npbuilds Systems Craft — The Rules of the World
Every world has rules. Some are physical (gravity, thermodynamics). Some are magical or metaphysical (what's possible beyond normal physics). Some are linguistic (what do names from this culture sound like). The world-bible is the authoritative record of all of them.
Routing Table
| What you're building | Skill to load |
|---|---|
| Magic systems, metaphysical substrates, speculative technology rules | magic-system-design |
| Hard/soft spectrum for your magic, Sanderson's laws, cost structures | magic-system-design |
| Worlds that resist systematization — New Weird, numinous, alien, anti-Sanderson | weird-worldbuilding |
| Names for people, places, institutions within a specific culture | naming-system |
| Constructed languages beyond naming — morphology, syntax, language-as-worldview | conlang-craft |
| Checking a world decision against established axioms; adding new axioms | world-bible |
The World-Bible Is Always the Final Authority
Before using any other skill in this director — or any other director — the world-bible should be checked for relevant axioms. If the world has established that "magic requires physical sacrifice," every new magic system element must respect that constraint. The world-bible is not a reference document to consult optionally; it's the source of truth that prevents creative drift.
Add to the world-bible: Every major systems decision that has downstream implications belongs in the world-bible. Don't just design a magic system — record its core axioms (source, cost, limits, access) so character-belief-tracker and extrapolation-engine can reference them.
Designing Systems With Constraint
The tension between what's possible and what's accessible is where interesting systems live:
- Magic source (where does the power come from?) — sets the cosmological stakes
- Magic cost (what does using it take?) — creates dramatic tension and limits
- Magic limits (what can't it do?) — prevents narrative short-circuits
- Magic access (who can use it?) — determines social and political implications
magic-system-design structures these decisions. naming-system ensures the language of the magic (spell names, creature names, place names) feels internally consistent with the culture that uses it.
See Also
worldbuilding-orchestrator— parent orchestratorphysical-world— physical constraints the magic system must coexist withcivilizations— how magic intersects with political power and religionextrapolation-engine— trace second-order consequences of magic system design