I want to bring in realism. That's easy. Let's ask a practical question!

"What do dragons eat?"

Cows, pigs, villagers, yeah yeah those are functional answers yet also boring ones. Sure, dragons eat that stuff because they are biological and that's fine. We should have some of that because its harmless realism which serves as a grounded backbone. There's almost no point in even making a world-building decision like this though if only because its so default.

(Bonus points if you make dragons obligate carnivores though.)

What if dragons also ate gems?

What if these dragons, for their hubris long ago, were cursed by the gods so that they had to eat powerful magical gems? Gems which only fall onto the tallest mountain tops of the world and which are sent by the gods themselves.

If the dragons don't obey, then the gods won't send gems, and without the gems, the dragons will wither into stupid beasts who are little better than flying lions. 

And so the gods get their enforcers.

Centuries of this later, dragons are seen as literal flying tyrants. The people hate dragons and the gods are "oh so kind" enough to periodically raise up heroes to slay the very monsters who's leashes they hold.

But it gets worse. The gods also choose what power to instill those gems with. Sometimes, they spoil the gems and the dragons have no choice but to swallow the corruption, turning themselves into true monsters on which the gods hang great worldly plots.

Of course, being intelligent and not a little vindictive, the dragons scheme and dream of one day breaking their curse and giving the gods a good what-for.

fin

So that's an example of the idea in action. We take something fantastical and we ask realistic questions of it, but then give fantastical answers. It helps creates the rich ecosystem of unusual lives which still march to beats of the every day.

Now, you can go too far with this of course. If everything is magical then nothing is. So do try for balance.