Some notes on “The Old West” and Culture within Bullets and Brimstone:

While Bullets and Brimstone takes its inspiration from frontier tales and well-loved tropes of the Old West, it does not seek to parallel the world of 19th Century USA. The war in Bullets and Brimstone was not fought over slavery but over resources and territory, as wars most commonly are. When the human pioneers arrived in the Frontier, they did not displace previous inhabitants, as the dwarves who laid claim to the lands lived deep within the mountains and left the plains and valleys alone, partially due to the many fantastical dangers they had long since decided to avoid. The land can be shared provided everyone treats each other with respect, and the Dwarves don’t hold any long-standing grudges like the Orcs and Elves. This is not to diminish the history of the American West, nor are the game's fantasy elements an “escape” from the hardships that make these stories what they are, or an attempt to “lighten” them up. But the cultural impact on many people from the history that shaped Western tales and tropes is still real today, and Bullets and Brimstone seeks to create new, fresh emotions and challenges that players will cherish. No one should have to think about the attempted genocide of their ancestors, family, or friends while playing our game, especially when those elements are under our control as creators of fiction. Omesa is a dangerous place to live, but it doesn't have America’s past and shouldn't try to resemble a world that does. The tropes should still hold, and the spaces they don’t are where the fantastical elements can shine. The danger of the world serves the purpose of drama in a game, rather than an exploration of history.

A few general details about Omesa, as you fill in more while creating your character, please keep these things in mind.

• There are no “savages” in Morricone. Some folk of every nation have their more “deep woods” families, but they are usually connected to the more rural members in some manner. If outside forces raid a town, it’s most certainly outlaws who look a lot like the people living there, maybe with a few more scars and a few less teeth. There are, however, actual monsters in the Wyld Frontier. Where one might see an “Indian Raid” in a classic western, in Omesa, you are likely to be attacked by Manticores, Tarry Boys or worse. (TLDR: Please, no “Cowboys and Indians”)
• As ambitious, vicious, and hungry as the nation of Griggs is, Orcs do not and never have owned slaves. Some of their miners might argue they may as well be considering their wages, but miners say that under every nation. Orcs, in fact, take their “winner take all” view of meritocracy with pride, and the idea of not giving someone a chance to prove themselves is a disgusting concept to most Orcs. (TLDR: No escaped slave plots, please.)
• Racial grudges exist; the fantasy tropes might not hold if they didn’t. But these grudges are based on very recent history, often narrowed down to specific groups. Orcs and Elves both have long memories, and the war is a mere generation past. People of all cultures may have been raised by a parent with a hatred toward a particular group, but that will just as often be tied to a name, clan or House as opposed to an entire nation. These grudges bear a more striking resemblance to the Hatfields and the McCoys' blood feud than to the traditions of teaching that other groups are “lesser races”. Elves, Orcs, Humans, and Dwarves may hold distaste and even hatred for each other and look at humans with some form of contempt, but the war has proven to everyone that to underestimate someone based on race is to one's own peril. And the new frontier has changed everything, and the Crowns look to the newer generations with shock at their ease of cooperation with those they so only recently were trying to destroy. (TLDR: Racism isn’t fun.)