Post a culture

In D&D race often stands in as a substitue for culture. Elves are bohemians, Dwarves are Scots, Orcs are Vikings. etc. etc.

So let's do something different. Post an example of a culture independant of race. Give an overview of what their beliefs, technology, habits, magic and skills are. While you can add a footnote or two about particular races the culture should work for most any race or mix of races.

Since it's my thread I'll start off with a sample culture.

A Culture, The Tanolani

The central tenet of Tanolani life is the natural cycles of the world. They belive that all things follow natural cycles of birth, growth, decline, and death each thing in it's own time. They view time as an endless coil of cycles within cycles. To ask when the world began or will end is as senseless to them as asking when a ring begins or ends.

To the Tanolani seeking to preserve ones work beyond ones cycle is a sin. In keeping with their beliefs they work only in materials that are part of the natural cycle of death and decay. Leather, cloth, wood and bone are the only materials they will work with. Stone and metal work is considered to be an act of hubris, of a man seeking to have his work outlast his place in the cycle.

They are a nomadic people generally keeping to a series of seasonal camp grounds. They are generally hunter-gatherers but sometimes will keep herds of sheep or other hair-bearing animals for cloth. While they are aware of agriculture they reject it. They live in teepee or yurt styled tents made from cloth or hides depending on the resources available. They prefer temperate climates and hilly terrain.

They dress in loose cloths decorated in bright colors usually set in knotwork patterns that represent the interlocking cycles of the world. They use inward curved knives made from claws or other monster parts (the jagged pads from the end of Displacer beast tentacles are prized.) Their usual hunting weapons are bows and spears, often poisoned with Int damage paralytic poisons.

They usually follow Druidic traditions and will use reincarnation rather than ressurection in the event of what they feel is an untimely death. They do vernerate some gods, but generally view gods of stone and metal work as tempter figures.

While they are uninterested in the usual trappings of civilization they do not seek to destroy or even denigrate cultures that do pursue these things, they feel that they will fall as their cycle demands however they try to avoid their fate. They will however defend thier lands fiercely and more effectively than more advanced cultures are likely to believe.

Classes:

Most Tanolani hunters are Rangers or Scouts. Paladins are very rare and tend to evaluate things very differently from standard paladins. Totemists are the most common class of warriors and are highly respected. Monks are unknown. Fighters are usually multi-classed. Rogues are rare. Soulknives are respected amoung those tribes that have had contact with psionic cultures. Barbarians exist, but are less common than one might think. The Tanolani tend to prefer stealth and ambush to frontal assaults. Dragon Shamans are rare but highly valued. While they are aware of the existence of Binders they find the Vestiges existence outside the normal flow of time very disturbing and the do not practice Binding.

Magic:

The most common spellcasters are Druids and Bards. Sorcerers are not unknown but Wizards are very rare as the Tanolani do not usually preserve their knowledge in written form. Clerics are rare but respected. Adepts do exist and are almost as common as Bards. Warmages, Beguilers and Dusk Blades are unknown. Warlocks are rare and distrusted. Artificers are anathema to the Tanolani.

While the Tanolani do make frequent use of potions and rarely use wands, they disaprove of permanent magic items and the Craft [Magic Arms And Armor, Rod, Wondrous Item, and Forge Ring] feats are unknown amoung them.

Skills:

Perception, Stealth and Survival skills are valued most highly by the average Tanolani. Craft (wood, leatherworking, cloth, basket weaving) are common. Craft (poison making) is not uncommon. Knowledge skills are rare outside of Knowledge Nature, and are mostly known by Bards or Experts.

Literacy is very rare amoung the Tanolani and only Druids and Bards should receive literacy for free for other classes follow the rules for Barbarians. If a class would normally get literacy at first level give the character a bonus language.

A Holy Site:

The grove of Legends seems to be an exception to the Tanolani disdain for permanence. In the sacred glen stands an irregular circle of great crystals. Each one is carved with glowing glyphs that tell the stories of the great legendary figures of Tanolani history. The druids explain that the crystals are living things, although none have yet withered and died, they are born to carry the cycle of legends. When a legendary figure arises amoung the Tanolani a new crystal grows in the grove to carry it's memory into future generations. The wisemen of the tribes then gather to decide who the stone has grown for, and then carve the legend into the crystals surface.

Races footnote: While most races work just fine as Tanolani Dwarves in this culture are very much breaking away from their racial stereotype of cave dwelling, stone carving, sword smiths. If you do want to put a group of dwarves in the culture consider replacing their Stone related racial abilities with something else. Alternately they could be a small clan that preserve the rarely used skills of stone carving for the rare time when a new Legend Crystal grows.

Bump for the Day crowd...

My notes are at home; I'm so in, I've got some cultures just perfect for this. Any chance you'd let the Tanolani get used in a creative commons setting if you were credited as their creator?

When a Tanolani dies, do all of his possessions get buried / burned with him? Are there any items that can pass from one generation to the next, like a bone knife? What if each owner makes his own mark on the item - like a knife made of bone that has its own "life" because 1) eventually it will be gone and 2) each new owner carves the handle, making a new mark on it.

If that's OK, I can imagine a bone club, bone shortsword, bone dagger, and bone knife all being the same item going through its "life" in the hands of different Tanolani bone carvers.

Tobarith

Also known as the "Bull River" people, the Tobarith occupy a small land area surrounding the river Vea. Their lands were once rather large and the Tobarith empire once reigned an area fully eight times larger. Old and broken statues of minotaur-like figures now reside in many nations.

The Tobarith creation myth involves two of their four gods. In the beginning, there was the sandy earth, the river Vea, and the Geat Bull Obon. Obon grazed upon stone and sand and drank from mother Vea. After many years of simple living, Obon awoke one morning and decided to chase the red, rising sun (The early sun, much smaller than the great one we have now) for sport. Obon crossed the river Vea to reach the horizon, and in time mother Vea found herself with child. The first life came out of the river and began to live upon the banks. Obon did not know this for many a year, as he spent much time away from Vea chasing (And eventually capturing) the sun.

The other two gods show up sporadically in Tobarith myths. Tannox the trickster, the Monkey God is one. The other is the one evil creature that Vea birthed, known only as (translation is imperfect) "Nameless-Faceless." The people worship Obon and Vea and the two have grand temples, the few truly ancienct Tobarith structures that still stand today. Tannox is never truly paid much attention. Nameless-Faceless is openly shunned.

At the height of their empire, animal sacrifice was no unknown. Tobarith sacrificed chicken sheep and on high holy days, humans as well. Human sacrifice has long fallen out of practice as being against the spirit of the lifegiving mother Vea. It is illegal to kill an immature bull or cow. If a mature one is slaughtered, all of it must be used in some fashion. Cattle are expensive to raise in the arid climate. It is understood that Obon allows cattle to be consumed, as these children are his gift to the Tobarith, and in any event, will join him in his celestial realm if slaughtered properly and with respect.

Currently, the people are led by their priests. This is a departure from tradition a mere century old. Since their earliest times the Tobarith had a king. The royal family hangs on as administrators but has little real power. They do have some wealth but nothing quite like they had in olden times.

Tobarith people are simple and practical. Both men and women typically only wear a simple skirt called the "tiri." They enjoy colorful (though generally inexpensive) jewelry but do not wear piercings. The Tobarith wear their hair fairly long, generally at least to the shoulders. The priesthood is more elaborately dressed, favoring long but thin robes and wearing long necklaces adorned with the symbols of Obon and Vea.

The fertile river provides the vast majority of the wheat that the Tobarith eat. Fish are also common among its banks in the summer, particularly a species known as the Sano that swims upstream to spawn. The river Vea also provides crocodiles, which can be a nuisance but are also hunted for meat and skinned for leather. Tobarith explain the existence of crocodiles in mother Vea by saying that they were placed there by some trick of the god Tannox.

rycanada said:

My notes are at home; I'm so in, I've got some cultures just perfect for this. Any chance you'd let the Tanolani get used in a creative commons setting if you were credited as their creator?

Click to expand...

Sure, I'd want a chance to expand on them for such a project of course.

rycanada said:

When a Tanolani dies, do all of his possessions get buried / burned with him? Are there any items that can pass from one generation to the next, like a bone knife? What if each owner makes his own mark on the item - like a knife made of bone that has its own "life" because 1) eventually it will be gone and 2) each new owner carves the handle, making a new mark on it.

If that's OK, I can imagine a bone club, bone shortsword, bone dagger, and bone knife all being the same item going through its "life" in the hands of different Tanolani bone carvers.

Click to expand...

Huh. Hadn't considered burial customs. No, I think they would pass on all items that could still be of utility, to do otherwise would be to disrupt the tools own cycle. Plus with their belief in reincarnation, funary goods will be relatively unimportant since they will not be of any use to the deceased in their next life. They would probably practice some variation on an air burial depending on the location where they live, otherwise a plain burial.

While a tool would be passed on, and might well be decorated and redecorated, making personal marks on an item would be againt Tanolani beliefs.

The Akavars

Akavars are golden-skinned, flaxen-haired, and usually quite tall. They are often confused for Dacs, because like Dacs they are wiry and trim. Still, Akavars stand somewhat taller than Dacs, and are often more muscular.

Akavars are a people whose homeland is the northwestern Halcyon region, between the Halcyon region and the Windswept sea. Akavar is also the title for the region (a set of river valleys) and a breed of dog from that region. Akavars in the cities are almost always mercenaries of one stripe or another, with a few merchants and criminals rounding out the ranks.

Although Akavar culture is largely ignored by outsiders, it is complex and deep, and reflects a strong sense of family and community – as well as soldiery. At around the age of 8 years old, male children are gathered by Akavar elders (called Shiri) and separated into groups of 4 to 6 – these groups are known as Akavans. From this point forward an Akavan is raised as a single group – they eat together, sleep together, are judged as a group, and go through each stage of life as a group. Still, this does not quash all individuality – each Akavar child’s family endeavors to teach him the arts of war, and great emphasis is placed on building Akavans with many different strengths.

When their members are approximately 14 years of age, Akavans are expelled from the village in a spring ritual known as the Naming Hunt. Akavars are bound by tradition to treat such expelled Akavans (marked with soot on their faces) as if they were animals, and give them no aid until they return to their village with the head of a wild animal. This animal then becomes the Akavan’s name: For example, the Akavan of the Swift Hawk, the Akavan of the Black Horse, the Akavan of the Sawtoothed Boar. As of this return, the Akavan is considered to have reached adulthood. The following year they are brought to the cities by their fellow Akavars and taught the trade of mercenaries.

This gathering mirrors the Akavar ancestral myth:

The Akavar people were once bound to an island far from the Halcyon shores, where a demon, Gaugau, ate their bodies and spirits, and ate all the strong animal spirits of the island. As no Akavars grew in spirit from one life to the next, they were a weakened, damaged people. They say that in those days Akavar mothers had to plead for a soul to come to her womb, for to be born only so that you would be eaten by Gaugau – in form and spirit – is a sorry fate. But Ak, and his four brothers, were born strong-souled, and the Akavars hid them, knowing that they might one day challenge Gaugau. But Gaugau discovered them, and brought them to his feast. But Ak and his brothers had learned the secrets of the spirit world from the Albatross, who sees all shores, and they dove into Gaugau’s feast-fire, becoming smoke.
Gaugau was enraged, for he had missed his meal, but he should have feared instead. Ak and his brothers were carried far by a cloud-spirit, and when that spirit became a storm, they descended with the rain to a distant land filled with mighty beasts. Ak and his brothers each hunted one of these mighty beasts, and that beast was the king of their kind: The Mountain-Lion, the Boar, the Wolf, the Hawk, and the Tortoise.
So when Ak and his brothers returned, they brought with them many mighty spirits. They threw down Gaugau, and brought their people to the strange lands, where with mighty spirits, the Akavars would thrive.

Gams

Gams are a large and tough people with muscular frames, broad faces, and dark skin tones. They tend to be heavyset, especially in the upper classes – although military Gams are always lean, and intimidatingly muscular. Gams make up the noble class of many cities, although across the region Gams exist in every social class (Gam slaves are highly prized). Notably, Gams form the core of most city-states’ military class. No matter what the class, the typical Gam closely identifies with their city-state, and has a strong sense of civic responsibility. The stereotypical Gam is a fat, lecherous noble, spending his days hoarding money and toadying for the Sorcerer-King. The paragon Gam is a proud professional soldier, loyal to his King, and fearlessly defending his city against whatever threats it might face. Gams typically take names that begin with an animal or element of the environment, and then proceed to their family name, such as Goat Tigmik, Lion Ruk, or Storm Panmer.

My Kitsunemori (oriental) campaign has a Mountain Kingdom in the mountains of the East, inhabited by hairy mountain people. They are skilled warriors and often raid the eastern provinces of the valley. (I'm using hobgoblin stats for them, but they don't necessarily have to be goblinoid.) The setup is inspired by an evil vision of medieval Switzerland, partly lawful, partly chaotic.

About five hundred years ago, humans lived in the mountains of the East, close to heaven, where as the valleys were filled with swamps and disease. Shape changing creates dwelt there, turtle demons (kappa), hunters, fox tricksters (kitsune), and they were ruled by a foul demon. King Ueshiba fought a long war with these demon hordes, and slowly, year after year, he was able to drain more swamps, liberate ponds and lakes, build bridges over the many rivers, and subjugate the wild forest.

Many years have passed, and now humans live in the vast valley of the West, in an uneasy peace with the kappas, who still control the remote rivers and lakes, and the kitsune, who still live in the forests, favorite servants of some of the gods. The ruins in the eastern mountains were taken over by tribes of hairy warriors. They send warbands into the valley to raid villages, and they fight amongst each others. The old cities and castles have been turned into strongholds where armies are trained and oldest secrets of weapon smithing and armory are being rediscovered. This is where cold steel is being reforged to fight the fey creatures in the forest, and this is where elemental fire is bound to red hot iron, creating flaming swords and halberds.

The mountains are harsh masters. Every autumn, the warriors return home to help their families through the cold winters. There are no lush fields of rye up here. Instead, cattle, sheep, and goats are used. Every summer they are driven up into the mountains, to graze on green pastures above the treeline. After a few months, they are collected again and spend the cold months in their stables. People it dark bread; sometimes they add tried plums and nuts to compensate for the lack of flour. There's milk and butter and cheese, but meat is rare because the animals are so valuable.

Poverty forces many young men to join the warbands of their feudal lords that have taken up residence in the castles rebuilt from the old ruins. Build at strategic positions, on big rocks on valley floors, on ridges where valleys fork, at the mouths of smaller valleys, these castles are formidable strongholds controlling trade and travel, earning money by taxing bridges and roads, sending out patrols to keep law and order, and preparing the occasional raid on neighbours.

Fiercly independent and stubborn, these mountain people are easy to offend and not to be trusted. As an outsider, it is difficult to fathom their unspoken laws of courtesy and respect.