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[ Nation Name ]

(Template) Nation
[[File:|300px]]
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National information
Proper Name: [Proper Name of Nation]
Capital: [Name of Capital City]
Population: [# of citizens/subjects]
Demographic: [Racial Demographic]
Government: [Governmental Model]
Leader: [Ruler's name]
Language: [The National Language]
Major Cities:
  • City 1
  • City 2
  • City 3
Imports: [Major Imports]
Exports: [Major Exports]
Religions: [Major Religions]

[Basic Introduction Here]

Physical and Historical Features

Climate and Geography

  • Have human activities affected climate, landscape, etc. in various regions? How? (Example: Sahara Desert growth has been increased by over-farming.) If this is an alternate earth, will the “alternate” part change existing effects? (If there are no people in N. Africa, desert growth is probably slower.)
  • Where are major mountain ranges? Rivers and lakes? Deserts? Forests, tropical and otherwise? Grasslands and plains?

Natural Resources

  • Which areas are the most fertile farmland? Where are mineral resources located?
  • Which natural resources, if any, have been depleted in which areas over time?
  • Which resources (e.g., coal, oil, iron ore, gold, diamonds, limestone, etc.) are particularly abundant, and in which areas? Which are scarce? Are there places where there are rich deposits that haven’t been discovered yet, or where they haven’t been fully exploited?
  • How much conflict has been or might be caused by these imbalances in resources? How much active, peaceful trade?
  • What water resources available, and for what uses (a mill wheel requires flowing water, i.e., river or stream; irrigation needs a large, dependable water source like a lake or large river; etc.)?

History

  • How accessible is this area? What natural features mark the borders? Who are the neighboring countries/peoples and what are they like?
  • Why did people settle in this country in the first place — strategic location, trade route, water transport, minerals, good farming, etc.? Have things changed much since, or do they still depend on whatever brought them in the first place?
  • How do the weapons of this country compare with those of surrounding cities and countries? Have there been recent innovations that may upset the balance of power, or is everyone more or less equal?
  • Who are the rivals or enemies of this country? How close are they physically? How powerful?
  • Who are the heroes and villains of each country’s history (e.g., Washington and Lincoln in the U.S.; Henry V in England, etc.)? Why are they heroes/villains and what do this say about the country and the people who admire them?
  • How many people are there in this country? How does this compare with world population? What is considered a small town/large town/city in terms of number of people?
  • How diverse is the population of this country — how many different races (human or non-human), creeds, etc. normally live in various cities and towns in this country? In what percentages?
  • Is population shifting from rural to urban, south to north, mountains to coast, etc.? Why — invasion, plague, gold rush, etc.? What effects has this had on the places being left? The places gaining people?
  • Is magic legal here? All magic, or only some types? Do laws vary widely from country to country, or is the attitude generally similar?
  • What does this country import? Export? How important is trade to the economy? How is currency exchange handled, and by whom? What is the system of coinage, and who mints it?
  • Which peoples/countries/races have been in conflict in the recent past? Why? When and why was the most recent war? Who won?
  • Which peoples/countries/races fought, allied, traded, or were traditional rivals? Where are there still hard feelings about old events?
  • How much of the country is farmland? Forest? Desert? Mountains? Plains?
  • What are the primary crops (e.g., potatoes, cotton, tobacco, coffee, rice, peanuts, wheat, sugarcane, etc.)? Are any grown mainly for export? What crops can not be grown here because of the soil, climate, or for other reasons?
  • What water resources available, and for what uses (a mill wheel requires flowing water, i.e., river or stream; irrigation needs a large, dependable water source like a lake or large river: etc.)?
  • What wild animals, actual or imaginary, live in this area? Are any of them potentially useful — e.g., for fur, whale oil, hides, magical ingredients, hat feathers?
  • Which animals, actual or imaginary, are commonly domesticated in this area? Which aren’t here, but are elsewhere? (Example: water buffalo in India vs. oxen in Europe vs. camels in desert areas.)
  • How do most of the citizens make their living — farming, fishing, trade, manufacturing? Do non-humans tend to take up different trades from humans? Are they legally limited to certain trades?

Fauna and Flora

  • Which animals, birds, fish, and other wildlife are commonly found in which areas? If there are imaginary animals such as dragons, where do they live?
  • If there are imaginary animals (dragons, unicorns, etc.), how do they fit into the ecology? What do they eat? How much habitat do they require? Can they live anywhere, or do they prefer or need specific kinds of climate or terrain? Are they intelligent and/or capable of working spells, talking, etc.?

People and Culture

Customs

  • Does the weather or climate contribute any habits or customs, such as the mid-afternoon siesta in hot countries?
  • What is considered a normal family unit? How extended is an extended family? How important are family connections and responsibilities?
  • What are the rites of passage in this culture? Are they formalized rituals, such as being dubbed a knight, or are they informal? Are they different for men and women? For nobility and peasants?
  • What customs surround a birth and the introduction of a new child to the family? Is the mother sequestered for some period? Is the child? Is there a formal presentation of the new child to parents, grandparents, overlord, priest? Is a feast and celebration declared, or does everyone keep a low profile to keep from attracting demons or bad luck?
  • Who is normally present for births? Is it strictly a matter for women, or are men involved, or is the only woman present the expectant mother?
  • Who raises the children? At what age do they begin to be educated or trained? By whom? Are they considered mini-adults? Do they dress differently from adults? If so, when do they change to adult dress?
  • What customs surround death and burial? Is there a special class of people (doctors, priests, funeral directors, untouchables) who deal with dead bodies? What things must be done and why (burn hair to free spirit, burn body to prevent necromancy, coins on eyes for ferryman, etc.)? Are the dead feared, revered, or ignored?
  • What personal weapons are available to anyone who can afford them? Are some considered “for nobles only” either by custom or by law? Are there laws forbidding certain classes from being armed at all?

Ethics and Values

  • What will people swear a binding oath by? What do people use as curse words?
  • What is the most desired/most valuable stuff in this society — gold, jewels, drugs, money, furs, reindeer, etc.? Why is it desired/valued? Do different races value different things? Is there a race/culture for whom non-material things (information, time) are the most valuable things? How did they get that way?
  • What things are considered normal and acceptable in this society that would not be considered normal or acceptable in yours? (Examples: dueling, drugs, open homosexuality, polygamy, infanticide.)
  • What things are considered shocking in this society that are not considered shocking in yours — e.g., showing a woman’s ankles, eating left-handed, reading in public? What would be the reaction of an ordinary person who sees someone doing one of these things — to turn away, call the cops, draw a sword and challenge the offender to a duel, etc.?
  • What are the acceptable limits to honor and/or honesty in this society? Are “white lies” acceptable socially, or is lying in any form considered beyond the pall? Is thievery an accepted, if disreputable, occupation, or is it a crime?
  • Is a binding oath unbreakable no matter what, or can you get out of it if the other party turns out to be evil scum or if you weren’t fully informed? What is considered the right thing to do if two oaths come into conflict — do you have to decide as best you can, hold to the most recent oath, hold to the oath to the most/least powerful person, commit suicide?
  • What are attitudes toward ownership? What constitutes “theft” and what can be stolen — gems, gold, someone’s good name or reputation? Are thieves independent criminals, members of an illegal guild, business people licensed by law, or what?
  • Who is considered a citizen, with the rights and privileges thereof? What are those rights and privileges (voting, protection from thieves, the right to a hearing in Rome) and what responsibilities go along with them (jury duty, providing funds or knights for the lord’s army?
  • Are there certain classes of people (wizards, foreigners, children, peasants, women) who have fewer legal rights or less recourse than full citizens? Why? Are they considered mentally or morally deficient, a danger to the state, or is there some other rationale?
  • Is there a group of people who do not have full rights in this culture? Why not? Are they considered mentally or morally deficient, a danger to the state, or is there some other rational?
  • What are the controversial subjects in this culture? What things can you start a friendly argument about in any bar? What things will automatically start an unfriendly argument?
  • What are the social taboos — what things are “not done,” like wearing a bathing suit to the office? What things are not talked about? What would happen if someone did? How do these taboos vary among the different races?
  • What are the biggest social faux pas — burping loudly at a formal banquet, drawing steel in the presence of a queen/noble, asking a dwarf whether it’s male or female? What subjects or actions cause embarrassment or discomfort?
  • What are the society’s mores regarding courtship, marriage and family? Is marriage primarily a civil or a religious institution?
  • Who are the persons or groups to which one automatically has a duty simply by being born — one’s family, one’s town/city, one’s country, one’s ruler/president, the gods? What is the hierarchy of duty among them — is it considered more noble to follow your mother’s teaching or to follow your emperor’s orders?
  • What are the standards of beauty for people? Paintings and sculpture? Clothes and furniture? How do they differ from the standards in your culture (example: a country which considers fatness a highly desirable beauty trait)? How do standard of beauty reflect the physical traits of the various races (examples: dwarves might consider excessive height unattractive; werewolves might be attracted by long teeth or a particular scent)?
  • Who are this culture’s historic heroes and villains (e.g., Washington and Lincoln in the U.S.; Henry V in England, etc.)? Why are they admired as heroes/villains and what does this say about the people who admire them?
  • What is the ideal life that people aspire to? Do people mostly want to retire to a little house in the country, buy the most “toys,” serve in the army/navy?
  • What kinds of people are the rebels and outcasts of this society? How does society deal with them? What actions or ideas will get you made an official outcast/exile? What happens to people who don’t fit the accepted social order — do they have their own sections of town, or are they invisible (“in the closet”), or do they get kicked out of the country altogether?
  • Who are the arbiters of ethics (as opposed to law)? How did they get to be arbiters? Who are the social arbiters? Ditto, ditto.
  • Which ethical/moral decisions are considered the province of religion, and which are not?

Social Organization

Government

  • What is the basic style of government: feudal, aristocratic, oligarchy, absolute ruler, democracy, what? What forms are used in neighboring countries, and why are they the same or different?
  • What services does the government or head of state provide: schools, wells, courts, an army to protect people from the Vikings? What services are provided locally or privately?
  • Who has the right to levy taxes? For what? On what or whom? Can taxes be paid in kind, or do certain things require money?
  • Who provides support services for the head of state? What are they called: King’s Counselors, Cabinet Ministers, Secretary of State, Good Ol’ Girls? Are they hereditary offices, civil servants, appointees, military, elected?
  • Is the relative power of a country or ruler usually measured by the size of its army, the number and ability of its wizards, or the amount of money/trade flowing through it?
  • Who is considered a citizen, with the rights and privileges thereof? What are those rights and privileges (voting, protection from thieves, the right to a hearing in Rome) and what responsibilities go along with them (jury duty, providing funds or knights for the lord’s army?
  • Are there certain classes of people (wizards, foreigners, children, peasants, women) who have fewer legal rights or less recourse than full citizens? Why? Are they considered mentally or morally deficient, a danger to the state, or is there some other rationale?
  • What are the easiest/most common ways to advance in status — amass more money, marry well, get the ruler’s eye, etc.? How much resistance is there to someone advancing in social status?
  • Who will take over running the government if the current head of state is incapacitated? How is this determined? Is there an heir apparent (either actual or political)? What happens if the heir is a minor? Who gives orders? How are they picked?
  • Who is responsible for protecting the head of state? His personal guard, the Secret Service, an elite group affiliated with the regular military? What safeguards have they got against assassins, poisoning, direct assault, magical attack?
  • Who can give orders (to military, to tax collectors, to servants, to ordinary folks on the street)? How are such people chosen?
  • Who is responsible for coinage: the ruler, local barons, someone else (merchant guilds)? Are there generally acceptable standards? How easy/common is counterfeiting?
  • Is there an organized system of education? If so, who provides it: government, churches, private persons? How is it supported?
  • Who can call up men for an army, and how? Does the ruler ask the nobility for men, who in turn draft their peasants, or can the ruler go straight to the bottom?
  • How much formal spying and intelligence gathering is normally done by governments? The military? Merchant guilds and wealthy tradesmen? Are there actual organizations, or is spying done by diplomats and/or freelance agents? How effective is it currently?
  • Do relations between countries depend mainly on the relations between the heads of state, or can two rulers hate each other’s guts without being able to just declare war and drag their countries into it?
  • Are there times when people are expected to fast, or feast (e.g., before solstice, after the birth of a child, during Lent or Ramadan, after the death of a ruler, etc.)? Are there occasions when the ruler is expected to provide a celebration or spectacle for the people to enjoy, (e.g., the Roman gladiatorial games)?

Politics

  • Are magicians a force in politics, or are they above it? Are there national politics that revolve around magic/wizards (i.e., trying to outlaw, protect, or promote certain kinds of magic, trying to draft wizards into a ruler’s army, licensing of magicians, etc.)? Do wizards have a lobby? Do they need one?
  • Is there tension, rivalry, or outright hostility between any of the actual gods? How does this affect church politics? People’s everyday lives?
  • Does the level of technological advancement match the level of social and political advancement?
  • Is the relative power of a country or ruler usually measured by the size of its army, the number and ability of its wizards, or the amount of money/trade flowing through it?
  • What are the easiest/most common ways to advance in status — amass more money, marry well, get the ruler’s eye, etc.? How much resistance is there to someone advancing in social status?
  • What are the major political factions at present? How long have they been around? Which factions are allies, which enemies? Are there any potential new forces on the political scene (e.g., a rising middle class, a university gaining unexpected power because of certain magical discoveries, etc.)
  • What are the controversial political issues of this day/time/country? What positions on these issues are considered conservative? Liberal? Unthinkable?
  • How much influence do “special interest groups” such as merchants, wizards, or various religions, have on court politics? How do they exercise their influence — indirectly (by talking nobility or council members into taking their sides) or directly (by bribery, coercion, having their own representatives on the council)?
  • Are there any shaky political alliances between disparate groups? Why were they formed? How long is it likely to be before they fall apart? When they do, what will the effects be?
  • What ancient rivalries and hatreds still affect current attitudes and political positions (examples: Scottish and Welsh separatist groups; Catholics vs. Protestants vs. Muslims; dwarves vs. elves; Hatfields vs. McCoys)?
  • What kinds of people are likely to face prejudice: dwarves, werewolves, merchants, women, undertakers? Is this institutionalized (i.e., a matter of law) or is it mostly a matter of public attitude? Is the ruler powerful enough to defy this prejudice and appoint a dwarf as Chief Councilor or Secretary of Defense and make it work?
  • Who will take over running the government if the current head of state is incapacitated? How is this determined? Is there an heir apparent (either actual or political)? What happens if the heir is a minor?
  • Are there people who have great influence on government/politics, but who do not hold any official position? Who are they? Why do they have influence? Is this considered a normal thing, or a bad thing?

Crime and Law

  • How has the presence of magic and magicians affected law and government? Are wizards barred from certain kinds of government jobs or offices (judge, jury, police)? Do some government jobs require that their holder be a wizard?
  • What are considered normal and legal ways of gathering evidence and determining guilt? Is torture allowed? Are arbitrary judgments by the lord or landowner allowed, or is there an independent standard of justice?
  • What personal weapons are available to anyone who can afford them? Are some considered “for nobles only” either by custom or by law? Are there laws forbidding certain classes from being armed at all? Are there laws requiring certain classes to learn particular weapon skills, as England for some centuries required yeomen to be proficient with the longbow?
  • Is forensic magic possible? Commonly used? Used only for certain types of crimes (and if so, what)? Are the results of forensic spells admissible in court as evidence? Is it something any wizard can do, or do you have to specialize?
  • Are certain spells (as opposed to magic generally) illegal? Why — because of the effect of the spell, or because of the ingredients or procedures needed to cast it, or what? If so, how would a criminal magician be detected? Apprehended? Punished? Is catching and punishing illegal magicians the responsibility of the magician’s guild, or do the ordinary courts have to handle it?
  • Are there separate civil and criminal courts? Human and non-human courts? Is there a separate court or procedure for magical crimes? What is different about each type of court? Are judges or other court officials required/forbidden to know magic? Is evidence obtained by magic acceptable in court? Is evidence obtained by magic considered more reliable or less reliable than physical evidence or eyewitness accounts?
  • What things are considered truly serious crimes and why? (E.g., in a trade-oriented culture, counterfeiting might be a death-penalty crime, while in a place where life is cheap, murder might be something you pay a small fine for.)
  • What are the normal punishments for serious vs. minor crimes? Are there prisons, or are people punished and released? Are there degrees of punishment — branding vs. cutting off ears vs. cutting off a hand vs. decapitation — or do they just hang everybody?
  • Who is responsible for catching criminals? Who pays the crook-catchers — the ruler, the city government, a consortium of merchants, somebody else? How are they organized — into independent police precincts, or into overlapping districts, or just according to whoever wants to hire them? Are they full-time, part-time, or volunteers? Private or public? What sort of facilities do they have? What arms are the allowed to carry?
  • Are there lawyers or advocates? Who can afford them? Who trains/certifies them?
  • Are people guilty until proven innocent, innocent until proven guilty, or does it depend on the mood the lord is in when they bring the case before him?
  • Are there judges other than the ruler, lord, or landowner? If so, how are they chosen, how are they paid, and who pays them? Are appeals possible, and if so, to whom? How often are outlying areas likely to see a judge? Is “mob justice” common or uncommon? Approved of or disapproved of?
  • Are there sumptuary laws regulating what different classes/races may wear? Do judges and lawyers wear special clothes (robes, wigs) to indicate their calling?
  • Are wizards above or below the law — i.e., do they have full rights as citizens, no rights, or can they do as they like without regard to anyone else’s rights?
  • Are highwaymen, muggers, and pirates common or rare? What sorts of crimes is the average citizen likely to run across during his/her lifetime?
  • Who can make or repeal laws — a group (an elected Senate, an appointed Council, or an hereditary House of Lords), or only the ruler or head of state? How much can the nobility, middle class tradesmen, etc. influence the laws that are made?
  • How are alleged criminals treated before and after their convictions? Do the police/military/city guard make a practice of roughing up suspects, or is this frowned upon?

Foreign Relations

  • Does this country have formal relationships with other countries? If so, who can be an ambassador? Are there standing embassies and consulates, or are special envoys sent only when something comes up?
  • How are treaties arranged? Are there any significant ones currently in force or coming up for signing?
  • How much do official attitudes toward other countries affect commerce and trade? Do merchants pretty much ignore tensions between government as long as they can make a profit, or will this get them into trouble? Are there Customs inspectors or their equivalents at border crossings? Is the export/import of some technologies/magics/commodities regulated by the government, or by non-governmental cartels? How does this affect political relationships between countries?
  • How much formal spying and intelligence gathering is normally done by governments? The military? Merchant guilds and wealthy tradesmen? Are there actual organizations, or is spying done by diplomats and/or freelance agents? How effective is it currently?
  • Which countries/races are traditional allies? Which are traditional rivals? How do these traditions affect present-day relations between countries and races?
  • Which heads of state are related by blood or marriage, and how important is this in determining foreign policy?

Daily Life

Fashion

  • What do people wear? How expensive is it? Can the material be produced locally, or must some or all of it be imported?
  • Are weapons a standard part of dress for any/all segments of society?
  • Are certain clothes customary for certain occupations — e.g., military uniforms, judges robes/wigs, sports teams uniforms, etc.? How much variation is allowed — could a scholar wear a day-glow green robe as long as the cut is right, or would that be too much? Is it color or style that is most important?
  • Are the dyes for certain colors — purple, indigo, etc. — rare, making cloth of that color more expensive and/or reserved for nobility or other high-status people?
  • Are there sumptuary laws, defining who can wear what? What are the penalties? Who decides when changes are needed? How often are they adjusted?
  • Are there fashions/fads in things besides clothes — styles of carriages, furniture, etc.?
  • Are there fashions/fads in magic — are herbal spells “in” this year and ritual spells “out,” or vice versa?
  • How many changes of clothes can a normal person afford? A noble person? A peasant?
  • What is the current fashion in clothes? Hats? Jewelry? Shoes? Do such fashions differ for humans/non-humans? Between city and country?
  • What materials are appropriate to the climate? What materials must be imported, and are therefore for expensive upper-class clothes only?
  • What things are considered tacky and vulgar, and what things are stylish?
  • What types of decorations and accessories are common? What colors and combinations of colors are thought to look well or to clash? Do opinions on this vary from race to race?
  • What physical types and characteristics are currently fashionable — tan vs. pale skin, the “consumptive look” vs. robust good health, fat vs. thin, blonde vs. brunette, muscles vs. “dead poet”, etc.?
  • How do non-human fashions reflect their physiology? Do dragons dress for dinner? Do mermaids have a nudity taboo?

Manners

  • What distinguishes a formal, high-court dinner from an ordinary meal besides quantity and variety of food? How do high-court manners differ from everyday ones?
  • What are the rules of precedence — who gets to go through doors first? Who gets introduced first?
  • Is there a distinction between “formal” or high court good manners and informal, everyday good manners? When and where are people supposed to be on their best behavior?
  • How important are “good manners” in this society? What constitutes everyday good manners? How do “good manners” differ from race to race? How do people/dwarves/elves/dragons react when someone has just been, by their standards, unspeakably rude?
  • When a guest arrives, is food or drink offered immediately, after an interval, or only on request? Is there a particular food or drink that is customary to offer a newly arrived guest?

Food

  • What dishes are considered holiday food? What foods/drinks are associated with particular holidays, events (e.g., funerals, weddings) or times of the year?
  • What distinguishes a formal, high-court dinner from an ordinary meal, besides quantity and variety of food? How do high-court manners differ from everyday ones?
  • When a guest arrives, is food or drink offered immediately, after an interval, or only on request? Is there a particular food or drink that is customary to offer a newly arrived guest? A guest who is just departing (stirrup cup)?
  • Is sanitation good enough for untreated water to be safe to drink? If not, what do people drink instead?
  • What things, while edible, are never eaten (what’s not kosher)? Why? Are some common human foods poisonous to dwarves or elves (or vice versa)?
  • Given the magical/technological level of this society, what is an appropriate ration of farmers or food producers to urban residents? If farm production is based on magic, how many urban residents are going to starve if the spells supporting farming (weather, land fertility, etc.) fail suddenly?
  • How many meals are considered normal in a day? When are they served? Which are substantial and which are smaller? Are certain foods (e.g., eggs and bacon) reserved mainly for a particular meal?
  • What dishes or seasonings would be considered typical of this area? What wines or beers?
  • What foods are considered peasant food? What foods are staples, commonly eaten every day? What foods are rare? What foods are normally eaten cooked/raw?
  • What is the food like? What herbs and spices are readily available, and what must be imported? How common/expensive are imported foods and spices?
  • What spices and herbs are produced locally, and which are rare and expensive? Which are most commonly used? Do people tend to like highly spiced food or not?
  • How is food preserved for use during the off-season — smoking, canning, salting, drying, etc.? How reliable are the methods used — how often does “preserved” food spoil?
  • When food is in limited supply, who gets first crack? The laborers and farmers who have to work to produce more, or the children who are the next generation, or the wise and revered elders, or the nobility?
  • What foods and seasonings do non-humans like, and how do these differ from those favored by humans? Are some foods poisonous or distasteful to one species that are delicacies or necessary to another?
  • Are there times when people are expected to fast (e.g., before solstice, after the birth of a child, during Lent or Ramadan, after the death of a ruler, etc.)?
  • Given the state of roads and transportation, how much food is it possible to ship to a given location before it spoils? (This limits the size of cities.)

Education

  • How much does it cost to get various levels of education?
  • Is there an organized system of education? If so, who provides it: government, churches, private persons? How is it supported? Is magic considered part of the general college curriculum, or do you have to study it privately?
  • What sort of education is available, and where? Are there schoolhouses in every town, or do ordinary people have to travel if they want to be educated? Are there universities? Private tutors?
  • What is the level of literacy in the general population? Is literacy considered a useful/necessary skill for nobility, or something only scribes/clerks/wimps/bourgeoisie need? How common are books? How are they produced?
  • Who are the teachers? How are they trained? Who pays them?
  • How much education is considered usual at each of the various levels or classes of society? What things are considered absolutely necessary for a gentleman/noble to know? A tradesman?
  • What things are considered absolutely necessary knowledge for a courtier (poetry, languages, skill at arms, etc.)? Which are nice but not necessary? Which would be highly embarrassing if anybody found out about them (a passion for comic books, etc.)?
  • How respected are teachers and scholars? Who supports them?
  • If magic requires study, where do you go to learn about it? How do people fund their training? Is there an apprenticeship system, or are there wizard schools, or is it one-on-one tutoring/mentoring? Is an untrained wizard dangerous, or just an ordinary person?