Does anyone have a list of what FR locations, specifically places on the Faerunian continent, are based off of which real- world place? Without sourcebooks it's hard to really get a feel for the locations, and makes it difficult when choosing a country of origin for new characters.
Thanks in advance.
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Alanna of Wharftown, Captain of the Hands of Ieriyn
"A soft woman is simply a wolf caught in meditation."
Mulhorand is Egypt. Or rather, the Mulan were Egyptians stolen from Earth by aliens/gods/monsters, or something, for slave labor or the like.
Calimshan is Arabian Nights inspired.
Ruathym is from Earth Vikings sailing off the edge of the world and falling into Toril, or some such nonsense.
The Endless Wastes and thus the Tuigan are based on the Mongols.
Durpar is based on India.
General "Middle Eastern" seems to have been spread across a number of countries and places on Faerûn. For Central and South America, you'd go with Maztica.
For Congo or The Lost World, you'd go with Chult, apparently.
The Moonshae islands were based on the British Isles; Scotland in particular, I believe.
Pfft, this is bollocks. Faerûn isn't based on the real world, though you obviously will have strong influences as a writer because the real world is the one you live in.
But unfortunately yes, TSR did make a habit of connecting the fantasy regions with real life counterparts. It seems this isn't as obvious in 3e under WotC's care, though. And by what I'm told, it definetely wasn't the case in Ed's Realms.
It's also good to remember Kara-Tur, Zakhara, Maztica etc. weren't part of original Forgotten Realms, but have been designed by other people and slapped on the AD&D setting that was supposed to give people the possibility to tell any story. They're a horrible real-world rip-off, but it doesn't really extend so much into Faerûn itself. If you forget all the other continents and look at Faerûn itself, it doesn't much resemble Earth. (Though there are similarities, I'll give you that. Especially in fleshing out the secondary regions, like the Great Glacier or Durpar. Can't say the Sword Coast and Heartlands have an Earth equivalent, though.)
I don't think it's good to get stuck on "Toril region - Earth region" comparisons. They don't do justice to the uniqueness of the setting. We're supposed to get the feeling we're role-playing in another world, after all, not historical Earth.
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On Joon, Kjetta wrote:
The guy that probably has sexual fantasies about masturbation. I mean, Iron, you're a bookworm nerd that even in your wildest escapism fantasies flee to the internet to play the role of another bookworm nerd? Come on!
But if you insist, I suppose I could give my impression of the general "feel" of some regions:
Amn has a Spain/Muslim Iberia thing going, Tethyr could have some French/Muslim Iberia tones (definetely in the top 5 kingdoms in coolness), Calimshan is perhaps like Turkey and somewhat Arabian, Chessenta is Greek, Unther is Mesopotamian whereas Mulhorand is Egyptian, Thay has borrowed much from Mulhorandi culture, Rashemen has shamanistic traditions, not unlike mythical Finland or the samoyeds of Russia, Estagund/Durpar/Var the Golden is Indian in theme, the Moonshaes are full celtic myths (the land of druids and fey). Plenty of Norsemen and barbarians in northern lands from Icewind Dale to Narfell.
It might be easier to guide you to the right theme if we knew what you were looking for, but I guess you just want this for future reference. Be that as it may, the most interesting lands on Faerûn don't really have an obvious Earth equivalent: Cormyr is the iconic enlightened monarchy, small but proud, the Dalelands are full of diverse, scattered, rural settlements, Halruaa is a land of flying ships ruled by wizards, Sembia's a land of mercenaries, gold and private armies, Aglarond is warm, humid and exotic, a blend of elven and human culture. Neither Tethyr nor Thay, both very cool, have particularly close Earth counterparts. So if you do make a character based too much on any one Earth culture, you'll probably end up being from a lame country.
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On Joon, Kjetta wrote:
The guy that probably has sexual fantasies about masturbation. I mean, Iron, you're a bookworm nerd that even in your wildest escapism fantasies flee to the internet to play the role of another bookworm nerd? Come on!
It's not really Europe at all. It's on the northern hemisphere, so obviously it follows the stereotypical north - cold, south - warm set up.
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On Joon, Kjetta wrote:
The guy that probably has sexual fantasies about masturbation. I mean, Iron, you're a bookworm nerd that even in your wildest escapism fantasies flee to the internet to play the role of another bookworm nerd? Come on!
Joined: 13 Aug 2005 Location: Oregon ('OR-ə-gən') [-8 GMT]
I would have given them the benefit of the doubt for having a few similarities between Earth-Geography and Toril. And then they came out with Anchrome and Maztica.
_________________ Those trees won't burn themselves down. (by Maryn)
Earth-Toril similarities aside, I'm pretty sure the Mulan are -literally Egyptians from Earth- that were taken by some plane-hopping critters and dropped off on Toril.
The geography doesn't match Earth, but the regions/cultures themselves aren't exactly new and novel. That was fairly intentional as well, I believe, so people could go, "Oh, I want to play an African bushman! How do I do that? Oh, I see you have this place in D&D... Perfect!"
Aglarond: Baltic States, Latvia and Lithuania Altumbel: Baltic States, more Prussian and conservative. Amn: Renaissance Spain Anauroch: Bedouin nomad tribes Shade: Gothic, in both the architectural and dress sense of the word. Border Kingdoms: Since the Border Kingdoms are quite diverse, it is almost impossible to pin down a culture besides the Calishite and Shaaran ethnicity of the majority of people. Calimshan: Al-Andalus (Muslim Spain) and Morocco Chessenta: Byzantine and Classical Greece Chondath: Italian city states Chult: Ashanti Cormyr: Frankish and Carolingian empires Dalelands: Southern France, Swiss cantons, Holy Roman empire Damara: Germany Dambrath: Imagine Teutonic barbarians in tropic climes, and there you have it. Dragon Coast: Southern France, Northern Italy Durpar: the Sindh Endless Wastes: Huns, Tatars, Kazakhs, Uighurs Estagund: Dravidian (southern) India Great Dale: Black Forest Great Glacier: Greenland, Lappland Halruua: Gothic north african kingdoms High Forest: Sweden Hlondeth: Sicily Impiltur: Hanseatic League Lake of Steam: Horn of Africa, Somali/Tigray Lantan: Azore Islands and Canary Islands, especially the Guanche natives of the Canaries. Lapaliiya: Ethiopia Moonsea: Bwahaha we are evil...? Moonshaes: British isles, of course. Mulhorand: Ancient egypt, of course. Murghom: The various cultures of the Caucasus. Narfell: West Slavic groups. Nelanthar Isles: Pirates. That's all you need to know. Nimbral: Rather like the Halruuans. Pirate Isles: pirates... Rashemen: East Slavs. Sembia: Netherlands Semphar: Turkey Sespech: Southern Italy The Shaar: North American plains, oddly. Silver Marches: Denmark Sossal: Norway Sword Coast North/Icewind Dale: Iceland Tashalar/Thindol/Samarach: Kenya/Tanzania Tethyr: Iberia before the Romans came/Basque. Tharsult: South Arabian Peninsula Thay: Caanan Thesk: Baltic Turmish: Persian Unther: Babylon/Sumer Vaasa: Finland Var the Golden: Ganges floodplain The Vast: Estonia Veldorn: Afghanistan/Punjab Deep Imaskar: Clothing wise, think a very conservative mix with high collars, based on Victorian and Manchu.
Shou Lung: China T'u Lung: China Wa: Japan Kozakura: Japan Tabot: Tibet/Burma Koryo: Korea Ra-Khati: Nepal Khazari: Nepal Bawa: Taiwan/Hong Kong Malatra: A hodge-podge of Laos, Cambodia, Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam)
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