Generic Fantasy or Fantasy Roman Africa?

[Pyske]

For a while now, I’ve been considering moving my next campaign setting from "stereotypical D&D village" to a setting inspired by Roman North Africa. (I must confess some inspiration from the story hours of Orichalcum, Rel, and Old One.)

In some ways, it makes a lot of sense to me: the main nation in the game has always been intended to be a center of learning and agriculture that is a client state of a large, militaristic empire. The amount of resources on Rome, Egypt, and Africa should give me plenty of material.

On the other hand, several of the potential players are completely new to roleplaying and to D&D (they have played a one-shot D&D scenario, and enjoyed it enough to ask me to run a campaign). I want to avoid making them feel like they have to read history books to play, but I enjoy the added flavor and inspiration that historical roots provide.

If you were in my shoes, how much would you draw from a historical region, and how much from generic fantasy? Where would you strike the balance?

. . . . . . . -- Eric

 

[BiggusGeekus]

I'd start them in generic fantasyland. Alienating new players is never a good idea (unless they also possess a fondness for the Roman era). When they get to around 4th level (and have achieved a degree of confidence with the game) you can throw in some kind of conflict with "The Empire to the South" that is looking for The Artifact in the unexplored lands.

 

[Aaron2]

For a while now, I’ve been considering moving my next campaign setting from "stereotypical D&D village" to a setting inspired by Roman North Africa. (I must confess some inspiration from the story hours of Orichalcum, Rel, and Old One.)

That scene from Gladiator is a good reference for Roman North Africa. I wouldn't be suprised if you players know more from that movie that they know about actual medieval villages. As crappy as a movie it was, Timeline actually had some fairly decent medieval costumes and villages.


Aaron

 

[Old One]

Go for It!

Pyske,

I say go for pseudo-Historical Roman (or Carthaginian) North Africa. The history of N. Africa (pre-Arab invasion in the 7th Century) is fascinating. You could start it out of Tunis or another smaller coastal city, with weakened Carthage to the west and the decadent Egyptians to east. Alexandria is your center of magical learning, complete with wizard academy. The Saharan Desert contains the ruin of an ancient empire that challenged the gods and lost. Sub-Saharan Africa could either be vast savannahs where dinosaurs roam or deep, dark jungles full of demons (or elves or demonic elves).

Essentially, you could use the whole blueprint and historical timeline from the Punic Wars through Republican Rome to the Rise of Empire under Octavian...just change some names, throw in some fantasy elements and, presto! Instant cool campaign. You can even use an actual or bastardized map of the Mediterranian...just trace it and flip it on its X-axis.

~ Old One

 

[Darklone]

Same here as Old One. Do it

You might start them as slaves or gladiators and lead them slowly into a Romanlike society... that gives you quite some time till they free themselves or get famous enough to be allowed to leave the arena...

 

[CCamfield]

I also say go for it. If you're creating a setting INSPIRED by history then you don't have to use historical names and what have you, and I think the ambience is great.

I can't remember exactly when, but the Romans did develop cavalry units to patrol the deserts... or maybe that was in the province of Arabia (which isn't where we consider Arabia to be, but nearer to Israel/Jordan).

There's a pretty good book I'd recommend, called Rome in Africa, by Susan Raven.

 

[Pyske]

I'm leaning toward something in the middle ground between the two extremes, really, by which I mean I may use historical detail for atmosphere, architecture, adventure ideas, etc., but keep the home region culturally "bland" in a fantasy sense so that the PCs aren't constantly worried about unexpected cultural taboos and such.

I'll probably use Old One's idea of flipping the map, although I'll do it on both axes, so that the heel of Italy points West, and the toe points North. The Punic Wars sound like a good backdrop; the reason that tensions are increasing locally, or what have you.

In a moment, I'll expand a bit on what I had planned for the campaign, and how I'm thinking that might change. Hopefully that will give you the chance to point at specific things and say "good idea" or "bad idea".

. . . . . . . -- Eric

 

[barsoomcore]

What's the downside to using Roman Africa? I don't see any problem there.

The more specific the setting, the easier it is for players to get engrossed. A "typical, generic" setting is going to be just that -- generic. That is to say, bland. Put em in Roman Africa. Make it as authentic as you like.

Just DON'T expect them to do any research. Do it for them. Provide them with the key things they need to know.

Check out my Dead Man's Chest campaign website -- I put this together for a group of somewhat inexperienced players, most of whom had no familiarity with the period. There's game info, historical info and funny quips. And a glaring historical inaccuracy in the first sentence. Not much detail, but enough to get started. Give your players something like this, they won't be intimidated, I promise you.

What's that? Looks like a lot of work? Well, running a good campaign is ALWAYS a lot of work. You probably know that already. You probably also know that you're going to have to explain the setting NO MATTER what route you choose, so why not choose the one nearest and dearest to YOUR heart? You'll be doing 99% of the work, anyway.

 

[tetsujin28]

Nothing beats the coolness of history. Go for it

 

[Pyske]

The PCs are small town heroes who are stepping into the shoes of the town's Champions while they are away. They will help the town maintain alliances, scare off bandits and raiders, escort the taxes, etc. while the Champions are "away".

The home base city for the campaign will be a small coastal town. It is of minor importance: basically a river crossing by the coast. There is some fishing, but little sea travel because of an island in the bay inhabited by powerful flying monsters (including dragons). The main industries are fishing, farming, and hospitality for passing caravans or the rare riverboat.

Eventually the PCs will discover that the Champions died fighting monsters on the island. The creatures on the island now want a truce to prevent further bloodshed, which could lead to the town becoming a major shipping port (and growing rapidly). Enter politics and greed, the worlds two biggest sources of adventure.

Original Geography: East = ocean bay, South = forest / swamp, desert farther South, West & North = plains / grassland, NE = rough terrain & mountains. Civilization is North, or South past the desert. Standard fantasy races in most of these (elves in the forest, goblins in the swamp, dwarves & orcs in the mountains).

African Geography: South = jungle / floodplain, with adjoining desert. North & West = savannah. Do mountains still work to the NE? The capital is NE, but I need some geographic barrier to just building another port closer to it.

Original Inhabitants: Halfling farmers who continue to be pushed farther out by human fishermen & townsfolk, who are conquered in turn by the human empire. Nearby communities of mostly peaceful demihumans.

African Inhabitants: Halflings become pygmies, fishermen & townsfolk are natives, empire becomes European. Not sure how much to change elves, dwarves, etc. May steal gnomes as minor djinn, since most new players don't immediately pick gnomes to play.

Original Military: Empire had knights, crossbowmen, and conscripted peasant rabble. Town defended by militia with bows, spears, leather armor, and by halfling slingers.

African Military: Empire has mostly heavy infantry (legions with metal armor, large shield, short sword, and spear or javelin). Empire relies heavily on entrenchment. Militia is mostly unarmored, with spear & small shield.

I'm trying not to over-post here. I could get into more detail on most of this, but I'll probably save that so I don't make you read a dissertation on my campaign to give me a little friendly advice.

. . . . . . . -- Eric