⏳Old way: scattered docs, spreadsheets, and image folders. That slows you down.

⏰New way: focused worldbuilding tools for writers and worldbuilding tools for dungeon masters. 

They keep lore, maps, timelines, art, and chat in one flow. Some tools now add AI help, collaboration, and mobile access, so you can build anywhere.

For example, Summon Worlds combines character creation, AI chat, and art generation, with sharing and discovery baked in. It’s built for creators, DMs, and writers who want to build and roleplay without the mess. 

Before we talk tools, let’s set one rule.

Your world is not a wiki. Your world is a pressure cooker.

Readers don’t remember every river, trade route, or festival. They remember what those things do to your characters. In other words, strong fictional world-building gives your plot limits, risks, and hard choices. Setting and story work as one.

👉Traditional worldbuilding often went like this:

• Spend months drawing maps and writing lore.
• Fall in love with backstory.
• Then try to “fit” a plot into it.

Modern, story-first building worlds for fiction writers flips that:

1. You pick the core conflict.
2. You design only the parts of the world that push on that conflict.
3. You use tools to fill in details just-in-time, not years in advance.

This is where apps like Summon Worlds help a lot. You can spin up cultures, locations, and characters fast, then keep or tweak only what feeds the story. No huge lore binders. Just what the scene needs right now.

Read our article about How to Build Fantasy Worlds 

A new tool

A character sheet used to be a page you filled by hand. It had stats, skills, gear, and notes. That still matters. But now apps can fill those boxes for you. They can add flavor text. They can suggest backstory hooks. This is what makes a custom character sheet strong.

Old way vs new way

⏳Old way: you write each line. You may forget details. You spend prep time.

⏰New way: the tool offers choices. You edit fast. You test ideas in chat. You save versions. The new way cuts the busy work.

⏳Old way: Start a story. Patch the world as you go. Fix holes later. Burn out.

⏰New way: Treat the world as a system. Use a few strong tools. Keep them visible as you write. Update them as “facts” change. Move fast, but stay consistent.

You don’t need huge bibles to start. You need the right scaffolding: a working map, a basic magical system, a short timeline of historical events, and a clear sense of culture. Then you can shape scenes without stalling.

1) J.R.R. Tolkien: languages, maps, and timelines

Tolkien didn’t only write stories. He built a living past. He forged languages, then let culture, place, and story grow from them. He drew maps early and used them to keep distances, travel time, and logic intact. That is why middle earth feels solid.

🛠️Tools he used

• Constructed languages: He built Elvish tongues and scripts. That decision shaped names, myths, and politics.
• Maps first: He sketched regions before plot beats. The map kept routes and timing honest.
• Chronologies: He tracked historical events across ages. This made the present feel layered.
• Cultural mapping: Language choice hinted at culture and “who lives where.”

❓What you can copy today

• Name a few places using a sound system or rule. Keep a mini “phonology” note.
• Start a simple travel map. Mark roads, rivers, borders, and danger zones.
• Log ten key past events. Births, wars, disasters, treaties. Keep dates consistent.
• Write one paragraph on each culture. Food, music, gods, taboos.

✅Try it in Summon Worlds

• Use Character Creation to lock naming rules. Keep a short “language notes” block in Character Instructions.
• Use AI Art Generation to create a region poster: hills, ports, ruins, borders.
• Save a Timeline & History note inside your world (coming soon) or a Collection. Tag events by age and realm.
• Publish a private Collection for maps, place names, and key dates. Update as you write.

2) Ursula K. Le Guin: place and culture first

Le Guin’s worlds begin with place. She drew maps herself. She treated geography and culture as one system. Her approach is quiet and strong: build a place people could live in, then tell the story.

🛠️Tools she used

• Author-made maps: Maps of islands, coasts, and trade lines set tone and travel.
• Anthropology lens: Culture flows from land, climate, and work.
• Language and story voice: She matched style to the world’s spirit.

❓What you can copy today

• Sketch a harbor, valley, or archipelago. Add wind patterns and sea routes.
• Ask five “daily life” questions: What do people eat? How do they work? What songs do they sing? Who keeps peace? What scares them?
• Write one market scene. Show trade, natural resources, and gossip.

✅Try it in Summon Worlds

• Generate a location board: docks, shrines, market stalls, fishing boats.
• Use AI Character Chat with a merchant. Ask what sold out after last storm. Let the world answer you back.
• Save voices in chat. Pick a voice for a priest, one for a sailor. Keep tone steady across scenes.

3) Frank Herbert: ecosystems, power, and scarcity

Herbert’s universe starts with ecology. He looked at deserts, water cycles, and human control over natural resources. Politics and faith then grew from scarcity and survival.

🛠️Tools he used

• Field research and science reading: Real dunes. Real climate. Real engineering ideas.
• Resource economics: Who controls water? What does that control do to culture and law?
• Terminology with meaning: Words carry history and belief.

❓What you can copy today

• Pick one key resource (water, ironwood, sky-silk). Decide who owns it. Decide who steals it.
• Define three survival rules for your land. Travel, storage, taboo.
• Map one feedback loop. Example: less rain → salt trade rises → border raids increase → temple tax changes.

✅Try it in Summon Worlds

• Create items tied to the resource: canteens, still-suits, guild seals.
• Use Style Presets (Epic Fantasy or Futuristic) to show tech vs. ritual tools.
• In Character Instructions, lock taboos: “Never waste water. Punishment: exile.” The AI will keep NPCs in line.

4) George R.R. Martin: the gardener method, maps, and worldbooks

Martin calls himself a “gardener.” He plants seeds and lets the story grow. Yet his world stays tight because he also uses maps and reference books. History and family trees set the soil.

🛠️Tools he used

• Gardener approach: He writes to discover, but he keeps what grows consistent.
• Detailed maps and atlases: City plans, roads, and sea lanes hold the plot to real travel.
• Worldbook team-ups: A shared “history text” keeps canon straight.

❓What you can copy today

• Be a gardener with guardrails. Keep a short “world facts” page open while drafting.
• Build two family trees. Decide old feuds, oaths, and debts.
• Draft one page of your worldbook. Not lore dumps, just key dates and houses.

✅Try it in Summon Worlds

• Use Collections to group houses, sigils, keeps, and bannermen.
• Generate banners and seals with AI Art. Keep a shared Collection for heraldry.
• In AI Character Chat, run a council scene. Let nobles argue. Save the chat as canon.

5) Brandon Sanderson: clear rules and continuity

Sanderson’s strength is clarity. His magical system has rules. Costs. Limits. He also keeps a high bar for continuity across books.

🛠️Tools he used

• Laws of magic: If readers know what magic can and cannot do, tension rises.
• Continuity tracking: A shared wiki and notes for places, powers, and timelines.
• Lectures and checklists: He audits rules, costs, and edge cases.

❓What you can copy today

• Write three rules for your magical system. Add one clear cost. Magic should always leave a mark.
• Make a powers table: source, cost, risk, counters.
• Keep a living “exceptions” list. If you add one, explain why it doesn’t break the system.

✅Try it in Summon Worlds

• Use Custom Prompts to render spells, relics, and sigils.
• Store Memory Controls for the magic rules. The AI will respect costs in scenes.
• Create “edge case” tests in Character Chat. Ask, “What breaks if we do X?” Fix holes before you draft.

1) ProWritingAid: style depth for storytellers

✅Best for: line edits plus fiction-aware checks

ProWritingAid gives deep style feedback. It flags sticky sentences, echoes, weak verbs, and tense slips. For novelists, its reports on pacing, dialogue tags, and repeats are very handy. It also works inside Google Docs through an extension, so you can edit as you draft.

❓Why fiction writers like it

• Broad set of reports that suit long scenes.
• Good at finding bloat and rhythm issues.
• Strong fit for the day-to-day writing process.

❗️Watch-outs

• Lots of reports can feel heavy at first.
• It can nudge toward safe phrasing. Keep your edge.

💰Free trial / plans

• There’s a free tier. Premium adds full reports. Many writers test it with a short free trial before they commit.

✨Bottom line: A steady AI writing assistant for line-level craft. Great if you want targeted style fixes but still want to sound like you.

2) AutoCrit: genre-aware, fiction-first

✅Best for: pace, repetition, and genre comparison

AutoCrit was built for fiction writers. It checks pacing, filler words, and dialogue balance, and lets you compare your prose to popular novels in your genre. The feedback is direct and focused on what readers feel on the page.

❓Why fiction authors pick it

• Fiction-specific checks and strong pacing tools.
• Useful “compare to bestsellers” view for gut checks.

❗️Watch-outs

• Limited outside strict line/style areas.
• Interface feels older than some rivals.

💰Free trial / plans

• Has a free plan. Paid plans unlock full analysis.

✨Bottom line: If you write in clear genre lanes, AutoCrit gives no-nonsense signals that help you tighten scenes fast.

3) Fictionary: structure, arc, and scene health

✅Best for: developmental checks before the line edit

Fictionary looks at story shape. It maps your story arc, tracks point of view, scene goals, and turning points. You see if hooks land, if tension rises, and if your scenes pull their weight. It is less about commas and more about “does this chapter work?”

❓Why storytellers love it

• Visuals for plot, POV, and character momentum.
• A checklist of 30+ story elements to scan each scene.
• Ideal before copyedits so you do not polish the wrong draft.

❗️Watch-outs

• Not a grammar tool. Pair it with a line editor.
• You’ll need to import your manuscript and tag scenes.

💰Free trial / plans

• Offers a short free trial so you can test it with one act or a few chapters.

✨Bottom line: When your structure feels off, Fictionary shows where to cut, expand, or move beats. It saves months of guesswork.

4) Grammarly: fast polish in Google Docs

✅Best for: everyday clarity and tone

Grammarly is a general purpose AI editor with strong grammar, clarity, and tone help. It runs in your browser and inside Google Docs with an extension. It also gives tone suggestions, which help keep character voice steady across chapters or platform posts.

❓Why it’s useful

• Quick fixes for tense, agreement, and phrasing.
• Helpful tone nudges when switching POVs.
• Good for query letters and social media blurbs too.

❗️Watch-outs

• Less granular about fiction-specific issues.
• Can smooth your voice if you accept every change.

💰Free trial / plans

• Has a free plan that covers basics. Paid adds advanced clarity, fluency, and more.

✨Bottom line: If you live in Google Docs, Grammarly is an easy win. Use it for clean copy and tone checks, then layer a fiction-focused tool for deeper craft.

5) Hemingway Editor: trim, tighten, punch

✅Best for: cutting clutter and boosting readability

Hemingway highlights adverbs, passive voice, and hard-to-read sentences. It gives a readability grade and shows where to trim. Many novelists run chapters through it to make heavy passages lighter. There’s a free web version and a low-cost desktop app.

❓Why it helps

• Instant clarity.
• Great for action scenes and dialogue trims.
• Simple, user friendly view with no fuss.

❗️Watch-outs

• It is mechanical. You still decide what to keep.
• Not built for plot or character work.

💰Free trial / plans

• Web tool is free. Desktop is a small one-time cost.

✨Bottom line: When your page feels muddy, Hemingway is a strong last pass. Use it to cut noise and sharpen flow.

Dialogue is a tool. It must do work. Give every scene a job. Decide the change you need before a single line is written. Maybe a secret slips. Maybe power flips. Maybe trust cracks. When you set a target, the talk stays tight and the beats hit.

👉A small rule helps: one scene, one outcome. If a line does not push toward that outcome, cut it.

A fantasy economy explains how people make, trade, tax, and store value. It touches farms, roads, guilds, courts, and coin. It sets what food costs. It sets what a guard earns. It tells you who gets rich when war hits.

⏳Old way: guess numbers and hope they hold.

⏰Better way: ground prices in food and labor, then adjust for scarcity and risk. Pick a money type that fits your tech level and politics. Note who mints. Note who redeems. Keep the rules short and visible.

Your goal is not perfect math. Your goal is flow. A few strong anchors will keep your economic systems tight without slowing play. When your world economic picture makes sense, scenes write themselves, the same way fantasy worldbuilding with AI keeps your lore tight and believable. The party feels the cost of a bribe. A siege hurts. A new road matters.

A class that “makes sense” fits your table, the rules, and the story.

• It has a clear role in the party.
• Its class abilities come at the right levels.
• It does not erase other roles.
• It respects limits.
• It is fun in your D&D campaign across combat, social, and exploration.

⏳Old way: build in a vacuum, argue balance after session 3, and rewrite from scratch.

⏰New way: set a goal, mirror known patterns, let AI help with options and wording, then test and tune in short loops.

AI should save time. It should not run the game. Use it for names, images, rumors, and first drafts. Keep your calls final. Your group sets the tone. Your rules stay in charge. That’s the heart of good role-playing.

A strong conlang has two traits. It sounds right. It stays steady. Every word feels like it belongs. Sentences follow a rhythm your ear starts to trust. That happens when you keep rules small and firm. It also happens when you test those rules in scenes, not just in lists.

Think like a maker. Pick a goal for the scope. Names and curses only? Short lines for play? Or full scenes and songs? Scope guides how many rules you really need.