Superstitions by Culture in My Homebrew Setting

Cultural beliefs are a large part of what makes different groups of people narratively interesting in tabletop games. Among those beliefs are superstitions, ideas about vaguely supernatural events in everyday life. A culture's superstitions can tell us a lot about a culture, and it also enriches the gameworld by lending more details to the players' perceived world. Below is a list of superstitious beliefs according to the racial culture they belong to. Read on for a glimpse into the beliefs in my homebrew world. 

Daltoners

• In Daltoner culture, it is considered bad luck (and bad manners) to say the word "sun." To describe their deity Pelor, they use phrases like "O Radiant One" or "the Shining Star of All" to refer to him. It is believed that if a person says the word "sun," that day's sacrifice to Pelor will be negated. In particularly religious communities, Daltoners will perform an additional sacrifice if someone says the word "sun." Generally, someone who says "sun" is treated as a social outcast for a number of days. 
• Amongst hardcore Daltoner imperialists, it is considered bad luck and a moral weakness to refer to the island continent as Evanoch as the other races call it; rather, they insist on the use of the name "Bondar," the name first given to the land when Daltoner explorers and colonists first landed there. The use of the name Bondar also identifies those who still harbor wishes to control all of the continent. It is said that saying "Evanoch" causes setbacks to the Daltoner cause. 
• At Daltoner marriages, it is considered bad luck and an ill omen for the marriage if the bride speaks before the words "I do." Some say that this is intended to make clear that everything the bride says is about her new life with her husband, and others argue that it is meant to symbolically prepare the bride for her life without a personal voice. If the bride speaks before saying "I do," it is believed that the marriage will fail and that the couple will be unable to produce children. 

Faninites

• Although the Faninites are not especially superstitious people, there are a few beliefs they have that are similar to superstitions. When two Faninites meet for the first time, it is considered appropriate to gently touch the stranger's face; if the stranger flinches from your hand, it is said that the relationship will be strained, whereas a pleasant exchange of this touch is supposed to foretell a positive collaboration of sorts. 
• When Faninites make camp in nature, they build small camps with makeshift a firepit. If they are able to gather enough stones to build a ring around the firepit, it is considered a good omen for the expedition. If there are not enough stones to complete the circle, it is believed that the expedition will be unremarkable or even counter-productive, depending on the number of available stones. A few superstitious Faninites have carried stones on their journey to ensure they can build a full firepit. 
• When Faninites play music, it is considered terrible manners and bad luck to make any noises unless invited to join by the musician(s). If the audience is invited to join in, it is further considered bad luck to be louder than the musician(s). However, most musicians ask for accompaniment from the audience, and there is so much reverence for music among Faninites that few overwhelm the performance. There is no belief about consequences for breaking these rules, but social ostracism can occur. 

Dwarves

• It is considered terrible luck in dwarven culture to allow any amount of stone or metal to go to waste in the process of creating them. It is common for smiths of larger items (weapons, tools) to pass on leftover amounts of material to smiths of smaller items (hardware, jewelry) so that it does not go to waste. In recent years, this extra material is sold for a nominal fee, but previously, the material was given freely. It is believed that if extra stone or metal goes to waste that Moradin will become weakened by the lack of industriousness of dwarves, in turn weakening the dwarven community. 
• Among the dwarven community with social titles, it is considered both bad manners and a minor curse to address someone without their proper title in social settings. Aside from being chided and, in some communities, given legal punishments for failing to use the right titles, the act of misaddressing a person of rank is supposed to cause a diminishing of the social power of the person of rank. It is believed that by ignoring their rank, their social prestige deteriorates. As a result, most dwarves speak very slowly and deliberately in situations with dwarves of rank and with powerful people of all races. 
• Among dwarven business owners, it is considered good luck to do business with someone who has recently obtained a new rank or title in society. The newly recognized dwarf becomes immediately surrounded by ranking members of dwarven society who want to cash in on the newly recognized dwarf's fortune. It is said in dwarven culture that getting noticed is the hard part, and that success comes automatically with getting noticed. 

Elves

• Among elves who are surrounded by elven culture, it is considered crucial how students respond to their teachers. If a student shows respect to their teacher and trusts them above their own judgment, it is believed that the student will advance the traditional presentation of knowledge; if the student struggles to support their own thinking under their teacher, it is believed that the student will either fail or become an important new thinker. As a result, traditionalist students are given greater benefit of the doubt than renegades, and renegades are watched more closely but allowed to expand their studies beyond their teachers' ideas. 
• Among elves who tend to gardens (one of the most popular pastimes among elves), it is considered bad luck to allow the first flower of the season to fully bloom. Instead, it is expected that gardeners will cut the blooming flower and bury it at the center of the garden--this is believed to foster greater health among the remaining plants. If the first flower is allowed to bloom completely, it is believed that the garden will not produce its fullest plants. 
• When elves journey through the woods for work or for recreation, it is considered lucky to navigate the path without disturbing any of the plant life in the area. If an elf passes through the woods without disturbing any plants, they are believed to benefit from a divine blessing for the following week; if they disturb even one plant, they are believed to remain stagnant as a person for the following week. Elves tend to take a journey through the woods to commune with nature on a weekly basis. 

Half-Elves

• When half-elves meet either elves or Faninites, it is considered good luck (and good manners) to greet them in their native tongue. Greeting an elf or Faninite in their native tongue is said to honor that person and see them as they wish to be seen, a great value in half-elven culture. When half-elves meet other half-elves, they often mix the Elven and Common languages together in a hybrid language, and this is considered a social grace rather than a superstition. Greeting an elf or Faninite in the wrong language is thought to cause that person to negatively think of the half-elf. 
• As half-elves are considered the world's greatest diplomats, there are two superstitions associated with diplomacy. First, it is bad luck to allow either party to speak first; instead, it is good luck if the diplomat speaks first to give the others equal treatment. (It is especially bad luck if either party interrupts the diplomat's first speech.) Second, it is good luck if the diplomat speaks without correcting themselves. If a half-elf engaged in diplomacy misspeaks, it is considered a bad omen for the outcome of the negotiation. 
• When another half-elf is struggling with an emotional burden, it is considered very bad luck to try to reframe their struggle in positive terms. As a result, half-elf culture prizes the individual struggle to realize their full potential. When a half-elf is clearly struggling, the standard response is to offer support, listen completely, and let the struggling half-elf guide the conversation. It is believed that guiding the process for them robs them of the ability to grow past it. 

Halflings

• When a halfling comes of age between 10 and 15 years old, they are abandoned by their mother in an effort to make the halfling raise themselves. It is considered bad luck and bad parenting to prepare the young halfling for this process in any meaningful way. This means that aside from the teaching of skills prior to the abandoning, there is no help rendered to the young halfling--no supplies or funds given, and the mother usually relocates to avoid being found again by their child. It is believed that a young halfling who succeeds on their own will be the strongest possible adult halfling for their struggles. 
• Halfling music is the most wildly creative of the music varieties in Evanoch; their compositions include irregular time signatures, experimental instruments, and a major departure from the musical traditions of the land. It is considered bad luck to compare a halfling musician's work to other musicians' work, as it suggests that what that halfling has created is not unique. It is considered good luck if an audience is unable to describe the musical performance in a coherent way. 
• When drinking, it is considered good luck when another tavern patron asks what a halfling is drinking. It is considered bad luck to lie about what one is drinking and especially good luck if the halfling can convince that person to have one of the same drink. Further, if that person's next drink order is another of the same drink, the halfling considers this person a drinking buddy who will bring them good luck from future encounters. As a result, many halflings will deliberately order the strangest drink on the menu to inspire one of these interactions. 

Gnomes

• Although less popular now than it was in years previous, it is considered bad luck to introduce oneself to more than one stranger in a day using the same name. Non-gnome distaste for gnomes' name fascinations has led to the decrease in popularity in this practice, but it is still alive and well in concentrated gnome populations. If a gnome is able to use all of their names in a single day, it is believed that they will be blessed with a new name the following day. As a result, these gnomish communities are difficult for newcomers to assimilate to, as their gnomish contacts go by different names across the city. 
• In gnomish communities, it is considered very bad luck and an ill omen to upset one of your neighbors. If a gnome upsets a neighbor, most especially if they are also a gnome, they must deliver a gift to the upset neighbor by sundown. The most common gifts are trinkets, foodstuffs, and simple inventions. If the neighbor is appeased by the gift, they display it outside their home for 24 hours to honor the gnome who gave it. If the neighbor is not appeased by the gift, they keep it private, and the gift-giving gnome is said to experience bad luck for a month. 
• It is considered bad luck and bad manners to borrow a book from a gnome beyond the space of one week. If the person borrowing the book wants to keep it for longer, they must bring it to the gnome and ask permission for another week. If the book is not returned after this second week, the gnome will consider the borrower inconsiderate and never lend them anything else again. It is considered good luck to read and return a book to a gnome in the first four days of having borrowed it. 

Orcs

• Before battle, it is considered bad luck to speak anyone's name aloud. From the moment that an orc begins to prepare to battle, they make a conscious effort to speak no one's name aloud, depending instead on vague nicknames and descriptions. It is believed that if a person's name is spoken during this preparation, that person will die before the battle is over. Orcs do not use this belief to speak the names of enemies, as it is believed that anyone who speaks an enemy's name is also spoken by that same enemy. 
• When an orcish community's wise woman speaks, it is considered both terrible luck and a major social violation to speak for one minute after she has finished speaking. This developed at first because wise women tend to speak slowly with long pauses, and orcish communities sought to keep her from being interrupted. Today, though, it has evolved into a superstitious beliefs that speaking too soon after the wise woman would change that world so that her advice would be negated. 
• When an orc encounters an elf since the War of Kraal nearly five hundred years ago, they consider it bad luck and poor representation of orcs to show any emotion to the elf. If the orc shows emotion, it is believed that the elf will use this display to undermine or harm the orc. If the orc manages to display no emotion, it is believed that the elf will be intimidated and submit to the orc. The limited interactions between elves and orcs means that this belief has gone largely untested, but orcs are steadfast in their observance of the long-past war. 

There you have it. Superstitions by each race in my D&D homebrew world. Now we can use these to characterize moments in the story and make the cultures of each race more detailed and colorful. As we play, we can find moments to utilize these ideas and maybe even add bonuses to certain rolls when the superstition is observed correctly. A +2 to an appropriate roll would grant some power to these superstitions. 

That's all for now. Coming soon: how to create ripple effects from player actions, a story-based dungeon, and how to use characterizing challenges to enrich your game. Until next time, happy gaming!

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