Use the Vehicle template to write about any kind of means of transportation. This includes medieval carriages, automobiles, aircrafts, and armored vehicles!
Contents
What should I use this template for?
This template is for most things that you would naturally define as "vehicles"; that is, anything that is made with the purpose of transporting people or goods. Note that for the technologies that power these vehicles, you'd use the Technology template instead.
In some cases, you might consider animals vehicles as well, although you'd generally use the Species template for them. There is some overlap with the Item template as well, as Vehicles can be considered objects (even though they tend to be quite big). Finally, especially in futuristic settings, there's also some overlap with Building (think about a space station, or the cities in Mortal Engines). As a general rule, consider what the role of the vehicle is in the world and what you want to focus on when describing it. If the most important thing about it is that it moves people and goods around, then it's most likely a Vehicle.
Template walkthrough
Remember that all template prompts are optional! In fact some prompts might not be relevant to you. As always, there's a free-writing section at the top (which we call vignette) and the prompts are under the "+ Prompts" button in the bottom toolbar.
The prompts are organized into three section:
- Identity: Use this tab to write about the basic details about the vehicle, including the naming, and the creation date. This tab has multiple dropdowns in which you can link the vehicle to other articles you've written, such as the Character that owns it and the Organization that manufactures it.
- Properties: Here you can fill in the vehicle's characteristics and capabilities such as its length, rarity, capacity and speed.
- Systems: Use this tab to write about any offensive or defensive systems, such as weapons, sensors, and armor.
If you use the Class field (for example, to define the prototype of the vehicle), an "organization tree" will be automatically generated at the bottom. This tree will visually represent all related vehicles; learn more about it here.
Step-by-step guide to writing a vehicle
Here are some steps you can follow to write a Vehicle article:
- What's the vehicle's purpose?
Think about this question in both an in-world and off-world way. Why do you, the worldbuilder, need it in the world? What themes does it represent, how can it progress the plot, and what advantages will it offer? And in-world, who can use it and how? Does it have any special functions or properties? - What does it say about the world?
Is it a product of advanced technology? Does one need special powers to operate it? What is it made out of and what powers it? Vehicles can say a lot about the technological level of your world and the wealth of its inhabitants, sop the answers to all these questions will give your readers information about your world, its laws and how it operates. - How is it used?
The first thing that comes to mind when thinking about vehicles is their transportation ability. Is this your vehicles' only function? Is it armed or armored? What other features does it have? (Can it make coffee?!)
Need more pointers? Take a look at these guides:
Community examples for inspiration
Need some inspiration? Here are some vehicle articles written by our amazing community!
