society & culture

arts, entertainment, & recreation

what is the status of the various arts in society?

How are artists viewed?

Are artists considered to be low or high class?

Who supports the arts?

Are there non-human races who tend to be naturally talented artists?

How does this affect the human practitioners of those arts?

Which arts are most highly valued and why?

Are there permanent theatres or concert halls?

Who owns and runs performance venues?

Are there travelling troupes of performers?

What do people at various levels of society do for fun?

What sports or pastimes are common?

Which pastimes require skill, money, or ample leisure time?

What games are commonly known?

What games are common among everyone, and which are limited to the peasantry or to the nobility?

Are any games or pastimes illegal?

Are certain countries or cities known for a passion or expertise for particular games or pastimes?

Do non-human races have their own games and leisure pastimes?

How do non-human hobbies and games differ from human games?

calendar

Is there a single, generally accepted calendar or do different countries, peoples, or races have different methods of measuring time?

How is the day divided into smaller time units?

What are the divisions of time?

Are the names of the time divisions relevant to anything?

Is the length of an hour fixed, or does it vary depending on changes in the length of the day as the seasons change?

What are the names of the months, and how many days are there in each?

How many days in a week? Months in a year?

Are there leap years?

Who keeps track of the calendar?

Who could make adjustments to the calendary, if necessary?

Which days are holidays or festival times?

What do the holidays and festivals celebrate?

Are there holidays that are only celebrated in particular countries, cities, or regions?

What events do people use to date years?

Are these events single occurrences (the creation of the world, the end a war, the unification of the nation)?

Are events dated based on arbitrary things such as a king’s reign, or a dynasty’s years in power)?

How do people tell what time it is?

Are there any days that are considered to be “outside the year”?

How did these days originate?

How do people feel about foreigners?

How do people feel about non-humans?

How ready are people to accept different ideas?

How cosmopolitan is the average person?

How much social mobility is there?

What would it take for a person born in the lower class to advance to the middle class or beyond?

How much resistance is there to social mobility?

What things are considered luxuries?

What do people in general look like?

who would stand out in a crowd?

What is furniture like?

What is furniture commonly made of?

Are certain things reserved for high-status individuals?

In what ways does furniture design reflect the customs of people?

What are plumbing and sanitary systems like?

Who builds and maintains the sanitary systems and how reliable are they?

Who do you call when the drains back up?

How do people cope with various disasters — fire, flood, volcanic eruption, plague?

How common are such disasters?

How early do people get up in the morning in the city? In the country?

What kinds of people are likely to face prejudice?

Is this discrimination institutionalized or is it mostly a matter of public attitude?

diet

What foods are staples and commonly eaten every day?

What foods are considered peasant food?

What foods are rare?

What foods are normally cooked and which are eaten raw?

What is the food like?

What dishes are considered to be holiday food?

what foods and drinks are associated with particular holidays and events or times of the year?

When a guest arrives, is food or drink offered immediately, after an interval, or only on request?

Is there a particular food or drink that it is customary to offer a newly arrived guest?

Is there a traditional food or drink given to a guest who is departing?

How many meals are considered normal in a day?

When are meals served?

Which meals are substantial, and which are light?

Are certain foods reserved mainly for a particular meal?

What dishes would be considered typical of the various areas?

What wines or beers are thought of as typical for various regions?

Is there a safe supply of drinking water?

Do people (including children) drink ale or beer exclusively?

Which herbs and spices are readily available, and which must be imported?

How common and expensive are imported foods and spices?

Do people tend to like highly spiced food?

How is food preserved for use during the off-season — smoking, freezing, canning, salting, pickling, drying?

How reliable are the food preservation methods used?

How often do preserved foods spoil?

When food is limited in supply, who gets first dibs?

What things are never eaten? Why?

What foods do non-humans like, and how do these differ from those favoured by humans?

Are some foods poisonous or distasteful to one species that are delicacies or necessary to another?

Are any classes of society limited in what foods they may eat?

Do special circumstances (such as pregnancy) ever restrict diet?

Do religions have any beliefs about food and diet?

education

How much does it cost to get various levels of education?

What education is available, and where?

Are there schoolhouses in every town, or do ordinary people have to travel if they want to be educated?

Are there universities? Private tutors?

What is the literacy level in the general population?

Is literacy considered a useful or necessary skill for nobility, or something only scribes, clerks, or servants need?

What areas are considered absolutely necessary knowledge for a courtier?

Which areas of education are nice but not necessary?

What areas of knowledge would be slightly embarrassing if anyone found out about them?

How respected are teachers and scholars?

Who supports educators?

Are there anti-intellectual groups?

Is education legally restricted in any way?

Are there people for whom education is illegal?

ethics & values

what will people swear a binding oath by?

What do people use as curse words?

When and why are curse words used?

What are the most desired and most valuable things in this society?

Why is the most valued item so desired?

Do different races value different things?

Is there a race or culture for whom non-material things (information, time, spiritual enlightenment) are the valuable things?

If a people values immaterial things, how did they get that way?

What things are considered to be normal and acceptable in this society that might be considered abnormal or unacceptable by ours?

What things are considered shocking in this society?

What are the reactions of ordinary people when someone does one of these shocking things?

What are the acceptable limits to honour or honesty in society?

Is it possible to get out of a binding oath?

Are white lies socially acceptable?

What are the attitudes toward ownership?

What constitutes theft, and what can be stolen with few repercussions?

Are thieves organized in a guild, licensed by law, or freelance?

Who is considered to be a citizen, with the rights and privileges thereof?

What are the rights and privileges of citizens?

What responsibilities do citizens bear?

Can citizenship be revoked?

Are there certain groups of people who have fewer legal rights or less recourse than full citizens?

Why do those people have fewer rights than others?

What are the most controversial subjects in this culture?

What things can you easily start a friendly argument about in any bar?

What things will automatically start an unfriendly argument?

What are the social taboos?

What things are simply “not done”?

What things are never talked about?

What would happen if someone did something socially unacceptable?

How do social taboos vary for different races and groups of people?

What are the biggest social faux pas?

What are considered to be faux pas?

What subjects or actions cause embarrassment or discomfort?

What are the society’s mores regarding courtship, marriage, and family?

Is marriage primarily a civil or a religious institution?

Why are people usually married?

What are the standards of beauty for people?

What are the standards of beauty for paintings and sculpture?

What are the standards of beauty for clothes and furniture?

What kind of ideal life do people aspire to?

What kinds of people are the rebels, outcasts, and misfits of this society?

How does society deal with them?

Who are the arbiters of ethics (as opposed to law)?

How did they become the arbiters?

fashion & dress

What do people wear?

How expensive is clothing?

Can the material be produced locally, or must some or all of it be imported?

Are certain clothes customary for certain occupations?

How much variation is allowed?

Is it quality or style which is most important?

How frequently does style and fashion change?

Who sets the trends?

Are the dyes for certain colours rare, making cloth of that colour more expensive or reserved for high-status people?

Are there sumptuary laws defining who may wear what?

What are the penalties for dressing above or below one’s station?

Who decides when changes are needed to such sumptuary laws?

How often are sumptuary laws adjusted?

How many changes of clothes can a normal person afford? A noble person?

How often do people change their clothes?

How often do people wash their clothes?

What are the current fashions in clothes? In hats? Jewelry? Shoes?

Do fashions differ for humans and non-humans?

Do they differ from country to country or from ethnicity to ethnicity?

What materials are appropriate for the climate?

What cloth must be imported, and is therefore used only for expensive clothing?

What styles are considered tacky and vulgar?

What types of decorations and accessories are common?

What colours and combinations of colours are thought to look good together, or to clash?

Do opinions on colours vary from race to race?

What physical features and characteristics are currently fashionable?

How do trends in physical beauty vary for non-humans?

history

How far back are there records or tales of historical events?

How widely known are these stories?

Do average people believe the old tales, or do they dismiss some that have a basis in fact?

How long have there been people on this world?

Did they evolve, were they created by the gods, or did they migrate from somewhere else?

If there are non-humans, how long have they been around and where did they come from?

Where did the civilizations begin?

What directions did they spread?

How was development affected by the presence of working magic?

How was development affected by the existence of non-human races?

How have the actions of gods affected civilization’s development?

Which peoples, countries, ethnicities, and races have fought, been allies, traded, or traditionally been rivals?

Where are such old events still important or still causing hard feelings?

Which peoples, countries, ethnicities, and races have been in conflict or have allied in the recent past and why?

Which people are considered the most and least civilized?

Which people are the most and least technologically advanced?

Which people are the most and least magically advanced?

language

Is there a trade language that facilitates commerce between countries that don’t speak the same tongue?

Is there a universal language spoken by educated or noble persons?

Is there a liturgical tongue?

What language are religious documents kept in?

Are some or all people bilingual?

Is there a common second language many people know?

Are there secret languages or codes known only by priests, soldiers, guild members?

If there are secret languages, why were they developed?

Are secret languages fully functional (they can express anything one could normally express in language) or are they limited to a certain scope?

What are the variations in speech patterns, syntax, and slang from one social class to another?

Are there variations in speech patterns from one occupation to another?

Are there regional variations in speech?

From what areas do local slang phrases come?

What kinds of colourful turns of phrase do people use?

For what things would a local language have many specific words to indicate fine differences?

What do the people in this culture consider important enough to name?

What do people use as curse words?

How many languages are there?

Which languages are related and why?

Which languages borrow words or phrases from other languages?

Which languages are the most widely spoken?

Are there different languages for different races?

Is there a special language needed in order to talk with dragons or other beasts?

Do wizards have a special language that is used for magic?

If magic is its own language, where do practitioners learn it?

Is it safe to chat in the language of magic?

How close do people stand to one another when speaking?

Does personal space differ from place to place?

How do people with different ideas of personal space react to one another?

manners

What are the rules of precedence?

Who gets to go through doors first? Who gets introduced first in a social setting?

Do these rules differ in a formal setting?

Is there a distinction between formal good manners and informal, everyday manners?

When and where are people expected to be on their best behaviour?

How important are good manners in this society?

How do good manners differ from race to race?

How to people react when someone has just been, by their standards, rude?

Are people shocked when an outsider learns their manners? Are they patronizing, condescending, or supportive?

meeting & greeting

How do people greet one another and how did this greeting originate?

Is there a special i-am-not-armed gesture for wizards or others with dangerous abilities?

Is there a difference between the greeting offered to an equal and that offered to a superior or inferior?

Are there different greetings offered to men or women? Humans and a non-human?

Is there a way of changing a greeting gesture to make it insulting?

When meeting someone for the first time, how are they greeted?

Does this greeting differ if one already knows the person?

If you see someone you know on the far side of the street, how do you acknowledge them?

How are two people who have not met before introduced to one another?

What is the order of precedence when there are several people of differing sex, social status, or race present who must all be introduced to one another?

Are there people or beings who are never introduced to one another?

Are true names significant, and if so, under what circumstances would a person be told another’s true name?

Are there customs involving the way in which someone is named when being introduced

religion & philosophy

Are there actual gods or god-like beings?

If so, do they take an active role in the religions that worship them?

Do they take an active role in the lives of everyday people? If so, why?

How many gods are there, and is there a hierarchy among them?

Which gods are good or evil, or is this meaningless when speaking of gods?

How do various religions view non-believers?

How do the various religions view foreigners? Non-humans?

Which religions support the government, and which are more interested in ordinary people?

Is there a difference between miracles and magic?

If there is a difference, how are they distinguished?

Is there tension, rivalry, or outright hostility between any of the gods?

How do the relationships between the gods affect church politics?

Do the relationships between the gods affect people’s everyday lives?

Where does religion fit into this society?

Is there a state church?

Is freedom of religion normal?

Do people generally think of the temples and churches as parasites, or as useful parts of society?

If there are actual, demonstrable gods, what part does faith play in their worship?

Why do the gods wnat want worship?

What are the various religious rites like, and why?

What offerings are considered good?

Are people supposed to pick one or more gods to worship and ignore the others, or do most people pray to whomever is most likely to grant results in their situation?

How do people decide which god to worship or which temple to be affiliated with?

What part do the various religions and philosophies play in public and private life?

Are philosophers and theologians considered academics?

How much influence do the theories of philosophers and theologians have on the way people actually behave?

Are priests or philosophers full-time occupations, or do they need day jobs?

If they are full-time, who supports them?

Why are the gods interested in people?

Are they more human-like or are they transcendent and incomprehensible?

Do the gods have limits to what they can do?

Are there limits to what the gods will do?

Can the gods make mistakes?

How do the various temples and philosophies explain the classic problem of evil?

social organization

What are the easiest and most common ways to advance in status?

Can one attain higher status by amassing more money, marrying well, getting the ruler’s favour?

How much resistance is there to someone advancing in social status?

What are the various ranks and titles and proper forms of address for the aristocracy and nobility?

What is the proper means to addressing peers, social betters, or social inferiors?

Which occupations are the most respected? Why?

Which professions are the most looked down upon? Why?

How many levels are there in this society?

How firm are the divisions between the levels of society?

Is it possible to move between the levels of society?

How difficult is it to rise or fall from one social level to another?

How much social mobility is there?

How much social mobility do people think there is?

specific countries

What is the basic form of government in this country?

What forms of government are used in neighbouring countries, and why are they the same or different?

Who are the rivals or enemies of this country?

How close are they physically, and how powerful are they?

Who are the heroes and villains of each country’s history?

Why are these people heroes, and what does this say about the country and people?

How accessible is this area?

What natural features mark the country’s borders?

Who are the neighbouring countries and people and what are they like?

Why did people settle in this area in the first place?

Is the country in a strategic location, on a trade route, in a good place for a harbour, rich in minerals, good for farming?

Have things changed much since people entered the area, or do people still depend on whatever brought them there in the first place?

How do the weapons of this country compare with those of surrounding nations?

Have there been recent innovations that may upset the balance of power?

How diverse is the population of this country?

Are people immigrating to or emigrating from the country? Why?

Is magic legal there?

Do laws governing magic vary widely from city to city, or are attitudes generally similar?

What does this country import? Export?

How important is trade to the economy?

How is currency exchange handled, and by whom?

What is monetary system used, if any, and who mints it?

How much of this country is farmland? Forest? Desert? Mountains? Plains? Swamp?

How much of this country is arable?

What are the primary crops?

which crops are any grown mainly for export or for trade?

What crops can not be grown here because of the soil or climate?

What water resources are available here, and for what uses?

What wild animals live in this area? Are any of them potentially useful or dangerous to the population?

Which animals are commonly domesticated in this area?

visits

Are there questions that must be asked or avoided when visiting someone?

Are there topics that can only be raised by the host? By the guest?

How seriously does the culture take the responsibilities of host and guest?

What rules define when someone becomes a host or guest?

What things are considered courteous to offer a guest: food, reading material, personal guards, attendants, music, entertainment?

What is considered a courteous response to a host’s offer?

Are there things offered that it is considered rude to accept? Rude to refuse? Rude to ask for?

When a guest arrives, is food or drink offered immediately, after an interval, or only on request?

How do the different customs of various countries and races interact and conflict?