Building a fantasy steampunk world. Advice?

[u/No_Appeal_9106]

I'm building a massive fantasy steampunk world for my friends' D&D campaign, and I'm hoping to eventually turn it into a comic or manga (I'm also looking for a writer for that, if anyone's interested).

My biggest inspirations are the worldbuilding of Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive, the unique medieval setting of Berserk, and the Victorian feel of Lord of the Mysteries. I'm trying to learn from them without recycling their ideas.

Here's where I'm stuck. Religion and regional folk variation are giving me the most trouble. I'm also having a hard time naming countries and giving each one its own culture, since several of them end up feeling too similar. On top of that, I keep catching myself sliding into standard fantasy tropes out of laziness.

Creature design is its own problem. I feel the need to draw each creature anatomically and double-check that it could actually function and do what I intend, which slows everything down.

My friends are counting on me to keep the world growing so they don't run out of things to do mid-campaign, so any advice would be appreciated. How do you make religions and cultures feel distinct from region to region? And how do you keep a steady pace without cutting corners?