CREATING YOUR CULTURE:

This game takes place in a fantasy world with many different cultures. Instead of playing a single character, you'll play an entire culture.


Your culture has four stats... but each is the opposite of another, so you really have 2 stats, each of which represents one end of a spectrum...

Strong - - - Insightful

Adaptable - - - Determined


Strong: How able your culture is to use force to attack or defend

Insightful: How thoughtful your culture is... how cautious... how patient

Adaptable: How flexible your culture is to dealing with new things

Determined: How well your culture is able to persevere in the face of adversity or temptation

(Another way to think about it is to imagine that Strong cultures are tough like Fighters, Insightful cultures are smart like Mages, Adaptable cultures are clever like Thieves, and Determined cultures are strong-willed like Clerics.)


You start at zero for each stat. Max is +2... but there's a tendency for stats to slide back down from +2. Minimum is -2... but no stat "wants" to stay at -2. Stats naturally "want" to move away from -2.


When your culture does something, you'll roll 2d6, and add your stat modifier, if any.

--10 or over: Big success, and the GM might decide that you get to add +1 to that stat, unless it is already at +2.

--7 to 9: Qualified success.

--6 or lower: Failure, and one of the following will happen:
* lose 1 point from that stat you used to roll, unless it is already at -2.
* lose 1 Morale point. (You start with 5 Morale Points. (Don't let your culture's Morale drop too low, or more bad things could start happening!))
* a threat to your people might appear, like a dragon or a giant or some other kind of monster or threat (this can also happen on a result of 7 to 9, but it's much worse with a result of 6 or lower than it is on a 7 to 9).


When the GM tells you your culture needs to deal with something, say how you'll attempt to do it, and then roll, adding the appropriate stat//stat-modifier. The GM will tell you what happens.


EXTRA STUFF ABOUT ROLLING/MOVING:

--Games with 3 or more players: You may only make one move/roll per day.
--Games with 2 players: You may only make two moves/rolls per day.
--Solo games: You may only make three moves/rolls per day.




EXAMPLE CULTURES:

--Kobolds. +1 Insightful, +1 Adaptable. The Kobold culture starts with only one species. They have a religion, worshiping Talantzakis, the Mother Dragon from whom they believe they are all descended.

--Tamiirians: +1 Insightful, +1 Adaptable. The Tamiirians worship Tamiir, their deity of wealth and trade. They comprise multiple species, but mostly humans, dwarves, and halflings.

--The Outsiders: +1 Strong, +1 Adaptable. The Outsiders are made up of all species, but they are a culture that rejects religion-- and the cultures of other species. They are composed of outcasts from other cultures and traditions, and believe that the only good culture is their own, that rejects everything else. Newcomers to the Outsiders are welcomed-- as long as they vow to reject everything about the culture they have left... Outsiders not born into the culture are always those thrown out or leaving their original culture-- because of shame, blasphemy, disobeying orders, marrying the wrong people, violating any sort of taboos about gender or magical abilities, and/or so on. For example, bugbears with albinism are shunned by the bugbear culture, but welcomed by The Outsiders.

--The Balanced: Both stats start at zero-- Followers of Celadel, Deity of Moderation, The Balanced strive to live their lives in the same way-- not too weak nor too cerebral, not too hidebound to old ideas, nor disrespectful to old traditions. The culture is mostly made up of dwarves, humans, and halflings...

--The Protectors: +1 Strong, +1 Determined-- The Protectors don't worship a deity with a name so much as just nature itself. Producing lots of Druids and Rangers, the Protectors are mostly composed of Elves, Half-Elves, Halflings, and Gnomes.

--The Listeners: +1 Strong, +1 Determined-- The Listeners don't really worship a deity as such as a whole, but practice ancestor worship. Their society produces an amount of necromancers that would be unusual for any other culture, just to better enable them to speak with the spirits of the dead... who, as often as not, want their many-many-times-great-grandchildren to carry on the old wars and vendettas that they waged in life, so The Listeners also produce a large number of fighters, scouts, and assassins... The culture of The Listeners are mostly composed of Humans, Elves, and Half-Elves, although they contain many other species to a lesser extent. Some of them also worship various deities, but the ancestor-worship is seen as of paramount importance.



MOVES:

--Attack (Strong): Attempt assertive, forceful action against a target or type of target.

--Defend (Strong): Preparing to try to resist forceful aggression from a threat.

--Discover technology/magic (Insightful): Try to advance the level of your culture's current technology or magic.

--Increase Wealth (Insightful): Attempt to build up your resources. (You can spend saved-up resources to help you with rolls, or as insurance against threats like famine or hail or monsters damaging your infrastructure.)

--Diplomacy (Insightful): Talk to other cultures, and try to get what you want... or maybe even make it so you both get what you want.

--Trade (Insightful OR Adaptable): The economic version of Diplomacy.

--Create Art (Insightful OR Adaptable): Attempt to create a new artistic movement, or a great artwork that will stand throughout the ages... either could raise morale, at least temporarily...

--Assimilate (Adaptable): Attempt to enfold some other (less Determined) culture into yours.

--Spy/Scout (Adaptable): Attempt to spy on another culture, or scout out a territory to detect what might have developed as far as new threats.

--Expand/Rebuild (Adaptable): Attempt to expand your culture to a new (explored) area, or rebuild effectively after damage from a threat.

--Resist Assimilation (Determined): Attempt to resist some other culture attempting to enfold yours into itself (not used in games where the players don't want NPCultures to be threats).

--Explore (Determined): Attempt to learn more about an as-yet culture that seems uninhabited.

--Divine Guidance/Miracle (Determined): Try to successfully ask the Divine to whip up some sort of help//miracle for your culture.

--Raise Morale (Determined): Attempt to raise your culture's morale? Maybe a festival or something...?

--Create Individual/Organization/Institution (Varies): Attempt to create a cool person/organization/institution that could benefit your culture. (Note: These might be destroyed someday by monsters! But they can be really helpful for a while...!)




MORE ABOUT ROLLING:

--As explained earlier, if you want to do something, roll 2d6 and add the appropriate modifier: Strong/Insightful/Determined/Adaptable...

--BUT, you can also add any bonus you get from an existing Individual/Organization/Institution. If your Strong bonus is 0 but you have a Great General, you get to roll +1 anyway.

--HOWEVER, these do NOT stack. If your Strong bonus is +1 and you have a General AND a Military Academy, you still just roll +1.

--You cannot roll with a bonus of more than +2.




SO.

STEP ONE: Determine your stats.

--You can add 1 point to each stat spectrum, or you may leave either or both starting at 0.
----Will your culture be more Strong, or more Insightful, or a balance between the two?
----Will your culture start out as more Adaptable, or more Determined (or a balance between the two)?

STEP TWO: Answer these questions (in any order!):

A. Will your culture have a religion? Describe/explain.

B. Of what specie or species will it be, or mostly be, comprised?

C. Choose one region where your culture will start the game: Arctic, Coast, Desert, Forest, Jungle, Plains, Mountains, Hills, Swamp, Caverns

D. What is the group name of your culture? (If your culture is entirely composed of just one species of people, you can, if you want, just call them "The (species)" (such as "The Kobolds.")

E. You start with one kinda-large city, or one very large village (you choose... it doesn't matter to the mechanics) (So which will it be?).

F. Is there anything else, in general, that you want to say about your culture before we start? (If your answer is "No, all other details can be worked out as we play," that's a totally fine answer!)
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:48, Wed 03 Mar 2021.