Tag: worldbuilding

Hi! I really love your blog and appreciate the time and effort you put into it. I’m wondering if you have a masterlist of things a beginner should know about writing in the SW universe?

Hello, and thank you! I don’t have a masterlist per say – that would be a very long list indeed! – but I do have a few resources that might help you get started. 

First, you could check out the vocab list for some common terminology used in the Star Wars universe. (This is always linked in my bio, for mobile users, and as always you’re welcome to suggest additions.) 

If you’ve got the time, you may like to look through my day to day tag, where I stick things I think might be useful in writing the general life of a SW character. Some won’t apply to you specifically, of course. More tags can be found on my taglist, and if there’s something not on there that you want to know about (for example, the HoloNet) the search function is always available. The not an ask tag would also be a good place to start, because I sometimes reblog general references that may be useful. Give reference, resources and worldbuilding a shot too. 

There are a few posts in the masterposts tag, but they’re not nearly as general as what you’re looking for. I’d say ships and ship terminology are always a good thing to read up on, though, so you could give this post a try! 

Ultimately, in my opinion, the best thing you could do is just dive into it. Learning by consuming the material is much more fun than reading up on Wookieepedia! (Also a good resource, by the way.) The extended universe is full of little details that will make your writing much more organic. If you’re wondering where to start, try this ask! And, of course you can always send an ask my way if you have specific questions!

I hope that helps!

~ Jacen 

Links / Before You Ask / Tip Jar 

5 Service Droids for Your SW Fics

jedimordsith:

More world-building reference, because I feel like these are harder to find when I want them than they should be.

  • WA-7 server/waitstaff droids – classic diner droids.

  • Autovalet – cleans and presses clothing. (High end/luxury, usually)

  • Bell-bot – handle luggage on luxury liners, resorts, etc. Wook lists a couple specific droid types used for this. 

  • VeeTen Valet droid – presumably provide personal assistance and maintain clothing and personal spaces.

  • Household service droid – generic household help for all the chores you don’t have time to do when you’re busy saving the galaxy.

Six Imperial Departments to Flesh Out Your Fics

jedimordsith:

Or, if you’re like me, create plot bunnies…

Imperial Department for Epidemic Prevention seems fairly self-explanatory. But I challenge anyone with even a passing familiarity with human history to imagine the kinds of things they did “for the public’s protection”…

Imperial Department of Military Research handled “research and development of military technology such as equipment, small arms, facility components, and armed starships.” 

Imperial Department of Redesign was a particularly horrifying “elite, highly secretive corps of the Galactic Empire, tasked with subduing or liquidating troublesome non-Human species.” 

Imperial Procurement was an “organizational branch” of the Empire responsible for finding and collecting resources… I’m pretty sure nobody needs to be told that they didn’t feel obligated to abide by Fair Trade standards or concern themselves much with the impact on those doing the producing. 

Department of Punishment tortured captured criminals. Fun fact: it had a habit of forcing prisoners to sign contracts giving their captors permission to torture them to death.

Imperial Xenodetic Survey Department.  Mapmakers! (And map alterers!) This is probably only going to appeal to geeks like me, but given the information control and strategic erasure of knowledge the Empire is known for, I feel like there’s potentially a lot one could play with here! It is, at very least, a fun tidbit to throw into character conversations whenever navigation comes up. 

Random Planet Generator

Hey guys! Recently I’ve gotten a few asks wondering about canonical planets with little or no background, ones that could be used for anything, or planets with a very specific placement and history. I usually suggest that it might be best to create a new one, but I know firsthand how easy it is to get stuck on even the most basic aspects of worldbuilding. Hence, this!

This is a random generator that will create for you the basis of an original planet: a name, a region of space, prominent surface features, possible imports and exports, rotation period, gravitational pull, and atmosphere type. You can pick out the information you want, mix it up as needed and go from there. As always, any suggestions are welcome. I hope you guys get some use out of this!

(P.S. All of the names created by the generator are completely random, and occasionally it will spit out a real word or the name of a canonical planet. Check to make sure the name isn’t already taken!)

Random Planet Generator

Less-Than-Comprehensive Devaronese Dictionary [WIP]

thefoodwiththedood:

thefoodwiththedood:

While I was researching Devaronians (y’know, like I always am), I noticed the Wookieepedia article on the Devaronese language is pretty sparse—so sparse, in fact, that it doesn’t actually contain any Devaronese words. SO, despite me being less than a linguist, I decided to try and come up with some of my own!

Basically, I extrapolated what I could from what few Devaronese words we know (all of which are italicized on the list itself, just for reference), while with others I and Nick (@of-stardust-and-wanderlust) gave meanings to our OCs’ names—the rest I basically just pulled out of my ass derived from the other words. This is of course an ongoing, ever-expanding list, and I’d be happy to add more to it if anyone has any ideas!

For now though, feel free to read through this, leave comments about what you find interesting, bash me for my misunderstanding of how languages work, or anything else! I’d love to hear your guys’ feedback on this 😀

Reblogging cuz I (and some pals in the Devaron’s Angels group chat) made some additions to the dictionary 😀

Take a look at this fantastic project by @thefoodwiththedood!

Less-Than-Comprehensive Devaronese Dictionary [WIP]

When writing certain aliens whose in-universe languages aren’t already fleshed out, would you say it’s alright to substitute real life languages in for them? Like, would it work to have a Twi’lek speaking French, a Devaronian speaking Russian, etc?

I suppose it’s really a matter of personal preference. I can’t really judge the suitability of Russian for Devaronese, but the Twi’leki we do know does not resemble French at all. Perhaps because I speak French, I would personally find it very odd to read a Twi’lek speaking it. I would rather avoid having any non-English dialogue if the alien language is not well-established (often, it’s much more trouble to have them speak it, as opposed to simply stating that they spoke in Twi’leki, especially if your POV character does not understand the language) or, if I really needed them to say a few words, I’d probably prefer to make up a sentence or two. That’s just my preference, though, there are certainly circumstances in which this could work. 

I hope that helps!

~ Jacen

Sorry, what grains are in the SW universe, and do any correspond with ours? Specifically is there space rice. Thank you!

Yes, rice does exist and grows on several different worlds. The only explicitly named variants are Ghoba rice and Kodari rice, but it is possible that tikit grain is meant to be the equivalent of sushi rice. No other grains correspond in name with any in the real world, but plenty do in function. Here is the Wookieepedia list of grains (rice is not there because it’s classified under edible nuts and seeds, which you can also look through if you like).

Hope that helps!

~ Jacen

darth-lumines:

→ Star Wars Atlas (2009) – Galactic Regions
→ Interesting notes:  Location of many notable planets, the layers of galatic regions

→

This is a selection of maps showing the sectors of Star Wars’ galaxy, radiating outward from the center.  While no longer strictly canon (as of April 25, 2014) it still gives a good idea of what planets are where.  It can be especially helpful if you want to find a planet that’s nowhere near Coruscant to strand your characters on or if you want to find a more densely populated world near the center of everything!  Or if you just want to know how close a specific planet is to the center of the galaxy.

✦

Deep Core:  

Byss

(Note:  The Deep Core did not hold as many notable worlds as the Core Worlds/Galactic Core/the Core, it had a massive black hole at the center which made hyperspace travel difficult and it was extremely densely packed with stars that had tremendous gravitational pull.)

✦

The Core:  

Alderaan / Anaxes / Brentaal / Corellia / Coruscant / Duro / Kuat / Nubia / N’zoth

✦

The Colonies:  

Fondor / Neimoidia

✦

Inner Rim:  

Bestine / Hapes / Onderon / Taanab / Thyferra

✦

Expansion Region:   

Mimban

✦

Mid Rim:  

Ansion / Bothawui /

Boz Pity / Ithor / Kashyyyk / Malastare / Naboo / Nar Shadda / Ord Mantell / Ruusan

✦

Hutt Space:  

Nal Hutta / Nar Shadda / Toydaria

✦

Outer Rim:  

Anoat / Bespin / Bonadan / Christophsis / Dagobah / Dantooine / Dathomir / Endor (Forest Moon) / Eriadu / Felucia / Gamorr / Geonosis / Honoghr / Hoth / Kamino / Kessel / Korriban / Mandalore / Mon Cala / Mustafar / Mygeeto / Nal Hutta / Ossus / Raxus Prime / Rhen Var / Rishi / Rodia / Ryloth / Saleucami / Sernpidal / Shadda-Bi-Boran / Sullust / Tatooine / Toydaria / Triton / Tund / Utapau / Yavin

✦

Wild Space:  

Bakura / Kalee / Teth

✦

Unknown Regions:  

Csilla / Iego / Ilum / Nagi / Lehon (Rakata Prime) / Rattatak / Zonama Sekot

I’m trying to think of a squadron name but everything I think of sounds cheesy! Any ideas?

I hate coming up with names for stuff, so I generally break it down further before I decide on a final name. I find it easier if I’ve already decided on a general type of name I want, and I like to go off of established naming conventions, of which there are a lot. Squadron names often fall into one of these categories:

Colours. This is a very popular one (Red Squadron, Blue Squadron, Cobalt Squadron, Gold Squadron, etc.) but you may find it difficult to come up with a colour that hasn’t been used;

Alphabetic or numerical designations (Aurek Flight, Epsilon Squadron, 133rd Imperial Fighter Group);

Weaponry (Dagger Squadron, Cutlass Squadron, Vibroaxe Squadron);

Intimidating animals (Panther Flight, Gundark Squadron, Viper Squadron);

Space or weather phenomena (Corona Squadron, Tempest Squadron, Twin Suns Squadron);

And assorted nouns, often chosen specifically to reflect the function, reputation, or symbolism surrounding the group (Pheonix Squadron, Rogue Squadron, Nightmare Squadron, Aggressor Wing).

Once I pick a category I sometimes search up a generator, or if I already know what I want to get across with the name I’ll search through a thesaurus until I find the right word. Of course not every name has to be one of these things, but narrowing it down helps for me. Also, if your squadron is going to play a major role in your story, I would definitely come up with some background for it and its members before picking a name. Lots of squadrons’ names have some sort of connection to their origin, such as a reference to the founder’s homeworld or the first battle it flew in. It’s not uncommon for squadrons to be rearranged, renamed, or combined with other groups over time, so you may want to think about the progression of events that led it to where it is now. 

I hope that’s helpful!

~ Jacen

theticklishpear:

(A table of contents is available. This series will remain open for additional posts and the table of contents up-to-date as new posts are added.)

Part of Fifteen: Further Research and Resources

AKA What Pear Read To Write This Series

I read a lot of stuff in preparation for writing this series of posts. Researching and writing each post usually took about 3-5 hours. Here’s most of what I read and watched, though admittedly not all of it, and yes, I did go out and read some very basic, elementary-school-level things sometimes to make sure I wasn’t misremembering things or misrepresenting them.

My biggest suggestion is: When in doubt, go to Youtuber Artifexian. He goes through all the math and how it’s related to what, and even has conlang and calendar creation videos. You’ll see him pop up a lot on these lists.

For hard sci-fi writers looking for all the math equations, go through the video descriptions for the Artifexian videos linked below. He explains what each equation means and why you should bother with it.

Solar Systems:

Stars:

Multi-Star Systems:

Planets:

The Habitable Zone:

Orbits:

Asteroids:

Planetary Considerations:

Seasons:

Day/Night Cycles:

Surface Features:

Skies:

Life in Space:

Health in Space:

Working in Space:

Progressing Toward Interstellar Travel:

Generators:

Additional Resources:

Literal Books From My Childhood:
(Yes, I understood they were outdated in some areas.)

If there’s a topic I didn’t cover or that you’d like to see more on, feel free to drop in a request for it and I’ll work on adding it. These series are always open to additions, and those topics can come from you!

Some resources for anyone looking to create their own planet or system!