Most Versatile Historical Setting for Mysticism?

>>49047360
The Near East, anywhere between 300 BC and 400 AD.
Central Asia, in the age of Scythians
India, at any time really

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>>49047360
Mesoamerica. Honestly OP, you could really enter this place and see the magic in the society. I can dump some reference materal

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>>49049546

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>>49049571

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>>49049589

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>>49049589
They believed that the blood of those who died would be nourishment for the Earth

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>>49049624
And that's just the Aztecs... their predecessors in the region were the Maya. They had a very interesting civilization based less on war and sacrifice and more on the mysticism the world had to offer.

They had dope looking boxers too

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>>49049651
They were into some... interesting stuff. I've found that some nobles liked to receive fellatio while the girl had a rope of thorny plants in her mouth.

>>49047360
This is literally RuneQuest 6/Mythras
>Folk Magic
Cantrips and basic spells
>Animism
Binding, exercising, communicating, and controlling spirits
>Mysticism
Enhancing yourself with magic
>Sorcery
Bending and shaping magic into spells that have customized impact
>Thiesm
Ritualistically preparing miracles that are cast later

The systems are customized further by applying rules to how magic points are regained and the effects of expending magic points, which can change based on location or culture.

RuneQuest also builds characters using culture and career, and the technology level can easily be set because he item tables include milieu.

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>>49049667
The Mayans recorded extensive contacts with their neighbors. They saw themselves as the Serpent Kingdom. The other symbols are neighboring nations, confederations, and tribes

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>>49049685

>>49049669
It's a shame that RQ6's magic is so dull and unexciting. I think it was the first time I've ever played with a magic system that actually made altering reality boring.

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>>49049695

>>49047360
Africa, Mesoamerica.

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>>49049709

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>>49049728
And their building skills were incredible. The Aztecs definitely drew on them for influence

OP here, thanks for the meso-america dump. seems legit.

I've been doing research on the real world origins of most magic tradition tropes and have been finding that they more or less blend together in different capacities. It's not all clear cut in a way that the modern mind can just categorize so easily

>>49049834
>this was done without horses

their ideographs are so fucking articulated. Must have taken FOREVER to write anything substantial.

OP here. Never heard of Runequest. This is a list of magic traditions from an RPG I'm developing.

>>49049707
I know you are full of shit because each one is a different system.

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>>49049973
Anytime OP, then perhaps you take that blend and make it to your advantage. Maybe this culture IS the origin of magic tropes here on Earth. Maybe it will start the magic tropes on their world, universe... whatever. Just an idea.

Also, look into their traditions of trial by combat and sacrifice by combat. Very interesting

They had some dope gods that could make great magical beings in the setting. Or at least summonable familiars

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>>49049994
>this was done without metal harder than copper.

The Egyptians had more almost three thousand years before the Mayans and Aztecs started building.

>>49050161
RuneQuest based its magic on historical magic and it has built from there. I bring it up as good reading.

>>49051073
OP here, duly noted.

thanks again d00ds

>>49049608
Fucking Spaniards I tell ya.

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>>49053031
Best way to control a population is to destroy any notion of "their" past. Simply place your own in piece by piece and within a century you have yourself a very broken people that won't be able to rise up effectively.

Colonialism 101

Agree with all these anons. Mesoamerica is criminally underused and really fucking awesome when you look into the mythology. It has so much potential as a campaign setting. You could also use medieval India in which case I would recommend you pick up "Arrows of Indra" which is an indie supplement for B/X D&D but ignoring all the mechanics works fantastically as a resource for Indian themed lore and such.