Creating Everyday Life in Your World: A Guide for Game Masters
Creating Everyday Life in Your World: A Guide for Game Masters
In tabletop RPGs, players often focus on epic battles, political intrigue, and grand adventures. However, it’s the small, day-to-day details that can make a world feel rich and immersive. By developing the everyday life of your world’s inhabitants, you provide a lived-in feel that players can connect with. In this tutorial, we’ll explore how to design daily routines, mundane activities, and cultural quirks to breathe life into your world.
1. Understanding the Role of Everyday Life
Why Focus on the Mundane?
Everyday life is the foundation upon which larger adventures and conflicts are built. It's essential because it:
a. Grounds the characters in a relatable world.
b. Highlights the difference between normalcy and the extraordinary.
c. Reflects the culture, technology, and overall mood of the setting.
d. Provides hooks for side quests, mysteries, and player interactions.
Incorporating these details shows that your world doesn’t revolve solely around the players’ quests, but continues to function independently, with its own rhythm and needs.
2. Defining Cultural Norms and Routines
Daily Routines
Start by asking questions like:
a. What time do people typically wake up?
b. What are their morning rituals?
c. What jobs or duties do the average person perform during the day?
d. What do they do in their leisure time?
For example, in a medieval fantasy setting, villagers might rise with the sun, tend to their livestock or fields, take a mid-day meal of bread and cheese, and finish their day at a communal tavern, discussing local gossip. In a steampunk city, factory workers might have rigid shifts, with lunch breaks at mechanized cafeterias, followed by evening gatherings in smoke-filled parlors.
Cultural Quirks
Every culture will have unique behaviors and quirks. These could include:
Greetings and Etiquette: Do people bow, shake hands, or avoid eye contact? Do they exchange gifts when meeting?
Superstitions and Beliefs: Do the people believe in omens or perform rituals before embarking on a journey?
Communication Styles: Are they formal or informal? Do they rely on storytelling, writing, or oral traditions?
Holidays and Festivals: What annual events do they celebrate? Are there holy days, harvest festivals, or rites of passage?
Example: In a desert-based nomadic society, people might not speak directly to elders without an invitation. Their culture might also dictate that water is a gift exchanged between families, symbolizing trust and alliance.
3. Crafting Occupations and Jobs
Common Jobs and Roles
What do people do for a living? The jobs available depend on the world’s technology, geography, and culture. Think about:
Agriculture: Farmers, herders, orchard keepers.
Crafts: Blacksmiths, weavers, glassblowers.
Service: Tavern keepers, merchants, messengers.
Magic-related jobs: Alchemists, potion brewers, magical item appraisers.
In a large city, you might have a complex guild system with apprenticeships, while in smaller towns, people may wear multiple hats, taking on various roles for survival.
Specialized or Unique Professions
Introduce jobs that can only exist in your world. For instance:
In a world with magical creatures, there might be beast tamers who train dragons or gryphons for transport.
In a dystopian future, cyber surgeons might operate on androids and genetically modified beings.
In a high-fantasy realm, rune carvers might be employed to inscribe powerful symbols into tools and buildings to offer protection or utility.
These unique jobs give your world its own flavor and provide opportunities for storytelling and player interaction.
4. Food and Drink
Daily Meals and Staples
Consider the primary diet of your world’s inhabitants. This is determined by geography (what grows nearby), technology (what can be preserved or traded), and culture. Focus on:
Staples: What are the base foods (bread, rice, corn, etc.)?
Proteins: Is meat common or reserved for the wealthy? What alternatives exist (fish, beans, magical fruits)?
Preservation: How do they store food (smoking, salting, magical preservation)?
In a coastal city, seafood might be the primary source of protein, while an isolated mountain village might rely on hardy root vegetables and goat’s milk. For a futuristic world, perhaps people consume nutrient pills or synth-meals.
Unique Dishes and Drinks
Highlight at least one iconic dish or beverage. It could be something mundane with a local twist or a fantastical concoction. For example:
Bloodroot Stew: A hearty soup made with a rare, crimson root only found in cursed forests.
Elven Moon Wine: A shimmering drink that enhances the senses for a short time but causes vivid dreams.
Bread of the Ancients: A dense loaf baked with ancient grains said to grant vitality to those who eat it.
Food can also be an adventure hook. Maybe a rare ingredient is needed to make a feast fit for a king, or players have to investigate why a city’s water supply is tainted, leading to mysterious illnesses.
5. Leisure and Entertainment
Entertainment Forms
Think about how people entertain themselves when not working. Do they:
Attend Plays or Storytelling Events: In a culture with strong oral traditions, taverns might host traveling bards or storytellers who share epics.
Sports and Competitions: Are there tournaments, races, or games like gladiatorial combat or magical duels?
Art and Music: What kinds of art do they enjoy (painting, sculpture, weaving)? What instruments are common in their music?
Leisure activities can also show cultural diversity. For instance, an isolated elven society may enjoy elaborate dances during moonlit festivals, while a dwarven city holds regular smithing competitions to honor their craft gods.
Festivals and Gatherings
Creating festivals allows you to highlight cultural values. These could be:
Seasonal Celebrations: A harvest festival or a mid-winter feast.
Religious Rites: Pilgrimages, offerings to gods, or rituals tied to solstices or eclipses.
Commemorative Events: Celebrations of ancient victories or remembering tragic defeats.
These events can serve as a backdrop for intrigue, social interaction, or simply a chance for the players to relax and engage with the world’s culture.
6. Social and Family Structures
Family Units
How are families structured? Think about:
Extended Families: In some societies, multiple generations may live together under one roof.
Clans or Tribes: These might be the primary social units in rural or nomadic cultures.
Matriarchal or Patriarchal Societies: Gender roles and power dynamics may affect family structures and social interactions.
Adoption and Found Families: Is adoption common, and are non-blood family ties valued?
In a matriarchal society, women might inherit land and titles, while in a nomadic tribe, elders may be the ultimate authority, passing down wisdom and making key decisions for the group.
Social Interactions
Consider the social fabric:
Hospitality Rules: Are strangers welcomed or distrusted? In some cultures, it may be taboo to refuse food or drink to a guest.
Class Systems: Are there rigid social classes, or is upward mobility possible? In a feudal system, nobles might have immense power, while peasants struggle.
Marriage and Relationships: Are relationships arranged or chosen freely? How are marriages celebrated? Are polyamorous or multi-partner relationships common?
7. Using Everyday Life as Adventure Hooks
Everyday life shouldn’t be treated as filler but as an opportunity to enrich gameplay. Here are a few ways mundane activities can lead to adventures:
A Festival Gone Wrong: During a seasonal celebration, a guest is poisoned, and the players must investigate.
A Farmer’s Plight: Crops are failing due to a mysterious disease, and the players are hired to track down the cause (which might be magical).
A Missing Merchant: A popular local vendor disappears, leading to a deeper conspiracy tied to the black market.
By intertwining the mundane with the extraordinary, you create a world that feels dynamic and alive, full of opportunities for the players to interact and influence.
Conclusion
Focusing on the everyday lives of your world's inhabitants is key to creating an immersive and believable setting. By detailing their routines, jobs, food, leisure activities, and social structures, you can build a world that feels lived-in and vibrant. Whether it’s a medieval village, a futuristic city, or a magical realm, the more you flesh out the mundane, the more engaging your world will become for your players.
Remember, the most memorable adventures often start with the smallest, most ordinary of details.