Current Fantasy settings that are not England/France/Japan/China inspired?

[GavinRuneblade]

So, curious to know, partly inspired by SkillKoil's blog and being super bored of all the bajillions of Japanese/Chinese settings and weapons, how many currently being developed fantasy RPGs have settings that are not a variation of England/France or Japan/China?

I know GURPS and Rifts were always good about including other cultures. But most of my experience has been with various dnd settings all of which are no longer available. Are there any games currently in development that are worth checking out?

The one I'd love more than anything else would be a really good pre-sargon Sumeria/Babylon/Akkadia setting for a Gilgamesh-inspired campaign.

DnD used to have AlQuadim and Ylarum but those never made it past 2e. Are there any games that did a good job with Zoroastrian (pre-Islam) Persia? Or current games with a Middle-Eastern flavor? The various conan games are a funky thing where they have some Egyptian and some Persian but it is all seen through heavily European eyes. Like Stygia is evil. But I do love almost everything conan. ^.^

I know there are many older games for Greek and Roman settings. Mystara had the Empire of Thyatis and the Millenian Empire, for example. But again, I don't know any still in active development.

Has anyone ever done India/Tibet? The Mahabharata and Ramayana have some awesome magic items and powers. Balance issues to be sure (an Atirathi is a warrior capable of defeating 10,000+ enemies "at once" while a Maharathi is a warrior who can defeat multiple Atirathis at once), but still lots of cool stuff that I've never seen in a game. I swear I remember seeing the cover of a rule book that looked like it was supposed to be India but I can't recall what game it was for.

There's been a few tries at Viking settings, but far too many have images of Vikings with horned helmets and in my "young and stupid" days I defaulted to ignoring those as having been made by ignorant people so probably not worth my time (which ironically made me even more ignorant because those might have had great developers who were capitalizing on the expectations of their target demographic). Were any good? The basic DnD/Mystara book about them has a prominently horned dude so it's one of the few Gazeteers I never bought.

What about the eastern Europe and central asian nations? The cool part-Asian part-Turk part-European part-totally-unique mix that you find in Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, and Stanistan (all the areas near Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Khazakstan, etc)? Usually the only eastern European games are Ravenloft/vampire/Dracula stuff and mostly include guns.

Maztica was a setting for the Americas pre-colonization. But the little excerpts I saw seemed to mishmash the Aztec, Maya, and Incans rather than play up their differences. Never seen a fantasy version of the Olmecs. Mystara's "Atruaghn Clans" is a not horrible look at North American native tribes, but it only hits one style of tribe and misses out on the variety in dress, culture, architecture, government, etc. Every other version I found is post colonial era.

I can't recall any games or settings for pre-colonial Africa other than a few rifts expansions.

The only Caribbean settings I know of are decidedly post colonial and include gun powder. So those are out.

Polynesia? Can't recall that anywhere. Someone has to have made an ocean world campaign that I never found.

The only really heavily "we're different from Earth" settings I've seen are either sci-fi or full of white people with English/French clothing and equipment and architecture. Or like Avatar the Last Airbender, basically Japan/China again. Are there any really alien ones that have a fantasy level of technology?

[Valyar]

Conan, Adventures in an Age Undreamed Of has everything :)
Pick the place in the world suitable for your preference and play.

[The High Druid]

We're just had a whole season of D&D AL adventures and a book which have a tropical setting rather than the typical knights, castles, etc.

And there's nothing stopping you digging out the old box sets, and using them with 5E. I've pulled a lot of material out of Planescape, and tend to use 2nd Ed Faerun as my setting rather than use the current stuff. If my players ever choose to head off in the right directions, I may end up some use out of Al Qadim, Kara Tur, or Maztica as well.

[The High Druid]

Hmmm, also take a look at the World of Darkness. Can't speak so much for the other books, but when you take a look at the Vampire Clans, the Werewolf Tribes, and the other Changing Breeds there's a lot of diversity among them.

[GavinRuneblade]

We're just had a whole season of D&D AL adventures and a book which have a tropical setting rather than the typical knights, castles, etc.

And there's nothing stopping you digging out the old box sets, and using them with 5E. I've pulled a lot of material out of Planescape, and tend to use 2nd Ed Faerun as my setting rather than use the current stuff. If my players ever choose to head off in the right directions, I may end up some use out of Al Qadim, Kara Tur, or Maztica as well.

I'm actually hoping to try a new game system, but also specifically something still being developed actively. I do have a lot of the older products and I do use them in my 5e games.



Conan, Adventures in an Age Undreamed Of has everything :)
Pick the place in the world suitable for your preference and play.

Does it actually have rules and background for other cultures? From what I saw it only has a few of the traditional hyperborean settings but it has some plans for other areas in the future. Definitely worth my checking out, thank you! I can't believe I missed this one until now.

[Ken L]

This reminds me of FF X's departure from the fold of the prior games, it was islander based which is why it's held up highly in the lot of FF games.

Recently, Pillars of Eternity : Deadfire, also took this approach, to similar appeal, if you're looking for theme research, I'd highly recommend a play through of it.

Regarding Viking themed.. I recall Steven Lumpkin (@SilentOsiris) running a viking themed short form game. IIRC, it had 'man' and 'woman' actions to illustrate the gender morphology that was prevalent in viking culture, it was hilarious .

" Woman, how dare you question my judgement of the hunt! " - Player rolls manliness check, fails

" You'd make a better hearth keeper than me, for I have hunted many a wild boar in my youth, perhaps you've failed your first hunt for your mother's teat as well? "

[Skillkoil]

Savage Worlds has a Roman/Celtic setting that is pretty frickin cool. Ellspeth knows all about it! She ran it for us and it was AMAZING!

[Nylanfs]

There's the Southlands (https://koboldpress.com/kpstore/product/southlands-campaign-setting-for-pathfinder-rpg/) setting by Kobold Press.

[Skillkoil]

If you are into sci-fi I would recommend Starfinder or there are several different versions of Deadlands that can whet your appetite.

[Valyar]

Does it actually have rules and background for other cultures? From what I saw it only has a few of the traditional hyperborean settings but it has some plans for other areas in the future. Definitely worth my checking out, thank you! I can't believe I missed this one until now.
I wouldn't say rules. This is setting, so each country/nation/region has short summary in the core rulebook and in each sourcebook they are expanded further, giving you full overview of the world. For example the sea nations of Argos and Zingara are given brief overview in the core book, while in Conan the Pirate they get expanded much more - customs, politics, specifics, overall flavor of the place. The oriental-themed Zamora is very well detailed in Conan the Thief.

The mechanics and rules you have are related to those settings - theivery, sailing, mercenary activities, kingdom ruling and etc.

The best in Conan and this revision, is that the setting information not full, it gives you good foundation but leaves to the GM and players to complete. Settings where every corner of the world is documented is a bit limiting for me in certain situations.

[seycyrus]

Have you thought about GURPS? The various worldbooks are universally recognized to be extremely well researched. They have covered many different historical settings in many different product forms.

In fact there was a product just released, "Hall of Judgment" which is strongly based on Nordic culture and created for the DFRPG (Dungeon Fantasy Role Playing Game - powered by Gurps) via kickstarter. It does a great job of outlining and creating a Northern culture.

Gurps Egypt
Gurps Arabian Nights
Gurps Aztects
Gurps Celtic Myth
Gurps Russia
Gurps Greece
Gurps Vikings
...

EDIT: WOOPS major fail on reading skill of first post!

[GavinRuneblade]

If you are into sci-fi I would recommend Starfinder or there are several different versions of Deadlands that can whet your appetite.

Not really into sci-fi. I'm specifically looking for things pre-industrial age. The older the better.

[GavinRuneblade]

I wouldn't say rules. This is setting, so each country/nation/region has short summary in the core rulebook and in each sourcebook they are expanded further, giving you full overview of the world. For example the sea nations of Argos and Zingara are given brief overview in the core book, while in Conan the Pirate they get expanded much more - customs, politics, specifics, overall flavor of the place. The oriental-themed Zamora is very well detailed in Conan the Thief.

The mechanics and rules you have are related to those settings - theivery, sailing, mercenary activities, kingdom ruling and etc.

The best in Conan and this revision, is that the setting information not full, it gives you good foundation but leaves to the GM and players to complete. Settings where every corner of the world is documented is a bit limiting for me in certain situations.

Are these rules published, like can I get a copy of the book right now? When I tried to find one on the website they were still linking to kickstarter and talking about pre-orders. I am not worried about things that define everything. I'm cool changing stuff when it suits me. hehe.


There's the Southlands (https://koboldpress.com/kpstore/product/southlands-campaign-setting-for-pathfinder-rpg/) setting by Kobold Press.

That one is quite interesting, I'll check it out. Very nice production quality too it looks like. I have a friend who DMs Pathfinder regularly so I'll see if I can talk him into a game. Thank you!

[Trenloe]

Are these rules published, like can I get a copy of the book right now? When I tried to find one on the website they were still linking to kickstarter and talking about pre-orders.
Yep you can. My FLGS has a lot of the books in. The PDFs can be poruchased here: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/4329/Modiphius/subcategory/8425_25091/CONAN. There's a free QuickStart that gives you some idea what it’s about.

[shadzar]

I can't recall any games or settings for pre-colonial Africa other than a few rifts expansions.

The only Caribbean settings I know of are decidedly post colonial and include gun powder. So those are out.

Polynesia? Can't recall that anywhere. Someone has to have made an ocean world campaign that I never found.

The only really heavily "we're different from Earth" settings I've seen are either sci-fi or full of white people with English/French clothing and equipment and architecture. Or like Avatar the Last Airbender, basically Japan/China again. Are there any really alien ones that have a fantasy level of technology?

Sadly to the many who complained for years to have every country on the planet included, most RPGs will focus on their country of origin or base medieval Europe.

as you said, Al-Qadim exists and can be used in 5e. Maztica, where lots of Tomb of Annihilation takes place is loosely South America, most of the Forgotten Realms was specked out from all over the world.


All it takes is to add your own flavor out country to any RPG to have it in there. there is weapons from every culture you need only compare to your chosen game to adapt them to similar items.

Ocean World and "Desert Planet" have been done. Waterworld was oddly the name of the persons ocean world, and "Spice Must Flow" was the name of the "desert planet" world.

as to the white people.... not many non-white people make entire game systems only about non-white people. :confused: to be honest an RPG like that probably would recover costs as it would be too niche in the current social climate.

are you looking for a new settings without "white people" or medieval europe focus? just collecting a list of all the settings demographics from design?


not sure what you re needing, but i think Cadillacs and Dinosaurs has: white people, non-white people, and talking dinosaurs, and non-talking dinosaurs. technology levels were swords, revolvers, lasers, and yes, Cadillacs... even spaceships and android/mech dinos.... my memory is fuzzy, but it was a very weird book for that game...

[Nylanfs]

That one is quite interesting, I'll check it out. Very nice production quality too it looks like. I have a friend who DMs Pathfinder regularly so I'll see if I can talk him into a game. Thank you!

I listened to Ben talk about this setting. He had done a LOT of african research for a game setting that ended up not being able to be used because it was a Euro centric setting and didn't fit in. So he took it to Wolfgang and they made this wonderful book.

[GavinRuneblade]

Sadly to the many who complained for years to have every country on the planet included, most RPGs will focus on their country of origin or base medieval Europe.I don't want every country, just ANY OTHER one, currently being produced. Exactly because, as you point out, often these products are niche or don't make a profit. DnD will keep me covered for the rest of my life with the big four. I don't ever need to worry about them stopping being focused on these four countries. I want to spend money to support someone who doesn't have the most popular product in the world.


as you said, Al-Qadim exists and can be used in 5e. Maztica, where lots of Tomb of Annihilation takes place is loosely South America, most of the Forgotten Realms was specked out from all over the world.

All it takes is to add your own flavor out country to any RPG to have it in there. there is weapons from every culture you need only compare to your chosen game to adapt them to similar items. Actually, except for the atlatl and a few others nearly every setting only has british/French weapons and Japanese weapons. I've never seen a Gada (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Gama1916.jpg) in any RPG, nor an Urumi (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Ethunu_kaduwa.jpg) or any of a bunch of other ones. It always comes down to the same very few weapons. Granted, from a gamist point of view there is not a whole lot to differentiate most weapons, you could easily call a Gada a "great club" and call it a day. It's really only when you get very simulationist and go for tiny differences for no reason other than to have a difference. But I do get sick to death of the omnipresence of the same four sources.

And the two specific reasons I am looking for an in-production game, are #1 that while I absolutely CAN make adaptations myself, I don't have a lot of time so I prefer something I can grab and go and only need minimal change.#2 I want to vote with my wallet and support the development of more of this variety of product. buying and using a 20-year-old book doesn't help anyone. The company that is getting the money already fired everyone who made the 20-year old book and moved on to other things. Sure they're going to take my money but they're not going to make anything new.


as to the white people.... not many non-white people make entire game systems only about non-white people. :confused: to be honest an RPG like that probably would recover costs as it would be too niche in the current social climate.

are you looking for a new settings without "white people" or medieval europe focus? just collecting a list of all the settings demographics from design?Blue, purple, wolfmen, fish, whatever. Just dress and look and have architecture that is not from England, France, Japan or China. Beyond that I don't care.

There are plenty of alternate Europe settings that were developed in the past that are variant enough. Someone pointed me to the Southlands, but their Midgard is also a great Norse setting and that's cool too because it isn't England or France. A nice ancient Greece would be fine. I just used the racial reference because I've seen a lot of games that are touted as original and different but are really just England and France with funky names. Like take Eberron. Great setting, but it is England and France with a few variations on the side for flavor. Yes, I can pretend Aundair, Breland, Cyre, Eldeen, and Thrane don't exist and that the dragonmarked houses weren't inspired by British trade guilds. Or just set a campaign in one of the other countries. I really love the unique take on elves, gnomes, and orcs from Eberron. But I already own virtually every Eberron book ever published. Going forward, I'd prefer to spend my money supporting a different developer compared to the same thing in a new edition.

It's not just about wanting the product. I have that. It's also about who I can support in my tiny way.


not sure what you re needing, but i think Cadillacs and Dinosaurs has: white people, non-white people, and talking dinosaurs, and non-talking dinosaurs. technology levels were swords, revolvers, lasers, and yes, Cadillacs... even spaceships and android/mech dinos.... my memory is fuzzy, but it was a very weird book for that game...That would be fun if they ever do a pre-gunpowder version. I'd also love to see a good stone-age setting using at least somewhat accurate paleoanthropology.

When I game, I really don't enjoy the more modern stuff so much. I have had fun with vampire, shadowrun, and a few others from time to time. But they never hold me like ancient settings do.

[GavinRuneblade]

Yep you can. My FLGS has a lot of the books in. The PDFs can be poruchased here: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/4329/Modiphius/subcategory/8425_25091/CONAN. There's a free QuickStart that gives you some idea what it’s about.

Weeeee thank you! I was looking on the developer's page. Never even thought to check drive thru, which I really should know better by now.

[Oberoten]

I'd suggest taking a look at old "Quest for Glory IV" which draws heavily on Slavic legends for the setting.
- Obe

[Nylanfs]

Ben said Spears of the Dawn (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/110293/Spears-of-the-Dawn) is also a good pick

[shadzar]

Actually, except for the atlatl and a few others nearly every setting only has british/French weapons and Japanese weapons. I've never seen a Gada (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Gama1916.jpg) in any RPG, nor an Urumi (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Ethunu_kaduwa.jpg) or any of a bunch of other ones. It always comes down to the same very few weapons. Granted, from a gamist point of view there is not a whole lot to differentiate most weapons, you could easily call a Gada a "great club" and call it a day. It's really only when you get very simulationist and go for tiny differences for no reason other than to have a difference. But I do get sick to death of the omnipresence of the same four sources.

And the two specific reasons I am looking for an in-production game, are #1 that while I absolutely CAN make adaptations myself, I don't have a lot of time so I prefer something I can grab and go and only need minimal change.#2 I want to vote with my wallet and support the development of more of this variety of product. buying and using a 20-year-old book doesn't help anyone. The company that is getting the money already fired everyone who made the 20-year old book and moved on to other things. Sure they're going to take my money but they're not going to make anything new.

i think you will find your biggest problem in your search is as you said, the mechanics are pretty much the same give or take, so why bother for most people. and then when you want people to create new weapons in fantasy you end up with what this guy explains... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJ40GzR8kDk he has a lot more videos details the problems in RPGs.

except you have to understand, the majority of RPGs arent form a simulationist standpoint, but a fantasy one. so they arent going to reflect real like... you get those same 4 sources because "if it aint broke, dont fix it".


this is why, for 40+ years, people running games have been encouraged to create their own stuff. people would support AD&D, WotC wont release or promote it, so people can't support it. same for the settings with the items you are looking for. you can convert anything from 2e to 5e or 3e and then anything else, since everything now is pretty much 3e and 5e based....

the settings glut from 2e is over and most companies probably wont go down that road again, and niche concepts will remain in niche games. now games are all about boiling the entire thing down into the simplest form and just tweaking that concept and adding "diversity" to it. thus The Witcher TV series ... still set in Europe. new concepts die to 5e, like Etherscope, and other "strange" games, that strive to attract a niche. as they come in strong, then just a quickly fade away since they can't run with 5e.

you will just have to hope someone puts something up on DMs Guild that meets your niche needs.



buying and using a 20-year-old book doesn't help anyone this is wrong. if it is a WotC book it supports 5e and MIGHT show interest in the product type for future releases. and if it inspires you, who cares if it is new or old. we are talking about ancient technology with these weapons anyway...

[GavinRuneblade]

i think you will find your biggest problem in your search is as you said, the mechanics are pretty much the same give or take, so why bother for most people. and then when you want people to create new weapons in fantasy you end up with what this guy explains... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJ40GzR8kDk he has a lot more videos details the problems in RPGs. I don't have a sound card at the moment, what is the TL/DR of that video?


the settings glut from 2e is over and most companies probably wont go down that road again, and niche concepts will remain in niche games. now games are all about boiling the entire thing down into the simplest form and just tweaking that concept and adding "diversity" to it. thus The Witcher TV series ... still set in Europe. new concepts die to 5e, like Etherscope, and other "strange" games, that strive to attract a niche. as they come in strong, then just a quickly fade away since they can't run with 5e. I'm fine with niche, I'm just no good at finding them. Hence my asking and hoping to be pointed at one. ^.^


this is wrong. if it is a WotC book it supports 5e and MIGHT show interest in the product type for future releases. and if it inspires you, who cares if it is new or old. we are talking about ancient technology with these weapons anyway...
I certainly hope so, I've bought almost all the old Mystara books and am currently running Horde of the Dragon Queen and Rise of Tiamat set in Mystara instead of Forgotten Realms. Heh. Tragically, I see no evidence of it. But I sincerely hope I am wrong.

[GavinRuneblade]

Ben said Spears of the Dawn (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/110293/Spears-of-the-Dawn) is also a good pick

That is a funky product a fantasy setting for a sci-fi game. Hits every target: still being produced, unique, and one of my requested settings: African. Bought it, looking forward to trying it out. Thank you!

[Valarian]

There's been a few tries at Viking settings, but far too many have images of Vikings with horned helmets and in my "young and stupid" days I defaulted to ignoring those as having been made by ignorant people so probably not worth my time (which ironically made me even more ignorant because those might have had great developers who were capitalizing on the expectations of their target demographic). Were any good? The basic DnD/Mystara book about them has a prominently horned dude so it's one of the few Gazeteers I never bought.

For an authentic pre-Viking era Skandia, you might want to take a look at Yggdrasill by le 7ème Cercle (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/239514/Yggdrasill-Core-Rulebook). The game captures the cultural and supernatural aspects fairly nicely, and the game mechanics are pretty good too. There's also Keltia (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/238817/Keltia-english-version?manufacturers_id=130) from the same company, for an Arthurian Celtic Briton setting using the same system. For a decent Arthurian setting, there's also Age of Arthur by Wordplay Games (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/111752/Age-of-Arthur) that uses the Fate system.

[Valarian]

I can't recall any games or settings for pre-colonial Africa other than a few rifts expansions.
I've not got anything here myself, but I've heard some good things about the Nyambe setting by Atlas Games (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/222980/Nyambe-African-Adventures), in that it manages to capture the culture without falling back on European/American pulp stereotypes of African cultures.

[shadzar]

I certainly hope so, I've bought almost all the old Mystara books and am currently running Horde of the Dragon Queen and Rise of Tiamat set in Mystara instead of Forgotten Realms. Heh. Tragically, I see no evidence of it. But I sincerely hope I am wrong.

Sadly Mystara is practically Germany based. so there might not be too much there, but it is good stuff from OD&D.

I think you already mentioned the settings or countries in RIFTS, there are a few variants from Forgotten Realms like Maztica the Aztec setting which Tomb of Annihilation takes place in. Sadly with the passing of 2e into WotC hands everything will likely follow 3.x or 5e and be Europe based. I know DragonTurtle Games is working on something, and other probably can't mention what they are working on. Research on a civilization like the 2e green splatbooks did and adapt to your game is the best you will likely do.


Maybe some of those board games out there have story or setting to them to mine for ideas? There is so many board games coming out daily i can't keep up to begin to tell you where to look. FFG seems to be the talk of the town most times.


if you can find them, there might be something in the old netbooks. this is some, but not all of them for various flavors. can't guarantee they will have everything you are looking for, but good sources to mine for things that spruced up games 20 years ago. https://www.acc.umu.se/~stradh/dnd/mirror/Ezra/books/olear/ADnD/NetBooks.html

[Nylanfs]

Here's the rest of Ben's suggestions. (https://www.facebook.com/TheBenMcFarland/posts/10156048943338871?comment_id=10156049022283871&reply_comment_id=10156051664393871&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R%22%7D) :)

Yoon-Suin (more a SE Asia analog) (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/144820/YoonSuin)
Mythic Russia: Heroism and Adventure in the Land of the Firebird (eastern Russia != Europe) (https://mythicrussia.wordpress.com/)
Tales of the Caliphate Nights (The Levant) (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/20418/Tales-of-the-Caliphate-Nights--True-20?it=1)
Razor Coast (very Polynesian) (https://froggodgames.com/frogs/product/razor-coast/)
Tekumel is the great great grand-daddy of such settings (Science-Fantasy Asian/MesoAmer culture on a terraformed planet 60K+ years in the future) (https://www.tekumel.com/)

And possibly Northern Crown

7th Sea also has a lot of different worldwide settings

[seycyrus]

Sadly Mystara is practically Germany based...

I don't see how you can say this, at all.

[shadzar]

I don't see how you can say this, at all.

because it felt like it prior to Hollow World and Blackmoor being shoehorned into it.

[seycyrus]

because it felt like it prior to Hollow World and Blackmoor being shoehorned into it.

No it didn't.

Ylarum? Ierendi? Atruaghin? Karameikos (Slavs are not Germanic and Byzantines certainly aren't), etc.

How can you say HW was shoehorned into Mystara? And blackmoor was as much shoehorned into Mystara as it was into anywhere else.

[GavinRuneblade]

because it felt like it prior to Hollow World and Blackmoor being shoehorned into it.

It is one of those "stuff every culture in the real world somewhere" settings:
* Minrothad is Venice Italy turned into an entire country of islands instead of a single city-state
* Darokin is post-revolution France but without gunpowder and no industrial revolution
* Glantri is the holy roman empire pre-bismark, ironically with a plane travelling Frenchman from "real-world earth" on the throne.
* Karameikos & Alphatia are generic England as a fantasy setting.
* Thyatis is rome, Millenia is Greece.
* Atruaghin Clans are native American.
* Ethengar is Mongolia/Hungary/Bulgaria.
* Ylarum is a generic "middle east-like territory" but not specifically any country as it has some Persia, some Iran (using pre- and post-Abu Bakr's conquest as the differentiator since they are the same land area) some Hedjaz, some Saudi Arabia, some weird Sinbad non-historical stuff.
* The Jarldoms & Norwold are "Scandinavia".
* The Heldan Freeholds are Latvia/Estonia/Knights Templar's Lands.
* The original traladar are described as sub-Saharan African but given almost no real statistics.
* Red Steel is Portugal and Spain's empire in the Americas with Vermeil replacing gold.
* Their Egypt-equivalent was exterminated by its own gods because of a practical joke by Thanatos that made the other gods soil their pants and over react, I forget the name, starts with an N. All that's left are the Jackal-headed NPC race called the Pflarr.
* Hollow World has an Aztec equivalent whose name I always forget.
* The Merry Pirates are a fantasy carribean equivalent.
* The invisible moon Myoshima is called "oriental" but is only Japan and even then excludes the Ainu and Okinawans (which is tragically common with supposedly Japanese RPG products).
* Sind is supposed to be India but never got developed enough to tell
* hollow world has some orcs that represent Mexico but use hand crossbows instead of guns.

I'm sure I'm forgetting several.

The bizarre thing is all of the above combined fits into an area of about 1/4 the size of North America. Instead of taking up the whole world. Well, not counting Myoshima and Millenia.

[GavinRuneblade]

I've not got anything here myself, but I've heard some good things about the Nyambe setting by Atlas Games (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/222980/Nyambe-African-Adventures), in that it manages to capture the culture without falling back on European/American pulp stereotypes of African cultures.

I've seen Nyambe but my understanding is it hasn't been updated since 2005. So doesn't fit as currently in development. Are Atlas still developing it? Even slowly?

Yggdrasil looks awesome, thank you for that one! I actually lived in France as a child so very cool to be supporting a French developer!

[GavinRuneblade]

Here's the rest of Ben's suggestions. (https://www.facebook.com/TheBenMcFarland/posts/10156048943338871?comment_id=10156049022283871&reply_comment_id=10156051664393871&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R%22%7D) :)

Yoon-Suin (more a SE Asia analog) (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/144820/YoonSuin)
Mythic Russia: Heroism and Adventure in the Land of the Firebird (eastern Russia != Europe) (https://mythicrussia.wordpress.com/)
Tales of the Caliphate Nights (The Levant) (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/20418/Tales-of-the-Caliphate-Nights--True-20?it=1)
Razor Coast (very Polynesian) (https://froggodgames.com/frogs/product/razor-coast/)
Tekumel is the great great grand-daddy of such settings (Science-Fantasy Asian/MesoAmer culture on a terraformed planet 60K+ years in the future) (https://www.tekumel.com/)

And possibly Northern Crown

7th Sea also has a lot of different worldwide settings

Wow, thank you! And thanks to Ben! Those are good ones. Who is Ben anyway?

[Nylanfs]

Ben McFarland (https://koboldpress.com/interview-with-ben-mcfarland/)

[GavinRuneblade]

Ben McFarland (https://koboldpress.com/interview-with-ben-mcfarland/)

Very cool interview. Thanks again!

[shadzar]

How can you say HW was shoehorned into Mystara?

Because it was placed into Mystara for AD&D. Literally Hollow World was the inside of Mystara at that point.

and yes Blackmoor was put into many settings.

It also depends on how much you add to the base campaign. the more you add the more places appear. Not everyone runs Forgotten Realms with the Huns going all over the place do they? Well that was a thing in AD&D.

https://tsr.bothgunsblazing.com/fr/horde.jpg

so in BD&D the "Known World" was everything and set in Mystara unless published for Hollow World, then later Mystara absorbed Hollow World as its inside. I mean even Oriental Adventures can be played without any setting, but it was part of Forgotten Realms.

what else do you call it when one settings is forced into another to be forgotten? it was shoehorned right under the crust of Mystara.

[seycyrus]

Because it was placed into Mystara for AD&D. Literally Hollow World was the inside of Mystara at that point. ...

A setting that was originally INTENDED to be part of another setting that literally uses the same concepts, history, nations, creatures and immortals is not being shoehorned.

Unless you are claiming some secret inner knowledge that was passed down to you in private sessions...? Some knowledge that HW at one time had a different timeline, different names with different peoples?

[shadzar]

do you know what the word shoehorn means?

1982 BD&D aka B/X aka Moldvay/Cook and the Known World comes about.
1983 Frank Mentzer tweaks it to BECMI BD&D...

1990 Hollow World comes out and is SHOEHORNED into Mystara, where it had never been anything of such before.

they friggin cracked open the known world and shoved something inside it. now normally you don't crack open a shoe, but you use a shoehorn like Al Bundy fitting extremely fat women for a size 2 shoe! so he shoehorned them into the wrong size shoe until he, like me, got annoyed with the ignorance. :mad:

[seycyrus]

do you know what the word shoehorn means?...

Calm it down.

You are the one who is using the phrase in an uncommon way. This is apparent in your assignation of Blackmoor to Mystara. In this instance the terminology is correct.

In the other instance (HW and Mystara), the terminology is improperly applied.

The inside of a shoe, being a planned part of the shoe, is part of the shoe. HW, being a planned part of Mystara is part of Mystara.

You didn't start off talking about HW being shoehorned into the known world, you spouted about it being shoehorned into Mystara, which is incorrect.

[shadzar]

Yeah, i am sure in 1981 when Moldvay/Cook wrote Isle of Dread (X1) for B/X aka BD&D they planned the 1990 release of Hollow World by Aaron Allston.

in 1987 when he wrote the Grand Duchy of Karameikos, maybe he was planning for it, but again revisionist history always works in the way of the uninformed...

what you are trying to tell me is Dragonborn were always going to be a part of Forgotten Realms in Ed Greenwood's plans because 5e made them a "core race" from eberron... or war-forged were intended as a part of it either...

That isn't how things work.

"The Known World" was just where D&D was set when Moldvay/Cook rewrote the travesty and joke that was the J E Holmes D&D product. The Known World was Mystara back in 1981, before Allston came along to write either the Gazeteers or the AD&D campaign setting called "Mystara" (in 1994), or even the BD&D setting called "Hollow World".

Unlike those that think "literally" means "figuratively" because people are too lazy to learn a language, i used the term correctly, you jsut think that words only have one meaning.

Hollow World, never existed and then was thrust into Mystara, aka The Known World. Blackmoor did exist, and possibly for legal reasons, was also given a spot in The Known World. I mean the "Greyhawk" names for things do appear as early as B&D.

so you can try to retcon actual events all you want, but i am done with that mess. it doesn't help any reader by having these lies about the history of D&D continually spread by people who began in 4e and jsut want to bash older editions or whatever. and it doesn't help the started of this thread find more cultures or super wierd aliens for use in his/her games...

>EOL

[Bidmaron]

This thread is drifting way off the OP's question. A different thread would be better to continue this debate.

[Skillkoil]

Gavin,

With your creativity and writing ability I think you should just take your favorite ruleset(or one you want to use) and just build out a Homebrew of exactly what you want. I think then you will get exactly what you are looking for and be able to create something you can share with the community. You could always export it into a module and share it with us. I know I would be interested in seeing what you come up with. Just a thought. Happy Gaming Brother!

[GavinRuneblade]

Gavin,

With your creativity and writing ability I think you should just take your favorite ruleset(or one you want to use) and just build out a Homebrew of exactly what you want. I think then you will get exactly what you are looking for and be able to create something you can share with the community. You could always export it into a module and share it with us. I know I would be interested in seeing what you come up with. Just a thought. Happy Gaming Brother!

I already have that. With enough content to rival every book and adventure published for Eberron if I were to print it out actually. Which I know because of the books I did print myself copies of, lol. What I'm looking for is some new developers to support. Essentially, your blog about finding new games got me thinking that a lot of my favorite settings have been out of print for more than a decade. So who is out there today making my favorite kind of settings who I can toss money at?

It is not just about looking for a game to play, it is also about wanting to support the sorts of settings that get overlooked and maybe find some new rules or new mechanics that change how I DM. Every game system has something cool and unique about the way it handles roleplaying. So the more game systems I experience the better a DM I become.

[Skillkoil]

I think green ronin and Kobold's Press are probably two of the most prolific third party developers out there. You may want to look into what they have going on or even suggest some of your ideas to them.

[Trenloe]

AAW Games Aventyr setting is mostly about a Viking/Russian themed region. There are lots of adventures available, with many of them converted to Fantasy Grounds.

You can view (via a web reader) all of their scenarios with a free 1 month-subscription. https://adventureaweek.com/subscribe/ As part of that subscription, you can download 2 products a month - PDF or FG conversion. With the ongoing monthly subscription (which you can cancel at any time, and still keep all the products you gained as part of the monthly download) this works out as cheaper than buying two FG conversions a month from the store - and you get web access to fully view all the published scenarios so it's easier to make your choice.

This gives an idea of some the adventures available: https://adventureaweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/AaW-Series-Guide.pdf The A series is set in Aventyr.

See all of the FG conversions here: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/store/?sys=17&pub=22&typ=-1&search=&sort=1

[GavinRuneblade]

AAW Games Aventyr setting is mostly about a Viking/Russian themed region. There are lots of adventures available, with many of them converted to Fantasy Grounds.

You can view (via a web reader) all of their scenarios with a free 1 month-subscription. https://adventureaweek.com/subscribe/ As part of that subscription, you can download 2 products a month - PDF or FG conversion. With the ongoing monthly subscription (which you can cancel at any time, and still keep all the products you gained as part of the monthly download) this works out as cheaper than buying two FG conversions a month from the store - and you get web access to fully view all the published scenarios so it's easier to make your choice.

This gives an idea of some the adventures available: https://adventureaweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/AaW-Series-Guide.pdf The A series is set in Aventyr.

See all of the FG conversions here: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/store/?sys=17&pub=22&typ=-1&search=&sort=1

I've actually been looking at that one. What I can't find is if there is a campaign guide or introduction to the world. I can only identify adventures even in the pathfinder stuff. Did they ever do a worldbook or campaign guide? The product called "Aventyr Rybalka" just talks about having maps and images and an adventure. They have a world map for free on their website... But that's it. I actually have several of the adventures and they're good.

[Trenloe]

What I can't find is if there is a campaign guide or introduction to the world.
The full campaign guide is planned for next year.

The Aventyr section of the adventureaweek.com website gives background info on the area where most of the A series modules take place. But you’ll need to use that free month's subscription to access it.

[Ellspeth]

I just caught this and you didn't mention a ruleset preference. Something I recently became familiar with is Totems of the Dead published by Gun Metal Games. I am running a crossover one shot by it's creator for the Savage Mojo's Alternate Openings materials for Tomb of the Lich Queen. It is Savage Worlds and distinctly North American native period with similarities to Conan. Isle of the Frog God which I am running at FG-Con is the one shot, all the characters are from Totems of the Dead. https://www.rpgnow.com/product/95603/Totems-of-the-Dead-Game-Masters-Guide-to-the-Untamed-lands.

Skillkoil was generous in his comments on the Roman Celtic game I ran, that was a home brew using the Ultimate Guides for Savage Worlds from Mystical Throne. They have nearly a dozen now, I used both the Roman Guide and the Celtic (Iron Age Guide) to build that. They have a pretty good guide for the Mongols, and of course European, China and Japanese.

[GavinRuneblade]

I just caught this and you didn't mention a ruleset preference.

That's because I'm hoping to find new rulesets ^.^


Something I recently became familiar with is Totems of the Dead published by Gun Metal Games. I am running a crossover one shot by it's creator for the Savage Mojo's Alternate Openings materials for Tomb of the Lich Queen. It is Savage Worlds and distinctly North American native period with similarities to Conan. Isle of the Frog God which I am running at FG-Con is the one shot, all the characters are from Totems of the Dead. https://www.rpgnow.com/product/95603/Totems-of-the-Dead-Game-Masters-Guide-to-the-Untamed-lands.

Skillkoil was generous in his comments on the Roman Celtic game I ran, that was a home brew using the Ultimate Guides for Savage Worlds from Mystical Throne. They have nearly a dozen now, I used both the Roman Guide and the Celtic (Iron Age Guide) to build that. They have a pretty good guide for the Mongols, and of course European, China and Japanese.
Thank you I'll check those out!

[WESeib]

Check out Kickstarters.

This is one still going on:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/800873007/svilland-a-norse-mythology-themed-campaign-setting
It is a Norse campaign for 5e.

There was another that just ended that was Greek.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/arcanagames/arkadia-the-mythic-greek-setting-for-5e

[GavinRuneblade]

Check out Kickstarters.

This is one still going on:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/800873007/svilland-a-norse-mythology-themed-campaign-setting
It is a Norse campaign for 5e.

There was another that just ended that was Greek.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/arcanagames/arkadia-the-mythic-greek-setting-for-5e

Nice thank you! Shame I missed that Arkadia one. But it looks like it will show up for sale early next year so that's cool.

[Topdecker]

Castles & Crusades Codex Celtarum
Castles & Crusades Codex Nordica
Castles & Crusades Codex Classicum (this is the one that I've been considering...)
Castles & Crusades Codex Slavorum
Castles & Crusades Codex Germania

Most of these are ~150 pages, with a few being closer to 100. All evidently are a fairly serious treatment since the primary complaint appears to be that they are a bit weighty to read.

EDIT: Intended to mention that these are also sold in a bundle

Top

[GavinRuneblade]

Castles & Crusades Codex Celtarum
Castles & Crusades Codex Nordica
Castles & Crusades Codex Classicum (this is the one that I've been considering...)
Castles & Crusades Codex Slavorum
Castles & Crusades Codex Germania

Most of these are ~150 pages, with a few being closer to 100. All evidently are a fairly serious treatment since the primary complaint appears to be that they are a bit weighty to read.

EDIT: Intended to mention that these are also sold in a bundle

Top

Something I don't fully understand about Castles & Crusades: I know part of their business model is they don't like new editions. But are they making new content for C&C? Because I am specifically looking for something that is currently in development and the last edition of C&C is 12 years old now, if I remember correctly.

[Topdecker]

C&C editions are basically slightly reworded or improved versions of previous editions. The rules basically haven't changed, though their organization and some of verbiage may have been improved/shifted as time went by. Much of the change is related to presentation - improved art being a notable step upwards. C&C is easy to think of as a kit car that has been gradually brought to full luster :)

Most of the possible changes to the core rules are presented in separate volumes. You will discover that each of the Codexes come with character classes, spells, and other bits and pieces that are nowhere else. This seems to be pretty common with how TLG handles settings.

Along these lines and worth noting, I *think* that those who purchased the PHB v6 got a free upgrade to PHB v7. Since I haven't been a customer for more than 4 or 5 months, I am not sure how many other products upgraded freely. (The PHB is by far their most upgraded product - I don't think that other books have more than 2 or 3 editions over the life-span of the product.)

EDIT: Failed to answer your question. Yes, they are making new products, though as you will eventually notice, much of it is the reworking of existing product lines. Here is a current Kickstarter:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/676918054/classic-castles-and-crusades-boxed-sets-and-digest?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=castles%20crusades

And here is a fairly recent NEW product (that is quite good, actually):

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/234183/Castles--Crusades-The-Adventurers-Backpack

Top

[GavinRuneblade]

EDIT: Failed to answer your question. Yes, they are making new products, though as you will eventually notice, much of it is the reworking of existing product lines. Here is a current Kickstarter:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/676918054/classic-castles-and-crusades-boxed-sets-and-digest?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=castles%20crusades

And here is a fairly recent NEW product (that is quite good, actually):

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/234183/Castles--Crusades-The-Adventurers-Backpack

Top

Thanks, I was poking around their website and could not tell how old their various products were, they didn't have published dates and the news page didn't help much either. Appreciate it!

[Nylanfs]

How about a D&D 5e viking setting from Turkey?
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/800873007/svilland-a-norse-mythology-themed-campaign-setting

[GavinRuneblade]

How about a D&D 5e viking setting from Turkey?
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/800873007/svilland-a-norse-mythology-themed-campaign-setting

WeSeib pointed me to that one (top post of this page), it is definitely quite interesting. They also have a free demo PDF you can snag here (https://dreamrealmstorytellers.com/2018/08/22/svilland-demo-booklet-published/)