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Sorry for the repost, as I originally posted this in Advice, then discovered the homebrew forum after the delete window had closed
In an attempt to offer my players some greater character customization without having to jump into a pile of supplement books (though that is fun), I've decided to try seperating the races into species and culture.
Making the species has been easy. I've simply taken the races, stripped away everything except stat adjustments, resistances and perception traits (dark vision, keen senses, etc). I've monkied with them a bit to maintain balance between them all. Right now, the core races look like this:
Dwarf - +2 Con, +2 Wis, -2 Dex. Darkvision 60'. +2 Fort. Slow & Steady (20' base speed, never decreased by armor)
Elf - +2 Dex, +2 Int, -2 Con, Low-light vision, Keen Senses, +2 Will, 30' base speed
Gnome - +2 Con, +2 Cha, -2 Str, Low light vision, Keen Senses, +2 Will, Small, 20' base speed
Half-Elf - +2 to one stat, Low Light vision, Keen Senses, +2 to one save, or +1 to two. 30' base speed
Half-Orc - +2 to one stat, Darkvision 60', +2 to one save, or +1 to two. 30' base speed. Orc Ferocity.
Halfling - +2 Dex, +2 Cha, -2 Str, Low Light vision, Keen Senses, +1 to all saves, small, 20' base speed.
Human -+2 to one stat, +2 to one save, or +1 to two, skilled (+1 skill point each level) 30' base speed.
The problem comes in when trying to codify culture. There are so many factors to consider. Social rank & structure. Location. Religion. Government. etc. etc.
The simplest way I can think is to grant each character a human "Heart of the ..." alternate racial trait two additional "cultural" skills that get a +2 bonus, two traits and a feat that reflect the nature of the culture (e.g. a militant culture gets weapon proficiencies and some benefits to combat).
Has anyone else attempted this or made rules for this kind of system?
I did something similar. The general outline can be found HERE.
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I think Amanuensis' idea that a culture is represented by a feat and one or two weapon proficiencies is a good one, and the idea of using a trait for occupation/profession within a culture. Location & government both fold into culture, and religion sometimes does as well, though in some settings it might be appropriate to instead represent religion with a separate trait like occupation.
The feat could be one that grants skill bonuses if appropriate, or you could replace weapon familiarity/proficiency with a skill bonus for a peaceful culture.
The species traits could use more thought, though. I feel Amanuensis has taken too much away from races that have more cultural traits (particularly halflings and gnomes, as mentioned in the linked post) but in search of balance, you Rawhead have over-homogenized some racial differences that really ought to be biological, like elven immunities becoming +2 will and dwarven resistances becoming +2 fort. It's frankly a little boring.
Thanks for the input folks!
Weirdo, I was a little worried about my species becoming a little boring, but I was also operating with the idea that the real flavor of a person comes from that person's upbringing and decisions made that ultimately decide who he or she is. Therefore, I think they will look less boring once everything has been pulled together, species and culture.
On another note, I recently read a Tor review of the advanced race guide and I felt it made some good points about the fragmented bonuses the races get. I mean, I understand dwarves being more resistant to poisons, but I don't see why that can't be translated into a flat fort save buff. As for the dwarven magic resistances, those are really just a hold out from original D&D and AD&D when dwarves couldn't be wizards of any stripe, and I feel no longer have a place in a system where a dwarven arcane caster is a distinct possibility.
That being said, and please don't take what I've said as a dismissal of your point, Weirdo, do you have any suggestions for a way in which the races could be streamlined that wouldn't make them boring?
The races in the CRB represent certain basic concepts how man (in the broadest sense of the term) interacts with the world: humans are versatile, halflings adapt to their surroundings, elves are evasive, dwarves endure, gnomes are innovators, halforcs represent man's struggle with their bestial nature. This kind of racial essentialism is legitimate for a fantasy role playing game that heavily focuses on the strife between different philosophies, but it also leads to racial stereotypes.
Therefore, making the races look more bland is, to some extent, part of the objective. Of course, you can still create cultural backgrounds that are strongly influenced by the traditional racial concepts (a dwarf raised in a dwarven clan hold would look very similar to the CRB dwarf). And in fact, I wouldn't set aside racial stereotypes completely - they probably still play a big role in the game setting - I just don't want to force my players into a corset.
How far you go with streamlining the races is really up to you. I believe that races should have distinctive features that give a player a good impression what they are about. I am not a big fan of conditional bonuses, since players tend to forget them most of the time, but I wouldn't throw them over board entirely. The race builder from ARG can give you some ideas for racial features and offers a system that allows you to estimate the worth of specific abilities.
I agree that in my outline, I took away too much from the small races and this should be mitigated. Adding the ratfolk's swarming ability to all small races would be one of several possibilities to give these races a boost.
I generally dont go that complicated. For an all-human game for example, I treated Human ("central")/Half Orc ("savage")/Elf ("western")/Dwarf ("northern")/Halfling ("southern") as different ethnicities of human, for the sake of mecanical diversity. Each ethnicity has their origin, but they are all basically human.
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APG's alternate racial features do an OK job of handling cultural variations within the same race. No sense in reinventing that, IMHO.
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I'm currently in a home game of Rise of the Runelords where all five of us chose to be human. We have two Shoanti, a Tien (member of the Kaijitsu family), and two Chelaxians. Just by playing into the differences in those cultures we've been able to have quite a bit of fun, and we're all playing with very similar options.
Even if every single one of them picked human, or dwarf, or halfling, you should still have no issue with saying "here be wanderers, here be civilized conquerers, here be isolationist tribals".
Ciaran, I'm not just trying to reinvent the variations offered by the alternate racial features, I'm trying to go far beyond what those choices offer. For instance, despite the options available, dwarves remain grumpy, stubborn, tough members of a structured warrior race best suited for fighters and clerics. It does not address the possibility of a dwarf that was raised away from a structured dwarven clanhold. What if the dwarf was raised in a city ruled by a mage college? where would s/he have learned the martial skills inherent to dwarves?
Amanuensis, You did an excellent job explaining the root of what you and I are trying to do by seperating species and culture.
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That being said, and please don't take what I've said as a dismissal of your point, Weirdo, do you have any suggestions for a way in which the races could be streamlined that wouldn't make them boring?
I certainly don't take it as a dismissal. You, Amanuesis, and the Tor review make good points about why going back to basics would be a good thing. They might indeed look much more interesting when the cultures are added back in. On closer reflection, my design goal would be to have one trait for each species that's not +X to Y (and isn't darkvision or low-light vision).
Dwarves: Ok as-is. While I personally like the resistance to poison, the +2 Fort does a decent job of representing dwarven toughness, and slow & steady qualifies enough for the interesting feature. However, if you add the traits below dwarves will look a little weak so I might also let them reduce ACP by 1 (representing not training, but the fact that they are built in a way that armour doesn't hinder them much).
Elves: Keep elven immunity to sleep since it's iconic and not a fiddly +2 bonus that you'll forget when the time comes.
Gnome: Keep spell-like abilities. The illusion focus seems cultural but a charisma-based cantrip is innate magic. For balance, give them only dancing lights and prestidigitation.
Half-elf: Extra class skill of their choice - a lesser version of the humans' skilled trait.
Half-orc: Fine, orc ferocity does the trick. They're still balanced.
Halfling: Tricky. Maybe give them the "swift as shadows" ARG trait - halving penalties for stealth while moving - since stealth is about as iconic as halflings get.
Human: Fine, skilled is good and humans are still balanced.
Excellent comments!
Dropping the Gnomish spell-like abilities was one of the things I was most on the fence about, and I really like the limited form you've suggested. My hesitation was mainly focused on the fact that it's clearly stated in the CRB that it's an inborn ability. All the little gnomelings are not sent to cantrip preschool. Or, perhaps, giving them the full selection of spell like abilities, but dropping or limiting their saving throw bonus?
Though I like the suggestions, I'm hesitant to add armor related traits to the races because i feel that it's a bit of a stretch to imagine them not being learned traits. I don't know if you've ever worn armor, but it sucks, and despite the average dwarf being way more solidly built than me, bearing the armor and moving in the armor are two different things.
I've really no problem with the stealth trait, as I could see a species evolving as quick and sneaky in order to gain some advantage on larger competition. However, being small already grants an edge to stealth, and the added trait, as you've already noted, might create a power imbalance between them and the other races.
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Or, perhaps, giving them the full selection of spell like abilities, but dropping or limiting their saving throw bonus?
Good idea!
I've really no problem with the stealth trait, as I could see a species evolving as quick and sneaky in order to gain some advantage on larger competition. However, being small already grants an edge to stealth, and the added trait, as you've already noted, might create a power imbalance between them and the other races.
Then maybe give them stealth and/or acrobatics as an automatic class skill? That wouldn't lead to crazy stealthy halflings but means all halflings regardless of class have a bit of a knack for it. Alternatively halflings have a lesser reputation for the gift of gab, so you might award them an extra bonus language of their choice at character creation. Neither of those are terribly powerful but they give halflings a species quirk other than "small humans." Normally the "lucky" +1 to all saves does that, but all the species now have broader saving throw bonuses so it's less unique.
Though I like the suggestions, I'm hesitant to add armor related traits to the races because i feel that it's a bit of a stretch to imagine them not being learned traits. I don't know if you've ever worn armor, but it sucks, and despite the average dwarf being way more solidly built than me, bearing the armor and moving in the armor are two different things.
Yeah, I'm not a big fan either but all of their obviously inborn things are the kind of circumstantial +2/+4 you're trying to avoid, and they are a bit behind some of the other races. Slow but Steady is interesting but overall a disadvantage - they move slower than other medium creatures when wearing light armour. Compare to half-orc. Both have equal darkvision and could have +2 Fort, the half-orc moves faster in light armour and the same speed in medium or heavy, and also has orc ferocity. Depending on how strong you want the cultural traits to be, I would either give the Dwarf an additional +1 Will (dwarves have a reputation for stubbornness) or reduce or remove the saving throw bonuses that other races get.
That is a good point. It makes half-orcs, rules wise, possibly an upgraded dwarf. Do you think darkvision and ferocity are enough to make Half-Orcs a viable option without the saving throw bonus? Or should half-elves and half-orcs be restricted to just the +1 to two saving throws.
How about this:
Slow and Steady - Dwarves have a base speed of 20', but this speed is never lessened by armor or a medium load. Additionally, the total check penalty from armor and encumbrance is reduced by 3 (minimum 0) for any strength based skills.
Gnomish Magic - spell-like abilities granted as per the CRB, but with dancing lights and prestidigitation accessible to CHA 11. (Drop gnomish saving throws.)
Halfling speed - when using stealth, halflings may move their normal speed, taking only a -3 penalty to sneak.
Any particular reason, Headfirst?
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Any particular reason, Headfirst?
Because there's already a small race with a +2 to charisma and -2 to strength. It's kind of redundant.
Also, because I really miss the iconic image of the bespectacled gnomish bookworm studying arcane tomes. I think this alteration of attributes would get gnomes back into classes where they belong, like wizards and alchemists.
While the gnomish engineer/scientist is an enticing archetype, I've never really seen gnomes as wizards. I mean, going back to AD&D, they've always been best at trickery and illusion when it comes to magic, and in most representations of them in literature, the most dedicated and studious are the ones coming up with great inventions or alchemical discoveries. Additionally, while both craft and knowledge are Int based skills, those inclinations, in my opinion, would be better expressed as skill bonuses rather than an int buff, and that would put it more into the cultural range than the species range.
You are, however, correct about the stat lines for gnomes and halflings being similiar. Do you think the races as a whole still feel redundant with the additions of gnomish magic and halfling speed mentioned above?
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While the gnomish engineer/scientist is an enticing archetype, I've never really seen gnomes as wizards.
That's odd considering that in every edition of D&D up until 3.0 they were always built to be wizards. Most RPGs that include gnomes make them out to be wizards, tinkers, engineers, alchemists, or inventors, all intelligence-based classes.
I mean, going back to AD&D, they've always been best at trickery and illusion when it comes to magic, and in most representations of them in literature, the most dedicated and studious are the ones coming up with great inventions or alchemical discoveries. Additionally, while both craft and knowledge are Int based skills, those inclinations, in my opinion, would be better expressed as skill bonuses rather than an int buff, and that would put it more into the cultural range than the species range.
I've always preferred simple designs to complicated ones. It seems like a simple +2 to Intelligence sums up everything you just said without having to break it down into several skill and situational bonuses. For your cultural bonuses, you can break gnomes down into crafters, spellcasters, tinkers, etc since all those are based on intelligence.
You are, however, correct about the stat lines for gnomes and halflings being similiar. Do you think the races as a whole still feel redundant with the additions of gnomish magic and halfling speed mentioned above?
Sure, they have their differences. I just don't see the point of having both small races have nearly identical stat arrays. Why not diversify them a bit?
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I've seen a suggestion to give gnomes +2 to any mental stat, which supports multiple gnome archetypes and seems like a good idea to me.
Your suggestions are fine. I do think half-orcs are viable without the saving throw bonus. As-is, they're probably the strongest species. The normal race is considered at least average and they lose only an intimidate bonus and weapon familiarity - and gain a +2 save bonus which is at least as good as what they lost. Half-elves also come out about even: they lose skill focus and a second favourite class but +2 to a save is about even with elven immunities. So really I think the easiest fix would be to drop the save bonus from the half-humans, or at least reduce it to +1 to one save.
Dwarves lose a lot. +2 Fort is roughly on par with Hardy (since it applies to all Fort saves but not not to Will saves vs spells). They then lose combat bonuses vs creature types, a decent weapon familiarity, stability, free perception vs stone traps, and a circumstantial +2 perception and appraise. -2 Dex is also generally a worse stat adjustment than -2 Cha. Now dwarves are a pretty strong race to start with, but they're not strong enough that they can lose 2/3 of their features and be on par with races that have lost at most 1/3 of theirs.
Gnomes lost almost as much as dwarves but for some reason still seem interesting to me as long as they have gnome magic.
Sorry for the delay, guys. Between issues with various computers and the forums having issues last night, I haven't been able to properly respond. I'll try again this evening.
That's odd considering that in every edition of D&D up until 3.0 they were always built to be wizards.
Would you mind quoting your sources? In my experience, it wasn't until 3.0 that gnomes were actually expected to be wizards. Starting with Chainmail, gnomes were a slightly slimmer, wrinklier version of dwarves. In fact, they didn't even receive separate racial features until AD&D 1st. At this point, they gained illusionist as a playable class, but were unable to focus on any other type of magic, not even divine.
With AD&D 2nd, they regain access to divine magic, but their ability to use arcane magic remains limited. In fact, they maintain the standard dwarven resistance to magic and thus suffer a 20% chance of failure in any attempt to use a magic item that's not melee (weapons, armor & shields) or illusion related. Yes, the gnomish ability adjustments in this edition are +1 Int, -1 Wis, but the rest of their racial abilities are the racial combat bonuses of dwarves. The player's handbook even mentions that the stat adjustments are to reflect their intense, but sometimes dangerous, inquisitiveness.
At this point, the only gnomes that are truly noted for their intellectual pursuits are the tinker gnomes from the Dragonlance campaign setting. These, however, are more the mad inventor types rather than dedicated masters of deep knowledge and arcane secrets. (They’re more interested in high explosives and catapult elevators).
With the advent of 3.0, we finally come to the first edition in which gnomes are truly expected to be wizards, in that their favored class is illusionist. This focus is short-lived, however, as with the release of 3.5, their favored class becomes bard. (really wishing I had a 3.0 PHB to compare the stat line with that in the 3.5)
All in all, gnomes have more of a history with being dedicated creative types, most often working in precious stones and metals, but sometimes using illusion magic, experimental machinery and alchemy as their art forms.
I've seen a suggestion to give gnomes +2 to any mental stat, which supports multiple gnome archetypes and seems like a good idea to me.
Until I really get into the culture aspect of all of this, I’d like to stay away from anything that could be considered an archetype. The purpose of the species is to give a variety of blank slates, each with different advantages, upon which cultural and class archetypes can then be applied. If I were to give a mutable mental stat bonus to gnomes, I’d have a hard time not flavoring that as a cultural advantage rather than an evolutionary one (e.g. gnomes raised in a university-like setting get an Int mod, but those raised in an artistic setting get the Cha mod). A static mental mod more reflects the feel I’m trying to go for. Look at it like this: Elves evolved an Int mod because the ancestors that were most able to learn from encountered dangers were the ones most likely to survive and reproduce; dwarves gained a Wis mod by those that were most able to handle new threats in a calm and practical way were the ones to pass on their genes. Humans and their cross-species offspring gain their mutable bonus from relying on a more broad spectrum adaptability to survive. To give one species static physical modifications but a mutable mental mod, I feel that it cuts into the edge the human & ½’s enjoy while taking nothing away from the gnomes.
As it stands, I really like the Pathfinder gnomes in all their fae-blooded glory. I realize that the +2 Cha does make their stat line similar to Halflings, but I think it’s only a mechanical sense hindered by the limits of the system. The +2 Cha in Halflings represents companionable nature, while the gnomish +2 Cha represents expressiveness. Different virtues but, as I said, mechanically the same. Additionally, I'm hoping that the innate spell-like abilities of the gnomes will do enough to separate them from halflings.
Through this conversation, I’ve been taking notes and making changes, and I’d like to repost the updated species list for your consideration:
Dwarf – +2 Con, +2 Wis, -2 Dex. Darkvision 60'. +2 Fort. Slow & Steady (Dwarves have a base speed of 20', but this speed is never lessened by armor or a medium load. Additionally, the total check penalty from armor and encumbrance is reduced by 3 (minimum 0) for any strength based skills.)
Elf – +2 Dex, +2 Int, -2 Con, Low-light vision, Keen Senses, +2 Will, 30' base speed
Gnome – +2 Con, +2 Cha, -2 Str, Low light vision, Keen Senses, Gnomish Magic (spell-like abilities granted as per the CRB, but with dancing lights and prestidigitation accessible to CHA 11.), Small, 20' base speed
Half-Elf – +2 to one stat, Low Light vision, Keen Senses, +1 to one saving throw bonus. 30' base speed
Half-orc – +2 to one stat, Darkvision 60', +1 to one saving throw bonus. 30' base speed. Orc Ferocity.
Halfling – +2 Dex, +2 Cha, -2 Str, Halfling speed (when using stealth, halflings may move their normal speed at a -5 penalty to sneak, when moving more than half speed, but less than normal, Halflings take a -3 penalty to sneak.), Low Light vision, Keen Senses, +1 to all saves, small, 20' base speed.
Human - +2 to one stat, +2 to one save, or +1 to two, skilled (+1 skill point each level) 30' base speed
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Would you mind quoting your sources?
Ain't nobody got time for that. :)
But seriously, I'm really just thinking back to all the games I've played (D&D, other tabletop RPGs, and computer RPGs) and gnomes seemed to always be the "brainy" little race.
Half-Elf – +2 to one stat, Low Light vision, Keen Senses, +1 to one saving throw bonus. 30' base speed
Half-orc – +2 to one stat, Darkvision 60', +1 to one saving throw bonus. 30' base speed. Orc Ferocity.
Something I always liked was distinguishing half-orcs from half-elves, and both of them from humans. To that end, I recommend humans retaining the +2 to any stat to represent their diversity, while half-orcs get +2 to any physical stat and half-elves get +2 to any mental stat.
Or, if you wanted to have each half-breed more accurately represent where they're coming from, split it up like this:
Half-Orc: +2 to Strength, Constitution, or Wisdom
Half-Elf: +2 to Dexterity, Intelligence, or Charisma
Neat how that works out, eh?
That's a great idea, thanks Headfirst!
We've had a lot of great input on species, but does anyone have any ideas on how to put rules to culture?
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I'd probably start with giving each race at least three different cultural choices, usually distinguished by geographical location. For example, dwarves could be "deep", "mountain", or "hill."
Then I'd make sure each culture has at least one combat and non-combat benefit. For example, half-orcs would get three different varieties of weapon familiarity: two-handed weapons if they're from the noble tribes, one-handed weapons if they're city-bred, and maybe a bite attack if they're savage born. Tribal half-orcs get +2 to any craft skill, city-bred get +2 to any profession, and savage half-orcs get +2 to sense motive.
Obviously, those examples are just off the top of my head, but you get the idea.
I like the idea for the half-races stats. Absolutely brilliant. I've been considering expanding the cultural heritages for my homebrew. I've decided to roll the Gnomes in with Halflings, as one of the Halfling heritages. I won't be enforcing the heritages, but I like to have some pre-built options. I'll keep in mind the combat and non-combat benefits.
I'm a fan of using a basic race such as you all have been discussing, and then having my players select both an occupation (simialr to what was used in d20 modern) and a culture.
Occupations can give weapon or armor proficiencies, a feat or two, or make skills trained, grant skill bonuses, or grant free ranks in knowledge, craft, or profession skills.
For instance, a Night Watchman occupation might grant proficiency with a halberd and chainmail, a +1 in knowledge (local), and a +2 on saves versus sleep effects.
Culture choice was similar. If your character was raised in the highly magical archipeligo-based empire, you got a +1 on saves versus magical effects, a free rank in Swim, +2 on checks related to the ocean (knowledges to identify sea creatures, profession sailor checks, etc). Those from the Transpolar League have a bonus on saves versus cold, Endurance as a bonus feat, etc.
Race, sub-race, occupation and culture. Throw in the basic traits and a drawback, and you have nearly the equivalent of a level one character no?
The trick is to use small bonuses and things that are either circumstantial or don't affect combat at all.
I'm not worried about giving the players a bit of a power bump via culture.
I've been busily working on this task, using a combination of the 5th ed PHB and the ARG as references. Each player will have a character that is somewhere between a 12 - 15 point "race", based on ARG standards.
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Cultures would be somewhat setting-dependent, I think. For example, in my current setting the "arcanist" elven culture is native to the desert and when they use weapons favour the scimitar over the longsword or bow. If I were to write up a separate set of cultural traits for them I might go with +2 Spellcraft, immunity to environmental heat and light-based blindness/dazzle effects, and choice of +1 caster level on light spells or +1 damage with a scimitar. This set of cultural traits doesn't make much sense outside of the setting. Some cultures might be somewhat generic across settings, but the best will probably be a mix of concepts.
If you're just making cultures for your own game this might not be a problem. However, if you're making a lot of cultures or want to share this with others, some standardization would be helpful. Having a quick rule for the creation of a culture makes it easier to adapt the system to different settings - and you could still have a few defaults.
Following Amanuensis' example, I'd suggest giving each culture two or three minor benefits chosen from weapon proficiency, class skill, and bonus language, plus a special benefit. The last could be a feat and should give a similar benefit. (If you want, you can give characters who get weapon proficiency or class skills as class features a +1 bonus on the skill or weapon damage so they don't miss out.) Suggestions based on traits a culture might have (minor trait suggestions in blue):
- Military: Weapon Focus, Dodge, Mounted Combat, +1 CMB/CMD
- Arcane: Spell Focus, Ability to cast a cantrip 3/day (or three 1/day)
- Religious: Ability to cast an orison 3/day (or three 1/day)
- Diplomatic/Mercantile: Linguist (+2 Linguistics and learn 2 languages for each rank), Gregarious (when members of this culture successfully use Diplomacy to win over an individual, that creature takes a –2 penalty on attempts to resist any of the member's Charisma-based skills for the next 24 hours)
- [Terrain] Stride: Choose a ranger favored terrain type representing the culture. Members of this culture can move through natural difficult terrain at their normal speed while within the chosen terrain.
- Mountaineer: immune to altitude sickness and do not lose Dexterity bonus to AC when making Climb checks or Acrobatics checks to balance.
- Desert Dweller
- Underground: Stonecunning
- Other: Fleet-Footed (Run as a bonus feat and +2 on initiative checks), Poison Use
So my elven culture might grant Desert Dweller, Elven as a bonus language, Spellcraft as a class skill, and Scimitar proficiency.
An underground dwarven theocracy dedicated to Torag might grant Stone-cunning, Dwarven language, Warhammer proficiency, and Knowledge Religion as a class skill.
A militaristic coastal culture might grant Weapon Focus(net or trident), proficiency in net and trident, and Swim as a class skill.
A trading coastal culture might instead get Gregarious, Appraise and Profession (sailor) as class skills, and Aquan language.
In regards to small races in my home games i do gnomes as cha and halflings as wis.
Cultures would be somewhat setting-dependent, I think. For example, in my current setting the "arcanist" elven culture is native to the desert and when they use weapons favour the scimitar over the longsword or bow. If I were to write up a separate set of cultural traits for them I might go with +2 Spellcraft, immunity to environmental heat and light-based blindness/dazzle effects, and choice of +1 caster level on light spells or +1 damage with a scimitar. This set of cultural traits doesn't make much sense outside of the setting. Some cultures might be somewhat generic across settings, but the best will probably be a mix of concepts.
If you're just making cultures for your own game this might not be a problem. However, if you're making a lot of cultures or want to share this with others, some standardization would be helpful. Having a quick rule for the creation of a culture makes it easier to adapt the system to different settings - and you could still have a few defaults.
[...]
Those are some good suggestions, though I would go with some less generic feats than Weapon Focus or Dodge to add more depth. For example, a nomadic tribe could grant Nimble Moves, a culture with a strong emphasis on martial arts Improved Unarmed Strike and a particularly vengeful society Step Up as bonus feats. Probably won't help with your aim of standardization, though.
Unfortunately, I haven't been able to flesh out my idea for different cultures yet. I checked the regional feats from the 3.5 Forgotten Realms books for inspiration, but found them to be unsatisfying. However, the Inner Sea World Guide has some nice feats that lend themselves towards this concept.
I did however create a list of social backgrounds (meant to replace the trait system), though these are heavily influenced by my homebrew campaign and use some house rules (a modified skill list). They mostly grant a bonus on different skills.
Acrobat: You gain a +1 trait bonus on Acrobatics, Climb, and Escape Artist checks. One of these skills is always a class skill for you.
Animal Handler: You gain a +1 trait bonus on Handle Animal and Ride checks. You start with a small trained animal (bird, dog, monkey or rat) that knows three tricks.
Artisan: You gain a +1 trait bonus on Appraise and Craft (any one) checks. Whenever you craft an item using the chosen craft skill, you reduce the required time and gp cost to make the item by 10%.
Astrologer: You gain a +1 trait bonus on Bluff, Knowledge (occult), and Sense Motive checks. One of these skills is always a class skill for you.
Bandit: You gain a +1 trait bonus on Escape Artist, Intimidate, and Stealth checks, and one of these skills is always a class skill for you.
Beggar: You gain a +1 trait bonus on Bluff, Disguise, and Streetwise checks, and one of these skills is always a class skill for you.
Blind: You are permanently blinded. You gain a +4 bonus on all checks related to your sense of hearing. You gain Blind-Fight as a bonus feat.
Bodyguard: You gain a + 1 trait bonus on Intimidate, Sense Motive, and Vigilance checks. One of these skills is always a class skill for you.
Bounty Hunter: You gain a + 1 trait bonus on Investigate, Survival and Streetwise checks. One of these skills is always a class skill for you.
Bravo: You gain a +1 trait bonus on Acrobatics, Bluff checks made to feint in combat, and Intimidate checks made to demoralize opponents. One of these skills is always a class skill for you.
Bureaucrat: You gain a + 1 trait bonus on Bluff, Knowledge (city states), and Linguistics checks. One of these skills is always a class skill for you.
Burglar: You gain a + 1 trait bonus on Appraise, Disable Device, and Stealth checks. One of these skills is always a class skill for you.
Colonist: You gain a +1 trait bonus on Handle Animal and Survival checks, as well as a +1 bonus on all Fortitude saves against radiation, poison and disease.
Cultist: You gain a +1 trait bonus on Knowledge (occult), Knowledge (philosophy), and Stealth checks. One of these skills is always a class skill for you.
Dockworker: You gain a + 1 trait bonus on Profession (dockworker), and Streetwise checks. You may treat your Strength score as +1 higher than normal when calculating your carrying capacity.
Driver: You gain a + 1 trait bonus on Handle Animal, Knowledge (city states), and Pilot checks. One of these skills is always a class skill for you.
Emissary: You gain a +1 trait bonus on Knowledge (etiquette), Negotiate, and Sense Motive checks. One of these skills is always a class skill for you.
Engineer: You gain a + 1 trait bonus on Craft (clockworks), Disable Device, and Knowledge (engineering) checks. One of these skills is always a class skill for you.
Entertainer: You gain a +1 trait bonus on Disguise, Perform (any one), and Sleight of Hand checks. One of these skills is always a class skill for you.
Explorer: You gain a +1 trait bonus on Knowledge (geography or badlands) and Survival checks, and one of these skills is always a class skill for you. You gain a +1 trait bonus on saving throws to resist the effects of radiation.
Gambler: You gain a +1 trait bonus on Bluff, Sense Motive, and Streetwise checks. One of these skills is always a class skill for you.
Guard: You gain a +1 trait bonus on Intimidate, Knowledge (city states), and Vigilance checks. One of these skills is always a class skill for you.
Healer: You gain a +1 trait bonus on Craft (alchemy), Heal, and Knowledge (nature) checks. One of these skills is always a class skill for you.
Investigator: You gain a +1 trait bonus on Investigate, Sense Motive, and Stealth checks. One of these skills is always a class skill for you.
Lay Priest: You gain a +1 trait bonus on Knowledge (philosophy or nature), Negotiate and Sense Motive checks. One of these skills is always a class skill for you.
Merchant: You gain a +1 trait bonus on Appraise, Knowledge (city states), and Pilot checks. One of these skills is always a class skill for you.
Miner: You gain a +1 trait bonus on Knowledge (geography) and Profession (miner) checks. You are proficient with light picks and heavy picks.
Outcast: You gain a +1 trait bonus on Disguise, Stealth, and Survival checks. One of these skills is always a class skill for you.
Pickpocket: You gain a +1 trait bonus on Sleight of Hand, Stealth, and Streetwise checks. One of these skills is always a class skill for you.
Printer: You gain a +1 trait bonus on Craft (clockworks), Investigate, and Knowledge (any one) checks. One of these skills is always a class skill for you.
Privileged: You gain a +1 trait bonus on Intimidate, Knowledge (Etiquette), and Ride checks. One of these skills is always a class skill for you.
Prospector: You gain a +1 trait bonus on Knowledge (badlands), Knowledge (geography), and Survival checks. One of these skills is always a class skill for you.
Revolutionary: You gain a +1 trait bonus on Knowledge (philosophy), Perform (oratory), and Streetwise checks. One of these skills is always a class skill for you.
Rustler: You gain a +1 trait bonus on Handle Animal, Stealth, and Vigilance checks. One of these skills is always a class skill for you.
Salvager: You gain a +1 trait bonus on Investigate, Knowledge (engineering), and Survival checks. One of these skills is always a class skill for you.
Scholar: You gain a +1 trait bonus on all Knowledge and Linguistics checks.
Servant: You gain a +1 trait bonus on Knowledge (etiquette), Profession (any one), and Sense Motive checks. One of these skills is always a class skill for you. Whenever you successfully perform an aid another action, you grant your ally a +3 bonus instead of the normal +2.
Sewer Rat: You gain a +1 trait bonus on Swim and Survival checks, as well as a +2 bonus on all Fortitude saves against disease and poison.
Sky Sailor: You gain a +1 trait bonus on Climb, Fly and Profession (sailor) checks. One of these skills is always a class skill for you.
Smuggler: You gain a +1 trait bonus on Appraise, Stealth, and Streetwise checks. One of these skills is always a class skill for you.
Wandering Philosopher: You gain a a +1 trait bonus on Acrobatics, Knowledge (philosophy), and Linguistic checks. One of these skills is always a class skill for you.
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Those are some good suggestions, though I would go with some less generic feats than Weapon Focus or Dodge to add more depth. For example, a nomadic tribe could grant Nimble Moves, a culture with a strong emphasis on martial arts Improved Unarmed Strike and a particularly vengeful society Step Up as bonus feats. Probably won't help with your aim of standardization, though.
You're right, and I don't think it will be a problem with standardization as long as your list of feats isn't too long - the point of standardization is to make it easy to pick a quick set of traits off a list, not to make the cultural benefits generic.
Expanded list:
- Military: Weapon Focus, Mounted Combat, Nimble Moves, Improved Unarmed Strike (if character has IUAS replace with Weapon Focus?), Blind-Fight, Combat Casting, Combat Reflexes, Endurance, Elven Accuracy, Focused Discipline, Opening Volley, Quick Draw, Step Up, +1 CMB & CMD. For a less militaristic but lawless combative culture, Throw Anything or Catch Off-Guard
- Magical: Combat Casting, Spell Focus*, Elemental Focus*, Improved Counterspell, Spell Penetration, Ability to cast a cantrip or orison 3/day (or three 1/day) *Consider replacing with bonus on saves for non-casters
- Mercantile: Cosmopolitan, Well-Prepared, Linguist (+2 Linguistics and learn 2 languages for each rank), Gregarious (when members of this culture successfully use Diplomacy to win over an individual, that creature takes a –2 penalty on attempts to resist any of the member's Charisma-based skills for the next 24 hours)
- Environment: [Terrain] Stride (Ignore natural difficult terrain of one ranger favoured terrain type), Mountaineer (immune to altitude sickness and do not lose Dex to AC when climbing or balancing), Desert Dweller, Stonecunning
- Other: Fleet-Footed (Run as a bonus feat and +2 on initiative checks), Fleet (+5ft speed), Poison Use, Gunsmithing
- Teamwork: Coordinated Defense, Shield Wall, Escape Route, Horde Charge, Lookout, Shake it Off, Swap Places, Spirit of the Corps, Tribe Mentality, Scarred Legion
While I'd be hesitant to include teamwork feats generally, they could be very interesting if you have two PCs from the same culture, or to a lesser extent for cavaliers or inquisitors. One option is to provide them as alternate choices - for example, a character might get to choose between Swap Places and Nimble Moves, or Shield Wall or Shield Focus.
You might also consider giving a culture alternate options for feats that aren't useful to all characters, particularly the magical feats. Generally I tried to select feats that were interesting but useful to a wide range of characters, but not all will be. I also tried to avoid feats that are good enough to make a culture a must-have for certain builds, like Improved Initiative or PBS which is a huge boon to archers - though you could balance this out a bit by selecting two minor benefits instead of three if the main benefit looks particularly strong.