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  1. - Top - End - #1
    Troll in the Playground
     
    HalflingPirate

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    Nov 2011

    Default Cultural Details Bring Fantasy Societies To Life.

    The caravans are operated by the Skraling folk who originated in the steppes of the continental interior. They dress in bright colors, ride horses like they were born in the saddle, and dance wild dances to the music of their bosks, which are essentially three-octave concertinas.

    The orcs of the Mountains Of The Moon are fanatically religious, and will attempt to capture live foes for use in their ceremonies.

    The City Watch take a hard line against bribery. Watchmen who accept bribes have their hands and feet cut off and they must thereafter beg for a living.

    In each case a little detail, even in the absence of a complete expose of a society, can bring random NPCs to life. So, your players want to visit a travelling caravan? A few details such as an evening dance and strange music give these random NPCs a bit of personality.

    Some cultural ideas:

    They eat a strange food, such as Cajuns eating crawfish or native Mexicans eating meal worms.

    They speak a common language in a nearly indecipherable dialect, such as English spoken by Aussies or Americans of the U.S. Southeast.

    They wear odd or distinctive garments such as the robes of the Bedouin or the fur hats of the Russian Cossacks.

    They wear wooden clogs, the thickness of which indicates the wearer's social status, so that peasants wear very practical flats while lords wear thicker soles which require much practice to walk without tripping.

    Married women wear a scarf on the left shoulder while unmarried women who are of age wear their scarves on the right.

    Young men of this culture must find their wives in a town far from home. (Well, most settle for a girl from the next town over, really.) Strange males who appear successful will be welcomed and introduced to the eligible daughters of a town.

  2. - Top - End - #2
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Yora's Avatar

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    Default Re: Cultural Details Bring Fantasy Societies To Life.

    The best examples are those that become a source of conflict. I find conflicts always most interesting when they are based on specific details of the setting and include local details in what the people are doing, instead of generic ones that could happen anywhere.
    We are not standing on the shoulders of giants, but on very tall tower of other dwarves.

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  3. - Top - End - #3
    Troll in the Playground
     
    HalflingPirate

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    Default Re: Cultural Details Bring Fantasy Societies To Life.

    Such details can also turn a random encounter from yet another hack-fest into a social event.

    Example:
    A) Your party encounters a caravan with six wagons and 12 guards.
    B) Your party encounters a Skraling clan, the leader of whom appears to be a large man dressed to make a pimp blush sitting bareback on an unbridled stallion which would be the prize stallion of any breeder.

    C) There are orcs blocking the road ahead.
    D) There is one gaudily dressed orc on the road ahead with several more flanking him from cover.

    All you can expect from a generic caravan is word of the road behind them and possibly a chance to buy something. They are worth more to players as exp and loot. But a Skraling camp! Suddenly the caravan becomes an interesting encounter, and if they wake to find their stuff gone, along with the Skralings, well, at least they got to dance the Fire Dance with some really hot Skralings.

    In the case of the orcs, sure, orcs were invented to carry gp and exp to the players, but the gaudily dressed guy, what's up with him?

    Even if your story involves killing the orcs, the simple detail lends something that makes the player take note. It says that your world is populated with individuals. And once players see each NPC as characters rather that exp and loot, he begins to treat every encounter as a unique opportunity.

    Don't get me wrong: players need exp and loot. But every once in a while a little detail can lead players to discover one of the wonders you've built into your world. And bringing a world to life for your players is your primary role as DM.
    Last edited by brian 333; 2017-12-13 at 02:19 PM.

  4. - Top - End - #4
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    jqavins's Avatar

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    Default Re: Cultural Details Bring Fantasy Societies To Life.

    Quote Originally Posted by Yora View Post
    The best examples are those that become a source of conflict. I find conflicts always most interesting when they are based on specific details of the setting and include local details in what the people are doing, instead of generic ones that could happen anywhere.
    The second sentence, yes. The first sentence, no. Interesting details are good for many things, and not necessarily best simply because they result in conflict. But the best conflicts do have roots in details.

    Quote Originally Posted by brian 333 View Post
    All you can expect from a generic caravan is word of the road behind them and possibly a chance to buy something. They are worth more to players as exp and loot.
    Holy crap! I've heard of murderhobos, but you must play with some of the murderiest. Anyone who says "This perfectly innocent caravan is boring; let's kill them and take their stuff so at least they'll be good for something" wouldn't last long at the tables I've sat around.

    Anyway, is there a reason for this thread other than the observation that details are good? Have you got something to help with it, or some such?
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  5. - Top - End - #5
    Troll in the Playground
     
    HalflingPirate

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    Default Re: Cultural Details Bring Fantasy Societies To Life.

    My observation that simple details enrich the setting is the point. Instead of generating volumes of background for your world which players will never see, you can tickle their imagination with details.

    While I've never had a party outright attack an innocent caravan, I have had players point out how some random encounters are 'worth more' than others based on exp gained.I also noticed that random encounters could bee used as aids to world building. For example, I used random encounters to give details of the world, such as a goatherder who knows where the nearest streams lie or the pilgrims whose existence sparks interest in historical events.

    The idea is that instead of half-hour sessions reading physical or cultural details to your players, you can bring those details to life with little embellishments of events and encounters, which helps to improve players' willingness to engage on other than a roll for initiative basis.

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    Pixie in the Playground
     
    ClericGuy

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    Default Re: Cultural Details Bring Fantasy Societies To Life.

    Quote Originally Posted by brian 333 View Post
    For example, I used random encounters to give details of the world, such as a goatherder who knows where the nearest streams lie or the pilgrims whose existence sparks interest in historical events.
    In my game, a random encounter with a few odd details has lead to the creation of a significant villain for my players to eventually face and further development of other small details I set up ages ago thereby making the world a much more complex and interesting one.

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    Titan in the Playground
     
    Daemon

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    Default Re: Cultural Details Bring Fantasy Societies To Life.

    On a related note, an off-hand comment about a piece of research found in a long-abandoned library ended up defining the racial relationships between the sentient races of my setting and (in part) propelling one party on their way to one of the major villains. Who'da thunk that humans were descended from goblins? I really threw it in there to tweak a particular player, but then realized it made way too much sense and everything flowed naturally from it...
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    Troll in the Playground
     
    HalflingPirate

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    Default Re: Cultural Details Bring Fantasy Societies To Life.

    Quote Originally Posted by PhoenixPhyre View Post
    On a related note, an off-hand comment about a piece of research found in a long-abandoned library ended up defining the racial relationships between the sentient races of my setting and (in part) propelling one party on their way to one of the major villains. Who'da thunk that humans were descended from goblins? I really threw it in there to tweak a particular player, but then realized it made way too much sense and everything flowed naturally from it...
    You don't have to know where a tidbit leads when you offer it. Some great moments in any game happen by surprise: suddenly everyone is caught up in the moment and fun happens. Other times you hit an idea that just makes too much sense, and suddenly you as a worldbuilder see new horizons.

    One such example was an evening in which I presented a short level one quest to help introduce a new player. The core group from that night dominated gameplay for some months after that first evening in which I first mapped one of the local river systems of my campaign setting. That map has been copied many times, and is no longer the 'official' map, but it guided my campaign's development over several decades and an ever evolving group of players.

  9. - Top - End - #9
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Daemon

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    Default Re: Cultural Details Bring Fantasy Societies To Life.

    Quote Originally Posted by brian 333 View Post
    You don't have to know where a tidbit leads when you offer it. Some great moments in any game happen by surprise: suddenly everyone is caught up in the moment and fun happens. Other times you hit an idea that just makes too much sense, and suddenly you as a worldbuilder see new horizons.

    One such example was an evening in which I presented a short level one quest to help introduce a new player. The core group from that night dominated gameplay for some months after that first evening in which I first mapped one of the local river systems of my campaign setting. That map has been copied many times, and is no longer the 'official' map, but it guided my campaign's development over several decades and an ever evolving group of players.
    I very much agree. It was that incident (among others) which lead me to a much more laid-back "we'll see when we get there" style of world-building. I've had too many carefully-constructed plans get replaced by a consequence of a minor detail thrown in on the fly to make the world richer.

    I overhauled the backstory of one culture based on an "on the way" location I made up because the area was boring. Trying to figure out why it was built lead to one thing after another, and soon the whole history of a empire betrayed by their masters into a diabolical pact (literally unknowingly worshiping a demon prince) crystallized where before there had been a rather bland snake-themed kingdom of jerks. All because I wanted a palace built in the shape of a gigantic litter being carried by six enormous (ok, about 60-ft at the shoulder) golems with snakes for lower bodies that marched in an endless circle around a jungle lake.
    Dawn of Hope: a 5e setting. http://wiki.admiralbenbo.org
    Rogue Equivalent Damage calculator, now prettier and more configurable!
    5e Monster Data Sheet--vital statistics for all 693 MM, Volo's, and now MToF monsters: Updated!
    NIH system 5e fork, very much WIP. Base github repo.
    NIH System PDF Up to date main-branch build version.

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