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<blockquote data-quote="GreatLemur" data-source="post: 3200211" data-attributes="member: 28553">I'm not a really big fan of strongly mirroring specific real-world cultures in a fantasy setting.&nbsp; I prefer the whole &quot;stick a bunch of influences in a blender and hit puree&quot; approach.Most D&amp;D settings are a very heavily-stylized mess of vaguely-medieval European tropes, without specific countries that obviously correspond to England, Italy, and Norway (except in the sense that there might be some Vikingy guys, and they probably come from the northern bit of the map).&nbsp; I think &quot;Oriental&quot; fantasy settings should be assembled the same way.&nbsp; Don't worry about making a Japan analog and a China analog; just look up loads of Asian art, history, and culture, and rearrange all the cool bits however you please.&nbsp; Create a bunch of distinct cultures, definitely, but don't recreate existing ones.Also, don't overlook the utter awesomeness of Tibet, Thailand, and India when you're doing your research.&nbsp; There's more possibility in Asian-style fantasy than just more ninjas and kung-fu monks.&nbsp; Hell, for that matter, don't shy away from tossing in non-Asian stuff if you think it works.&nbsp; You could base a really cool, exotic, Eastern-flavored city on Venice, and no one would suddenly think of Italy (as long as you don't include the gondoliers in stripey shirts).</blockquote>

[QUOTE="GreatLemur, post: 3200211, member: 28553"] I'm not a really big fan of strongly mirroring specific real-world cultures in a fantasy setting. I prefer the whole "stick a bunch of influences in a blender and hit puree" approach. Most D&D settings are a very heavily-stylized mess of vaguely-medieval European tropes, without specific countries that obviously correspond to England, Italy, and Norway (except in the sense that there might be some Vikingy guys, and they probably come from the northern bit of the map). I think "Oriental" fantasy settings should be assembled the same way. Don't worry about making a Japan analog and a China analog; just look up loads of Asian art, history, and culture, and rearrange all the cool bits however you please. Create a bunch of distinct cultures, definitely, but don't recreate existing ones. Also, don't overlook the utter awesomeness of Tibet, Thailand, and India when you're doing your research. There's more possibility in Asian-style fantasy than just more ninjas and kung-fu monks. Hell, for that matter, don't shy away from tossing in non-Asian stuff if you think it works. You could base a really cool, exotic, Eastern-flavored city on Venice, and no one would suddenly think of Italy (as long as you don't include the gondoliers in stripey shirts). [/QUOTE]

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