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<blockquote data-quote="Mercurius" data-source="post: 8507017" data-attributes="member: 59082">D&amp;D is a grab-bag of different ideas from different cultures and time periods. I see nothing wrong with using any of its ideas in whatever way you want. I mean, must we provide the proper Greek cultural context for Titans? Do frost giants &quot;have to be&quot; properly framed within Norse tropes? And what about literary origins? By this same logic, should not orcs be closer to Tolkien's version, who was the first to really codify them as a distinct creature? Or can we, instead, just play with the D&amp;D versions, and adjust them to our liking? A further element is that, as the OP pointed out, D&amp;D creatures like the rakshasa often bear little resemblance to their real world inspiration. So why would you need to provide authentic cultural context for something that isn't authentic to that culture?Things only get dicey when you're trying to depict, say, ancient India or Medieval Arabia in your fantasy world. Then it might be best to just scrap the D&amp;D version, and start afresh, or find a well-researched supplement, and then read some books on the relevant culture. But even then, there are many different variations. For example, the rakshasa have been depicted in a variety of ways, from their earliest depiction in the Rig Veda to later depictions in the two great epics, the Mahabharata and Ramayana, to Buddhist and Jain versions, not to mention any number of more recent versions, such as that of the philosopher Sri Aurobindo. If providing the correct cultural context is important, which context do you mean? And again, if you're going for the authentic cultural context, why would you use the D&amp;D version?It becomes an endless entanglement, and one, I think, doesn't need to be un-tangled. Meaning, pull the so-called problem at the root and get back to the spirit of the game: Create your own fantasy world and populate it as you see fit. If you want an authentic Indian or Arabian context, then hit the books. If you just want to use the D&amp;D Rakshasa or Genie, then go for it.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Mercurius, post: 8507017, member: 59082"] D&D is a grab-bag of different ideas from different cultures and time periods. I see nothing wrong with using any of its ideas in whatever way you want. I mean, must we provide the proper Greek cultural context for Titans? Do frost giants "have to be" properly framed within Norse tropes? And what about literary origins? By this same logic, should not orcs be closer to Tolkien's version, who was the first to really codify them as a distinct creature? Or can we, instead, just play with the D&D versions, and adjust them to our liking? A further element is that, as the OP pointed out, D&D creatures like the rakshasa often bear little resemblance to their real world inspiration. So why would you need to provide authentic cultural context for something that isn't authentic [I]to [/I]that culture? Things only get dicey when you're trying to depict, say, ancient India or Medieval Arabia in your fantasy world. Then it might be best to just scrap the D&D version, and start afresh, or find a well-researched supplement, and then read some books on the relevant culture. But even then, there are many different variations. For example, the rakshasa have been depicted in a variety of ways, from their earliest depiction in the Rig Veda to later depictions in the two great epics, the Mahabharata and Ramayana, to Buddhist and Jain versions, not to mention any number of more recent versions, such as that of the philosopher Sri Aurobindo. If providing the correct cultural context is important, [I]which [/I]context do you mean? And again, if you're going for the authentic cultural context, why would you use the D&D version? It becomes an endless entanglement, and one, I think, doesn't need to be un-tangled. Meaning, pull the so-called problem at the root and get back to the spirit of the game: Create your own fantasy world and populate it as you see fit. If you want an authentic Indian or Arabian context, then hit the books. If you just want to use the D&D Rakshasa or Genie, then go for it. [/QUOTE]

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