Day 8 - Local Peoples & Cultures
Day 8-Tell us about the local peoples and their cultures.
Describe the people and their Species, Nationalities, and other identifying features.
Elowen's Journal
"When I first arrived in West Haven, I could not stop staring. I had never seen so many different kinds of people in one place before. At home, everyone fit into neat categories. Humans, a few elves, the occasional dwarf passing through. Here, the streets felt like they were unfolding into something larger every time I turned a corner.
Now I do not notice it the same way. They are neighbors. Friends. People who wave when they see me and ask how my parents are doing. There are tieflings who look like devils but have never once been unkind to me. Goblins like Doireann, who splash through puddles and laugh too loudly. Gnomes everywhere, running inns and kitchens and making sure no one leaves hungry. I even know a trolla, Grýlka, who is bigger than most doorways and a lot smarter than she lets on. Esmé says she herself is from another world entirely and came here by magic. Aisling says the same, but she never talks about where she is from, and I have learned that some questions are better left unasked. Larina even said she spent a month and a half as a fox, but I am not sure whether she was teasing me or telling the truth. Reality is different for witches.
What still stands out most, though, are the dead. There are more ghosts here than anywhere I have ever seen. No one talks about it, and yet everyone knows. They linger at the edges of crowds, in doorways, near the fountain. The living make room without meaning to. I think West Haven draws in those who do not fit elsewhere, living or not. And somehow, it makes space for all of us."
Designer's Notes
West Haven is intentionally inclusive in both population and tone. While the mechanical roots may lie in AD&D 1st Edition, the social philosophy leans more toward modern sensibilities. This is a place where misfits, outsiders, and the unusual are not just tolerated but expected. If a species is sentient, whether living or dead, there is a place for it here.
That inclusivity is not accidental.
Witches are the cultural glue that makes it work. Their presence normalizes difference, manages spiritual overflow, and enforces boundaries without erasing identity. The unusually high number of ghosts in West Haven is a feature, not a bug. The town attracts the lingering because it knows how to live alongside them. In contrast, East Haven's population dynamics are more traditionally oriented, closer to a classic AD&D model. West Haven, by design, lets diversity run wild. It is a place where the strange can call home, and where players are free to explore identity, culture, and belonging without needing justification beyond the simple fact that West Haven exists.
West Haven is by intent and design a place where the strange, the exotic, and the wonderful can call home.
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6 comments:
What exactly are 'modern sensibilities'? As someone who was a misfit in the original 1e days, then we allowed everyone at the table, and that was a mentality impressed upon me by my grandmother, who was born in 1917. Looking at the world of today it seems much less inclusive than it was.
"Modern sensibilities" in this case refer to character options. I am talking about characters only, I think you are talking about players.
I think the "inclusive" fantasy city kind of makes sense as a default expectation in RPGs these days. Most games eventually gain options for species, backgrounds, and ways of life that lead to the creation of an endless number of "nonconforming" individuals. If only a narrow band of character traits is socially acceptable in the setting...well, that's kind of a weird and limiting way to begin exploration of a fantastic world. It seems more valuable to let descriptions of cultural conformity in the setting be important in setting the tone of the universe.
Yes, thank you for clarifying, we are still on the same page. I was thinking that maybe you had lost the plot. ;)
Bottom line for me. West Haven has to look "weird." I want all sorts of characters here. East Haven has to look "normal." That's where we go if we want a solid AD&D campaign base. It is where many analogues of my AD&D characters are. The Church of Light's patron saint IS my AD&D human paladin. So I just want a nice contrast between to the two locales.
Too me, and 'modern audiences' (I teach Roleplaying Studies on a college campus, two public libraries have me lecture and run games and my own game has mostly younger players) when playing a 'medieval fantasy game' players tend to stick to the usual suspects now, eschewing the edgy tieflings and dragonfolk (I realize Balrog and Dragon were OD&D options in '74) and this surprises me. If running something like West's Black Pudding variant or BoL/S&S Codex for Everywhen it does get MORE gonzo than less. Yag-kosha is cool because he is mysterious and unique, there isn't one of his kind on every corner. And of course, your world should look he way that you want it to and be fluid for new things. New player wanted to play a tabaxi/rakasta type character due to a recent local incident. I was behind it 110%.
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