Exotic and interesting customs

[Fade]

Read Jack Vance. He is the king of strange cultures.

 

[shilsen]

Here are just a couple of the strange ones I invented:

A culture where the people gather with their families on a specific day of the year, cut down a tree (or even get an artificial one made) and place it in the house, decorate it with colorful items, buy gifts for each other (often placed under the tree), eat, drink, and make merry.

According to their existing calendar, when the anniversary of the day that a person was born rolls around, the family or friends (or both) of the individual have some sort of celebration, often involving gifts and food.

When someone dies, friends and family members develop the ability to leak water from their visual organs and make strange moaning sounds. They then spend a lot of money having some sort of ceremony, where they either put the corpse in some sort of box and bury it in the ground or burn it on a bonfire or in an oven.

Totally weird concepts, of course, but I like them

 

[Tsyr]

For example, in the US, men usually extend their right hands for a handshake when greeting each other. Maybe in the alien culture, this gesture means "I think you have a weapon, give it to me." Would that be any way to greet new people in/from a far-off land?

Actualy one* of the origins of the handshake is often thought to be a sign of showing "I have no weapon", or "I present no weapon against you".

*There isn't really any concise "Handshake comes from this!" information...

 

[Angcuru]

Tibetans clap their hands to try to ward of evil spirits. Sticking your tongue out at someone is equivalent to "GET AWAY YOU F*CKING EVIL...THING!!!"

 

[Tonguez]

Re: Some thoughts

Odd customs, eh? Decadent empire, eh?

Think about what the exotic cultures value, and what their worldview is. Customs can flow almost naturally from that.

Fer example:

Planesdragon those are great - I think my next group of dwarfs will be like that!

Another one IMC Gnolls value food

The biggest insult for Gnolls translates as "I will eat the contents of your stomach!"

Related to this insult - When two gnolls meet they open their arms wide and distend their stomachs (inviting the other to attack and rip open their stomachs)

Gnolls greet each other by sniffing each others armpits (the other option is perhaps a bit too much and thus avoided)

Never show your teeth if you smile at a gnoll - this is intepreted as a threat (ie saying I will eat you) and will result in attack

If a Gnolll chews a peice of meat, spits it out and then offers it to you - this is a sign of great affection (female gnolls chew the meat of their young). If you refuse the Gnoll will be offended and attack!

Gnolls eat their dead (and anything else dead or even half dead for that matter)

Rotten food is a delicacy (Yummy! look at the maggots in this beef Mavis - delicious!")

uncooked Liver is a token of respect amongst gnolls and is often left outside the door of females being courted

The Songs of a Gnoll Bard
"My Bitch your stink is like fresh killed meat
hung up above the door.
Many contend for your affection,
they attack me but they are weak!
I will rip them with my claws
I will eat the contents of their stomachs
I will tear out their liver and lay it at your door
You and I shall have many whelps, a mighty pack
and together we will feed!"

 

[Angcuru]

Re: Re: Some thoughts

The Songs of a Gnoll Bard
"My Bitch your stink is like fresh killed meat
hung up above the door.
*snip*
You and I shall have many whelps, a mighty pack
and together we will feed!"

How......romantic....

 

[HeavyG]

Man, these are great ! I'll be using some of them straight on and others are starting to give me ideas of my own.


To help the creative juices along, here are the component of a culture according to this website :

A culture is a "communal way of living." It encompasses:

Economy – how people feed and clothe themselves.
Religion – what people worship, which in itself is a
reflection of the people's greatest concerns.
Technology.
Law and Government.

The article also goes on about how to design a culture from the ground up and I recommend to anyone who is world-building.

I also need "seed" ideas, so keep them coming guys.

I hope this is giving ideas to other people than just me, too.

 

[Planesdragon]

"People" Stat Block?

One idea that just hit me is a formatted "people stat block." Don't know if anyone else will be intereted in it, but I know that it will help me focus my thoughts.

FWIW, so far I've got the following spaces in the "stat block"

“People” Stat block. (People: A tribe, city, nation, cult, etc—any gathering of persons that can be simplified as “members of a group.”)

Each people has the following characteristics:

Name
Intro text

Economy: How the people survive (food and necessities.)

Drive: The central motivating force (economic, religious, political) that can mobilize a people and influences their actions; the goal that all of a people’s dealings with other peoples work towards.

Tech Level: How advanced or primitive the technology / magic the people possess is, including any special magical traditions, exotic weapons, and favored weapons.

Worldview: The common view that a member of the people has of the world as a whole.

Description: What race / kind / alignment is predominant among the people, as well as their languages spoken.

Religion: The beliefs of the people with regards to life and death, God or gods, morality, the supernatural, and what role practitioners of religion have among the people.

Following the stat block, of course, would be a prose description with sections for History, Relations, and Traditions.

 

[krichaiushii]

culture sources

The gamebook Aria:Worlds provides lots of useful ideas for crafting your own cultures. The game it supports is unplayable, but the info is quite useful. You might be able to find it in the discount bins somewhere.

The following websites might help as well:
http://www.io.com/~eighner/world_builder/world_builder_index.html
http://www.hut.fi/~vesanto/world.build.html

While not all of the links on the last site still work, enough do that make it worthwhile, primarily the link to Rich Staats page and articles.


Also, if you do a search on Google for global cultures and religions, you will discover that the two are entwined irrevocably. Perhaps working backwards from the religion(s) to the culture they foster may work.

Just some thoughts.

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

Reproduction/education should be added to the stat block. In most human cultures that encompasses a system that is tied into the economic system but distinct from it.

That would include issues like how many genders the culture recognizes, to marriage laws, incest taboos, and who is responsible for the education/protection of children and what degree of license do they have.