African inspired cultures in Mystara/Known World

[redrick]

I like to have a broad representation of various ethnicities in my setting, but map them to actual in-game cultures and regions, so there is a feeling of actual cultural diversity, instead of the sort of "color-blind" casting of a modern theater production. This doesn't mean that all people with certain appearances need retain an ethnic culture; various people may immigrate and assimilate to varying degrees, just as people do in the real world.

I found a great forum post on the WoTC boards mapping the various Known World cultures to their real-world models. (Since my understanding is that Known World cultures usually were directly cribbed from historical counterparts, this works well!) Unfortunately, I only find one non-middle-eastern African culture on this list, which is the tiny, remote and completely isolated culture of Ulimwengu. I'd love to find a way to bring some more African-inspired cultures into the setting, and would love some ideas. The Emirates of Ylaruam could be expanded and divided to include more North-African peoples. Do people have any other ideas on reskinning some of the more significant cultures to African cultures?

The cultures don't have to be one to one. A setting like Mystara is also probably going to naturally lend itself to a lot of generalizations and stereotypes — such is the nature of a Fantasy remake of historic cultures — but I'd like to avoid as much as I can!

What I should really do some day is use N.K. Jemisin's 100,000 Kingdoms as a loose basis for a D&D setting. That series seems to do a great job at creating a number of visually diverse cultures that are more than just "the Kenyans with magic."

 

[Bluenose]

I'd look at Davania, though that's not particularly developed in official material. There's some and there's more fan material at the Vaults and other places/mailing lists.

 

[redrick]

I'd look at Davania, though that's not particularly developed in official material. There's some and there's more fan material at the Vaults and other places/mailing lists.

Ah yes, that would appear to be the Africa stand-in. Thanks!

Unfortunately, the first website that comes up with some description on it is loaded with some pretty heavy colonialist material. "Within these jungles are several clans of savages and barbarians, some humans, others not."

I'll have to create some better kingdoms, and also make some good ways for interaction between at least some of the peoples of that continent and the continent of Karameikos, Glantri, etc. A black-skinned character in Glantri might be rare, but she shouldn't be completely strange or exotic.

And while I don't mind an antagonistic relationship between Davania and Thyatians, with possible prejudices on both sides, I'm completely uninterested in any sort of colonializing narrative at this point.

 

[bgbarcus]

Take a look at issue #5 of Threshold Magazine. It is devoted to Davania. http://www.pandius.com/thrs_mag.html

While you're at it, every issue of Threshold has been a goldmine for Mystara campaigns.

 

[redrick]

Take a look at issue #5 of Threshold Magazine. It is devoted to Davania. http://www.pandius.com/thrs_mag.html

While you're at it, every issue of Threshold has been a goldmine for Mystara campaigns.

Wow, 222 page PDF. What the Known World lacks in officially published lore, it sure makes up for in fan content.

It looks like there's a lot of good stuff in there, and a cursory reading suggests that it goes beyond the "several clans of savages and barbarians" setting that my first google search turned up. I'll definitely start reading it in more detail!