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http://www.roleplayingtips.com/readissue.php?number=142|”Designing Cultures For Your Game World Using Toynbee’s Principles” `RPG::rpgtips:Issue142|local` http://www.roleplayingtips.com/readissue.php?number=142|”City Places” `RPG::rpgtips:07 city places|local` http://www.io.com/~sjohn/demog.htm|”Fantasy Demographics” `/3rdParty/fantasy_demographics.txt|local` http://www.guildcompanion.com/scrolls/2000/may/landtosubsistance.html|”From Land To Subsistance” `/3rdParty/from_land_to_subsistance.txt|local` fantasy languages http://www.roleplayingtips.com/articles/fantasy_languages.php Language `/3rdParty/old_dwarvish.txt`, `/3rdParty/even_orcish_is_logical.txt` Apparently not on web no more: `/3rdParty/gygax_feudalistic_government.html`, `/3rdParty/gygax_oriental_imperial_government.html`, `/3rdParty/gygax_other_independent_governments.html` FIXME strip html `[/3rdParty/feudaltitles.txt` FIXME strip html `[/3rdParty/spaceterms.txt` `/downloads/Creating_Realistic_Cities_for_Fantasy_Adventures.pdf` `downlaod>Tai Chi Chuan.pdf` `downlaod>Temples of India.pdf` ====== Races ====== Hagfish herding sea orcs ===== Masgai ===== Masgai are highly advanced tool makers, and their clothes are mass produced. While the clothing is of high quality, there is very little variety in fashion, so most Masgai have a uniform appearance. ===== Telvar ===== Telvar are aerial barbarians who live in mountainous regions far from civilized lands. They live in large clans and avoid contact with other races whenever possible. Telvar are extremely tall, averaging almost 8 feet in height. They are quick and agile but not nearly as strong as humans or even elves. They have abnormally long fingers and toes, and they can use their feet to grip small objects. Telvar have large feathered wings that grow from their shouldersópre-dominant colors are brown, gray, and white. Telvar have large, sharply pointed ears, as well as large eyes with two sets of eyelids. Telvar are usually heavily tattooed, the tattoos signifying important events such as the first hunt, a first kill, and family membership. Telvar dress in layers of loose-fitting clothing mostly the hides of various game animals. Every male in each family is expected to be a proficient warrior and hunter; the weak do not usually survive childhood. Women are often trained as hunters and face the same rigorous training demands as the men. Women who arenít hunters either gather food or serve as family priests. All Telvar religious figures are women. While they cannot be the head of a family, they have great authority as spiri-tual and community advisors. Telvar occasionally travel to cities for trade, but they feel uncomfortable when surrounded by multitudes of groundbased races. They are honorable in all their dealings and take extreme offense at being cheated or lied to. Telvar rarely develop strong relationships with other races, but they are staunch allies once they have committed themselves to an alliance. Of the four flying races detailed here, the Telvar are the least likely to be encountered as enemies of most bands of PCs. Habitat/Society: Telvar are flying barbarians, building no cities and living off the land. They are fierce warriors, hardened by generations of subsistence living in harsh climates. The Telvar are nomads, traveling in large family groups that follow the yearly migrations of various herd animals. The heads of every Telvar family meet every two years to settle disputes, discuss hunting strategies, and-on rare occasions-plan war against anyone infringing on their hunting grounds. Leadership in each Telvar family is determined by combat. Every three years, all warriors in each family are given the opportunity to challenge the current head of the family to ritual combat. Each battle lasts until one side concedes defeat. Defeated challengers often leave the family, either to start their own family or possibly to hire themselves out as mercenaries. ====== World Building ====== ==== Map Creation ==== Trace real maps like this http://www.roleplayingtips.com/images/364_maptracing_before.jpg http://www.roleplayingtips.com/images/364_maptracing_after.jpg ==== Race/Nation Creation Method ==== from user tip rpg tips steal each from different real life 1) Society 2) Culture 3) Location Society: The Vikings. Culture: Ancient Egypt. Location: A jungle kingdom on a Mediterranean-like sea. The Result: The Jool people are much feared throughout the Sunlight Sea. Their war triremes (ships) sail throughout the sea disgorging throngs of half-naked warriors wielding Kopesh swords and shields. Spoils are returned to their jungle kingdom where they are used to erect grand pyramids and sphinxes in honor of their deities. ==== Villages, Towns, and Cities ==== http://www.roleplayingtips.com/articles/city_places.php ==== Social Structure ==== - Form of family - Nuclear, extended, multigenerational, etc.? - Larger structure: clan, tribe - Marriage and divorce - Marriage restricted to within or outside the tribe, or to a specific other clan? - Monogamy or polygamy: polygyny and/or polyandry, concubinage, etc.? - Divorce: easy or difficult? - Attitudes toward adultery; etc. - Women as adventurers - Feasible or not under that culture’s attitudes? - Government - Form of government: feudal, tribal, democratic, suzerainty, empire, etc.? - Structure: centralized or decentralized? - How leaders are selected: Hereditarily, vote - from restricted or unlimited pool? (Some cultures have a mixture: with inheritance playing a role in the passage of power, but subject to veto or election by those ruled.) - Social rank - Class structure - Gradations: slave, serf, peasant, yeoman, nobility, royalty, and the distinctions between them, or gaps in the gradient? - Mobility from one class to another: possible or not; if possible, how difficult? - Etiquette and its enforcement - How elaborate are social behavior codes? - Are they different for different classes? - How are they enforced: legal system, reduction in class, tabu, ostracism? - Slavery - Extent: how much of society is slave? - Oppressiveness: do slaves have rights, how much and what kind, can they own slaves, etc.? - Possibility of freedom: purchase, freedom if escape for a period, restrictions against owner emancipation, etc. ==== Religion ==== - Cosmology and pantheon - Gods and their degree of involvement in mundane affairs. - How does religious affiliation affect the average adherent? - With the god worshiped? - With the other gods? - With the worshipers of other gods in society? - Spirits, ghosts, etc. - agents of the gods, opposition to the gods, or neither? - Liturgical form - Of what does worship consist: Ceremony, sacrifice, prayers, combinations? - Public or private? - Places: temple, natural site, portable, none in particular? - Magic - Is there a concept of magic? - Could everyone, at least in theory, use magic? - If not, who is qualified to learn it? - Shamanism - What form does shamanistic activity take: trance, vigil, vision, etc.? - Extent of physical healing as a function: magic or herbals, or both. - How does one become a shaman? - Funerary custom - How did they dispose of dead: burial, cremation, exposure, excarnation, ritual cannibalism, etc. - Ceremony involved: - Ritual accompanying - Body position: extended, arms to side or crossed, fetal, etc. - Coffin shape? - Grave goods? - Taboo regarding cemeteries or exposure sites? ==== Art ==== - Graphic and sculpture (paintings, carvings, etc.) - Purely aesthetic or religious or either/both? - Amateur or professional? - Status of the artist in society. - Music and dance - Instruments used, including vocal. - Are dances religious or secular? - Status of performers in society. - Sports and games - Types of recreational activity. - Are they strictly work or combat related (barn raising, quilting bee, husking bee, fencing, wrestling) or other (ball games, riddles, board games), etc., and specific types? - Status of players in society. - Tattoo, scarification, and piercing - Type and extent. - Class restriction. - Symbolism. - Other - That which did not fit the above. ==== Equipment ==== - Housing - Architecture - - General type Separate, living above business or livestock shelter, apartment, etc.) - - Materials Wood, wattle and daub, adobe, stone, etc.; roof: board, thatch, tile, etc. Permanent, portable, or abandoned? - - Sleeping facilities Bed, hammock, on ground, etc.? - How different if on the move? - Cooking - Indoors, separate structure, or outside? - Clothing - By sex and season. - Sumptuary laws: status, occasion, degree and type of enforcement. - Food - What did they eat and how did they get it? - Prohibited food, why? - Packs and containers - Materials: pottery, basketry, parfleche, fabric, etc. - What did they use to pack things for transport: backpack, crate, amphora, travois, wagon, etc.? - For storage: baskets, jars, shelves, etc.? - Fire-making techniques and fuel - How did they make fire: fling sparking, flint and iron sparking, spindle, firebow, fireplow, kept burning, etc.? - What did they burn: wood, dried dung, oil (animal, vegetable or mineral), etc.? - Use: cooking, space heating, set to drive game, lanterns and lamps, etc. - How contained: fireplace, center of room, lantern, punk in horn, etc. - Land transport and types of mounts - How did they cover distance on land: foot, ride animal, wagon, etc.? - Power: foot, horseback, draft horse, other draft or riding animals? (Horses, donkey, mules separate) - Boats - How did they cover distance on water: coracle, dugout, planked vessel, kayak, etc.? - Power: paddle, oar, sail, etc.? ==== Weapons ==== - Main missile weapon - Type and material? - How used? - Missile transport quiver, gorytos, in hand, etc.? - Bow shooting position horizontal or vetical? - Javelin with amentum, atlatl, or without? - Cultural significance of preference mythological connection, just habit, etc.? - Other missile weapons Type and how made? How used? - Main melee weapons - Separate for mounted and dismounted? - Type and how made? - How used? - Other melee weapons - Separate for mounted and dismounted? - Type and how made? - How used? - Weaponless combat - Techniques for when unarmed and attacked. - Shields - Type and how made? - How used? - Armor - Type and material. - Coverage. ==== Tactics ==== - Military - Organized groups: might include massed hunting groups as well as warfare. - Individual: individuals or an unorganized few. ==== Character Stats ==== - Modification to rolls - Changes (usually only in size) needed to conform primary rolls to physique. - Tribal skills - Any particular ability unique to that culture: (shrinking heads, celestial navigation, kite flying, etc.) - Trade skills normal - Almost everyone can tan buckskin or weave, break horses, etc.? - Any skill so common as to have a higher starting bonus because of routine use ===== Stuff ===== My friend Robin writes fantasy novels. She uses the following list when she creates new cultures for her books. I have found it to be very useful when I’m working on settings for my game worlds. It is especially helpful when I’m “stuck” and need a little push — the list frequently suggests an interesting facet or angle that I can expand upon. This list is certainly incomplete — it is the brainstorm of a single amateur author. It’s purpose is merely to help get your creative juices flowing. Age Alcohol/Drugs Animals Art Birth Calendar Caste Class Clothing Colors Commerce Communication Death Education Entertainment Facial Hair Family Structure Food Food Preparation Funerals Furniture Gender Geography Government Hair styles History Holidays Housing Industries Jewelry Language Medicine Money Morals Music Names Paper/Ink Physical characteristics Physical Markings Plants Police Race Recreation Religion Rituals Roads Sanitation Sexuality Terrain Time Town/City Travel Weather Weddings Writing