Glancing through Pathways #70 on a whim, I find myself sparking with several ideas for the D&D world I've been slowly describing in my Fantasy Friday series, mostly for Jezhibab, the area roughly analogous to Russia geohistorically (though not necessarily culturally), which takes its inspirations from both GURPS Fantasy II: The Mad Lands and fairy tales, as well as from old Russian/North Asian culture itself (obvi).
The first article in the zine is a template for stiltzkin creatures, which take their name from Rumpolstiltzkin, of course, but simulate any number of fairy tale characters. This is the template for the Pied Piper of Hamlin, mebbe Bluebeard, etc. This one is fascinating to me because it appears to hit something like the kaiju template published in Dragon magazine #??? ~ it's a unique character that is or can be both culturally and campaignly defining. I'm thinking that I might set up kaiju as an issue in Not!Japan, Not!China, Mahasarpa (Not!Southeast Asia; influenced by james Wyatt's reinterpretation of Rokugan and his work on Oriental Adventures), and Not!Polynesia . . . and that stiltzkin come from the same source. Whatever it is that creates kaiju in the waters of that ocean creates stiltzkin creatures in Jazhibab. I could even set up a stiltzkin-kaiju war in Not!Kamchatka or whatever portion of Russia that is on its eastern coast! that could be hella cute, actually ~ I'm into it.
The minor drawbacks for minor items is going to be added to the random magic item generation tables, cuz that's exactly the kind of flavorful little bit that can make an item pop, and also inspire a history for it. I'm not much a fan of the disposable magic item industry that modern D&D (inspired, sadly, by my favorite version of D&D too!) has developed, and this could help give magic items some narrative weight.
All of the various fey-related spells in the zine will be relatively common in this area of the world, as will the quite flavorful magic items. The lamp of wonders, of course, will have been created in the southwest of the area, near both Scarhas and Not!Central Asia. Meanwhile, the beggar's belt implies some conflict between the people of the far western edge of the area with ???, the land of the trolls and one of the two last refuges of giant-kind. Also, even though it's not in the zine anywhere, I've a wonderful idea about Baba Yaga's dancing hut! Across this large expanse of territory, it is expected that anyone who reaches a level wherein they can create such an item will immediately create one for their grandmother to live in. As I said, I don't like the littering of mass-produced relics that D&D has begun to expect, but this very specific cultural requirement will scatter very visible large magical items across the landscape in contrast to everywhere else, which will hopefully make the region read as wondrous and strange to my players. Plus, it creates a very small commonality among all the appropriate spellcasters in Jezhibab, helping give them a common flavor.
Finally, the ember dryad is a go! The story of the first ember dryad, created by the vengeance of a spurned royal husband wannabe, can dovetail nicely into the legend of an ember dryad-ruled kingdom. Although this one will remain in this realm rather than in a demiplane.
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