D&D 5E OA-style Culture Books for 5e

[Dungeonosophy]

D&D Next culture books:

• Culture books modeled on Oriental Adventures. Split OA into different culture books.
• Real World-based classes, PC races from mythology, themes, equipment, monsters, spells, deities
• Several D&D Earth campaign models in each book. (Same world as the Earth glimpsed in various D&D or d20 Modern products.)
• Equivalent of Department-7 in each culture book. Knighthood of the Seven in medieval culture, Sodality of the Seven in indigenous cultures.
• Also "culturocentric Earth" campaign model for each, where even the world map is shaped how that culture traditionally perceived the world. Like the "Norse alternate world" called Midgard in the Mystara cosmology, which is mentioned in the Northern Reaches Gazetteer
• Other campaign models show how to use this material in published D&D Worlds, laying out explicitly which D&D fantasy cultures are based fully or partly on Real World cultures. Acknowledges that some settings (such as Mystara) use RW inspirations directly, while other settings (such as Greyhawk and Ravenloft) tend to mix or alter RW elements; and some settings (such as Dark Sun and Eberron) avoid RW influences, but the crunchy bits can still be useful in those settings.
• Gamer glossaries for key languages of each culture. For example, in Cathayan Adventures, includes Chinese names for all the relevant D&D classes (e.g. Fighter = Wushi), equipment, monsters, spells, etc.; Zipangu Adventures gives Japanese names for the relevant D&D classes, (Fighter = Bushi) etc.
• The less popular cultures done as Dragon magazine articles or web-enhancements
• Each of these are lovingly crafted, so that each might be the epitome of their genre, while benefiting from being coupled with the streamlined 5e rules system. They aim to be better than all the existing rpgs which feature those cultures.

Emirate Adventures (or Arabian Adventures or Caliphate Adventures; but "Arabian" excludes the Islamic Persian and Ottoman cultures, and "Caliphate" or "Caliphal" may be touchy since its the title of the Islamic "pope")

• Sha'ir class
• Gamer glossary: Arabic (and Persian and Ottoman Turkish?)
• Campaign Models:
  • D&D Earth campaign models at key points in Middle-eastern history.
  • "Emirate Earth": A D&D setting whose map comes from early Islamic world maps, with south at the top of the map.
  • In Toril: Zakhara, Calimshan, and the Bedine of the Anauroch Desert
  • Mystara's Emirates of Ylaruam and the Desert Nomads (quasi-Afghan)
  • Phazaria in the Amber Wastes of Ravenloft
  • Land of Arir in the stand-alone 1e adventure I9: Day of Al-Akbar
  • Desert of Desolation, stand-alone 1e adventure trilogy, later placed in Faerun's Plains of Purple Dust; Also, GAZ2 suggested placement in Mystara's Ylaruam
  • Khinasi of Birthright setting
  • Bakluni peoples of Greyhawk
• Better than Tales of the Caliphate Nights True20

Cathayan Adventures

• Wuxia
• Gamer glossary: Chinese (Kara-Tur-style Wade Giles spellings and modern Pinyin spellings)
• 2e Dragon Fist
• Campaign Models:
  • D&D Earth campaign models in key moments in Chinese history
  • "Cathayan Earth" campaign model, with a world that is really shaped like traditional Chinese worldmaps.
  • Shou Lung and T'u Lung in Toril
  • I'Cath in Ravenloft
  • Ochalea in Mystara
  • Celestial Imperium/Shaofeng/Sufang of Oerth
• Invite Chris Pramas to co-author.

Zipangu Adventures (or Nipponic Adventures)

• Chanbara (swordfighting) and other genres
• Gamer glossary: Japanese
• Campaign Models:
  • Kozakura and Wa in Toril
  • In Mystara: Empire of Myoshima on Mystara's invisible moon of Patera; also Yasuko barbarians of the Jungle Coast, and the rakastas of the Yazak Steppes in the Savage Coast
  • Nippon/Ryuujin of Oerth
  • Rokushima Taiyoo in Ravenloft
  • 3e Rokugan/Lot5R
• Better than Legend of the Five Rings and Sengoku

Nubian Adventures

• Gamer glossaries: Swahili, Zulu, Kongo, Hausa, perhaps others
• Campaign Models:
  • The Touv in Oerth
  • Katashaka continent and Jungle of Chult in Forgotten Realms
  • The Wildlands in Ravenloft (The Crocodile King is an evil version of the Lion King)
  • In Mystara: Yavdlom (Swahilis), Ulimwengu (pygmies), N'jatwaland and Simbasta lion-folk in Davania, Tangor in Skothar, Tanagoro (Zulu) in Hollow World
• Better than Nyambe. Maybe collaborate with Atlas Games since Nyambe is aleady such a well-crafted Campaign Model.

Celtic Adventures

• leprechaun PC
• monsters: redcap, banshee
• Gamer glossaries: Irish, Welsh, perhaps others
• HR3: Celts
• Campaign Models:
  • The Ffolk of the Moonshae Isles in Toril
  • In Mystara: Principality of Klantyre (Scotland), Province of Redstone (Ireland), Kingdom of Robrenn (Gaul) (and adjacent quasi-Celtic goblinoids), and Thratian Hinterlands (tribal Conan-style Old Irish "Cimmerians")
  • Forlorn Domain in Ravenloft
• Better than Sláine

Koryoan Adventures

• Gamer glossary: Korean
• Campaign Model: Koryo in Toril

Turtle Island Adventures

• Campaign Models:
  • Anchorome continent of Forgotten Realms
  • In Mystara: Atruaghin Clans, Red Orcs, Yazi goblinoids
  • Rovers/Arapahi of Greyhawk (like Arapaho)
• Resources: 1e Amerindian pantheon, Atruaghin Gazetteer
• Gamer glossaries: Mohawk, Lakota, Arapaho, Tlingit, Hopi, Navajo, perhaps others

Suvarnabhumi Adventures (or Golden Land Adventures; Southeast Asia)

• Gamer glossaries: Malay, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Burmese, Thai
• Campaign Models:
  • On the invisible moon of Patera of the World of Mystara: Selimpore (Singapore), Malaycalog (Philippines), Kompor-Thap (Cambodia), Surabayang (Malay)
  • Malatra and other lands in the south of Kara-Tur of the Forgotten Realms

Babylonian Adventures (or Mesopotamian Adventures)

• Campaign Models:
  • Unther of Forgotten Realms (pre-Spellplague)
  • In Mystara: Nimmur and Enduks of Eshu
  • Ishtarland in western Oerth?
• Babylonian pantheon from 1e
• Babylonian deities from 2e Return to the Keep on the Borderland
• scorpion-folk
• Gamer glossaries: Akkadian, Sumerian

Biblical Adventures

• D&D Earth's equivalent of Biblical Palestine
• Gamer glossary: Ancient Hebrew
• Better than Green Ronin's Testament

Tawantinsuyu Adventures (or Incan Adventures)

• Gamer glossaries: Quechua and Aymara
• Campaign Model: Oltec of Mystara's Hollow World
• Non-WotC: Southern Cross continent mentioned in Northern Crown setting.

Amazonian Adventures (perhaps merge with Tawantinsuyu Adventures?)

• Gamer glossary: Guarani, Old Tupi, Yanomami
• Campaign Models: In Mystara: Phanatons of Jibaru (on the Savage Coast) and Manacupuru (in Davania)

Tatarian Adventures (or Turanian Adventures; Central Asian Mongols, Turkics, and Scythians)

• Gamer glossary: Mongolian, Old Turkic, Scythian (or invented Scythian-style names, since the language is barely recorded)
• Campaign Models:
  • Horse Plains of Toril; also Murghôm (said by Rich Baker to be partly evocative of the Turanians of the Conan stories)
  • In Mystara: the Ethengar Khanates, Yellow Orcs, and hobgoblins of Hobgobliny; also Jennites (Scythians) of Mystara's Skothar continent and in the Hollow World
  • Tiger Nomads and Wolf Nomads of Greyhawk

Hellenic Adventures

• Dryad, Centaur, Satyr, Minotaur PC races
• monsters: lamias, titans
• Gamer glossary: Classical Greek
• HR6: Age of Heroes
• Campaign Models:
  • D&D Earth at key moments in Greek history (Trojan War, etc.)
  • "Hellenic Earth" where the world is really shaped like the ancient Greek worldview, like these Homeric worldmaps.
  • Mystara: Minaeans (Minoans) near Skothar; Milenian colonies of the Grass Coast; Cathos and Vacros; Milenians and Traldar of Hollow World
  • Chessenta of Forgotten Realms
• Better than Green Ronin's Trojan War

Northern Adventures (Norse-Germanic)

• Gamer glossary: Old Norse and Anglo-Saxon
• 1e Norse pantheon
• HR1: Vikings
• 3e Asgardian pantheon
• Campaign Models:
  • The Northmen of the Moonshae Isles of Forgotten Realms
  • The Northern Reaches of Mystara (Vestland=Sweden, Ostland=Denmark, Soderfjord=Norway) and the Heldann Freeholds (Iceland) before the invasion of the Knights. The Midgard "Norse-centric" world mentioned in GAZ7.
  • Rjurik of Birthright setting
  • The Ice, Snow, and Frost Barbarians of Oerth

Hyperborean Adventures (Finnish, Siberian, and Inuit-Aleut)

• Finnish pantheon from 1e Deities & Demigods, incl. Loviatar
• Siberian pantheon(s)
• Inuit pantheon
• 2e Angakok wizard kit (Inuit shaman)
• Campaign Models:
  • In Toril: the Ulutiun people (Inuit) of the Great Glacier; the Northern Wastes (Siberia); also the realm of Vaasa seems to have originally been conceived as quasi-Finnish.
• Gamer glossary: Finnish, Inuit, perhaps others

Eastland Adventures (Slavic, Hungarian, Gypsy/Romany, Albanian; Caucasus?)

• Taltos (Hungarian shaman) and Gypsy classes or themes, Baba Yaga, Kostchtchie
• Ravenfolk and Goatfolk PC races
• Slavic pantheon, Magyar pantheon. (Armenian and Georgian pagan pantheons?)
• Campaign Models:
  • Rashemen of Forgotten Realms
  • Rhennee gypsies of Greyhawk
  • Vosgaard of Birthright setting
  • In Mystara: Traladarans of Karameikos, Boldavia, and the City-States; the Goatmen of Kavaja; the Duchies of Vyostograd and Stamtral in Norwold, from CM4: Earthshaker
  • Barovia, Nova Vaasa, and Vorostokov in Ravenloft
  • James Wyatt's Petroyeska campaign setting
• Gamer glossary: Old Slavonic, Russian, Romany, Hungarian, Serbian, Albanian, perhaps others

Pharaonic Adventures (or Egyptian Adventures)

• Gamer glossary: Ancient Egyptian names for all the relevant D&D classes, races, equipment, spells, monsters, etc
• Campaign Models:
  • Mulhorand in Forgotten Realms
  • Erypt of Oerth
  • Hutaakans and Thothia in Mystara; Nithia in the Hollow World
  • Sebua and Har'Akir in Ravenloft--featured in the video game Ravenloft: Stone Prophet
• Better than Hamunaptra: Egyptian Adventures and Gygax's Khemit

Roman Adventures

• HR5: The Glory of Rome
• Campaign Models:
  • Thyatian Empire (Byzantine, but with ancient Roman features)
  • James Wyatt's Imperium Romanum and Shield of Faith settings
• Gamer glossary: Latin (also used for Old Oeridian)
• Better than Green Ronin's Eternal Rome and Adamant Entertainment's FVLMINATA: Armed With Lightning

Arthurian Adventures

• The "Matter of Britain"
• Campaign Models: How to use Cormyr as an Arthurian Campaign Model
• Better than Pendragon. Maybe even collaborate with Greg Stafford.

Carolingian Adventures (or Frankish Adventures)

• The "Matter of France"
• HR2: Charlemagne's Paladins
• Campaign Model: Kingdom of Eusdria in Mystara

Jambudvipa Adventures (or Bharatian Adventures)

• monsters: bhut, juggernaut
• Gamer glossaries: Sanskrit, Tamil
• 1e and 2e Indian pantheons, Ascetic class in 2e Legends & Lore
• CD&D Thug class in Champions of Mystara boxed set
• Kolhapur in stand-alone 2e adventure Star of Kolhapur
• "Rhino's Armor, Tiger's Claws" Dragon #189
• "Caste of Characters", "Monsoons & the Power of Om", and "Bazaar of the Bizarre" in Dragon #226, 227, 229
• Campaign Models:
  • Sind, Jaibul, and Glantri's principality of Krondahar in Mystara; Rajahstan on the invisible moon of Patera; Shajapur in Hollow World
  • Utter East of Forgotten Realms
  • Zindia/Zahind of Oerth
  • Sri Raji in Ravenloft
  • 3e Mahasarpa campaign
• Better than Green Ronin's Mindshadows

Anahuac Adventures (or Mesoamerican Adventures)

• Campaign Models:
  • Olmans in Oerth
  • Maztica, formerly in Toril, now in Abeir
  • In Mystara: Schattenalfen, Oenkmar, Oceotl catfolk; Azcan Empire in the Hollow World
• monsters: sahuagin, ixitxachitl
• Gamer glossary: Classical Nahuatl

Persian Adventures (pre-Islamic only? or all times? maybe Islamic Persia included in Emirate Adventures)

• Gamer glossary: Ancient Persian

Sublime Adventures (or Ottoman Adventures; or include with Emirate Adventures)

• Campaign Model: Mystara's Great Hagiarchy of Huyule, and colony of Bogdashkan on the Jungle Coast; also gnolls of Gnollistan, lead by Nizam Pasha (Nazim Pasha was Chief of Staff of the army of the Ottoman Empire, and “pasha” is an Ottoman title)

Himalayan Adventures

• Yeti, Yak-folk
• Gamer glossary: Tibetan and Nepalese
• Campaign Models:
  • Tabot (Tibet) and Ra-Khati (Nepal) in Toril
  • In Mystara: Lhamsa in the Principalities of Glantri, and the Snow Pardasta catfolk

Dreamtime Adventures

• Campaign Models:
  • Osse continent of Forgotten Realms
  • Wallara chameleon-men in Mystara
• Gamer glossary: Western Desert Language

Oceanic Adventures (or Island Adventures, or South Sea Adventures, or Pacific Adventures; Micronesian, Melanesian, and Polynesian)

• Gamer glossaries: Hawaiian, Maori, Tok Pisin, perhaps others
• Campaign Models:
  • Kara-kara (quasi-Melanesian) of Isle of Dread (located in Mystara, Oerth, and Feywild of Nerath)
  • Mystara: Makai of Ierendi and the Hollow World

Medieval Adventures (medieval western & central Europe of D&D Earth).

• Covers post-tribal, pre-renaissance Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Dutch, British cultures (though Arthurian Adventures is its own genre; perhaps Carolingian genre is included in Medieval Adventures)
• Similar to Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe by Expeditious Retreat Press.
• D&D Earth equivalents of Christian clerics, etc
• Resources:
  • 2e HR: Crusades
  • 3e Robin Hood mini-setting from Dragon Magazine
• Campaign Models: (though most D&D countries are quasi-medieval, only those which are mostly inspired by Real World medieval western European countries would be featured in this book)
  • Robin Hood
  • Crusades
  • Amn (Spain) in Faerun
  • Narvaez (Inquisition Spain) in Mystara
• Better than Green Ronin's Medieval Players Manual

Renaissance Adventures (post-medieval, pre-industrial western and central Europe of D&D Earth)

• Elizabethan England, Italian Renassiance, Age of Reason, Three Musketeers, etc.
• Resources:
  • AD&D2e HR4: A Mighty Fortress
• Campaign Models:
  • Age of Adventure campaign model from d20 Past
  • In Mystara: Bellayne (Elizabethan English catfolk), Renardy (Absolutist French dogfolk), several Glantrian principalities (Averoigne/France, Caurenze/Italy, Fenswick/England, etc.), Minrothad Guilds
  • Chondath in Faerun (renaissance Italy)
  • Tharquish Empire (British Empire) in Oerth
  • several Ravenloft domains
• Better than 7th Sea

New World Adventures (or Colonial Adventures)

• Focuses on the settler/immigrant cultures of North and South America, from the 1500s through the 1700s. The indigenous cultures are covered in D&D Turtle Island Adventures, Anahuac Adventures (Aztec and Maya), Tawantinsuyu Adventures (Incan), and Amazonian Adventures.
• Campaign Models:
  • New Waterdeep (British North America) and New Amn (New Spain) in Toril
  • Mystara: Texeiras (Brazil), Almarron (Mexico), Guadalante (Argentina), Torreon, Nouvelle-Renardie (Louisiana), Free City of Dunwick and Richland (British colonies) in the Savage Coast
  • Capoeira "Battle-dancer" PC class; other colonial North and South American classes.
  • It it's too much to fit North and South America in one book, then perhaps include all South American cultures (immigrant and indigenous) into a single Tawantinsuyu Adventures book.

• Better than Northern Crown: New World Adventures by Atlas Games; maybe collaborate to make Northern Crown a campaign model.

From: https://sites.google.com/site/dndphilmont/home

 

[TwinBahamut]

There are so many problems with this...

For one, I personally think it wouldn't be bad to just take everything ever written for some of the various cultures from previous editions and toss them out the window... You describe way too many products subdivided into way too many overly specific and heavily overlapping concepts.

I just don't like fantasy that tries to create a direct game-world equivalent to every last real world culture. It doesn't work, and just pulls me out of the game. I'd rather have the default be a giant mix-up of real world cultures, so elements inspired by any of those things can show up recombined in thousands of new ways.

It should also be noted that the real world doesn't divide into such clean compartments very well. Cultures interact and collide all the time. They mixed and they blended and the overlapped and ate each other up and were transformed by that process. All manner of people wandered the silk road, pharoahs were part of the Roman Empire, Japanese samurai sent envoys to meet the Pope, and countless civilizations were united under the banners of powerful forces like the Turks, Mongols, or Islam. The world has always been a web of connections, not a list of isolated islands.

 

[Bedrockgames]

I think what they should do is bring the green books back.

 

[trancejeremy]

Yeah. I liked those Green books. I still have a couple.

Unfortunately though, and somewhat ironically, because Hasbro is such a huge company, they will likely be less inclined to do anything but a blockbuster.

Whereas TSR could do that. Yes, they did run out of money, but they also lost a lot due to the Buck Rogers junk, Dungeon Dice, novel returns, etc...

I mean, SJG pretty much follows that model with Gurps.

 

[Bedrockgames]

Yeah. I liked those Green books. I still have a couple.

Unfortunately though, and somewhat ironically, because Hasbro is such a huge company, they will likely be less inclined to do anything but a blockbuster.

Whereas TSR could do that. Yes, they did run out of money, but they also lost a lot due to the Buck Rogers junk, Dungeon Dice, novel returns, etc...

I mean, SJG pretty much follows that model with Gurps.

I think more moderate but robust lines will boost heir bottom lines. The edition treadmill is at an end. It isnt sustainable becauseit fragments the game. Splat books bust the system (leading naturally to a new edition). So they will need to look at what tsr did right (not just what it did wrong). Paizo seems to have a handle on how to do it.

 

[Ahnehnois]

I'd really like to see more well-researched forays into untapped mythology and legend from different cultures. Somehow I don't think we'll be getting that much of it though.

 

[Jeff Carlsen]

Paizo does something like this by having a kitchen sink setting so that each adventure path and its support material is able to cover a different culture or theme while at the same time being tied into the whole that is the setting.

I certainly believe there is a place for books on incorporating different cultures and mythologies into the game. Instead of a bunch of small books, though, these should be similar to Deities and Demigods. One to three books covering the subject from a holistic angle.

 

[El Mahdi]

I don't think books like that will work very well unless D&D Next brings back enough players.

The problem with books like that, as good as they are and as much as I like them also, they're niche products. And since the Hobby is already a niche market, that makes such products a niche within a niche. And that makes it very hard to make books like this that make a profit (unless you're a small company selling a pdf on RPGNow or something similar - and even then, most probably don't make much, if any, profit).

If D&D Next is successful at reuniting a majority of WotC's potential customer/fan base, which would result in massively increasing their current customer/fan base, then books like that may be worthwhile again.

It's all dependent upon how successful core 5E is first.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

I would prefer it if splatbooks just threw in the occasional prestige class/paragon path/whatever material that's partially inspired by real world cultures, like the previous Dervish Prestige Class, and the Kensai Paragon Path. But no big books focused on such things.

 

[delericho]

I quite like culture books.

But, unless they have a particular passion for the material, and unless they have a reasonably adept subject matter expert to write it, they should probably leave them alone. Something like "African Adventures" sounds like it could be botched disastrously. (Indeed, if it hadn't existed back in 1st Ed, I doubt OA would be written for the game.)

Basically, they need to be sure they can "do it right", or they shouldn't do it at all. But if they are confident, then have at it!