This is a kit for the creation of a new culture, deliberately created to be lived as a method of dropping out of our current 'civilized' Western culture.  It is by no means complete.  Once you have completed designing your culture, you do not have to post it all in the tribe database.  This is for your own tribe's reference.  See the Tribe Database Template.

 

Spiritual

What is your belief about God, or the gods? 

Are these divine beings in any kind of turmoil or playing out some kind of story?  What is that story?

Does this turmoil mean that the deity(s) need to be appeased in some way?  How?

Does the deity care how people behave or interact with them?  Why or why not? 

What has the deity communicated to people?  How?

What is the origin of the world?  What is your creation myth?

What is evil, how did it originate, and what is its solution?

What spiritual question does your culture seek to answer?

Was there some event that started your culture's religion, or did it gradually morph into its current state?

What aspects of life are affected by these spiritual beliefs?

How do these beliefs affect sex?  Is it evil or good, ceremonial, have strict rules?

Is there a myth about the end of the world, and how it will occur?

How does the culture view magic?  Is it for evil or for good?

What are the limits of people's spiritual power?

What is the price of the study of spirituality or gaining spiritual power?  Years of study, celibacy, asceticism?

How does one become a magician or spiritual leader?  By birth, by vision, by trial?  

Is it a full time job, and if not, how do they make a living?

Is becoming a spiritual ruler limited to a caste, class or sex?  

Is there a difference between miracles and magic?  How are they distinguished?

What are the tools of magic or spiritual power?  Are there some objects such as amulets, incense, etc.?

How are these objects obtained?

Does the spiritual experience or power become stronger in a group?  Who must be in the group?

Is healing a magical or faith or technological process?

What rituals surround death and burial?  Where does a person go, or not go after death?

Who handles the burial rituals?  Does this person need to be purified afterwards?

Is there a special language for spiritual ritual or writings?

Is there temples or churches?  Are there more than one for multiple gods?

If there are more than one gods, how do people choose?  How are they affiliated with a temple?

Is religion and politics intertwined, or kept separate?

What festivals or celebrations of seasons are observed?

 

Social

How do you great people of your own culture?

Is there a gesture of respect such as bowing?

How do you greet people of the same culture but a different tribe?

How do you great people from a differing culture?

How are people introduced to each other?

How did these greetings originate?

What kinds of body language or hand gestures do people use, or avoid using as insulting or inappropriate?

Does your culture have any prejudice against other cultures?  Why?

What kind of climate do you live in?

 Is your culture dedicated to staying in that climate and based around it?

Are you nomadic, semi-nomadic, or stationary?

What traditions do you have that are essential to your survival in your climate?

How are these traditions passed on?

Do any of your rituals have no meaning or have lost meaning?  Why?

Who is the leader of the tribe?  If you are an individual, will there ever be a leader?

Does the leader have a council or does the rest of the tribe have input?

How are decisions made?  Is it more authoritarian or consensus?

Are there laws that must be enforced?  Why were the laws created?

Do new laws or rules get made, and for what reason?

How are these laws communicated?

What repercussions do these laws have on the tribe and the rest of society?

What happens if someone breaks the law, whether it is spoken or unspoken?

Is punishment active or a natural consequence of actions?

Is there a hierarchy within the tribe?  Do women or men have a certain role of importance over the other?

How does the culture react to a threat?  How does it defend itself?  What weapons are available?

Does the tribe actively fight against anything or anyone?

What rituals surround sex and marriage?

At what point does a child become an adult?  Is there a ceremony or trial?

What are the attitudes toward sex and love, or the combination of the two?

What is a normal family unit?  Who lives with the family?  How do they fit in with a tribe?

How important are family and community connections?  How are these maintained?

What rituals surround the birth of a new child?  Who is present at the birth?

Is the mother or child sequestered for some period after the birth?

How are people named?  What is the significance of the naming ritual?  Are there surnames?

Who raises a child?  Is this an effort of just parents or the community?

How are babies treated by different ages and people?

Is there a class system, peasants or nobility?

What jobs or trades are available in your culture? How do these fit into the tribe, and to the network of tribes?

Are there worker guilds like those of the middle ages?

At what point do young people begin to learn practical skills?  How do they become professionals or artisans?

What is the daily routine of your tribe?  Does the climate affect this?

How do people get up in the morning?  By the sun, a clock of some kind?

How do people eat?  Does the tribe eat together, or just the family?

How is the seating arranged at a meal?  Is the hierarchy played out?

What foods do people eat normally?  How are these aquired?

How many times a day do people eat?  What meals are these?

What is eaten on special occasions (funerals, weddings, holidays)?

What eating utensils are used and how is the table set up?  What shape is the table?

How is the food brought out?  Are there courses or a smorgasbord?  Does this have meaning?

Are some foods forbidden and why?

When visiting another culture, what rituals or ceremonies are observed during meals?

What behavior is rude and what is appropriate at a meal?  Is burping bad or good?

Are some topics never discussed with guests or when visiting others?

What items are appropriate to give to a guest?  How is hospitality shown?

What is appropriate behavior for a guest when offered something?

Does your culture have its own language?  

What sayings of wisdom or metaphors does your culture use?

How do people make a promise or swear an oath? How is this made binding?  

What are the consequences of breaking an oath?

Are there any behaviors that in Western society are considered taboo but are acceptable in yours?

Are there any behaviors that are normal in other cultures, but taboo in yours?

What is honesty in your culture?  Is a white lie appropriate, or blunt honesty?

What is ownership?  Are things individually owned, communal, freely borrowed, etc.?

How do people see the ideal lifestyle or wealth?  Lots of children, things, wisdom?

How are people received into your culture or tribe?  How are they initiated?

What games do people play?  Do children have toys?

Do people make waste?  What is done with it?

What is considered a luxury?

 

Arts and Dress

Do children and adults dress the same, and if not, when do children start to?

What are the standards of beauty?  Is fat good or bad, is a certain color favored, is a big lip beautiful?

What symbols does your culture use?  How are patterns incorporated into useful objects?

Do people have tribal dances?  Perform dramatic histories?

What kind of musical instruments do you play?  When do you play them?

What kind of furniture do you use, and how is the house decorated?  What materials are used?

What do people wear?  What is it made of?  Do women and men wear something different?

Are weapons a normal part of daily wear, such as bows or hunting knives?

Are certain colors forbidden?

How many changes of clothes do people have?

 

Trade

What is the meaning of barter and trade to you?

What rituals do you have in giving and recieving?

What events would giving be appropriate for?

What items does your culture create for trade?  

What items does your culture bring in by barter?

If items are created through a guild, does the guild control trade of that item?

Is a person allowed to trade independently of a guild that governs that item?

How are records kept about bartered goods?  Beads, tally sticks, parchment, clay?

Are there merchants or traders who do trading for artisans?

How are barters bargained for?  What is considered appropriate when haggling?

Technology

What technologies does your culture use?  What do you avoid and why?

What efforts does your culture make to developing new technology?

Does your culture see technology as science or magic?  Is there a difference between the two?

Does your culture see other knowledge as technology, such as martial arts, potions, psychic disciplines, etc?

How is technology shared within the tribe, or among all tribes?  Is there limits on who has it?

What is the yearly calendar, and what is its meaning?