PJ Coffey
PJ Coffey (they/them)
Hope there's some interest in random culture generation.
I split culture into trappings and traits. Traits are pretty easy. The trappings are a bit harder.
Currently we have:
origin myths
deities
geographical influence
festivals and calenders
fashion
art
family and childcare
organisation of people in the culture
funeral rites (I may have gone a bit overboard on this section)
I'm also going to be introducing ideals and taboos. Basically I heard about edicts and anathema from Pathfinder 2e, thought it sounded nifty and have produced my own take wherein a culture gets three ideals and one taboo. This helps you focus the culture on what you want it to be about and it helps players decide to reject, conform to, or take a completely different angle on. There's about 50 of these at the moment which is quite good for d100 rolls.
In terms of presentation, the original 2014 player's handbook had a "What they think about themselves" and "What others think about them" format which I thought was quite good, and so I thought "How do they typically regard adventurers" would also add to the mix.
I think these three changes will make culture a bit more significant in A5e, and give players a clearer idea of what you think a culture is about.
I split culture into trappings and traits. Traits are pretty easy. The trappings are a bit harder.
Currently we have:
origin myths
deities
geographical influence
festivals and calenders
fashion
art
family and childcare
organisation of people in the culture
funeral rites (I may have gone a bit overboard on this section)
I'm also going to be introducing ideals and taboos. Basically I heard about edicts and anathema from Pathfinder 2e, thought it sounded nifty and have produced my own take wherein a culture gets three ideals and one taboo. This helps you focus the culture on what you want it to be about and it helps players decide to reject, conform to, or take a completely different angle on. There's about 50 of these at the moment which is quite good for d100 rolls.
In terms of presentation, the original 2014 player's handbook had a "What they think about themselves" and "What others think about them" format which I thought was quite good, and so I thought "How do they typically regard adventurers" would also add to the mix.
I think these three changes will make culture a bit more significant in A5e, and give players a clearer idea of what you think a culture is about.
