Mesoamerican Setting

[adblue]

I've been considering doing a setting based on pre-columbian Mexico and Central America. Are there any resources I should look into aside from the Aztec source book? Has anybody here tried this before? If so how did it go?

[awesomenessofme1]

Originally Posted by adblue

I've been considering doing a setting based on pre-columbian Mexico and Central America. Are there any resources I should look into aside from the Aztec source book? Has anybody here tried this before? If so how did it go?

That's great for flavor and setting info, but practically speaking, Low-Tech will be very useful for you.

[NineDaysDead]

Originally Posted by adblue

I've been considering doing a setting based on pre-columbian Mexico and Central America. Are there any resources I should look into aside from the Aztec source book?

GURPS New Sun for 3rd edition had 1.25 pages on the Inca. I don't know if it would be worth buying for that.

[aesir23]

I agree with Awesomenessofme1, all you need is Basic, Low-Tech, and a willingness to do your own research.

GURPS Aztec will have done a lot of the research for you, but and will replace the need for Low Tech IFF you're playing 3rd edition. For a 4e game, it will give you a lot of ideas and serve as a good reference, but it's probably optional.

Beyond that, it depends what kind of game you want to run.

Will it have Magic? Depending on what kind you might need Thaumatology or one of the Thaumatology suppliments.
Will it focus a lot on combat? You could probably use Martial Arts.
Will it feature a lot of superhuman beings? Could probably use Powers.

[adblue]

I want to do a reasonably realistic setting. It will be in a fictional location but mostly follow real world rules (Like Westeros but instead of medieval England its post classical Nahuatl city states. Also like that setting I plan to keep the fantasy elements to a relative minimum at least early on) Should I just use Low tech and some homebrew elements then?

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by adblue

I want to do a reasonably realistic setting. It will be in a fictional location but mostly follow real world rules (Like Westeros but instead of medieval England its post classical Nahuatl city states. Also like that setting I plan to keep the fantasy elements to a relative minimum at least early on) Should I just use Low tech and some homebrew elements then?

Why fictional location?

I mean, unless you really enjoy cartography, isn't it easier to use maps of the real world Nahuatl city states and simply invent anything you need in the plentiful spaces where archaeology and history are silent?

[Anders]

Originally Posted by Icelander

Why fictional location?

I mean, unless you really enjoy cartography, isn't it easier to use maps of the real world Nahuatl city states and simply invent anything you need in the plentiful spaces where archaeology and history are silent?

Because world building is addictive.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Anders

Because world building is addictive.

Using convenient 'supplements' that real world archaeologists and historians have kindly created still leaves plenty of room for world-building. It's not like we know enough about the history of any indigenous Americas civilization to able to set a game there without the GM essentially making up his own campaign setting.

I was just suggesting stealing useful bits, like maps and place names, from the real world.

[adblue]

Originally Posted by Icelander

Using convenient 'supplements' that real world archaeologists and historians have kindly created still leaves plenty of room for world-building. It's not like we know enough about the history of any indigenous Americas civilization to able to set a game there without the GM essentially making up his own campaign setting.

I was just suggesting stealing useful bits, like maps and place names, from the real world.

My main issue with setting a game in the "real world" is it means you arent quite in charge of your setting anymore. And being not bound by real world history I can write the story any way I'd like. But I do like the idea of using historical and archaeological sources.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by adblue

My main issue with setting a game in the "real world" is it means you arent quite in charge of your setting anymore. And being not bound by real world history I can write the story any way I'd like. But I do like the idea of using historical and archaeological sources.

Honestly, as long as you aren't setting your game within a generation of contact with Europeans, I doubt that any sources are detailed enough to constrain a GM and his players from essentially any events within a campaign.

Even in cases where we know titles or alleged names for kings and priests, I don't imagine that any source includes enough detail to exclude one claimant or another defeating a rival and taking a religious or regnal name that fits any name we have from sources. If we even know any historical details at all from a given decade in the 14th or 15th about a given Nahuatl city state.