Recently I've been thinking of creating a setting with a somewhat 'Russian' feel to it, but I'm not sure how to approach it. I've been trying to do research but I'm still not sure how best to approach the idea. Has anyone here tried something similar?
Not knowing enough about the Russian culture to give you specific advice, what I would do is list out the tropes that you think about when you think of a "Russian" feel, things you would like to have in your campaign, and see how you can work these into a Pathfinder setting.
When I think of a 'Russian feel' the following thoughts come to me:
1. Baba Yaga. An epic level NPC witch out in the east somewhere.
2. Eastward Ho! As nobles have kids, and perhaps a law that says that only the eldest son inherits the property, this means that the younger songs have to seek out new property in the wilderness to settle. The barbarians and monsters who live in the eastern wilderness do not like that, and raids against these settlements are almost constant. Thus, there is a steady demand for adventurers to go out east and slay monsters.
3. Pessimism. I've heard that the "Russian Anthropological Principle" goes like this: The Anthropological Principle says that the world has to be able to support life. But it does not say life has to be comfortable. There are many more ways for life to be uncomfortable than for it to be comfortable. Therefore life is probably uncomfortable.
4. Vodka. Lots of vodka.
5. Fiddler on the Roof. It sounds, crazy, no? But every one of us is like a fiddler on the roof, trying to eek out a pleasant tune, without breaking his neck. Seriously, there could be a religious minority living in communities among the majority, with occasional outbreaks of violence.
6. Powerful rulers. Peter the Great! Ivan the Terrible! Catherine the Great! You never hear of Vladimir the Mediocre, or Manya the So-so. The Czar has great plans, and nobody is allowed to question her authority, except maybe the mad monk who can't be killed.
7. Russian nesting dolls. Thinking about it, it is possible to see these as perhaps one-shot magic items, where opening each doll releases a spell. Or perhaps there is a puzzle based on this concept, where each layer incorporates a riddle that has to be solved to open it and get to the next layer.
Anyway, this is just a few minutes free association on my part.
There are a number of DnD monsters derived from Eastern European folklore (including Baba Yaga, of course). Check out Rusalka, and I believe Domovoi were in some book or another.
Thematically, there are a few things you can consider.
-Russian stories tend to be darker than their western counterparts--even the funny ones often have a pretty grim ending.
-If you are targeting a medieval slavic setting, a little research can be a big help--one only needs go back a few centuries to reach a point where much of the region was largely the province of warlords claiming chunks of territory. This is ripe for a 'points-of-light in a vast darkness' sort of setting.
-Look up some russian folklore--it contains origins for vampire mythology, a rich culture of witches, and a complex semi-pantheon of minor spirits. Further, once it was effectively forcibly Christianized, the new religion layered onto the old for a significant amount of time, rather than necessarily replacing it whole-cloth.
For particular entertainment/inspiration, check out Viy. It's a classic tale of priest kills witch, priest holds rites for witch, priest is killed by giant evil Marshmellow (Domo-style!). I believe you may even be able to watch the whole thing on youtube. I recommend you take it with a liberal dose of vodka.
If you can get a hold of the Iron Kingdoms stuff, the kingdom of Khador is based on Russia, and the Iron Kingdoms books has a number of monsters suitable for the setting, with 3.5 edition D&D stats.
There are a huge number of fantasy novels that use a slavic setting.
I think Orson Scott Card did one, but there was some time travel in there, and Baba Yaga's hut was a grounded 747 that had gone through the wormhole. Oi.
To some extent, if you're doing research, you should first decide on the level of magic in your campaign. Then find some fiction with a similar level of magic and go from there.
Dave Duncan has sort of low magic thing with his Sky of Swords series, and one of the books takes place in a pseudo russia with mad czars and stuff. Rest of the series deals with vikings and other euro types.
Thanks everyone! Yeah I was thinking magical nesting dolls that each had a spell associated with them (there could be 1d8+1 in a set), something like Faberge Eggs, which unleash a spell when opened, and buildings with "onion domes"...but that's the furthest I got.
I was going to include Baba Yaga, the fire bird, one or more dragon/wyvern types (like the zmey gorynych or zilant) and similar. I was not sure what to do with people like the cossacks - should they be a separate race or a type of class? Should I have the setting more futuristic, with the "trans-Siberian railroad" existing? All roads leading to the capital city? Orcs as the Mongols? Halflings riding and herding reindeer? Dwarf Vikings sailing in ships with iron sides?
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Check out the film Sauna directed by Antti-Jussi Annlia. It is set in Finland, but has a great Slavic feel and is not bad for inspiring players for a Kingmaker campaign as well IMHO.
Here is the blurb from IMDB:
As a 25-year war between Russia and Sweden concludes, two brothers who are part of an effort to outline new border accords become undone by their actions, and their mistreatment of a young woman during their journey.
One aspect that's important to giving it feel is good names. Town A does not give a Russian feel. Donskaya sounds better. Hell, you could just go on google maps and write down names of real Russian towns and none will be the wiser.
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That is really important! A strong naming convention really helps to bring the setting to life. If you're players are travelling through a region that is Russian and Slavic, but every second NPC is 'Bob' or 'Harry' its not going to be very immersive.
My GM has bought a quick reference book of names that he uses in games. It has a selection of names inspired by real world cultures for fantasy games. I will try to get the title off him and post it up here!
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There was an issue of Dragon magazine during the 3.0 era that had a ‘dark-ages Russia’ type campaign setting. Alas, I don’t own it and I’m not sure which issue it was in, but a search on these boards or a search engine might reveal it. I think it was called ‘Red Sails’. There was also a companion adventure in Dungeon magazine called Rivers of Blood. That adventure featured a blood feud between two Rus chieftans, Eurasian horsemen attacking Slavic settlements, and a journey down a river through an enchanted wood, featuring encounters with water spirits (elementals), hags and magic using ogres.
There is an excellent novel by C.J. Cherryh called ‘Rusalka’ that is set in a mystic version of medieval(ish) Russia that might provide some inspiration.
I’m sure that a lot of the monsters in various RPG products are drawn from Russian and Slavic folklore. A few that spring to mind are the Rusalka and the Vodyanoi (sp?).
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Check out the film Sauna directed by Antti-Jussi Annlia. It is set in Finland, but has a great Slavic feel and is not bad for inspiring players for a Kingmaker campaign as well IMHO.
Here is the blurb from IMDB:
As a 25-year war between Russia and Sweden concludes, two brothers who are part of an effort to outline new border accords become undone by their actions, and their mistreatment of a young woman during their journey.
Definately an inspiring movie for this sort of setting, although the cultural bent of the movie is probably more Finnish and Swedish than Russian.
Kinda freaky though.
There is an excellent novel by C.J. Cherryh called ‘Rusalka’ that is set in a mystic version of medieval(ish) Russia that might provide some inspiration.
I read that book a long time ago, it's another good example. But I recall that the three or so main characters spend a lot of time alone in the woods. Lots of atmosphere, but they were isolated and mostly interacting with each other in the woods but not the wider world.
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There is an excellent novel by C.J. Cherryh called ‘Rusalka’ that is set in a mystic version of medieval(ish) Russia that might provide some inspiration.I read that book a long time ago, it's another good example. But I recall that the three or so main characters spend a lot of time alone in the woods. Lots of atmosphere, but they were isolated and mostly interacting with each other in the woods but not the wider world.
That is true.
It may provide some inspiration on how to deal with / treat wizards and various supernatural creatures in such a setting though.