C'mon /tg/, I know someone out there has played in an alternative culture campaign at some point.

Final try, /tg/. I'll let this die after this bump.

When I made my setting, I created a whole world, not just a continent.

But the place I started at was basically a continent which is a mix of North and South America. The humans are all based on mesoamericans and the wood elves come in different tribes slightly based off the various Native American tribes. Orcs were based on some of the deep amezonian tribes mixed with mercernary fluff. Every game I DMed in that part of the world was fun.

Focused heavily on druidic magic over wizard stuff. Players were happy to be out of Europe. Its fun but takes work and you gotta be patient with players who aren't used to it.

I was working on a 3.5 Mesoamerican-based setting for a while, but I ran out of steam. Thought it was pretty neat; looked to Nyambe for very different takes on the fantasy races. For example, my elves were based on Aztec myths of child-stealing, naughty/nice forest spirits that were like squirrel monkeys.

>>5319534

Aye, I also want a whole world instead of just a continent. I just wanted to try advancing the american societies to the point that contact with cultures on the other side of the world had occured and see what happens when you add swords and magic and the like.

>>5319539

Hmmm, elves who steal kids....awesome

For you both, here's a He Dog.

>>5319557

Well theres a continent for the whole Europe and Asian and stuff. And one for Africa and the Middle East thats full of dragons. I have the Southern/America and Northern/EuropeAsia ones mostly worked out and DM'able.

4e

Is creating a whole campaign world really such a good idea?

It creates a greater perception of realism, I suppose, but it's realism that are all details the players either won't care about or won't remember.

They'll think of your elves as "those elves that steal babies" and will forget about most detail not directly related to your campaign's story arc.Including every continent you've mentioned but haven't made important.

Here's my tagline to see if anyone cares.

Basically, imagine an Iroquois Ranger, a Chinese Monk, an Aztec Jaguar Knight and an Indian Psion teaming up to explore ruins, fight yuan-ti and nagas and truckloads of fantastic enemies, and be badasses in general. Add in truckloads of intrigue and season with a sweet pantheon of deities whose personalities clash in sweet ways.

>>5319557
Hang on, I'll dig up the document and see what I can find.
Well... all I have left is some scraps of the races section. I perused my dictionary of Nahuatl (anthropologyfag) and grabbed words/phrases which had strong descriptive and inspirational resonance, and used those to help design the races. Basic cosmology/history follows the Aztec creation story, where all civilizations once lived in a giant cave and left, one by one (seven tribes, the Aztecs being the last). Therefore, the first out were dwarves, who became the big brothers of the rest of the races, followed by isolationist elves, troublemaking gnomes, and brutal orcs. Humans and halflings show up and try to get by, only really helped by dwarves and some gnomes; humans are pretty durable, but the halfling tribes get split up and lost. Here are the names, to give you an idea of their fluff:
- Dwarf (Ititiaya, "They Taught Us")
- Elf (Chaneque)
- Gnome (Atlaca, "Water People")
- Half-Elf (Cuacahtontlacame, "Little Tree People")
- Half-Orc (Omoxeloque, "They Seperated Themselves")
- Halfling (Motepilhuan, "They are Scattered Children")
- Orc (Coyotlacame, "Wolf Men")

>>5319587

By having different continents, you can have different cultures and flavors. As such you can run many different types of games within one setting.

I've DMed games where you were a bunch of wood elves simply hunting, I've DMed games where people were basically Spaniard pirates. Hell there was even a one shot where everybody was playing orcish Spartans.

I've even mapped out the time line for things, so right now I'm DMing a vampire game set in this worlds early 1990's equivalent. Doing this my players got to learn about the world and didn't have to keep switching settings or even systems just to play different types of games.

>>5319587

I understand your point, and I think it's a good one. I guess the point of putting so much detail into it would be to satisfy those players who want to feel like they're in a (at least) decently realized world. I would like to DM such a game for at least some "Explorers".

I also think that just because a campaign has a specific setting, doesn't mean that the world's details are wasted or get in the way of the story. Does it matter that every game set in Faerun doesn't go to Kara-Tur at some point?

>>5319652
Same person:

Also, details aren't to important since all you have to do is put focus on the game and scenario right now. Cause I'm sure the pcs and the npcs in one continent aren't going to give a damn about things happening in an ocean away.

>>5319636

Ah nice, your names are pretty sweet. I think a Nahuatl dictionary will come in handy....I'm DMing a completely unrelated one shot 3.5 super adventure set in Mesoamerica pretty soon...

>>5319652

This anon basically has it right, and I would add that such game settings also allow you and the players to explore what happens when very different cultures clash.

Sage for newfaggotry(improper use of inb4 )

I'm currently working on a campaign world where multiple continents are detailed. I'm splitting work with two friends, though, each of us taking a continent to work on after setting some basic rules of the setting to work on. I've got Asia, and the other two are doing Europe and Africa.

>>5319710

I add a lot of culture clash elements into my games. It really helps with role playing. Sometimes players have trouble with it though. Like I had one guy playing an orc paladin who couldn't get it through his head that the wood-elf villagers didn't like him because he was an orc, not because I, the DM, didn't like him.

>>5319379

Hey, Op. Where did you get all your pictures from?

Possibly not quite as alternative as you're probably hoping, but I offer for consideration the Age of Ash campaign setting wiki. This is a good intro page:

http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/age-of-ash/wikis/races-and-classes

It's more or less a mash-up of my favorite parts of Dark Sun and Eberron... the 'Sand' Elves are extremist atheist fanatics, Half Elves are mystical oasis seers, the Dragonborn bloodlines are going extinct, and everyone else is fighting just to stay alive.

It's mostly standard 4e tropes with a more Middle Eastern post-apocalyptic slant, and lots more wilderness survival skill challenges. But there are a ton of alternative racial feats to be had as well, maybe some of them will inspire you.

>>5319908

Compared to the usual midevil European slant a lot of games have, thats pretty alternative. It looks cool, I'm a big fan of games where you just try to survive. Like zombies or being trapped on an island.

>>5319787

Sounds like an idiot player : /

>>5319811

A lot of my pictures are by Genzomen, from his art for a TCG he worked on. The rest are just collected from /tg/, mostly.

>>5319908

That looks cool, I'll give it a read later. Thanks!

killin cowboys never gets old.

Well this thread has been helpful.

>>5320118
>>5320000

Woo, thought this had died.

Ok, here's a pitch right now: In Not-Mesoamerica, there are two civilizations, the humans (Aztecs) and the Lizardmen/Drakkoth (think lizardy centaur). While the humans of this land have long abandoned ritual sacrifice as a means to appease the gods, the Lizardmen still follow the old ways. As a result, wars not unlike the true Garland Wars are still a regular occurence.

>>5320153
Speaking of lizardmen, the setting we're working on (I'm this fag >>5319750 ) has a David Icke inspired fallen reptilian civilization. I'm not sure if I'm actually going anywhere with this post, I just think lizardmen are awesome villains (though these are a more intelligent variety than D&D's standard lizardfolk).

Lizard people are always cool. Do they gotta be evil though?

>>5320286

Ritual sacrifice wasn't really evil to the Mesoamericans.

>>5320286

>>5320306

Shades of grey man, shades of grey. Make it so that they actually really do literally need to appease the appetites of dark gods for their race's survival, and have them be perfectly civil in other situations. If you had the threat of angry aztec gods going at you for not filling the daily ritual sacrifice quota, you might get pretty relaxed about your moralities too.

>>5320372
Make sacrifice voluntary, with major kudos given to the families/friends/lovers of those who sacrifice themselves.

Also, throw in some old-fashioned seppuku-style expiation of sins, and a few cases of useless third sons of noble families being "convinced" to sacrifice themselves after a little something extra got slipped into their mead that evening.

Unwilling sacrifices are only done in those cases where the sacrificee is considered worthy of that honor. So for example, the guy who fought bravely to defend his king from capture is going to be sacrificed and his family given honors, whereas the random army schlub or advisor you don't trust gets sent to the Mesoamerican-style chain gang.

>>5319379

OP, I don't see southamerica in your post, despite being made of win and awesome

>>5320414

>>5320414

I'm pretty much copy pasting this post into notes.

>>5320422

I like south america, but I'm a lot more familiar with Central America, ie I have a GIGANTIC encyclopedia of Aztec/Maya/Olmec/Zapotec sitting next to me. If I find cool stuff like that for South America, I'll include it.

>>5319379

First of all, eliminate 'common' as a language choice.

Second of all, develop unique magic/stylistic concepts for each society that are only just slightly based on reality. For example, I'm developing a civ in my campaign that's a combo of the coolest things about the Mongols and the Russians. Family's important to them, and /tg/ reminded me that Mongols sometimes drank the blood of their horses on the move, and along with the prevalence of vampires in eastern European folklore, I saw a sort of literal-metaphorical chain of 'blood' ideas. I decided to roll with blood-magic from the Book of Vile Darkness, mount them on giant bats, and grant their civ facility with the development of/use of blood-derived stuff, from food, to familial/blood-brother stuff, to poison developed from cooking the blood of slain enemies and mastodons (with added fungus) as a chemical weapon. So that covered developments in magic, civilization, ecology, tech, and culture. Just pick an idea and go with it. I'd try to make China a place of ridiculously intensive rules, India a place of mysticism of all kinds, Indochina a place of people who fight for independence, Mesoamerica a place full of fundies who don't understand why other cultures find theirs repulsive, etc. Just brainstorm.

Not to troll too heavily, but I'd consider running 3.5 rather than 4e. If the societies in your setting are so thoroughly different (and given that it's all New World and Far East, it ought to be pretty varied or urdoinitrong), having everyone run on the same mechanical systems is going to make everything feel too samey.

>>5320372
>>5320306
>>5320286

This was my idea: ritual sacrifice is evil. The human aztecs abolish it after deciding their gods didn't care for it anyway (Quetzalcoatl was believed to not be fueled in any way by blood sacrifice anyway).

The Lizardmen/Drakkoth tribes (probably a source of antagonism) still practice it.

The idea of having it be a shade-of-grey is cool, but my initial idea was that several civilizations 'dominate' the world: The Aztecs, Indians, Iroquois and Chinese (the sioux equivalent will be nomads). So when the aztecs meet the rest of the world, the beliefs of the rest of the world influence them to the point that they abolish ritual sacrifice.

Frankly, I think these anons have given me a superior idea, but what do you guys think?

>>5320514

That is fucking badass, for the record.

As for which edition: I'm pretty set on running it in 4th. I understand your point and it's solid, but I just don't think the mechanical similarities will make it that jarring. I was hoping to address the problem of "samey" with some class restrictions...

>>5320514

And yeah, flavoring the analogues is of course a high priority. My idea for "India" was to focus on the mind-body mysticism and such. Thats the only thing I was really sure on (think Green Ronin's Mindshadows)

Incidentally...anyone know where I can FIND a copy of Mindshadows? Besides Amazon?

>>5320515
>the sioux equivalent will be nomads
Are we talking hardcore Vandal-esque raiders, or happy-go-lucky merry Siouxs?

>>5320467
For another fun thing to throw in on the "weird, creepy, but not necessarily evil" spectrum, try ritual cannibalism of the deceased. As in, part of how your lizard civilization communes with its ancestors is by having eaten parts of them. It's considered a sign of great respect to be given the opportunity to consume a part of someone, especially if you wouldn't normally get the chance (not related and stuff). Furthermore, certain people normally get certain bits; spouse or most beloved person gets the heart, child gets the brain, trusted bodyguard gets stuff from the left arm (because it's the shield arm), etc.

And since this is a magical setting, it's quite possible that a little something of the deceased actually does get passed down to the one who ritually consumes a body part, something related to which piece they ate.

Of course, this can make certain cross-species relationships very awkward.

And maybe make the lizards have some remnant of their cold-blooded ancestry in their architecture; lots of warm sunlit patches located conveniently near shady spots or cool water features to dive into. Kind of iguana-like, maybe, down to a preference for vegetation over meat as everyday food.

And if they're Mesoamerican, then don't forget to add in artistic things for flowers, feathers, and precious/semiprecious stones (especially jade, obsidian, amber, and maybe something ocean-like like turquoise or larimar).

>>5320574
The only real difference in basic mindset is that the neighbors of the Sioux didn't have anything nearly as valuable to steal as the neighbors of the Vandals did.

Aside from that, the Sioux were as popular with said neighbors as the Vandals were, and for similar reasons. The Comanche were basically the same.

>>5320549

Thank you, Senator. Feel free to pirate it if you wish.

I know what you mean about 3.x; it can be daunting, and 4e, though I don't prefer it, might fit your setting just fine.

>>5320577

Ah yes, this is /tg/, and you guys get shit done. I love this idea.

How about a third species for the Lizardman civ, besides Lizardmen and Drakkoth? How about borrowing the Skinks from WHFB? Little dudes would obviously be scouts for the army, or maybe taller versions of Skinks could be chameleonesque spies who wield crazy tribal magic to disguise themselves as humans and go around fucking with court politics in foreign lands?

>having everyone run on the same mechanical systems is going to make everything feel too samey

Rituals

In all seriousness, 4E has worked better for me in making different societies, because most powers don't have a pre-attached fluff, and I can limit power sources to some cultures/religions. My celts/vikings can't be arcane/divine and use primal instead, with primal refluffed to simbolize The Old Gods. Kami-no-Michi (Shinto) was also refluffed as primal.

Power source will be a quite special component in my upcoming "Paridonese Gentlemen Society" Ravneloft Game: Basically, a bunch a youths that acquired strange powers (sources) and have banded together to explore the mist while being dapper gentlemen

>>5320514

In Age of Ash, "common" is simply a by-word for "Low Turathi." I found that trying to impose too many language barriers, while an interesting concept, made things kind of suck in practice. What I do is just increase the odds of meeting NPC Elves, Dragonborn, etc. that exclusively speak their native language, generally leading to the one or two PCs to speak that language translating for others. It is fun as a setting gimmick and scene-setter, but it kills campaign momentum to make something like that a huge obstacle to the PC's progress.

And re: Editions. It's personal preference, but IMO having the standardized rules framework of 4e simply makes my job as DM several orders of magnitude easier to the point I actually don't *mind* having all of the different power sources. I actually have important things to do like run encounters and NPCs, not rules-strangle the many and varied rules interactions of Psionics, Tome of Battle-ers, and Vancian magic-users. Players are more likely to step out of their comfort zone and play a setting-appropriate flavor of character when they don't have to re-learn their base mechanics with every new sub-system. (I game with a mixed crowd that includes more casual RPers)

>>5320574

I was thinking there'd be enough room conceptually for both. Sioux who both commune with the primal spirits and seek to understand all life in the Great Cycle, and those who raid the fuck out of everything.

>>5320628
Refluff couatls and make them part of your lizardman civ.

The skink/chameleon idea is pretty cool, but maybe tie that more to class choice than birth. By this I mean that the lizardy types start off with the same basic body plan as children, albeit with tendencies towards certain adult shapes. But every few years, with the schedule perhaps altered by certain rituals, the maturing lizard molts and changes into something closer to its adult shape. By the time a hypothetical lizard PC hits paragon tier, they've pretty much finished growing into their final shape, and afterwards you have differentiation from other members of that caste.

>>5320712

Interesting ideas, both of them...

>>5320802
Why thank you.

Want me to keep going? I've got another idea or two.

>>5320634
>>5320633

I guess the issue of editions is largely (if not exclusively) an issue of preference; I view developing psionics-based cultures, druidism-based cultures, and arcana-based cultures as a strength of 3.5, but I can see how needing to know all those rulesets can be a bitch.

As for languages, my reason for suggesting the elimination of 'Common' is that if you're working on a world-sized campaign setting without some mode of modern-style transportation (e.g. Lightning Rail), people wouldn't speak the same thing over great distances. Also, if the languages are different, it means you have to put more thought into just 'traveling across the known world.'

Also, I think this is good final boss battle music in this setting, I can't resist posting it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Huu3PTHBnwQ&feature=related

>>5320835

One thing I wanna highlight is that the societies in the world are aware of each other and do engage in meaningful interaction. I haven't given too much thought to the tech level (other than being sub-guns), but I definitely think there will be meaningful flow of people between nations, so maybe a loose "Trade" could develop, but it's so shitty that the players can't expect to handle plot with it.

>>5320834

Go right ahead!

For another thought, if you like the ritual sacrifice idea and the ritual cannibalism idea, maybe tie them together in fluff. The ritual sacrifice is to the gods as the ritual cannibalism is to mortals, at least as far as the lizardmen are concerned.

And fluff it so that the lizardmen, unlike many other similar real-world civilizations, don't have elaborate tombs for their dead rulers and other leading citizens. Instead, the most highly honored citizens who don't volunteer for sacrifice are ritually converted into fertilizer and scattered amongst the fields and gardens of the city, the gardens to preserve their memory as part of the city and the fields to preserve their memory as part of the citizens (once they eat the crops). The personal possessions of the deceased are then divided into a part that is passed to their descendants, a part that is passed to the city (in the form of temples, museums, theaters, other public buildings to display stuff), part that is auctioned to the citizenry, and part that is broken/melted down to be converted into new stuff, as part of the whole rebirth thing going on here.

Because of this, there's a shortage of tombs to loot, and it's also a horrible, horrible idea to fuck with the gardens in a city. Unless you have special permission, or there's some incredibly good reason to do so, damaging plants in one of the gardens is a great way to get an enormous mob of lizardmen howling for your blood.

Asia, precolonial America, Pre-Columbian Central America, and India?

Sounds like Age of Empires III.

Which is awesome, because I always wanted to see the Iroquois and Japanese fight over the Himalayas with the help of native tiger claw warriors.

Lets archive this thread, I'd like to be able to look at this later for ideas.

>>5320869

Have the equivalents of Celestial, Primordial and Draconic be fairly universal tongues, in the sense that every language has a dialect of at least one of those, and all of the dialects are similar enough that you can understand them with some work (think the relationship between French, Spanish, Italian and Portugese).

This would be because each of these languages is actually a sort of ur-language tied to a basic part of reality (Celestial is associated with the Divine power source, Primordial with the Primal source, and Draconic with the Arcane source; obviously, Draconic here doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the dragons, I'm just using it as the baseline example), and therefore the dialects start from the same base.

>>5320995

I like this, but I also think there needs to be a good source for adventure sites in lizardmen territories other than lizardmen cities themselves...perhaps heretical lizardmen who don't believe in the great cycle preserve their important family members in secret, elaborately trapped-and-guarded vaults in the jungle?

I need to sleep for work, but thank you anons for the help, and for the great ideas. They will all be included in some way, shape, or form.

>>5320414
>>5320577
>>5320712
>>5320995
>>5321052

Just to clarify, I'm the samefag who's writing all this. So feel free to take that into account if you'd prefer to mix it up a little.

Yeah, definitely archiving this

>>5321073

Duly noted

You guys don't remember?

The basic plot hook was: "Your players have just migrated to Tekumel and every local citizen is perfectly willing to have you flayed alive by the police if you happened to be uncourteous. Survive long enough to gain citizenship."

>>5321068
Sounds good, heresy is always fun.

Also, one of the things is that if a lizardman city collapses, the survivors tend to pay very well for retrieval of stuff that was left behind. Especially fertile, replantable clippings from the gardens, and stuff like that.

Of course, other lizardman cities also want in on the action, in order to recover choice bits of the city's ancestral memory (more or less), and to deny them to competitors.

Given that something seriously bad must have occurred to force the abandonment of an entire lizardman city, though, this is the sort of task that they'd hire adventurers for.

So, how do we get this archived for future use?

>>5321312

Spam the topic with furry porn until someone archives it to spite Lord Licorice.

>>5321321
Okay, how about a method that doesn't turn it into Instant Shit(TM)?

Thanks, random archiving anon!