OK. I'll consolidate my ideas here:
Basic general philosophy of the nation:
The 'Arthur' group is egalitarian in nature. We don't give a toss who you are or the like. We only care what your actions are. So if you are a half-way decent person at heart, and can at least respect the tenets of chivalry, honour and compassion, then we would be happy to accept you into our fold.
Right now, my vision (don't know about the others) is a place with lots of snow and ice, a lot like the setting of Beowulf, Sigfried and Brunahild, and Ring of the Nibelung. It will be a frontier type of place and the people will reflect that. Hunters, scouts, warriors, rangers, etc., would be fairly common, and druids and shamans would be more numerous than arcane casters or clerics of non-nature gods. Undead will be used whenever required. In fact, I would think that to have one's ancestors raised to help with either defending the nation or helping it in its time of need would be a source of pride for the people.
My character would be either NG or LG, and a Cha-based caster with a twist. What the twist will be will depend on Strato approving my build concept. I will be submitting it either tonight or tomorrow.
Anyone who wants to be judged on his actions and not his race/class/etc., are welcomed to join.
Basic spiritual philosophy of the nation:
- Person dies, body remains, but the spirit is freed to continue on to the next cycle of life and rebirth.
- The body after death is worthless to the people. They revere the spirit.
- So, mindless Undead is accepted as a labour force and as soldiers.
- Intelligent Undead is accepted for other reasons (repositories of knowledge and wisdom, etc.) and they are treated as normal citizens with normal rights and judged accordingly.
- The spirituality is very nature based, and the gods are more like the ancient Celtic pantheon than anything else (i.e., the Gods of Death and the Dead are actually more Neutral than Evil, and at least one is actually Good).
Other philosophies:
- Being a nation with a harsh history in terms of survival and environment, waste is avoided as much as possible.
- Recycling is normal. A broken yoke can be cut and reshaped into a fencing post, for example, and dead bodies returned as workers and soldiers.
I'll add to this as TWS (and others) come up woth more ideas.
Campaign ideas that would be fun to explore:
- helping other tribes in the area in the fight for survival or when they are being manaced by another tribe.
- help resolve disputes between tribes.
- defend against an external threat (maybe a common threat to all the tribes in the region, and maybe involving a big quest of some sort).
The more epic the better.