TheSagaContinues

So I've been working on developing cultures for a homebrew Pathfinder world in the same vein as the World of Xoth and Primeval Thule, but I've hit a point where I think I need to poll more people and get some discussion going to stir the creative juices.

I'm made 12 new cultures using a variety of real-world inspiration (the cultural names), random tables (you may recognize the climates, governments, economics, cultural quirks, family customs, and city/architecture from Saga's Unknown Regions on world-building), and of course, my own thoughts.

As a former history/geography teacher, I know that cultures are influenced by their environment, the cultural groups around them, plus myriad other factors, and therein lies my trouble.  I'm struggling to create bridges between the real-world influences and how these cultures would have developed on their own based on some of the random things I rolled.

I would appreciate any advice, suggestions, or critiques on architecture, interpersonal relationships, warfare, or any other societal aspect.  I'm ok with switching stuff around (I'm not going to bind myself and say some random roll has to fit in the culture), but I would like to have these cultures have some sort of organic development in addition to the randomness I rolled.

Thanks in advance!

I was hoping for some help with brainstorming on fleshing out these cultures.  Initially, the rolls for government, economics, and others were based on random rolls, but I did switch a few things around for the cultures that I've worked on the most.  The random rolls were mostly meant just to give me a starting point to work on these cultures.

Let's take the Kashubians in my document.  I have probably done the most work and thinking about them so far, with the Bouyei as my second most finished group.

The Kashubian government is socialism, or at least some medieval form of it (and as one might expect, ideas from both Communism and capitalism have been taken in as I have talked with people and fleshed things out).  As I talked with my brother and a couple friends, I worked on how socialism might impact a society.  It was suggested that the mentality of 'it takes a village to raise a child' might flourish where people are sharing everything.  This worked it's way into the idea that the society might be very open and people are very aware of what is going on in their village or town.  This openness made sense, especially in light of the fact that they live on the savanna, a wide open area with few obstructions.

I had rolled 'all buildings are transparent' for another culture, so I swapped transparent buildings to the Kashubians, initially intending to have glass buildings, but further conversations led in the direction of a nomadic people starting to settle down.  Glass buildings went out the window, but open-air tent structures with curtain dividers came to my mind, with the kitchen, living room, and other public areas on the outside of the house and open to all who might pass by, with bathrooms, bedrooms, and other private locations in the center of the house.  With the public areas of a Kashubian home on the outside and visible to all, a Kashubian can cook dinner while scanning the horizon for dust clouds that could indicate raiders or wave to a passing friend and invite them to visit for a time.

Then i thought, "Well, if the kitchen is exposed to the wind and elements, how do they keep dust out of their food?"  Consequently, the Kashubians have lids for all their containers to prevent things from blowing into their food and water.

Returning to the idea of openness, I questioned how this related to people's interactions.  I wanted to avoid giving the Kashubians a single hat to wear (like everyone is polite), so I made allowances for pure honesty that comes off as being very blunt, and the idea that some people may lie, but everyone knows they're lying and simply wait for the person to come clean of their own report.  I also figured that if Kashubians were so open, they would probably be very adept at spotting individuals who didn't belong.  This led to some actual game mechanics, with Kashubians having several options to get Sense Motive bonuses.

As you can see, one idea led to another.  I never would have thought of lids for containers as being that important, but it became one of those details that helps flesh out a Kashubian kitchen.  You might think that pure honesty would hinder Kashubian merchants in their business transactions, but their reputation for being able to spot deceptions could dissuade foreign merchants from trying to swindle them.  In the same vein, Kashubian thieves may need to be some of the best liars in the world to avoid being caught by the authorities.


I like that you pointed out diet and raw resources.  That's part of what I need help with.  Now I can start thinking about what people are eating in their cultures, or what they have the capacity to make.

And as you have pointed out, some of the random rolls don't work for certain cultures, but that's why I'm asking for help, so i can discard things that don't work and put in things that would be more logical.

The Kawliya are my Arabic analogue in this setting.  They make their home in an active volcano range.  I'm not really sure that having colonies as an economic basis really works for them (although the Basatians, my Egypt analogue, are ocean-farers, and thus makes more sense for them).  But I can see how the Kawilya might have their main deity be a god of fire (volcanos and all that).  But why is looking in another's eye considered an insult?  WHere might this custom have originated from?

The Lenca are my Amerindian group, and they live in subterranean sinkholes, which I don't think is conducive to exploration economics.  But as people that live below the surface of the ground, it makes sense that only they can touch the sacred earth in their cities, whereas outsiders must use raised walkways.  I can see the Lenca as miners of minerals and possibly afraid of wide open areas.  But why did they either develop or choose the shortsword as their primary weapon?

I have questions for these cultures, and I'm hoping people can help me with answers.

Sounds like a level of detail that certainly could be lost on most people.

So I guess I should ask if I'm trying to be too detailed.  I know it can be easy to have your vision exceed your reach, and I certainly don't want to be so focused on the details that I never get to show these groups off.

Krovan Ruk:  Definitely get a hostile vibe from them.  It sounds like their environment may not be good for agriculture and could also present difficulties in the hunting/gathering department.

Yes, the Krovan Ruk are definitely an aggressive group of people, and that seems fitting based on their geography, a harsh people for a harsh land.  I figured that a military leadership would have the clout necessary to organize raiding parties (although I'm thinking that the Krovan Ruk probably aren't a unified nation, but more like the Mongols or Huns, with a common culture but different tribes).

I agree that agriculture probably wouldn't work to sustain them, but based on my research into Ischigualasto-Talampaya Natural Parks (in Argentina), Las Médulas (in Spain), and the Blacks Hills (in the United States), there would be enough plants and large game to sustain a hunter-gather lifestyle in a badland region.  In addition, each of these locations has (or had) large amounts of mining potential (in coal and gold, among others).  These would be valuable resources for the Krovan Ruk, depending on what they used them for (either their own settlements or as trade goods).

Kashubian:  Based on what you've already said part of me wonders just what would they trade?  I'm afraid it seems very unproductive at least if we're talking about outsiders because what does "trade" mean if you think you already have a right to everything?  I'm not sure what they'd think of agriculture (even it's cattle grazing at such) as that can often be a group activity as everyone needs to eat.  The "customs" really throw me there as "holding office" seems to mean "lead" and it seems very strange that it is not what you'd want your first born to do.

I understand that clay can be common in savannas, and more research can probably reveal other things.

So maybe rather than having a right to everything, perhaps Kashubians should simply be very willing to share their tools and other things with their neighbors, creating more of that 'society above individual' feel.  And their agriculture could be communal farms, gardens, and pastures that everyone shares a responsibility in maintaining.

As for family customs, maybe I switch it so odd-numbered children take leadership positions, and even-numbered children are encouraged to have families.

Ruthenian:  Building building on trees and plants may keep them out of the water but they aren't going to be all that permanent.  I know when I think of the things that could support a "tree house city" I'm thinking the Redwoods or the Rain Forests.  Now I really do wonder what kind of "industrial" economy they have because when I think of industrial I'm think Industrial Revolution where FIRE is king and you've got all kinds of heavy building which doesn't seem appropriate here.  Perhaps their industry is all plant base because it REALLY seems like wood and fiber may be the most important things to these people.  It seems to me they could be boat people as well and perhaps they also have floating settlements/buildings like the reed people of the Tigris/Euphrates before there life was destroyed.

You know, I was looking at the Arabs of the Middle East marshes as a possibility for the Ruthenians.  Perhaps boats and floating settlements would be a better fit than treetop dwelling.

Yeah, what we think of industrial really doesn't work for the Ruthenians.  Now if I went the route of them dwelling in a reedy marshland, I suppose I could find something to base a plant industry on.  Reeds were commonly used by the ancients to make musical instruments, and reeds can also be used in thatching and paper production.  So the Ruthenians may be more in the raw materials end of industry, selling to other societies who needs reeds to make books or roofs.

Aromanian:  Sounds like this could be "advanced" civilization although they really should have some source for their wealth.  I believe the Roman "wealth" usually came from their conquests and perhaps trade with the entertainment meant to distract the population of how bad things actually are in the core.  Part of me thinks that instead of being in a coniferous forest (which implies a colder climate which I'm not sure could produce such a society) a my drier environment  makes sense as that could be a reason for any decline and it may also help explain why some otherwise "common" item could be highly valued.

I see I created some confusion about the name of this group.  These were meant to be more Eastern Europe Romania rather than Latin Rome, but yes, what I have worked on so far seems to lean more towards Latin Rome instead of Eastern Europe, so maybe I'll just leave it that way. 

My brother also suggested something different from the forests, citing examples of most advanced cultures creating large amounts of deforested areas.

Kabardian:  Ok, maybe this is the old "advanced" civilization.  Somehow when I read this I'm thinking Atlantis and it if we're talking a DnD like game possibly some place where magic in all its forms is so common that they've all but shut out the rest of the world.

I could work with this.  I'm going to tone down magic to give a more sword-and-sorcery feel, but I like the idea of an advanced culture shutting out the world (much like China did during the Ming Dynasty).

Faroese:  I'm not sure what "mountain pinnacles" means as an environment as that description has me thinking Switzerland.  I wonder about them having the technology and material for greatswords but may see where they are important.  Here I'm thinking of the people of Nepal and Tibet or someone who may migrate up and down the mountain as many animals do depending on the season.

I can alter the mountainous region type to fall in line with something that would be more appropriate to other things we discuss.

So perhaps a different favored weapon, one more suited to a mountain, like a spear or an axe.

I like the Nepalese/Tibetian idea.  The vast majority of the inspiration for these cultures was Eastern Europe, so more Far Eastern groups makes sense.

Oromo:  For some reason this has me thinking Amazons both in terms of the Amazon rainforest and the women warriors.

Yeah, there are several parallels.  I wanted to try and avoid too many cliches, but it seems they pop up, no matter what you try to avoid.