systemic-worldbuilding skill

---
name: systemic-worldbuilding
description: Build worlds through cascading consequences from speculative changes. Use when introducing new technologies, species, or alternate histories and need to trace realistic societal transformations across multiple domains.
license: MIT
metadata:
  author: jwynia
  version: "1.0"
  type: generator
  mode: generative
  domain: worldbuilding
---

# Systemic Worldbuilding: Cascading Consequences Skill

You help writers build speculative worlds by systematically tracing how initial changes ripple through society across multiple domains and timescales. Rather than simply introducing novel elements, this approach explores how they would realistically transform everything they touch.

## Core Principle

**"A good science fiction story should be able to predict not the automobile, but the traffic jam."** - Frederik Pohl

The power of speculative fiction lies not in the novelty of the change but in the authenticity of its consequences.

## The Consequence Framework

### Level 1: Initial Divergence Point(s)

What specific change(s) from our world creates your speculative setting?

| Type | Examples |
|------|----------|
| **Speculative technologies** | FTL travel, immortality drugs, AI consciousness |
| **Historical divergence** | Different war outcome, earlier/later discovery |
| **Alternate physics** | Different physical laws, functional magic |
| **Social innovations** | New governance forms, economic systems |
| **Species/biology** | Alien contact, human modification, new diseases |

### Level 2: Direct Consequences (1st Order)

Immediate practical applications and implementations:

**Questions to ask**:
- Who gains immediate power or advantage?
- What existing systems become obsolete?
- What are the initial market or social responses?
- What technical limitations and requirements emerge?
- What are the first unintended effects?

### Level 3: Systemic Adaptations (2nd Order)

How major systems respond:

**Economic structures**: New markets, obsolete industries, value shifts

**Power structures**: Reinforcement or disruption of existing hierarchies

**Social behaviors**: New norms, practices, communities

**Resistance movements**: Who opposes the change and why?

**Infrastructure transformations**: Physical and institutional changes

**Exploitation patterns**: Who benefits, who suffers, who profits from transitions?

### Level 4: Cultural Evolution (3rd Order)

Deep societal changes:

**Language evolution**: New terminology, metaphors, concepts

**Ethical questions**: New frameworks, dilemmas, taboos

**Belief system adaptations**: Religious and philosophical responses

**Normalization**: What was extraordinary becomes ordinary

**Artistic responses**: Media, entertainment, expression changes

**Educational adjustments**: What knowledge becomes essential or obsolete?

### Level 5: Intersection Analysis

How changes affect different groups differently:

| Intersection | Questions |
|--------------|-----------|
| **Socioeconomic classes** | Who adapts, who's left behind? |
| **Geographic variations** | Urban vs. rural, rich vs. poor regions? |
| **Generational differences** | Digital natives vs. immigrants equivalent? |
| **Marginalized communities** | New opportunities or new oppressions? |
| **International implications** | How do different nations respond? |

## Managing Recursive Complexity

### Depth vs. Breadth Decisions

**Deep exploration**: Follow specific consequence chains through all levels for selected domains

**Breadth mapping**: Cover many domains at shallower level to maintain interconnected feeling

**Tracer stories**: Follow specific impacts through multiple domains via character or institution

### Temporal Horizons

| Horizon | Timeframe | Focus |
|---------|-----------|-------|
| **Short-term** | Years | Immediate reactions, implementations |
| **Medium-term** | Decades | Institutional adaptations, social changes |
| **Long-term** | Generations | Cultural and psychological shifts |

### Focusing Mechanisms

**Character-centered ripples**: How changes affect specific viewpoint characters

**Story-relevant consequences**: Emphasizing changes that drive your narrative

**Thematic filters**: Focusing on consequences that explore core themes

### Contradictory Effects

The most interesting worldbuilding emerges from tensions:
- Identify where consequences create tension with each other
- Explore how societies negotiate these contradictions
- Use friction points as potential conflict sources

## Enhanced Worldbuilding Elements

### Contradiction Exploration

Every change has both valuable and concerning aspects:

**Questions**:
- What's desirable about this change?
- What's dangerous or concerning?
- How do different groups weight these tradeoffs?
- What rationalizations emerge to justify downsides?

### Visibility Markers

How changes become detectable in society:

| Type | Examples |
|------|----------|
| **Physical markers** | Body modifications, technology displays |
| **Behavioral indicators** | Changed habits, new skills |
| **Social indicators** | Status symbols, group affiliations |
| **Linguistic markers** | Terminology, accent, fluency |

### Adaptation Categories

| Category | Description |
|----------|-------------|
| **Institutional** | Official governance and regulation |
| **Criminal/underground** | Illegal exploitation and resistance |
| **Pathological** | Unhealthy individual adaptations |
| **Ideological** | Belief systems for and against |
| **Technological** | Work-arounds and enhancements |

## Practical Application Steps

1. **Start with clearly defined change** from our world
2. **Map first-order impacts** across all major domains
3. **Identify inherent contradictions** and tensions
4. **Explore how different groups respond** to contradictions
5. **Follow most interesting consequence chains** to deeper levels
6. **Look for unexpected intersections** between domains
7. **Identify story potential** at points of maximum tension

## Worked Example: The Borrower's Market

**Initial Divergence**: A marketplace where people can trade years of their life for years of someone else's talents or abilities.

**Level 1 - Economy**:
- Underground markets emerge
- Talent brokers create infrastructure
- Legal gray zones develop

**Level 2 - Social Structure**:
- Class divisions between buyers and sellers
- Talent donors vs. lifespan donors stratification
- New forms of debt and obligation

**Level 3 - Belief Systems**:
- Naturalists who reject all exchange
- Exchangists who see talent fluidity as liberation
- Philosophical debates about life and talent as commodities

**Level 4 - Conflicts**:
- Talent thieves who take without consent
- Government regulation attempts
- Religious extremists on both sides

**Level 5 - Control Systems**:
- Broker's Guild regulating trades
- Talent purity standards
- Scientific research into mechanisms

**Level 6 - Geography**:
- Origin point becomes pilgrimage site
- Physical manifestation of the concept in architecture

## Domain Agent Approach

For complex worldbuilding, consider tracking each domain separately:

**Technology Agent**: Technical feasibility, implementation, limitations

**Economic Agent**: Markets, resources, winners/losers

**Political Agent**: Power shifts, governance, regulation

**Social Agent**: Behaviors, norms, identities

**Cultural Agent**: Beliefs, language, art

**Environmental Agent**: Physical impacts, geography

**Coherence Agent**: Cross-domain consistency, contradiction resolution

## Implementation Checklist

- [ ] Define initial divergence point clearly
- [ ] Map first-order impacts across all major domains
- [ ] Identify 2-3 inherent contradictions in the change
- [ ] Track responses from different social groups
- [ ] Follow 2-3 consequence chains to third-order depth
- [ ] Note unexpected intersections between domains
- [ ] Create visibility markers for social reading
- [ ] Develop specialized vocabulary for new concepts
- [ ] Identify points of maximum tension for story potential

## Output Persistence

This skill writes primary output to files so work persists across sessions.

### Output Discovery

**Before doing any other work:**

1. Check for `context/output-config.md` in the project
2. If found, look for this skill's entry
3. If not found or no entry for this skill, **ask the user first**:
   - "Where should I save worldbuilding output?"
   - Suggest: `worldbuilding/` or `explorations/worldbuilding/`
4. Store the user's preference

### Primary Output

For this skill, persist:
- **Divergence point(s)** - The speculative changes
- **Consequence chains** - Level 1-5 traced consequences
- **Domain impacts** - How each domain is affected
- **Contradiction map** - Tensions between consequences
- **Story potential notes** - Points of maximum tension

### Conversation vs. File

| Goes to File | Stays in Conversation |
|--------------|----------------------|
| Defined divergence points | Brainstorming initial ideas |
| Traced consequence chains | Discussion of which chains to follow |
| Domain impact summaries | Real-time exploration |
| Visibility markers | Iteration on details |

### File Naming

Pattern: `{world-name}-systemic-{date}.md`
Example: `borrowers-market-systemic-2025-01-15.md`

## Verification (Oracle)

This section documents what this skill can reliably verify vs. what requires human judgment.

### What This Skill Can Verify
- **Consequence chain logic** - Does B follow from A? (High confidence)
- **Domain coverage** - Have all major domains been considered? (High confidence)
- **Level depth** - Have consequences been traced to appropriate depth? (High confidence)
- **Contradiction identification** - Are internal tensions identified? (Medium confidence)

### What Requires Human Judgment
- **Plausibility** - Would this consequence actually occur?
- **Story relevance** - Which consequences matter for this narrative?
- **Creative interest** - Which implications are most compelling?
- **Real-world analogies** - Historical parallels and their applicability

### Oracle Limitations
- **Cannot assess narrative fit** - Consequences may be logical but wrong for story
- **Cannot predict creative resonance** - Some chains are technically correct but boring
- **Relies on domain knowledge** - Specialized consequences need expert validation

## Feedback Loop

This section documents how outputs persist and inform future sessions.

### Session Persistence
- **Output location:** See `context/output-config.md` for this skill's entry
- **What to save:** Divergence points, consequence chains, domain impacts, contradictions
- **Naming pattern:** `{world-name}-systemic-{date}.md`

### Cross-Session Learning
- **Before starting:** Check for prior worldbuilding for this setting
- **If prior output exists:** Build on established consequences, maintain consistency
- **What feedback improves this skill:**
  - Consequence chains that didn't work → Add to anti-patterns
  - New domains discovered → Add to domain checklist
  - Better intersection examples → Add to worked examples

### Session-to-Session Flow
1. First session: Define divergence, trace initial consequences, record in file
2. Next session: Review prior chains, explore new domains or deeper levels
3. Pattern: Diverge → Trace → Map Intersections → Document → Extend

## Design Constraints

This section documents preconditions and boundaries.

### This Skill Assumes
- A speculative change is defined (technology, history, biology, etc.)
- Writer wants realistic cascading consequences
- World needs depth beyond surface-level changes

### This Skill Does Not Handle
- **General worldbuilding** - Route to: worldbuilding (broader methodology)
- **Cultural texture** - Route to: memetic-depth (deep cultural details)
- **Long-term evolution** - Route to: multi-order-evolution (generational change)
- **Language development** - Route to: conlang (constructed languages)
- **Economic details** - Route to: economic-systems (specific economic modeling)

### Degradation Signals
Signs this skill is being misapplied:
- No clear divergence point (trying to build without the "what if")
- Stopping at surface consequences despite prompts to go deeper
- All consequences are negative OR all positive (missing contradiction)
- Only one domain being explored repeatedly

## Reasoning Requirements

This section documents when this skill benefits from extended thinking time.

### Standard Reasoning
- Tracing single-domain consequence chains
- Identifying first-order impacts
- Documenting visibility markers
- Simple contradiction identification

### Extended Reasoning (ultrathink)
Use extended thinking for:
- **Multi-domain intersection mapping** - [Why: tracking how consequences in 3+ domains interact]
- **Deep consequence chains (4th-5th order)** - [Why: requires holding many intermediate states]
- **Contradiction resolution** - [Why: finding how societies navigate competing pressures]
- **Historical analogy synthesis** - [Why: mapping real-world parallels to speculative changes]

**Trigger phrases:** "trace all consequences", "full world impact", "how does everything connect", "comprehensive worldbuilding"

## Execution Strategy

This section documents when to parallelize work or spawn subagents.

### Sequential (Default)
- Divergence point must be clear before tracing consequences
- First-order impacts before second-order
- Domain impacts before intersection analysis

### Parallelizable
- Multiple domain explorations can run concurrently
- Research into different historical parallels can parallelize
- Use when: Initial mapping of broad impacts across many domains

### Subagent Candidates
| Task | Agent Type | When to Spawn |
|------|------------|---------------|
| Historical research | general-purpose | When seeking real-world analogies |
| Domain deep-dive | general-purpose | When exploring specialized domain (economics, military, etc.) |
| Consistency check | Explore | When verifying against existing world files |

## Context Management

This section documents token usage and optimization strategies.

### Approximate Token Footprint
- **Skill base:** ~3k tokens (framework + levels)
- **With worked example:** ~4k tokens
- **With domain agents:** ~5k tokens

### Context Optimization
- Reference worldbuilding/memetic-depth/conlang by name, not inline
- Focus on 2-3 domains per session rather than all simultaneously
- Use tracer stories to limit exploration scope

### When Context Gets Tight
- Prioritize: Current consequence chain, active domain
- Defer: Full domain agent list, all 5 levels detailed
- Drop: Complete worked example, alternative focusing mechanisms

## Anti-Patterns

### 1. Cool Tech Trap
**Pattern:** Stopping at first-order consequences. "There's FTL travel" without exploring economic, political, or social implications.
**Why it fails:** Surface-level speculation feels thin. Readers sense the world is a backdrop, not a living system.
**Fix:** For every divergence point, force yourself to third-order consequences minimum. Ask "And then what?" repeatedly.

### 2. Monoconsequence Thinking
**Pattern:** All consequences are positive OR all are negative. Technology is either utopia-enabling or dystopia-causing.
**Why it fails:** Real changes create mixed effects. The same innovation helps some and harms others.
**Fix:** For every positive consequence, identify who loses. For every negative, identify who benefits. Find the contradiction.

### 3. Homogeneous Response
**Pattern:** Everyone in the world responds the same way to the change. All of society embraces or rejects the new technology.
**Why it fails:** Different classes, regions, generations, and ideologies respond differently. Uniform response signals shallow thinking.
**Fix:** Map responses across at least 3 intersections: class (rich/poor), geography (urban/rural), and generation (old/young).

### 4. Domain Isolation
**Pattern:** Exploring one domain deeply while ignoring how it connects to others. Economic impacts without considering political, social without cultural.
**Why it fails:** Domains interconnect. Economic change drives political change drives social change. Isolated exploration misses the richness.
**Fix:** After each domain exploration, explicitly ask: "How does this affect [other domain]?" Map at least 3 intersections.

### 5. No Visibility Markers
**Pattern:** Changes are described abstractly without concrete ways characters would perceive them in daily life.
**Why it fails:** Worldbuilding that exists only in exposition feels academic. Readers need to see, hear, smell the differences.
**Fix:** For each major consequence, define: What would a character notice? What new behaviors are visible? What language has changed?

## Integration

### Inbound (feeds into this skill)
| Skill | What it provides |
|-------|------------------|
| story-sense | Diagnosis that world feels thin (State 2) |
| worldbuilding | Overall world development methodology |
| cliche-transcendence | Fresh angles on speculative changes |

### Outbound (this skill enables)
| Skill | What this provides |
|-------|-------------|
| memetic-depth | Cultural texture from traced consequences |
| economic-systems | Economic structures from consequence chains |
| governance-systems | Political systems from power shifts |
| conlang | Language evolution from cultural changes |
| settlement-design | Urban/rural patterns from geographic impacts |

### Complementary
| Skill | Relationship |
|-------|--------------|
| multi-order-evolution | Systemic-worldbuilding traces spatial ripples; multi-order traces temporal ones |
| worldbuilding | General methodology; systemic-worldbuilding is specific to speculative changes |
| belief-systems | Cultural response to changes identified by systemic-worldbuilding |