Help me design two cultures, stat.

[RangerWickett]

Stat as in quickly, not as in D&D rules statistics.

Anyway, I don't know where my PCs are going to go tonight, so I need to plan some options. The two main routes I foresee them taking are:

1. Head to the lands of their enemies, the ogres of Ferruus. They live a month away, the territories separated by hundreds of miles of hills where monsters lurk. But the two groups (PCs' town and ogres) have religious differences, and they know the ogres plan to attack in four months when a special celestial event will occur. Also, one of their townsfolk has been captured by the ogres and is being kept as a slave by their leader.

2. Investigate a stranger who returned with one of the townsfolk who went looking for other people. This stranger was an elf man, covered in scales vaguely reminiscent of a crocodile. He claims to be of the Niswas people, who use magic to shape the life around them. They live in a forest that floods regularly, and have to make regular sacrifices to a dragon who lives downstream. They are afraid to leave their river, and this stranger only left because he's a criminal and was going to be sacrificed to the dragon. The party might go try to learn about these folks and get their help against the ogres.

So I need help coming up with what these cultures are like. The world is at bronze-age or earlier tech level, and I'm trying to give things a mythic feel that's a mix of Conan and the Odyssey. I could also use some help coming up with plot ideas in those settings.

[section][imager]http://www.conceptart.org/artist_images/image.php?img=shelly_wan/full/shelly_wan-06.jpg[/imager]Niswas Riverweavers
The Niswas, I have planned, use river currents in their magic, and so like water. They also weave, since that's a metaphor for how they mix their flesh with the flesh of other creatures.

I saw an amazing image (see at right) at ConceptArt.org, and so I know one of the Niswas (normally a race of elves who are born blond-haired and green-eyed) has learned to absorb the power of spirits, not just living creatures, into her body, so she has turned dark by taking in the evil spirits who lurk in the shadows of the forest. I kind of want her to be a good guy, though. The rest of the Niswas don't like outsiders, except as potential fleshweaving stock, but this woman would have learned, regretfully, that other races are intelligent too.

The dragon who guards the river actually lives in an older town which was flooded. The stones of the graves of that town ridge its back like a stegosaurus. I'm thinking also that there would be some antagonist who is shaping people against their will, creating things like dryads.[/section]

[section]Ogres of the Wailing Well
The ogres, in the eyes of the players, are pretty classic demon-worshipping bad guys. However, that's only because their leader is a vicious demon who controls them through fear. Some of them want a change.

In a few months, night will fall for 28 days, and during that time the demon Ferruus will attempt to rise as a god, animating a huge swath of bones into a colossus, which he will use as his body. His first target is to destroy the PCs' town. The ogres like bones, and live in a valley with intense winds created by a rift to the plane of Pandaemonium.

[/section]​

Yeah, that's ultimately kind of vague. I would like to flesh out these cultures. Suggestions?

 

[Ry]

The ogres raise their children in small (4-6 member) packs, or Korgu. These "Pack brothers" stay together throughout their lives and go through the rites of manhood together (in which they must kill the largest animal they can find and bring back its bones)

 

[Tinner]

Wow.
I want to play in this campaign!

The first thought I had about both cultures was what do they make?
That's always a big culture question for me. Primitive peoples use the materials around them as tools, in their art, and dwellings.

Maybe these fleshweavers use living things as tools/weapons? Not to be comical, but I'm almost getting a Flintstone household appliance vibe off them. Maybe their morningstars are made from porcupines? Go with the Conan vibe (from the Arnold movie) and have them fire still living serpents from their bows.

For the ogres, I can see them constructing ossuaries like the Kutna Hora Ossuary.
Huge structures made of bone. Bones pierced through noses, scrimshaw carvings bone weapons.
Gotta expect some necromancers coming out of that environment too.

There were a couple of PrC's in Dragon a few years back that might have been included in the Dragon Compendium that would be a good fit for these cultures too.
Can't recall the names offhands, but one was a shaper of bone, and the other was some sort of flesh shaper.

Hope it helpes.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Given the ogres' love of bones, I'd make them ancestor worshippers.

 

[AnonymousOne]

For the Niswas:
- Have their magic weaving channeled by song. They sing the "threads" of their "weavings" together. Large Weavings might require a chorus of skilled "weavers". who of course would be revered in their culture.
- Many of their guardians are "woven constructs" of various creatures.

 

[Thunderfoot]

Given what has been told so far, I would also assume that the Ogres would be ancestor worshippers (bones and such). If the plane that dumped into their homeland had been Ethereal, it would be easy to explain as the ghosts actually do come back and portend for their people.

But regardless, I would use bone in all weapons and armor (I hope your have the Arms & Equipment Guide or some like supp) and a personal totem that all 'adult' tribe members possess. Spirit totems are sacred items for ancestor worshippers and each one individually descibres the possessor. Helps to really flesh out those NPC baddies. Since you want the ogres to have mixed feelings about their currrent leader, maybe this is the reason. Those bones are sacred items and his inhabitation means that their ancestor's spirits will be defiled? So their fear is quickly and quietly giving way to hatred of their leader/oppressor. Classic plot line fodder that makes characters feel good when they realize they are helping an 'enemy' be rid of their enemy...the enemy of my enemy and all that. Especially meaningful if the party has an aligment spread from neutral good to true neutral, as they are doing the 'right thing' without being 'do gooders'.

 

[Wik]

For the Ogres - Why not do what human children do, and put these ogres through a "fecal stage"? What I mean by this is, they are fascinated with the various portions of the body - everything from bile, blood, urine, and all that jazz. Hell, these ogres could even see internal liquids as religious in nature, used as offerings to their god (Blood can bring on the rain, and the correct burning of flesh brings the god's wrath upon the ogre's enemies).

Also, why not have the ogres be a slave culture? Every ogre is a slave to the next ogre up - the chieftain, in effect, "owns" the entire tribe.

As for actual "culture", make 'em horticulturalists. They grow small gardens (probably really small, since ogres aren't known for their attention spans) of simple roots or potatoes. They also raise goats or sheepthat wander loosely around the ogres' domain.

 

[FnordBear]

On the Ogers:

I would recomend looking at athas.org at the Darksun 3.5 PDF to give your ogers some unique weapons nad equipment made of bone. Also ditto on the ancestor worship. Perhaps even throw the PCs for a loop, if they have never acctualy interacted with the ogers in a meaningful way have them be "gentle giants" a naturaly peaceful and spiritual people pushed to warfare by a cruel and hateful ruler. The only reason they have not rebeled being thier extreme sence of duty and honor.

 

[JonMonster]

The ogres raise their children in small (4-6 member) packs, or Korgu. These "Pack brothers" stay together throughout their lives and go through the rites of manhood together (in which they must kill the largest animal they can find and bring back its bones)

If they live on the border of monster infested hills they would wind up with the bones of some pretty fearsome beasts. I'd suggest that they incorporate the bones in thier weapons. If you want to demonstrate that these ogres are tougher than average everyday ogres point out to the players that they are wielding clubs with the spikes of manticores and knives with purple worm fangs for blades.

 

[Ceresco]

A few questions first:

Why are the ogers and PCs in conflict if the ogers live a months travel away? In the technology level you've described most enemies live right next door or are competing with you in trade in other countries.

If they are slavers, who else do they enslave? Where do a majority of their slaves come from? Raids or breeding program?

Why is their leader a demon? How did that happen? He just waltzed out of Pandemonium and set up shop?

How wide spread is the discension against the current leader and why? What is the demarcation between supporters and potential rebels?

What is their common diet? It's suprising how much what is eaten can influence a culture.

Comments on the elves:

Look at the native peoples of Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philipines or even along the Amazon River for inspiration.

They would wear little clothing and have no nudity taboo.

They would live in simple huts on stilts, travel by simple flat bottomed canoes and fish for the majority of their diet, with fruits and rice making up the rest.

If they are xenophobic, why? What happened to make them this way?

What constitutes a crime that one would be sacrificed to a dragon? Are there a lot of these kinds of infractions? Is it due to some superstition or a violation in Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs?

Respectfully,

Edward Kopp: Arcaniac at Large