D&D General consideration on sapient folk having two distinct base cultures?

[Hussar]

Doesn't change that there were permanent villages and later cities from where the Vikings got their weapons, etc. from. Especially the large cities which sprung up for a reason.
Thus for the discussion about the industrial capabilities of nomadic people they would be not nomadic.

I think your point is well made. In a real world context it's certainly true. But, again, in a fantasy world context, so many other options become very, very viable. Ankheg armor, for example, depending on edition, is equivalent to plate mail, weighs significantly less and requires no smelting at all. Now, D&D never really leans into this, but, I could certainly see Ankheg farming being a thing. Bullettes, again, depending on edition, could be used to fashion multiple magical shields. Flail Snails are fantastic this way - spell blocking shields (3/snail) or robes of scintillating colors? Yes please.

Sure, in the real world, steel armor was the best you could have. In D&D world? It's in the top five, but, there are certainly other options available. Imagine a roving band of nomads, all dressed in Robes of Scintillating Colors. :wow: They would be absolutely devastating. Able to stun targets repeatedly, they'd bring down far, far larger targets with relative ease.

And, the idea of a band of halflings dressed in Technicolor Dreamcoats just appeals to me.

 

[Redwizard007]

Doesn't change that there were permanent villages and later cities from where the Vikings got their weapons, etc. from. Especially the large cities which sprung up for a reason.
Thus for the discussion about the industrial capabilities of nomadic people they would be not nomadic.

Are we talking about using vikings whole cloth, or for inspiration? If the former, then I agree. If the latter, I could easily see a fantasy culture of several races that are typically raiders, in exactly the same way that vikings are typically portrayed, erecting (or conquering) a city to temporarily act as a hub for consolidating loot and slaves and/or as a mustering point for further assaults. Does this make them a settled people?

I would further point out that viking (verb) means to raid, and that vikings have little in common with the settlers and conquerors that were looking for land to settle permanently or the farmers and fishermen that stayed in their Scandinavian homes. The language and religion are the same, but goals, tactics, and mindset are completely different. This is actually a fairly good example of a real world culture that has a split much like OP posited. It's not as extreme as most fantasy examples, but may be more valuable because of that.

Still, not as cool as cities built on giant beetles or dragon turtles.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

There are semi-nomadic cultures that are in between fully nomadic and fully settled. Take the Plains Indian tribes here in the US or the Mongol peoples plus the Kazakhs and Scythians. Any peoples that have homes/villages that can just be packed up and moved to a new location, to settle at for several years, maybe until a new fishing or hunting spot is needed, are semi-nomadic. Vikings are not because they built permanent settlements, as many archeological digs have shown. It seems an open plains or steppe environment is needed for this type of culture to flourish.