Worldbuilding Glossary: All Terms Explained
Lore, canon, magic system, infodump: worldbuilding has its own vocabulary. This glossary explains every term you'll encounter, from the most common to the most specialized.
Worldbuilding has developed its own vocabulary over the years. Some terms come from literary fantasy, others from tabletop gaming, and others from online communities. This glossary is a living reference and will be updated regularly.
Terms are listed in alphabetical order. Each definition includes context of use and, where helpful, concrete examples.
A
Anachronism The presence of an element in a historical or technological context where it shouldn't exist. In a fictional world, anachronisms are less a factual error than an internal inconsistency: an element that doesn't match the technological or cultural level established by the worldbuilder.
B
Background The personal history of a character, or more broadly the backdrop of a world. A character's background explains who they are before the story begins. A world's background is everything that happened before the narrative present.
Bottom-up A worldbuilding method that starts from the specific and builds toward the general. You begin with a precise location, a character, an event, and the world builds itself around it out of narrative necessity. The opposite of top-down.
Read the full guide on top-down vs bottom-up →C
Canon The set of elements officially established as true within a fictional world. What is canon is what "actually happened" in that universe, as opposed to theories, in-world rumors, or unofficial derivative works. In personal worldbuilding, canon is whatever the worldbuilder has decided to establish as true.
Campaign In the context of tabletop RPGs, a series of game sessions connected by a shared story and taking place in the same world. A campaign can last a few sessions or several years.
Conlang (constructed language) An artificially created language, as opposed to languages that emerged naturally. Tolkien is the most famous conlanger: Quenya and Sindarin are complete conlangs. Most worldbuilders create partial conlangs: enough phonetic rules and vocabulary to make names sound consistent, without going as far as a complete grammar.
Cosmology The structure of the universe in a fictional world: how it was created, how it's organized, what exists beyond the observable world. Cosmology often includes planes of existence, the role of gods in creation, and the nature of death and what comes after.
D
Deus ex machina Latin for "god from the machine." An artificial narrative resolution where an external element intervenes to solve a problem the story couldn't resolve on its own. In worldbuilding, deus ex machina often appears when magic or a powerful character solves a problem without the world's established rules logically allowing it.
Dungeon Master (DM) In Dungeons & Dragons specifically, the person who runs the game and builds the world. Synonymous with Game Master in this particular context.
F
Faction An organized group within a fictional world, with its own interests, goals, and identity. Factions can be guilds, religious orders, noble families, criminal organizations, or political movements. Tensions between factions are one of the most fertile narrative sources in worldbuilding.
Fantasy A genre of fiction that includes supernatural or magical elements, typically in a setting that is not the contemporary real world. Fantasy worldbuilding often involves creating magic systems, fictional races, and an alternative or imaginary history.
Fluff In tabletop RPG jargon, fluff refers to the narrative and descriptive content of a universe: the history, culture, and descriptions, as opposed to "crunch," which refers to mechanical rules. A worldbuilder primarily produces fluff.
G
Game Master (GM) The person who runs a tabletop RPG session. The GM builds the world, plays the non-player characters, and arbitrates the rules. One of the main types of worldbuilding users.
Genre The narrative category a fictional world falls into. Fantasy, science fiction, horror, steampunk, solarpunk: each genre has its conventions and expectations. Worldbuilding is influenced by genre. An epic fantasy isn't built the same way as hard science fiction.
H
Headcanon A personal interpretation of an element from an existing fictional world that isn't confirmed by official canon but that a fan adopts for themselves. In personal worldbuilding, headcanon doesn't really exist: whatever the worldbuilder decides is canon by definition.
Homebrew In the context of tabletop RPGs, content created by players or the Game Master, distinct from official rules and settings. A homebrew world is one entirely created by the GM, without using an official setting like D&D's Forgotten Realms.
I
Infodump A block of text that presents information about the world in a direct, unintegrated way, not woven into the action or characters. Infodumps are generally considered a narrative weakness: they interrupt the pacing and ask the reader to absorb information without emotional context. Good worldbuilding reveals its information through action and characters.
L
Lore The full body of established information about a fictional world: its history, cultures, mythologies, and rules. The term comes from Old English and originally meant knowledge or learning. In worldbuilding, lore is everything that "exists" in the world, whether directly shown in the story or not.
Lore dump A variant of infodump, specific to worldbuilding. A passage where a large amount of lore is exposed at once, often at the expense of narrative pacing.
M
Magic system The system governing magic in a fictional world: its source, rules, limits, and cost. A coherent magic system is one of the most carefully crafted elements of fantasy worldbuilding.
Read the full guide on magic systems →Multiverse A collection of coexisting worlds or parallel realities. Multiverse worldbuilding involves defining the relationships between these worlds: how one crosses from one to another, what is shared, and what differs.
N
NPC (Non-Player Character) In tabletop RPGs, any character not controlled by a player. NPCs are controlled by the Game Master. In TTRPG worldbuilding, creating convincing NPCs is a central skill.
P
Pantheon The collection of deities in a fictional religious system. A well-built pantheon has gods with distinct domains, relationships among them, and internal consistency.
Planet of hats A race or fictional culture that boils down to a single trait or dominant characteristic. Warrior Klingons, logical Vulcans, greedy Ferengi are all examples. Mature worldbuilding avoids this trap by giving its cultures internal diversity.
Point of view (POV) A character's narrative perspective. In worldbuilding for fiction, the world is revealed through the POV of characters: what they see, understand, and interpret. A character doesn't see the world "objectively." They see it through their biases, education, and beliefs.
R
Retcon Retroactive continuity. The after-the-fact modification of an established element in a fictional world, to make it consistent with new information or new narrative directions. Retcons are inevitable in any large-scale worldbuilding. What matters is doing them consciously and updating all affected entries.
S
Science fiction (SF) A genre of fiction that explores the implications of imaginary technologies, sciences, or societies. Hard SF relies on rigorous scientific extrapolation. Soft SF places more importance on social and human dimensions than strict scientific consistency.
Soft magic / Hard magic See Magic system. Soft magic is mysterious with vague rules. Hard magic has precise rules known to the reader.
Steampunk A subgenre combining Victorian aesthetics with anachronistic steam-based technologies. Steampunk worldbuilding explores the implications of an alternative industrialization.
T
Top-down A worldbuilding method that starts from the general and moves toward the specific. You begin with cosmology, global geography, and major civilizations, then progressively zoom in. The opposite of bottom-up.
TTRPG (Tabletop Role-Playing Game) A tabletop role-playing game. Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, and Call of Cthulhu are examples of TTRPGs. TTRPG worldbuilding has its own specificities compared to worldbuilding for narrative fiction.
W
Worldbuilding The deliberate creation of a fictional world with coherent geography, history, cultures, systems, and rules. The term covers everything from creating an epic fantasy universe to an alternative realistic city.
World bible A reference document that gathers all established elements of a fictional world. Used in audiovisual productions to maintain consistency between different writers and episodes. In personal worldbuilding, the world bible is simply your organized set of notes.
This glossary is updated regularly. If you encounter a term that isn't listed here, the detailed guides in each section will provide contextual definitions.
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