Overview
This project is built around a structured way to describe, generate, and reason about societies using a set of compact mnemonic frameworks:
- Foundation (PET)
- Power (MAUL)
- Society (CHIB)
- Economy (MAT)
They are the result of combining and refining multiple historical and design frameworks.
G.U.A.R.D.S. (tabletop / GM worldbuilding tool)
The original inspiration is the G.U.A.R.D.S. method, often used in TTRPG worldbuilding:
- Government
- Underworld
- Altars
- Resources
- Defenses
- Social hubs
This system is great because:
- It is mnemonic-based
- It focuses on functional aspects of society
- It is practical for storytelling
- It is simple and easy to remember
Influences
-
Karl Marx
- Focus on material conditions and class structure
- Material reality → social structure → ideology
-
Max Weber
- Authority types (traditional, charismatic, rational)
- Role of legitimacy and belief systems
-
Fernand Braudel / Annales School
- Long-term structural forces
- Geography and environment as constraints
The Mnemonics
- PET → what exists
- MAT → what moves
- MAUL → who controls it
- CHIB → how people live with it
Foundation (PET)
Defines what is physically possible. "What does this world allow?"
- P | Population
- How many people exist and how they are distributed
- Pressure, labor, density
- E | Environment
- The physical world
- Climate, terrain, geography
- T | Technology
- What tools exist
- What the society is capable of doing
Power (MAUL)
Defines who controls and enforces the system. "Who has power, and how is it enforced?"
- M | Military
- Who can apply force
- A | Authority
- Who makes decisions
- U | Underworld
- Who operates outside the system
- L | Law
- What rules persist over time
Society (CHIB)
Defines how people live and relate. "What does it feel like to live here?"
- C | Classes
- Who is above or below whom
- H | Hubs
- Where people meet, gather, and share or learn information
- I | Identity
- Who belongs and who doesn't
- B | Beliefs
- Why the system makes sense to people
Economy (MAT)
Defines how things move and connect. "What flows, and between whom?"
- M | Materials
- What physical goods exist and are used
- A | Affiliations
- Allies, enemies, partnerships
- T | Trade
- How, where, what, and with whom goods and value move
Tips for creating
When creating a society think in causality. For example:
- Desert environment
- → water scarcity
- → trade routes and control points
- → strong authority over resources
- → rigid class hierarchy
- → beliefs about survival and scarcity