Cultures chart - what key things should I include?

[arcady]

I did up a chart of 'key cultures' in my setting:And now I'm trying to think of what I can do with it, and what I should include still. I do need to go back at some point and fill in a few missing entries...

 

(as well as revise food staples once I figure out some more of the hydration issues of the world).

 

If you want to set out a basic outline of key cultures, what needs to be known about each, at the most basic level?

 

Any thoughts on those I have?

[Nevenall]

Re: Cultures chart - what key things should I include?

 

I think your table is a really great idea and I intend to blatantly steal it.

It does a really good job of summerizing the flavor of the culture. Especially the iconic heros and key values. I like the food stapes too.

 

You could include some information about the culture's religion, and language.

 

For language you could include some important words. What that culture calls itself, what that culture calls the planet or the land they live on.

 

I would also be curious about the culture's comparitive technology. Which ones are bronze age cultures, which are more renassance level.

[Talon]

Re: Cultures chart - what key things should I include?

 

Magic (power level, style, whatever makes sense for the world) seems to be missing.

[tkdguy]

Re: Cultures chart - what key things should I include?

 

Magic (power level' date=' style, whatever makes sense for the world) seems to be missing.[/quote']

 

Also language, religion and tech level.

[arcady]

Re: Cultures chart - what key things should I include?

 

Magic is on a separate page:

http://home.pacbell.net/arcady0/fahla/magic_Hero.html

And asked for advice on it in this thread about a month ago.

 

It's consistant in how it works across the globe, though who has the best access to it varies (Arashan for example, has the most powerful mages, but they give a lot to get that).

 

That said, how mages structure their societies varies, so I'll need to cover that.

 

For tech, I've put in the note on metals, communication, medicine, and transportation.

 

What other tech divisions are needed? I looked at Star Hero earlier to see if it had anything I could use - more ways to classify technology, but I cam eup empty at the time.

 

Language I'll be adding in more detailed looks at the region, as they all speak completely disconnected languages - these being 'the lead cultures' of their regions. I won't need language until I zoom in on one of them and have to think about how it relates to its neighbors.

 

Religion is still forming in my head, as I've only recently decided to go away from the idea of one unified pantheon for the world.

 

I originally made a world named Fahla that was designed to fit my ideas into d20 - so I needed the one pantheon to explain why clerics work. You can't have more than one pantheon that created the world and have them all exist...

 

Now I'm writing fiction, and letting the gaming needs fit my fiction. So I no longer have those needs, there is no concept of a 'cleric' in this world, religion can vary with human nature. But I've not yet figured out the details on that beyond a few ideas for Lomyr.

 

Lomyr is polytheistic and only a few generations out from a scism in the church that fractured the nations on it's continent much like the reformation did Europe. So there is an inquisition, and Lomyr fell on the side of the traditional church rather than the rebels. I haven't figured out the details of that scism yet though.

 

I'm waiting for it to come up in the novella I'm writing...

 

As for religion on a grand scale, I'll see if I can come up with something over the weekend.

 

 

I sent my players this today:

 

At this point, I'd like to know what people want to know about these

cultures. That will help me know what I need to write for them...

 

Do you need mating rituals, thieves guilds, winter fashions, weapon and

fighting styles, or what?

 

And am hoping their replies along with this forum's replies tell me what to develop next.

[Captain Obvious]

Re: Cultures chart - what key things should I include?

 

Question: How do the "Model" and "People" categories differ? Obviously, most of them are the same, but one country has an Aztec/Chinese split, and another has an Oz/Inuit split. Is the People category reflective of racial type only, or does it include cultural aspects too?

 

From what else you have, it looks like a good framework, but of course, as much detail as you can add without driving yourself absolutely insane is always good. Military structure (whether the army is based around militia, mercenaries, professional soldiers; also what sort of weapons and armor are most commonly used), National flags and symbols, coinage or other exchange media, political factions within the nation, level of trade, high demand goods, goods manufactured in the nation, etc.

 

As it is, it's as good a basic outline as any I've seen published, though. For instance, it seems to me that most fantasy nations eat bread, meat, and potatoes, and wear the same sort of clothes, regardless of what part of the world they're situated in.

[tkdguy]

Re: Cultures chart - what key things should I include?

 

Here's a suggestion for religion: Have a single pantheon create the world. All the cultures see the pantheon differently. They would have different names, of course, but maybe they would have different aspects and ranks. So while the nature goddess is considered the chief deity in one culture, another culture may worship that deity as a storm god (note the sex change) who is only a minor deity.

 

Keep in mind that not all cultures would worship all the deities. Maybe two deities are combined into one, or the one god who created the world is worshipped as several deities (perhaps mortals don't understand the concept of montheism in Fahla).

 

Would the gods mind? Probably not, as long as their purposes are served.

[arcady]

Re: Cultures chart - what key things should I include?

 

Model is my general theme for a region, people is the physical look of the humans there.

 

So for the theme I am using inspiration from that part of the world in shaping the culture, and for the people they would look most like people of that part of our world.

 

On religion, I don't have any plan to ever say who or what the 'real' pantheon is. I'll be looking at religion from the point of view of the people.

 

When you have an absolute 'this is them' pantheon it will affect all the cultures of the world - as they all have the same set of divine beings backing them they will have a certain consistant theme in their cultures (which I do not desire) and will be able to resolve many religious conflicts - either they will be limited to different branches of the same faith (Like Catholics and Mormons) or if the divine agents actually answer people they will be uniform throughout the world.

 

In such a model religion is no longer at all related to faith...

[arcady]

Re: Cultures chart - what key things should I include?

 

Well I added entries for exports, imports, economy, and religion. Being overviews of the cultures these will never get that detailed, and I'm still filling in values for exports and imports.

[Maelstrom]

Re: Cultures chart - what key things should I include?

 

This is just an amazing piece of work.