Renowned worldbuilding is often massive and complex. Lord of the Rings incorporates thousands of years of history, Game of Thrones includes the intricacies of multi-kingdom politics, and James Cameron's Avatar was developed so extensively it invented a new style of music.
From the stance of singular people, who don't always have time to be so "unique" or "original", these blockbusters can engender confusion and despair.
How can we hope to learn from such labyrinthine monoliths of creation? And is this the level of detail it takes to make an interesting world?
We worldbuilders derive sustenance from analysis of other worlds, and creation of our own. Large productions can put a damper on both.
I have been trapped in these twin gravity wells before. One phrase has helped me resolve both: all you need is a little change.
Many have remarked on the butterfly effect. Little actions can have infinitely larger effects. Some are worldshaking, others more personal. The same is true of worldbuilding. You don't need vast complexity, and you certainly don't need it in the beginning. All you need is a little change, one little domino flick of fantasy to create something interesting.
Eberron is D&D's most unique official campaign setting. But its many deviations from other D&D settings can be viewed as symptoms of two root ideas:
What if magic was treated as a science?
What if every part of D&D had a place in one setting?
From these two sources came dream radio, gnomish illuminati, a nation of monsters fed by trolls, trains powered by lightning, robot rights rallies-----all within a coherent framework. Eberron is heavily complex, but it started out with only two ideas.
A more recent addition to the many worlds I have worked on began as a single idea. I was looking out a window at work toward a central garden courtyard and wondered, "What if this was a medieval realm, split into four kingdoms?
What has followed from that has included specific forms of government, social caste development, survival tactics, warfare, even types of beer, and more. I could easily write a book, several with enough time, on a couple hundred square feet of barely maintained shrubbery and a question.
You don't need complexity to create a beautiful, engaging world. Not in the beginning, and not ever, if you don't want it. All you need is a little change, a little adjustment from our world or any number of stock archetypes. From there, the little steps of creation are straightforward, and with clarity returns the drive to build.
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