How much culture should be hardcoded into races?

[Derren]

There is no denying that there are certain stereotypes people have when it comes to races. Elves are nature loving and good with bows, dwarfs live underground and fight with axes and so on.
But many of those attributes are in the end based on culture and not on race. There is no real reason why dwarfs would favor axes over other weapons.

So I wonder, for the next edition how do you want this cultural preferences reflected by the rules, if at all?

It could be done like in 3E where cultural attributes are directly reflected by the racial description and bonuses like the dwarven animosity towards goblins.
Another way to do it is racial feats like in 4E one might take or not, similar to racial prestige classes in 3E.
It is of course also possible to not have any cultural attributes linked to races at all.
What might also be possible is to make culture independent from races, for example by not only selecting a race at start but also a culture which gives additional benefits. So instead of just playing a dwarf you play a tribal dwarf who gets a bonus to spears and survival because of his culture as compared to a dwarf from a mageocracy who can cast simple spells instead. Hopefully there will also be guidelines to create your own cultural packages then because it is pretty much impossible to print all cultures DMs can come up with.

Thoughts?

 

[Yora]

I think that's what subraces should be for. Same biological traits, but different culturally aquired abilities. If you think you even need mechanical differences between cultures.

 

[Minigiant]

Make them theme

The default is Mountain Dwarf, Forest Elf, Fey Eladrin, Rural Halfing, Tribal Half-orc, Urban Halfelf, etc. So dwarves wouldn't have to be mountain loving axe wieding, giant and goblin hating dwarves. It is just that most dwarves in the default setting have the Mountain theme (my setting uses jungle dwarves).

 

[Lwaxy]

No culture. AT ALL. culture is a setting thing, and up to the GM or an official campaign world - definitely not of the rules.

 

[tlantl]

No culture. AT ALL. culture is a setting thing, and up to the GM or an official campaign world - definitely not of the rules.

This might be all well and good for those of us who have past experience to fall back on, but what about the poor sod who is just learning the game and has nothing to base his character on. Or the neophyte DM who has to describe his world to those new players.

I think the generic background of each race is necessary if for that reason alone. I seldom agree with the book's description of the races especially since each new iteration of the game changes the basic assumption of how the races work. I make it a point to let my players know the changes to the races I use and any other rules I use in play.

Cultural differences between game worlds are one of the things that make each setting feel different from another. Leaving these rules out of the player's handbook would only serve to hinder new players and dungeon masters who don't have access to published game settings or don't have the time to flesh out their own game world.

 

[Ahnehnois]

I think it's somewhat impractical to take a hard line no culture approach, but I think the culture can certainly be minimalized. Default biological abilities and culture-based racial benefits should be clearly distinct, and plenty of options offered, especially for the latter.

 

[howandwhy99]

Culture and Cultural Benefits (for demi-humans and some non-humans) should be baked in by default with easy optional alteration and removal.

Humans could be from any human culture and could advance without limit in classes as all classes were human classes.
Dwarves were trained in stone architecture and combat with specific monsters, like giants.
Elves were trained in sword and longbow, moving quietly, and spotting portals.
Halflings were trained with thrown weapons, moving quietly, and then by subrace.

Playable races almost always have cultural benefits, even humans. These cultures can be change, so can the benefits. However, by baking these in character creation means Culture is not ignored in favor of only physiological racial benefits.

[Dammit, first post I've lost in a long long time to the internet gods. This is a much smaller one]

EDIT:
For D&D non-humans could either adopt a human culture or be diversified within a race by sub-racial culture.

Removing culture is very, very hard, but should still be possible IMO. A race hatched fully mature from an egg has no family. A race which eats its own as food has no community beyond breeding.

The above could lead to an interesting race for some Players. Having the core game not include basic default cultures and cultural benefits would be a big mistake.

 

[Serendipity]

None. Culture should be dictated by role playing and character creation - skill selection and so on. Themes could also be of great assistance in this matter.

 

[delericho]

Enough to effectively play a member of the race, and absolutely no more than that.

For the benefit of new players, the books will need to say something about the culture of the races (especially races beyond the "big four" - dwarves, elves and halflings are well known, but the same cannot be said of Warforged, Shardminds or Dragonborn). However, to allow the DM flexibility when building his world, the rules should try not to lock him in to a straightjacket.

So, noting a dwarven preference for living underground and using axes is probably good.

Giving dwarven characters the option to select special feats/powers that reflect these preferences are also probably good things.

But it's probably a mistake to give all dwarves powers that reflect these preferences (weapon familiarity, favoured class...). And embedding things in the rules that actively prevent them from taking other paths is almost certainly a bad thing. Depending on just how punitive they are, this may even include things like ability modifiers!

 

[Minigiant]

I still say making culture themes is the best way.

Mountain Dweller
Stonecunning
AC bonus to Mountain monsters of different race (giants, titans).
Damage bonus to Valley monsters (goblins)
Proficiency with hammers and axes
Bonus to crafting stone items