D&D 5E What should an official Indian subcontinent inspired setting have?

[billd91]

With a project like this, I would expect a fair amount of designer material describing their interpretation, sourcing, and rationale. I'd want to see good use of sidebars covering and contextualizing these things so that we, the readers, might be able to see how they got from point A (south asian history, religion, folklore, and ethnography) to point B (their product).
I would also want to see a substantial introduction laying out what the product is, what it is not, and how it's handling touchy subjects that have fractured south asian communities to the point of bitter violence.

 

[GungHo]

If you produce a book that deletes all experiences and mythologies except Hindu ones, well, you are making a big statement. And if you produce a more diverse book, that's also making a statement, and a statement that might not be popular with the Indian government (if they even heard about it, which I admit they might not).

Beyond simply religions, there's several major "source" language families represented that grew out of ancient civilizations, and they reflect differences in cultures. There are a lot of isolates in those languages as well, influenced by some of the very pronounced geographic features. The concept of a lingua franca on the subcontinent is a relatively modern one. In "game terms", I'd probably reflect this in having no true "common", or multiple "commons" that only apply to a specific region and aren't really inter-interpretable with the "common" of another region. You might be able to "magic" a solution to this, but generally people would be looking to scholars and traders to bridge the gap if they needed to ever do so.

 

[Demetrios1453]

(Post deleted)

 

[Voadam]

A couple existing RPG products with Indian subcontinent type material:

Gods, Demi-Gods, Heroes, 0e. A D&D interpretation of the Hindu pantheon.

Arrows of Indra an OSR OD&D based fantasy mythic India setting and RPG.

Nightstorm is a Basic D&D module set in the Mughal India inspired realm in the Hollow World Campaign setting. The outer world of the Mystara basic campaign setting has a fantasy India land called Sind, but that is mostly developed in Dragon articles and small references.

Legends & Lore 1e. A D&D interpretation of the Hindu pantheon.

Legends & Lore 2e. A D&D interpretation of the Hindu pantheon with some discussion about the cosmology and such as well.

Ravenloft 2e and later editions. The horror setting includes a fantasy Indian themed island domain.

Web of Illusion 2e adventure module set in the Indian themed Ravenloft domain.

Mahasarpa. 3e Web Enhancement PDF fantasy India setting adaptation of Oriental Adventures.

Mindshadows. 3e setting book by Green Ronin focusing on psionics and a loosely Indian themed high psionics setting.

Imperial Age British India is a d20 Modern supplement from Adamant Entertainment.

Dog Soul Publishing came out with their 3.5 fantasy India setting Sahasra, some support supplements and adventures, and 3.5 books of faith sourcebooks on Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism.

Pathfinder's Golarion setting has a fantasy India type continent called Vudra and at least one module set there.

Mythic Monsters 41: India is a short India themed Pathfinder 1e bestiary from Legendary Games.

Dhanurvidya & Varman: The Arms & Armor of India is a 4e supplement from Skirmisher Publishing.

Beasts from the East India is a 5e Indian themed bestiary.

For non-D&D there is

Against the Dark Yogi Mythic India Roleplaying.

Ironsworn India/Hindu Mythology Flavor Pack

Asian Bestiary I for Hero games includes India among other Asian countries covered.

Asian Bestiary II for Hero includes Tibet among other Asian countries covered.

Tales of the Caliphate Nights is a True20 setting of the Golden Age of Islam which spreads across from the Middle East into India and beyond.

The Children of Fear is a massive Call of Cthulhu adventure exploring myths and legends of central Asia and India.

Tibet the Roleplaying Game.

Secrets of Tibet is a Call of Cthulhu supplement. There was an older edition Mysteries of Tibet as well.

Mysteries of the Raj was a Call of Cthulhu supplement.

There are others out there.

 

[overgeeked]

A couple existing RPG products with Indian subcontinent type material:

Gods, Demi-Gods, Heroes, 0e. A D&D interpretation of the Hindu pantheon.

Arrows of Indra an OSR OD&D based fantasy mythic India setting and RPG.

Nightstorm is a Basic D&D module set in the Mughal India inspired realm in the Hollow World Campaign setting. The outer world of the Mystara basic campaign setting has a fantasy India land called Sind, but that is mostly developed in Dragon articles and small references.

Legends & Lore 1e. A D&D interpretation of the Hindu pantheon.

Legends & Lore 2e. A D&D interpretation of the Hindu pantheon with some discussion about the cosmology and such as well.

Ravenloft 2e and later editions. The horror setting includes a fantasy Indian themed island domain.

Web of Illusion 2e adventure module set in the Indian themed Ravenloft domain.

Mahasarpa. 3e Web Enhancement PDF fantasy India setting adaptation of Oriental Adventures.

Mindshadows. 3e setting book by Green Ronin focusing on psionics and a loosely Indian themed high psionics setting.

Imperial Age British India is a d20 Modern supplement from Adamant Entertainment.

Dog Soul Publishing came out with their 3.5 fantasy India setting Sahasra, some support supplements and adventures, and 3.5 books of faith sourcebooks on Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism.

Pathfinder's Golarion setting has a fantasy India type continent called Vudra and at least one module set there.

Mythic Monsters 41: India is a short India themed Pathfinder 1e bestiary from Legendary Games.

Dhanurvidya & Varman: The Arms & Armor of India is a 4e supplement from Skirmisher Publishing.

Beasts from the East India is a 5e Indian themed bestiary.

For non-D&D there is

Against the Dark Yogi Mythic India Roleplaying.

Ironsworn India/Hindu Mythology Flavor Pack

Asian Bestiary I for Hero games includes India among other Asian countries covered.

Asian Bestiary II for Hero includes Tibet among other Asian countries covered.

Tales of the Caliphate Nights is a True20 setting of the Golden Age of Islam which spreads across from the Middle East into India and beyond.

The Children of Fear is a massive Call of Cthulhu adventure exploring myths and legends of central Asia and India.

Tibet the Roleplaying Game.

Secrets of Tibet is a Call of Cthulhu supplement. There was an older edition Mysteries of Tibet as well.

Mysteries of the Raj was a Call of Cthulhu supplement.

There are others out there.

At least two of those are by the Pundit. So they’re non-starters.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

I would like to know the opinion of D&D players from Southeast, to know what are their favorite elements in their homebred settings. Also we should see what fantasy movies by Bollywood have been more popular, and the creatures and monsters from their folklore as source of inspiration. Also to ask advice about good manners to avoid some accidental offense.

 

[Mordhau]

I mean, that'd be a big screw-up, actually.

The OP said Indian subcontinent.

That's seven nations and countless religions. And a lot of people who do not think of themselves as Indian. You have India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and the Maldives. If you only have Indian people working on it, that's actually a massive political statement. Especially if they're also all Hindu. You'd want Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, and other people working on it too.

I know that on ENworld we should limit our discussion of politics and religion, but I think this is extremely relevant and would factor into any official Indian subcontinent setting - India right now, and for some time, has had a "Hindu Nationalist" government, which has taken fairly extreme actions against non-Hindus. India has a very long history of being a lot more than just Hinduism. As this is ENworld I don't think getting into the details (which are so important we were taught them at school, note, here in the UK - at least at my school) is helpful, but the Indian subcontinent has had and still does have many religions and mythologies, which interweave and interact.

If you produce a book that deletes all experiences and mythologies except Hindu ones, well, you are making a big statement. And if you produce a more diverse book, that's also making a statement, and a statement that might not be popular with the Indian government (if they even heard about it, which I admit they might not).

It's kind of incredible that Islam, for example, despite being a huge part of the history of that subcontinent, hasn't been mentioned, by any posters so far except very obliquely.

Yes, definitely. This would be a much stronger approach I'd suggest. And hopefully it would be a relatively diverse or complex region/period.

I did. Post 4.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Indian couriers. Indian shelf stackers. Indian customer service. Hell let’s sell it only in India to Indians. Best to be safe.

Mod Note:

Is this supposed to be sarcastic humor? After a mod note specifically about leaning into stereotypes?

BAD timing.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

There is this place. Some sort of astrological temple I saw a show a few years ago that talked about the greatest achievements of different areas of the world. The number 0 was also from India and was brought to the Mediterranean to change mathematics. Could be developed into a subclass of wizard or such.

Weird. Everything I have ever read said that the zero was invented by the Arabic mathematicians.

 

[QuentinGeorge]

Weird. Everything I have ever read said that the zero was invented by the Arabic mathematicians.

They originated in India (1st to 4th century ad), and then went to the Islamic world (9th century) from there, and then on to Europe via Spain. (10th-11th century) Hence the name "Hindu-Arabic Numerals."

(And the mathematicians who popularised them in the Islamic world were mostly Persian. It became known as "arabic" in Europe because that was where the Europeans obtained them. They weren't aware of the ultimate source until later.