World Building: How Creating Rules of Physics Shape Your World

Most kids dream of a world with no gravity. Well now, at least on the page, you can live that dream. The tedious constraints inflicted on us by the rules of physics are there to be broken, and in breaking them you can open up a world of possibilities.

Gravity doesn’t need to hold you down. Time doesn’t have to move in a straight line. Light speed? Optional. Three dimensions? No thank you.

But here’s the trick:

If you are going to change the fundamental laws of the universe…

You still need rules.

In this blog, we’re diving into how to rethink physics in a way that serves your story and stretches the imagination, but crucially remains internally consistent within your world.

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Defying Gravity

What goes up doesn’t always have to come down.

• Are there regions where gravity is weaker or stronger?
• Floating islands? Heavy-world mining colonies? Zero gravity temples?
• How does this affect architecture, biology, or warfare?

Gravity changes everything. How people walk, how creatures evolve, how buildings are designed will all be affected by the strength or lack of gravity

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Time On Your Hands

Time is a tool. Feel free to bend it.

• Does time pass differently on mountaintops, magical zones, or cursed cities?
• Are there loops or glitches?
• Can time be manipulated, or is time doing the manipulating?

Time adds emotional weight. A day lost. A year gained. A moment repeated forever.

If you twist time, lean into its emotional consequences.

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Seeing In 3D  

Why stop at height, width, and depth?

• Are there hidden dimensions only some creatures can perceive?
• Is your universe folded, stretched, or stacked in layers on the back of a turtle?
• Can a house be bigger on the inside?

You don’t just have to add dimensions. What would a 2D world look like and how would living in that affect the lives of its inhabitants?

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May The Force Be With You

Energy can be more than boring old heat and motion. Yes, you can have magical energy. But just make sure you ground it.

• Does your world use ether, mana, anti matter, The Force, or some wild new form of energy?
• Can it be harvested, measured, corrupted?
• How does it affect technology, magic systems, or just every day life?
• Does it have limitations? Dangers? Side effects?

Energy systems, magical or scientific, should be resource-based. That’s what makes them believable. Their limitations are what makes them a source of tension.

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Marriage Material

Vibranium. Unobtanium. Dragon glass. Gravity stones.

• What rare materials exist in your world?
• How are they used in construction, warfare, or rituals?
• Do they interact with the environment in strange ways?

Materials don’t just exist. They drive economy, war, politics, religion.

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Point Five Past Lightspeed

Ignore Einstein.

• Can your characters travel at or beyond light speed?
• What rules or technology do you invent to make it feel plausible?
• What ripple effects does it have on communication, colonisation, or how time is perceived and experienced?

FTL (faster-than-light) travel changes how big your universe feels. Use it to collapse, or stretch, the distance between people and power.

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The Theory of Evolution

 Ignore Darwin.

• What rules govern life in your world?
• Are there carbon-based life forms, or something else entirely?
• How do things evolve under different physical conditions?

Gravity, radiation, temperature, atmosphere all shape evolution. Let your creatures reflect the physics they live in.

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It’s Magic

If magic exists, is it:

• A science with rules and logic?
• A mystical force that defies understanding?
• Or something in between?

Magic should either work with physics, replace it, or rewrite it. For a more in-depth dive into magic systems in world building click here.

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The Multiverse

Is your world just one of many?

• Are there other dimensions? Shadow worlds? Mirror realms?
• Can people cross between them?
• What changes in the laws of physics when they do?

Just remember: the more realities you create, the more you’ll need to track how they impact each other.

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Keep It Consistent

The most important part of breaking physics is doing it on purpose and keeping it consistent. You can do whatever you want, but once you have done it, you’ve established that is how it works in your world, and that is how it should stay.

The only exception is if the change in the rules of physics are part of the story.

So ask:

• Are the laws of physics consistent across your world?
• Or do they vary by region, time period, or magical influence?
• Where do the rules fail, and what does that mean for the people living there?

Consistency = immersion.

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Limitations > Everything Else

Limitations are fundamental to a great world and great characters.

• What is impossible in your world…and why?
• What are the boundaries no one can cross?
• What happens when someone tries?

Boundaries create tension. And tension creates story.

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Purpose  

You’re not breaking the rules just to be rebellious. You’re breaking them because it means something.

Changing the laws of physics should do more than look cool… it should matter. When gravity shifts, it should shape culture. When time warps, it should tug at emotion. When light bends or dimensions multiply, it should reveal something deeper about the people, the conflicts, and the world itself.

• Why does this rule need to be different here?
• How does it affect the characters?
• What does it allow you to say that normal physics would not?

A world where people breathe underwater isn’t just a random quirk. In this reality the whole world should be built around it. From agriculture to architecture, it should impact every aspect of the world, story, and your characters’ lives. Whenever you change or break the rules of physics it should drive story, not distract from It.

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Conclusion

Breaking the rules of physics isn’t about tossing logic out the window, it’s about rewriting logic so it serves your story. Whether you’re crafting floating continents, nonlinear time loops, or energy systems powered by emotion, the power lies in how you build, not just what you build.

The best worlds don’t just feel imaginative, they feel lived in. They make us believe, not because they mirror our reality, but because they’re grounded in their own. So go ahead: bend gravity, warp time, invent a fifth dimension, but do it with purpose, with structure, and most of all, with consistency.

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More World Building

Are you keen to dive even deeper? You can download our World Building Worksheet and World Building Document for free from our Resources store. These documents explore everything you’ve just read, and much, much, much, much more…

Other blogs in our World Building series include: 

• How to Build a Map That Shapes Your World
• How to Choose the Right Genre (and Make It Your Own)
• How to Build Characters That Shape Your World

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