[KaVir]

Novels and films based around such cultures are often set during intensive periods of war, and there's no reason why the same couldn't apply to a mud.

I just finished reading "Dawn of Empire" by Sam Barone. Set in 3158 BCE, it tells the story of Orak, the agricultural "great village" of 2000 people who are the first to successfully stand against the nomadic hunter-gatherer tribes. If such a setting were used for a mud, it could potentially involve a lot of combat - but that doesn't mean you couldn't have roleplaying as well. In fact I think it could make a rather entertaining roleplaying environment.

You're limiting your imagination based on what you've seen, instead of what could be. You need to think outside the box (pun intended).