Hey there smar/tg/uys and girls!
I have a hankering to whip up a high fantasy North America. I could use some help!
The obvious directions to go with it are cowboy era, or medieval-esque high fantasy, but other ideas are welcome too.
I'm leaning towards DnD for this world, but ideas can be general.
I'll share what I have as follows-
>All of the natives' mythological beasts are real. All of them. Thunderbirds, wendigo, skinwalkers, you name it. This makes travel very dangerous.
>This fantasy NA is about 2.5x larger than in reality. This also makes things interesting.
>The aztec empire has expanded much further into NA than it was known to in our history. They are a very present threat to the smaller, more peaceful tribes.
>Strange things dwell in them there hills. Some say that Goathead Joe fills his cavern up with the skeletons of wanderers, making them dance to his accursed banjo.
>The obvious directions to go with it are cowboy era, or medieval-esque high fantasy
Why not colonial era? Small settlements on the edge of a dark frontier, woods overlooking them. Weird, superstitious Natives coming into town occasionally to trade, and also tell stories of what lurks in the woods beyond their walls. The very real (or imagined) threat of witchcraft. Hunters returning from their expeditions with fantastical tales. Bastions of civilization are few and far away.
I'd also recommend you use Savage Worlds. The Deadlands expansion basically has all the kinds of monsters you'd possibly want in an American fantasy game.
I'll look into that, thank you!!
Anybody interested in piecing together a culture for fantasy NA?
>Strange Berserkers from faraway lands fought with, and against, the native skinwalkers, learning from each other.
Now a strange and terrible new class of warrior dwells the continent. Pushed from every civilized city, but deeply desired as mercenaries, these men and women fight with absolutely no self preservation, no feelings of pain, and are seemingly toughened against the flint and iron of their foes. Some are said to possess the spirit of the grizzly bear, and others yet the tarantula.
>This fantasy NA is about 2.5x larger than in reality
Why? North America is huge.
This. The continental United States alone is actually larger than Europe. Adding in Canada/Alaska and Mexico basically triples that.
Doubling the size of North America would basically create a continent which takes up half the world.
Dark Sun and Gamma World may be suitable settings. Both have fantasy elements. Dark Sun is set in an original plane, but it's very much like a post-apocalyptic West.
I dunno, I read the idea in the old Viking Cowboy thread, and I loved it. Scale the earth in general up 2.5 times, and now you have room for HUUUUGE forests and hidden empires. Kind of an empty world, which I like. Of course, I could abandon it too.
I mean, I guess but the world is already really huge. And North America was always kind of the "empty" continent". Even today a good half the US is just bullshit fields.
I remember reading this thing where someone visiting Europe talked about how after driving an hour in Germany you'd wind up in France. But in the US you could drive for half a day and not even leave your state.
>Strange Berserkers from faraway lands fought with, and against, the native skinwalkers, learning from each other.
Change skinwalkers to literally any other native class and you're good.
How so? Both have old folklore of taking on a prmal spirit and fighting as if you were your totem. Both were regarded as supernatural, and both were really, really hyped up to kill folks.
You make an excellent point. North America by foot would suck.
>high fantasy North America.
>The obvious directions to go with it are cowboy era, or medieval-esque high fantasy
>North America.
Cowboy era it is.
>cowboy era, or medieval-esque high fantasy
Why not both?
The difference is that skinwalkers are literally never brought up in a positive sense. They aren't just renamed druids, they're more like liches. You wouldn't have bands of them running off to war, those would be spirit warriors, braves, or sometimes medicine men.
They wouldn't wear the mask of a benevolent goddess, either.
>They aren't just renamed druids, they're more like liches.
This is probably the best way to describe skinwalkers to someone new to non-traditional fantasy genres.
Interesting, thanks for clearing that up.
Oh hot dang. That could get interesting.
Six shooters and swords, mud-brick or log castles. Herds of cattle and roaving tribes of orcs. Hmmm.
I'm not Hopi but I'm pretty sure that's a water serpent dance. When I get home I'll suss out a fancy generic native list of classes and things
Hey, I appreciate it, take your time! I just have a bunch of neat pictures but no knowledge!
If you do image searches on them you can find many interesting things.
People:
Each tribe has a favored spirit that is contacted by its medicine men that bestows its family with blessings during hardship or war. Individual tribes within a tribal nation can have different spirits.
>Warrior
Sometimes referred to as Braves. Functions the same as a regular warrior. Most warriors also functioned as hunters and crafters.
>Spirit Warrior
The tribes have many names for these. They have more knowledge and experience with the spirit world than regular warriors but not as much as the medicine men.
>Medicine Men
Sometimes called Shamans. They're usually trained from a young age for their role and spend much time communing with spirits. They function as healers and enchanters, and run the tribal ceremonies.
>Chief
They run the tribe in both peace and war. High charisma and skill with diplomacy are definites. Chiefs also have spiritual knowledge and they assist the medicine men in ceremonies.
>Fantastic Creatures and Races
There are many. Sasquatch, lake/river/ocean serpents, thunderbirds, and alien giants are common recurring creatures.
Skinwalkers and the wendigo are former humans. The former are medicine men who succumb to evil and lose their humanity. The latter are mindless cannibals that gain monstrous qualities.
The Little People are the Native American analogue to fairies. They can use magic, transform into animals at will, and disappear into nature. The closest thing to a playable Little People race would probably be the Moon-eyed People, a race that preceded the Cherokee. They had trouble with bright light but could see clearly at night.
There are many other creatures that can be used, such as the spirit dogs that created the Milky Way, giant worms that terrorized Appalachia, elemental spirits that protect sacred lands, weather-controlling birds, trickster animals, and so on. This is fantasy North America so you could also include extinct megafauna.
Hot damn, thank you! I appreciate this. Fighters, druids, wizards, bards, etc., should be easy to re tool. Thanks friend!!
I ran out of space but it's worth noting that women can be any role in the tribe.
Some Native American stories you may be interested for worldbuilding might be Slayers of Alien Gods, Who Speaks for Wolf, The King of Sharks, Unceliga, Iktomi and Wakinyan, The Origin of Devil's Tower, Spearfinger, and native skinwalker lore.
But that's really only half of the equation. There's still the settler side to fill out!
You would like BIA. It's a nice french RPG published by Les XII Singes. It uses the dK system, a d20-lite system. It was a self-contained game (game + screen + campaign) but it was so popular they published some adventures and supplements.
Here's all the sourcebooks (except the last one).
And the character sheet.
Is any of this material translated?
Nope. I learned french long ago. It's not hard and there's a ton of awesome games in la France.
However, with a good dictionary and help from webs like Word Reference it's easy to understand.
Oh, alright. I've been meaning to brush up on my French.
How realistic is it? The covers don't give off a fantasy feeling at all.
Google 'straits of anian blog' (I can't link it due to spam filters).
It's a really excellent attempt at a dark fantasy pacific north west and avoids most of the cliches. Pretty sure the author is native himself.
Lots of good material there.