C H A P T E R 5 .

C U LT U R E PAT R E O N | A S S A S S I N
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Chapter 5. Culture II) Greetings (non-verbal)

Perhaps the people in your village have non-
Culture, the thing your players will remember verbal ways of saying “hello” to each other.
most about your village! By the end of this
chapter, you will have a fully-fleshed out culture Roll 1d10 to find a non verbal greeting for your
for your RPG village. Feel free to use the cultures village.
you generate here for your regions as well. 1d10 Greeting (non-verbal)
To build your culture, we will be covering 1 Back pat
the following topics: A) charming features, B) 2 Bow
holidays, C) isolation, D) racism, E) religion, and
3 Butterfly kiss
F) superstitions. You may roll up your unique
culture using the tables below. 4 Cheek kissing
5 Click heels
A) Charming Features 6 First bump
7 Handshake
Charming, quirky features are what make your 8 Hongi
villages stand out! In this section we will be 9 Salute
covering quirks pertaining to i) greetings, ii)
10 Spartan handshake
greetings (non-verbal), iii) clothing, and iv) food!
You may integrate some or all of the following
subsections into your culture using the roll tables
provided.

I) Greetings
If your players talk to anyone in your village,
chances are they will be greeted with a
customary “hello”. But we can do better than
that! The people in your village are men and
women of culture!

Roll 1d10 to find an alternative greeting your

villagers will use in place of “hello”.
1d10 Greeting
1 Good Morrow!
2 Hail fellow!
3 How ya goin?
4 Howdy-doody?
5 Salutations!
6 Top of the mornin’ to ya!
7 Well met!
8 Wesap hala!
9 Whadda you at?
10 What’s kickin?
C H A P T E R 5 . C U LT U R E PAT R E O N | A S S A S S I N
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III) Clothing
Clothing is a great way to set the vibe for your
village! In most historic villages, men and women
dressed differently. Roll to find your village’s “A village is a hive of glass,
clothing quirk!
where nothing unobserved
1d4 Gender
can pass.” -Charles Spurgeon
1 Females
2 Males
3-4 Both Genders

If you rolled “Wear a dominant colour,” roll 1d8 for

Roll 1d8 to add a clothing quirk to your villagers. a random colour.
1d8 Clothing quirk 1d8 Dominant colour
1 Have facial piercings 1 Black
2 Have tattoos 2 Blue
3 Wear a dominant colour 3 Brown
4 Wear a handkerchief 4 Green
5 Wear a monocle 5 Orange
6 Wear a scarf 6 Red
7 Wear hats 7 White
8 Wear neck rings 8 Yellow

IV) Food
Food plays a major role in every culture! After
all, most people consume food everyday to
survive!

Roll 1d6 to add a mealtime quirk to your village.

1d6 Mealtime quirk
1 The locals don’t leave home before
drinking a cup of hot tea.
2 The locals don’t have tables, and
eat on the floors of their homes.
3 The locals don’t use cutlery, eating
their food with their right hand.
4 The locals have clean foods they
eat, and unclean foods they avoid.
5 The locals hold hands and pray
together before each meal.
6 The locals wash their hands in a
water basin before each meal.
C H A P T E R 5 . C U LT U R E PAT R E O N | A S S A S S I N
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B) Holidays
II) Who celebrates?
Holidays liven up any destination! Feel free to
slide around the dates of your village’s holidays 1d4 Time off work...
so that it “just so happens” to coincide with when 1-2 No one works
your players show up. I recommend moving
dates around like this for your villages no more 3-4 Some people work
than twice per campaign.
III) How do they celebrate?
Below are some roll tables to help you build
banger holidays for your villages! Roll up to 4d20 to make your holiday more
interesting and unique.
I) Why do they celebrate? 1d20 Activity
1 Dancing around a bonfire
1d4 Reason for celebration 2 Dancing in the streets
1 Thankful for harvested goods 3 Dressing up in costumes
2 Remembering a historic figure 4 Excessive drinking
3 Remembering a historic victory 5 Face painting
4 To show gratitude for each other 6 Feasting all together outdoors
7 Feasting at home with family
8 Floating lanterns
9 Flying kites
10 Giving gifts
11 Going on a date
12 Lighting firecrackers
13 Lighting fireworks
14 Playing games together
15 Singing all day
16 Singing all night
17 Telling jokes
18 Telling stories
19 Throwing coloured powder
20 Throwing flower petals

Holiday Example 1: Reason 4, “To show

gratitude for each other;” Who 1, “No one
works;” Activities 5, “Face painting,” 11,
“Going on a date,” and 14, “Playing games
together.”
C H A P T E R 5 . C U LT U R E
C) Isolation
How isolated a village is determines how its
villagers will treat your players. Is your village
on a major trade route? Does it see visitors often,
or do new people stick out like a sore thumb? Is
your village familiar with exotic races? Or is it
located in the middle of nowhere?
The level of isolation in your village is directly
correlated to its reason for existing. The “Reason
for Existence” you rolled earlier in Chapter 1
has been sorted into varying levels of isolation
ranging from 1 to 4, with one being the least
isolated, and 4 being the most isolated.
Low level of isolation
Level 1: A rest stop along a major passageway
Level 2: Commissioned by a city to collect
resources
Level 3: Many farming families who decided to
collaborate
Level 4: Religious Pilgrims who decided to settle
down
High level of isolation
A village with a high level of isolation could be
really happy or really upset to see your players,
while a village with a low level of isolation
wouldn’t care less.
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D) Racism
Racism can add emotional tension to any
adventure, but overdoing it can bring out the
worst in your players and ruin your campaign!
So be careful, and use caution, as this segment is
entirely optional for your villages.
I) The race they dislike
1d10 Racial Group
1 Bird-like (aarakocra, kenku, etc.)
2 Celestial-touched (aasimar, etc.)
3 Fey-folk (centaur, fairies, satyr,
etc.)
4 Giant-kind (firbolgs, goliaths, etc.)
5 Goblinoids (bugbears, goblins,
hobgoblins, etc.)
6 Hairy-folk (tabaxi, shifters, were-
wolves, etc.)
7 Infernal-touched (tieflings, etc.)
8 Orcs (half-orc, orc, etc.)
9 Reptile-like (dragonborn, lizard-
folk, kobolds, etc.)
10 Short-humanoids (dwarves,
gnomes, halflings etc.)
II) Why they don’t like you
1d10 Reason
1 They believe your kind has
dangerous powers
2 They believe bad luck follows your
kind
3 Your kind cheated them
4 Your kind enslaved them
5 Your kind hunted them
6 You look different
C H A P T E R 5 . C U LT U R E
III) What they will do to you
You may choose to roll 1d4 from either the “mild,”
“moderate,” or “severe,” tables, or roll 1d12 to
include all levels of racism for randomization.
Mild.
1d4 Action
1 Turn the other way
2 Squinting in your direction
3 Whisper to each other while
pointing
4 Ask you to wear a mask upon
entry
Moderate.
1d4 Action
1 Spit on the ground when they see
you
2 Threatening gestures like finger
across their neck
3 Scream offensive slurs your way
4 Egg your place of residence
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Severe.
1d4 Action
1 Drag you into town square at
night for a public beating
2 Trap your room with venomous
snakes or spiders
3 Kidnap you for a private drowning
4 Burn your place of residence
E) Religion
You can either choose a major religion (ie. the
religion of the country or kingdom this village
resides in), or make it more tribal by saying
your villagers worship what they value most.
For example, if they value the river for giving
them water and food, they might worship the
river, although this form of religion is a lot less
common than the former. If you choose to go
with the former style of religion, you can add a
small church or little temple in your village for
cultural flavour. If your village simply worships
what they value most, a few little shrines or
altars would make more sense.
C H A P T E R 5 . C U LT U R E PAT R E O N | A S S A S S I N
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E) Superstitions
1d12 Superstition, Bad Luck
Superstitions are a realistic way you can 1 Rain on your head
add a human touch to your village while
2 Playing with your food
simultaneously annoying your players everytime
they freak out the locals by doing something 3 Going home after seeing a death
normal that brings “bad luck” to the village. 4 Whistling indoors
5 Making a toast with water
I’ve written two tables of superstitions you can 6 Sleeping with your head pointing
use for your villages below. The first table has north
things that your villagers may believe bring
7 Playing with scissors and shears
“good luck”, and the second table has things that
your villagers may believe bring “bad luck”. Feel 8 Seeing an owl at night
free to pick the ones you like most, or roll from 9 Knitting outdoors
each table for a random result! 10 Haircutting after dark
11 Walking backwards
1d12 Superstition, Good Luck 12 Singing while eating
1 Finding a horseshoe
2 Finding a coin
3 Itchy hands
4 Stepping in dog poop
5 Getting hit by bird poop
6 Spilling water behind someone
7 Ringing wedding bells
8 Petting rabbits
9 Eating grapes on weekends
10 Eating honey before bed
11 Carrying an acorn
12 Wearing red during a storm