Roleplaying Non-Western Cultures

---

Hello! My name is Syrixia. I am one of TNP’s two Deputy Ministers of Culture and an RPer in the world of Eras, the primary setting of TNP’s Forum RP. It’s a modern-tech, realistic (mostly) world of vibrant cultures and complicated politics!

Now, often times we’re more prone to associate ourselves with concepts and ideas we’re familiar with. After all, if we know more about them, the logical next step is that we can execute them better. One sunny day in 2016, after being fed up with the creative direction in which my Eras nation was going, I took that concept and turned it on its head. Today I’m going to tell you why I did that, what it taught me, and what it can teach you; and in doing so, my hope is to tell you and get you thinking about the ups and downs of roleplaying a nation with a culture that very much does not hail from the West.

The Experience Effect

So, why did I do it? And more importantly, what did I do? Well, up until that point, my nation was as generic as they come. The entirety of its substance lay in what it did on the world stage, in active National RP, and that simply was not enough for me. I wanted to give my nation a foundation rather than just using it, with all its potential, as a mere jumping-off point for foreign policy. Put simply, I wanted to worldbuild my nation. I wanted to better understand and establish it.

One thing I want to say, first and foremost, is that non-Western-inspired nations are not inherently more creative than ones with more Western-inspired cultures, and entirely original cultures are not inherently more creative than cultures inspired by real life ones. The creativity lies in the handling of the material. Building a culture is like working on ceramics; regardless of what the clay is, the creativity lies in how it’s sculpted.

When it comes to RPing non-Western cultures, consider the Experience Effect. The best way to learn anything is through experiencing it. You’re gonna want to get a basic idea of the culture and then just jump right in. Immerse yourself before you get too far into the intricacies.

For example? On that day in 2016, I chose to mold my main nation, the Syrixian Empire, on the Indian culture. Being part Indian myself I knew a decent bit about the culture, but only what I had learned through osmosis. Another person I know made a Chinese country because he’s learning the language and is learning about the culture through his classes. However, you really don’t need to already know a specific culture to pick it. If you’re not significantly familiar with most or even all non-Western cultures, that’s fine. If anything it just makes it more fun.

As well, as mentioned before, an entirely original, constructed culture also counts as a non-Western culture because it’s not inspired by anything. When it comes to them? The Experience Effect is a bit trickier because there’s nothing to immerse yourself into. You can’t just get settled in.

The Three Steps

Regardless of whether your nation is inspired or original, there are always three things you need to figure out when it comes to non-Western cultures: 1) how your people see themselves, 2) how their history and religion/morals impact that vision, and 3) how that ties into what they do on the world stage.

Firstly and most fundamentally, you need to establish how your people see themselves and their society. The European nation-state model does not automatically work here, unless your nation was a colony of a Western-inspired nation- like India- or was heavily exposed to Western-inspired ideas and concepts, like Japan. And even then; what came before? Cultural inspiration can give insight into how you answer this question, however.

With China, for example, before Western ideas helped found the Republic of China, the Chinese during the Qing Dynasty saw themselves as Han people living within the Qing State which happened to include Zhongguo, or China Proper, which the Chinese saw as the heart of civilization.

When it comes to original countries, meanwhile? There’s an easy and a hard method. You can either cherrypick ideas from various cultures and tweak them to fit yours, or you can go for the true scratch method and base it entirely, specifically, and uniquely on the early historical developments you set out for your country. Though, I should note: for any nation, wholly original or not, if you like the cherrypicking method? Don’t be afraid to cherrypick cultural bits you like. We’ll get back to that later.

Secondly, you need to establish how your nation’s history and religion/morals impact how its people see themselves. If you have a basic idea of how the nation works and how its culture works, justify it with a history. Don’t be afraid to make changes to the core cultural fundamentals from the previous step, based on the history you’re planning, during this phase either.

As well, you need to factor in religion and morals. If your country is entirely original, try making up a native religion based on your vision for your nation’s early history as well as your environment. For example, if your nation is mostly tundra? Perhaps a god of wind or snow. If your country is more inspired by an existing non-Western culture, though, don’t let that stop you. There are a myriad of deific entities in Eastern religions, from Indra to Kuanyin and more, to take inspiration from; and through religion, you can give your culture morals. (Or vice versa!) These morals can, in turn, impact your religion’s mythology and history because the people will, naturally, largely shape their perspectives around them.

Thirdly, once both these things are mostly settled- and again, you can change anything at any time if you want- you should consider how what you’ve created ties into your nation’s actions on the world stage. This is where I return to cherrypicking aspects of cultures that you may find interesting and want to use.

My nation, for example, has a broadly Indian culture; but despite this it sees itself politically in a more similar way to Imperial-era China. There are various ethnicities within the Syrixian Empire, all part of one state; and it is the state that the people identify with, not any nationalistic ideal. Indeed, I even adapted the name “Syrixia”, which had existed before the culture change, to fit that change. Now? It’s a Mercanti- Eras’ version of English- corruption of the word “Samraajya”, which simply means “the Empire”.

And so? The people of my nation largely call themselves “Imperials” and their state “the Empire”. It’s ingrained in their culture just like the idea of a nation-state is ingrained in Western cultures. It’s what they know; and in foreign correspondence, they refer to themselves as such. Other nations, too, will sometimes refer to it as such, especially its former colonies.

This, in turn, leads me to another example of how you can tie these things into everyday RP: the culture’s impact on your nation’s foreign policy. Going back to the Syrixian Empire? Imperials- or Syrixians- are by and large a conservative people. This ethos shapes their foreign policy goals, which rely on the notions of stability and harmony. The Empire wants the international order of Eras to be stable and harmonious, so its massive retail market can thrive and grow.

Another example would be Ming China. Alongside the fact that Zheng He’s treasure fleets were expensive, later Ming Emperors closed off foreign trade because they didn’t think they needed it. The Ming State held Zhongguo, the heart of all civilization. They saw themselves as, inherently, the greatest state in the world. Why bother?

Keep in mind, as well, though, that a pragmatic foreign policy; and really, any form of political ideology when it comes to your nation’s government, is fair game, especially in modern tech settings. In past tech settings, since the world is less connected, then you may have to rely on more native-based ideas, though by no means is this the case as exemplified by things such as Greco-Buddhism and the vast Lapis Lazuli trade across the Ancient Near East. Either way, with non-Western-based nations, it’s almost always quite fun to explore.

In Conclusion

Finally, there’s the universal rule of RP- have fun! Worldbuilding a non-Western culture and RPing as it is a great way to explore and learn about other cultures, enjoy yourself, and step out of your comfort zone; and, ever since that day in 2016, I’ve made many changes here and there, but I’ve loved every minute.