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<blockquote data-quote="William Ronald" data-source="post: 2372048" data-attributes="member: 426">Perhaps the best advice for using real world sources for inspiration is to not make EVERYTHING exactly the same, but to have parallels.&nbsp; The Realms also have some other examples of areas that have some similarity to the real world.&nbsp; Calimshan and Zakhara are both similar to the world of the Arabian Nights stories in general ways -- but have many important differences.&nbsp; Rasheman, for example, has a sort of Russian feel, while Mulhorand and Unther have similarities to parts of the ancient Near East.&nbsp; (Nonhumans, such as elves and dwarves,&nbsp; along with magic help to add to the differences.)Perhaps the Forgotten Realms generates such divide because of some of the actions of TSR in the 1980s and 1990s.&nbsp; It seemed that EVERYTHING for D&amp;D at times seemed to be tied into the realms, even with the FR take on avatars appearing in Legends and Lore (as I recall.)&nbsp; There seemed to be very little support for people running homebrew campaigns.&nbsp; Plus FR also had to deal with the Greyhawk fans upset over how their favorite setting was handled.&nbsp;&nbsp; There also was a sense of an increase in the power level of the Realms to Greyhawk.&nbsp; Additionally, even the current FR designers admit that PCs in the realms oftened seem to take a back seat to such movers and shakers as Elminster and the Chosen of Mystra.Perhaps Maztica might have succeeded if it had more of the differences that Celebrim suggested.&nbsp; If you use the real world for inspiration, think of how magic, deities, sentient nonhumans, and other factors might influence the develoipment of a culture.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="William Ronald, post: 2372048, member: 426"] Perhaps the best advice for using real world sources for inspiration is to not make EVERYTHING exactly the same, but to have parallels. The Realms also have some other examples of areas that have some similarity to the real world. Calimshan and Zakhara are both similar to the world of the Arabian Nights stories in general ways -- but have many important differences. Rasheman, for example, has a sort of Russian feel, while Mulhorand and Unther have similarities to parts of the ancient Near East. (Nonhumans, such as elves and dwarves, along with magic help to add to the differences.) Perhaps the Forgotten Realms generates such divide because of some of the actions of TSR in the 1980s and 1990s. It seemed that EVERYTHING for D&D at times seemed to be tied into the realms, even with the FR take on avatars appearing in Legends and Lore (as I recall.) There seemed to be very little support for people running homebrew campaigns. Plus FR also had to deal with the Greyhawk fans upset over how their favorite setting was handled. There also was a sense of an increase in the power level of the Realms to Greyhawk. Additionally, even the current FR designers admit that PCs in the realms oftened seem to take a back seat to such movers and shakers as Elminster and the Chosen of Mystra. Perhaps Maztica might have succeeded if it had more of the differences that Celebrim suggested. If you use the real world for inspiration, think of how magic, deities, sentient nonhumans, and other factors might influence the develoipment of a culture. [/QUOTE]

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