Fantasy Tribes

RavenRunes

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What do you like to read about with fantasy nomadic tribes? What don't you like?
 

CarburetorThompson

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Well with nomadic tribes in fantasy you either have desert bedouins, traveling (totally not) gypsies , or barbaric viking knock offs. Not much variety, so if you want advice just do anything creative beyond the standard bare minimum and it will be good.
 

Domoviye

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I want to see actual research put into the tribes. Not just generic bedouins, gypsies, mongols and high sea raiders.
What about nomadic herders, who follow large herds of cattle and goats on foot.
If they're on a continent without horses, or where horses were only recently introduced, have them walking with dogs pulling travois or small wagons.
Northern nomads who herd reindeer, or travel by kayaks between inland summer lands and the winter ocean coast where they hunt whales and seals.
And make some things up, like a culture of merchants who are constantly travelling. The size of their caravan marks how prestigious a family, clan or group is.
Or boat people who travel up a large river to avoid the ocean storms of the spring and fall, and travel along the coastline in summer and winter, fishing, trading and occasionally committing piracy.
Lots of cultures in the world can be used to make interesting nomads, either by taking them almost whole cloth, or altering things to make them unique.
 

ACertainPassingUser

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I want to see SCP like being in Isekai.

Not some cliche race, but some village filled with population of creepy horror inducing creatures.

Or maybe ctulhu village ?

Mc can have the slave harem he wants, but he must survived those eldritch monstrosity abomination of monster village first if he want to get the girls.
 

TheEldritchGod

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I like helpless nomadic bunny girl tribes who are being hunted by evil grape slavers who the MC then punches and saves helpless big eyed bunny girls. Big eyed cat girls are okay, but I don't like them as nomads. Elves are okay too, but again, not nomad types. Bunny Girls are best nomads because they can graze and look cute when eating foliage.

Big boobs are also important, because, you know, gotta feed the babies and there isn't much water on a flat featureless plain, so they would evolve to be able to store more milk for the babies. At least that's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it.

Yeah, there would also be bunny men, but they are silly and can be ignored.

Realistic nomads are boring as shit as that always seems to devolve into Food porn or 'look how morally superior native people are to modern world.' Bull shit. Nomads were fuckin' monsters. Native Americans were violent sadistic killers. Kill all the men, keep the women, grape them into submission, BECAUSE THE FEMALE LEADERS OF THE TRIBE ORDERED THE MEN TO DO SO.

The more I read about 'real' native people, the more nightmares I have.

---

You know Amazon's Rings Of Power? Watch the parts about the Harfoots. That is an excellent example of Evil Nomads. I mean, I know they were intended to be the 'good guys', but as a writing example of a Real World bunch of Nomads, SPOT ON. What evil monsters, who don't KNOW they are evil monsters.
Or maybe ctulhu village ?
We do not, 'VILLAGE'. We have HIVES.
 
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RavenRunes

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I always enjoyed the Westfolk in the Deverry series. Probably a bit cliche though
 

T.K._Paradox

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I like more realism when it comes to these cultures.

Nomadic cultures set up a lot of good potential struggle and world building in the story. Many nomadic tribes in history only had root to their traveling tribe and will exploit the land they are just passing through.

Hence why they are often portrayed as barbaric subhumans, while it may be the mongol steppe warriors, mysterious gypsies, or the shamanistic Indians of america.

These hordes have unique system where they attach themselves to a nearby settled parent culture nearby when they are more passive using the others culture for its advantages whilst trying to maintain their own culture.

This refusal to full assimilate gives to some sort of cultural tension and can sometimes end up with conflict.

More aggressive nomadic cultures often have a strong subculture that allows such a large collection of people to stay together. Much how the Iroquois Confederacy dominated and assimilate the northeastern Indians and managed to pose a strong threat to the settlers, or how the steppe riders that terrorized Eurasia had strong ancestral ties to imperial China.
 

K5Rakitan

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I like polyandry, but that's more for settled people who don't want to split the land among their sons. For a nomadic tribe, primitive promiscuity or partible paternity would be more realistic.
 

BearlyAlive

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I'm thinking of making a few nomadic tribes. One will travel with some animals that sustain them, another will have to move with the seasons and a third one is just a group that loves their mounts too much (no best iality).
 

longer

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I really don't like how nomadic peoples are portrayed as extremely barbaric and primitive compared to their sedentary counterparts. I am now back on this forum to talk about my love of Eurasian steppe peoples who weren't even necessarily nomadic. Many of these people lived as a semi-sedentary civilizations that engaged in farming and large scale production. Large states, that were generally very decentralized, instead of a scattering of tribes would also be nice. Because it wasn't always an occasional great Khan uniting them rather a powerful Khan rising and overthrowing a dying Khanate and forming his own empire.

I also want to assimilate more and rule sedentary peoples. Powerful sedentary states such as the Yuan were of steppe origin and still kept some of their practices. Instead of a horde of semi naked Dorthraki-esque warriors I prefer the organized and disciplined Mongol-esque armies with heavy, medium, light cavalry, as well as extensive use of settled infantry and siege equipment.

The story I might eventually write will probably have the protagonist be a princeling of a state heavily based on the Golden Horde and Qara Khitai.
 
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