10 More Ways to Vary Your Game World’s Cultures

I recently wrote 10 Ways to Vary Your Game World’s Cultures and promised more as I put together a larger piece on building a fantasy world’s culture.  I’ve already written about designing religions (with a couple of example fantasy religions), local campaign area design (also with examples), and fantasy world timelines.

So without further ado, here are 10 More Way to Vary Your Game World’s Cultures:

1. Food & Drink:  In your typical fantasy setting dwarves are heavy drinkers of Dwarven Spirits and other hard liquor and your typical fantasy elves have a taste for wine and may be vegetarian.  Those facts inject a very minimal cultural flavor.  Maybe in your world the dwarves and elves aren’t like that.  Or perhaps dwarves and elves of some cultures match those descriptions but dwarves and elves of some other cultures do not. Think through your fantasy setting.  If you have a race that primarily lives underground, what would be some of their delicacies?  How about underground gnomes who go crazy for sauteed Purple Worm?  Keep in mind the many mythical creatures in fantasy settings and consider that any of your cultures may have some unusual tastes.
2. Entertainment: How does a culture feel about gambling, theater, chariot races, gladiator combat? These are a few of the entertainment options available in larger fantasy cities.  But some cultures may look down on gambling (and the governments related to that culture may ban it) while other cultures may abhor violent gladiator battles and some others may think that a play is useless and for the weak.  For the literate in an educated culture, books can be another diversion.
3. Openness: Some cultures look forward to a dialog with members of other cultures, while other cultures may shun outsiders.  Cultures that are more open may be open because of religious practices (again, a religion is not the same as a culture, but a culture’s dominant religion will have an impact on that culture) or because the culture is already a mix of people with many different backgrounds.  On the other hand, some religions may be very insular and they may preach suspicion of others. Or perhaps a country has been attacked many times causing its culture(s)  to be wary of others.  In other cases, a recent plague may cause outsiders to be ostracized.
4. Pets and Domesticated Animals: In the real world, most modern western cultures typically consider dogs, cats, hamsters, etc. as pets and horses, cows, pigs, chickens, etc. as domesticated/farm animals.  Some other cultures think of some of these animal as holy, and yet other cultures may consider some of western cultures’ pet as food animals.  Changing these designations (animals that are typically pets vs. domesticated vs. food animals) can help vary your fantasy world’s cultures. (Who can forget “snake surprise” from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.)  However, considering the many typical fantasy creatures can further develop your fantasy world’s cultures.  Perhaps blink dogs are more common in part of your world so many people are just as likely to have one of them as they may have a normal dog.
5. Sleep: We spend 1/3 of our lives sleeping, so it shouldn’t surprise anyone that sleeping practices may vary.  Some cultures sleep on a minimum amount of padding while other may sleep on an incline.  Some real world cultures embrace an afternoon nap. Some cultures advocate sleeping with your children for several years, others push the children into a different room when they are only a few months old.
6. Travel: Many people in medieval times never traveled more than a few miles from their homes.  Knights, merchant traders, sailors and nobles were the exceptions.  In your game world, how typical was it for people to travel? Consider the answer to this for each social class in each culture that you are detailing.  Does magic help people travel more-so? How do the answers to these questions impact the views of the culture?
7. Legal System: While the legal system is a function of the government, the cultures of the country impact the legal system.  If the predominant religion is very peaceful, the legal system will have few laws that call for an eye-for-an-eye. On the other hand, a militaristic religion may allow for a very stringent penal code. Consider the culture you are creating and how that will impact the laws of the countries where the culture exists.
8. Slavery & Servitude: How is slavery viewed by the culture?  Is it forbidden and other cultures that have it are looked down upon? Or does the culture support it?  Who in the culture is a slave?  People who commit crimes? People who go into debt and can’t get out?  People conquered and taken captive in a war?
9. Marriage & Sexuality: As with some other aspects of culture, it is difficult to untie marriage and sexuality from religion and government.  The religions of a culture may take some stances on these issues and the government may have some laws on the issues as well.  Here’s a list of ways these issues can vary: marriage is rare because people don’t make long term commitments; marriage is only between a man and woman; marriage is allowed (or not) between different races (elves, dwarves, humans, gnomes, etc.); marriage is allowed between members of the same sex; a man (or woman) may have multiple spouses; marriage may only happen between three people (perhaps your fantasy world has a third sex as in The Left Hand of Darkness).  Of course there are more ways to vary these issues, but this list should get you started.
10. Economy: Does your culture’s values impact the local economy?  Perhaps a religious decree by the dominant culture forbids charging interest, as was the case many years ago for some. Maybe a particularly honest and lawful culture has a peasant class with a good standard of living.  This issue was the hardest for me to consider, so please post comments if you have suggestions on this or any of the other entries!