ART!
Deluxe Unhuman
I try to force myself to stop noodling away creatively and ask myself what aspects of this world are going to do the most for creating the tone we want at the table during play? Basically: work smart, not hard. What's going to give me the most bang for my buck: the "bang" being flavor that's useful to the players in helping them get in the mood and make characters that are natural fits for the tone, and the "buck" being my/our time and effort spent developing things.
Choosing or tweaking a system that will emulate the tone you want is essential, I think, but beyond that, I think imagery is very useful. I'm very visually oriented, so doing that comes naturally to me and is an easy way to get me in the right headspace. People who are less visually-oriented might not be inclined to think that way, but I've found that an evocative image or collection of images does wonders to inspire even those folks.
Similarly, a map or maps rendered in a style that evokes the tone and (sub)genre could be a great thing to hunt down, make, or commission.
A short list of well-known cultural touchstones could also be very useful in letting everyone know how things should feel.
A lot fo that is not technically worldbuilding maybe, but is at least useful in prepping for the actual worldbuilding.
Choosing or tweaking a system that will emulate the tone you want is essential, I think, but beyond that, I think imagery is very useful. I'm very visually oriented, so doing that comes naturally to me and is an easy way to get me in the right headspace. People who are less visually-oriented might not be inclined to think that way, but I've found that an evocative image or collection of images does wonders to inspire even those folks.
Similarly, a map or maps rendered in a style that evokes the tone and (sub)genre could be a great thing to hunt down, make, or commission.
A short list of well-known cultural touchstones could also be very useful in letting everyone know how things should feel.
A lot fo that is not technically worldbuilding maybe, but is at least useful in prepping for the actual worldbuilding.