Culture Guide, part 1

I took the advice of the DMG, and it hasn't served me as well as I would have liked. It suggests coming up with the general theme of the campaign first, then immediately focus on the local details of where the party starts. The argument is that players are impatient and ignore the broader world until they get a lot deeper into the campaign, so it's best not to waste time making detailed maps of the world until later, when you need them.

The problem is, of course, that you guys are better than average players, with more refined tastes. Almost all of you responded that you liked the fact that my campaigns seemed to have integrated and believable settings and characters. This requires a lot of work up front, and has been my standard operating procedure for most of my other campaigns.

But not this one. And I'm regretting it. I'm playing catch-up. Which is a bad thing while trying to run two separate campaigns. But I digress.

I have the broad map of the world, and the general theme of the campaign mapped out through the mid-20's (character level). I have a lot of history laid out, and background information, and racial concepts. And I have broad generalizations of the cultures in various regions.

To the north of the Whiteback range, the religion of Dravatadatman dominates all others. Their style of dress is generally middle-ages European, and their foods are mostly the same. Their naming conventions, however, are Indian. Their primary social structure is either theocratic, tribal, or both.

To the south of the Whiteback range, there is a diversity of religion. Both elemental gods and humanistic gods are worshipped. Their dress is Indian or middle-eastern for the most part (light linens, cotton, or silk). Their food is spicy and diverse. But their naming conventions are Celtic, Germanic, or British. There are many, many kingdoms in the south. The rulers are Rajas, Dukes, Barons, Kings, Regents, Shieks, Sherrifs, and any other form of dictatorship you could probably think of.

In the power vacuum left by the absence of the Empire, wizards have been popping up in a lot of places as a civil authority. They call themselves Magisters. Many were prominent in the rebellion.

We'll go with that for now.