Something about the fur trade.
You don't need the mayans in southern canada, just have alternate realities accessed through special hogans or something if you need dungeons.
It should be a wilderness camapaign anyway.

This thread contains possible win. Let's get started.

Now, about the magic. How should it work in this setting? I'm thinking rituals; powers are invoked through complex rituals, invoking the powers of God and, for the Catholics at least, the saints. Perhaps the Catholic church had everyone convinced that they were the true voice of God because of the fact that their rituals worked, until Martin Luther or someone similar made up his own, working rituals.

The natives of the region only just recently started agriculture about less then 500 years ago when the first explorers arrived. Maybe they had strong druidic magic to self sustain themselves in their "noble savage" state. Maybe they had a civilization in the northern reaches that collapsed and the remnants are exiles from that old civilization that died out.

>>4075701

I agree, having Mayans in Ontario is a bit much. If OP wants dungeons, why not have native nations that are magically advanced enough to hold their own against Europe? Dungeons can be located under cities, and the players can fuck around with the politics between them and the European colonists.

I don't think that the Mayans should stretch as far as Canada. I think that's cutting it.

However, I think that the aboriginal peoples of that region had some very colorful mythologies, and you could definitely make some badass totemic magics come out of that. Algonquin stuff, and "Raven the trickster" should appear from time to time.

I've always wanted to do an alternate history campaign where by the time Cortez lands in Mexico, he finds the Aztec Empire is now a client-kingdom of China. So they're less impressed by the horsemen and they have their own rockets and such.

>>4075812
I dunno how much effect that will have on the campaign itself, other than the occasional Chinese trader. It is cool, though, and compatable with the scenario, so it would be excellent if it was included.

>>4075812
I think it would be feasible if the Chinese explored and made contact with the coast of Alaska, down through British Columbia and down to at least Organ. Mexico sits a bit wrong with me to have went that far.

So do the natives have actual totem spirits running around, or merely rituals like the christians?
Or do they both have them, with very very minor angels on the christian side (Little more than Lantern Archons, in D&D terms) and totems on the other?

>>4075838
The Mayan cities are still for the most part hidden throughout the world and provide a series of dungeon crawls/encounter battles. The Chinese occasionally dispatch their own armed excavation teams. Come to think of it, you could do it like a 16th-century version of Indiana Jones, with Middle Kingdom Chinese/Aztec auxiliaries being like George-Lucas Germans (right down to the yelling orders in angy Chinese and toting chu-ko-nus that suspiciously resemble German MP-38s)...

Spirit quest in the wild lakes and limestone caves are actually places where magic is potent, i.e. dungeons.

Make good use of all the demons and what not, like the jersey devil, sasquatch, that giant beaver... i dunno a dire beaver i guess, a moose.

>>4075864
Raven could kick the shit out of Jesus any day.

Would including some reference to Atlantis be pushing it? Maybe the Atlanteans left a few ruins around the Caribbean?

And if your in the Caribbean region, you could have Voodoo and zombies.

>>4075869

Listen to this man. I'm still rooting for magic-powered extant civilizations instead of ruins, tho. They fight for influence and land instead of relics.

>>4075883
I would imagine it being more like powerful animal spirit totems that offer strength and council, sort of like monks.

Also, natives would also be able to act as summoners, calling upon totemic spirits to send their children to aid them.

Suddenly, Bear cavalry.

>>4075898

We're in Quebec. But your idea can be adapted. Maybe a world-spanning Atlantis left ruins around North America, which the various powers are fighting for control over? The natives could have built civilizations out of the ruins' leftover magical power.

>>4075889
I mean, they'd need some small servitors.
The Priests (You need some faction names) might have tiny little angels to provide light and sense falsehood in confession, while the Shamans have little raven spirits for spying and finding the ley lines.

I can see China as a third faction.
If you want to either exacerbate or reduce weeaboo drama, you could have japan be a client state, or just not touch on it at all.

>But since realism is a bit boring, we're giving the setting fantasy twist. Up to now, the added elements consist of:
Realism, boring? You've gotta be shitting me. Just give the PCs some ability to climb ladders a little easier, research the era with some decent books, and you could go to really good places.

That being said, don't make Protestantism tolerate knowledge of magic, but they don't really care about going out of their way to kill a few mages. Also, keep magic like it is.

>>4075969
I think Japan has closed it's gates, and perry's black ships haven't kicked them open just yet.

The country should still be inaccessible.

What about a more significant/lasting Viking presence in the north?

>>4075969
Not just Raven Spirits, mang. Mix it up a wee bit.

>>4075985
I'm saying if the chinese are buggering about in quebec, they're a bit more powerful than the norm.

OP reminds me, I should get some Maudite.

>>4076002
'Twas but a suggestion.
Just the first thing that came to mind.

I remember something like this in a historical fantasy book, where they had a shaman that had to keep shaving off bits of his soul and trading them to a spirit in exchange for magic.

>>4076027
Yar, I was just making sure you didn't limit it.

Also, you could potentially add in a bunch of other tribes as you see fit.

I'm gonna mull over this idea for a wee bit, however. This kinda sounds interesting.

>>4075985

Agreed. Not out of anti-weeaboo, but simply out of historical accuracy.

>>4075969

Hmm... factions? Here's an idea.

European:
France in New France, modern Quebec, Ontario, and Great Lakes. Catholic.
Britain in Newfoundland, Hudson Bay, and maybe some other places. Protestant.

Asian:
China in the far west, with a very small but growing presence in the campaign area.

Native:
I dunno, this isn't my area of expertice. Could anyone say what the major tribes of the era would be?

So factions, just ideas at this point.
Catholics- Probably French. Time-tested rituals, full support of ancient hermetic brotherhoods, powerful spirits to call on.
Protestants- Probably English. Innovation on rituals, knightly orders, and the ancient power of The Crown. Much less powerful servitors
Natives- Algonquin? Blaaargh. Powerful Spirits, powerful magic, and access to the Realms of the Spirits.
Chinese- Magic at all? Rockets, organisation, distance.

>>4076081
Cree, Huron, Iroquois, Apache for some starters.

>>4076266
Anyone know about the west Coasters?

Here's a pretty good map of ndigenous people's of North America

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Indigenous_peoples_of_North_America

>>4076558
Protip: Those are language families. Each possibly contains multiple languages and peoples.

Also: "Na-Dene" should be updated to "Dene-Yeniseian."

Also also: The map should continue on to Siberia to include the the entire Eskimo-Aleutian family and the Yeniseian branch of the Dene-Yeniseian family.

>>4076414
West coast was one of the most diverse spots of pre-contact North America. At least a hundred languages, if not more.

This is just California:
http://www.californiaprehistory.com/tribmap.html

>>4076414

No, apparently. But, then again, we are focusing on the Northeastern part of North America.

Alrighty. Here's what I have, based on an hour or so of study.

The Iroquois are the most powerful of the native peoples in this era, and with magic to bolster mundane farming efforts, their population will be that much larger. That goes for the rest of the native peoples, actually. Anyway, the Iroquios are relatively highly organized, and in our world proved to be the militarily strongest people in the northeast. The same probably goes for in this world. They are in upstate New York.

The Huron are like the Iroquois, but larger and weaker. They have a similar federation government, but it isn't as strong as that of the Iroqs. However, they are much more open to trade. They usually side with the French, while the Iroquois side with the English. They basically take up the province of Ontario.

The Algonquin aren't a unified state; basically, they're everyone else. If you have an unaffilated tribe, its probably Algonquin.

The religious systems are similar.

Correct me if I'm wrong on any point.

bump

I know the Mayan's have better PR, but I would reccomend the Aztecs being the far reaching Mesoamerican empire instead.

They have similar cultures and whatnot, but the Aztecs have one major advantage story wise:

They honestly believed that it was their sacred duty to keep the sun from dying out, so that "celestial monsters" don't descend upon the earth and devour everything Tyranid style.

If there is even a little magic in this setting... then the disappearence of the Aztecs could have disastrous consequences. Probably requiring someone to come in and take over for them now that they are gone.

Who is willing to make the proper blood sacrifices now?

WOW.
OP, this is a great idea.

What about shamanic "Native American Indians"? Some would embrace civilization, but most would reject it, and attempt to expunge it with raindances and shit.

"Trapper" should totally be a class.

>>4075755
Martin Luther FTW.

What about the French and the British fighting over the south? And the GREAT MEXCAN WALL. Defended by the decendents of the powerful race that once ruled over the area.
Eventually, Cathlocism would wipe out the proud nation, reducing it to squalor over the course of the total time.

You might also consider leaving some hints (dangerous) as to how the empre crumbled.

The East coasters could all be dreadfully afraid of non-christian magic, and still be all witch-huntey. (Heretics, FTE, etc.)

The KING could actually have DEVINE SOVREIGNTY. And the Colonies would actually try and oppese him, while attempting to stay on the good side of the powers around them (Magic, the French). This might allow for some great.. you know.. intrigue, and shit. If your group likes that stuff.

[I suggest reading the Seventh Son books - it kind of applies]

OP here

There are many good ideas in the thread. I'm glad it sparked some interest!

The Atlantis idea is certainly appealing, too.

I've only played with a number of concepts without fixing anything.
I intend to fully use each people's mythology and tweak it a bit. There's also going to be a strong aspect of 14th-17th centuries interpretations of the Devil and Hell (and such).
Magic is varied in uses and manipulations, differing with the culture. The Catholic tradition might confound Human's basic link to Nature/Magic as gift from their God, thinking it can only be used through intensive prayers and holy ground, while mostly making use of healing and protection spells. Natives would have cultures employing elemental forces, plant life, animal control/communication (all in varying degrees, according to their background).

The players want races though, like elves, orcs and all the stuff. How could this be implemented?
The PCs will start in Quebec, but they might as well wind up in South America, or back in Europe or even in China.

What, no Dutch? 1609 is the time of Henry Hudson, (who is too good not to drop in) with trading posts established just six years later.

The Netherlands are riding high at this period of time and it would only take a minor handwave to have them come a little bit early and add some complication to the mix.

I realty like this.. there was an animated National film board (Canada) about encounters with the Devil - (not the one based on the pic) it might give you a few ideas...
I see you already have this...
The character Yâble (vernacular quebecois pronunciation of diable) appears in many Acadian and Quebec folktales. Not too surprising, since the devil has traditionally been ascribed superhuman, pernicious powers in folklore. It is even claimed that the bridge in Quebec City that collapsed on August 29, 1907, taking the lives of 76 workers, was built by the devil himself, disguised as an engineer. That’s why it’s known as the pont du Diable (Devil’s Bridge).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chasse-galerie
check out a series of "alternate" books..
it's about a "modern" Roman Empire with steam, some electricity, rail and gunpowder meeting the Aztec Empire in North America.

OP here again
Just to clarify something while bumping:
For most Europeans, magic is irremediably related to Religion; magic either comes from Demons (mostly) or God (this would not match reality, though, it is only how magic is conceived)

Protestants are not that much enlightened because of their greater acceptance of magic, although most think they do. I have divided protestantism to its 3 main branches:

- Anglicanism: The King (or Queen) is the the higher authority of the Church and, thus, the employment of magic. Magic is still reserved to the clergy, but the latter is much bigger, with many lower class henchmen with minor habilities. In other words, all those showing a capability of using magic are seen as "blessed by God", and they should be integrated into the Clergy before they become renegades. There is a tendency of this Clergy to give position according to one's prouesse in magic (so the Archbishop of Canterbury is pretty damn powerful. England is more or less a magocracy in formation.

- Lutherism (sp?) : Luther affirms magic is natural in every human being, as God intended. Thus everyone can practice the Holy magic (healing, body control and protection spells, mostly). Uses for evil purposes lies in the temptation by evil forces.

- Calvinism: for Calvin, however, it is a strict rejection of magic in the logic of "if something bad happened at a moment, it is because of God's Greater Plan". The use of Magic is made in the false belief the decisions of God can be reversed by exploiting His Creation. For Calvin, this is one of the greater signs of one's Damnation to Hell.

These are mostly backgrounds elements, all a little far from the initial setting of New France, but I'm working things up to get a somewhat appealing setting.

...Hey, this sounds kind of like Devil's Dixie.

Y'know. A few centuries before the civil war.

North-American Indians can summon Spectral Dinosaurs.


Just because FUCK YEAH T.REX SHAMAN!

I heard someone mentioning the Dutch. As a Dutch myself I have an excellent understanding of Dutch history.

Want to add the Dutch? Remember this. The Netherlands was a tiny tiny tiny country back in the days that ruled the world through MONEYS. Kind of like jews, except we had Dutch companies that waged war with countries.

Yes. Companies that waged wars with countries.

So, if you want to add Dutchies, make them greedy greedy greedy people without morales, that are very tolerant as long as you give them some kind of edge over the rest.

Also, very hypocritical about religion. Go to church, get out of church and go plunder British ships.

The Tlingit of the northwest were especially warlike and fought off the Russians with astounding success, using armour carved from wood that was surprisingly dense and hard. The Iroquois weren't pushovers, either. Perhaps they discovered gunpowder and ironworking in your alternate history, OP.

I for one was tinkering with the idea of a dwarf civilization based off the Aztecs and Inca. Dwarfs and neandertals would be closely related, with the former having chins and developing steam engines based off volcanic activity. They'd press-gang the scattered neandertal tribes into military service and demand monthly tribute. The neandertals would live in the cloud forests scattered across the mountains, forever confused by and fearful of dwarven technology. Where the neandertals would have heavy spears and clubs, their dwarfen lords would wield guns and weapons crafted from blue ice and possible sapphire and ruby.

>>4080852
>>Yes. Companies that waged wars with countries.

This is a very common trope in dystopian sci-fi stories. World-spanning corporations dominating failing nation-states, all because the latter are derived from primitive tribalism and are unable to influence the solar system in the end. Nice to know the Dutch were onto something.

>>4080897
Well, it's a pride/shame thing.

We practically did most of the slave tradin', while at the same time(shame), a tiny nation without a king or queen(even before the French Revolution) controlled the world with money(pride).

Too bad, when the Dutch monetary market collapsed everyone ganked our asses since they all hated our guys.

>>4080915
Didn't your economy crash because of tulips?

>>4080919
*sigh*

Yes. We lost our power over the world because of... extremely overpriced tulips.

Be happy, if we stayed in control, we'd all be speaking Dutch and be having endless war among company-states.

>>4080924
links so I can giggle some more.

Holy shit great idea OP, this seems on par with commercially made settings.

>>4080852
>Go to church, get out of church and go plunder British ships.

Oi, oi - what happened on June 13th 1653?

>>4080924
Not quite overpriced tulips- more like the shit that's going on with American mortgage markets.

"Here are some possible tulips! Pay me real money for the possibility of having tulips!"

"HOLY SHIT HERE YOU ARE, wow, I'm possibly rich! Hey bank, look at how possibly rich I am! Give me a loan, I'll pay you back!"

"Possible tulips, what could go wrong?"

"Shit didn't grow."

"...Oh fuck, we've been retarded. Get our money back from those idiots."

Economy COLLAPSE.

>>4080970
heheheheheh.

Stupid Dutch.

>>4080968
Sorry can't hear you over THE RAID ON THE MEDWAY!

"The Dutch, under nominal command of Lieutenant-Admiral Michiel de Ruyter, bombarded and captured Sheerness, went up the River Thames to Gravesend, then up the River Medway to Chatham, where they burnt three capital ships and ten lesser naval vessels and towed away the Unity and the Royal Charles, pride and normal flagship of the English fleet. The raid led to a quick end to the war and a favourable peace for the Dutch. It is considered to be the greatest defeat in English naval history."

>>4081000
S-stupid Dutch. Not like we wanted you to enter our tributories or anything...

>>4081030
England is tsundre for Holland? Wut?

>>4081000
>towed away the Unity and the Royal Charles, pride and normal flagship of the English fleet.

"OH THOSE FUCKIN WANKERS"

>>4081043
"William III of England"

"William III (14 November 1650 – 8 March 1702)[2] was a Prince of Orange by birth. From 1672 onwards, he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. In addition, from 1689 onwards, he reigned as King William III over England and Ireland, and as King William II over Scotland.[3] He is informally known in Northern Ireland and Scotland as "King Billy". A member of the House of Orange-Nassau, William won the English, Scottish and Irish crowns following the Glorious Revolution, in which his uncle and father-in-law, James II, was deposed. In England, Scotland and Ireland, William ruled jointly with his wife, Mary II, until her death on 28 December 1694."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_III_of_England

If William's plan had worked, them brits would have been listening to us.

Early 17th-century campaign set along the Atlantic seaboard? Niggers best not forget to include Sweden.

If you're really bold, you ought to include the motherfucking DUCHY OF COURLAND FABLED IN STORY AND SONG

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courish_colonization_of_the_Americas

Who cares if they just colonized one or two islands in the Caribbean in real life? They're awesome German-speaking Latvian motherfuckers.

>>4081146
If we're going that route, then don't forget Denmark and her little islands in the Caribbean.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danish_colonization_of_the_Americas

>>4081199
what

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_colonization_of_the_Americas

OP again

I've been thinking on ways to implement races.

A poster's suggestion of having dwarves being responsable of the Inca and/or Mayan Empire is a great idea as it kind of fits into our traditionnal perception of dwarves being Stoneworkers and such, yet very different in appearance.

I was thinking of making Orcs the inhabitants of Northern Europe, replacing the viking/scandinavian culture. They would be the creatures/slaves of dragons. I could also implement the legendary land of Thule as a greater Arctic landmass.
Orcs could always be the Africans.

Elves are either Chinese (because, you know, they have mostly the same eyes) or Native americans (or both; they can be of split descent; I would have Wood Elves and High Elves). However, I want to do away with the immortality and gracious aspects. Chinese elves would be very aristocratic (nobility blessed with very long life, powerful, arrogant), exploiting the workforce and lifeforce of the lower casts of elves (they have shorter lives, as it is being drained by the more powerful elves - these lower elves could start to mutate into lesser being - goblins, maybe?). The Emperor is a godlike figure among elves... details not yet formulated. Wood elves fled all of this long ago to establish on the American continent; perhaps waging war against the native dwarves too.
India = dark elves?
Lizardmen or trolls seem fitting for the Aztecs, however.

Anyway, I'm not too keen on the idea of fantastic races in this campaign setting. I would really avoid making it over-the-top. But the players want to see them...

Archived:

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/4075651/

>>4081717
Make the Chinese elves addicted to a life extending drug, the fantasy version of opium.

I think this would be better without the fantasy races, though if the players want them then keep them in.

I'm making an quick map in MSPaint, be back soon.

Noufoundland. The land of Viking/Native American descendants.

Berzerkers with tomahawks. Oh my.

>>4081717

That's getting silly.

Humans is the most varied race on the block. Stick with them, please.

the new world savages (i.e. native americans) could possess a whole different form of magic. Something shamanistic/totemic as opposed to the ritualistic and organized magic of the old world.
This could open a lot of possibilities for your players, having a magic user trying to expand his knowledge of the native magical practices, but stymied by the fact that native americans don't really have a written language or scrolls/books/etc to study

Agree with previous posts about the mayans getting to Canada. That's ridiculous.

Dunno about adding in other races. You could do some kind of spirit-animal thing I guess. Any other addition of races like elves/dwarves is going to require a re-writing of the entire history to explain their roles, and most of that history wont even be relevant to a small group travelling uncharted wilderness at the edge of the known world

It could be a little interesting of the Native Americans where surviving Neanderthals.

But only slightly.

And that's been done before.

Keep humans. Humans rock.

I'm back.There isn't an ounce of info on 1600's New France in any of the internets, so i fudged it a bit.

Light blue is Sweden
Dark Blue is France
Pink is Britain
Red is Courland
Purple is Netherlands
Green is Iroquois
Orange is Huron
Black is Tlingit
Brown is fully controlled by China
Yellow is nominally Chinese, but sparsely settled.

I basically thought the same thing, OP, but based around south america (The Incas never lost so much terrain thanks to their magic). I may suggest some Indians-Vikings, the heirs of Leif Eriksson

>>4085503

As the guilty Anon for mentioning the viking thing first, please let them have a minor part. They have only influenced a relativly small region.

Raven Spirit/Odin diety mix, anyone?

better bring extra potions if you go in deep enough to fight the Sioux

>>4075861

Perufag here, Asia did have some contact with south america in pre-columbian times. Theres a ocean current between some southern asian islands and the western coast of SA. If you leave a raft it goes around the two places by itself (and the Pacific is, well, pacific). Also, we have the legend of Naylamp who might have come from China and brought all sorts of technology and culture

>>4085528

Requesting Lakota Brave/Viking Berserker vs. French Musketeer drawfaggotry.

"I will have your head, Long Knives!"

>>4085569

if lief would have gotten in far enough to make contact with the sioux and he had given them not only the knowledge of how to make steel and horses that much sooner .. mixed with norse pantheon .. shit wouldn't have been so cash for settlers

OP gets ten internets for this post.

Major tribes of North America: From the perspective of an Apache.

Plains Indians:
Apache
Sioux
Navajo
Comanche

Eastern Seaboard
Iroquois
Huron
Cherokee
Algonquin
Seminole (Florida)

Mesoamerican:
Aztec
Mayan
Incan

If you want an "ancient" civilization, use the Olmec.
( you COULD go to the temple of the silver monkey...)

Don't forget the Inuit.

"When the Crow were coming we sent our little boys to fight, when the Mandan were coming we sent our old men, when the Lakota were coming we painted our faces for death and prepared to die".

>>4085628

>Mesoamerican:
>Incan

:/

I know we matter very little, but at least get the right continent.

>>4085690
go back to mechicoland

The Mayans didn't mysteriously disappear. They just left and reorganized themselves, really.

Make Aztecs awesome. Make all Mesoamericans awesome.

Man, this makes me want to watch Into The West again.

The idea of fantasy races in this robs it of awesome OP. You really want another race, make it so that the Neanderthals survived through use of magic. They were supposed to be smarter then us so they'd probably have better control of magic/technology. In the real world we drove them to extinction by being more numerous, more violent and having more efficient means of processing calories. So Neanderthals in this setting would sorta be like Elves. Only hairy.

The only question is where to put them. Perhaps they were the real founders of Atlantis? Perhaps they were still outnumbered and defeated by us but we enslaved them instead? That could have some interesting socio-political ramifications. It could have led to them being the major target of the Slave Trade and Africa was left to develop on its own. Ethiopia being a world power would be interesting.

>>4085909

But that would shift the main focus towards the Neanderthals.

And I think there's a book about this anyway.

>>4085952

He just doesn't have to mention it. Just say instead of black slaves, there are Neanderthal slaves. The reason why has been lost to time. They've just always been slaves. Make it a quest to discover that the builders of these ancient underground dungeons and ruins were actually Neanderthals that are now extinct.

>>4085909

Already two types of humans, neophobes and neophiles. That conflict resulted in the destruction of Atlantis, save for a few underwater ruins and an indestructible pyramid with an eye at its apex. . .

If the player REALLY want races, turn each nation into a race, with differences based somewhat on common stereotypes, somewhat on the politics of campaign world. You know, British are restrained, French are passionate about everything, Iroquois are warlike and get a bonus with tomahawks, etc.

>>4086054

seriously, just do this

don't fuck it up by adding elves or neanderthals

>>4085952
>And I think there's a book about this anyway.

Pic related. Sorry for the spoilers on a book that's 25 years old.

>>4086054

That's.. Pretty neat.

The settings seems at least very nation focused anyways.

>>4081717
I think races are a bad idea. You should do something like racial bonuses to mix it up though.

bimp bamp bomp

bump. C'mon, guys, racial stats!

>>4086648

You really think that /tg/ will come up with stats for you? We enjoy talking about hypothetical awesome games. We very rarely ever make them.

>>4086670

Eh, whatever. At least someone responded.

Where can we go from here, anyway?

OP, watch "Black Robe" for inspiration/a visual on 17th century Quebec. A bit of supernatural toward the end, too, IIRC. Jesuit missionary goes up the river with some coureurs and Algonquin.

Additional tribes of note in the area- Mi'gmaq and Maliseet. Southeast Quebec, Maine and New Brunswick.

Also, one more vote for "adding races is a bad idea."

fuck the chinese, let's have the Salish on the west coast being powerful enough to constitute a faction all on their own.

OP here again.

I also hate the idea of races, but the players are pretty stuck with the idea.
What I could come up with is having a few races in very localized areas, but having human ancestry (i.e. dwarves are the Incas, but they were once humans, chosen by some unknown power to live on their own, far from the rest of humanity).

I am much more focused on rewriting parcels of human history to accomodate the incorporation of magic, making some legends/myths (not all of them, mind you) into reality.
This is not turning Earth into Forgotten Realms, but just adding a few "what if" elements.
The Old World (Europe) is pretty much as we know it. Magic is believed/known to exist, but very few know how it does manifest itself. There are a variety of customs and rituals seeking its use, yet it is unsure how effective it is. The phenomenons tend to be low-key: more often than not, it is divination-based, there are some basic healing (doesn't always work), telepathy/telekinesis has been observed, lots of curses by witches and such, very, very little "fire/rainbow/explosions" kind of magic, etc. Accounts of very powerful mages exists, but the actual facts are shrouded in mystery.

Demons/spirits/etc. exist in the setting, but they are very much in the background.

More later. Time for some sleep.

No demons, no demons, NO DEMONS!

In most religions, demons and spirits are the same kind of entities. Christianity classified all spiritual figures as demons when they converted the pagans.

Only use demons in the context with christians, at the very most.

Also, no races. "National traits" is far superior. Nothing over the top, just some natural abilities for tracking if you're a native, and the only whities that cna have that are trappers, etc. Limited stat change and that kind of shit. Do something reasonable.

Besides, how can /tg/ give you stats when we don't know what system you are using?

>>4091283
Yeah. No Elves, Dwarves, or much of anything except in the corners. I'd say otherwise, but you guys do need to stop using generic fantasy tropes a little more. Even though I like dorfs as much as the next guy.

>>4089475
>What I could come up with is having a few races in very localized areas, but having human ancestry (i.e. dwarves are the Incas, but they were once humans, chosen by some unknown power to live on their own, far from the rest of humanity).

Couldn't you just make them neither generic nor common?

Instead of Elves or Dwarves you have reinterpreted versions of Encantado (dolphin men) and other things. In the Aztec creation myth, the first men were heavily flawed beings made of wood. They were mostly genocided by the disappointed gods, fleeing to the jungles eventually degenerating into monkeys. You could do something with that. You could also incorporate some European myths. One I find interesting is the Zduhac, which is basically a human born with various supernatural abilities mostly associated with weather.

They'd all be very rare outside of their homelands or adventuring parties (where they are in high demand for their unique talents) and are considered exotic and suspicious in most all cases.

Balance them out to prevent the entire party from being composed of them. If you're playing as a non-human then your ability to use magic is much MUCH more restricted in terms of versatility. If you're playing an obviously non-human non-shapeshifter then you're going to run into social problems all over the fucking place.

If your players are faggots enough that they'll ALL want to play as one anyway then your core idea just might not be compatible with them. Condolences if that's the case.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encantado

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zduha%C4%87

>>4091352
If your players simply MUST have elves and dwarves then I'd recommend focusing on their original mythological aesthetic rather than the derivative modern one. Not that there's anything wrong with modern fantasy races per se, but this setting really doesn't gel with them.

Elves:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aos_si

Dwarves:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norse_dwarves

I'd definately say just go with National bonuses, rather than racial bonuses if it's the bonuses that your group is looking for. If they're that stuck on having dwarves and elves in whatever setting they are in, start taking a pipe wrench to their skulls.

In terms of magic, I would say that the natives (since they didn't have all the restrictions upon them like the Christians did) would have the easiest access to magic, but most of it would be subtle magic and magic that was meant to make life generally better, not so much directly accessable to combat. For example they would have buff spells and enchant spells and spells to weaken the enemy, maybe lightning strikes, but they wouldn't have access to throwing fireballs. The Protestants would have more versatility in their spells since they're still working on making it, and I think would be sort of a middle point between the Native and the Catholic magics. Catholic would be very limited, as in only the priests have access to magic, but it would pretty much all be flashy magic, throwing fireballs, miracle healings, but they would also need to usually perform long rituals in order to do their spells.

On a historical note, really don't count the Iroquois out. There was a period of time after the 13 colonies were established that the Iroquois were actually more powerful than the colonies. These guys are gonna be scary badass.

Catholic magic: Only restricted to the Priests and Cardinals. Everything else is heresy.

Protestants: As the Bible and "other magical texts" doesn't have to be written in latin, common folk have the potential to learn some basic or minor spells. Mostly buffs, hexes and magical warding.

Depending on what Native American tribe we're talking about, the magic could either be item based, you need an item (totem, charm, wand etc) to channel magic through, or chanting based, you need to spend some time to work on a spell and charge it up before it becomes active.

Also, National bonuses FTW.

Hey all. Noticed you were talking about 17th century North America and figured I could apply some expertise. I've done extensive research on the time period and especially King Philip's War (NewEnglandFag if you hadnt figured that out.) If you're talking about native groups in the Northeast, there are really only two major groups you have to worry about, and thats Iroquois and Algonquian. The Iroquois are a fucking powerful group of people who knew how to cannibalize European technology and had probably the strongest centralized government in North America even after the establishment of Britain's 13 colonies. They were a major player in the region up until the 1750s. Consequently, the Iroquois should be very important to the setting, in addition to being the primary attraction for fur trading by the French.

The Algonquian people were a disparate group of people who shared cultural and linguistic ties but tended not to get along with one another. The only time they were united in history was during King Philip's War, from 1675 to 1676. They made a good show of kicking the English's ass but the tables turned on them and they were pretty much wiped out. However, by the sound of it this setting has a callous disregard for actual history, as well it should. If you wanted to have the Algonquian people be united earlier than that by some external force, fucking go for it.

Other Indian groups include the Huron and the Cree; I'm afraid I don't know much about either except for the fact that the Huron and the Iroquois confederation lived near one another and fought frequently.

Hope I helped.