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Recently, I've been writing a low-fantasy setting for a D&D campaign. The world is basically "Not-europe" with a few classical fantasy creatures splashed in. But the main enemies that the party will face are other humans.
For inspiration, I started reading actual historical texts, as well as different mythologies. I think I'm going to borrow heavily from Scandanavian myth and a greek-like pantheon. (At first it sounds very overdone, but I think that most settings miss the mark quite a bit.) This is a world where the gods don't have direct influence, but instead the players will be forced to question whether the things happening around them are the work of the gods.
Because of this, I've been coming up with different superstitions and beliefs that would fit into a world with raiding tribes and "noble savages". I have not had to look very far for inspiration, as people back then had some crazy beliefs. But even more insane were the punishments they came up with for various crimes and punishments.
The following is a few of the things I've come up with, so far. If you have any thoughts or ideas for additional content in such a setting, I would be really interested to hear anything you got.
>If in battle, you should lose a limb. You must fight until you die, or find the limb after the fight is over. In order to keep the limb in the afterlife it must be buried with you or burned in a funeral pyre.
>It is said that those with lazy eyes are not always to be trusted. While most of the time, the eye is just moot, occasionally the second eye catches a glimps of the spirit world.
>Wearing bracelets or amulets made of amber beads protect against illness and disease.
>In a particular town, a local duke was once murdered like a roast pig and had an apple set in his mouth. In said town, it is considered bad luck to be seen eating an apple. (Most apples are instead used in other foods or made into cider.)
>On wedding nights, a game is played between young friends of the bride. Armlets are made of knotted grass, and if a boy breaks your armlet, you must give him a kiss. (If you refuse, it is said that you will marry an old man.)
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>>44036231
>Spitting on a bladed weapon the first time it is sharpened makes it lucky.
>It is said that evil people cannot stand the sound of a bell chime.
>It is bad luck to leave a bed immediately after making love.
>On the southern coast, it is illegal for two wagons to cross paths on a bridge simultaneously.
>Cats are generally considered good luck. It is considered very bad luck to harm a house cat, even by accident.
>If you should pass a Charcoal Maker on a path, it is considered good luck to say hello to him.
>If you find a coin on a path, it means the gods are watching you.
>Pulren is the goddess of beauty, sensuality, lust, and femininity. She brushes her hair 999 strokes each morning with a golden comb.
>Young men of the western tribes often give girls picks made from animal penis bones. They are considered good luck, and worth quite a bit.
>>44036229
>This is a world where the gods don't have direct influence
But this is how it usually goes. This is why we have clerics in D&D.
>>44036482
I mean, that the campaign setting presents a world in which the gods aren't apparent or "tangible".
In most fantasy settings, the gods are these super powerful beings that grant magic powers to their followers.
In this game, if you want to play a cleric or a priest, you don't really have those powers.
>Travelers are believed to bring the weather of their hometown wherever they go, until they marry and settle
>One can tell a fortune by dropping a sprig of light, leafy plant like bluegrass into a large fire; if the sprig is lifted by the fire's heat it is a good fortune, but if it falls into the fire it is a bad fortune
>Leaving a coin of any worth in the bottom of one shoe's sole is good luck, but both is inviting ill fortune
>It's customary when asking any favor to give a small gift in return, even just a flower or smooth rock, in order to leave no debts unpaid in the afterlife. It is bad luck to pay for a favor with a gift you received, especially if the one you are asking the favor of was the original owner
>Animals can see future events and the true forms of demons; it is said that if a housepet mistrusts a person entering a home, they will bring misfortune if they stay the night
>When drawing water, it brings good luck if one pours some water on the stones that make the well, but only on accident. Trying to invite such fortune on purpose angers the gods
>A person who dies of a disease that blackens the skin is believed to have been knowing too many nasty secrets
>Waking up to a sunbeam on your face is a sign that one is held dear by a holy power, or just in good graces
>>44036548
Do Wizards exist too or is it entirely low-to-none magical?
This is fun.
>Leaving a cup upside-down at the end of a drink is done when mourning over death, with how many cups left upside-down being a measure of how well the deceased was known. It is deathly bad luck to pick it up or flip it back over on the same day, for fear of angering the spirit
>Wearing through the bottom of the soles of one's shoes is a sign that one is finally forgiven for a guilty past action
>Putting the petal of a flower in one's mouth (without swallowing) is done when one is tempted or pressured by others to spill a promised secret; it's believed that the petal will turn to poison if a spoken secret passes over it
>>44036231
>>If in battle, you should lose a limb. You must fight until you die, or find the limb after the fight is over. In order to keep the limb in the afterlife it must be buried with you or burned in a funeral pyre.
No shit, there I was, working in a local government legal department, when a call comes in from the department that runs the municipal cemetery. This turns out to be an IRL superstition among at least one of n. england's ethnic groups, and the cemetery guys are a bit baffled as to how they can allow a customer for a cemetery plot who's had an amputation to bury himself in instalments, as it were. Because they're not licensed for medical waste* and for a full interment you have to have a death certificate, which the customer can't, obviously, get on account of being still alive.
*You could license a cemetery as a waste disposal site, but it would mean complying with the regulations regarding depositing all waste using a tip-up lorry. Which would make funerals utterly hilarious.
>>44037372
Just do what everybody else does in these circumstances. Turn a blind eye and let them bury the damn thing when no one is looking. It helps if there is a family plot, obviously.
Reminds me of a distant uncle of mine. Wanted his ashes to be scattered in the grounds of a cathedral that he lived next to and attended services at. They wouldn't let him because reasons.
His children and grandchildren and wife did it anyway.
>gesturing at someone with a utensil like a fork or knife is considered highly offensive, a spoon however indicates fondness for the target of the gesture.
>in some costal towns wearing blue is thought to show reverence to the Sea, and sailors will never be caught without at least one article of blue clothing on their person.
>giving a traveller a pear before they leave a town is thought to protect them from minor ailments.
>>44036229
Stepping on a frog is considered a horrible deed. Many people release frogs in the homes of their enemies, in hopes of making them step on one.
>there are many ways to get permanently lost in the forest, like sleeping on a road or a path. The spririts dont like people resting on their walkways and will curse those foolish enough to
>same goes for standing in unnatural formations like circles of rocks and mushrooms or triangles of trees with nine branches connecting them together. Those are traps.
>sea wind is a dog, and will come to you when you whistle.
>snakes eat curses, diseases and evil spirits. That's why some people keep them as pets and feed them around their homes.
It's important to note that superstitions are made to discourage or encourage certain behaviors. Wasteful behavior or mistakes are almost universally bad luck, and virtuous ones are often good luck. And then there are things like saying that a bird shitting on you is good luck, which is meant to soften the blow.
Please, continue.
>>44038063
Bird shit is seen as a good thing to have on you because they eat and distribute fruit and its seeds. That made it easier for ancient peoples to grow and cultivate orchards.
>during long voyages remaining inside the ship for long periods angers the sea spirits who view you as avoiding the vastness of nature, and can bring misfortune to the vessel.
>the first person to hear the sound of seagulls upon approaching land will be the blessed with luck.
>>44037602
More or less what happened: technically illegal, everyone involved from the Home Office on down took the view that there was no harm and therefore no foul. The entire point of the burial laws is to prevent shenanigans, and what was going on was above board. The email round-robin discussion got a bit surreal on the way there, mind.
The tribes of the woodlands in the east are widely considered to be practicers of black magic and thus should not be offeneded (in reality they are just normal people with a concept of "face" and will murder the fuck out of somebody who offends them)
>throwing a spider into a fire absolves the thrower from one of their past sins
>>44039180
>throwing a spider into a fire absolves the thrower from one of their past sins
I'd prefer this to bring bad luck actually, considering spiders keep out other (often worse) pests.
I suppose it would depend on the climate though, as places with dangerous spiders obviously wouldn't have such a belief.
>>44037372
>a tip-up lorry.
SO, I'm American and I have a dialect question...
Tip-up lorry==Dump-truck?
just checking in case thats a separate thing, and if it isn't then I agree that it would make most funerals hilarious...and probably a great deal faster.
(swiff--thump)
"and another one in the hole!"
>>44037077
Spellcasters exist, however magic is very "petty" in comparison to most other games.
There are no "schools" of magic. Magic is an unruly force that takes decades for it's user to control in such a way that he won't harm anyone. Most spellcasters die at an early age due to mistakes made with spells or arcane failure. Because of this, sorcerers live in solitude. There is no doubt that most spellcasters would be shunned by society.
>>44039180
>>44039439
It would be interesting to have both superstitions, but people all view it differently. Imagine and two old housewives bickering over whether their action of throwing a spider in the fire will bring them to luck or damnation.
>>44036367
>picks made from animal penis bones.
I thought only Narwhals had those, or something?
>>44041883
>The warriors of the eastern steppe are said to sleep close to their horses. Because of poor translation between them and their neighbors, there is a nasty stereotype that they mate with their horses.
>The Kalathans revere a two-hundred year old prophet who was martyred at noon and was resurrected at midnight. Because of this, the Kalathans believe noon and midnight to be sacred times.
>The wild men of the western tribes all paint their shields before battle. They believe it to be good fortune if two friends paint similar symbols on their shields.
>It is said that if you drop a loaf of bread, you must feed it to your livestock.
>In some places, you must leave your bedroom door completely open or completely shut. If you don't, a frightful spirit called Yunip will spy on you in the night. Yunip looks like a colorless old crone, and she glares at you from the crack in the door.
>Many people collect the ears or fingers or similar body parts of their foes as a symbol of how many men they've slain. In distant tribal areas, they are even considered goods for barter.
>>44036229
>find a title mentioning ghosts being admitted in court as witnesses
>never find it again
So sad. I just wanted to read about cases of people being beheaded on account of ghost's witness accounts.
>>44036909
>It's customary when asking any favor to give a small gift in return, even just a flower or smooth rock, in order to leave no debts unpaid in the afterlife. It is bad luck to pay for a favor with a gift you received, especially if the one you are asking the favor of was the original owner
That reminds me of another old superstition. It's said that giving a knife as a gift was a sign that you wanted to cut ties with that person so when people wanted to give someone a knife they'd attach a penny to the blade so the receiver could take the penny and "pay" them for the knife.
>>44042219
Kek. Jackass!
>Kalathan women are constantly being told that if their towns or villages are raided by "the western savages" that they will be captured, raped, and killed. In reality, most of the western tribes find the rape of captives disgusting. Those captured are enslaved and eventually assimilated into their villages over time by paying for their freedom.
>It is considered good luck to find eggs in the wilderness. However, if any of them are found broken, you should watch your back for the rest of the day.
>A man that leaves for raids with his woman with child, is said to have the gods fight beside him. It is joked that it must be doubly true if he impregnates two.
>If you leave a man to suffer and die on the battlefield, his vengeful spirit will always be tethered to you.
>If a man only barters with coin, he is greedy. Because of this, for minor exchanges, you often offer an insignificate trinket with your trade.
>>44041979
Humans are one of the few mammals who don't have penis bones.
