Picking a Culture

Picking a culture is the next step in building a complete Persona. This decision, along with Era, are equally the most important decisions you will make for your Persona. They drive literally everything else. Your choice of Culture and Era are decisions that will guide your name, profession, garb, and gear choices. There are some things to consider that will make your cultural decisions easier.

  1. Avoid using Fiction to drive your decisions
    • As tempting as it is to watch Vikings, Rome, or Barbarians and base a character on those shows, don’t do that. Fictional sources are designed to be entertaining and often sacrifice accuracy to do so. Also, it is easy to fall into the trap of starting with Vikings as a well-meaning choice and then adding elements of a Game of Thrones character or other low fantasy property into your Persona. It is much better to work solely from historical sources when you can. You can look at this like restricting yourself to a specific set of Roleplaying Game Sourcebooks.
  2. Cultures change in different eras
    • French culture in the 6th century was wildly different from French culture in the 16th. Cultures change and evolve over time. You might end up going back and forth between Era and Culture while you settle. That is both OK and a little expected
  3. Who your Persona is will be heavily influenced by your culture
    • In many ways individuals are direct outcomes of their cultural upbringing. I am not here to start or get into a sociological fight about nature vs. nurture, but we can all agree that what you learned as a child influences how you are as an adult.
  4. Cultures are flexible
    • Most cultures are not completely homogenous. People will disagree on religion, politics, and what foods they like. Your culture should guide your Persona’s actions, not dictate them. I can almost certainly guarantee that not every Norseman liked Salmon. (Although I cannot fathom why one wouldn’t.)

My Process

This one is more difficult for me. I think deciding on a culture for a Persona is a cripplingly huge decision. That said, I have spent a lot of time looking at possibilities and ultimately narrowed down from Northern German, to Anglo-Saxon or Viking, to, ultimately, Anglo-Saxon. In no small part this was because during this period, England was largely ravaged. Everyone was kind of in the same boat from a societal perspective. Kings wore, largely, the same clothing as commoners, just made of slightly better materials. Additionally, I have more experience with the Anglo-Saxon languages than any other ancient languages, and think that language and food are two of the most important things to consider when deciding on a culture for a Persona.

Sidebar: Why language and food? I have always been cursed by thinking in words. I know many people think without an inner monologue, and frankly I envy that. However, because I think in words and speak a few languages, I am acutely aware that language influences just about every aspect of how I see and express the world *internally. A core aspect of my Persona will be how I see the world through their eyes, and I will only be able to do that well by explaining it in terms they would have known.

Food is important because what I eat influences how I feel. I am always happier when I have had good food. The rustic food of Anglo-Saxon England (and the Vikings) are foods that I actively enjoy even in the modern day.

End Sidebar.

Because of these considerations, I now know I will be an Anglo-Saxon man born in 780 C.E. and my current Persona is living in the year 816. This gives me some questions to start considering:

  1. What were major events I would have been impacted by in my life?
    • The raids at Lindesfarne in 793 would have been when I was 13 years old. Meaning the Viking age is beginning, and I would have been aware of the Vikings.
    • It is likely that I would have, in my life, interacted with Norsemen.
  2. Which Kingdom did I live in? Where in the Kingdom was I born?
    • For an interesting time I think my Persona lived in Wessex, so I was there when Ecgbehrt made his comeback.
    • I lived in a small village about a half day’s journey by foot to the very bustling market at Hamwic.
  3. Who was my King?
    • Offa for a long time under Mercian rule, but now that King Ecgberht is back, I am subject to the King of Wessex and all England.
  4. What were the available career paths for my life? (Even though I was likely born into a specific one)
    • I have a lot of opprotunities at this point of history. Most Anglo-Saxons were farmers, but craftsmanship was on the rise.
  5. What is the dominant religion?
    • The Kings of Wessex have been Christian for just over a hundred Years
    • This is complex, but I was raised in a family with Anglo-Saxon pagans. Some of whom converted to Christianity in the last couple of decades.
    • As a Persona, I am unsure of who my Gods are anymore.