Your culture has four possible stats... but each is the opposite of another, so you really have 2 stats, each of which represents one end of a spectrum...

Strong - - - Insightful

Adaptable - - - Determined



Strong: How able your culture is to use force to attack or defend

Insightful: How thoughtful your culture is... how cautious... how patient

Adaptable: How flexible your culture is to dealing with new things

Determined: How well your culture is able to persevere in the face of adversity or temptation

(Another way to think about it is to imagine that Strong cultures are tough like Fighters, Insightful cultures are smart like Mages, Adaptable cultures are clever like Thieves, and Determined cultures are strong-willed like Clerics.)

Each player picks one stat. If a roll involves the chosen stat, that player gets +2 to the roll.

On the other hand, if the roll involves the opposite of the chosen stat, the roll gets -1.

HOWEVER, other players can choose other stats, including the opposite stat.

EXAMPLE: If Player 1 chooses STRONG and Player 2 chooses INSIGHTFUL, then if Player 1 has to make an Insightful roll, then there is no penalty.

If two players choose the same stat, the maximum bonus to the roll is +3.

But if two players choose the same stat, the penalty to the opposite roll is doubled.

EXAMPLE: Player 1 and Player 2 both choose Adaptable. Both of them get +3 to Adaptable rolls... But each of them also gets -2 to Determined rolls.




1-2: (Strong) Military action happens
3: (Strong) Military buildup/development happens
4: (Insightful) New technology/magic/power discovered/developed
5: (Insightful) Wealth changes: the culture gets, overall, more, or less, wealthy (perhaps to do with trade with another culture, perhaps not)
6: (Determined) A (non-monster) disaster happens
7-8: (Insightful) Important diplomacy happens (perhaps to do with trade with another culture, perhaps not)
9: (Any stat but Strength) Art: there is a new artistic movement, or a great artwork is created that will stand throughout the ages...
10: (Adaptable) Assimilate other culture: an attempt is made to enfold some other culture into the initial culture
11-12: (Adaptable) Expansion of territory
13: (Determined) Exploration of unexplored territory//not-fully-explored territory
14: (Determined) Divine Guidance/Miracle happens
15: (Determined) Attempt to raise cultural morale: Maybe a festival or something...?
16: An important person (aligned with your chosen stat) appears
17: An important organization or institution (aligned with your chosen stat) appears
18: (Strong) A big (non-intelligent) monster attacks
19: (Strong OR Adaptable) Revolution!
20: Roll again. Add +1 to the 2d6 roll you end up making if it's Round 1, Subtract 1 if it's Round 7. (If you roll 20 twice or more, it stacks if it's Round 1, but doesn't if it's Round 7.)




1-2: (Strong) Military action happens. Describe it! An attack? Defense? Who started it?
 * 10 or better: Military action successful
 * 7 to 9: Military action kind of a draw, or a success with heavy casualties
 * 6 or lower: Military action a loss

3: (Strong) Military buildup/development happens. Describe it!
 * 10 or better: Military gets stronger
 * 7 to 9: Miltary gets slightly stronger
 * 6 or lower: Military gets weaker, or slightly stronger at great cost

4: (Insightful) New technology/magic/power discovered/developed. Describe it!
 * 10 or better: New thing is useful or powerful or both but safe to use
 * 7 to 9: New thing is powerful but not always safe to use
 * 6 or lower: New thing is dangerous

5: (Insightful) Wealth changes: the culture gets, overall, more, or less, wealthy (perhaps to do with trade with another culture, perhaps just finding/discovering a new source of wealth). Explain exactly what happens!
 * 10 or better: Culture gets more prosperous
 * 7 to 9: Culture gets slightly more prosperous
 * 6 or lower: Culture has an economic crash...

6: (Determined) A (non-monster) disaster happens: earthquake, volcano, tidal wave, huge hurricane, magical explosion, horrible blizzard, something else. Describe it!
 * 10 or better: A disaster is narrowly averted with zero or few casualties, and a lesson is learnt
 * 7 to 9: Disaster is moderately bad.
 * 6 or lower: Disaster is terrible

7-8: (Insightful) Important diplomacy happens (perhaps to do with trade with another culture, perhaps not). Describe who the other culture is, what each side wants, and what they end up getting!
 * 10 or better: Your culture gets what they want
 * 7 to 9: Your culture gets most of what they want, with 1 big or 2 small concessions to the other culture
 * 6 or lower: Your culture doesn't get much, if anything, of what they want

9: (Any stat but Strength) Art: there is a new artistic movement, or a great artwork is created that will stand throughout the ages... Either way, describe it!
 * 10 or better: The art will live forever in the minds and hearts of sentient beings
 * 7 to 9: The art is important now... but may not stand the test of time AND/OR the art was kind of expensive to make
 * 6 or lower: Other cultures think the art is weird or depressing or both... and they might be right AND/OR the art is very expensive

10: (Adaptable) Assimilate other culture: an attempt is made to enfold some other culture into the initial culture. Describe what the other culture/people is/are like, and how they're different! Describe what happens after the attempted assimilation!
 * 10 or better: The other culture/people become a permanent part of your culture, for the better, enriching all.
 * 7 to 9: The other culture/people are assimilated into yours, but there is some internal friction.
 * 6 or lower: The other culture/people feel oppressed. Cultural morale lowers...

11-12: (Adaptable) Expansion of territory: describe how it happens? Is a new town/fort/city built? If so, name it! What's life like in this new area? How is it different from things back at home?
 * 10 or better: The expansion of territory is beneficial!
 * 7 to 9: The new land expanded to has one or more built-in problems...
 * 6 or lower: The attempted expansion of territory fails due to dangerous weather, crop failure, dangerous local predators, lawlessness/bandits/pirates, or other reasons...

13: (Determined) Exploration of unexplored territory//not-fully-explored territory. Describe what the explorers find!
 * 10 or better: One or more natural wonders are found, as well as one or more uninhabited spots excellent for habitation.
 * 7 to 9: One or more natural wonders are found, as well as one or more uninhabited spots excellent for habitation, but not both-- unless there are some problems, too...
 * 6 or lower: Dangers! Problems!

14: (Determined) Divine Guidance/Miracle happens. What divine power is doing the blessing/miracle? Do they have a name that we know of? Do we know or understand their motivations for doing this? Explain/describe what happens!
 * 10 or better: The culture is blessed by some divine being
 * 7 to 9: The culture gets a mixed message from some divine being-- maybe a blessing, but also a warning about something they better not do? Or something they should stop doing? Or maybe a prophecy of doom?
 * 6 or lower: Like 7 to 9 (or worse!), but just bad, no good!

15: (Determined) Attempt to raise cultural morale: Maybe a festival or something...? Describe it!
 * 10 or better: Cultural morale is raised!
 * 7 to 9: People are kind of no better off than they were before-- or they are, but it was really expensive...
 * 6 or lower: People are no better off than they were before, AND it was really expensive...

16: An important person (aligned with your chosen stat) appears. Name and describe them and how they change this culture!
 * 10 or better: The person is very beneficial for the culture
 * 7 to 9: The person is sometimes very beneficial for the culture, but they also sometimes make mistakes-- or else they make one BIG mistake...
 * 6 or lower: The person is evil and bad (but maybe secretly (or secretly at first))!

17: An important organization or institution (aligned with your chosen stat) appears/develops, like a guild or an order of knights or monks or a university or a banking system or a hospital or something. Say who they/it are/is, give it/them a name, and explain what it/they do/does and what their/its motivations are!
 * 10 or better: The group or institution is very beneficial for the culture
 * 7 to 9:The group or institution is sometimes very beneficial for the culture, but they also sometimes make mistakes-- or else they make one BIG mistake...
 * 6 or lower: The group or institution is evil and bad (but maybe secretly (or secretly at first))!

18: (Strong) A big (non-intelligent) monster attacks (a dragon, for just one possible example)!
 * 10 or better: The monster is defeated or driven away with minimal property damage and minimal loss of life.
 * 7 to 9: The monster is defeated or driven away with some property damage and/or some loss of life.
 * 6 or lower: The monster is defeated or driven away with great property damage and/or great loss of life.

19: Revolution! Part of the culture attempts to overthrow its leadership! Say who's involved, why, and how it goes!
 * 10 or better: The revolution is either quickly put down (Strength) or else the revolution is fairly bloodless and there's real hope of things being better. Either way, there's hope that this might never have to happen again.
 * 7 to 9: The revolution is either long and bloody before it's defeated (Strength) or else the revolution is fairly bloody, and/or the resulting new society feels somewhat unstable...
 * 6 or lower: The revolution either tears the country apart in a horrible civil war (Strength) or else the revolution is very bloody, and/or the resulting new society feels extremely unstable...



HOW TO PLAY:

--Name your culture
--say what they are (human? not human?)!
--and what they are like!
--and say where they mostly live (Arctic, Coast, Desert, Forest, Jungle, Plains, Mountains, Hills, Swamp, Caverns, something strange like a floating sky-city?)!
--Each player chooses one stat!
--Name the capital city/town/tribe and say what it's like!

THEN, each player rolls for 7 rounds.

ROUND 1 starts:

"Here is what is known about the fascinating history of the INSERT CULTURE NAME HERE. Our earliest records of them tell..."

Then roll, and describe.

SIX ROUNDS LATER:

ROUND SEVEN-- FINAL ROUND:

The last player to post in Round Seven finishes up like this:

Finish the last sentence up with:
If the final roll result is:
 * 10 or better: "...which brings us up to the present day."
 * 7 to 9: "...No one knows exactly what happened to them after that... perhaps some day we'll find out."
 * 6 or lower: "And so, soon afterward, their society was entirely destroyed. Today, there is hardly any sign that they ever existed."
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:12, Thu 06 May 2021.

SAMPLE SOLO GAME: KOBOLDS

Stat: Insightful!

--Name your culture: KOBOLDS!
--say what they are: LITTLE THREE-FOOT-TALL LIZARD GUYS!
--and what they are like! VERY CLEVER AND GOOD WITH TRAPS!
--and say where they mostly live (Arctic, Coast, Desert, Forest, Jungle, Plains, Mountains, Hills, Swamp, Caverns, something strange like a floating sky-city?)! CAVERNS MOSTLY!
--Each player chooses one stat! INSIGHTFUL!
--Name the capital city/town/tribe and say what it's like! CAPITAL TOWN IS NAMED KOBOPOLIS!

ROUND ONE:

"Here is what is known about the fascinating history of the Kobold people..."
(9, 11)
"...Our earliest records of them tell that they wanted to create a great artwork to honor the Queen Dragon, Kalanstakis, from whom they believed themselves to all be descended. This took the form of a giant dragon statue, with flame and smoke coming out of the mouth! All who beheld it were deeply impressed!"

ROUND TWO:

(9, 13)

"Then, they decided to make and even bigger artwork: they created a beautiful carved mural of Kalanstakis laying the eggs that gave birth to the kobold race, then of Kalanstakis flying away, and then of Kalanstakis returning someday and leading her people to 'burninate the surface world, and any peasants and thatched-roof cottages that may stand in her way!' All who see the mural were even more impressed than they were by the statue!"

ROUND THREE:

(4, 8)

"Soon, the kobolds developed a new magic: Pyromancy! But it wasn't always safe to use, so they outlawed using pyromancy except in dire emergencies..."

ROUND FOUR:

(15, 7)

"Everyone was sad that pyromancy was so dangerous-- they'd had such high hopes! So the kobold high council declared a new festival: Kalanstakis Day! That cheered up everyone, but throwing the festival was pretty expensive...

ROUND FIVE:

(12, 5)

"...So the high council decided to try to expand kobold territory into the mountains where the mural was. The idea of kobolds living permanently above-ground was very exciting! But the attempt failed... In the years since the mural had been finished, dwarves had moved to the mountains! And they didn't want a lot of kobolds moving in! The expansion was a failure!"

ROUND SIX:

(18, 3)

"Then, Kobopolis was attacked by a giant earth elemental! Attempts to use Pyromancy to melt it to magma just made things worse! Most of Kobopolis was destroyed, and the loss of kobold life was great..."

ROUND SEVEN:

(2, 10)

"Finally, the evil Deep Gnomes attacked from below, judging the kobolds to be as weak as they'd ever be! But with the help of the remaining Pyromancers and lots of traps in the tunnels leading to the ruins of Kobopolis, the kobolds won! They held the Deep Gnomes that they took prisoner hostage, until the Deep Gnomes sent workers to help rebuild Kobopolis...

...which brings us up to the present day."