Prometheus
2008-10-04, 08:05 PM
I really like the Elemental variant races from Unearthed Arcana (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/elementalRacialVariants.htm), but it really doesn't say anything specific about how the cultures of those races differ from their counterparts (other than personality traits). They don't even get the short blurbs that the environmental races. So to turn these from random min-max attributes, I wanted to make a thread for describing the cultures of these races that would hopefully make our campaigns worlds a brighter place.
Air:
-Windchimes, Mobiles, Pinwheels, and flags are common decoration.
-There is a surplus of windmills and windcatchers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windcatcher) in homes.
-Many coast cultures make great sailboats, but Air cultures take this a step beyond by adding large sails to their carts and wagons. Roads are formed around venues with large air currents and often the geography of a larger city is designed to funnel air in certain patterns. Some travelers even have a sail in the form of two long sticks with a canvas in between (like a tall thin banner) that can be attached to a backpack (at a backwards angle, so the wind doesn't push them over) or rolled up and put away.
-With so much wind, merchants frequently tie their merchandise to the table. Between their swinging merchandise and large banners, you can visually see a gust of wind traveling through a bazaar.
-Food tends to be dry, as it is either dehydrated or cooked from the steam and smoke of a fire below.
-In arid climates, there may be wind-traps (like in Dune), wind is funneled in such a way that it compresses inside of a cool cave area, where it then condenses and the water can be used.
-Very sophisticated or magically enhanced air cultures may be able to divert winds or use fans to generate a strong current just above the city walls to deflect arrows in a time of attack.
ADDED AFTER EDIT:
-Air architecture frequently features large towers which support each other through bridges and crosswalks. All towers, but especially lone towers, tend to have a surplus of perches. In the more basic towns, these perches are mere look-out points, in others, they are takeoff points for short-range gliders to land in another part of the town. Sometimes zip lines are hung from the towers as well.
-Air cultures are renowned falconers and pigeon-trainers. A general population of pigeons is present in town to carry messages and small items across towns and still more are trained to send messages. Some Air cultures make a profit of this as it is hard for bandits to intercept a messenger pigeon. Falcons are also used to scout out the area for potential predators or incoming threats.
Earth:
-If these guys don't live underground, no one does. Stone, Brick, Cement, and mudbrick, may be used to supplement this feature. Many homes do not have a floor, or bring in dirt or sand to soften the feel and absorb spills.
-Pottery, stone tools, and stone furniture are very commonplace, and most tables and market places include bowls recessed into the table (like in Pompeii (http://freestockphotos.com/POMPEII/PompeiiShop1.jpg)).
-Extended tunnel networks, burial mounds, pyramids/ziggarauts, and geoglyphs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoglyph) are common architectural features as well.
-Food can be very salty or it can be very bland to those who are unaccustomed. In addition, many foods are hard and brittle as many people of Earth cultures see the resistance as a sure sign that the food is not putrid.
-Throwing or lifting stones of a standard size, shape, and weight is typically seen as the fairest show of stength. This leads to many similar themed sports, such as the shotput, the discus, weightlifting, or halfling rock-skipping champions.
-Earth cultures make good use of gravitational potential energy. For example, if there is a steep hill or cliff, it is usually accompanied by several small, but heavy stones and a pulley system. Whenever something very large, heavy, or important needs to pass up, the small stones are used to propel it up or lighten the load. Whenever something heavy or unimportant passes down, it is used to bring several small stones back up. Since each of the small stones can be carried without support, there is always a surplus of stones at the top to be mobilized when they are needed. In Earth cultures that live out of cliffsides, stones in high places can often times take on a value of their own, almost like a currency.
-Extremely sophisticated or magically enhanced earth cultures might integrate this potential energy system into a machinery, such as a powerful substitute for a blacksmith's hammer or a means of keeping a mill constantly running without the presence of wind or a river.
-Boulder, spike pits, and heavy blade traps are common defenses in addition to the highest walls and the deepest ditches imaginable.
Fire:
-Furnaces, firepits, grills, and even forges are commonplace in Fire cultural homes. Fire cultures that are not destitute are frequently well stocked with flammables and have a near constant presence of candles or torches. Kongming Sky lanterns (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kongming_lantern) are a frequent decoration.
-Fire cultural cooking happens hotter than other cultures, leaving a crispy-scorched outside and a slightly underdone insight to the prepared food. In fancy cooking, in addition to a big fire, oil-based and spice-based accelerants are added to the fire to make it flare up higher and hotter, depositing the flavor of the seasonings on the food in the process.
-Fire cultures often use flares, beacons, and other lights as signals. Color, intensity, shape, and position are all variables that can be used to communicate a message at a distance. In addition to a sophisticated message at a distance, Fire cultures also rely on the system when they are suspicious of an outsider who would not understand the language. Rather than rings of a bell, flashes of light from a tower are used to mark off time. Time in fact, is frequently measured by a fire burning a rope or stick with a known burn rate.
-Fire cultures are generally among the fire to discover gunpowder, coal, or crude oil and are typically more advanced in the fields of pyrotechnics (fireworks, bombs, rockets) and combustion (forges, engines).
-Fire cultures have absolutely no weapons or defense systems. That's right, none to speak of. Just try attacking them and see what happens to you.
Water:
-Fountains, pluming, canals, bathhouses, watermills, aqueducts, wells, water clocks (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_clock), water thermometers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_thermometer), and dams are much more frequent in Water cultures than their respective complexities would ordinarily warrant. This complex water-distribution network, can perform roles in a Water culture society very much akin to the stone-weight system for Earth cultures - a source of mechanization, a symbol of wealth, or a common infrastructure system.
-Food, perhaps unsurprisingly, is frequently boiled, served in broths, or mixed into a shake. And of course, everyone needs lots of beverage. Fish of course is a frequent meal, but Water cultures are usually very particular about which fish - some are used for pets and others can be deemed sacred.
-Water cultures aren't shy about extending their homes to include their nearby water. Some live on boathouses, but even the ones that don't frequently will store things underwater (sometimes in water tight containers, sometimes not) to keep them cool, hidden, or simply less cluttered location. Other items will be put on miniature boats or floating materials and tied to shore for similar reasons. These floating objects can also be easily transported by dragging them across the surface of the water or putting them in a nearby boat.
-Sometimes the people of Water cultures have difficult balancing on land or putting a lot of weight on their feet, and are much more comfortable when the streets are filled with a half a foot to a foot of water.
-Water cultures usually have plenty of water, fresh and otherwise, but they never seem to get enough of it. Water collection systems usually exist on every roof.
-Water cultures find a way to turn water into a weapon. Some areas of the city or the surround land have ditches that can be emptied of water and then quickly flooded. Water cultures will use the frequent moats, pools, and canals to their advantage as well. In addition to their superior swimming giving them a combat advantage, trap pools are frequently used. Trap pools are filled with a dangerous creature or have jagged edges and quickly drained to become a whirlpool.
Does anyone else have any ideas for describing elemental cultures?
What do you think of the descriptions I've presented, would you use them?
Who else gets the short end of the stick for description?
Air:
-Windchimes, Mobiles, Pinwheels, and flags are common decoration.
-There is a surplus of windmills and windcatchers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windcatcher) in homes.
-Many coast cultures make great sailboats, but Air cultures take this a step beyond by adding large sails to their carts and wagons. Roads are formed around venues with large air currents and often the geography of a larger city is designed to funnel air in certain patterns. Some travelers even have a sail in the form of two long sticks with a canvas in between (like a tall thin banner) that can be attached to a backpack (at a backwards angle, so the wind doesn't push them over) or rolled up and put away.
-With so much wind, merchants frequently tie their merchandise to the table. Between their swinging merchandise and large banners, you can visually see a gust of wind traveling through a bazaar.
-Food tends to be dry, as it is either dehydrated or cooked from the steam and smoke of a fire below.
-In arid climates, there may be wind-traps (like in Dune), wind is funneled in such a way that it compresses inside of a cool cave area, where it then condenses and the water can be used.
-Very sophisticated or magically enhanced air cultures may be able to divert winds or use fans to generate a strong current just above the city walls to deflect arrows in a time of attack.
ADDED AFTER EDIT:
-Air architecture frequently features large towers which support each other through bridges and crosswalks. All towers, but especially lone towers, tend to have a surplus of perches. In the more basic towns, these perches are mere look-out points, in others, they are takeoff points for short-range gliders to land in another part of the town. Sometimes zip lines are hung from the towers as well.
-Air cultures are renowned falconers and pigeon-trainers. A general population of pigeons is present in town to carry messages and small items across towns and still more are trained to send messages. Some Air cultures make a profit of this as it is hard for bandits to intercept a messenger pigeon. Falcons are also used to scout out the area for potential predators or incoming threats.
Earth:
-If these guys don't live underground, no one does. Stone, Brick, Cement, and mudbrick, may be used to supplement this feature. Many homes do not have a floor, or bring in dirt or sand to soften the feel and absorb spills.
-Pottery, stone tools, and stone furniture are very commonplace, and most tables and market places include bowls recessed into the table (like in Pompeii (http://freestockphotos.com/POMPEII/PompeiiShop1.jpg)).
-Extended tunnel networks, burial mounds, pyramids/ziggarauts, and geoglyphs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoglyph) are common architectural features as well.
-Food can be very salty or it can be very bland to those who are unaccustomed. In addition, many foods are hard and brittle as many people of Earth cultures see the resistance as a sure sign that the food is not putrid.
-Throwing or lifting stones of a standard size, shape, and weight is typically seen as the fairest show of stength. This leads to many similar themed sports, such as the shotput, the discus, weightlifting, or halfling rock-skipping champions.
-Earth cultures make good use of gravitational potential energy. For example, if there is a steep hill or cliff, it is usually accompanied by several small, but heavy stones and a pulley system. Whenever something very large, heavy, or important needs to pass up, the small stones are used to propel it up or lighten the load. Whenever something heavy or unimportant passes down, it is used to bring several small stones back up. Since each of the small stones can be carried without support, there is always a surplus of stones at the top to be mobilized when they are needed. In Earth cultures that live out of cliffsides, stones in high places can often times take on a value of their own, almost like a currency.
-Extremely sophisticated or magically enhanced earth cultures might integrate this potential energy system into a machinery, such as a powerful substitute for a blacksmith's hammer or a means of keeping a mill constantly running without the presence of wind or a river.
-Boulder, spike pits, and heavy blade traps are common defenses in addition to the highest walls and the deepest ditches imaginable.
Fire:
-Furnaces, firepits, grills, and even forges are commonplace in Fire cultural homes. Fire cultures that are not destitute are frequently well stocked with flammables and have a near constant presence of candles or torches. Kongming Sky lanterns (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kongming_lantern) are a frequent decoration.
-Fire cultural cooking happens hotter than other cultures, leaving a crispy-scorched outside and a slightly underdone insight to the prepared food. In fancy cooking, in addition to a big fire, oil-based and spice-based accelerants are added to the fire to make it flare up higher and hotter, depositing the flavor of the seasonings on the food in the process.
-Fire cultures often use flares, beacons, and other lights as signals. Color, intensity, shape, and position are all variables that can be used to communicate a message at a distance. In addition to a sophisticated message at a distance, Fire cultures also rely on the system when they are suspicious of an outsider who would not understand the language. Rather than rings of a bell, flashes of light from a tower are used to mark off time. Time in fact, is frequently measured by a fire burning a rope or stick with a known burn rate.
-Fire cultures are generally among the fire to discover gunpowder, coal, or crude oil and are typically more advanced in the fields of pyrotechnics (fireworks, bombs, rockets) and combustion (forges, engines).
-Fire cultures have absolutely no weapons or defense systems. That's right, none to speak of. Just try attacking them and see what happens to you.
Water:
-Fountains, pluming, canals, bathhouses, watermills, aqueducts, wells, water clocks (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_clock), water thermometers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_thermometer), and dams are much more frequent in Water cultures than their respective complexities would ordinarily warrant. This complex water-distribution network, can perform roles in a Water culture society very much akin to the stone-weight system for Earth cultures - a source of mechanization, a symbol of wealth, or a common infrastructure system.
-Food, perhaps unsurprisingly, is frequently boiled, served in broths, or mixed into a shake. And of course, everyone needs lots of beverage. Fish of course is a frequent meal, but Water cultures are usually very particular about which fish - some are used for pets and others can be deemed sacred.
-Water cultures aren't shy about extending their homes to include their nearby water. Some live on boathouses, but even the ones that don't frequently will store things underwater (sometimes in water tight containers, sometimes not) to keep them cool, hidden, or simply less cluttered location. Other items will be put on miniature boats or floating materials and tied to shore for similar reasons. These floating objects can also be easily transported by dragging them across the surface of the water or putting them in a nearby boat.
-Sometimes the people of Water cultures have difficult balancing on land or putting a lot of weight on their feet, and are much more comfortable when the streets are filled with a half a foot to a foot of water.
-Water cultures usually have plenty of water, fresh and otherwise, but they never seem to get enough of it. Water collection systems usually exist on every roof.
-Water cultures find a way to turn water into a weapon. Some areas of the city or the surround land have ditches that can be emptied of water and then quickly flooded. Water cultures will use the frequent moats, pools, and canals to their advantage as well. In addition to their superior swimming giving them a combat advantage, trap pools are frequently used. Trap pools are filled with a dangerous creature or have jagged edges and quickly drained to become a whirlpool.
Does anyone else have any ideas for describing elemental cultures?
What do you think of the descriptions I've presented, would you use them?
Who else gets the short end of the stick for description?