Campaigns based on more obscure geographical regions

[Desdichado]

So, "pseudo-medieval Europe" has been done to death, obviously. A vaguely "Far Eastern" feel has been done at least a couple of times (Kara-Tur, Rokugan) and even the near East has been done (Al-Qadim). Although I don't know much about it, I suppose Maztica even qualifies as a Meso-American setting.

Does anyone else have settings that focus on capturing a feel from a more "obscure" (at least from a fantasy standpoint) geographical region? I know there's a few Polynesian-themed campaigns out there, and Southeast Asian (Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, etc.) and this thread mentions Central Asian themed campaigns as well. I've also had a hankering for some time to make a campaign focused on Norse settlers on the East Coast of North America, and then fantasize it up a bit (although I've never actually done so.)

Anyone else wanna chime in and talk a bit about your campaign based on a cultural or geographical baseline that is a bit more on the uncommon side?

 

[Chunklets]

Well, I don't know if I'd call it "obscure," but one large and important area of my homebrew world was modelled after the early 5th-6th century A.D. Byzantine Empire, and I've had a great deal of fun with that. I also tried to give my Dwarven realm a little bit of a Baltic flavour (names yoinked from the Lithuanian dictionary etc.), but I don't know how well that worked. I do like the idea of getting a bit away from the standard High Medieval Europe model sometimes, although that's a nice comfy place to come back to in a pinch.

 

[Aeric]

My campaign setting was modelled after Colonial America of the 16th and 17th centuries, with the various demihuman races taking the place of the Native American tribes. A bit more modern than usual, but fantasy is fantasy.

 

[d4]

there's Nyambe, which is a fantasy pseudo-Africa.

i like your idea from another thread for a Tarim Basin / Tocharian campaign. it's a part of the world hardly anyone ever thinks of.

it's still somewhat European, but i think an Eastern European / Kievan Rus style fantasy world would be kinda neat, but it'd probably be a bit "darker" than i usually like. for some reason, "happy and cheerful" and "medieval Slavic fantasy" just don't seem to fit together at all...

 

[tarchon]

I did a one shot Vampire: the Dark Ages in Medieval Greenland once.

 

[Nellisir]

My submission to WotC's setting search was a fantasy take on King Arthur + Irish/Welsh/Scottish/English cultures + Native Americans in North America, 500 years or so after fleeing Europe and a resurgent Roman Empire. 1000 AD or so, close to the normal D&D time period, but with decidely stronger American and Gaelic influences.

Not radically different, but something.

Cheers
Nell.

 

[Jolly Giant]

As I've been mapping out my homebrew world, I've tried my best to give each nation its own culture. Admittedly, the majority has come out pseudo-european or pseudo-far-eastern... :\ However, there I have managed to throw in some slightly more original concepts; such as the inka-like wild elves living on remote equatorial islands, the small mountain nation of reclusive goblin farmers ruled by "greek" philosofers and the vikingesque seafaring orcs.

I've been thinking a lot about creating a low-magic viking setting for quite a few years now, but have never really got anywhere... :\ A setting based on the cultures of the north american indians could also be a fun concept, but I never really got around to doing anything about that either.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Like totally, dude. I've considered a campaign set in a pseudo-medieval San Fernando Valley.

Spoiler

No, not really.

 

[d4]

i actually want to start working on a new homebrew soon, and i do want to use a different "cultural matrix" than the standard Western European D&D.

i'm also pretty sure i'd like the terrain to be a large and important part of the campaign world.

the two ideas i'm tossing around at the moment are:

1) an Arabian Nights / Sinbad setting with lots of desert and wide open seas with strange, misty islands. genies, assassins, whirling dervishes, eunuch warlocks, dragon turtles, the dwarves of Punt, harem girls, flying carpets, and scimitars. lots of scimitars.

or,

2) a Slavic, Volga River, trudging through endless miles of snow, pine forests, and wide open steppes sort of setting. werewolves, vampires, witches, General Winter / Grandfather Frost, rusalki, Cossacks, downtrodden serfs, boyars, and big fur hats. lots of big fur hats.

having trouble deciding between the two. :\

 

[jgbrowning]

There's a chance that Suzi and I will be visiting India again at the end of this year for about 4 months. If we do, we're thinking about taking a digital camera and capturing images to use for A Magical Medieval Society: India. It's far from confirmed, but I think It would be a great product. Now we just have to decide how much work we're willing to do to pull it together.

But hey, a 4 month working vacation?.....

joe b.