I'm trying to work on a campaign setting based on the Mediterranean world of the sixteenth century, tailored for 3.5 DnD/Pathfinder 1e (this is mostly because it's the system I'm most familiar with). The setting is geographically Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East with some fantasy elements. I have some basics outlined: classes, nationalities (for human characters), and religious confessions.
My goal would be to give players a pretty big canvas to have different adventures: they could be corsairs or privateers on the North African coast, a Venetian trading company, or court members of the Sultan. They could also be mercenaries fighting for one (or both) sides of the religious wars of the era. Another angle that players could explore is that while there was much sectarian and religious conflict in this period, there were also business and personal relationships that cut across faiths and empires. I'm hoping that the historical setting ends up being a tool, but not a cage for players- I don't want to restrict people to reenacting exact history if they don't want to.
Right now I'm not sure how to incorporate some of the fantasy elements. My intent is to have magic be real, and also seen as dangerous in line with the general attitudes of the era. Fantasy races might exist, but the increasing scientific developments of this period drives those races to exist on the fringes of society
Classes: Landsknecht [soldier/fighter], Spy, Corsair [privateer], Cleric [priest/imam/preacher depending on confession], Merchant
The Merchant class is more of a diplomat than just "a guy who sells stuff"- they can function similar to a bard and would be able to give a party information they've picked up in the their travels. Spy is similar but has more offensive capability. The other classes, Corsair, Landsknecht, and Cleric function to traditional RPG classes. Corsair is similar to a rogue and Landsknecht is a fighter type class. I plan to add magic user classes when I think through how to implement them in a way that would fit.
Confessions: Roman Catholic, Sunni Muslim [both a Hanafi Legalist variety and Sufi mystic], Shiite Muslim, Reformed/Calvinist, Lutheran
I haven't fully fleshed out how Confession would work in game terms. For example, a Roman Catholic priest character might have a higher intelligence from theological training, but a Reformed Landskenecht character could gain skill/combat bonuses from hearing an inspiring sermon. A Sunni Muslim character (regardless of class) could have standing as an Islamic legal scholar/judge and be able to negotiate disputes in certain situations.
Nationalities: Spanish, Ottoman [upper class, Turkish speaking but mixed ancestry], Anatolian Turkish, Persian, Balkan, Magyar, English, French, Austrian, German, Venetian
The nationalities would have different bonuses or skill preferences, but there would be multiple possible backgrounds within a nationality. So for the Spanish as an example, your character could come from a Castilian military family or be a mystic-oriented Catholic priest. Venetians could be better as a Spy or Merchant but aren't restricted to those classes.
I'd be grateful for any feedback, I'd just like to be able to translate the historical aspects into a workable campaign setting people might enjoy.