The Sub-Continent and Culture of India
Azure Trance
First Post
You know
(Yoink)
Assimilating all crunchy ideas. PS Shark, post more about Thandor ;D
(Yoink)
Assimilating all crunchy ideas. PS Shark, post more about Thandor ;D
Tratyn Runewind
First Post
Hello!
The old BD&D world of Mystara/The Known World contained many lands based on real-world places and cultures, and one of these was roughly modeled on India.
Mystara's India-analog was known as Sind, and while mentioned in the "Desert Nomads" module series (X4/5/10), it was really first explored in the "Voyages of the Princess Ark" articles in Dragon Magazine. It was further developed in the boxed set based on compiled Princess Ark material, Champions of Mystara. As in kenjib's approach, it was first seen through visits from characters from more traditional fantasy realms (the crew of the Princess Ark), but later materials expanded it into a usable campaign setting in its own right.
Sind is portrayed as a turbulent land, deeply devoted to a bewildering array of Immortals (BD&D equivalent of deities), some of whom are merely aspects or alternate manifestations of each other. Politically the Sindhi are divided into many rival "rajahstans", all headed by a titular maharajah with little real power. The combined power of the area's faiths would easily exceed that of its rulers, but they too are disunited, and touchy about their pride and priveliges. Commoners, while often rich in faith and spirit, are generally poor and oppressed in the thickly crowded urban areas. All this has led, in the main time frame of the Mystara campaign materials, to Sind being dominated by foreigners - the Hule, led by the enigmatic Master of the Desert Nomads. This is, of course, analogous to the domination of India by the Mongols, though the Hule themselves seem more like the Turkic steppe tribes.
So, that's Sind in a nutshell. Those wanting to find inspiration (or mine ideas) for India-like campaign lands might want to check out the Champions of Mystara boxed set, and perhaps some of the follow-ups to that material in the Poor Wizards' Almanac's, to see some of these themes explored in (old-school) D&D terms.
Hope this helps!
The old BD&D world of Mystara/The Known World contained many lands based on real-world places and cultures, and one of these was roughly modeled on India.
Mystara's India-analog was known as Sind, and while mentioned in the "Desert Nomads" module series (X4/5/10), it was really first explored in the "Voyages of the Princess Ark" articles in Dragon Magazine. It was further developed in the boxed set based on compiled Princess Ark material, Champions of Mystara. As in kenjib's approach, it was first seen through visits from characters from more traditional fantasy realms (the crew of the Princess Ark), but later materials expanded it into a usable campaign setting in its own right.
Sind is portrayed as a turbulent land, deeply devoted to a bewildering array of Immortals (BD&D equivalent of deities), some of whom are merely aspects or alternate manifestations of each other. Politically the Sindhi are divided into many rival "rajahstans", all headed by a titular maharajah with little real power. The combined power of the area's faiths would easily exceed that of its rulers, but they too are disunited, and touchy about their pride and priveliges. Commoners, while often rich in faith and spirit, are generally poor and oppressed in the thickly crowded urban areas. All this has led, in the main time frame of the Mystara campaign materials, to Sind being dominated by foreigners - the Hule, led by the enigmatic Master of the Desert Nomads. This is, of course, analogous to the domination of India by the Mongols, though the Hule themselves seem more like the Turkic steppe tribes.
So, that's Sind in a nutshell. Those wanting to find inspiration (or mine ideas) for India-like campaign lands might want to check out the Champions of Mystara boxed set, and perhaps some of the follow-ups to that material in the Poor Wizards' Almanac's, to see some of these themes explored in (old-school) D&D terms.
Hope this helps!
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