Culture Name

Concept
What is the culture about?

Distancing Mechanics
What makes this culture different than baseline?
Local Flavor: 1-3 distancing mechanisms. No Cultural Familiarity penalty.
Exotic Culture: 3-5 distancing mechanisms. 1-point Cultural Familiarity trait.
Alien Culture: Truly alien culture with Cultural Familiarity penalty. Typically stems from alien psychology
rather than just unusual values. 2-point Cultural Familiarity trait.

Scope
How big of a world/universe are we dealing with?

Foundations
Values
What values does the culture have? How do these values shape the culture?
Charity: kindness to others, and protecting the weak.
Courage: adventure, martial prowess and bravery in battle.
Cunning: innovative solutions and non-traditional approaches
Independence: personal ruggedness, self-sufficiency and survival skills
Innocence: child-like wonder and sheltering the innocent from cruel truths
Mysticism: spiritual over material, abstract over concrete, asceticism
Prestige: Appearance, glory, class and a hierarchy of power.
Reliability: Your word is your bond
Restraint: Power must be used cautiously and fairly
Tolerance: Everyone must be accepted.
Tradition: Maintain the old ways and respect your teacher
Tribalism: “We must stick together” the family and clan over outsiders.

Isolation
How much interaction does the culture have with other cultures?

1
Technology
Retrograde, mature and cutting edge.

Resources
Food
Does the culture have a unique cuisine?
What status level is the cuisine?
Low-status (Poverty/Starvation food)
Common status (everyman food)
High status (exotic delicacies)
What makes the food unique?
Organic or industrial?
Does it serve special needs?
Is it created from local ingredients or exotic ones?
Does it contain unique “additives” that grant temporary perks/quirks?
Does the culture have unique intoxicants?
Helpful intoxicants (Useful drugs)
Harmless intoxicants (mild habits such as coffee drinking or smoking)
Harmful intoxicants (dangerously addictive drugs)
Social intoxicants
Enjoyed as a community (Carousing)
Reflects refinement (Connoisseur)

Industrial resources
What raw materials does the culture use?

Manufactured goods
What does the culture make?

Exotic Resources
Exotic Biologicals
Exotic Matter

Energy
What does the culture use for power?

2
Artifacts and Relics
Any lost technology or items no longer able to be replicated?

Politics
Status
Social Hierarchy
How is society organized?

Social Mobility
How easy is it to move between social levels?

Personal Freedom
What sorts of rights and privileges does the average member of the culture enjoy? What restrictions?

Kinship
How is the family organized?

Military Complex
What is the culture’s position on warfare? How controls the armed forces? How prevalent are they?

Crime and Policing

What are considered serious crimes? How are laws enforced? What is taboo?

Economics
Does the culture have their own money? Major exports and imports? Level of trade?

Humanities
Language
What language does the culture speak?
A new language
A regional common language
A dead language from a previous era
A minority dialect unique to their culture
An isolate, unknown outside of their culture
The Black Tongue, a dark and terrifying language associated with monsters

3
 A Prestige language, which other cultures envy for its beauty and sophistication
The language of the streets, a low prestige language frowned upon in polite society
Alternate words
Alternate word-order (rather than Subject Verb Object)
Odd Phrasing
Diminuitives
Contractions
Articles
Odd Pronunciation
Rhotic/Non-rhotic
Digraphs

Religion
Does the culture have a unique religion or philosophy?
How does the religion embody/strengthen the core values of the culture?
What symbols does the religion have?
Graphic symbols
Clothing
Culinary requirements
Alien animals
Technological tools
What common rituals does the religion have?
Birth
Marriage
Initiation
Funerary
Others
What holidays does the religion, philosophy or culture have?
Harvest times
Death/birth of an important figure
Celebration of a particular ideal

Scholastics
Does the culture have a unique body or literature? How does the literature embody and argue for the
values of the culture?

4
Arts
Does the culture have a unique artform? How are their values reflected in their artform?
Art and Sculpture?
Holographic Art and Sculpture
Music and Dance
Dances that show physical prowess
Dances that flirt with a partner
Dances that reveal high status through intricacy of the dance
Dances that simplify steps to make them more fun and widely available
Dances that have existed for many generations
Dances that incite an ecstatic trance
Does the culture have a unique form of leisure?
Sports
What skills and attributes are the focus of Sports?
Sports as combat-training
Sports as performance
Sports as community-building
Sports as ceremony
Games
Unique rules for sports and games
Slow match (Use regular contest or several quick contests)
Alternate modes of play (players may choose from a selection of traits and skills. Or alternate unique
rules)
Chance-based games (skill doesn’t play as much a roll as luck
Gambling (the game can result in loss or gain of wealth, or includes bidding mechanics)
Cheating (The game allows for sufficient deception that cheating becomes possible)

Fashion
Does the culture enjoy a unique fashion? How are their values reflected in their fashion?
Status level of fashion
Exotic mediums
Buzz cloth
Responisive cloth
Varicloth

5
 Armored clothing
Clothing belt
Skin/Body modification

Supernatural Powers
In what ways can the culture violate reality?

Generational Cycles
Idealists are born into a time of conformity, and come of age during social ferment. During adulthood,
they pursue individualism while urging a return to morality; they age into visionary figures. The Baby Boom
generation (born from 1943 to 1960) are Idealists, as are the transcendentalists (born from 1792 to 1821).
Reactives are born during social ferment, come of age in alienation and risk, shoulder a crisis, and age
into dim respectability as society becomes more conformist. The Founding Fathers (born from 1724 to 1741)
are Reactives, as is Generation X (born from 1961 to 1981).
Civics are born during a return to morality, unite and come of age dealing with a crisis, found institutions
in midlife, and build the society the next ferment will question and disrupt. The Greatest Generation (born
from 1901 to 1924) are Civics, as are the Millennials (born from 1982 to 2003).
Adaptives are born during a crisis, relish social conformity in adulthood, work for compromise during
social ferment, and age into sensitive elders. The Progressives (born from 1843 to 1859) are Adaptives, as
are the Silent Generation (born from 1925 to 1942).

Every 40-45 years is a peak riot period for oppressed minorities. 100-125 years for new ideologies to
create a movement capable of changing society. 160-170 years for an empire to get strong enough to fight a
civil war and about 60 years to recover from it. Economics follows waves of 50-54 years (27 years up to the
peak, 27 years down to the crunch). Major wars every 75-85 years, lasting for 25-30 years.