What Are Your Character's Cultural Misunderstandings?

"This food, it's good," Grond said, tossing the rest of the bones onto his plate. They'd been seated on the higher tier, the fireplace off to one side to ensure they were warm. Filial had only managed to get Grond to dress his best with the promise of a hearty meal. He looked a little strange wearing fresh linen and a velvet doublet with his wild hair and scarred hands, but he was clean and presentable, which was a feat in and of itself.

"Didn't I tell you?" Filial asked, toasting his hulking companion with a wine glass.

Grond raised his glass, returning the toast, but rather than sipping he tilted his head back and drank deeply. The smile fled from Filial's face, but before he could say something Grond opened his mouth and let forth a deep, echoing belch that was just this side of a roar. Silverware clattered, and people stared, their eyes wide. Filial put his hand to his face, shame turning his ears red. Grond nodded, and picked up one of the last rolls, buttering it with his belt knife.

"The kitchens are far from here," he said, taking a bite of the bread. "I wanted to be sure the cooks knew of my appreciation."

Is something wrong, my friend?

Cultural Misunderstandings, Quirks, and Personalities

Everyone's unique perception of the world is colored by where, how, and by whom they were raised. While some of us are more cosmopolitan than others, we still have certain baseline behaviors and cultural taboos that we consider "normal" in our lives. Our characters are typically the same way. This often leads to cultural misunderstandings that can really bring across how different things are in a fantasy world, and make characters instantly memorable.

Most of us have done some spin on this at one point or another in our lives. Maybe you had a half-orc version of Crocodile Dundee, who took the most terrifying monsters and brutal hellscapes in their stride, and who was confused by the sheer panic and terror other party members reacted with. Maybe you played around with an elf who had exacting rules of decorum, and whose behavior could often seem strange or alien to those who have never studied the social structure of their home city. Perhaps it was a dwarven crusader with unusual grooming requirements as part of their oath, a tattooed mystic from a fringe school of sorcery, or someone who was raised by an evil cult and who has to unlearn the habits of their strange and brutal upbringing (check out my recent 100 Cults to Encounter if you're looking for inspiration on that front).

However, this is something I'd encourage us to do more of as players. Because even if we build in something as a joke, it can end up telling us a lot about a character, where they come from, and the way they see the world around them.

Making Misunderstandings That Work

The key to setting up a unique misunderstanding or cultural quick typically relies on something that is either unusual in the individual background, or which is different about how an individual character experiences the world. These things can be blatant or subtle, but the real trick is to make sure that that these misunderstandings are interesting or unique, and that they tell us something meaningful about the character.

Only one who has walked the peaks of Zhai Zho can bear such marks.

As an example of a cultural misunderstanding, say a character was raised deep in the blowing sands of the desert. Over the years the cultural norms evolved to say that people must keep themselves covered except when in the presence of friends and loved ones. This may have started out as a matter of practicality to avoid harm from sandstorms and the sun, but it's become ingrained in the society as a whole. So among those from this part of the world, long, flowing robes are common, and veils are often worn whenever one is in public. Someone who doesn't understand this culture may not understand that telling someone to show their face is the equivalent of demanding they undress in front of you, meaning they could give grave insult without intending it.

On the flip side of things, say a character comes from the frozen north where hot springs are often turned into communal bathhouses. Regular washing and grooming may be an intimate part of their culture, and as a byproduct of necessity nudity is not seen as shameful or even unusual in any way, shape or form. You could even take it to a Drax the Destroyer level of casualness, where the character finds southern notions of propriety and modesty to be strange and confusing.

Alternatively, you could ask what sorts of cultural norms develop around a character's inherent abilities, if they possess any. Does an elf rarely raise their voice, for example, because of how sensitive their people's ears are? Thus when they do actually shout, it's shocking to those who know them, and it lets people know they mean business. Does your dwarf tend to dress in shades of black and white, because in the hold they were raised in most people used their natural darkvision, so colors were never a part of a fashion motif? Perhaps this went even further, with intricate and broad-sweeping makeup and hairstyles marking one out by standing and profession that could be recognized from afar? Does your halfling, or by contrast a half-orc or a goliath, just not grasp a world built to a scale that doesn't fit them? Constantly ordering food, or drink, and being surprised or disappointed at the portion size they receive, or finding that room accommodations are never something they can take for granted? Or do they have their own norms for meals, or sleeping arrangements, that outsiders just don't understand?

While it's tempting to make these changes really big and really obvious (the fighter whose culture is to always grapple with a friend you haven't seen for some time to test each other's strength, the barbarian who comes from a tribe that states lingering eye contact is a challenge to one's rank, etc.), sometimes you can get just as much out of the smaller, subtler things that are unusual about a character's view of the world.

Do Not Set This Up To Be A Jerk

And now we play the ax-catching game, as tradition dictates.

As I said back in The Dangers of The Phrase "I'm Just Playing My Character", it's important to remember that you are directly responsible for everything that goes onto your character's sheet, and all the things they think, say, do, or believe. So while it's entirely possible for you to make a character who considers any slight an occasion to begin a duel to the death, that doesn't excuse you from constantly going around and attacking anyone who takes the piss out of you. It still makes you look like a jerk, because you tried to design a quirk that demanded your character make everyone else's life difficult.

Now, to be clear, a character who is willing to duel for their honor with those who've slighted them is a fun little background tidbit. Especially if that character has something of a reputation as a duelist, and if you use the threat sparingly, or only when it's warranted. But just as with any other quirk, or unusual bit of cultural difference, think about whether it's going to add to the story, or take away from it. Because if you're constantly throwing a monkey wrench into the game and justifying it with, "Well, that's the way they were raised," that is going to get really old really fast.

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That's all for this week's Fluff post! If you've used this in your games, share a story down in the comments!

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