World Building Guide  »  Future

Future

There will come a point in your world building project when you will want to map out the future of your world. You may already have an idea of where your World will be zillions of years into the future. In the History of your world you may have already chosen to extend your time line past the age that you have chosen to be its "present day".

Unlike our reality, where our planet Earth will eventually come to an end, not all Fantasy worlds need to have the same ending. Fantasy worlds have the advantage of evolving into something more, or of being something else. Terry Pratchett's "Discworld" had the fortune to give birth to baby Discworlds when it's citizens believed the end of the world was nigh. Roger Zelazny in his "Chronicles of Amber" chose to write about the end of his worlds through a struggle of chaos and order, or entropy and evolution only to have order re-established at the end.

If your world reflects realism then you should consider the future end of your world. How does it happen? Will it be broken up into pieces from an astral collision or will it be burned by an exploding Sun? You may decide not to have such a cataclysmic end to your World and instead choose to have a gradual decay of the Ecosystems. Your world may end up like one of our solar system's other planets such as Mars.

Estalishing your world's potential future can:

• provide a guide for your world building, a reference point to work towards
• help you to make choices towards reaching a future that you desire
• give you ideas for present stories that will shape the future
• establish an ending to work towards

Multiple Endings

Consider a couple of different endings for your world. Occasionally Movies are often created with multiple endings. Viewers lucky enough to see the movie before it is released are given a choice as to the ending they would prefer to see, usually its a choice between a sad ending or a happy ending such as one where Hero is victorious. You can do a similar concept for your world by choosing a couple of different endings.

Choices that are made in life often lead us down very different paths. "What if?" are considerations that you can make while world building which may lead your World to a very different ending. Consider the following "What Ifs":

1. What if an asteroid or other external object collided with your world after it had been well established, enough to move it off its present location?
2. What if your advanced civilization was invaded by another advancing civilization?
3. What if your civilization made a wrong choice that lead to a drain on your world's natural resources?
4. What if a Race that was previously extinct was found in a different location on your world?
5. What if Aliens found your world, at a different time then you may have already chosen?
6. What if magic became hard to conjure in a world where it once been abundant?
7. What if your world became aware of itself?

Geographical Changes

In a traditional world, like Earth, geographical changes over trillions of years can be quite significant. Plate tech-tonics help to shape land formations and along their boundaries earthquakes, volcanoes occur while mountains and trenches are created. Plates move up to 100mm every year on Earth. How have plate tech-tonics shaped the future of your world?

Even if your world is not the traditional Earth like world, your world might still be able to metamorphose. Your world's environment will have a big impact on the condition and journey of your world from its beginning and to its end, assuming your world has a beginning and an end. Outside influences will factor into the bigger picture and effect your environment, as will internal conflict and their ultimate resolution.

Star Maps

Star maps that show the progression of the skies during your world's life will help to provide your Earth like with credibility. Star maps have been traditionally used for navigating and you may find a similar use for them in your world's history.