Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Cultures in D&D/roleplaying: damned if you do, damned if you don't
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Aldarc" data-source="post: 7398790" data-attributes="member: 5142"><p>In general, avoid shallow, monolithic depictions of in-game cultures. If you want to draw upon real world cultures, be reflective of why you are drawing on particular cultures and what in particular are you drawing from them. Be conscientious about what and how you are incorporating cultures, and how you are portraying those cultures in the wider context of the in-game world. </p><p></p><p>I am a fan of how Eberron built its cultures. Though there are some real world cultural parallels, many of the cultures on Khorvaire avoid obvious comparisons, as the cultures are built from in-world conceits. But one of the best and most basic things that it does is that it does not typically assign one culture per race/species/bioform. There are multiple cultures of orcs. The orcs of the Mror Holds are not the orcs of the Shadow Marches. Elves have multiple cultures that amount to more than simply wood elf, high elf, and drow. There are multiple cultures of drow on Xen'drik. The other elves have numerous cultures: Aerenal elves, Valaes Tairn elves, elves that have adopted the cultures of the Five Nations, the Dragonmarked elves, the Blood of Vol sect of elves, etc. </p><p></p><p>Another setting that does culture well - almost to a degree far more intimidating than Tolkien could conceive - is M.A.R. Barker's Tékumel / Empire of the Rose Throne. It unquestionably draws from a range of non-European cultures: Sino-Tibetan, Mesoamerican, South Asian, etc. But it does so in a manner that you get the source inspiration but it is blended so elegantly into its own unique thing. (And yes, just like with wine, there are good blends and there are bad blends.)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Aldarc, post: 7398790, member: 5142"] In general, avoid shallow, monolithic depictions of in-game cultures. If you want to draw upon real world cultures, be reflective of why you are drawing on particular cultures and what in particular are you drawing from them. Be conscientious about what and how you are incorporating cultures, and how you are portraying those cultures in the wider context of the in-game world. I am a fan of how Eberron built its cultures. Though there are some real world cultural parallels, many of the cultures on Khorvaire avoid obvious comparisons, as the cultures are built from in-world conceits. But one of the best and most basic things that it does is that it does not typically assign one culture per race/species/bioform. There are multiple cultures of orcs. The orcs of the Mror Holds are not the orcs of the Shadow Marches. Elves have multiple cultures that amount to more than simply wood elf, high elf, and drow. There are multiple cultures of drow on Xen'drik. The other elves have numerous cultures: Aerenal elves, Valaes Tairn elves, elves that have adopted the cultures of the Five Nations, the Dragonmarked elves, the Blood of Vol sect of elves, etc. Another setting that does culture well - almost to a degree far more intimidating than Tolkien could conceive - is M.A.R. Barker's Tékumel / Empire of the Rose Throne. It unquestionably draws from a range of non-European cultures: Sino-Tibetan, Mesoamerican, South Asian, etc. But it does so in a manner that you get the source inspiration but it is blended so elegantly into its own unique thing. (And yes, just like with wine, there are good blends and there are bad blends.) [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Cultures in D&D/roleplaying: damned if you do, damned if you don't
Top