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Location Development Questions

Build locations that apply pressure, hide information, and force choices, rather than backdrops that hold dialogue.

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01SURFACE IDENTITY

Name, nicknames, codenames, aliases

First impression on entering or approaching

How it presents itself to the ordinary world

What it hides from casual observers

The cover story or public explanation

Visual, architectural, or environmental details that define it

02ORIGIN AND HISTORY

How it was created or discovered

Key events that shaped its current state

The legend told about this place

The truth behind that legend

Who originally built, founded, or claimed it

What evidence of its history remains, and what has been erased

03RULES AND LIMITATIONS

Write these down early. They become your guardrails.

What can happen here that cannot happen elsewhere?

What is forbidden or impossible here?

If it is connected to a power source, how does it work, and what does it cost?

Physical rules

Gravity, light, sound, temperature.

What happens if someone breaks the rules?

Rituals, protocols, or procedures required here

04SENSORY EXPERIENCE

Atmosphere first. What is the vibe before the plot?

What do you see?

Lighting, colors, scale, visual texture.

What do you hear?

Ambient sound, echoes, silence, what is missing.

What do you smell or taste?

What do you feel physically?

Temperature, humidity, vibration, pressure.

The emotional atmosphere, and how it shifts

Entry point to inner sanctum. Day to night. Across seasons.

05SECRETS AND LAYERS

Hidden rooms, passages, or areas

Mystery boxes embedded here

What rewards deeper exploration

What dangers lurk in the deeper layers

What an expert would notice that a newcomer would miss

What distant mountains does it hint at but never reveal?

06RELATIONSHIPS AND TRAFFIC

Who controls or claims it

Who maintains it, and who knows how it works

Who is allowed in, who is forbidden, and how people get in and out

Who wants to control it but cannot

Factions or individuals competing over it

Professional support services that exist here

The eclectic characters who populate this space

07IN-WORLD PURPOSE

What function does it serve in the fictional universe?

Why does it exist? Who or what needs it?

What would happen to the world if it were destroyed?

How it connects to the world’s systems

Economy, politics, power.

Is it unique, or are there others like it?

08NARRATIVE PURPOSE

Character plus situation equals a condition that generates story.

What storytelling function does it serve?

What impossible choices does it force?

What character traits does being here reveal or test?

What conflicts does it generate naturally?

How does it create pressure, stakes, or urgency?

What theme or emotional truth does it embody?

Is this a transformation space where characters change?

09MYSTERY BOX MANAGEMENT

Do not keep the box closed too long. Build trust piece by piece. Every reveal is a promise kept.

Explain now

Rules the audience must understand for scenes to work.

Reveal gradually

Clues planted now and paid off later.

Keep as mystery boxes

Questions that create anticipation without needing answers yet.

Never explain

What loses power if over-explained.

10THE POP-UP TEST

Stress-test the location by imagining it as a themed real-world experience.

Signature drink, snack, or sensory offering

The soundtrack

The moment a visitor would photograph

The hidden room waiting for those who dig deeper

Location Development Questions, from the Scribble Worksheets library. Serves the whole course, not one lesson.

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