There is something static in our perception of history (and thus in our game settings). Barbarians will be barbarians. Nomads will be nomads. And kings will be kings.
Yet, throughout history people have adopted flexible social and political models. And I’m not talking about slowly evolving modes of organization, but seasonal variations of social life.
Striking examples include the Nambikwara, Inuit or Kwakiutl societies. The Nambikwara, for example, alternates between two different societies in the wet or rainy seasons. They occupied hilltop villages during the rainy season and dispersed into small foraging bands during the dry season. During the dry seasons, chiefs took charge, giving orders, resolving crises and behaved in authoritarian manner. They made (or lost) their reputation by acting as heroic leaders during these ’nomadic adventures'.
In contrast, come the wet season they relied on those reputations to attract followers to settle around them in villages, where they employed only gentle persuasion and led by example to guide their followers in the construction of houses and tending of gardens. In doing so they cared for the sick and needy, mediated disputes and never imposed anything on anyone.
“Many [other] societies… have two social structures, one in summer and one in winter, and that in parallel they have two systems of law and religion.” - Marcel Mauss and Henri Beuchat
Similar changes of roles were documented in the Inuits or the Kwakiul. The latter case is even more dramatic, with hereditary nobles ruling over commoners and slaves during winter, and moved to entirely different and less formal structures during winter.
And it’s not just the political order that seasonally changes Individual identities also shift. In the case of the Kwakiutl, people actually adopted different names in summer and winter – literally becoming someone else depending on the time of year.
What would your game look like if whole societies, religions, or identities switch depending on the season, the phase of the moon, or some other event?
Further Reading
- The Dawn of Everything: A new history of mankind. David Graeber and David Wengrow.
