Hey guys,
I'm trying to add a new feel to my world by adding in some new nations and adding flavor to the old ones, but I'm kinda stuck. So far, I have a nation of dwarves that is deep underground and doesn't ever come out; Draharthea, a race of pure good humanoid altered dragons that has an empire and is basically the ruling power of the world; Avondale, a nation of humans that hates Draharthea for occupying them for over 50 years and for trying to stop them from expanding their borders; an elven nation that is allied with Draharthea; Flandrea, a nation of elves, Half-elves, and humans that tries to stay neutral because it is a relatively small nation in the middle of the conflict between Draharthea, the elves, and Avondale, but they secretly support Draharthea; Kaleas, a desert nation that is based off Ancient Egypt, a nation of magic, a magocracy with an ogre mage as it's ruler, mostly humans however live there; Nomadic halfling tribes; barbarian tribes; and a nation of serious, crafty, inventive gnomes. Any suggestions on ways to improve on my existing nations, or suggestions for new ones? Thanks. Sorry about the length of this post by the way.
Best way to improve an existing nation is to give it depth. Write up a history for each nation and how it interacts with the neations around it. Based on that and the mindset of the people, you can then further enhance the culture with national holidays and the like.
Try to explain why each nation ahs its quirks. Why do the dwarves shut them selves in like that? Were they invaded by top-worlders, once? Are they just xenophobic? Was their culture being erroded adn such an extreme measure taken to stop further loss? Or do they just turn to stone statues in teh sun (like in norse myths)?
One way to help flesh things otu is to create an outline. I like to go to wikipedia sometimes, not for information or "facts", but for their layout. Need a good format fo ra country, look up France in wikipedia and try to fill out all the sections with regard to your own nations. Be at LEAST as detailed (laughs histerically) as wikipedia is.
Another tool is to make two writeups. One contains the truth. The other contains what people think is true. This is usually best suited for games with lots of layers. Perhaps what people thought was a war of aggression was actually instigated because of a lecherous prince stealing a foreign woman. Instead of explaining the impact of htese events on the culture, explain how the population would react if they suddenly learned of this.
Just a couple things I try to do when i make new nations.
You can also almost think of a nation the way people used to--as a character in and of itself. What does he/she look like, talk like, eat, drink?
History is good, but there are other factors that can work their way into the fabric of a nation's life.
Economics: What things are plentiful and cheap? Which rare and expensive? Are there things they have gone to war to get, or need to defend? Perhaps their homeland is rich in base metals, which they've used to fashion a war-like culture, then gone out to conquer lands that are more agricultural. This kind of thing can suggest which professions or guilds are most wealthy, most respected, most politically connected.
Religion: Think of ways in which their religion impacts on the daily life and culture. Perhaps the main god's symbol is a bird, so they keep falcons and hawks, songbirds for pets, leave out food and birdhouses for wild birds, have bird-calling contests, etc.
Ecology: One of my cultures came from nomadic hunters. Instead of horses, which aren't native to their part of the world, they have a variety of different domesticated buffalo. War buffalo pulling massive war chariots, smaller and more docile animals to pull carts and wagons, etc. Just thinking about what kinds of creatures are common or just missing from their area can give you an idea of different things they would have adapted to. The physical environment affects things too. Do they have maintained roads, or perhaps they use flat-bottomed swamp boats, or just well-worn paths.
Of these things, I always find that economy is largely the most productive for me. I guess because physical needs are at the base of Maslow's hierarchy, the need to provide these physical things shapes the culture at its most primitive level. Once these basic needs are widely met, the nation can advance in different ways, but there will always be cultural relics depending on which of the basic needs are considered most important or most problematic. A culture that has a history of famine may focus on food or feasting as a symbol of security and prosperity, for example; or on fasting as a reminder that things aren't always as secure as they seem.
Thanks for the advice. It really helped. Does anyone have any suggestions for interesting nations?
How about some stuff that breaks steriotypes? Like a prosperous and benevolent communist country? Or a dictator that doesn't abuse his power? Or a country of sober dwarves?
Personally, I am a fan of a more cyberpunk seting, so if I were in your shoes, there'd be oppressive governments, overemphasized industry and corporations, highly stratified social structure, and at least one nutcase organization attempting some form of genocide. It also helps to toss in some really ambiguous situations where no one is actaully in the right, so finding the right thing to do becomes far more difficult. Lots of political intrigue. Uh, read Dune and Dune Messiah. Those are good for country ideas.
Also watch some anime. ~prepares to have trash thrown at him~ Seriously. Some of the better series out there depict soem really weird and interesting nations.
That's all assuming you don't want to just rip off some real-world nations, in which case just go to the CIA World Factbook and read away.
One of the things that I'm adding to a new campaign setting I'm dealing with right now is that I'm going into greater detail about the world. Since the current nation I'm working on has a direct feudal system, it means I'm going to be putting a lot of detail into the individual regions of the nation itself.
Perhaps that's something to look into?
I have all sorts of approaches to nations. One interesting way is to think of a person, group, or species and try to figure out what sort of nation they'd live in based on factors such as whether they are the majority or minority, whether they "fit in" or "stand out", whether they agree with the way the society works or not, etc.
Let's pick apart what you have to take a look at it's workings:
"a nation of dwarves that is deep underground and doesn't ever come out"
Very standard. I reiterrate the suggestion that you figure out why these dwarves are the way they are. Too many people just stereotype dwarves without exploring their possibilities.
"Draharthea, a race of pure good humanoid altered dragons that has an empire and is basically the ruling power of the world"
What does "pure good humanoid altered dragons" mean? I feel that could be written better. Until then I don't get the concept.
"Avondale, a nation of humans that hates Draharthea for occupying them for over 50 years and for trying to stop them from expanding their borders"
Now this is interresting: what you seem to be saying is that the greedy, explansionist nation is the one being occupied rather than the other way around.
"an elven nation that is allied with Draharthea"
Need more before I can comment.
"Flandrea, a nation of elves, Half-elves, and humans that tries to stay neutral because it is a relatively small nation in the middle of the conflict between Draharthea, the elves, and Avondale, but they secretly support Draharthea"
Why are they neutral? It seems that with the elven nation allied with Draharthea and Draharthea occupying Avondale there isn't anyone to be against.
"Kaleas, a desert nation that is based off Ancient Egypt, a nation of magic, a magocracy with an ogre mage as it's ruler, mostly humans however live there"
Ogre mage as ruler. What kind of ruler? Cruel? Sadistic? Noble? Benevolent? Just the fact that you have a nation ruled by a monster that doesn't get that much press as anything but an ajunct is a good start.
"Nomadic halfling tribes; barbarian tribes"
Climate is a key factor is deciding what the culture of this tech level is like.
"a nation of serious, crafty, inventive gnomes"
Serious as in not pranksters? Crafty as in scheming? Certainly works over the bubbling fun-lovers from core. Do they maintain power with their fabulous inventions? Do they sell said fabulous inventions to other nations?
Quote from: SilvercatMoonpawI have all sorts of approaches to nations. One interesting way is to think of a person, group, or species and try to figure out what sort of nation they'd live in based on factors such as whether they are the majority or minority, whether they "fit in" or "stand out", whether they agree with the way the society works or not, etc.
Let's pick apart what you have to take a look at it's workings:
"a nation of dwarves that is deep underground and doesn't ever come out"
Very standard. I reiterrate the suggestion that you figure out why these dwarves are the way they are. Too many people just stereotype dwarves without exploring their possibilities.
"Draharthea, a race of pure good humanoid altered dragons that has an empire and is basically the ruling power of the world"
What does "pure good humanoid altered dragons" mean? I feel that could be written better. Until then I don't get the concept.
"Avondale, a nation of humans that hates Draharthea for occupying them for over 50 years and for trying to stop them from expanding their borders"
Now this is interresting: what you seem to be saying is that the greedy, explansionist nation is the one being occupied rather than the other way around.
"an elven nation that is allied with Draharthea"
Need more before I can comment.
"Flandrea, a nation of elves, Half-elves, and humans that tries to stay neutral because it is a relatively small nation in the middle of the conflict between Draharthea, the elves, and Avondale, but they secretly support Draharthea"
Why are they neutral? It seems that with the elven nation allied with Draharthea and Draharthea occupying Avondale there isn't anyone to be against.
"Kaleas, a desert nation that is based off Ancient Egypt, a nation of magic, a magocracy with an ogre mage as it's ruler, mostly humans however live there"
Ogre mage as ruler. What kind of ruler? Cruel? Sadistic? Noble? Benevolent? Just the fact that you have a nation ruled by a monster that doesn't get that much press as anything but an ajunct is a good start.
"Nomadic halfling tribes; barbarian tribes"
Climate is a key factor is deciding what the culture of this tech level is like.
"a nation of serious, crafty, inventive gnomes"
Serious as in not pranksters? Crafty as in scheming? Certainly works over the bubbling fun-lovers from core. Do they maintain power with their fabulous inventions? Do they sell said fabulous inventions to other nations?
1. The Dwarves were driven underground by the elves and Drahartheans about 10,000 years ago. No one on the surface has seen one since. Many were subject to cruel experiments performed by evil wizards that transformed them into elemental versions of dwarves.
2. I'm sorry about the descriptions I gave as a whole really. The Drahartheans came into being when the God of Elves took some of the good dragons made by the God of good dragons and transformed them into a humanoid creature which draconic powers. Over the generations, however, these powers lessened. They are long-lived humans that are far more beautiful than the average human. The reason for the the alliance of the elves and Drahartheans is because of the friendship of the two gods. Drahartheans believe they are the force of pure good in the world, and this notion is causing them to fall into arrogance and corruption. In an attempt to "save the mortals from themselves", a Gold Dragon has killed the King and assumed the King's appearance.
3. I can provide more info on Avondale if you need it. For example, there is a resistance force that is working to end Draharthea's reign without the government's approval (although they probably wouldn't object to the idea). They have help and spies everywhere. They're main supplier is a family of people who mostly have draconic blood in them. This is the mafia (I will call it something else but I don't have a name for it yet). This mafia is known and feared world wide.
4. The elven nation, Larethion, is a somewhat cowardly nation. It pursecutes races that it fears, then calls for Draharthea's help if they find the race wants to fight. This is mostly due to the royal line of old dying out, leaving the rulership to another family known for its cowardice. They are racist against humans, whom they believe to be an inferior race. Some elves secretly support the humans and are helping them to form a resistance.
5. Flandrea is neutral because Avondale borders them to the East and South (it is the land that Avondale was trying to gain when it caused the war when they were occupied afterward), while Draharthea is on their northern side. Draharthea used to be across a huge body of water, but I might be changing the map so I don't know. It is run by a council of 11 Lords, Princes and Princesses.
6. The Ogre Mage is a noble and benevolent ruler to most of his subjects (he has a very short temper and usually doesn't bother with trials for convicts, just kills them), but the slaves wouldn't say so. The slaves bring huge amounts of stone to building sites, where the spellcasters of the nation use the stone to build great structures to the gods and to their King, who they believe is a messenger of the gods.
7. Yes, they aren't pranksters. They make inventions and sell them to warring nations mostly. They often scheme and make bets with one another on who can make the most profit off the other nations. They also like to bet on who can make the most destructive "toy."
I hope that helps a little more than my original descriptions. Upcoming, a nation of evil monsters!
Well, let me take an economic approach to your dwarves. Just a different approach - ways of thinking about it that help fill in some details.
So, your dwarves were driven underground a long time ago, and haven't been seen since? What do they do down there? Where do they get their food, fuel, air, and so on? A fully underground society should be an interesting one, simply because of the need for creative solutions to these issues.
Take food - with no sunlight, they can't grow things. So no grain or ale, nor fodder for animals. Unless they trade for them. But then, apparently no one on the surface deals with them, so that is out. Maybe they can grow fungi or edible slimes, using some kind of elemental earth energy? Or perhaps they base their entire food chain around underground rivers or underground seas where they can harvest some kind of blind cave fish. Even these would need some kind of basis for the food chain - perhaps some kind of micro-organisms that feed off of energy at geothermal vents, like earthly deep sea environments, or again using that strange elemental energy.
Another possibility is that they worship a god that provides them with food magically. That would be a lot of Create Food spells, so lots of clerics, which makes for a pretty interesting society - rather different than the traditional view of D&D dwarves.
Then there's other materials. There will be plenty of stone for building materials, and presumably ore to make tools and weapons with. But this brings up the question of fuel - energy to stoke the forges and keep their homes warm. Could they be relying on magic, or that elemental energy again? Or trading for wood? Using coal would be possible, but then they'll have to have good ventilation to keep the fires going and vent the smoke somewhere. Chimneys like this would be pretty noticeable to surface dwellers, unless they are located in very remote areas.
Or they could use some kind of geothermal approach, ducting heat and magma from lava tubes deep underground.
Of course, without animals or plants, they'll have little in the way of leather, furs, ropes, or textiles. Do they wear nothing? Maybe they cultivate some kind of kelp-like stuff in their underground seas. Or they've discovered a way to dry and press some kind of slimes to form ropes and fabrics.
Or perhaps they've actually cultivated some surface contacts - maybe with some of the more despised races, to avoid the attention of the elves. This would have them living in less deep caverns, keeping a thriving trade going over hundreds of generations. They could provide tools and weapons to their customers, in return for meat, grain, skins, and textiles. Such an arrangement would make plenty of economic sense for both sides - but exposes them to the constant risk of exposure and attack from the elves and Drahartheans. In this case, I'd think the dwarves would need a back-up plan. Perhaps they have some deep caverns they can retreat to, interconnected to various shallower caverns where they generally prefer to live and keep up their trade. If a city is exposed, they retreat to the deep caverns and seal off the entrances, and move their operations to a different location. Every dwarvish family would be prepared at a moment's notice to evacuate, leave their homes, and relocate.
Of course, this would mean that at least some surface dwellers have seen them, and periodically a dwarvish city would be exposed and presumably attacked and closed down. A little different history.
This just comes from considering the most basic level of economics - how do they provide themselves with the things they need? Other considerations (like security, culture, religion, etc.) will be affected by these things, but would require further elaboration.
Sorry guys that I haven't posted for so long. Internet has been down (that's what I get for living in the capital city of the middle of nowhere).
I may not have made this clear about the dwarves, but I was thinking of them being magically altered by very powerful evil wizards in experiments that actually made them elementals, just dwarfish (doing regular dwarf activities). That would eliminate the need for food, but now I think it would be better if they didn't become actual elementals, and settled in the Underdark and made an alliance with the drow. I would have to think of a way that work though because they don't really like each other that much. They both hate the elves. That's a start. The drow could supply the dwarves with provisions and the dwarves could supply them with metals for weapons and armor. Then they plan to one day attack the surface races (can you say campaign idea?). That's one solution. It needs some fine tuning if I plan to use it, but it's a start. I would have to think of more ways for the dwarves to help the drow for it to really work.
I like the idea of them finding some sort of elemental way to grow food. Or they could have made contact with races that live in the mountain range. I would stretch the "no one seeing them since" to "no one the elves or Draharthea recognize as people has seen them since. I have some other races they've done this to. Like the forest dwelling wolf-men that they didn't understand/feared because they feared they were somehow connected to lycanthropes. Originally they were a race that moved out of the continent and onto an island in habited by forest giants, but I can change it to a forest in the mountains easily. The wolfmen were deemed "savages," but they are actually quite wise. Many of them are philosophers, and they are quite kind to travelers. They would help the dwarves.
I would say they probably have secret cities close to the surface to trade with the races in the forest of the mountains. Now I can say that people have gone searching for them, but no one has come back alive (can you say plot hook?). The dwarves are actually very powerful. They have many spell-like abilities that deal with earth. If anyone has every seen the Nickolodean show Avatar: The Last Airbender, think of the dwarves as superpowered earth benders. They are just waiting for the opportune moment to get their revenge. I could post their stats sometime.
This is a slightly whimsical thought. In C.S. Lewis's The Silver Chair the gnomes of Bism actually eat minerals--only they are different in the deep places than the gems and mineral veins found nearer the surface; apparently you can squeeze out diamond juice and eat fresh rubies and so on.
That's an interesting idea. Maybe they could've found a special gem deep underground that they could eat.
Instead of relying on fantasy archetypes, look unto our own world for inspiration. Blend Mesopotamian mythos with a modern, tribal version of Gaul with Humans. Adapt the Mayan culture with a band of painted Elves that live within the taiga. Recreate Transylvania and the Baltic states into a mountainous region where Dwarves inhabit the lands (think Gothic setting, complete with surcoats, thick accents and steampower). Take Africa, and apply it to the Drow who live in the land of midnight savanahh. What about the pygmie cultures, but with halflings? Have Elvish conquistadors from a country built upon a coral reef invade the native lands of a country of backward, tribal-like Elves in search of the new world. WHat about Nordic Minotaurs who've left their lands to conquer the Elvish fey islands of Tir Na'Nog?
I tend to find more inspiration from our own world, rather than fantasy fiction.
I agree completely! Our world has so many options to choose from. But I've found the key is to incorporate subtly. If you do it heavy handed, its like mixing water and oil -- it just doesn't work. But if you incorporate smaller concepts, and come up with a justifiable reason in your world, you get...delicious cookie dough (ok so my metaphor didn't hold up). The well blended culture will be subconsciously familiar to the player and make the experience more enjoyable.
One way to try something unique is to take the typical stereotypes and throw them out! Dwarves are always lawful cave dwellers; instead, make the dwarves the master sailors of the world, with beautiful cities that float on oceans and seas. Elves are always essentially tree-hugging hippies and goodie-two-shoes. Instead, have the elves be feral deity-worshipers who build huge temples to try to reach into the sky and sacrifice trespassers to their gods. The thing is to mix things up so that when someone hears the word "dwarves," they don't just immediately think, "Oh great, another group of xenophobic master craftsmen."
Or try making the dwarves for instance actually mythological in some way, like the maggots of Ymir's corpse, twisted little creatures that are also rather sly and can be mischeivous, who turn to stone in the light of day.
You can only twist the stereotypes so far before you've got a completely different concept. At that point, calling them "dwarves" and "elves" is just deliberately confusing.
For example, in my setting the elves are only semi-civilized. Seen as cruel and primitive, and sometimes rumored to be evil or cannibalistic. Having reversed that element of the stereotype, I feel compelled to keep the other elements - nature-oriented, archers, fairly magical - in order to justify still calling them elves. So you end up with a race of primitive barbarian elves, all the more fearsome for their amazing nature sense and ability to use magic to enhance that. But the magic is going to be cruder and more animistic in form. Instead of being accomplished swordsmen, they may have a warrior order of berserkergang (D&D barbarian class). Etc.
I agree with both ends. Stereotypes are bad, but they can only be thrown out to a certain point. I will think about ways to make some nations that aren't stereotypes. I really like the way that the dwarves are going right now. Maybe I'll twist the halflings or gnomes in some ways. Or the half-orcs, since they are a new race to the world (orcs had a late arrival). Or better yet, I'll change the orcs which will affect the half-orcs as well. I'll think about it.