What would a setting based on Sub-Saharan folklore look like?

This. From what I've read a lot of African cultures basically had the supernatural as all bad news, all the time. It was basically a cruel nightmare world where everything is hostile, or at very best inhuman and deceptive.

nuffin

Postin' the things

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Would look pretty racist, user

Signed,
/sJW

I find your statement unappealing, you uncouth swine

Indeed.

Pretty dark

If you want to go Maasai route then they are neither monotheistic, polytheistic, nor believe in many natural spirits or anything like that.

They have exactly two gods, who are themselves both aspects of one supreme being, but this one god can only manifest himself as either the good or bad deity, who fight between themselves to be the one who is manifest in the world at any given time.

That's what the Maasai attribute good and bad times to, whichever of their two gods holds sway over the universe at any given time.

I think this is pretty accurate because I got it straight from an old Maasai midwife through a translator

Alright, I want to make a subsaharan based setting. Any reading material relating to mythology or culture?

Lots of kangdoms and nights

Shadow people.
Bike will magically disappear.

Maybe a little like Lion King. It's a big place but the circle of life kinda thing shows up a lot when you mash it all together.

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Be more specific, Africa's a big place. Ethiopia? West African States? Congo? South Africa?

Slavery and genocide of weaker tribes for absurd wealth that you squander almost instantly.

So basically D&D

zombies are mindless humans who have drunk witch brew to make a mindless slave who feels no pain and nevers sleeps

That honestly sounds like it would be pretty fucking cool for a fantasy setting.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anansi_Boys

I actually ran a game roughly based on this. It was bretty gud. Nancy was an interesting character, and all the other characters in the know were scared shitless of him.

what was the name of that madman who was master fo kung fu? like brucie d or something like that

Let me introduce you to

Africa si also an exotic place, ain't nobody know shit, throw whatever you have.

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That's cool as shit.

>Read all that shit
>All of it makes me think of Kirikou

Usually when people think of all the shit stereotypically associated with Africa, they think of West Africa. Except when they think of the Zulu's..

You do realize that Mansa Musa, a man who was so incredibly rich he managed to crash the economy of a region when he gone there for a vacation.

His kingdom had the most important gold mines of the era, he was the equivalent of a oil sheik. Heck, when after conquering Timbucktu (a berber city btw) he hired an Andalusian POET to desing one of the madrassas. And he fucked up the economy becasue he didn't understand a shit of economy(and his probably incredible inbreed advisors were too afraid or retarded to say otherwise), the other nobles,imams and merchants had to convince him than pouring so much gold was a very bad idea, specially for free. In Mali salt was a lot more expensive than gold too. The only ones than benefited of that was Venice.

Anyone who is slightly different from the norm in any way is probably a witch, and even if you kill them in the proper ritual way their bloodline is still polluted and should always be viewed with suspicion. Anyone related to them is a mother, son, or cousin of a witch and therefore probably a witch or witch begetter themselves. The stereotypes about superstitious, cruel, bloody Darkest Africa were more or less true.

>You do realize that Mansa Musa, a man who was so incredibly rich he managed to crash the economy of a region when he gone there for a vacation.

He was Muslim who was going on the religiously obligatory pilgrimage to Mecca called the Hajj.

There's going to be at least one kingdom ruled by a kaiju-sized talking land-catfish.

Vodun and the loa are some good shit to build a magic system off of. The Shadowman comics deal with them.

Oh that Mansa, what a card

Sand, glass, sand, more lightning glass, Art Bell wondering where the lightning glass came from, more sand.

UGANDAN BRUCE LEE
DEY CALL HIM BRUCE U

>You're dealing with a setting whose population has an average IQ of 85

70 actually.
Subsaharan africa is a really cool setting how ever, lots of cool wildlife, both real and mythical, especially if you are open to use some extinct animals and add in huge bonecrusher hyenas and giant birds.

It would be quite interesting to make a campaign in which you partake in tribal politics and survive on the great plains. In keeping with the folklore bit I think it would be really cool to have an almost cthuluesque relation to demons and evil spirits. They are not meant to be chopped to pieces but rather avoided and driven out.

Crusades era Ethiopia would be a real nice setting.

Contrary to what Neil Gaiman tells you, Anansi wasn't a coherent religion, nor was he really a god. He was an animal/spirit similar to the North American Coyote. No one worships Anansi. You ask for his favor. The difference is important.

American Gods occasionally gets things right, but also a lot of things wrong. Basically the book takes a 100& Christian view of what constitutes gods, godhood and belief, mixed with lots of pop cultural understandings and present it as if it was fact. Its a fun book, but it should not be the basis for your understanding of anything related to religion and belief systems.

What's funny about the Fula,Wodabe, and the Chadians is than they could descent from Proto-Indoeuropean herders than carved they kingdoms before before christ, they have some cultural traits than are uncanny similar with other indo european myths, tough they mostly speak local languages. The Chadic even have a cavalry tradition.

The Nubian kingdoms of Nobatia, Makuria and Alotia were all pretty interesting too.

>The Chad Horseman
>The Virgin spearchucker

Seems more arabic than chadic but yeah Horsemen>Spearchuckers.

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That's nice, user, but none of that contradicts the post you're responding to.

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Well, it can be rude but it's pretty acurate, slave raids and the like are common as fuck even now, for example in Sudan/Chad there are plenty of "arab" (they are mostly black larpings as arab but eh) than raid the blacker Dinka and related tribes for slaves and the like. One of the reason south sudan seceded was to better protect themselves from salve raiders.

Stupid nogs trying to kill each other, slaves, rape and lots of mudhuts.
So basically exactly like it looks there now.

>Mali Empire
>The Empire of Mali was one of the largest empires in West African History, and at its height it spanned from the Atlantic Coast to central parts of the Sahara desert. The Empire was founded in 1235 CE by the legendary King Sundiata, and lasted until the early 1600s CE. The Empire’s most famous ruler was named Mansa Musa, and chroniclers of the times wrote that when he travelled to Mecca on a pilgrimage he distributed so much gold that he caused great inflation lasting a decade.

>The Mali Empire consisted of outlying areas and small kingdoms. All these Kingdoms pledged allegiance to Mali by offering annual tributes in the form of rice, millet, lances and arrows. Mali prospered from taxes collected from its citizens, and all goods brought in and out of the Empire were heavily taxed while all gold nuggets belonged to the King. However, gold dust could be traded and at certain times gold dust was used as currency together with salt and cotton cloth. Cowrie shells from the Indian Ocean were later used as currency in the internal trade of the Western Sahara.

>Mali, and especially the city of Timbuktu, was famous a centre of learning and spectacular architecture such as the Sankara Madrassa - a great center of learning - and the University of Sankore which continued to produce a great many astronomers, scholars and engineers long after the end of the Empire of Mali. French colonial occupation is considered to have contributed to the University’s decline in its quality of education.

>While Mali was a monarchy ruled by the Mansa, or Master, much of the state power was in the hands of court officials. This meant that the Empire could survive several periods of instability and a series of bad rulers. The Empire of Mali was also a multi-ethnic and multi-linguistic empire, and Islam was the dominate religion.

Strange mythology considering their violent behavior and slavery.

Not at all, it's very ingroup vs. outgroup thinking. You don't commit violence against the ingroup, only the outgroup.

I bet the boy is jerking off to the princesse.

that explains alot.

I know that, you still treat the journey has one.

Frogs are harbingers of Doom and ill-omens in such a setting.

"On a day when little water was to be found Man spent awhile in thought and realized that he might one day die, never to rise again. Man sent Dog to God to ask that he might come back to live again, like the flowering plant, after death.

Dog went off and followed his nose toward God. He was soon distracted by the smell of soup, and followed his hunger toward the source. Leaning close to watch it boil, Dog was content and forgot his mission.

Seeing that Dog was lost, Frog took it upon himself to go to God and tell him that Man did not want to live again. If Man were to be reborn, thought Frog, he would soon muddy the rivers and destroy the birthplaces of frogs.

Dog finally arrived to tell God Man's message. Leaning low, he crooned Man's need for rebirth in the song of his howl. God was touched by the devotion of Dog for Man.

But God granted the frog's wish, because he got there first."

fug virgin, lose AIDS

>mans best friend
your immortality vs food

I swear this is the only african king that you redditors know. And you always bring up that stupid fact.

He's no Makmende.

Bump

Like Zeno Clash but with black people I guess

Well, there's ogres made up out of random body parts, varying in size, stalking the night giggling to itself until they strike.

Bad land and heat irritates the fuck out of us.
You'd be voilent and prone to enslaving others if you were starving, hot, infected with all kinds of diseases and understaffed for everything.

This stuff is inspiring something in me. What kind of playable races would there be in a setting based on this stuff? Ogres, zombies that don't sleep, pygmies, etc?

Only right answer.

Exotic and unique blades: imgur.com/a/iHF95
Also tiddies

You only need to know one African king to refute the idea that there were no notable African rulers, civilizations, or accomplishments.

I fucking loved that thread. The one time an African Mythology thread wasn't ruined by Kangz memes.

But the Mali Empire was an oppressive arm of Islamic colonialism though?

>So basically exactly like it looks in Europe now
ftfy

I'm torn as to whether Frog or God is the bigger asshole in this story.

Wosheles had fucked up shapes to be more dangerous when thrown/being picked up by enemy tribes in the heat of battle who didn't know where the handle was. Or so I have heard.
WE

Hyena folk.

>hating Islam
How haram.

Depends on their level of technological development.
If it's modern times, it'll look like aids, AK-47s and lots of slavery and pointless tribal warfare.
If it's any other times, it'll look like aids, lots of slavery and pointless tribal warfare, but with sharp wooden sticks instead of AK-47s.
You could also have a big kingdom like Mali was, but that'd be just average European kingdom, but with black people and in a desert.

ARE THE CRYSTAL GEMS

How far back we going? You mean modern, pre-modern, or pre-commonly-recognized history?

Africa's interesting since they seem to have just skipped straight from Stone Age tools to iron tools while those fuckers in Mesopotamia were getting into bronze. African steel quality (much later) was legendary among Europeans and Arabs during the middle ages.

>OP specifically says FOLKLORE
>Everyone post about historical shit that has nothing to do with said folklore

Can you retards even read an OP?

I mean I know a lot of you just want to say "lol fuck niggers xD" but goddamn.

Welcome to nu/tg/pol/.

"hey everyone i'm 12 and just learned le word nigger xddddd"

youtube.com/watch?v=NzmFEDNWTO8&t=559s&ab_channel=OverlySarcasticProductions

This one's pretty cool, though it's got shit chibi art if that turns you off. I shamelessly love it.

Gibs would be a legitimate answer in some parts of Asia.

>But the Mali Empire was an oppressive arm of Islamic colonialism though?

Not really. Islam offered a centralized system of scholars and learned men who could form the backbone of an Imperial administration, making the lives of the Malian kings easier by giving them the know-how to set up a more efficient administration. That's why the Malian kings were interested in creating a local center of Islamic learning: to create a pool of educated men from which to draw their administrators. It's important to note that a religious education at the time included a wide array of skills. Having administrators that could actually read and write, do sums and apply a formalized legal system was a boon.

A similar thing happen in Europe. Christian influence grew as the states of mideval Europe expanded and evolved from petty kingdoms into feudal states. The destruction of the Roman state apparatus had left a gaping hole that Christian scholars filled.

It's noteworthy that Mali did not actually become 95% muslim before the French colonial administration. The introduction of and industrial economy and improved transportation systems was a huge factor in making people more mobile, allowing for an unheard of spread of ideas and people.
It did not help that the French deliberately sought to stop the spread of Islam in their colonial possesions. The Islamic community responded by doubling down on their beliefs and intensifying mission work, perceiving their religion to be under threat.

It's a fascinating place, Mali.

Mecca was never some huge city. It was strictly only allied for followers of Islam. Pretty shitty for trade, to have an in-land city, that no foreigners can come inside. So, not really a big deal. If he had did it in Cairo? Far more impressive considering the actual wealth that region had.

And what civilization, what accomplishments? European Colonialism had a poor time subduing the coastal muslims, given their relative proximity, but in a few short decades captured all of Africa and ruled/exploited it for a few more. Now, after, there is almost no semblance of government or quality of life in massive amounts of the country.

The most significant portion of black people, actually, comes from the gentrified African Americans, who you are properly familiar with and base your opinion off of. They are on average however 30% european at this point, and their numbers will continue to dwindle in terms of identification. I predict at the turn of the half century, or near the end of this century, coloured/half-blacks will fuse a sort of social alliance with whites and will look up to them and join their social strata, while other races will still be looked down upon. It is only a matter of time before assimilation is practically complete.

Anyways, WE WUZ KANGS

>but in a few short decades captured all of Africa and ruled/exploited it for a few more
Having a machine gun and a reliable malaria tonic does wonders for making African conquest that much easier.

'Whatever happens, we have got
The Maxim gun, and they have not.'

That's a wide fucking net you're throwing, OP. And none of these fucks know anything except the first page of Google and years of getting high off Tolkein derivatives.

He did it across the entire southern Mediterranean. The entire reason gold tanked was that he flooded the market beyond its ability to compensate. Random beggars and whoever happened to be on the street when his procession went by suddenly became the richest people in the region, but it was all gold and so supply outshot demand by a wide margin.

I don't know, man. You seem to think that ol' M&M teleported from Mali to Mecca without traveling through any intervening land, visiting any other place, or doing anything outside the city boundaries. That's pretty advanced technology.

>If he had did it in Cairo? Far more impressive considering the actual wealth that region had.

Which is exactly what he did, as you would know if you had a) read this thread or b), even more unlikely, done some actual research before commenting with your expert opinion.

You fucking retard.

>Now, after, there is almost no semblance of government or quality of life in massive amounts of the country.

More generalized nonsense. The shortest answer I can give is that the transition from a pre-modern society to an modern society over much of the continent did not happen coherently, and was broken up by several crisis including, but not limited to, the several phases of colonialism and the Cold War, which destabilized much of the continent.

Which is not to say that these things did not also have a positive impact, as has been discussed in the African community for decades (see Chinua Achebe's “Things Fall Apart” from 1958 for one example of an African author writing on the various goods and ills wrought by colonialism).

WE