Agree with Opaopajr, check out an art book or even do a Google image search for Chavin art to see its almost demonic qualities. Highlights might be the Tello Obelisk (basically showing two crocodilian deities, but complex and loaded with symbolism), the Raimondi Stele (depicting the Staff God, who shows up elsewhere in Peru as well and continues to rather later -but still pre-Inca - dates), and the Lanzon (depicting a very Lovecraftian-looking figure)

Quote from: Opaopajr;1133870Honestly, I strongly recommend the art book. It helps trace threads and that in itself answers your question of how to make Chavín feel uneasily ancient to Incans. Inca is a mountainous empire uniting the jungle and coastal desert into domain, resting upon the cultural foundation of necessary trade and (almost monotheistic, maybe more monomist) sky god/divine tutelage of mountainous revelation (Viracocha & Titicaca) atop the manifold entheogenic mystery cults of several cultures (including Paracas, Sipán, & Nazca) leading back to Chavín.

Thanks. I've got that book on order now. My son took a college class on Andean art, which was the inspiration for this setting, so he's pretty familiar with that stuff.

Oops! I thought your child was much younger! Yeah, he can handle that art book and that rather holistic integration helps organize all that info into self-researchable tangents.

IIRC that book has that image of the Chavín jaguar/human deity carved upon a wedge stele, both in situ (a cave), and as a double page panel showing the whole wrap around image showing its morphology from one art jaguar blending into snakes and all comprising a sort of human? -- and then goes on to further explain how it was near evidence of san pedro cactus (IIRC?) usage, an entheogenic fungus, and sets the scene that this would have likely been witnessed by others while deep in the bowels of the cave by candlelight. I cannot really do it justice by memory and quick topic post.

Hope it points you and your son in good directions!

Sadly, I've just found this topic well over a year after it was posted.

Dragons conquer America is a book focused on the Mayan, Aztec and yes, Inca empire. Been reading it for a few days and it is very nifty for somebody who doesn't know a lot about these native civilizations like me.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/270512/Dragons-Conquer-America-Core-Book

Wow. Great thread. I'm tempted to pull away from the standard "Europe, but...." campaign settings, especially if I can do earlier tech levels, but doing it *well* is the concern.

Quote from: Pampero on September 11, 2021, 09:57:24 AM
Sadly, I've just found this topic well over a year after it was posted.

Dragons conquer America is a book focused on the Mayan, Aztec and yes, Inca empire. Been reading it for a few days and it is very nifty for somebody who doesn't know a lot about these native civilizations like me.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/270512/Dragons-Conquer-America-Core-Book

Not just a book. An rpg, it uses cards or six siders. Clarifying just in case.

Not a source for Mythology as such, but if you want to get a primer for how the Incan empire should feel and what makes it different from other civilisations in history then this is a very good thing to watch.

The entire channel is very good, I've yet to see a documentary in the series that didn't make me think about running a game in whatever period was described, but this is the specifically Incan one.

I can't think of anything, written or otherwise, that I'd recommend more to someone interested in gaming an Inca-based setting.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRB9dJmZhVk


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GkNOT2Q2hk

Quote from: jhkim on June 10, 2020, 07:07:39 PM
So my son ran a one-shot adventure set in a fantasy version of the Incan Empire, and now he's thinking of expanding it out to a full-fledged campaign. I've been trying to think of resources to recommend for him, and/or ideas to suggest. I know about The Yaurcoan Empire for Totems of the Dead (Savage Worlds) -- which I just picked up.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/100928/The-Yaurcoan-Empire

But I don't know of much else. The game is very much D&D (5th edition), only lightly re-skinned to fit with Incan traditions. The standard races and classes are all roughly the same, though there are some twists. This was his intro for the one-shot game:

QuoteOur adventure takes place in the Northern Quarter of the Solar Empire, in the Land of New Horizons, during the early years of the reign of Emperor Huaman Capac. It is a prosperous time for many, as the war between the Empire and the Dragon Lords of the North has ended at last. A mere two and a half centuries ago, the Solar Empire was just one of many small, feuding, highland kingdoms; now, civilizations of diverse races and creeds, from the coastal hills of the West to the wild jungles of the East and the arid deserts of the South, have all been unified under the Imperial tassel. Of course, unified doesn't mean that everyone is happy - so, during this time of peace, the Emperor and the nine Ancestor-Kings have been sending out their Imperial Agents to various provinces all across the land in order to assess & find solutions to any problems that may have arisen since they joined the Empire.

You (the players) are all Imperial Agents, who through one means or another wound up in the service of Ancestor-King Pachakuti, the father of the current Emperor who, after his death, was turned into a special kind of Lich through ceremonies known only to the royal line. Though some you Agents are truly Incan by blood and were recruited from the ranks of the Capital itself, most of your kind are actually the champions of various fringe provinces, whose labor was originally sent in as tribute when they first joined the Empire. At this point, you are an established team which has been adventuring for some time, and should already know each other fairly well (though that doesn't mean you can't keep secrets from each other, if you so choose).

Notably, undead aren't inherently evil in this game - and there are wise mummies and lichs from the past who serve as resources for the present empire.

I'd be especially curious for resources to recommend, but g
eneral ideas and reactions would be cool too. (Just no politics.)

These might be helpful:

Legendary Games' Boricubos: Latin American Monsters and Adventures https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/legendarygames/boricubos-latin-american-monsters-and-adventures

Frog God Games' Tehuatl available for 5e, S&W, or System Neutral: https://www.froggodgames.com/?s=Tehuatl&post_type=product

This thread is a great read. I ran an Incan campaign many years ago, and loved it. There was a Forgotten Realms novel that loosely recounted the history of the Spanish conquest of South America, and that got me into the history of the area. I found the Incans and Toltecs fascinating.

Anyway, the Dark Sun setting, the original books, were really useful in configuring my Incan campaign. They had rules for bone and obsidian weaponry, because metal was rare. A basic metal weapon was like finding a +3 sword. The players found that exciting, and it was definitely a fun twist.

Quote from: Pampero on September 11, 2021, 09:57:24 AM
Dragons conquer America is a book focused on the Mayan, Aztec and yes, Inca empire. Been reading it for a few days and it is very nifty for somebody who doesn't know a lot about these native civilizations like me.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/270512/Dragons-Conquer-America-Core-Book

Quote from: Tantavalist on September 11, 2021, 02:10:56 PM
Not a source for Mythology as such, but if you want to get a primer for how the Incan empire should feel and what makes it different from other civilisations in history then this is a very good thing to watch.

The entire channel is very good, I've yet to see a documentary in the series that didn't make me think about running a game in whatever period was described, but this is the specifically Incan one.

I can't think of anything, written or otherwise, that I'd recommend more to someone interested in gaming an Inca-based setting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRB9dJmZhVk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GkNOT2Q2hk

Quote from: VhaidraSaga on September 11, 2021, 02:16:59 PM
Legendary Games' Boricubos: Latin American Monsters and Adventures https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/legendarygames/boricubos-latin-american-monsters-and-adventures

Frog God Games' Tehuatl available for 5e, S&W, or System Neutral: https://www.froggodgames.com/?s=Tehuatl&post_type=product

Thanks a lot, Pampero and Tantavalist and VhaidraSaga. I'll add that I just finished this novel by Antoine B. Daniel, which is nice for portraying life in the Incan Empire.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1097911.Incas

I'll try to collect links together for a resource page at some point.

There is this book on Amazon that could be a good book resource. I have similar books about Ancient Greece and Rome and these books are pretty comprehensive, as far as they can be based on current knowledge of these time periods.

https://www.amazon.com/Illustrated-Encyclopedia-Inca-Empire-Comprehensive/dp/0857234471/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=encyclopedia+of+the+incas&qid=1631553636&sr=8-1