Worldbuilding without a story?

[TheRealKyleTM]

World building for an RPG game, or some other type of gaming, I can see.

But world building for a story without a story--maybe for future planning?

I am a story first, world second advocate.

I advocate for story first world second because it is better for getting writing done, but I am a big picture thinker. And the thing i love more than anything about the epics of fiction is the absolutely massive lore. I also happen to love ttrpgs.

So I worldbuild as a hobby, and maybe someday I will start being smart and collecting and editing all of it into usable settings for ttrpgs etc people can buy lol. Not the most useful hobby

 

[Walepages]

Anyone else here built a setting without any story in particular in mind? Is it bad to do?

I've been working on a steampunk fantasy world. So far, there's no actual characters or conflict yet since I'm still brainstorming it and only have loose notes about the setting and lore. However, I do plan to write stories in it eventually.

The reason it's a steampunk world is simply because I like the concept and aesthetic. I also want to explore the theme of magic vs technology. Basically, the premise is that humans are incapable (or at least incompetent) when it comes to using magic. So what they lack in magical affinity, they make up for with engineering and technological innovations.

However, non-humans have an innate ability to use magic and have a lower technology level compared to humans.

Anyone else build a setting just because you like a particular theme or concept?

I don't see anything wrong with that tbh. Sometimes you just have an idea for a world that you really like, even if you haven't figured out what kind of story you want to tell in it yet.
The magic vs technology part is pretty interesting though. Especially the idea of humans basically having to invent their way around something other races can just naturally do lol.
One thing I'm curious about is how the non-humans feel about all these inventions. Like, do they look down on humans for not being able to use magic, or are they actually impressed by what humans have managed to build?

 

[Gurkhal]

Since I love creative projects I like world building without a clear story in mind. Sometimes one pops up or I get ideas that I can use elsewhere later on in another part, like for a story.