D&D General Non-European Campaigns?

[David Howery]

sad to say, as much as I loved putting non-European cultures in my game worlds, I never really based any campaigns there.... they mostly existed for the sake of standard adventurers to go there and do stuff....

 

[Shiroiken]

I've done Rokugan, Kara-Tur, Al-Qadim (didn't like the magic system), and an Egyptian themed game. I also did an Age of Heroes campaign (fantasy Greece), but I don't know if you want to consider that "non-European" or not.

 

[delphonso]

I ran 2 Greek campaigns (still European, but you know) in 3.5. It went okay, but ran into a weird issue with monsters. For some reason, it's fine for a sphinx and a chimera to show up in your mostly-northern-european campaign, but when you focus on Greece your list gets small and takes a lot of work. Trolls seem out of place and dragons aren't major players, for example. This was my early DMing days, but might be a hurdle for new GMs taking on a different or focused setting.

I've done modern games (Shadowrun, etc) across the globe, though that's a bit easier, as basically modern cities are all the same.

I'm currently running an Arabian Nights themed campaign. My players are pulling almost entirely from Aladdin and Prince of Persia and I spend a short time every session on some element of culture. I.E., the first puzzle they encountered required name ordering using "ibn" and "abu".
It feels less like exposition and more learning by doing that way.

Bring in elements that interest players specifically, as with any campaign. The alternate cultural settings should allow for different flavor, themes, and RP. Slavery is a strong theme in this campaign, as genies and their bottles are the central focus. But each player, unwittedly or not, has given me their own form of slavery - responsibility to a family/tribe, born into a position that won't inherit, and stuck in a job they hate. These things aren't exclusive to any setting, but can be focused and stylized in a different way thanks to the setting here.

Rambling, I know, but I guess my point is to find a way to emphasize themes from that era's mythology, and sprinkle in real facts or setting details along the way.

 

[atanakar]

We played some Rokugan back in the days of 3e, but it's pretty much that. The homebrew campaign I'm preparing to replace either of the two I'm running right now is heavily inspired by the book The Devil to Pay in the Backlands. This will be my first try at a game inspired by Literature from my home region, but I'm not 100% sure my players will "grasp" it. I hope they do.

I'm gonna read that book. Sounds intriguing.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Pre-islamic Middle East, Sumerians, Mesopotamians and company are practically unknown, but the ancient cultures with coasts in the Mediterranean Sea (Mare Nostrum) are part of the roots by the Western Civilitation. Russian is also "Western" culture.

I support the idea of fantasy settings based in no-Western cultures, but today we have to take care a lot because somebody may report us for promoting racist tropes or cultural appropiation. (What is wrong? aren't we a cosmopolitan culture with a great artistic and folkloric diversity?).

Even if we ask help to Taiwaneses, Sourth-Koreans and Japaneses for a reboot of Kara-Tur, maybe theses can't agree because they have their own points of view (who is the evil empire and why? things like that).

 

[Giltonio_Santos]

I'm gonna read that book. Sounds intriguing.

It's often mentioned as one of the greatest - if not the greatest - works of Brazilian Literature. I've never read the English translation, but there's a general impression that the strong use of regional language makes the process of translating it very difficult. While I understand those who think it loses some appeal as a literary effort, I'm 100% sure the story and characters stand on their own merits, regardless of language.

 

[pemerton]

I've run a fair amount of "Oriental Adventures"-inspired FRPGing, using both AD&D and Rolemaster.

 

[Fenris-77]

I would love to be able to run something in Mythic India. I'm about halfway through Siddhartha by Hesse, and this has just reaffirmed what a wonderfully rich mythical tradition they have. Oddly, this in one mythos that I don't recall ever having seen given the setting treatment. I haven't played everything though, so maybe there's an obvious example I'm missing.

 

[Voadam]

There is Sahasra for 3.5 which was PDF only. Green Ronin had Mindshadows for 3e which was a mythical India-ish themed 3e D&D setting focusing on psionics and Yuan Ti (similar to how they did D&Dified Egypt in Hamunaptra).

WotC put out a PDF of using 3e Oriental Adventuresfor a setting for D&D India, Maha something or other I believe.

 

[Draegn]

I have used parodies of real world legends.

Hanau epe - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Long Ears vs Short Ears, elves vs humans.