Kingdom Building & Base Building: The Strategy Fantasy
When fiction becomes Civilization. Kingdom building, settlement management, and why we love watching protagonists build empires.
Some people want to be the hero. Others want to be the guy who builds the city the hero lives in.
Kingdom building fiction is for the second group.
The Core Appeal
Instead of personal power, the fantasy is:
- Building a settlement from nothing
- Managing resources and people
- Defending against threats
- Growing an empire
It's Civilization or Age of Empires in fiction form.
What It Looks Like
Typical kingdom building story:
- MC arrives in undeveloped territory
- Establishes initial settlement
- Gathers followers with various skills
- Faces escalating external threats
- Expands, improves, grows
- Becomes significant power
The progression is the territory, not just the protagonist.
Subgenres
LitRPG Kingdom Building
System-assisted. The MC has skills for settlement management. Might literally see stats for their kingdom.
Kingdom Level: 3 Population: 547 Resources: Wood (abundant), Iron (scarce), Food (sufficient)
Isekai Kingdom Building
Modern person in fantasy world uses contemporary knowledge to build better society. Introduces crop rotation, sanitation, organizational structures.
Post-Apocalyptic Base Building
Survival focus. Building a community in a ruined world. More scrappy, less grand.
Dungeon/Tower Building
Technically adjacent. Building UP rather than OUT. Managing a dungeon or tower rather than a kingdom.
Common Elements
The founding group. Initial loyal followers who become important leaders.
The first challenge. Usually an immediate threat that justifies defensibility.
Resource management. Food, materials, people, money all need balancing.
Specialization. Different characters contribute different skills (blacksmith, farmer, mage, warrior).
Diplomacy or war. Eventually, other powers notice you.
Growth milestones. Village → Town → City → Kingdom.
Why It Works
Creation satisfaction. Building something from nothing is inherently rewarding. Watching a tiny village become a thriving city scratches an itch that personal power fantasies don't reach.
Complex problem-solving. Balancing many variables is engaging for strategy-minded readers. Where should resources go? How do you prioritize defense versus expansion? These decisions feel meaningful.
Community focus. It's not just about the MC; it's about everyone they lead. The ensemble cast of specialists creates multiple characters to invest in.
Long-term stakes. The settlement becomes something to protect. Threats feel more personal when they endanger what you've built over dozens of chapters.
Visible progress. You can track growth concretely. Population numbers, territory size, building count—the metrics are satisfying and unambiguous.
Popular Examples
Release That Witch - Modern engineer transported to medieval fantasy, uses scientific knowledge to build a technological kingdom.
The New World - Various kingdom building elements on Royal Road.
Dungeon Crawler Carl has base-building elements between dungeon floors.
Civilization-like games have inspired many web novels in this space.
The Overlap with Other Genres
Kingdom building often combines with:
LitRPG: Game mechanics for settlement management Isekai: Modern knowledge application Progression fantasy: Kingdom levels up alongside MC Military fantasy: Defending and conquering Romance: Political marriages, relationship dynamics
Pure kingdom building is rare. Most blend with other elements.
Reading Tips
If you want kingdom building:
Check tags carefully. "Kingdom Building" is often a minor element, not the main focus. Many stories promise it but deliver only brief interludes between adventures.
Accept slow burns. Good kingdom building takes time. Don't expect rapid power growth. The satisfaction comes from gradual development over hundreds of chapters.
Strategy tolerance matters. If resource management bores you, this might not be your genre. Kingdom building lives or dies on whether you find logistics interesting.
Expect ensemble casts. The blacksmith, the general, the diplomat—kingdom building introduces many important characters. If you prefer tight protagonist focus, adjust expectations.
Creating Your Own
Tell narrator what kind of kingdom building you want:
- "Kingdom building focused on economics and trade"
- "Post-apocalyptic base building with survival elements"
- "Fantasy kingdom builder with strong military focus"
The genre has enough established tropes that AI can generate solid examples tailored to your preferences.
Common Challenges
Kingdom building stories often struggle with:
The competent MC problem: When your protagonist solves everything personally, the settlement feels less like a community and more like an extension of one person.
Pacing the growth: Too fast and stakes vanish. Too slow and readers get bored between developments.
Character balance: The founding group needs development, not just roles.
The best kingdom builders address these. The MC delegates. Growth has setbacks. Characters have lives beyond their functions.
The Emperor Fantasy
Being the hero is about individual power. Being the kingdom builder is about legacy.
You're not just becoming strong. You're creating something that outlasts you. That's a different kind of power fantasy—one where your impact extends beyond your own story.