Sometimes the stories we want to tell is not
about beating a person. Sometimes we want our protagonists to battle the environment itself.
Now I bet that your first thought in PVE battles is not grass, but that's where you're wrong!
Grasslands cover around 30% of Earth's environment and they are a fascinating biome to include in
a fantasy world. Imagine the sun cresting over the horizon its golden rays painting a canvas of
endless grasslands. What if every waving blade of grass actually harbored ancient magic? Or what if
the elephant walking over there was actually part of a mighty civilization? Or what if a lion jumps
out from behind that tree and eats your face! That is what I want to talk about today, the savanna
grasslands and what it offers the fantasy world builder. Welcome to another episode of Just
In Time Worlds, with your host Marie Mullany. [Channel Intro] Grasslands can be broadly divided into
two categories, temperate grasslands, which we’ll discuss another time and savanna or
tropical grasslands, the topic of today’s video, which is brought to you by my Epic Fantasy
series, The Sangwheel Chronicles. More about that at the end of the video. The most famous
savanna is probably the African grasslands, and that is the inspiration of my research. So
without further ado, let’s plunge into the Savanna biome and first up, we’ll very appropriately talk
about Grass. I grew up in Africa and the thing that I remember most about grass is the length of
it. I used to ride ponies when I was young and the red grass would actually stroke across my feet
where they dangled on either side of the pony. African grass is a different kind of thing from
what you would think of when you think of grass, especially lawn grass! It is a hardy species that
holds the land together and savannas survive a pendulum swing between extreme weather conditions.
One afternoon, drought can starve the land, but by the next day, a torrential downpour can
threaten to drown everything. Just before I left Africa, we'd been suffering a massive drought
for seven years, and it was incredibly dry. There was even fears that the tap water would
run dry. Then, in the space of one afternoon, that drought broke. On that single afternoon, the
catchment reservoir dam went from empty to sluice gates open, all the way to the top. They say it
was raining an Olympic swimming pool worth of water per second into the dam. The highways of
Johannesburg, where I was living at the time, went from cork dry to completely flooded. Cars
were quite literally floating away. And that is not the only flood I experienced in Africa.
In my childhood, I recollect a flood like that as well—we had a long drought and then suddenly
the rain just came down in buckets, in swimming pool sized buckets! These extreme swings to me
is very typical of Africa’s weather. And Savanna grass has to be able to survive that, but it's not
just the torrential rains they have to survive, there is also fire. All those droughts that I
talked about? Grass fires start really easily in those conditions and will rip through the
savanna in hours. And yet, many savanna grasses don't just survive this, they thrive on it!
These grasses are pyrophytic meaning they need those fires the fires clear out dead material and
encourage new growth. The fire actually returns nutrients to the soil and this could be a great
fantasy element for a world builder. That kind of cycle leans into thematic components rebirth,
death after life and the even the passing down of magic through bloodlines from parents to children.
You could bring in legendary creatures inspired by the phoenix which is reborn from fire and build
that into your mythology and your fantastical elements and your magic system. So there’s a lot
of potential just in cycle of fire and grass of the savanna. But there’s more to grass that just
being able to regrow. The roots of savanna grasses can dig deeper into the earth than the grass
is tall allowing it to tap into water sources far below the surface. And in a fantasy setting
these roots could be channels for underground magic streams or it could be a means for the grass
to listen to the whispers of the world. It could hear the world through the earth and pass that
wisdom up through its stems to those who have ears to hear it. And of course, grass prevents
erosion with this root mass and that can be a further property of magic where it holds the world
together and provides stability that the mage could draw on. But it's not just below the soil
that the savanna grass has adapted for survival, it is also in their narrow leaves to reduce water
loss and a growth pattern called basal meristems, which is to say they grow from their base rather
than their tips, allowing them to survive the grazing and trampling of the herbivores that live
on the savanna. This resilience could tie into a magical barrier in your world where you could
use the grass to build walls that regrows swiftly after an enemy's attack, or perhaps it could
create living armor that heals itself. Maybe with a particular vulnerability to fire… Last point on
grass: though we often picture a homogeneous sea of grass the savanna actually boasts an impressive
array of grass species and each type has adapted to its microenvironment. There are some that
grow low down and some that grow tall and they are fed on by different animals and they provide
a different role in the overall environment. This creates a mosaic of life that is extremely rich
in this keystone plant. In a fantasy world each of those grasses could hold a different element of
magic. Perhaps the mage needs to gather specific grasses in order to weave his spells. And with
all the species of grass available to you, you have a lot to draw on for a magic system. But
grass isn't the only plant on the savanna and so if you've enjoyed this discussion of grass hit
that thumbs up button and let's talk about the other flora that exists in this biome. While the
rolling sea of grass defines the savanna, it's punctuated by some pretty amazing plants. Take
the acacia, for example. These thorny sentinels are evolution's response to the constant threat of
herbivory. Thorns are a plant's armor, a botanical barbed wire designed to protect vulnerable leaves
and stems from the mouths of hungry grazers. In the realm of fantasy, these thorns could be
a natural defense mechanism for sacred groves or enchanted territories, deterring unwelcome
visitors from discovering the magic within them. You could weave them into “testing ceremonies”
for young mages, requiring that they pass through the thorns without harm to prove their mastery.
Or perhaps these trees could be a part of your religion and the priests could prove they have
the favor of the gods by opening the pathways through the acacia to the sacred grove. Thorns
are a great way to survive the savanna because they also reduce the plants water requirement, but
one plant has found a different way to survive and that’s the mighty baobab, the grand elder of the
savanna. Baobabs have a distinctive look that make them seem like they're planted upside down with
roots reaching for the sky. This peculiar form has inspired many myths and tales in our world and in
a fantasy world, where you have magic, these trees could be a portal between worlds. Their roots
could be anchoring the fabric of different realms, they could be a part of your planar system. And
for my thoughts on how to create unseen realms and different planes check out the information
card. But the baobab's trunk is not just for show, it's actually designed to store water. It
can store up to 14,000 liters, allowing it to endure those harsh droughts I talked about. These
living reservoirs have got enormous potential in a fantasy world. The baobab could be a sacred tree
holding the life of the tribe, or the water from the baobab could be a critical component for your
magic system. Or you could even go long and build a civilization based on the trees themselves. They
could direct the rest of the savanna around their requirements, providing the water other species
need. I think that would be a very interesting civilization because the trees being stationary
would not be an active civilization as our species is. For example, baobabs are pollinated by bats
and bush babies, so they would need to create an environment that is conducive to bats and bush
babies coming to them, which is a different approach from us, where we take ourselves to
our environment and force it give us food. Their civilization might be a more passive
one, as opposed to the active civilizations animals tend to build. I think would be a really
interesting twist on a fantasy civilization! This is especially true because baobabs are extremely
long living. They can live for thousands of years much like the welwitschia plant which I spoke
about in a short, which you can check out and then information card. So, baobabs can stand as silent
witnesses to the passing of the ages and their hollow trunks can hold histories and secrets. You
could have the baobab be a fantastical element of your world that holds the memories of civilization
and that shamans can interact with to learn the wisdom of ages. So you’ve got some rich plant
option on the savanna. But what about an active civilization? What about the animal life of the
savanna? If you’ve enjoyed this plant discussion, hit the thumbs up button and lets talk about PVE:
Animal Opponents. In 1898, as the British sought to lay down the iron tracks of progress across
the Kenyan landscape, two lions emerged from the tall grasses of Tsavo, bringing the construction
of the Uganda Railway to a terrifying halt. These were not ordinary lions; they were larger, almost
maneless, and they hunted humans, not for sport, but for survival. Over nine months, these silent
hunters claimed over 130 lives, stalking the labor camps and dragging men from their tents, leaving
a legacy that blurred the lines between myth and reality. The local workers named these lions
the Ghost and the Darkness because of their uncanny ability to appear and vanish silently
with their prey, and that’s also what the movie depicting these events was called. In your
world, such lions could be more than beasts; perhaps they are guardians of the land, enacting
nature's retribution, or cursed entities bound to protect a sacred site. There’s of course also
the question of why these lions turn to preying on humans. Some theories suggest a shortage of their
usual prey, others point to the possibility of injury that made hunting wild game difficult. For
your narrative, this could introduce the concept of creatures adapting to an evolving world, maybe
even an enchanted one, where the normal rules of nature have been altered by magic or a curse.
The story of these man-eaters has left a mark on Tsavo, turning them into legends. They have
become symbols of the wilderness’s untamable and unpredictable nature. In a fantasy setting, such
creatures could be a source of folktales warning of greed and the perils of disturbing sacred
lands, a warning to mages not to dig too deep, playing the same thematic role as
Tolkien's balrog does for the dwarves. This kind of story against a non-human or
non-sentient enemy allows you tell stories that really lean into the enduring might of the
human spirit and the ability to push through challenges. But maybe you don’t want a human
civilization and maybe a tree civilization is a little bit too far our there. How about
a civilization based on elephants? Elephants are already known for their strong social bonds
and emotional depth, so they could easily form a society that co-operates with each other and thus
grow to dominate their environment. Their famed memories could translate into a culture with
rich oral traditions that spans generations. You could even tie this into the baobab tree’s
longevity and have the whole civilization built around memory and how the past creates the future.
Even as it stands in our world, Elephants are a keystone species and they shape their environment
by uprooting trees and creating waterholes. It wouldn’t take much expansion to give them tool
use, those trunks are really close to hands and as a civilized species, they could be great
terraformers, shaping the land to sustain their society and allies. Elephants communicate over
long distances using infrasound in our world. You could expand this to a telepathic network,
enabling instant communication across the savanna, perhaps even tying it into the grassroots of the
savanna that we discussed earlier. So I would argue, if you’re looking for a non-human species,
skip the lion, leave them as a PVE opponent, and just make the elephant your civilization
builder! Before we move on from animals, I do want to talk about an often overlooked animal type: the
insect. In the case of the savanna, a great insect for the fantasy world builder is the termite.
Termites build towering mounds that regulate temperature and humidity, an enormous feat of
engineering! These mounds are rich in nutrients, making the soil around them fertile. This could
be a form of natural alchemy, turning barren earth into lifegiving ground. You could also lean
into this as a power source for your magic system, where a druid lures termites to enrich the soil
of the savanna, and encourages new growth. And that will enable you to say the amazing words:
We must destroy his Ant Farm! Which I think would just be glorious to unironically say. But the most
interesting thing about termites, in my opinion, is that some species are fungal farmers. Now I've
spoken about zombie ants before and check out that video on fungus in the information card,
but that's not what's going on here. Certain termite species engage in fungiculture where they
cultivate specific fungus as their primary food source. These termites create fungal gardens
within their nests, carefully tending their fungal crop. Now for a fact, fungi are always
fun in a fantasy world, and so these termites and their fungi can be in yours. This fungus could be
critical to your magic system but the mage has to maintain his termite farm, so that the termites
can maintain their fungal farm, giving you a double reason for stealing his Ant Farm! It's the
little things you know? And if you enjoyed that discussion of animals, hit that thumbs up button
and let's talk about magic systems. We’ve already touched on a many fantastical elements, but I’d
like to explore two distinct potential magic systems that are intrinsically tied to the vast
grasslands and help you explore certain thematic elements in that world. So the first magic
system is the whispering wilds: In this system, magic is an intimate dialogue with the living
savanna. The grass whispers secrets to those who listen, teaching them the language of the wild.
Shamans and druids are the interpreters here, capable of understanding the murmurs of growth
and the songs of the winds. They can invoke the grass for healing, camouflage, or to create
illusions, their powers waxing and waning with the health of the land. Each blade of grass is
a potential ally, ready to shield or to expose, a reflection of the savanna's ever-shifting moods.
This magic system allows the character to draw on the environment and be supported by it. You could
then tell a great story where the environment turns on the character and he is left bereft of
power must repair his connection with the land. This would lean into the might of the savanna as
an environmental opponent, while still grounding the tale in magic that draws on the strength of
the grasslands. What other themes do you think this magic system would support? Let me know
in the comments below. The second magic system, I called the firebrand covenant: Here, magic
is born from the ashes of the savanna fires, a pact between the force of destruction and the
promise of renewal. Sorcerers draw their power from the scorched earth, channeling the fierce
energy of fire into their spells. They can command flames that dance across the savanna, regrow burnt
foliage in an instant, or invoke the smoldering spirit of rebirth to heal and restore. Theirs is a
magic of stark contrasts—devastation and creation, fear and awe—mirroring the duality of fire that
both consumes and rejuvenates. This allows you to use the destruction of the savanna as a fearsome
opponent, but also a source of power, allowing you to play with themes of balance between risk and
reward. Do you think this will support any other themes? Let me know in the comments below!
In both systems, the grasslands are not just a setting—they are a source of power, an active
participant in the magic that flows through your world. The magic is as pervasive as the grass
itself, and as varied as the life it sustains. Whether whispering with the grass or drawing power
from the cycle of fire, mages of the savanna must live in harmony with the land, their strength
a direct reflection of its endless horizons and boundless skies. What do you think? What magic
system would you build for a savanna biome? Let me know in the comments down below! And let's talk
about your savanna! So, if you are building a savanna biome, here are the key components you
need to remember: One: Fire will be critical. The constant rebirth of the grasslands is a key
feature of the environment. Two: It really is in the name, your going to need to focus on grass
as the keystone plant, but don’t forget about the potential of trees like the baobab and the acacia.
Three: The animals are all in a prey-predator cycle and that gives you the opportunity to tell
great PVE stories where humans get caught up in this same cycle. Four: Lean into the strengths of
the savanna for your magic systems, focus on fire, rebirth, and the interconnected nature of the
plants. And those were my thoughts on creating a savanna biome! Now, I don’t currently have
much of a savanna in my Epic Fantasy series, but sales of those books still brought you this
video! I’ve received some good reviews on the books, so I feel confident in saying that if you
enjoyed Sanderson, Martin and Jordan, you’ll like my series too and you can check them out in the
link below. But please don't feel pressured to support the channel financially, you can also show
your support just by watching another video. Since you enjoyed this video, you might also enjoy
my video on creating lake biomes in a fantasy world. Or you can trust the algorithm with its
recommendation right over there and I will see you soon for another episode of just in time worlds
where we build what we need when we need it.
