Here's my first few. If anyone can think of any more please contribute them as I'm struggling for more ideas!
True Believer
(Ylari)
You are a devout follower of the Eternal Truth of Al-Kalim and can recite many passages from the holy Nahmeh. However your tendency to use religious phrases in your speech and your uncompromising principles can be off putting to those around you.
Benefit: +1 to Knowledge (Religion) and you may use Knowledge (Religion) even if you are untrained.
Drawback: -2 on Diplomacy checks when dealing anyone without this trait.
Roleplaying ideas: Characters with this trait may start all conversations with a religious phrase or may call people from other cultures "infidels".
Honest Trader
(Darokin , Minrothad)
You always try to get the best value for money you can and believe in honest transactions.
Benefit: Eye for a bargain: +1 to Appraise
Drawback: Honesty: -1 to Bluff
Roleplaying ideas: Always on the lookout for a bargain characters with this trait will always try to haggle, perhaps even when not appropriate.
Thyatian Cunning
(Thyatian)
Your manner tends to foster a certain amount of paranoia, especially when you are in positions of power. You also used to a culture of bribery and corruption, and might look to this as a first resort.
Benefit: Experience of telling half-truths gives +1 bonus to Bluff
Drawback: Your mistrustful nature gives a –1 to Diplomacy checks.
Note: These benefits and drawbacks can stack with those from the Dishonest trait.
Roleplaying ideas: Characters with this trait might just appear shifty or might be compulsive liars.
Community Spirited
(Five Shires)
You have a heightened sense of community and work hard to protect those around you but are easily duped by those feigning friendship.
Benefit: +2 bonus on all uses of the "aid another" action
Drawback: -1 to Sense Motive checks.
Roleplaying: Community Spirited characters might be overly friendly and keen to speak to everyone or paragons of local traditions , suspicious of outsiders.
A thought:
At the Lighthouse website there was a Darokin regional feat called Renaissance or someting like that. You could use it as a Trait as well. It simply meant that people from this region are better educated in the ways of science, commerce and civilization that other nations' citizens and that because of their high cultural stage they have more skills available as class skills. Perhaps you could change it to certain skills becoming available for use as untrained - or you could widen the skill selection list of Darokin characters.
About the Thyatians: I'd think that living in such a world as theirs, I'd become good at Sense Motive mighty quick... Could be an alternative to Bluff. They are used to their countrymen being treacherous - so much that sometimes they even calculate on it.
I'd like to see more.
:-) Jesper
I suppose, ultimately, the Traits idea isn't really that different, but I like what I've seen here nonetheless.
(Traladaren)
Raised in a culture of folk tales of charms, curses, omens and portents you sometimes have surprising insights into supernatural lore.
Benefit: You may make Knowledge Arcana, Religion, Local and Nature checks even if you have no ranks in them.
Drawback: -2 to saving throws against fear effects.
Roleplaying: Superstitious characters might be extra wary of all magic or might insist on carrying good luck charms and regularly consulting fortunetellers.
Renaissance
(Darokin)
Raised in a highly civilized culture you have a wide breadth of knowledge but are unaccustomed to life in the wilderness.
Benefit: You may make Knowledge Architecture and Engineering, Religion, History and Nobility checks even if you have no ranks in them.
Drawback: -1 to Survival and Handle Animal checks.
Roleplaying: Characters with this trait might be keen to share their superior knowledge whenever possible or moan when forced to leave the comforts of civilization.
Thanks to both Spellweaver and the Lighthouse site for the inspiration for the last one.
Superstitious
(Traladaren)
Raised in a culture of folk tales of charms, curses, omens and portents you sometimes have surprising insights into supernatural lore.
Benefit: You may make Knowledge Arcana, Religion, Local and Nature checks even if you have no ranks in them.
Drawback: -2 to saving throws against fear effects.
Roleplaying: Superstitious characters might be extra wary of all magic or might insist on carrying good luck charms and regularly consulting fortunetellers.
IMC I have a feat called Traladaran Superstition that provides a bonus to Will saves vs. magic. Your version works well too though
Håvard
Now that you got me thinking of variant rules from Unearthed Arcana, I've been looking at the rules in the SRD. I wonder that we might not make use of the Character Background idea in some form for Mystara characters?
Great idea. I've got some ideas around the Variant Classes and Flaws from Unearthed Arcana too.
When/If I revisit the concept, the top priority is to develop meaningful regional feats that reflect the diversity of Mystara, and DO NOT duplicate existing feats that can be taken by anybody.
Your traits definitely accomplish this aspect, though I'm not keen on penalizing for things like this, as my experience has indicated players will opt out unless the benefit far outweighs the penalty.
Superstitious characters might be extra wary of all magic or might insist on carrying good luck charms and regularly consulting fortunetellers.
I've often thought about 'good luck' charms and things of that nature for the Traladarans. The thing that I didn't like was that a PC would really never get one because they'd just detect magic and see no aura. However, it just popped into my mind (when I saw your reference to Unearthed Arcana) of saying that a 'professional fortuneteller' makes use of low power Incantations (a real hedge wizard you might say ;) ).
Using this idea, a good luck charm/trinket thingy crafted by a fortuneteller would indeed reveal a faint magical aura when detect magic is used. It may not have any tangible benefit but at least it looks that way at first. Plus, the fact that they can actually acheive results sometimes using these Incantations can substantiate their claims. Like I said, 'random thoughts'
.That Character Background idea brought the Northern Reaches gaz into my mind immediately! Anybody else?
I like the idea of having these Traits linked with cultures instead of just geographical regions. It's also nice to use these without having to burn up a feat, something I know none of my players would do when there are hundreds of them to chose from as it is. Since they are 'free', a drawback wouldn't keep any of my players from using them.
And yes, the NR gaz did pop into my head.
Roger
Born to Adventure
(Ierendi)
Generations of your family have adventured – giving you a knowledge and confidence when facing the dangers of dungeons.
Benefit: +1 to Knowledge (Dungeoneering) and you may use Knowledge (Dungeoneering) even if you are untrained.
Drawback: -1 on Spot and Listen checks due to your over-confidence.
Roleplaying ideas: Characters with this trait may delight in telling stories about how they or their relatives encountered a similar monster or trap. Other characters may enjoy the danger and excitement of delving into a dungeon and take unnecessary risks in search of glory and wealth.
Deck Hand
(Minrothad)
Years of experience on the decks of boats have given you sure footing when at sea.
Benefit: +1 to Tumble, Balance, Climb and Move Silently checks whilst on a boat.
Drawback: -1 on Tumble, Balance, Climb and Move Silently checks at all other times.
Roleplaying ideas: Characters with this trait may be uncomfortable when on dry land or may use a lot of marine terms in speech.