“ Imagine that all the humanoid and demi-human laguages are actually the same, but pronounced with outrageous accents and bizarre idiom. All the elves have a French accent, all the Dwarves have Swedish, Dragons have a Pakistani accent...”
“ Custom among pirates to yearly vote for their leader. If a majority believed the leader was doing poorly they could hold another vote. Democratic except in times of battle and danger at sea. Could bleed that over to some 'honorable' bandits.”
“ The PCs are accosted in a major city containing at least one famous fortuneteller / prophet of the future. They are informed that their as-yet-unborn child will (insert terrible evil), and that, although they are very sorry, the PC must be executed to keep this from happening.”