Worldbuilding Checklist for

Zedigereth
by Albert Gallego i Saballs

Culture: Zegereth

Element Consider…

Location Pick the place that best suits the conflict. E.g. a horror
story is most effective if it takes place somewhere that's
supposed to be comfortable.

Climate How the air feels. Weather patterns. If it rains a lot

there, many scenes will need to take place in the rain or
mist.

Terrain How it affects movement and structures. Types of

vegetation. Rocks, dust storms. Natural landmarks.
Swamps, rivers, lakes.

Sustaining the Water, sewage, electricity, roads, trading / currency,

city agriculture.

Food Needs to be consistent with the times and location. Food

culture.

Appearances Races and the relationships between races.

Distinguishing features.

Animals Domesticated, wild, working, raised for food, natural

predators / prey.

Politics Structure, elections, parties, monarchs, etc. How it

divides or unites people. How just or corrupt the
leadership is.

Recreation Hobbies, sports, games.

Standards of Inside and out. Status.

beauty

Building What's available and how it might indicate your status.

materials

Art and Popular styles.

architecture

Transportation Getting from one place to another. How long it takes.

(Books that use horses can be notorious for failing to
 take into account that horses cannot gallop at full speed
for 8 hours straight.)

Clothing Based on temperature. How/when they do laundry.

Fashion.

Magic and Define what these can and cannot do. Research this—
supernatural entire books have been written about defining laws of
elements magic.
If you have supernatural creatures, consider their
biology.

Weapons Research these. Get them right.

Dates / If you're writing in the past, make sure the characters

timeframe use words and objects that have been invented at this
point in time!

Names Naming conventions. Multicultural? E.g. in my series,

merpeople have names based on actual Greek sea
nymphs, while most natives of Eriana Kwai have names
that follow a similar convention to the indigenous people
of the Pacific Northwest.

Language Any multilingualism. Slang terms. Insults. Potentially

replacing swear words with something YA-friendly like
“shuck-face”.

Influences from E.g. the island is located in the North Pacific Ocean so
other societies probably has influences from Haida Gwaii / Canada,
Japan, and Alaska.

Core values E.g. “Blood must have blood” defines much of the
Grounders’ actions in The 100.

Units of Be careful using expressions like “inched along” if your

measurement culture does not actually use this unit of measurement!

Education system How many years, what they learn, what the grading
system is like.

Gender roles Distinguishing between masculine and feminine tasks or

not.

Pop culture Songs, celebrities, etc.

Occupations Shop owners, police officers, news anchors, blue and

white collar jobs, teachers… Any dominant industries
that create a lot of jobs.

Calendars, time Watches and wall calendars, or sun, moon, tides.

 Means of Phones, internet, carrier pigeons.
communication

History Recent or ancient events / wars / leaders that are

pertinent to the story.

Sex Taboo or celebrated. Marriage, rituals, family structure.

Feelings about birth control, abortion, LGBTQ+, arranged
marriages, polyamory.

Social classes Wealthy and poor, and how they interact.

Technology Do people have TVs, cars, cell phones, internet. How

accessible is technology. How connected are they with
the world.

Healthcare The state of medicine, treatments, hospitals.

Legal system Crime rates. Punishments. Police officers. Courts,

judges, and juries.

Mythos and Religion

Element Consider…

Creation myths Explain the creation and destruction of the world.

Morals Define what is good and bad.

Afterlife What happens when you die.

Meaning Why we're alive.

Supernatural Witchcraft, ghosts, etc. Superstitions.

beliefs

Rituals Daily, weekly commitments. Rites and ceremonies.

Sacred places Churches, landmarks, places of worship. People will

build an altar to whatever the source of power is,
whether it's God, the universe, the sun, or an all-
knowing AI.

God(s) How many, gender, form, sentience, ground or sky,

amount of power, our relationship to them.
The form gods take depend on what these people see
every day. E.g. South Asian cultures have monkey gods;
indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast have
raven gods.

Evil Why evil exists.

Myths and legends Themes, morals to be taught, emotions to incite. How
they are passed along. Bibles or scriptures.

Realness How real the belief system is. Whether it has been
correctly interpreted. Whether the gods are ever seen
or met. E.g. in Avatar, we get a few indications that
Eywa actually exists, like when Dr. Grace Augustine is
dying and sees her.

Adoption of beliefs In every culture, some are religious and some are not.
Some are agnostic. Who are these in your story, and
how does it affect their relationships with each other?

Clergy Formal leaders. Monks and nuns.

Age How old the religion is and how it has evolved. Maybe it
was introduced by a monarch or government, or maybe
it has always existed.

Holidays When and why. Traditions.