BookTenTiger
He / Him
I'm reading a really fascinating book (for me, at least) on the brain and culture, and this book argues that "culture" doesn't have just one definition- there are, in fact, three levels of culture.
The first level is Surface Culture. This is the culture that we present to others: dress, language, food, holidays. It has a low emotional charge, so changes don't usually create great anxiety.
The second level is Shallow Culture. This is the unspoken rules of how we relate to others, such as an attitude towards elders, rules of eye contact and personal space, and the nature of friendships. It has a strong personal charge.
The third level is Deep Culture. This encompasses how we perceive the world and morality. It includes the cosmology (view of good or evil) that guides ethics, spirituality, health, and group harmony. It has an intense personal charge.
Reading about these three levels of culture, I started thinking about how I design cultures in my homebrew games. Could I use these three levels to make my homebrew cultures more realized and engaging?
My initial thought is that for each town, city, or country I could quickly sketch out notes on these three levels. I don't have to detail everything, but I could note a few different facets that would make interacting with NPCs of that culture fun or challenging.
For example, I could do something like...
Brightstar
Brightstar is a large seaside city state with a powerful fleet of war ships.
Surface Culture: warm colors (red, yellow, orange, white) in clothes and banners. Holidays based on important ship battles and conquests on the high seas. Wealthy merchants show their power by sharing food and goods with the poor; people in need line up outside the walls of wealthy manors to receive charity.
Shallow Culture: Hierarchy based on wealth, with merchants wielding huge political power. Older family lines of merchants have more power, even if they don't have as much money. Very strict class system based on wealth, with folks only interacting with those of a similar economic level (other than holidays).
Deep Culture: Money is morality; those with wealth make the rules, and can break them without consequences. This is reinforced by ancestor worship, but only for those of wealth- poor folks give alms and worship to the ancestors of wealthy families.
This quick sketch gives me a lot to play with as the characters interact with Brightstar. If the characters are wealthy, they'll have a lot of access to markets and people of power. But those with poor or modest life styles may have disadvantage in dealing with the merchant families.
If the characters have a different Surface Culture (they wear cool colors or aren't familiar with naval history), there won't be too much of an issue. However, if they have a different Shallow Culture (not respecting wealth, or crossing class lines), that's going to cause issues and raise the DC of social interactions. And if they dispute the Deep Culture of Brightstar (not following the commands of wealthy individuals), it's going to cause a big problem. Which, of course, is a lot of fun if the characters are needing to interact with the wealthy Brightstar merchants to further their quest!
So what do you think? Could you use the three levels of culture when designing your own campaign settings, or when preparing your adventures?
The first level is Surface Culture. This is the culture that we present to others: dress, language, food, holidays. It has a low emotional charge, so changes don't usually create great anxiety.
The second level is Shallow Culture. This is the unspoken rules of how we relate to others, such as an attitude towards elders, rules of eye contact and personal space, and the nature of friendships. It has a strong personal charge.
The third level is Deep Culture. This encompasses how we perceive the world and morality. It includes the cosmology (view of good or evil) that guides ethics, spirituality, health, and group harmony. It has an intense personal charge.
Reading about these three levels of culture, I started thinking about how I design cultures in my homebrew games. Could I use these three levels to make my homebrew cultures more realized and engaging?
My initial thought is that for each town, city, or country I could quickly sketch out notes on these three levels. I don't have to detail everything, but I could note a few different facets that would make interacting with NPCs of that culture fun or challenging.
For example, I could do something like...
Brightstar
Brightstar is a large seaside city state with a powerful fleet of war ships.
Surface Culture: warm colors (red, yellow, orange, white) in clothes and banners. Holidays based on important ship battles and conquests on the high seas. Wealthy merchants show their power by sharing food and goods with the poor; people in need line up outside the walls of wealthy manors to receive charity.
Shallow Culture: Hierarchy based on wealth, with merchants wielding huge political power. Older family lines of merchants have more power, even if they don't have as much money. Very strict class system based on wealth, with folks only interacting with those of a similar economic level (other than holidays).
Deep Culture: Money is morality; those with wealth make the rules, and can break them without consequences. This is reinforced by ancestor worship, but only for those of wealth- poor folks give alms and worship to the ancestors of wealthy families.
This quick sketch gives me a lot to play with as the characters interact with Brightstar. If the characters are wealthy, they'll have a lot of access to markets and people of power. But those with poor or modest life styles may have disadvantage in dealing with the merchant families.
If the characters have a different Surface Culture (they wear cool colors or aren't familiar with naval history), there won't be too much of an issue. However, if they have a different Shallow Culture (not respecting wealth, or crossing class lines), that's going to cause issues and raise the DC of social interactions. And if they dispute the Deep Culture of Brightstar (not following the commands of wealthy individuals), it's going to cause a big problem. Which, of course, is a lot of fun if the characters are needing to interact with the wealthy Brightstar merchants to further their quest!
So what do you think? Could you use the three levels of culture when designing your own campaign settings, or when preparing your adventures?
