Thinking about it, I think there's a big part of attitude that's key to what I'm thinking of.

In Harryhausen's Sinbad movies, there's a spirit of seafaring adventure - the laughter and camaraderie of the crew, and appreciation of the wonders that they find. There are codes of hospitality and respect. This reflects some of the differences between the Mediterranean cultures and the Northern European cultures. Northern European fantasy tends to be cold and dour and fatalistic.

It's not just being more light-hearted. There can be conflict and violence and death, but there is hope and getting over that in living life to its fullest while there is still life.

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I'm not sure how this attitude should be reflected in aspects like how races/heritage works.

But I'm wary about duplicating too much from Tolkien, because I wouldn't want to have Tolkien but with Jann instead of elves. There need to be some core differences that come right across.

Quote from: jhkim on April 28, 2025, 11:05:41 PMThinking about it, I think there's a big part of attitude that's key to what I'm thinking of.

In Harryhausen's Sinbad movies, there's a spirit of seafaring adventure - the laughter and camaraderie of the crew, and appreciation of the wonders that they find.

It's not just being more light-hearted. There can be conflict and violence and death, but there is hope and getting over that in living life to its fullest while there is still life.

Not _exactly_ Ryuutama, judging from https://kotohi.com/ryuutama/unique-elements/, but it sounds like you could pull some ideas from cozy travel games?

For attitude: do something to bring OSR carousing rules more front-and-center.

Oh, also not what you're looking for but possibly related, the Silk Road Guide to Seafaring. Set in 54 AD, and spanning much of Eurasia, but definitely "sail all over the world, see astounding things; probably get involved with important patrons, or perhaps just be port-of-the-week picaresque".

There are Castles & Crusades books for classical Greece and ancient Egypt.

Quote from: jhkim on April 28, 2025, 10:09:30 PMOK, at $35 for the PDF, this is more than my impulse purchase amount, a

Ug...I didn't realize the PDF of the setting was that much.  That would be a put off for me as well.  It is worth noting that Skirmisher Publishing runs some pretty significant sales on Bundles, and it's likely that you could get their entire line for that price, so it might be worth keeping an eye out for those kinds of deals.
**EDIT: In fact they are running one right now.

No mention of the default setting for ACKS, which is based on the Mediterranean/Near East of antiquity?

I've been running an ACKS II campaign for a year and a half and the setting is great. I didn't mention it because OP seemed to want a medieval campaign as opposed to late antiquity.