Culture in Fantasy Maps

Hello, adventurers! Welcome back to the Red Quills, where we go through all of the tips and tricks you can add to your fantasy world to make it as lush and vibrant as our own. Today, we’re discussing culture in fantasy maps and worlds – something that we have written about before, but we’re going to go more into depth on it today. 

This post is a part of the weekly topic, Culture in Fantasy Maps, and if you want more information or ideas on the subject, you can subscribe to our channel on YouTube at the Red Quills, and watch through the main tutorial video and the Shorts series we’re releasing on each of these points individually. 

Otherwise, for ideas on creating battlemaps, the styles of fantasy maps, and many more insights into worldbuilding, check out our Journal here. 

We have four topics on this subject today, and we’ll go through each of them here. We’ve recently changed our posts from shorter daily posts to longer weekly posts, so let us know which you prefer in the comments below! 

When you’re creating a fantasy world, the culture of that world is the foundation upon which you build the themes that your characters explore. Themes like heroism and villainy, religion and magic, the struggle between the known and the unknown. Your world will have these concepts built into its very fabric, so spend some time early on to work out the kinks and create something three dimensional to explore. 

The History

We’ve discussed history before on this channel and in this Journal, but we’re going to apply it specifically to your maps and your world in this post. The history of your world is critical to building the feeling of living inside it, it provides the precedent for events and activities, and context for your heroes. 

So, here are four areas that you can use to illustrate your history:

The Creation

Creation myths are the foundation of any mythology - they keep the kids in line at night, they provide a structure for perspective of the world and its activities, and for the worldbuilder, they can provide some context for the ultimate villains of your world. Not for nothing is it said, I brought you into this world, and I can take you out of it. 

In terms of your maps, they are influenced by creation on the grandest of scales. Continental shapes, global patterns or reflections, or mountain ranges or oceans in the shapes of titanic primordial beings. Remember that these shapes don’t need to be precise or accurate: they can deteriorate over time so they only vaguely look like their original shapes. That adds an element of distance and skepticism. 

The Old Magic

For worlds with any magic at all, a common theme is the Old Masters. They brought the powers of magic to bear, they understood the secrets of the universe, and they had powers that we can only dream of now. 

In your world, these can express themselves in floating cities, wondrous towers and statues, or natural magicks like ley lines. They can influence pilgrimages by the aspiring young mages, cultures to grow around the monuments to their power. The decay of time is a strong theme around this topic. 

The Archaic

All civilisations began somewhere: where does your world’s begin? Unless their cities and monuments were gifted to them by the gods - another fun idea - then there was a time that they huddled in huts or caves in the night. Once, they were fearful of the shadows and worshipping the fire. 

On the page, the archaic history shows itself in sites of ancient worship or unknown function: stone henges, ancient barrows, gateways of basalt. Their meanings lost to time, their carvings worn away by wind and water. They imply emotions strong enough to inspire such labours to build. 

The Divergences

The easiest of all, but sometimes the most complicated, is the divergences in history. Why are there different kingdoms, empires, or peoples? Where did the different languages come from? On the map, the different peoples and their leaders imply a history of sundered peoples, of war and separation. People multiply and move apart over time: what was the cause? 

The Societies

Our world is complicated enough on this topic: despite all of us being of the same species, we cannot seem to agree on very much at all. The conflict between societies is a driving factor in any world, including your own. However, the nature of their conflict and the focus of their differences is up to your own theme. 

It can be difficult to determine the differences between societies without dipping into what feels like an inherent racism. So here’s a few tips to help you to flesh out your fantasy people without falling back on problematic thinking: 

What are the universal assumptions?

All people - all living things - share some uniting traits. The drive to eat, the urge to find shelter, and longing for companionship: these are all traits that are shared by every creature. Any species which wishes to survive and wants to propagate itself breeds these traits into its members. Those that don’t adhere to these are outliers. 

All societies - any gathering of individuals - also share some traits. They must have a division of labour, a set of governing rules and principles, and they apply the same needs to the group as they do to the individual. A city must gather food, must remain safe, must trade. Those that don’t quickly decay and deteriorate. 

The benefit of determining what the universal assumptions are is that you can use those to find who are the truly frightening and alien. If these traits are universal, then those that don’t adhere to them are dangerous and outcast. But remember: all societies must attempt to survive. Utter chaos is sustainable. 

What is a society’s most pressing problem? 

Now that you have determined what unites everyone, you need find their points of difference. These won’t be character traits: saying that a whole people are greedy, or an entire town is kind, is a vast oversimplification and causes a lot of problems. Instead, find what a culture is focused on and go from there. 

All societies want to survive, so their focus will be on their most pressing problem. In areas of desolation or waste, pure survival is their creed. Their societies will have customs, laws, and traditions to help them to live in harsh conditions and ensure that they can continue to do so. In more lush, inviting areas, their most pressing problem will be problems of attack or invasion. Others will want to live there too, and remove any existing inhabitants. 

How does it express itself? 

Now you can begin to create what a people look like: their reaction to their problem, according to uniting traits, will change the way an individual acts. Perhaps the people living in the desert are calm and collected, quiet and reserved - the desert air dries out the mouth and drains water, and so its inhabitants try to lower their energy. What began as simple individual reactions became a social custom. It means that in areas in which water and shade are abundant, or at night, they will express themselves more exuberantly. 

There are all sorts of ways that this can go: a people living in the ice appear kindly and welcoming to outsiders, often embracing and sharing space with visitors, because they share heat. And, on a wider scale, a people can be affected by themselves. Survival on the individual scale affects, over time, the expression of culture on a wider scale. 

The Landmarks and Sites

Another, very easy way to add some history and culture to your map - and also give your heroes a destination - is to create some landmarks and significant sites. They inform the reader of previous events and local norms. 

I recently did a Short on drawing different sites and icons on your maps, and adding new concepts in to flesh out some history on the page. The implication of history adds so much depth, and is a great tool to jog the creative muscles. So here’s a list of six different icons you can add to your fantasy maps. 

Battlefields

While they can be a very unassuming landmark, battlefields will massively impact on the local tradition and their society. They imply war and death, and their remembrance gives an air of repentance. 

Circles or Henges

Stone circles and ancient henges are mysterious monuments to astronomical phenomenon, and are a known anchor for the fae. Whether they act as doorways or as clues to ancient secrets is up to you. 

Echoes

Places where ancient emotion or events have scarred the face of the world. Ghosts and spirits are the memories of individuals, but Echoes are the rifts caused by untold catastrophes.

Fortresses

Buttressed walls, tall stone towers, defences looking out over the landscape. What do they defend against? Why were they built? And who mans the battlements now, keeping a weather eye on the horizon? 

Gateways

Standing forgotten in fields of flowers or desolate lava plains, simple stone archways lead to places and planes beyond our understanding. They allow the denizens of those alien places to cross to our world. 

Monuments

They can be for battles, for heroes, or for moments of great importance. They can also be for the vanity of the rich and powerful. Either way, if they are great enough to be marked on a map, they will have some impact on the people. 

The Magics and Powers

This one is for the high fantasy worlds. Many fictional worlds that have magic only have it as the relatively small side effect of individual souls. The spells and incantations that they use don’t impact on the wider world as a whole. Perhaps, though, that is for the best. 

But if you want to add some mystical spice to your fantasy world, here are some ideas that you could add to your world and your maps to make your magic system bigger, badder, and bolder. 

Titanic Skeletons

One of my personal favourites: as mentioned above, the massive primordial entities from the dawn of the world have died. Upon their decay rests the landscape that we know. Ancient dragons form mountains, and the bones of elder giants lie in mile-long repose. 

Convergences

Places where the walls of our reality are thin, and other things can cross over. They can be at the intersections of leylines (see below). They could lead to elemental planes, the magical wilds, or the planes of other races. 

Ley Lines

Invisible lines of power that stretch across the world and connect places of power. Their function is unclear. They could empower any magic upon their stretch, or be able to teleport an individual through the line from intersection to intersection. They could move and pull magic with them. 

Impossibilities

Cities suspended in the air, waterfalls rising into the sky, clouds of shattered rock, forests of stone trees. Impossibilities are the best expression of natural magic, because they defy the natural law. 

World Creatures

Around the rim of the world is the serpent that eats its own tail. The flat world is perched on the back of a turtle, swimming through the stars. The islands are whales that live for thousands of years. Big creatures! Big creatures! 

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Use those tips to add some spice to your fantasy world. As always, comment below if you have any questions, or let us know if you used these tips. Thanks for reading, and check out our YouTube channel for more!