Worldbuilding? In fanfic? It's more likely than you think! Even if writers are not creating the /entire/ world from scratch, fanfic is a great place to see some excellent world building. Especially when the setting is coming from Dungeons and Dragons, a property which greatly encourages creators to make it their own!
Below find pre-canon, post-canon, and all other sorts of worldbuilding efforts!
The Favored One by Incognito_Ghost (21592, Explicit) Content Notes: Major Character Death Pairings: Minthara Baenre/High Priestess of Vandree | Minthara Baenre's Previous Lover
A pre-canon story set in Menzoberranzan, following Minthara and her lover as the latter prepares to ascend to the rank of High Priestess of Lolth at Arach Tinilith, where ambition, faith, and the city's deadly political games are impossible to separate
1st Reccer says: I love this so much! The everyday life of the drow is portrayed so convincingly, and all the political manoeuvring and intricate schemes make it feel like one giant game of 5D chess. It's fantastic 2nd Reccer says: Hot, evil drow women plot against each other, not forgetting to criticize each other's fashion choices. The author has thought very carefully about how drows see the world and how their society is structured.
Keep Telling Me To Breathe and A Heart As Cold As Ice by Defira (213,375 and 279,110, Explicit) Content Notes: Canon-typical violence and Bhaal/devil horribleness Pairings: Dark Urge/Gortash and Gale/Tav
These two fics span pre-canon, canon, and post-canon for the Dark Urge (Kassara) and a drow Tav, Ryme'dra, along with their respective romances and multiple other original characters and canon companions.
Reccer says: This is a double recommendation because Defira's BG3 long fics have incredible worldbuilding with multiple OCs in the same universe. Keep Telling Me to Breathe covers a rich and complex history between Durge and Gortash, and A Heart As Cold As Ice digs deep into drow culture, Mephisotopheles' reign in Cania, Gale's worship of Mystra, and more. And the two stories intersect! Each fic stands fully on its own, but reading them both (and/or her other BG3 fics) makes everything so much richer. Highly recommend.
The Last Will and Testament of Cazador Szarr by AbigailMoment (234498, Explicit) Content Notes: the usual spawn!Astarion-related warnings apply: slavery, consent issues, violence, heavy angst and whump Pairings: Gale / Astarion
AU - what if in efforts to deal with the orb, Gale turned into a vamp? he also inherits Astarion when Cazador dies, as a status symbol
Reccer says: i love so many things abt this one, from Gale still being Gale, still trying to do good and limit his negative impact on other people and the city, i love Tara in this, but the main reason for a rec here is the worldbuilding. it is amazing! from sections of the fic in outsider pov like the person doing lamp post maintenance observing the vampire lord effects on the neighborhood, to the intricate city politics and territory wars between Gale and other vamps. loved how Gale was looking for a druid to help with the plants dying al around his place bc he was a vamp lord, all that good stuff. and then there is the fucking amazing, genius and oh so poetic way the author handled the vampire lord - vampire spawn relation on a, let's call it, mechanical level, with a mental link to see the emotional landscape of the spawn. inspired!
With Your Boots Beneath My Bed by loserscardigan (190228, Explicit) Content Notes: explicit content, graphic depictions of violence Pairings: Astarion/female!OC
A mysterious Tav with a twang in her accent and a heavy past slowly but surely falls in love with Astarion!
Reccer says: One of the most unique and refreshing fics in the fandom & Evie is one of the most interesting Tav’s I’ve read about. Her character & her story is possibly my favorite part of this fic.
Three times three by nuage12 (4821, Mature) Content Notes: Canon-Typical Violence Pairings: The Dark Urge/Enver Gortash
Three episodes from three lives: a future paladin, the head of a cult, and a wanderer with no memory or voice.
Reccer says: I especially love the first chapter. The Dark Urge's adoptive mother is so well-written. She's such a morally ambiguous character from an outward point of view, but at the same time she has a very clear moral code of her own, which she passed on to the Dark Urge.
Eldest Daughter by spacesunderstairs (1000, General) Content Notes: None Pairings:
Menzoberranzan through the eyes of a little girl in a middle-class family who is about to be a big sister for the first time.
Reccer says: This is such a powerful little story that fleshes out so much of the lore of this setting that doesn’t get explored in canon: daily life for regular drow, family relationships, the stuff a child picks up on and the stuff that goes over her head. Terrific stuff.
Heavy Petting by LulaMillay (30561, Explicit) Content Notes: None Pairings: Gale/Tara, Tara/Vajra Sahfar, Samark Dhanszkul/Vajra Sahfar
Gale accidentally turns Tara into a human girl, and hijinx ensue.
Reccer says: This is an absolutely DELIGHTFUL romp. And on top of the charming character work, the city of Waterdeep really IS like a character, ya know?
The Matriarch: The Morena Dekarios Story by Tynithia (47469, Mature) Content Notes: None Pairings: Morena Dekarios/Original Character(s), Morena & Gale, Morena & Original Character(s), Morena & Tav
After witnessing the abduction of her son and grandmother, Morena Dekarios does not sit idly by waiting for news. She takes matters into her own hands, by recruiting a coalition of old friends, bitter rivals, and volatile political allies to find her family.
Reccer says: Even though Gale's mother, Morena Dekarios, is only mentioned a couple of times in the actual game, she now feels like a completely real, fleshed-out character. To support her story, the author built an intricate family tree for Gale's family, complete with a rich history that fluidly ties them into the existing lore. In fact, I kept checking the wiki, because some of the author's own world building was so good, I couldn't tell which was the author's and which was the existing lore! I was entirely immersed in the vivid details of Waterdeep, Neverwinter, and even Evermeet, as if I were walking the streets right alongside Morena. The narrative seamlessly jumps between the past and present to explore Morena's life. Even though the fic isn't complete, it is already a masterclass in world-building! I look forward to see where it goes!
Acts of Civil Service by LulaMillay (28823, Explicit) Content Notes: Major character death, ptsd Pairings: Barcus Wroot / Stonemason Kith
Five years after the Netherbrain left the city in ruins. Barcus has led his clan to success and prosperity and Stonemason Kith has just arrived from the Underdark, trying to build a new life. Neither of them are looking for love. But together, they might build something safe and whole in a city whose foundations are still too shaky to trust.
Reccer says: The pairing has great chemistry, tons of rare and minor characters like the society of brilliance (and the Ironhands might be the mafia?) the world it builds out is a fresh perspective on what could happen after the game if the good guys win but things go wrong.
