101 Ancient Cultures fit for a Campaign...

[Emiricol]

60. Greek-Bactrian (Hellenism in Afghanistan) Kingdom -Bias on my part since my home-brew is based on it-

61. Pre-Islamic Arabia

62. pre-Christian Ireland

63. Gotta say it... Graham Hancock's vision of Atlantis, rubbish as far as history goes, but as RPG material it's priceless. See his book Fingerprints of the Gods.

Darn you I was just going to mention Bactrian.

64. There's also Camillan Roman, mid-Republic period. No lorica segmentata here, folks.

65. Numidian

66. Dacian (even the Romans feared these guys - for about 40 years lol)

67. Early Frankish

68. Saxons

69. The Kappadokians of eastern Asia Minor. Very horse-oriented, but supported by lots of irregular foot troops. I believe they were an earth mother religion people. Alexander never conquered them, but sent Greek mercenaries to harrass them to keep them off his supply lines.

60. Again, the Bactrians. SO COOL!

 

[William Ronald]

71. The Huns -- A name given to several groups that included Attila's group in the west and raiders into India.

72. The Khazars-- Although previously mentioned, this was a very unusual culture. There were four faith traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and a local form of paganism) which were treated equally. Members of each faith lived according to the laws of their community. The kings of Khazaria were Jewish converts.

73. The steppe nomads -- Many different cultures, including many speakers of Turkic languages.

74) Dilmun -- A little known area that is being investigated by archeologists. It is near present day Bahrain and was known to the ancient Sumerians.

75) The Indus River valley civilizations that the Sumerians may have called Meluhha.

76) The Monolith Builders -- From Malta to Britain, megaliths and other mysterious ruins are what remains of several ancient cultures.

77) Neandertal Man -- Appropriate for a Stone Age campaign, later Neandertals showed signs of picking up cultural innovations from Cro-Magnons.

78) The Anasazi of New Mexico.

79) The Inuit peoples, often called Eskimos.

80) The Finno-Ugric peoples of Northern Europe and Asia. Many were reindeer herders and hunters.

81) The Phoenicians.

82) The ancient peoples of Italy, such as the Venetians and other cultural groups. They rallied against Rome and led a rather bloody rebellion.

83)The Ainu.

 

[Agback]

84. Not really an historical people, but the pre-Republican Romans, not as they were but as they were reconstructed by Sir james Frazer in The Golden Bough. A matrilocal patriarchy has some very cool aspects.

85. Another pseudo-historical culture, the Scythians as described by Herodotus, including Neurians. In fact I often think that the coolest possible game expansion or setting-based game would be the world as described by Herodotus.

Regards,


Agback

EDIT: spelling

 

[johnsemlak]

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp A great sourcebook for a period of Russian history little-known to most Westerners (the 10th century to about the 18th century, or Russia of the Middle Ages) is GURPS Russia.

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp Granted, the Northmen occupied Rus a bit before that time period, but their influence on the land since was lasting.


-G

Good book.

Don't forget the d20 stuff for Russia put out/being put out by Monkeygod Enterprises. I'm anxiously awaiting Frost and Fur and they've put out wo modules set in old Russia--The Dancing Hut and Tsar Rising

 

[Lalato]

86. The Olmecs of Central America... they were there before the Aztecs...

 

[El Ravager]

They weren't just in the southern US, they left mounds behind as far North as here in Ohio. Ohio is home to some of the most famous mound-builder earthworks, Serpent Mound in particular.
These burial mounds have been found in Oklahoma, Florida, Georgia, West Virginia, Indiana and as previously mentioned, Ohio. Probably other places too.

Yeah, there are mounds further north than that. There are a Effigy mounds in the region of Northeast Iowa/Southwest Wisconsin. There are about 4000 of them in Wisconsin that have survived construction and agriculture.


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El Rav

 

[El Ravager]

The Chaco period of the Anasazi that Lalato mentioned would be a good one. Chaco Canyon is full of sites with great architecture like Pueblo Bonito and Casa Rinconada. These sites were rather large and it's likely that they served as a power base politically and ceremonially for the region. They had a nifty road system that was actually quite vast. It may have been more symbolic as the roads typically went strait up cliffs and hills rather than around them. Their buildings used for ceremony, Great Kivas, are pretty cool and would make an interesting location for events in a DnD game.

There is quite a bit written about the Anasazi and Chaco Canyon and it would be easy to plug them into a DnD world. Just a quick search for 'Chaco' on Amazon.com turns up a nice list.

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El Rav

 

[Atridis]

I just finished a book about Chaco Canyon. interesting stuff.

the city of Petra in present-day Jordan was in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade", and will be instantly recognizable to anyone who has played the second act of "Diablo II."

the people who lived there were the Nabateans, contemporaries of the Edomites, Phoenicians, ancient Egyptians, Nubians, and Mesopotamians. they were eventually swallowed by Rome and disappeared.

the city was abandoned in the 7th century AD and was literally lost for about 1100 years. Petra is the Greco-Roman name for the city; the Nabateans called it Reqem, in Aramaic it's Arken, and a German monk called it Archim in the 13th century.

a couple of pictures: http://almashriq.hiof.no/jordan/900/930/petra/myth/

some info on the Nabateans generally: http://www.kinghussein.gov.jo/his_nabateans.html

the best book I found was "Petra", by Amadasi Guzzo, Maria Giulia and Eugenia Equini Schneider. it has lots of nice color photos and some maps, including a couple that recreate damaged structures

 

[Vahktang]

Had a great opening for a new party.
They wake up aboard ship a victim of a press gang.
They form a party for self protection.
When they get where they are going, it is the finale of a sacking of an ancient asian sea port.
Our heroes now jump ship and go inland.
Where there are mysteries and dangers never seen by civilized men.

Europeans taking over China, Indo China, etc, by force.
And things that were contained by those wise cultures being let loose.

I started a campaign where the course of the Nile was changed, leaving the 'egyptians' high and dry and the new Nile owners lording over them.
That was fun.

More later,

Vahktang

 

[Bendris Noulg]

Does anyone have any more info on these kingdoms? I'm developing an Africa-like area fro my world, and could use some inspiration.

Have you checked out Nyambe by Chris Dolunt (pub: Atlas Games)?