D&D 5E Beyond Feudalism: Innovative Settings

[Dungeonosophy]

Nice second article by Shannon Appelcline on other cultures and genres in D&D. (Here's the link to the first article.)

If you'd like a full list of D&D countries and settings which are evocative of specific Earth cultures, see my Cultures and Genres list.

It'd be swell if 5e covered all the real-world cultures, and gave 'campaign models' for using them in various published settings. For example, a Pharaonic Adventures book with Mulhorand (in the Realms), Erypt (in Greyhawk), Hutaaka, Thothia, and Nithia (in Mystara/Hollow World), and Sebua and Har'Akir (in Ravenloft) as campaign models.

 

[Mercurius]

Edit: Never mind - I thought this was about the first article, which there's a thread about.

 

[Li Shenron]

It'd be swell if 5e covered all the real-world cultures, and gave 'campaign models' for using them in various published settings. For example, a Pharaonic Adventures book with Mulhorand (in the Realms), Erypt (in Greyhawk), Hutaaka, Thothia, and Nithia (in Mystara/Hollow World), and Sebua and Har'Akir (in Ravenloft) as campaign models.

I'd second that! Some of the old 2e settings could just be updated to 5e, e.g. Al-Qadim, and new ones could be created.

 

[I'm A Banana]

It'd be swell if 5e covered all the real-world cultures, and gave 'campaign models' for using them in various published settings. For example, a Pharaonic Adventures book with Mulhorand (in the Realms), Erypt (in Greyhawk), Hutaaka, Thothia, and Nithia (in Mystara/Hollow World), and Sebua and Har'Akir (in Ravenloft) as campaign models.

Eh. To be honest, while there's some stuff to mine there, I'd much rather at this point see new fantasy settings inspired by those cultures, rather than simple expies. I'd prefer more Dark Suns, more Planescapes, more Spelljammers, fewer "Here's a checklist of ethnic stereotypes and butchered legends, guys!"

Like, I like Gulg from Dark Sun much more than I would like "Fantasy Version of the Congo Region of Africa," even though Gulg is a lot like that. It takes inspiration without simply checking off a box of African-myth-analogues.

...hmmm, maybe what I'm rooting for is just that. Take inspiration from those human cultures, but don't try to be like, "This is the Native Americans IN D&D! And over here are the Chinese IN D&D! And now, the French IN D&D!" Give me something more than stats for Osiris.

Still, though, a fan of D&D breaking out of its feudal shell!

 

[BronzeDragon]

Of course YMMV, but from what I see DM's doing with their worlds, there's already very, very, very little Feudalism in most D&D campaigns.

There are certainly nobles, peasants, the clericy, castles and so on, but almost none of it actually fits with historical Feudalism in most of its different periods.

So, there isn't much to run away from, unless you mean it in the broadest of senses, meaning going away from knights and kings and peasants...

 

[Dungeonosophy]

Like, I like Gulg from Dark Sun much more than I would like "Fantasy Version of the Congo Region of Africa," even though Gulg is a lot like that. It takes inspiration without simply checking off a box of African-myth-analogues.

...hmmm, maybe what I'm rooting for is just that. Take inspiration from those human cultures, but don't try to be like, "This is the Native Americans IN D&D! And over here are the Chinese IN D&D! And now, the French IN D&D!" Give me something more than stats for Osiris.

For each 'culture book', besides 'straightforward' campaign models which use the Earth-analogues with few changes (like Mystara and Ravenloft), I'd like there also to be some campaign models which do exactly what you suggest: take some core motifs from a real world culture, but mix in other, completely fantastic elements. There'd be a spectrum of campaign models, from straight-up "D&D Earth", to close analogues (especially seen in Mystara, Ravenloft, Birthright, some Forgotten Realms countries) to mixed inspirations, with only a few elements taken from the earth culture (Dragonlance, Eberron, Athas).

For example, the Nubian Adventures book would have these campaign models:

• In Mystara: Yavdlom (Swahilis), Ulimwengu (pygmies), N'jatwaland elf-ogres and Simbasta lion-folk in Davania, Tangor in Skothar, Tanagoro (Zulu) in Hollow World
• In the Realms: Katashaka continent and Jungle of Chult
• In Ravenloft: The Wildlands (The Crocodile King is an evil version of the Lion King)
• In Greyhawk: The Touv (some African aspects)
• In Dark Sun: suggestions for using some elements of Nubian Adventures in the Ivory Triangle.
• In Eberron: suggestions for using some elements in Xen'drik.
• In Planescape: the home domains of the African gods.
• And also a D&D Earth Africa, for use in 5e "D&D Modern" or "D&D Past" campaigns.

 

[variant]

Of course YMMV, but from what I see DM's doing with their worlds, there's already very, very, very little Feudalism in most D&D campaigns.

There are certainly nobles, peasants, the clericy, castles and so on, but almost none of it actually fits with historical Feudalism in most of its different periods.

So, there isn't much to run away from, unless you mean it in the broadest of senses, meaning going away from knights and kings and peasants...

This is something I was getting ready to post. The only campaign setting that has a resemblance to feudalism is Birthright.