What Traits Did Your Character's Culture Value (And Discourage)?

Our characters come from a wide variety of backgrounds, cultures, and experiences, and these things often shape them in ways that are just as important as the adventures and campaigns they complete while we're at the table. However, we often hand wave away this part of their stories, leaving them vague and open-ended when we can often end up making our characters far more interesting by digging into that part of their story.

Which is why it's worth taking a moment to ask what traits your character's culture valued and reinforced, which traits they suppressed or avoided, and why that was the case? Because those things can often tell you a lot about a person, and what they consider normal... even if no one else agrees with them.

Night painting emphasizes clear sight, and smooth dexterity.

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What Was Your Normal?

Take a moment and think about the culture you grew up in, and what it told you was desirable, and normal. As an example, I'm American, Caucasian, and I identify as male. I was born into an upper middle class home, and I come from a military family. The messages I received growing up were that height was a key component of my attractiveness, and that I should be strong and muscular. I was told that having a high sex drive was a key component of masculinity, as was a willingness (or ability) to commit violence in appropriate situations. Going to college was very important, and the hallmarks of good grades, social activities, etc., were encouraged to help make that happen. As someone who got into gaming, LARPing, and light historical reenactment, long hair and a well-kempt beard were also seen as desirable, fashionable things for me to have alongside creativity and the ability to sword fight. Speaking other languages wasn't encouraged or valued overmuch in my circles. Emotional vulnerability was sometimes encouraged, and other times strongly discouraged. Physical affection with other men was often unacceptable, and even with femme-presenting folk it often came with a slew of caveats.

The list goes on, but you get the idea.

You could take almost any of these traits, values, cultural assumptions, and find other cultures and locations where if I moved I would have had relatively little to unlearn or change. For instance, I could likely move to Canada, and adapt fairly quickly. I could probably do the same with most places in the United Kingdom. However, there are other cultures and locations I would have been about as comfortable as a fish in the desert. Whether it's the language barriers I would have come across in France, the expectations of gender roles that would have thrown me for a loop in Spain or Greece, or even something as relatively simple as the (to me) complete lack of personal space between people in Russia, all of these things would have thrown my differences into a rather stark light.

Now ask what those differences might be if we were in a fantasy setting where there are at least as many cultures among humans as we have in the real world, but where we also have magic, monsters, and a dozen other species of intelligent creatures that we share the world with, and you can see just how unique this exercise can become.

Things might get... complicated.

Consider for a moment how long archery was the national sport in England. How everyone no matter their age, sex, or even skill, at least understood how to operate and use a bow, with regular practice deemed a normal part of social life. Someone who was "average" under those conditions might be considered one of the best archers anyone had ever seen in a culture where that sort of practice was just not a part of public life. This is similar to how Glima, the wrestling martial art of the Norsemen, led to a not-inconsiderable population that were (by and large) more skilled grapplers than other places that didn't practice a fighting style so commonly. It wasn't some strange, genetic disposition or inherited viciousness; it was just that training in a martial art was often done from a young age, and it was often practiced far into adulthood.

It's all about what is considered normal for you, that is decidedly not normal for other people... and why that is the case.

Let's look at Archbliss: The City of The Sorcerers (available for Pathfinder Classic and DND 5E) in my Sundara setting. It's a floating city in the sky ruled over by an aristocracy of sorcerers, and where a majority of the population has access to magic. Even if an individual cannot use magic themselves, they would still have grown up with it constantly available to them, and an important component of everyday life. As such, an education about magic, spellcasting, proper use of magic items, and other such skills and abilities, would be emphasized for those who were raised there. But if these people left Archbliss, they'd find that many other places don't rely so heavily on magic. While mastery of it may still be useful, a person born with no inherent spellcasting, and who may lack the intelligence to become a wizard, wouldn't be shunned for that "failing". After all, to their eyes, only one in a million people might manage what would be considered an everyday feat in Archbliss.

Or consider the Malisus, a unique elven people who live deep in the ground found in Species of Sundara: Elves (available for Pathfinder Classic and DND 5E). The Malisus's cities are often built from stone and bone, and while this is a matter of practicality (since trees don't grow underground), their faith is centered around the rituals and acceptance of death. As such, their outlook is often macabre to outsiders, and they are extremely comfortable near corpses, bones, graveyards, and other such things that would be considered taboo to other cultures. The Malisus value grace and quiet, as being able to move stealthily is a necessity of survival in the underground, and those who cannot see in the dark are often looked on with pity. If they were to move among peoples who are loud, brash, and (to the Malisus) unobservant, it might seem as if these dark elves simply appeared from nowhere, because "quiet" to an overlander is like stomping through the undergrowth to the finely-tuned senses of many of the Malisus.

Lastly, consider someone steeped in the culture of Moüd, The City of Bones (available for Pathfinder Classic and DND 5E). The City of Bones is a place deep in a blasted desert, lorded over by a guild of necromancers, and whose very existence is made possible by use of the reanimated dead. So while some cultures might consider necromancy a great taboo, or an outright evil art to practice, in Moüd it would be an honored profession. While there are certainly moral and ethical concerns if the art is used improperly, the culture of this city typically views the use of this magic in service to the living as an overall good. So while a person raised here might not be pressured to become a necromancer themselves (though it would be considered a prestigious skill set and career), they would be quite familiar with the undead in general in ways that other people simply wouldn't be. The idea that particular duties that were previously done by the living dead (cleaning the city streets, patrolling hostile wastes, handling various menial tasks, etc.) would be done by living people might even horrify them... especially if those living people were kept as slave labor because the job still needed to be done, and that was the solution another culture found to the problem.

Sometimes It's The Little Differences

While the examples above highlight some pretty stark differences where a culture or people might be very different, you don't need the differences to be that large. For example, did your character come from a society that valued logic, reason, and scholarship, considering brute strength and violence to be a sign of a failed mind that one would be shunned for if used to win an argument? If so, were debate, legal trials, and so on considered proper ways to settle public differences, possibly watched with the same enthusiasm others might feel for watching sporting events? Or was dueling with blades the way differences were settled where your character came from, and every free man or woman was expected to carry a knife on them at all times as a sign they were neither a child or a slave?

Once you know the norms, traditions, and so on of your character's culture, you can then ask how they fit, or didn't fit, those norms. For example, if tusk size is considered a mark of attractiveness among the orcs of the high valley clans, does your orc carefully polish and clean their teeth before going into town, perhaps putting on silver or gold caps? Or is your orc sensitive about the relatively small size of their tusks, considering it a punchable offense if someone brings it up to their face? Was speaking multiple languages and traveling considered a normal part of your life growing up, and a sign of intellect and experience, or do you come from an insular society where such things are discouraged, and where outsiders are rarely encountered?

All of these things can make a big difference in who your character is, and what they believe about the world around them. Even if they've since left the cultures they grew up in or were shaped by, and they've experienced other walks of life in other places with other peoples, these formative views, taboos, beliefs, and traditions might say a lot about the forces that shaped them. From how your character dresses, to how they talk, to what they believe is attractive or unattractive, to what skills they learned, or even how they think of themselves, you can find the answer to all of these and more in the culture that first shaped them.

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"Species of Sundara" Takes Aim at Monolithic Fantasy Races

If you've played most mainstream fantasy RPGs for any length of time then you've likely noticed the issue where all the non-human creatures become monolithic. Flip through most books out there, and you'll find that humans get half a dozen different ethnicities and cultures, each varying wildly across the setting. Then you look at halflings, and find they're all basic copy/pastes of the Shire. You look at orcs, and they have a nearly universal culture of violence and 'might makes right.' You flip to goblins and find they're just this big, discordant wad of gnashing teeth and chaos no matter where you go. And so on, and so forth.

Some settings will change things up and give you a few different varieties of a particular creature. You see this in elves and dwarves in DND 5E, where they have sub-races for players to choose from at character creation. Even in games where there's some variety, though, we tend to fall back into tropes and stereotypes where elves are all aloof ancients of the forest, dwarves are all brash, heavy-drinking Scotsmen from the mountains, etc.

And I wanted to do something to break players and game masters alike out of that mindset. Which is why I've been working on the latest series of releases for my setting titled Species of Sundara!

Get your copy today!

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Cultures, Customs, Languages, and More!

As a designer I understand the purposes these monolithic cultures serve as a tool. It takes a lot of time, effort, and energy to develop parts of a world, and giving every single species its own set of involved customs and culture, its own history and languages, and its own unique religious beliefs can be exhausting when taken along with all the other aspects of designing a game. And that's before you come up with dozens of different languages and dialects, and try to envision what physical differences (both cosmetic and more-than-cosmetic) that exist between different iterations of the same species. Every new addition is one more thing that needs to add value to the game, and provide useful tools for players and GMs alike, and that's a tall order.

But I'm trying to do that anyway.

There's more to us than meets the eye.

That's the goal of my Species of Sundara project, which debuted recently with Elves of Sundara (which is currently available for Pathfinder Classic, as well as Dungeons and Dragons 5E). Each of these books takes a look at a player species, discuss the various languages they use and how they developed, discuss at least 5 different variations of the species, and provide broad discussions of their environments, their cultures, and their customs.

As an example, elves in Sundara are still recognizable in many ways. They have an extremely long lifespan, they are often thought of as keepers of ancient wisdom, and many times they keep themselves apart from even their proximate neighbors. However, the central theme of elves in this setting is that they are able to adapt themselves to their environments and purposes. This is often done on a deeply physical level, which means that elves you find living in the old growth forests are quite different from those who live atop the mountains, or those who have honed themselves to the singular purpose of war. This adaptability also means that elves are capable of having children with any sentient species, which leads to its own unique permutations that will be covered in a later book.

But while there are defined physical changes between different broad groups (the Rashar, for example, have developed fast-clotting blood that makes them nearly immune to bleed effects, whereas the Malisus have developed light sensitivity due to their primary adaptation being in the Underworld), a point I make clearly is that not every culture is made up solely of certain heritages and bloodlines. Cultures are fluid, and elves who may boast features and abilities inherited from one family may be adopted by, or simply raised in, a different elven culture. Some may have extended family, political alliances, or simply be neighbors with, those who are different than themselves. Additionally, intermarrying may result in traits broadly associated with one group of elves showing up in someone born to a different group. So while there are different sections in the book, there's quite a lot of bleed over that creates gray areas for players and GMs to get creative with.

Also, for those who didn't catch it, go check out my 5 Tips For Playing Better Elves over on my 5 Tips page!

Thinking Outside Defined Boxes

The goal with this series is to break down the ideas of species-based monoliths, not just by providing a larger number of more defined cultures and physical heritages, but to also make it clear that these things are fluid. There are no firm lines drawn that keep someone in a box, and players and GMs are encouraged to get creative with the specifics regarding backgrounds in their games. Because language, culture, family, religion, and experience should all come together to form a unique individual who will have influences from all these different aspects, but who should still be more than just the sum of their parts.

Mostly what I said recently in Remember That Characters Are Still Individuals.

Lastly, though I am trying to fill these splats with as much useful information as I can, there is another important point made in them; that these options are far from the only ones available in the setting. So if players or GMs want to create unique settlements and cultures with their own rules and traditions, that's to be encouraged in Sundara! Because while I can provide a sample to get one's creativity started, I don't want players to feel like they have to color within certain lines when it comes to the cultures their characters can be from, or the influences that shaped them into who and what they are.

Because if I had to choose, I'd much rather have enthusiasm to be creative and unique than to have other players or GMs arguing that because a particular species or culture tends to be one way, then a player has to fall in line with those elements.

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Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my cat noir thriller Marked Territory, its sequel Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

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What Cultural Norms and Etiquette Does Your Character Follow?

"Ummm... Tendrick?" Edelwinn said. "Can I talk to you?"

The aquiline man with the hawkish nose nodded, following his companion a few steps down the hall. She cleared her throat, glancing around to be sure no one would overhear.

"We're just going out into the town for business," she said. "Routine maintenance. Pick up some supplies. We don't want to make anyone nervous."

"No, of course not," he agreed, nodding. "Precisely why I left my shield and plate in my rooms. I should have no need of it here."

"But what about that?" Edelwinn asked, glancing at her taller companion's hip. The sword called Devil's Bane hung at his side, the gem in its pommel glimmering, and the violence spellworked into the steel almost palpable.

"Edelwinn, I am a sworn sword of the realm, and a son of House Ebon Claw," Tendrick said. He spoke carefully, though not insultingly. "It is customary to wear a blade at all times."

"There's nothing I can say to budge you on this?" Edelwinn said.

He smiled at her. "You could challenge me to a duel, and try to take it from me if you wish. I would honor that defeat."

"Fine, wear your steel if it makes you feel pretty," Edelwinn grumbled, stalking past him. "But I see that thing out of its scabbard someone had better damn well have tried to knife you!"

What do you expect me to do? Carry a stick like a common peasant?

Cultural Norms and Etiquette Add Depth To Characters

This is something I've been thinking about a lot over the past month or so, ever since I started doing the research to write How The Cane Replaced The Sword in Everyday Carry. Because carrying a sword in Europe was, for many years, as much a mark of status and style as it was about having a weapon to defend yourself with should the need arise. And then, practically overnight, it was no longer the fashionable thing to do. Instead of a sword, a walking stick became the new accessory that was part of one's everyday carry... and this was a trend that lasted for centuries!

From the outside looking in, that is a truly unusual quirk to have in a society for that long a period of time. Especially when you consider that over the years there was an entire etiquette built up around the style of stick one might carry, how one had to walk with it, whether it was or was not appropriate to actually lean on it in certain circumstances; it got really intricate.

This got me thinking, what other kinds of cultural norms and etiquette could add flavor to our characters and societies in our games?

I can drink neither the fermentation of grape, or of wheat... it's made of honey, you say?

On the one hand, we could simply pluck bits of our real-world history and apply them to our fantasy settings to create interesting cultural norms. For example, getting back to the history of walking sticks, specific sticks were used as symbols of position and authority in ancient Egypt, so someone carrying such a stick would be immediately recognizable to those around them. On the other hand, dueling culture is often something that's added into our settings, allowing individuals to settle differences in a proscribed (if not exactly peaceful) fashion.

You could also create completely new and unique cultural norms out of whole cloth for your characters and setting if you so desire! While I put out a lot of potential examples in 100 Superstitions For a Fantasy Setting as well as in 100 Fantasy Tattoos (And Their Meanings), others might include:

- The color red is only worn by warriors among the Shar'vastri orcs. The more battles they have fought, and the more blood they have spilled, the more of this color they are allowed to wear. It is rare for a warrior to live long enough to wear a full coat of red, but those who do achieve that right are to be feared.

- Flowers are their own language among the nobles of Citrine. Every bloom has its own unique meaning, but there are some of them which are strictly regulated to members of certain professions, classes, and even houses. Someone wearing the wrong flower, or arranging a bouquet purely for aesthetics, may find themselves sending a message they did not intend.

- The particular somatic and verbal components you use are judged in Farassa as elements of how elegant your magic is. Traditionalists only cast spells in high elven, with the smooth, elegant gestures that are almost like a dance. While replacing it with languages like Ignan may be appropriate for fire-based spells, using the common tongue is seen as gauche and uneducated. Casting spells in the tongue of the Veshradi orcs is outright scandalous, and marks one out as a base caster too crude for the ways of civilized magic.

Practically every aspect of a culture comes with its dos and do-nots. Whether it's how you address someone older or younger than yourself, how to dress, how to dance, when (and how) to fight... you can tinker with practically anything! So when you make your next character, take a moment to consider the culture that shaped them. What aspects of it cling to them? What norms have they laid aside? Or, for that matter, what pieces of etiquette have they learned from other cultures, allowing them to move between different worlds and communities with as few ripples as possible?

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That's all for this week's Fluff post!

For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my alley cat thriller Marked Territory, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my recent short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

To Avoid Racial Monoliths in World Building You Need To Think Small

One of the big issues that we run into in our games is the idea of a racial monolith. The short version of this is that, most of the time, humans are going to get a wide variety of cultures and languages, ethnicities and religions... and then the non-human races are just treated as variations on a theme. We've all seen it. The orcs are just low-brow cockneys (if you're a Warhammer 40k fan), or else they universally use a kind of Hulk-speak when they communicate. The elves are all like something out of Tolkien, with the same ethereal voice and aloof bearing. The dwarves are all thickly bearded and Scottish, no matter what part of the world they're actually from.

And so on, and so forth.

Beings of light and love? You must have me confused with the Eladurin, friend.

While I talked about this back in Tear Down The Monoliths (No Race, Religion, Etc. Is Universal) over on The Literary Mercenary, and it's one of main tips I give for playing unique, interesting non-human characters in my ongoing 5 Tips series, I figured this week I'd make a recommendation that gets to the root of the problem.

If you're running a game, and you want to avoid the problem of racial monoliths (or really monoliths of any variety), then you need to start thinking small.

 

Also, if you haven't checked out Ancestry & Culture: An Alternative to Race in 5E, then you're going to want to give it a look. It's gone Mithril at time of writing, and is worth the flip through for those interested in this topic. Lastly, if you want to make sure you don't miss any future updates from yours truly, consider signing up for my newsletter, either at this link or on the form at the bottom of the page.

What Is This Community Like?

The problem comes about when we try to make broad, sweeping statements about the entirety of a race, an ethnicity, a culture, a country, or a faith. The broader a view you take, the more universal your statements are going to get, and the bigger a problem you're going to run into.

So take a moment and scrub your brain of anything beyond the physical characteristics/bonuses of a particular fantasy race. Dwarves still get a Constitution bump, elves still live for centuries, and orc physiology still grants them the ferocity ability. But all that other stuff we usually think of? From the idea of racial languages, to universal faiths, to cultural touch stones... chuck it in the bin, and don't look back.

Trust me, it's better this way.

Once you've dumped all of that baggage, take a look at a community of these creatures, and ask what they, specifically, are like.

For example, do you have a clan of mountain dwarves who've made their home in a chain of volcanic islands in the southern seas, like I mentioned in Do Dwarves Surf? Tips For Diversifying Non-Human Fantasy Races? Do they still have a caste system, or are they more of a family hierarchy? Is there a communal understanding among the island chain, or do they draw up specific agreements? Are they heavily tattooed because it's impractical to wear badges of offices and medals of accomplishment in the heat and the wet?

You can do this with any group of fantasy creatures. Do the elves of the eastern prairie country have a tribal structure? Is it matriarchal, perhaps? Do they travel in time with the moving of the seasons, coming and going through long familiarity as if by magic? Do they refuse to wear shoes, staying in contact with the earth without barriers? Do they not have a concept of personal property, merely taking from the whole as is needed for the tasks they are set to accomplish?

Are your gnomes in a particular area highly charged with magic, because they live on top of a ley line and their fey blood is sensitive to it? Are the orcs who live at the foot of the black mountain polyamorous, creating layers of complexity for tracking who holds what rank in their power structure? Do the halflings in the valley have an entire wine culture, because grapes just grow better than barley and hops, and that's what they're known for?

Bring It Down To The Local Level

The smaller you think of your communities, the easier it is to avoid big missteps. Avoiding racial languages and focusing on unique local dialects, for instance, can do a lot to make parts of your map feel organic. Asking how a particular faith plays out in a certain community, what it values, and what its unique history is can let you paint a more unique picture as well.

Then, once you have the small picture painted, you can move up to the bigger, grander image. What is the region like? In what ways is this community typical, in what ways isn't it? As you move up the chain, you can construct a nation out of these smaller, more varied bricks that let you make a varied, vibrant culture.

Most importantly, it stops you from saying, "Well your character is X, so they Y and Z." It lets you take a step back, look at the culture they grew up in, what parts of the world they've been to, and what they've seen and done to get a more nuanced take.

It's a lot of extra work, no doubt... but it's totally worth it.

Lastly, for those who haven't seen it yet, I have a newsletter going out once per week! It sums up all my new releases, projects, updates, etc., and ensures you never miss out on what's going down. If that sounds like something you'd like to check out, the first one dropped today, so give it a look. And once you've seen it, just hit that subscribe button to make sure you don't miss a thing going forward.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

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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Where Do Your Characters Get Their Standards of Beauty From?

Pretty much every roleplaying game on the market has some metric for how attractive you are. Sometimes it's a catch-all category, like how Charisma is your physical appearance, your force of personality, leadership skills, and personal magnetism all rolled into one. In other games, like the newer World of Darkness, your social abilities are broken down into separate categories like Presence, Manipulation, and Resolve, with merits like Striking Looks which specifically state how attractive other people find you.

It's the spikes. Gets them every time.

As anyone with even a passing interest in other cultures knows, though, standards of beauty vary wildly from one place to another. Not only that, but they change over time, and for numerous reasons. Just try to dress yourself by the standards of beauty in the early 1900s, and see how confused you quickly become. If you start mixing in immortal bloodsuckers, inhuman races, and other elements, it can cause a huge mess.

Fortunately, it's a mess you can fix by taking a moment, and asking what your characters see as beautiful, and why they feel that way.

From Fashion to Passion, What is Your Norm?

Beauty is, as they say, in the eye of the beholder. And those beholders are shaped by the cultures they grow up in, the norms they're brought up around, the interactions they have with other people, and the lessons that are ingrained into their minds.

What does that mean, exactly? Well, the clearest example in my mind is from an old Wizards of the Coast novel. There was this scene that took place in a temple to the goddess of beauty, and her high priestess entered with all the pomp and circumstance the ritual she was performing demanded. She was everything her faith held holy, from her thick auburn hair, to her narrow waist, and flared hips. Dressed in flowing silks, with all the poise and grace of the goddess herself. She was stunning, and she left the room in awe.

All except the protagonist's ogre bodyguard, anyway. He just snorted, and shook his head at the pretty, skinny thing that would probably break under a stiff breeze.

And that pretty much sums it up.

It's important to remember, though, that standards of beauty affect everyone. For example, in ancient Greece the standard of beauty for men was to be slender, youthful, and smooth. If someone showed up looking like a bodybuilder from the late 1970s (who were at the cutting edge of attractive in their own time thanks to a social shift), they would have been seen as barbarians, and likely gawked at in the streets. And that's just differences between two human societies.

It isn't always about body type, either (though a lot of it definitely is). Standards of beauty include everything, from eye color and makeup style, to what clothes someone wears (or doesn't wear). It's about how you sound, how you act, and about whether the culture or subculture approves of your looks and actions.

It Changes How You See Your Characters, And The World

Standards of beauty don't just affect the way your character sees other people; they affect how a character views themselves. That, if nothing else, is why they're worth thinking about.

He dressed like that on purpose, after all.

Take basic assumptions about beauty, and question them. Is long hair considered attractive on men where your character comes from? What about women? What about people who shave their heads? Are tattoos seen as an expression of artistic talent, or are they seen as ugly and uncouth? Is body hair something that's embraced, despised, or something no one even pays attention to? Is having a tan a sign of vigor and youth, or does their culture view pale skin protected from the harsh sun as a status symbol? Do men wear makeup where you're from?  Is a lean physique seen as attractive, or is bulkier muscle seen as more ideal?

Once you have that lens, take a look at the world through it. Things might look different than you expected.

Now, with that said, I'll happily point out that your character's standards of beauty may not affect anything mechanical (this is a Fluff week post, after all). However, it's still an aspect of your character's mindset and worldview that deserves some examination. Whether they're a world-traveler, who's seen beauty all around the map, or a fresh-faced farmhand getting away from their home patch for the first time.

That's all for this week's Fluff post. It's a little short for such a convoluted topic, but I might come back to flesh it out further depending on comments and reaction. If you'd like to see more content like this, then head to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a patron of mine. Pledge at least $1 a month, and I'll even throw in some sweet swag along with my eternal gratitude. Lastly, if you haven't done so yet, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter to make sure you don't miss any future updates of mine.