I'm getting ready to start writing the races chapter of the Phaedoras Campaign Setting and I just thought I'd collect some ideas on what sort of things you need to know about races/cultures.
I've thought up:
Alignment
Physical Desc
Organizations and Settlements
Fashion
Stats (Duh)
Power Groups
Spirituality
Events & Rituals
Language
Then I usually just add random tidbits that I think are important but don't fit in any of the categories.
Added:
Relations
I generally include diet, but I operate on the assumption that the variations are significant. (IE, Elves feast on things which are different from humans in more than just the seasoning.)
I also try to include how they are perceived by outsiders. (IE, everyone in my campaign world thinks of Gnomes as great inventors even though they aren't particularly.)
I don't suppose that either of these are strictly what you "NEED", however.
When it comes to alignment, if it is a player race, then I default the alignment to TN.
Kalos: Diet is good, but it will most likely be included in a more in-dept desc of the race.
Relations are important. I'll add that.
Cymro: If you alow player to play orcs, would you change their society? If you played elves in middle-earth would you then make them flawed? The standard alignment of a race/culture does not dictate what a player must choose, but instead is a basic representation of the average citizen.
Quote from: RaelifinCymro: If you alow player to play orcs, would you change their society? If you played elves in middle-earth would you then make them flawed? The standard alignment of a race/culture does not dictate what a player must choose, but instead is a basic representation of the average citizen.
Yes. Since orcs are a standard player race in Altvogge, their society there fits my concept of orc, not the Tolgax stereotype.
The "average" citizen, in a society is not represented by thoughts of alignment philosophy, but by just trying to make it day by day. Hence societies default to TN,
in my opinion.
You don't think it's possible for societies to have evil tendencies? Or Lawful, Chaotic, whatever?
indeed, in a society with a strct government, the entire race may have a predisposition towards lawful... Or, with a nomadic race, such as stereotypical halflings, a chaotic nature is possible...
Quote from: Kalos MerYou don't think it's possible for societies to have evil tendencies? Or Lawful, Chaotic, whatever?
I think societies are not bounded by the personal alignment system. Do not all societies view themselves as moral and lawful and good?
Societies rarely do things. Individuals and governments do things.
Quoteindeed, in a society with a strct government, the entire race may have a predisposition towards lawful... Or, with a nomadic race, such as stereotypical halflings, a chaotic nature is possible...
I Strict government does not make for lawful behavior in the D&D sense.
And nomadic societies tend toward the D&D definition of lawful, i.e. traditional.
Ok Cym, that's the last time I try to debate alignment... Rule #1, never debate smething you don't know about, as it only makes you annoying... I am now officially bowing out of this thread until further notice, whn i might be of use...
I am creating another thread on the meta board for the topic of morality. Let's keep this thread about races. :D
Quote from: RaelifinI am creating another thread on the meta board for the topic of morality. Let's keep this thread about races. :D
Well, one big question that answers many of the others is how mixed is your CS?
Do the races live in isolated enclaves, or is the setting "cosmopolitan"?
In my own CS, almost no race lives in a vacuum, so many of those initial questions you ask are more nationalistic or even continental considerations, rather than being strictly racial questions.
Yeah, that's why I also keep using the word "culture" when on this topic. However, I often see the "races" chapter discuss these things, so I followed the precident.
Gender Roles?
Only if they are different from the (human) norm in your setting.
Yeah, I think I'll keep Gender Roles in the non-essential section.
I don't know ... gender roles and the race's believes on relationships, love, marriage, and parenting are important, especially if they're vastly different from humans.
My elves do not have marriages, and they do not have a separate word for like and love. Elven couples stay together for short periods, sometimes as short as their five month gestation cycle (I decided that my elves give birth faster, because most of the elf's development occures outside of the womb). The babies are given over to the teenage elves, and the children basically raise themselves. This is a drawback of my elves learning capability; young elves do not learn by being told, they must experience it (to quote a cliche, if you told an elf not to put a fork in an electric socket without telling them what the socket was for or why they shouldn't do it, they're pretty much sure to try). Elves do not know generally know who their parents are (it just isn't important to them as the year/season they were born in and the community they come from).
Vastly different are my Dwarves. Dwarves do not believe in love; love is a derogitory word used to reference when a spouse is having an affair. Marriages are forged for familial/clan benefit. Children are born out of duity, which is helped by the fact that childbirth isn't particularly uncomfortable for dwarves. Dwarven adventurers typically don't fit this mold, because it is the #1 reason dwarves leave their settlements to adventure; they want love.
If you think about just how much imporance we humans place on love, companionship, and parenthood, you'll see why I think it is a very important issue to think of for your setting's races.
Well right off the top of my head, you forgot favored class(es).