Cultures of Arkos

In a typical sword and sorcery campaign, the majority of player characters and non-player characters are human.  The following broad cultural archetypes can be used to further distinguish between characters who would otherwise have the same racial abilities and national outlooks.

Savage
Nomadic
Civilized

Savages include warriors from the frozen north and witchdoctors from the snake-infested jungles of the south. Savages tend to have a close connection with nature but remain ignorant of many developments that more civilized people take for granted.
... and have the following cultural traits:
Ability Adjustment: +2 to Strength
  • Sturdy: Permanent benefit as per the endure elements spell (select either cold or heat, as appropriate based on the origin of the savage), and a +1 natural bonus to Armor Class.
  • Superstitious: Savages suffer a -4 penalty on saving throws against creatures with the frightful presence ability.
  • Exception: If the character has more levels in spellcasting classes than non-spellcasting classes, the character instead casts spells with a +1 bonus to effective caster level.


Nomads roam the empty wastes beyond the civilized cities; quick to strike and bound by no laws. Nomads live with their animals and usually ride into battle with them; they feel ill at ease without them.
... and have the following cultural traits:
Ability Adjustment: +2 to Dexterity
  • Proud: Iron Will as a bonus feat.
  • Unpredictable: The character gains a «wild card» feat. As a standard action, the character can select any feat for which he meets the prerequisites. The selected feat remains active for the rest of the day. After the character rests for eight hours, the wild card feat slot resets to empty.
  • Bowlegged: Base land speed 20 ft.


Eventually, Savages and nomads gather together to cultivate the land, build great cities, develop trade, and study medicine, mathematics, and languages. In the civilized lands dwell, noble knights, wise kings, and learned sages — as well as greedy merchants and cunning thieves.
... and have the following cultural traits:
Ability Adjustment:   +2 to one mental ability score (Civilized characters get this bonus creation to represent their versatile nature.)
  • Educated: Gain 1 extra feat and 4 extra skill points at 1st level, and 1 extra skill point at each additional level.
  • Frail: Civilized people have a -2 penalty to saving throws against poison and disease.

Enlightened
Decadent
Degenerate

A few great civilizations will rise above all others gaining a half-mythical status. Learned beyond normal men, people of enlightened cultures are builders of cyclopean pyramids and towers that pierce the skies. Their magnificent buildings can last forever, and likewise, the flesh of the enlightened ones can withstand the passage of time like no other mortals.
... and have the following cultural traits:
Ability Adjustment: +2 to Wisdom
  • Uncanny: Once per day, the enlightened can re-roll any dice roll, but must keep the second result, regardless of the outcome. Also, enlightened characters who reach at least 4nd level before the normal human Middle Age (35 years) gain longevity and use the following age categories instead: Middle Age (60 years), Old (120 years), Venerable (180 years), Maximum Age (180 + 3d4x10 years).
  • Expert Builder: Enlightened ones receive a +2 bonus on Perception checks to potentially notice unusual stonework, such as traps and hidden doors located in stone walls or floors. They receive a check to notice such features whenever they pass within 10 feet of them, whether or not they are actively looking.
  • Conceited: Too confident in their own abilities, enlightened ones often underestimate their enemies. They suffer a -4 penalty to Initiative checks.


All that rises must eventually fall as all great civilizations reach their peak and eventually start to decline. Often ruled by jaded nobles, corrupt priests or wicked slave-traders. Demon-worship, human sacrifice, and drug abuse is all too common in these cultures.
... and have the following cultural traits:
Ability Adjustment:   +2 to Charisma
  • Insidious: +2 bonus to Bluff, Knowledges (forbidden), and Stealth checks, and an additional +1d6 of sneak attack damage if the character has the sneak attack class ability.
  • Arcane Adept: Add +1 to the DC of ANY saving throw when casting spells.
  • Corrupt: -2 penalty to Vice-based saving throws.


The last survivors of decadent civilizations start to feud over dwindling resources or are driven away by stronger cultures. Fleeing into the wilderness, or deep underground beneath their ruins, they start to inbreed and devolve into something no longer entirely human. Degenerates may outwardly resemble savages, but they carry the evil taint of fallen empires.
... and have the following cultural traits:
Ability Adjustment:  +2 to Constitution
  • Nocturnal: Degenerates can see twice as far as normal humans in conditions of dim light.
  • Ferocious: Once per day, when a degenerate is brought below 0 hit points but not killed, he can fight on for one more round as if disabled. At the end of his next turn, unless brought to above 0 hit points, he immediately falls unconscious and begins dying.
  • Unwholesome: Degenerates always have a physical deformity or a mental illness, caused by inbreeding, that sets them apart from other humans. This unwholesomeness can never be fully concealed. Degenerates suffer a -4 penalty on Bluff and Diplomacy checks (except when interacting with other degenerates), and the initial reaction of other cultural archetypes will never be better than Unfriendly.



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