African Settings / Gods

[Heathansson]

There's a sci fi novel by Alan Dean Foster from a few years back called "Into the Out Of" that details creatures from Kikuyu carvings and folklore called "Shetani." They seem like demons if you will; there must be dozens of different varieties of Shetani.
He also had a series I think called "Into the thinking lands" or something that drew heavily on African mythology and folklore.

 

[Tonguez]

1. Most African beiliefs were Monotheisitc ie a single (often remote) Creator god

2. Below this are often an array of spirits ranging from major elemental spirits (eg Storm gods) to diefied ancestors - in DnD you could really use any suitable monster with Divine ranks

3. Then there was a whole lot of ghosts, shapechangers and monsters

More important in African myth were the Culture Heroes usually diefied kings

 

[Mouseferatu]

Yah, I'll give another vote for Nyambe. Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to use it yet. But I loved reading through it.

AD

What he said. One of the best cultural/setting books of the 3.0 era.

 

[Aus_Snow]

I'm also glad I picked up Nyambe, not so long ago.

I very rarely use a(nother's) setting as is, and this one's no exception. Still, as usual, I have managed to extract a number of things from it, already.

It's a nicely done book.

 

[Kalidor]

Since your original post requested "not gaming fluff", I would like to recommend Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. It examines a Nigerian tribe prior to, during, and after Europeans begin colonizing Africa. Check out the review at Amazon. I think you'll get a great feel for the culture and it should provide additional fluff to the crunch provided by Nyambe, which I enjoyed reading but haven't had the opportunity to use in any games.

http://www.amazon.com/Things-Fall-A...=pd_bbs_1/102-1231038-8393717?ie=UTF8&s=books

 

[Nightfall]

I have seen a dozen or more people saying how much they like Nyambe. Maybe 3 who didn't like it.

They must have been blinded by the coolness of this place. Nyambe is my choice for any d20 African setting and even true d20 settings!

 

[Raflar]

.... Nyambe is my choice for any d20 African setting ....

I'll definitely add my vote to that... I'm halfway through the 100 page PDF and it's perfect for what I'm looking for.... it's almost tailored made with its history, especially the suspicious nature of arcane users, and the creation of the dragonrace (the Unthlatu) as one of the PCs is a Dragon-touched Warmage (new race that we created in game). Another is a Priest of Selune who can shapechange into a Dire Ape so there's definitely going to be some trips into the Congo.. or should I say Bida Rainforest.....

Definitely glad I picked this one up.... now I gotta get out all those Dragon Mags..... if there's time before we play I'll have to look up "Things Fall Apart" looks interesting, but I probably won't get to it before we play it out... still might read it though.

Thanks for all the references.....

 

[Nightfall]

Raf,

My pleasure. Nymabe came out and I was like "Damn! If I didn't love Scarred Lands so much, I'd be the Sage for this place."

 

[Imaro]

Got the Nyambe stuff and its cool. But for some non-gaming inspiration check out the Imaro stories. Originally published in the 70's? there by an author named Charkes Saunders and basically is Sword and Sorcery type fantasy in a pseudo african setting.

Just go to Amazon and search for Imaro

 

[Nightfall]

Or search for Nightfall! I'm there too.

Somewhere.

*has done his helpful deed for the day*