D&D General What Bits of History Inspire Your Homebrew Setting?

[el-remmen]

My current setting is a mash of ancient world and medieval stuff (as fits D&D). As the central setting location is a Republic that arose after many years of chaos after the fall of a conquering foreign empire, I have taken events and cultural ideas from Ancient Athens, early Roman republic, and even as far forward as the American Revolution (but just some enlightenment ideas, not technology), but also some forms of government organization from the Iroquois Nation. My hobgoblin nation is based on ancient Sparta, except a matriarchy (as hobgoblins are the female of the goblinoid species)

 

[Stormonu]

I'm a big fan of Carolinian/Frankish empire history, so I have pulled in various aspects of that. Most notably a sort of "Holy Roman Empire" in the near past where there is an over-kingdom that lesser empires are vassals or defer to and is the basis of current knighthood.

Although I have tidbits from all over time - city-states from Greece, merchant companies inspired by Venetian merchant-guilds and things like a Conquistador Spain and the like.

 

[Azzy]

A setting I've been developing for a while now is based on Mesopotamia and the surrounding area ca. 2000 BCE. As a student of architectural and urban development history, this culture and period has long been a point of facination for me.

I agree with you 100%. That area and time period are amazing.

 

[Azzy]

Even though I love history, this thread title made me reflect on my practices and realize that I take very little from real world history, and a whole lot from real world literature. I'm not sure why that is.

The history of colonialism definitely impacts how I depict relations between different species.

That's really interesting. I'm the opposite, and rarely take inspiration (consciously) from literature.

 

[Fifinjir]

The Caucasus Mountains have caught my attention recently, and I’m incorporating what I learn about the region into “the Ariak” (name subject to change) in my setting.

 

[FrozenNorth]

I’ve been reading « Des capes et des crocs » and it has inspired me to set a campaign around the Mediterranean. You get multiple powers jockeying for influence, an important shipping lane, and a wide variety of cultures that would be historically appropriate.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

By current setting Artra takes inspiration from prehistoric times, there is a lot of megafauna and people living in simple tribal hunter-gatherer societies. There are also more developed areas, which take inspiration form the dawn of civilisation, ancient Egypt, Minoans, Sumer etc. However, whilst in some areas of the setting specific influences might be more noticeable, I have very consciously avoided directly porting real cultures into the setting. What I have are amalgamations of different cultures spiced up with copious amount of imagination, so that the cultures become their own thing, instead of just being "fantasy Greece" etc.

 

[Voadam]

I have a bunch of fantasy analogue stuff in my mashup homebrew setting and this includes some historic events and movements and not just specific setting elements like fantasy vikings or fantasy ancient Egypt.

Alexandros the Great conquered most of the world and we now have common throughout the lengths of his old empire even though it split into tons of kingdoms since.

The Fantasy Egypt Osirion in my homebrew mashup used to be an elven super power but fell into decline. After Alexandros conquered it there was a line of human pharaohs who completely went native Osirion including speaking elvish. eventually the area came under fantasy Arab Qadiran control but still a huge cultural reverence for the ancient Osirion elvish pyramids and stuff among the natives of the area.

The current Holy Lothian Empire theocratic civil war in my game has both a civil and religious aspect as the head of the church tries to assert control over both the political empire and assert controls over the bishops of spread out bishoprics who declare their own autonomous authority within their bishoprics. Various claimants to the imperial throne support or go against this theology split on either side. So there is the Catholic Protestant overtones as well as the early church split of Orthodox Churches from Catholicism.

 

[Azzy]

What I have are amalgamations of different cultures spiced up with copious amount of imagination, so that the cultures become their own thing, instead of just being "fantasy Greece" etc.

Awesome! That's what I try to do, too. I have a civilization that loosely draws inspiration from Egypt, Nubia, Sumer, and Babylon. (No pyramids—they have ziggarauts.)

 

[DavyGreenwind]

I want to do a Silk Road/Khanate setting. I mean, an Empire that stretched from the Pacific to the Mediterranean makes the Roman Empire look like Ohio.