Carcosan ethnology random table

[snorri]

I tinkered a random table to creates customs for Carcosan societies. Each time you need a new villages, roll 1d6 to know the number of customs, then :

Step 1 : Roll 1d6
1. Everybody
2. Elders
3. Men
4. Women
5. A sect
6. A secret society

Step 2 : Roll 1d6+1d8
2. Eat
3 Worships
4. Sacrifices
5. Ignores
6. Hate
7. Mummify
8. Avoid
9. Prohibit
10. Are fond of
11. Purify
12. Burn
13. Drown
14. Bury

Step 3 : rol 1d10
1. All
2. Colour (pick one randomly)
3. Big
4. Small
5. Fat
6. Thin
7. Diseased
8. Mutant
9. Radioactive
10. Tentacled

Step 4 : roll 1d4+1d10

2. Women
3. Men
4. Elders
5. Dinosaurs
6. Insects
7. Aliens
8. Rocks
9. Trees
10. Insects
11. Plants
12. Drugs
13. Fungis
14. Snakes

Step 5 : Roll 1d8 for reasons

1. Logical
2. Irrational
3. Mystical
4. Religious
5. Mathematical
6. Historical
7. Rational
8. Unknown

So, as a example, in a village of blue men, with (1d6) 3 main customs:
3, 4, 4, 14, 4 Men sacrifice small snakes for mathematical reasons
5, 12, 8, 9, 3 A sect burns mutant trees for mystical reasons
1, 13, 4, 10, 7 All drown small insects for rational reasons

It lets the DM (and the players) a wide range of interpretation, but makes the villages very different from one to another. And you know PCs should beware of mutants trees and cultists there...

Please expand and improve these tables

[Deleted]

That is a nice aid for the DM, Snorri. Good work.

[jrients]

Expansions to Step 1

7. The children
8. The chieftain
9. A lone maniac
10. A particular family
11. Slaves
12. A high priest

[burke]

Thanks for the very cool tables! Have an exalt!

[snorri]

Expansion to step 5

9: Astrological
10: Secret
11: Ancestral
12: Fun

[geoffrey]

I am definitely going to use these tables in my campaign. Great stuff!

[snorri]

More Carcosan ethnology : clothes

The basic clothes in Carcossan societies are loincloths and boots, with leather cloaks or furs in harsh climates. But some groups or peoples wears different clothes. Roll 1d6 for the number of features for each village / tribe :



Step 1: Roll 1d12 to know who

1 - Everybody

2 - Men

3 - Women

4 - Elders

5 - Priests

6 –Warriors

7 – Children

8 - Slaves

9 - Widows

10 - Chiefs

11 - Courtisans

12 - Hunters



Step 2 : roll 1d10 to know what the wear



1 – Small

2 – Translucent

3 – Large

4 – Erotic

5 – Coloured

6 – Tight

7 – Leather

8 – Feathery

9 – Precious

10 - Nothing (don’t roll for step 3)



Step 3 : roll 1d12 to know what

1 – Chains

2 – Jewels

3 – Veil on their head

4 – Shirts

5 – Robes

6 - Skirts

7 – Pants

8 – Cloaks

9 – Bones

10 – Belts

11 - Armor

12 - Weapons



Step 3 : roll 1d8 to know when

1 – Every day

2 – Outdoor

3 – For ceremonies

4 – When (1-3 on 1d6) or Until (4-6 on 1d6) they’re married

5 – When (1-3 on 1d6) or Until (4-6 on 1d6) they’re Initiates

6 – At night

7 – At war

8 -When on mourning



If you want to explain strange features, you can use the ‘reasons’ table from the Customs tables.



For example, a village of blue men roll for 5 features :

- Men wears precious belts at war (for irrational reasons)

- Slaves wear feathery chains at war (for rational reasons)

- Elders wears feathery shirts until they're married (for mathemathical reasons) [which probably means they marry very late, for demographical reasons, and there is some relationship between marriage and slavery)

- Widows wear tight cloaks when on mourning (for mystical reasons)

- Priests wear tight skirts at night (for secret reasons)

Please improve these ones !

[thelizardofoz]

Body modifications d4

1 Piercing
2 Scarification
3 Amputation
4 Tattooing

Roll for Who and Why on relevant tables above.

Piercing d8

1 Tongue
2 Ear
3 Cheek
4 Lip
5 Belly button
6 Nose
7 Nipple
8 Genitals

Scarification d10

1 Full body
2 Partial body (1d6: 1 Upper half. 2 Lower half. 3 Right side. 4 Left side. 5 Front half. 6 Back half)
3 Head
4 Face
5 Arm
6 Leg
7 Hand
8 Foot
9 Chest
10 Back

Scarification Method d6

1 Cut
2 Burnt
3 Acid
4 Bitten
5 Clawed
6 Anything at hand (This group will use anything and everything to create the scars, as that is what's important to them, the scars themselves, not the method. Lasers, Rocks, Weapons, Animals, etc.)

Amputation d12

1 Arm
2 Hand
3 Leg
4 Foot
5 Eye
6 Tongue
7 Ear
8 Nose
9 Lips
10 Genitalia (partial)
11 Toe
12 Finger

Tattoos

This one could actually be a whole section on to itself. Everything from placement, type, materials used (making pigments out of the Jale, etc), size, meaning.....

[snorri]

Great! I guess the "6 ?" methode fro scarification could be either radioactivity or best, laser ?

[Zulgyan]

Maybe it means they have no clue and they'll try different methods of sacrification on the victim until one works. Poor fella.

[thelizardofoz]

The tattoo one can be really broad. An suggestions on a direction for it, or hell, post up a list, would be greatly appreciated.

/derail

Now it has me thinking about a person that is chosen at birth and as they grow, a record of the clan is tattooed on the chosen's body. Once it is covered, a new person is chosen and the current one is killed and skinned to preserve the skin and clan's history. Of course, this would be viewed as an honor.

Proof that it has been way too long since I have played in a horror game.

/end derail

[snorri]

More ethnology tables

Architecture
Roll 1d6 traits for architecture of any community. In a town, if two or more colored men coexist, each one will have his own customs as architecture.

Step 1 (Who): Roll 1d12
1 Everybody
2 Aristocrats
3 Slaves
4 Women
5 Men
6 The chief
7 Foreigners
8 Priests
9 A Sorcerer
10 Deads
11 Dinosaurs
12 Hunters

Step 2 (Where, adjective) : Roll 1d10
1 Subterranean
2 Square
3 Round
4 Big
5 Small
6 Spheric
7 Long
8 Fungi-like
9 Pyramidal
10 Translucent

Step 3 (Where, word) : Roll 1d6
1 Houses
2 Huts
3 Towers
4 Caves
5 Cells
6 Bunkers

Step 5 (decored with, adjective): Roll 1d8
1 Colored (roll randomly)
2 Erotic
3 Translucent
4 Large
5 Carved
6 Cryptic
7 Beautiful
8 Scary

Step 5 (decored with, word): Roll 1d12
1 Windows
2 Bones
3 Curtains
4 Paintings
5 Ponds
6 Chimneys
7 Symbols
8 Mirrors
9 Walls
10 Lamps
11 Plants
12 Jars

Example: In a blue village, priests lives in round houses with cryptic ponds (maybe for weird rituals), while aristocrats like in subterranean towers with large windows (such as light pits) . Men form the common lives in long caves, probably around their lords towers, and got cryptic lamps in their homes (probably a religious symbol) while foreigners are let in the surrounding caves, in the fungi towers with curtains of their own colors. Dead bodies are put in big houses outdoor, with scary windows letting appear their decaying corpses.