Eliminating Eastern Flavor From D&D?

[love.christine]

Interesting point Rechan. I might instead use the restricted class option in the DMG instead of removing the stuff.

 

[S'mon]

Remove angels, demons, devils, devas, ogre magi, gold dragons, lamasu, sphinx, tigers, camels, nagas, golems, mummies, and probably a few more.

Remove the monk class. Remove the cleric's ability to turn undead. Remove the wizard. Remove the paladin.

Remove the lute and mandolin.

Remove gypsies, at the very least including halfling caravans and Shadowdancers.

Remove avatars. Remove the the concept of an immortal soul that is joined to the psyche.

Remove coined money. Remove paper and parchment. Remove linen, cotton, and silk.

Remove beer and ale. Remove chickens. Remove cows.

I think when he said Eastern, he didn't mean the Middle East.

Edit: I'm pretty sure beer was independently developed in Europe (and elsewhere) - you could have just said 'remove domesticated grain', since it probably originated in Turkey. And while cow domestication developed outside Europe, milking cows began in Frisia, in NW Europe, before being independently developed in east-Africa and elsewhere.

 

[pawsplay]

I think when he said Eastern, he didn't mean the Middle East.

In that case you may have back the golem.

 

[Rechan]

In that case you may have back the golem.

And the Sphinx and mummy.

 

[S'mon]

In that case you may have back the golem.

Also, the concept of the Paladin is French. Anyway, your list is silly.

 

[love.christine]

I think when he said Eastern, he didn't mean the Middle East.

She, thank you very much.

And yes, you are correct; I didn't mean the middle east.

 

[Cadfan]

I don't know whether your goal is just to eliminate stuff you don't like (not always the best move for a DM...) or to keep a coherent campaign by avoiding a "everything exists everywhere" grab bag.

If its the former, whatever, I'm not going to convince you that a DM should be above that.

If its the latter, then you might try what I do: Give your players a very basic outline of the campaign, and then ask your players what classes and races they want to play. Cut everything they didn't list unless you need it for a specific, known reason. So if you've got two humans, an elf, and a tiefling, great. You've got your sentient humanoids. Dwarves, dragonborn, halflings, all gone.

 

[pawsplay]

Also, the concept of the Paladin is French. Anyway, your list is silly.

Paladin comes from pallatin, "of the palace," and referred to Charlemagne's retainers. Charlemagne was Frankish, not French properly. The chivalric ideal was molded in part on Christian mysticism, which in turn was influenced by Plato. Plato was part of a philosophical tradition that stretched back to such characters as Heraclitus, who lived in an area now called Turkey. Turkey was then and is now a meeting place of East and West.

EDIT: A little "Eastern philosophy" from Heraclitus:

We both step and do not step in the same rivers. We are and are not.

 

[pawsplay]

She, thank you very much.

And yes, you are correct; I didn't mean the middle east.

Well, you still lose chickens, among other things. Chickens are from India.

 

[CleverNickName]

Since you only said "eastern," I am assuming that you are referring to ALL "eastern" cultures: Japanese, Chinese, Turkish, Arabian, Syrian, Mongolian, etc.

To accomplish this, I suggest the following changes.

1. Classes: remove the monk class. Replace it with your favorite fighter variant, if desired...I recommend using the simple rogue variant in Unearthed Arcana. This one playtested very well in one of my games.

2. Weapons: remove the kukri, kama, nunchaku, sai, shuriken, and siangham.

3. Equipment: remove the monk's outfit.

4. Magic items: remove the monk's belt, golem manuals, flying carpet, and the efreeti bottle, as well as all Ki focus weapons.

5. Monsters: remove the following monsters: djini, efreeti, elephant, golem, janni, nagi, raksasha, and ogre mage (I might have missed a few; I'm not very familiar with Indian, Turkish, and Arabian lore.)

There might have been a spell or magic item or something in there that I missed, but this should get you started. Since I only covered the material in the SRD, you will have to be pretty careful about allowing splatbooks and third-party material into your game (like Complete Warrior.)