Ok. Back to the background work for writing. Here’s some ideas for questions you should be asking in your worl building.

Economics

It’s not just a “money” thing. Though money is a part of it. Economics is all about how things move in a society – where certain things come from, who produces or crafts those things, and – most importantly for worldbuilding – how the people in a community are affected by that system. The biggest thing to consider is what “wealth” means in the world you’ve created. First and foremost, where does most wealth come from? Does your world use money? Gems? Bottle caps? Credits? Barter? This affects how people see their labor, their belongings, even themselves.

In most societies, economics are centered on two basic principles.

The first is surplus. Having a surplus means having more than is needed of something.

The other is scarcity. You can guess what this is. The more scarce something is (i.e. the less of something there is) the more valuable it becomes.

The more food that is available, the less difficult it becomes to acquire food. It can be freely traded, whether for other items/services of equal value or for money (or whatever symbolic exchange product a society uses, like “credits” in a sci-fi world). If there’s not a lot of food to go around, it becomes more difficult to acquire food. The person who has a lot of a needed thing holds power over those who don’t have that thing.

The system of money also affects how certain things are seen. Items used for making the currency can be seen as valuable to the shady, as they will use it to forge fake currency.

Magic

How does the magic work? Do you need ingredients to cast a spell or just a word? Are there more difficult rituals that must take a longer time to perform? Is there more than one sort of magic? (I.e. Arcane, Divine {or godly}, shaman, Druidic, Demonic)

What are the limits for your magic? How many spells can you use before you’re “empty”? (Make sure you take into account the difference of using many simple spells up to more than one difficult spell.)

How does one gain magic power? Do they gain it from a higher power, by reading and learning from books, from genetics, or some other way?

How does the people react? Is magic widely accepted and available? Or is it a shamed/secretive thing? Is it legal? Or would those who have it need to hide their power?

Are there forbidden spells or forbidden paths of magic? Some good examples of what is usually seen as a forbidden path or magic are necromancy, demonic, and blood magic. How are the users punished, if at all?

For the higher level spells, why are they more difficult? What about them makes them more difficult? The amount of magical power or prowess needed? The necessary ingredients? The time period needed to cast the spell?

Tell me about the economy and magic in your world! What is scarce? What is so common that the characters don’t even think about it? How rich is the magic in your world?