Patricia Wrede's Worldbuilder questions

Here's a link to Patricia Wrede's Worldbuilder questions to ask when creating a fantasy world.

It looks like an awesome set of questions to ask yourself as you're creating a world, some you'd never think to think about. The questions are categorized. (I've listed the categories below.) Here's a sampling, one question from each category:

• Do non-human races have their own games and leisure pastimes? How do they differ from human games? How do they reflect the physiology and/or particular magical talents of the non-human races?
  
• How are living quarters arranged? Are bedrooms on the top floors for privacy or on the ground floor for convenience? Are parlors or libraries common? How are houses heated/cooled?
  
• How is the day divided into smaller time units? What are they (Hour of the Lark, Sunrise Bell, Nones, etc.)? Are the names relevant to anything? Is the length of an hour fixed, or does it vary depending on changes in the length of the day as the seasons change?
  
• Is forensic magic possible? Commonly used? Admissible in court? Used only for certain types of crimes (and if so, what)? Is it something any wizard can do, or do you have to specialize?
  
• What things are considered luxuries--chocolate, coffee, cotton, flush toilets, spices?
  
• What foods do non-humans like, and how do these differ from those favored by humans? Are some foods poisonous or distasteful to one species that are delicacies or necessary to another?
  
• How many changes of clothes can a normal person afford? A noble person? A peasant?
  
• What eating utensils are used, if any? Forks, eating knife, spoons, chopsticks, what?
  
• What is the literacy level in the general population? Is literacy considered a useful/necessary skill for nobility, or something only scribes/clerks/wimps need?
  
• How much do official attitudes toward other countries affect commerce and trade? Do merchants pretty much ignore tensions between governments as long as they can make a profit, or will this get them into trouble?
  
• What gestures are insulting? What do they mean? Do some gestures differ in meaning depending on the culture or time (example: the American "V" for victory sign, which became the peace sign, is/was highly insulting in Europe)?
  
• How has the presence of magic and magicians affected law and government? Are wizards barred from certain kinds of government jobs or offices? Do some positions require that their holder be a wizard?
  
• How are two people who have not met before introduced to each other? What is the order of precedence when there are several people of differing sex, social status, or race/species present who must all be introduced to each other?
  
• What areas do local slang phrases come out of? (Example: In a fishing town, referring to good luck as "a good catch"; in a farming town, as "a good harvest", etc.) What kinds of colorful turns of phrase do people use?
  
• What level is medicine at? Who are the healers? Do you have to have a talent to heal? Who trains healers, herbalists, apothecaries, surgeons, magical vs. nonmagical healers, etc?
  
• How has the presence of magic affected weapons technology? Do you have to do anything special to armor, weapons, walls, to make them better able to resist spells?
  
• How important are "good manners" in this society? How do "good manners" differ from race to race? How to people/dwarves/elves/dragons react when someone has just been, by their standards, rude?
  
• What customs surround death and burial? Is there a special class of people (doctors, priests, funeral directors, untouchables) who deal with dead bodies?
  
• Are there certain classes of people (wizards, foreigners, children, peasants, women) who have fewer legal rights or less recourse than full citizens? Why? Are they considered mentally or morally deficient, a danger to the state, or is there some other rational?
  
• If there are non-human inhabitants, are there any areas they particularly claim as their own (e.g., dwarves in caves under mountains)?
  
• If there are imaginary animals (dragons, unicorns, etc.) how do they fit into the ecology? What do they eat? How much and what kind of habitat do they require? Are they intelligent and/or capable of working spells, talking, etc.? How common are they? Are any endangered species?
  
• What water resources are available, and for what uses? (Example: a mill wheel requires flowing water, i.e., a river or stream; irrigation needs a large, dependable water source like a lake or large river, etc.)
  
• How far back are there records or tales of historical events? How widely known are these stories?
  
• How diverse is the population of this country--how many different races (human or non-human), creeds, etc. normally live in various cities and towns in this country? In what percentages?
  
• Is there tension, rivalry, or outright hostility between any of the actual gods? How does this affect church politics? Court politics? People's everyday lives?
  
• Is there much immigration into or out of various countries? Why? To or from what other areas?
  
• How do the various temples and philosophies explain the classic "problem of evil"? Do they think bad things are always a just punishment for some transgression, a character-building exercise, the result of an evil antagonist (Satan, Loki), or just something the gods can't prevent?
  
• Where does magic power come from: the gods, "mana" (cf. Larry Niven's Warlock stories), the personal will-power of the magician, etc.? Is it an exhaustible resource?
  
• How are farming/food-producing areas divided up between humans/nonhumans? What kinds of conflicts are likely (example: expanding human farms encroaching on the forests werewolves or dragons use for hunting)?
  
• In what areas might magic replace technology, and thus suppress its development (example: if a spell to keep food cold is easy and cheap, there's no need to invent refrigerators)? In what areas might magic cause more rapid technological or scientific development (common use of crystal balls might lead someone to think of inventing the lens/telescope sooner)?
  
• Does it require a license to be a wizard? A driver's type license (something nearly everyone gets upon coming of age) or a doctor's-type license (something that only a small portion of the population will ever get)? Who certifies wizards: the government, wizard's guild, local priests, independent accounting firm?
  
• How do people find out what is happening in the world -- rumor, town crier, newspapers, TV and radio? How slanted is the news they get this way, and in what direction? Is there freedom of the press? If not, who controls/censors it and through what means?
  
• Does city layout reflect some philosophy (religious or architectural or political), such as that the "head" of the city must be at the center, the highest point, or the most strategic location? Or were layout considerations mainly practical? Or did most cities "just grow"?
  
• What is considered a courteous response to a host's offer? Are there things it is considered rude to accept? Rude to turn down? Rude to ask for? Rude not to ask for?
  
• What are the accepted conventions for making war (example: only fight in winter when nobody is busy with crops; don't make war on civilians; only certain kinds of weapons are used; etc)? Do they differ from race to race?
  
• Does a magician's magical ability or power change over time --e.g., growing stronger or weaker during puberty, or with increasing age? Can a magician "use up" all of his/her magic, thus ceasing to be a magician? What do such magicians do then--retire to teach, commit suicide, get a normal day job, go into consulting?

The categories:

• Arts and Entertainment
  
• Architecture
  
• Calendar
  
• Crime and the Legal System
  
• Daily Life
  
• Diet
  
• Fashion and Dress
  
• Eating customs
  
• Education
  
• Foreign Relations
  
• Gestures
  
• Government
  
• Greeting and Meeting.
  
• Language
  
• Magic and Magicians
  
• Magic and Technology
  
• Manners
  
• Medicine
  
• People and Customs -- Ethics and Values
  
• Physical and Historical Features
  
• Climate and Geography
  
• Natural Resources
  
• General History
  
• History of a Specific Country
  
• Politics
  
• Population
  
• Religion and Philosophy
  
• Rules of Magic
  
• Rural Factors
  
• Science and Technology
  
• Social Organization
  
• Transportation and Communication
  
• Urban Factors
  
• Visits
  
• War
  
• Wizards