D&D 5E What should an official Indian subcontinent inspired setting have?

[Eltab]

Weather rules for the Monsoon season (and the rest of the year).
More than "Make a DC 15 Survival check to build a rain-resistant roof. "

 

[TerraDave]

Sort of like if you don't have Jesus, what's the point of a European-inspired setting?

He was from europe? Did he do stuff there?

But I guess you are implying is that it can be another pastiche setting with the names filed off.

Which then leads me to ask "what is the point"?

 

[James Gasik]

Ascetics.

 

[overgeeked]

not Hollywood india again

A Bollywood version of India would be amazing. Rules for resolving things with a song and dance number…


The fighters would definitely need a buff. Forget verisimilitude, Baahubali and Singham are where it’s at…

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

It's a minefield that's not likely to happen due to the exact things called for in this thread so far. Until the current social fads change to something more sane and accepting, it's safer to not publish.

Yes. For example, if you don't have Vedic gods and heroes, what's the point? But can you have them without massive controversy.

Mod Note:

Don‘t even start with this nonsense. ENWorld has had dozens of threads along these lines, and consistently and repeatedly, the answer is: don’t start nothin’, won’t be nothin’.

Along as the material produced avoids leaning into real-world negative stereotypes, there’s not going to be a problem. Show respect, get respect.

 

[overgeeked]

Don't forget Indian publishers as well.

Even better.

 

[Yaarel]

An India setting (including Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Mayanmar, etcetera) is something I want, and something I want these Subcontinentals do. In Canada, Toronto and its ecumenopolis has and awesome Subcontinent community, whose sensibilities can produce an appealing setting. Really any Subcontinent community can make a D&D setting that is authentic with wide appeal.

 

[humble minion]

An India setting (including Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Mayanmar, etcetera) is something I want, and something I want these Subcontinentals do. In Canada, Toronto and its ecumenopolis has and awesome Subcontinent community, whose sensibilities can produce an appealing setting. Really any Subcontinent community can make a D&D setting that is authentic with wide appeal.

I've been tinkering with a Nepalese/Tibetan-inspired Ravenloft domain, though the emphasis is a bit heavy on the 'obsessed European wanting to climb mountains as a mark of nationalistic virility' rather than much about the actual locals at this point unfortunately. Probably a result of the groaning 'Mallory and Irvine' shelf in my bookcase...

 

[Gnosistika]

I for one would love if my religion can be portrayed correctly and not use the nonsense alignments that has been assigned to the Deities by D&D writers. Would be even better if an actual adherent wrote it. Al- Qadim did it best where the gods had no alignment, and evil was something an individual did.

 

[Unwise]

It's super hard to tell what people will see as mythology and what is religiously insensitive. E.g. Rakshasa appear in religious texts don't they?

Even something like the Monkey King is interesting. He blurs the line between a character from a famous novel, a mythological character, and an actual revered religious figure for some people. Not to mention the different ways that the Chinese folks and Indian folks view the same character. Sounds like a minefield in the modern age.

The thugee mentioned above are a real religious group, following a current religion. So would have to handle that with care.

Concepts I would like to see explored are:
The idea of an overarching but ineffective and distant overlord. City states each with different cultures.
Monkey, elephant and tiger folks.
The idea of tigers having a spiritual significance as the embodiment of sudden and uncaring death,
Something like Kali cults (but made different enough to be less offensive),
Thick jungles where you can find things like Ankor Wat just sitting there,
Multi-culturalism as invaders come but get assimilated in time,
The idea that no gods are rejected, leading to even good people paying homage/appeasement to evil gods, gods from other distant pantheons that don't seem to belong there, but are clearly taken from another culture that visited.

I don't think I would enjoy any published setting based on real world settings. Too many babies thrown out with the bathwater. I'd just homebrew it so we can just say to the players at the table "everything is fair game, don't be an ass".