Virtual tribes and you (yes you!)

[ExtraPlanar]

Hello GDB.

Making a tribal with a rich virtual culture (which often stays in my head and out of bios because I'm a lazy lil biscuit) has become something I'm really interested in, as it can allow for one to make a PC that has a slightly different idea of the world + culture than the mainstream Allanaki PCs. While I really like playing these types of PCs, I'd really like to hear other people's approaches.

Do you start with a fully-built tribe in your mind? Or do you just have a general "tribe" that your pc comes from, with generalities about customs and culture?

How profound was the cultural difference? Did they have divergences on crucial issues such as 'gickers, racism or fashion? Did they fit in, or stick out? Did they have their own value systems that put them at odds to others? Did they have their own rituals? Their own greetings/goodbyes?

Have you ever played with an especially interesting tribal? Or been irritated by how virtual tribals have been played?

Of course normal rules apply for PCs <1 year dead (i.e. keep ya lips sealed)

[boog]

Hello GDB.

Hi.

Making a tribal with a rich virtual culture (which often stays in my head and out of bios because I'm a lazy lil biscuit) has become something I'm really interested in, as it can allow for one to make a PC that has a slightly different idea of the world + culture than the mainstream Allanaki PCs. While I really like playing these types of PCs, I'd really like to hear other people's approaches.

So, I really like world building, but not so much the geography or anything. I like building cultures that you can then build stories off of and intertwine with contradictions. My best Armageddon experiences have been playing tribals, either already established tribals, or family roles I've been recruited to or have recruited others to enjoy alongside me. The standard way to go these days is Google Docs, so you can easily share information!

Do you start with a fully-built tribe in your mind? Or do you just have a general "tribe" that your pc comes from, with generalities about customs and culture?

My last experience with this, it started with a thought I'd had about a cultural/social strata. From there, it expanded and unraveled. It's extra special to me because I had help from someone far more intelligent and creative than me, and so the specific tribe I'm mentioning is just - well. That.

How profound was the cultural difference? Did they have divergences on crucial issues such as 'gickers, racism or fashion? Did they fit in, or stick out? Did they have their own value systems that put them at odds to others? Did they have their own rituals? Their own greetings/goodbyes?

I don't recommend making a tribe of entire snowflakes. Don't make them extra beautiful plus in love with every single magicker plus they accept outsiders in their tribes, and they're okay with other races because they've had to live in the Pah with them forever or whatever. Conflict is the name of the game. Make them have prejudices. Make them have their own sort of fashion - or colors they wear, or trinkets they employ, since it's unlikely you're gonna have a huge catalog of fashions to choose from besides what's already established in game.

Yes. They've had their own value systems that clash starkly with social structures in either city state. It's been both apparent and subtle in terms of the latter coming in the form of introspective RP.

But yeah. Cultural specifications are so cool. Why not make a tribe that greets kin with fingers up noses, or butt smacks, or whatever you want?

Have you ever played with an especially interesting tribal? Or been irritated by how virtual tribals have been played?

Yes. I played a merchant Soh Lanah Kah before it was cool. I played an interesting tribal who was betrothed to another player, because their (PC created) tribe believed in mating for life. I've been irritated whenever tribes are played the same way as I'm irritated by special super snowflakes: I grumble about it, but there's not much I can do about it. I'll just recommend, strongly, that you not create your tribe to be a group of kumbaya singing, love everyone tribes with impeccable appearances. Conflict, disagreements, prejudices are what will Make Armageddon Great Again.

[ExtraPlanar]

I don't recommend making a tribe of entire snowflakes. Don't make them extra beautiful plus in love with every single magicker plus they accept outsiders in their tribes, and they're okay with other races because they've had to live in the Pah with them forever or whatever. Conflict is the name of the game. Make them have prejudices. Make them have their own sort of fashion - or colors they wear, or trinkets they employ, since it's unlikely you're gonna have a huge catalog of fashions to choose from besides what's already established in game. ...

They've had their own value systems that clash starkly with social structures in either city state. It's been both apparent and subtle in terms of the latter coming in the form of introspective RP. 

I think this is my favourite part of playing tribal characters, sometimes it feels as if you're playing in a monoculture where everyone kind of thinks the same way about the same things, I think the real strength of tribal characters (both from a virtual and documented background) is how they can kind of shake stuff up. Instead of conflict being over things like money/social status/mundanes vs. gickers, it can be about why PCs act the way they do. I'm not talking about things like whether they hate 'gickers and elves or not, but things like "Why don't you speak to your mount?" or "How can you use the hide of the sacred (whateveranimal) to make armour?" or even issues of courtship+sexuality, as tribes can often have rituals surrounding courting and mating.

[Cind]

I imagine tribes would be in conflict or uneasy peace a lot in such a resource-scarce world where people are harsh to begin with. I would think they wouldn't hold a lot of love towards other tribals whose people make a living off the same area. City-states, well, you can't do anything about that, but they sure sell pretty cloths.

Course I've seen the whole peaceful native American thing too, and it seems to work just fine. Being more open to interaction with not-us is probably why the Sun Runners are open.

[boog]

White people stereotypes of the North American Indigenous present in an online game in a desert world never fails to crack me the fuck up. Peaceful Native Americans, ahahaha.

All I can advise is to have something in your tribe that'll conflict with other groups in game. And to not make them love everything and everyone, and to probably be a little grittier than even people in city-states since, well, they probably live in fuggin' tents.

[bardlyone]

White people stereotypes of the North American Indigenous present in an online game in a desert world never fails to crack me the fuck up. Peaceful Native Americans, ahahaha.

More Kah than Ti.

Signed someone with roots in the Blackfoot, Blood nation.

[Raptor_Dan]

BLOOOOD NATION!!!

[AdamBlue]

Tribals should have little idea of how intrigue and politics work on a city-wide scale, I'd say, at least from an initial idea. Maybe they don't know that you're supposed to bow to nobility. Maybe they don't care about who exactly is wearing what rings or what silks. Perhaps lying comes naturally, or perhaps it's forbidden in their culture.
The lovely thing about tribals is that there are supposed to be dozens of extremely small tribes out there that are tucked away in their little own cultures of people, likely in extreme circumstances and places, that adopt their own sets of values. Perhaps everyone in the culture wears full body robes and cloaks, with veils covering their faces. Perhaps they wear absolutely nothing. Perhaps the tribals were well educated in certain things, and poorly educated in others. You could have a warrior tribe that spit on wounds to cure them, a merchant tribe that doesn't see the value in coins and only barters, a scholar tribe that doesn't speak a word of sirihish.
City-folk are easier to play in the short-term because you just know how the city is. Allanak is Allanak, they are brutal, in your face, and full of gallows humor due to the oppressive and overtly violent government. Tuluk is vicious, subtle, and full of self-imposed self refinement from living near a forest of basically alien monsters that want to devour the people living within.
Luirs and Red Storm, as smaller settlements, are probably the next best thing, considering they're sort of 'freelance' and have mostly player-run ideas of what is right and wrong, but still fall on the same basis of their closest counterparts with a twist, usually in terms of magick, spice, crime and justice, ect.
Coming back to my original point, tribalism allows you to subvert any expectations, or none of these expectations based on the tribe your character is a part of. Maybe your tribe spends all of it's time in Luirs anway, and you're well connected enough to know all of this. But there are still nuances that separate your character, as part of a tribe, to the cities ideals that should make them ultimately unique.

[Bahliker]

Tribal play is
In
Tents
When you don't put too much thought into it beforehand. Come up with a cool look and some quirks and figure the rest out as you go along. Just remember to jot it down as details emerge. With everything mapped out ahead of time you might find surprisingly little of it to be of any relevance, just sitting useless in a months-old doc as the reality of your character evolves in cool new ways.

[Cind]

I once had a northerner tribal who was going to ride from Luir's to Allanak. I added a huge second bio including her tribe's documentation. I died the next day on that trip to a gith.

I'm not saying don't do cool lengthy docs. Just, it might be less work to wait until they're well situated before you put what their tribe is about into writing. If they die before you get things going, you can save those ideas for the next guy.