Basilicus was originally created by Mark Havenner in 2004 as a world-building project utilizing a PHP content management system. At the time, the project's rights were fully reserved and the creator hoped to establish a growing community of world-builders. As the project progressed, however, it was realized that by transitioning the content into a free license, it would benefit both the developers and the world-building community as a whole. The first license chosen was from Creative Commons.