The most significant technique that Jamison’s “Gamemastering” gave my games is found in Chapter 3 on “Creating the Universe”. Rather than get bogged down in either using existing RPG worlds that require hours to read and understand, or trying to develop an extensive amount of custom information, Jamison provides a focus that I’ve found works well.

The focus is on creating one Society:

A society is simply a collection of unique behaviors that define a group of people. These details dictate what is and is not possible for its people. In the beginning, I recommend creating only one or two societies – the society the characters are from, and an optional antagonist society.

Jamison, B. (2011) “Gamemastering”, Rampant Platypus Press, page 21

This essentially boils down to imagining the social classes in that society, how you get to join each class, the overall flavour of politics, and then outlining each social class’ culture. These cultural details are focused on conflicts, taboos, visuals, verbals, and complexities (discovered through interaction).

Notes on law and justice come next, along with the level of social corruption in the society, what weapons are permitted to each class, then resources and relations – the key goods, services, and relationships in terms of trade. Some simple architectural notes round out the basics. Just enough to inspire character creation and leave lots of space for development through play.

Rather than delve deeply into the details (because you can go read Jamieson’s book yourself), here’s an example from my own forthcoming prehistoric fantasy game.

The Wolf Wilds

The People have lived on the wild plains of the Wolf Wilds for as many generations as anyone can remember. Ancient tales of the ancestors who lived in the deep caves high in the eastern mountains are still told, but few can claim to have visited them save the Priests and their acolytes.

As it has been for as long as anyone can remember, the People travel out westward onto the Great Plain during the spring and stay throughout the summer months, scattering out into their respective hunting bands. As the year turns towards the Autumn, the wider clan will travel north and east towards the Sacred Place to celebrate the end of the hunting season. For Winter, the reunited clan moves eastward into the safety of the valley beneath the High Mountain, where it remains until the next spring season.

The People are nomadic, moving on foot and living in tents which can be moved as needed. While on a longer hunt, hunting groups may choose to build simple lean-to shelters and thus reduce their burden while the main band stays in a more stable location. Throughout the spring and summer, some more settled bands cultivate small vegetable and fruit plants to supplement the diet from hunting deer, bison, and mammoth. Many bands function in a more mobile fashion and follow the herds across the plains.

The People’s seven bands form into the larger clan in the winter, taking up residence in the caves along the sides of the Valley Beneath the High Mountain. Each band has its own regularly used shelters in the caves and families return to these locations each year. The wider clan shares the bounty of their hunting and gathering at the end of the season, first meeting at the Sacred Place to offer tribute to their god before journeying together into the mountains. The Priests of the Clan will collectively journey to the High Caves to offer sacrifice to the Ancestor Spirits in the winter.

Tribal Society

There are three classes of People: Tribesfolk, Elders, and Priests. The People break down into Hunting Groups, Nomadic Bands, and the Clan. Most Tribesfolk are hunters and 80% of women also take part in hunting groups. All Tribesfolk are gatherers and those women with children generally form the bulk of each band’s core settlement, protected by the Elders and less-experienced hunters.

Politically, the People are a collective community with a strong cooperative culture. Each band is a small-scale and highly-involved community of between 30-50 people. All have a say in the band’s functions, although most defer to the Elder council of more-experienced hunters. Women have a strong voice because they are considered blessed by the gods for their gift of childbirth.

The People are overall generally a friendly and tolerant community with a strong belief in the living spirits with whom they share the wilderness. All cooperate to survive and the choice gifts are first offered to the gods. There are several specific gods and goddesses who are given service, including the Earth Mother and the Sky Lord. Each autumn the Clan meets to offer sacrifice to the Sky Lord in the Sacred Place on the plains before moving into the Valley to venerate the Earth Mother who birthed the People.

Trade between the different bands is common. Recently, rumours of other peoples from the south moving closer to the People have made the community nervous and cautious. In addition to the spirits and Beastmen that live in the western forest, it is said that these newcomers might be dangerous and less willing to live in harmony as has been the way for generations past.

Tribesmen function in small hunting groups of around four to twelve, ranging out to track and kill the plentiful fauna that lives upon the Great Plain. It is a merit society with the strongest and most successful hunters having the greatest respect.

Both boys and girls must prove their worth and prowess through a coming-of-age ritual: they must survive on the plains for a full turning of the Moon (one cycle of roughly 28 days) and bring home proof of having killed a beast.

Hunters wear simple animal skins, such as deer pelts, and many carry charms made from the teeth, bone, and fur of their prey. Wood and stone are the main tools of the People, with the axe, knife, spear, bolas, sling, and bow all common weapons (see Low-Tech, any TL0 universal type). Some bands bear tattoos to mark their prowess in hunting.

Elders are chosen from among the band members, but most are (aptly) the older and more-experienced hunters. Both men and women can be Elders. Wisdom is prized more highly than strength or power. Generally, those People who can gift to the widest possible communal group will have the greatest influence. Elders are identifiable mostly through their age, their longer hair and braids, and sometimes unique markings. All will show an Elder respect through bowing or kneeling when speaking to them.

Priests are those gifted with the Sight and who can intercede for the People with the Spirits. As all life has spirit and these beings have great powers to affect the lives of all, the Priests are critical to the survival of each band. There is usually one Priest in each band and they generally take one or two acolytes over a period of many years from Coming of Age upwards. Priests are recognisable from their more ornate charms, long beards (for men) and long hair. Both men and women function as Priests, with the Sight being a blessing bestowed by the gods.

Game on!

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