Chapter 6. Nine Classifications and Worldbuilding Axes — Two Coordinates Determine Part Composition

There are 1,500 entries neatly gathered in one work folder. Open one and two lines appear at the head of the file: category: mechanism and worldbuilding_axis: shamanism. Those two lines decide which page of the LOREBOOK will receive the entry. Its location in the book has been designated in advance.

Knowing an entry's two coordinates almost decides where it belongs among the twelve parts.

In the fictional IP “XX,” Spirit Possession Ritual is mechanism × shamanism, whose intersection is Part 2 §3, Shamanic System. Male Mudang is person × shamanism, placing it in Part 9 §1, Shamanic Characters. Haewon Restaurant is place × cuisine and enters Part 6 §2, Culinary Everyday Life.

The same principle operates in market LOREBOOKs. The Weave in Forgotten Realms is mechanism × magic and enters the magic system; Elminster is person × magic and enters the character catalog; Waterdeep is place × political faction and enters geography; the Masked Lords are people × political faction and enter the faction catalog. In Eberron, dragonmarks are mechanism × dragonmark and enter magitech, while House Cannith is object or organization × dragonmark and enters factions. The rule applies unchanged across IPs. Its efficiency comes from being a universal IP-classification tool.

The system turns distribution of 1,500 entries into search results for coordinate combinations rather than manual dragging. Sixty to seventy percent of part mapping becomes automatic, helping shorten an eighteen- to twenty-four-month process to nine to fourteen months.

This chapter explains how automation works: the nine classifications decide the part; worldbuilding axes decide the chapter; two-coordinate searches generate candidate groups; and human judgment handles the remaining thirty to forty percent.

Nine classifications decide the part

The mapping principle is simple: classifications with similar functions gather in similar parts.

Three operating-principle classes—technical terms, mechanisms, and concepts—mainly gather in Part 2, Laws of the World. Technical terms also enter the appendix glossary, while some concepts touch Part 5, Society, Politics, and Economy.

Places enter Part 4 Geography when they are cities, regions, or buildings, but dimensional places such as spirit and underworld realms enter Part 8, Planes and Spaces. Events gather in Part 3 History and Chronology and pair with the chronology appendix.

People become main entries in Part 9, while minor characters appear briefly in NPC mini-cards. Objects and equipment enter Part 6, but abstract groups—families, companies, orders—move to Part 10, Factions. Mise-en-scène divides between Part 1 World Tone and Part 6 Everyday Life and Culture. Values, as ethical and psychological principles, appear lightly in Part 1 and the author's afterword.

One classification rarely maps to only one part. People appear in Part 9 and the NPC appendix; places in Parts 4 and 8; technical terms in Part 2 and the glossary. This multiple mapping opens both body and appendix routes for the reader.

Worldbuilding axes decide the chapter

If classification decides the part, the worldbuilding axis decides the chapter within it. One axis spans several parts, while one part divides into chapters by axis.

In “XX,” shamanism spans Part 2 §3 Shamanic System, Part 9 §1 Shamanic Characters, and Part 10 §1 Shaman Families. Its mechanisms, people, and factions go to different parts. The living world spreads across geography, society, and everyday life; spirits span Parts 8 and 9.

Conversely, Part 9 divides into §1 Shamanic Characters, §2 Cooks, and §3 Spirit Beings. Classification chose Part 9 because all are people or beings; axes choose the chapters. At the intersection of axis distribution and part division, one entry becomes one article. Readers therefore encounter shamanism as mechanics, people, and factions, producing a three-dimensional view.

Two-coordinate search — turning the Vault into a part-mapping engine

Obsidian tags turn coordinates into automation. tag:category/mechanism AND tag:axis/shamanism extracts spirit descent, possession, resentment, and invocation as candidates for Part 2 §3. Person × shamanism produces Part 9 candidates; object × shamanism produces everyday-life or appendix cards; place × spirits produces Part 8 candidates.

Predefine coordinate combinations for all twelve parts, run the searches, and review the candidate groups. Search composes about eighty percent; boundary entries make up the remainder. Accurate Librarying coordinates reduce mapping to one-line searches, while vague coordinates require more human work.

Conversion patterns — beyond automatic mapping

About eighty percent follows 1:1: one Vault entry becomes one LOREBOOK article. About fifteen percent follows N:1. Six districts that together form “Six Mornings” may become one deep overview, six standard articles, or both—an overview in Part 4 and details in Part 6. Integration suits a shared identity; division suits distinct identities.

About five percent follows 1:N, only for mega-hubs. Black Aperture may divide into its nature and laws in Part 2, emergence sites in Part 4, and response professions in Part 7. Ordinary hubs are not split because excessive division scatters information.

Deciding part composition — five stages in one flow

First extract a matrix of nine classifications × worldbuilding axes. Large and empty combinations reveal heavy and light regions. Mapping it into the twelve-part matrix automates sixty to seventy percent. People then decide integrations and divisions, check that part counts remain within ±20 percent of the guide, and set priorities.

Mapping 1,500 entries takes about five to eight hours rather than a week: one to two hours of automated mapping and four to six of review. In “XX,” Part 9's 220 entries suggest card compression; Parts 4 and 6 remain balanced; Part 9 receives first priority, Parts 4 and 2 next.

Five areas decided by people

The human thirty to forty percent comprises integration versus division, placement of unassigned entries, mega-hub splitting, length balance, and preservation of the IP's unique character. The last is subtlest: an entry classified as a person may personify a mechanic and belong in Part 2 rather than Part 9. Only someone who deeply understands the IP can decide this.

The landscape in graph view

After eighty percent is mapped, color graph nodes by nine classifications. Many colors should mix within a part, showing functional diversity. Color the same graph by worldbuilding axis and one or two colors should dominate each part, showing domain focus.

This contrast visualizes orthogonality. One classification color dominating warns of low diversity; too many axis colors warn of weak consistency. The two coordinates both locate entries and diagnose the structure of the whole book.

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