Tradition as a Tool

This post was born in an interesting discussion I had earlier this week.

It stemmed from a talk about tradition and history.  I'll talk about history some other day.  Needless to say its use is grandiose in the scheme of world building and instilling strong, sustaining major plot arcs.

Tradition, though, tradition (he says wagging a finger) is as powerful as fashion/fads and as prevailing as history in its use in gaming.  Tradition has roots in the past but is made for the now.  Its the idea, the notion of preserving something from the past in the present.  The motivations and goal of doing so can be as poignant and convoluted as you desire.

A country in my world, for instance, has this tradition of looking to the sky when dawn approaches.  Its a long standing tradition, born of a celestial event that happened in the past.  The even was so powerfully imprinted on the society that, no matter the age, all of them do it..  Its akin to clockwork.  Its a quirk; one from society and not a person.  Not that persons couldn't spawn traditions: they easily can.  No this is something you wield like a careful tool, used to build the tapestry that is your world and its people.

In another part of the world, spitting on the shadow of a person as they past was said to lend them strength. In still another, seeing blue sails on a ship meant it was a slaver or pirate; those who sighted them would tear their fingernails down their forearm, calling upon Lokado, the god of slaves to look away from them.

Others were less quirky and more substantive.  A rite of adulthood to show maturity, a trail or challenge to show worth or value.  Choosing one object over another or speaking a or refusing to speak another language.

Tradition is powerful and one of the engines of plotting.  Let's say to set the stage for a major story arc I'm interested in beginning, I need them to go to the market district of my city.  Instead of forcing them, I reveal (subtly, of course) that the commonly used gates, which, sadly are opposite the market, close for the winter and people come through the opposite gates instead.  Its less pragmatism than tradition, as a few hundred years ago they held the gates for 34 days against invaders.  To celebrate the event, they close the gates and recreate the event, going through a historical reenactment.  This does the following:

• Indirectly moves the players to enter the city near an area I want them to be (if not right in it)
• Opens up a bushel of plot hooks to interest them.  They could be a part of the reenactment, oppose it, guard it, assist it, supply it, save it from bad guys, get involved in a political even surround it or just be part of the clean up crew.
• Reroutes a lot of traffic, displacing particular elements of the area.  This could lead to a million and one possible encounters that otherwise would seem unwieldly or contrived to the players.

Using this one simple mechanism I've plausibly rebuilt my area into something that temporarily upsets my normal layout without permanent damage.  It allows me to steer an encounter without seeming contrived and get my players where I want them to be while giving them the illusion of free will.