Cultural Holidays

Today is, at least at time of reading on the East Coast, Canada Day. Monday is the 4th of July, also known as Indepedence Day to those in the United States. Both days are important days in the countries signifying when they became sovereign states and in control of their own destiny. Why is this important for your D&D game?

Simple. The world for your D&D game - or whatever other RPG you are playing - should have cultural holidays of its own. These holidays also serve you as a GM. How? They give you a way to show what is important to the country or kingdom, and with that give a bit of history to the world.

So what does your setting celebrate? I've provided some examples below:

• The birth of a ruler
• The birth of an heir
• The anniversary of a famouse battle or major military victory
• Celebration of independence from another nation
• Celebration of the formation of a kingdom or empire
• The beginning of planting season
• The end of planting season (aka harvest)
• Religion based holidays
• Other major events

You don't need to have all of these, but holidays - and the festivals that often go with them - give a sense of life to the setting, a sense of history, and a sense of value. Give some a try. Sprinkle them in your game. Let the players enjoy them. It might do a lot of good.

With that, a Happy Canada Day to those in Canada, and Happy Independence Day to those in the States. If there is a post on Monday it will probably be something light. Have a great weekend folks!