Just to preface this update, these are my ideas on how to go about creating a world to be used in writing a novel – or a series of novels. You could write a book without taking a single note on any of these topics, and it may or may not reach its full potential. It couldn’t hurt, however, to at least think for a moment on how any one of these details might affect your story.

Introduction
Much like magic, technology plays an integral role in the minutiae of everyday life, coloring a story by affecting its characters. While it’s possible to think of the level of technology in terms of a time period, say medieval for fantasy, the more exciting route is to consider your societal needs and create a timeline of inventions. This allows the author to craft a foreign culture with familiar elements. For example, a warlike people might actively seek military advancement, while a sedentary people may focus more on improving daily comforts. In this way, we can shape an entire people by exploring the products of their ideals. Just bear in mind that technology tends to spread, by way of trade or mixing cultures.

When I set about creating a new world, I try to imagine a level of technology that together with the magic system will mesh with the society I have in mind. Science can complement magic’s affect on that society or be at odds with the very existence of the arcane. Here are a few things to consider when designing your technology timeline.

Transportation
The ability to move from one place to another can affect many aspects of a culture, not the least of which could be commerce or trade routes. Roads, whether they’re from a village to a castle or one empire to another, are the lifeline of any civilization. Technology will dictate what type of roads that might be or what vehicles, if any, ride upon them. This determines the speed with which goods can travel, be they food, medicine or clothing. Even military expansion can rely on the ability to move troops quickly, from a battlefield or a harbor; not all roads are made of earth. As always, consider how this might affect the everyday life of your characters. Why bother with a horse if a network of portals exists?

Communication
Reducing the response time to a threat or disaster could make the difference between losing or saving lives. For the mundane, however, consider the time saved by the convenience of quickly sending messages. Carrier pigeon, courier, fire signals or any other means of conversing over a distance will affect the speed at which any individual or a society can react to a circumstance. More than that, decide how reliable or available these means of communication are. If devices exist, say a crystal ball or a telegraph, what sort of limitations will these items have? How might this affect the story or the characters’ actions? There’s no need to travel across a mystical forest to speak with a wizard if he is just as easily contacted by scrying in a bowl of water.

Military
There are two ways of obtaining an object of desire, manufacture it or acquire it from someone else. That could be as simple as producing food or complex as laying claim to an entire kingdom. Whether by force or tactics, diplomacy or trade, there will always be striving for a more efficient way to kill. Technology can provide the means to both harm and protect, to take life with less risk and safeguard the body. Aside from how transport and communication can affect warfare, consider what weapons and armor your level of technology affords. What materials are these items made from? Are these items readily available or difficult to come by? Have projectiles been invented, and if so what kind? What defenses exist for an individual or a city? I don’t want to get into the structure of a military force, as that will be covered in Government, but it’s important to think on any advances made in the name of conquest. Whether a people are driven to expand an empire or defend their homes from invaders, they rely on innovation to stay alive.

Health Care
It’s a good idea to consider just what a culture is capable of healing, from broken bones to infectious disease, simple aches to gaping wounds. Are doctors common? Are they trained at a university or apprenticed like a blacksmith? If magic can heal or even raise the dead, has it held back the advance of medicine? Be it magic potions or pharmaceuticals, how readily available are cures to the public? The answers to these questions can change the logical outcome of a scene or alter the way a character might behave. On a larger scale, the health of a society will be reflected in its environment, where plague may be rampant or the common cold is unheard of.

Education
Written word or oral tradition, the passing on of knowledge is integral to the success of any society. Whether that repository be an elder or a library, education paves the way for progression along the technological timeline. Consider whether education is available to the masses or reserved for the wealthy, institutionalized or lacking in formal structure, centralized or spread out across the land. Are trades passed on from father to son, from master to apprentice, professor to student or a good deal of each? Reading and writing are important to communication, keeping history and forging laws. Will your characters live in a society of educated free-thinkers or stem from an illiterate, oppressed people?

The same would hold true for magic, if it can be learned or honed as an innate talent. If such is the case, is magic taught in a separate forum or alongside the mundane? Does studying magic hold more value than other fields? It’s good to be aware of any societal norms that might cause tension between characters.

Production
This will set the tone for everyday city life, depending on where the story might focus. Industry is key to the daily activity of commerce, filling the roadways with busy people or the sounds of manufacture. Carts laden with goods, merchants hawking their wares, craftsmen plying their trades, all lend themselves to the atmosphere of a living economy. Technology plays its role in how society’s goods get made, whether by tools and manual labor or the semi-automation of a bustling factory. How items are made, from weapons to ceramic mugs, will determine both the quality and quantity those goods may come in. Try to imagine what a small town might look like, with the clang of its forge and billowing smoke or the overwhelming stench of its tannery just downwind from the collection of wooden buildings and thatch roofs. An industrial city would look and sound much different, its cityscape and skies choked with black clouds and metal progress.

Outside Influence
Some fun can be had by corrupting the logical flow of a technology timeline. The introduction of a more advanced society can breed tension and a thirst for faster progress, putting the lesser developed people at a trade disadvantage and prey to cultural influences. The possibility of reverse engineering or even mimicking superior technology by magical means can lead to gaps in a logical timeline of discovery and invention. Such a phenomenon could also result in magic taking the place of science in certain areas, slowing or even halting the advance of an entire field. This mix and matching of technologies from different eras, using magic as a bridge, could lend a hand in shaping a unique and fantastical world. Of course, limited trade with an advanced culture could also lead to medieval societies with access to machine guns or hand grenades, designer drugs or strange fashions.

Supplant or Supplement?
One thing to consider is that magic and technology can be married to create any number of new things, using one to enhance the other in ways unique to your story. Or technology can be utterly replaced by the arcane, where science is in fact the study of magic. Extremes or compromises, it’s a good idea to envision how your system of magic will coincide in the world with technology and its progress. This is yet another way of distinguishing one culture from another, where say elves and dwarves may greatly differ with humans somewhere in between.

Discoveries and Inventions
Whether you write it out or simply take some time to think about it, having a firm technology timeline in mind is a great way to get a grasp on your new world. The impact of some inventions and scientific discoveries are so profound that they change the face of society. Fire and the wheel, electricity or the printing press, gun powder or the steam engine… this is where your world can stand out from rest. Applying logic to fantasy, you can make a simple change and chart the course of its effect ripple across your timeline.