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Message: <blockquote data-quote="RangerWickett" data-source="post: 8168664" data-attributes="member: 63">The past few years, I've played in a series of RPG campaigns using the Legend of the Five Rings setting (L5R, which is yes, probably what my brain was thinking about when I came up with the name Elfaivar). That setting is basically fantasy feudal Japan, complete with its own version of Bushido, cultural conventions that are pretty similar to what we typically see in 'samurai cinema' (even if that was only the norm during a century or so), and the whole aesthetic of katana, kimono, origami, and so on. It even uses some actual Japanese deities as 'fortunes' you can get blessings from. And yeah, the game is created primarily by white men in America.But I haven't heard anyone complain about it (or at least, the current edition) as being insensitive or mocking. It uses cultural touchstones westerners are familiar with and introduces elements many Americans and Europeans might not know about, and then uses that as a jumping off point for telling stories about characters who are as real and believable as you'd see in any other setting. It doesn't seem to be derogatory to Japan, or trying to suggest that this fantasy world is somehow indicative of what modern Japanese people are like -- no more so than if, say, someone made a Downton Abbey RPG, and played to the tropes of that show.I contrast that a bit with, say, how Pathfinder handled their 'Africa' analogue in the original setting guide. It was basically two biomes: knock-off Egypt (complete with the literal gods of Egypt) and 'darkest Africa' (a big jungle, with a 'Gorilla King,' and a few lost cities). In the second edition they've made an effort to actually, like, populate it with extant civilizations that are actually connected to the rest of the world and not just exotic backwaters.When I designed ZEITGEIST originally, Elfaivar certainly was the least developed, and I hope as I try to correct that, the result doesn't look artificial or inconsistent with the rest of the world. You finished the campaign, right? Well, don't spoil the ending for me (haha), but in the canon we're going with, someone chose to resurrect the women killed in the Great Malice, which has three main consequences:1. Internally, Elfaivar goes from having a sex ratio skewed in favor of men to something like a 10:1 ratio in favor of women.2. Internationally, Elfaivar now is able to defend itself, and other countries don't know how to respond to the sudden shift in power, especially since they're not sure how fast the elves (this is 5e, so eladrin are back to being elves) will become a great power.3. Politically, there's      a. one faction led by Athrylla that feels that Vekeshi's philosophy succeeded, and so the right course of action is to rejoin modern global society as a peer nation, open to trade and new technology;      b. and one faction led by a resurrected young woman named Adin who wants to reclaim lost territory through a mix of military alliances (with Risur and Danor) and military conquest (against Crisillyir and its colonies), while trying to rekindle traditional culture and rejecting modern industry;      c. and a final faction led by a very aged Dhebisu (who had the magical arsenal) who wants to keep the country a bit cut off from the rest of the world, encouraging the sense many foreigners have of Elfaivar being mysterious and unknowable, all while using underhanded tactics to put potential rivals against each other while Elfaivar regains its strength.Anyway, don't let me deflect from your story.</blockquote>

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