So European-based settings are very common, and some Asiatic-based settings are also pretty common (though, generally, based loosely on Japan and China).
So I wanted to do something a bit different, but I'll need some help. I'm also worried a bit about cultural appreciation vs cultural appropriation, so anyone that can make suggestions about that is very welcome. I'd have to do a lot of research and could use some suggestions where to begin, not to mention what to include.
Mixing and matching are possible given how we tend to do it with some European-based stuff, but I'm not sure how appropriate.
Settings I'd like to try:
1) Native American-based
- There were an unknowable number of Native cultures before Columbus and there are still hundreds of extant cultures now.
2) African-based
- There were lots of African civilizations other than Egypt and even Carthage could be interesting for a change.
3) Polynesian-based
- Islands in the Pacific provide a lot of interesting possibilities.
4) Australian-based
-Maybe include New Zealand? Australia has some of the most interesting animals on Earth but no one ever seems to use them. Who wouldn't want a koala or frilled lizard or similar as a familiar?
5) An Asiatic-based setting that includes Korean, Vietnamese, Mongolian, and (especially) Indian cultures.
6) Anything else. There are lots and lots of cultures out there, so I'm open to suggestions - just as long as it's not something there have been 5d20+5 versions of.
I started work on a bronze age Mediterranean world and you get the best of many different cultures because of it, and it's very distinctly both european and non-european. As for cultural appropriation, I say maybe don't worry about it too much? It's just a game for you and your friends.
If you are interested more on the latter topic you can find it here. The mods closed it but there was a lot of mind opening conversation on it. I even wrote my final in english on racism in fantasy because of it.
For well-researched treatments of real-world cultures aimed for use in games, there's very little that can beat GURPS sourcebooks. My own collection includes books for Arabian Nights, Aztecs, China, Egypt, and Japan. More general sourcebooks (like Bestiary, Fantasy Bestiary, Places of Mystery, Martial Arts, and Timeline) will include bits and pieces from a wide variety of cultures. I use these books for reference for many games, regardless of what system I'm actually using.
Green Ronin's Mythic Vistas series (for v.3.0/v.3.5) is also quite good. The two that you would probably find of most interest for this thread are Mindshadows (a fantasy setting inspired by southern, rather than far-eastern, Asia) and Testament (the Old Testament world, focusing on the Hebrews, but also containing chapters on Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Canaan; there's also a web enhancement about Hittites).
I started work on a bronze age Mediterranean world and you get the best of many different cultures because of it, and it's very distinctly both european and non-european. As for cultural appropriation, I say maybe don't worry about it too much? It's just a game for you and your friends.
Well, I have a very good friend who is Native American and while she's not rping with me for this, I keep in mind how she feels about cultural appropriation. Maybe when I was younger I could create a game with Natives wearing feather headdresses or something similar, but I'm older and know better.
If you are interested more on the latter topic you can find it here. The mods closed it but there was a lot of mind opening conversation on it. I even wrote my final in english on racism in fantasy because of it.
Thanks a lot! That was an interesting thread! That sounds like a cool thesis!
For well-researched treatments of real-world cultures aimed for use in games, there's very little that can beat GURPS sourcebooks. My own collection includes books for Arabian Nights, Aztecs, China, Egypt, and Japan. More general sourcebooks (like Bestiary, Fantasy Bestiary, Places of Mystery, Martial Arts, and Timeline) will include bits and pieces from a wide variety of cultures. I use these books for reference for many games, regardless of what system I'm actually using.
Green Ronin's Mythic Vistas series (for v.3.0/v.3.5) is also quite good. The two that you would probably find of most interest for this thread are Mindshadows (a fantasy setting inspired by southern, rather than far-eastern, Asia) and Testament (the Old Testament world, focusing on the Hebrews, but also containing chapters on Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Canaan; there's also a web enhancement about Hittites).
Okay, thanks a lot! I'll be sure to check these out as soon as I can!
Seconding GURPS. Their original Fantasy world was quite good and I played in a game heavily based on it for years. The variety does work against the system as one can only produce so much material and by having so many projects, none really get the work needed to expand.
Strongly support the Japan book as I still play in it occasionally and I have robbed shamelessly from the Goblins book. A friend recommended their Steampunk offering, but I have not seen it. If you ever can lay hands on the first runs of Space, get them. The thinking shown about how to set up a playable universe is too broad for real specifics, but every GM I've played with has benefited from the philosophy and discussion in setting up their games.
Others I've had, have or played in:
Aliens
Supers (several add ons)
Ogre
several bestiaries
Space Atlases
Tech books
Nobles
Conan
China (stole the 'meritocracy' idea for alternate nobility)
Auto duel and Car Wars
Magic and Wizards plus Magic Items
Alternate earths (there is a new one out)
Psionics
Age of Napoleon
Brain tapped out, But I have something like 40 books and they used to have cardboard heroes you could afford as a po' college student. I incorporated the Octopi into my world!
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Why not base your setting on Hawaii? The history is fairly well documented, the limited scope lets you narrow your ideas, and numerous cultures existed on the Hawaiian island chain alone.
You could include the impact of a far away and powerful empires jockeying for influence in the islands. Subplots for the emergence of foreign religions would add a morally grey aspect to who is in the right.
For well-researched treatments of real-world cultures aimed for use in games, there's very little that can beat GURPS sourcebooks.
I want to leap in and applaud. Yes.
Mind you, I got my start in rpgs playing Steve Jackson's first game, The Fantasy Trip, and lapped up GURPS when he first put it out. Nonetheless, I've never found a GURPS game. It doesn't stop me from picking up GURPS sourcebooks when I'm interested in a subject. (No list at present, just endorsement.)
The other source that impresses me no end is Wikipedia. Yes, it's not always right, but this is for a game! And you can learn an awful lot in a hurry with their articles. I'd browse each area of the world, and click on links, and on links from links, and see where your interests take you.
Certainly, Pre-European America offers a lot of promise: different cultures (it seems you know not to make it just one), often at war with each other, often communicating and trading. And then, if you want, INVASION! Talk about the kind of conflict that makes a game thrive!
I studied the Navajo language on the Navajo reservation a couple of summers way far back when, and I learned a bit about their culture, too.
It was sooooo cool living in a genuinely matriarchal culture. The women rarely talked, but it wasn't out of subservience, oh no. It was because they assumed that every word they spoke would have an impact. Every word. So they rationed their words, and thought carefully before they spoke. If there was something trivial that they might say, they skipped it. And when they did speak, yes, it was worth listening to! The sheer power those women had was amazing to me.
The other thing that amazed me was experiencing a culture that did not value money. At all. I mean, money is useful to have, sure, when you need gas to drive to a doctor's appointment (likely a hundred miles away). But money isn't what drives your life. Your family, the land, the sheep or cattle -- that's what's real. If you've got that, you've got everything important in life.
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I also studied Hausa, the language dominant in northern Nigeria. I didn't ever travel to Africa, so I can't convey quite such experience with a different culture. But I can tell you that west Africa might be an excellent area to look at more closely. Northern Nigeria got converted to Islam early, and it caused a major division in culture between the Hausa and their neighbors. There were a lot of wars, rulership over other peoples, conflict.
Good luck!