Creating New Civilizations with a Random Generator

Where to begin: Asking Questions

I’ve already talked about this in previous posts because it is one of the key aspects of my methodology when it comes to worldbuilding. If you’re stuck, don’t know where to go next, don’t have any idea what might need to be added to bring some uniqueness to your world, you want to start asking questions. Each answer will provide the potential for new questions, new answers, connections, and patterns to develop.

Let us say you know you want a warrior culture, but don’t want them to just be Klingons or follow that same honorable warrior cliche. You want something more original. Let’s say they are human, for the sake of ease. Where do you go from here?

Well, we’ve already established two parameters for what they need to be. They need to value combat, and honor. One of the foremost questions is: In what environment do they exist? Desert? Tundra? Jungle? That is so important. Lets say they live in the mountains. This means they need to be sure footed. They may have to deal with avalanches. Food is hard to grow. Looking at mountainous terrain all over the world, you can see wild-cats, mountain goats, large birds of prey. Maybe there are caves they can inhabit.

What is their technology level? Are they stone age? Iron Age? Renaissance? I would expect them to be kind of barbarian-like, since that is the cliche, but let’s change that up and say they have to be more renaissance. Gunpowder age. Maybe they actually can make the guns using ore mined in the mountains. That is a resource they have access to, based on their environment. They could exchange firearms for the food that is hard to grow.

In an era that early, travel through the mountains is dangerous, and not at all easy. If these guys had command of it, they control who goes through and who never makes it. They could turn bandit, but we did say they value honor. I like the idea that they borrow natural camouflage, so let’s say they use the skins of the hunting cats, like clouded leopards, to ward off the freezing cold and hide their movements.

This is just a little progress, but we’ve only asked a few questions. There is a lot to expand upon by asking yet more questions. What values do they despise? What is their government like? What kind of art do they make? How are they punished when they fail to live up to their values?

But of course, it can be hard when you’re getting started, to either think of what questions to ask, or know what answers might be more or less likely. That is where the random tables come into play.

Keep in mind, these are a starting point, or a way to develop a starting point. The more logical connections you make, the more authentic it may seem as a likely-to-exist culture, but if your needs are more casual, like a strange civilization to meet in a fantasy RPG session, then this can also be a tool to lift some of the mental workload, get out of your head and make something new quickly.

The Random Civilization Tables

So, first, you can write out and eliminate the elements you already have decided, as the starting parameters. However we’ll proceed as if we have absolutely no idea what we need… no parameter except “A new human culture”

Cultural Values (1d3/1d20)

This chart is possibly the most important when it comes to really determining who these people are, as a society. You can roll several, rank them in order of importance and precedence for the culture. You can also roll one or a few to be what values they absolutely do not hold, and despise as weakness.

Sample Civilizations

Civilization #1: The Lullweavers
Environment: Ruins
Technology: Interstellar/Post-Apocalyptic
Government: Council of Elders
Values: Skill, Indulgence, Chance
Countervalue: Combat

I see this as a group of… I’d call them nomads but it seems like it would be more accurate to call them squatters. They are cultural scavengers. They seek out civilizations whose inhabitants have long since died out and inhabit those places for generations at a time, consuming the remaining resources and absorbing all of their culture. They place great emphasis on those who can learn the most about the extinct denizens, and especially enjoy taking in the wide variety of pleasures and entertainments left behind. They cannot live a careful life in the ruins, taking risks and throwing themselves to the wind if need be. They see actual conflict as a weakness, the resort of fools and animals, so prefer trade, negotiation, and diplomacy. Their most valued assets are obscure skills picked up from extinct cultures. It is a great trade to offer, say, a blanket that no one in the universe but your clan now knows how to make, but an even more valued offer to teach that skill. The more people know a thing, the less valuable it is.

Civilization #2: The Vulcaniacs
Environment: Volcanic
Technology: Nuclear/Airtravel
Government: Monarch/Tyrant/Autocrat
Values: Combat, Sacrifice, Power
Countervalue: Truth

Oof. Okay, at first glance we have an evil empire thing going on here for sure. I’ll have to do something to subvert that. So a civilization that probably employs geothermal power, and natural defenses based on a highly volcanically active area. You can hardly reach them by land, so air-travel is the best way in and out. Lets say more airships and dirigibles than airplanes. They are a military dictatorship, ruled by their general and his/her chosen lieutenants. I want to say that if the leader fails, they can be thrown into a volcano, which keeps the leader from getting too crazy. That is the job of the lieutenants. However, we don’t want to get too politically backstabby, so let’s say that the lieutenants, whatever happens to the leader, may never be leaders themselves and may never serve as the lieutenant of another leader. As for truth, there is a tradition that the truth is whatever the general says it is. This keeps soldiers loyal as it is taboo, and illegal, to question the leadership for anyone but the lieutenants. It is also traditional for the general to make absurd changes and claims, like cancelling days of the week, turning night into day, saying a whole year didn’t happen, or that he has become a 10 meter tall giant, and everyone must essentially treat it as truth. This is an exercise of power, a way to show off, both the leaders power and the populaces commitment to their reality. The deep philosophy of this claims to be that it is simply an expression of the leaders will and the people’s desire to help him shape the world as he sees fit, but of course in actuality it is about massive brainwashing and taming-of-the-shrew style manipulation. The only thing the General cannot touch is “The First Law” which is the document that prescribes their overthrow into a volcano and empowers the lieutenants, and strictly guides their selection, in a way meant to prevent the leader from ever subverting the intended check on his otherwise unlimited power.

Civilization #3: The Green Knights
Environment: Woodlands
Technology: Steel/Navigation
Government: Democratic
Values: Honor, Courage, Equity
Countervalue: Youth

Well don’t we have some downright Arthurian heroes here? They don’t have a lot of metal, living in the woods, so they won’t wear plate armor, but will arm themselves mostly with shortbows and knives. They are egalitarians, hunters, and value the calm levelheadedness which comes with age. Patience and stealth, and surviving better armed but less patient foes. As such their greatest champions are not young gallant heroes, but veteran warriors who have proven not just their skills. but their discipline and honor as well. They model their age-values like trees. Saplings are weak compared to the mighty aged pine tree or oak. The main value of a sapling lies in its potential. Because of this, only those aged 50 or more have the vote, or may be called a leader. Beyond that, there are no restrictions on who votes or may be chosen to lead. An attempt is generally made to care for all.
Because I think it’s cool, they’ll also live in homes and walkways built among the trees. The young warriors are known to venture out seeking to either prove themselves to their elders with honorable deeds, or escape their judgments and seek a more selfish way of life. Those who turn bandit or abandon honor are called Rotseeds.
Besides honorable deeds and hunting, they also forage and craft for trade. They export timber, but only what needs to be cut, as they take the felling of a tree very seriously. Their trees are the go-too trees for tall masts, so this sometimes puts them into conflict with their neighbors who may poach their trees.

Conclusion

So there you have a rough and hopefully useful method for quickly devising a civilization or culture. Remember you can expand upon this and find more questions by looking through the entire values chart, and asking yourself “how do they feel about this subject?”

I would love to read about any civilizations you come up with by using this tool! Are there any other factors besides environment, government, technology level and values you think are important to know or find lacking here? Let me know!

See you next world,

—Charles