What culture is Nova Vaasa based on?

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What culture is Nova Vaasa based on?

Post by GreenWood »

The title really says it all. I see many of the cultural influences in Ravenloft, but Nova Vaasa stumps me. I thought there were Spanish influences there but upon reading more of the Gazetteer I'm not so sure.
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Re: What culture is Nova Vaasa based on?

Post by ewancummins »

Nordic countries, but that seems more apparent in 3E sources than the older stuff.
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Re: What culture is Nova Vaasa based on?

Post by ewancummins »

Some guys like to put a Fantasy Old West spin on it.
Cattle Barons who are literally barons, 'boltslingers' with hand crossbows, dirt farmers, saloon girls, etc.
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Re: What culture is Nova Vaasa based on?

Post by Gonzoron of the FoS »

The language is Norwegian/Danish. Culturally, it's a bit of a mishmash. Some Russian, some wild west, a good deal of Tolkein's Rohan, a dash of Egyptian.
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Re: What culture is Nova Vaasa based on?

Post by Mistmaster »

I have always played them as Cossaks.
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Re: What culture is Nova Vaasa based on?

Post by GreenWood »

Mistmaster wrote:I have always played them as Cossaks.


I see this influence a lot, now that you mention it. Right down to the mustaches
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Re: What culture is Nova Vaasa based on?

Post by ewancummins »

Last edited by ewancummins on Thu Jan 04, 2018 11:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: What culture is Nova Vaasa based on?

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Re: What culture is Nova Vaasa based on?

Post by nothri »

There is also, presumably, as much British Victorian architecture and urban society as DMs need to properly replicate the atmosphere of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
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Re: What culture is Nova Vaasa based on?

Post by Mistmaster »

That, is the major elephant in the room; I always felt that Tristen and Malken were out of place.
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Re: What culture is Nova Vaasa based on?

Post by GreenWood »

Mistmaster wrote:That, is the major elephant in the room; I always felt that Tristen and Malken were out of place.
With the rest of the domain, absolutely. I feel like the writers wanted the Jeckle/Hyde villian more than the rest of the domain was given details. There is a lot of possiblities for Nova Vaasa, but it's barely given much attention.
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Re: What culture is Nova Vaasa based on?

Post by GreenWood »

Jekyll/ Hyde. Not enough coffee yet this morning, I'm afraid.
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Re: What culture is Nova Vaasa based on?

Post by current sketch »

I think the lack of obvious analogue makes Nova Vaasa my favourite domain! But I agree that it also makes things problematic.

The schizophrenic identity is partly by design (to mirror the Jekyll/Hyde nature of the lord) but sadly also due to an uneven publication history! Arthaus, as always, put a very definite and more internally-consistent stamp on it, using Danish as their language analogue.

But Arthaus' interpretation might not be for everybody. In particular, I prefer to keep the flavour Slavic and reserve Swedish/Danish for Lamordia.

I personally do it like this:
- cities are CL8 and based on a kind of squalid, urban Russia
- countryside is CL7 or sometimes 6 and based on the Eurasian Steppes
- if in doubt, I think of Hungary (Kantora = Budapest, country = Pannonian Plain with leopards)
- everybody in the Core wants a Vaasi horse but only Tepestani or Invidians would want to live there!
- I use Latvia and Lithuania as my language inspiration. Natives pronounce "Egertus" as "Ej-YEAR-toos" to make it sound less humdrum!

If done right some of the things that make least sense in Ravenloft can be sources of horror precisely because they defy expectations and feel wrong - like the Egyptian-style tomb in the middle of the Steppes from the Awakening. But I concede that capturing this can be difficult.
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Re: What culture is Nova Vaasa based on?

Post by GreenWood »

I agree, the Slavic influence is more appealing. Lamoridia works well as a Ravenloft Sweden, that's how I use it.
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Re: What culture is Nova Vaasa based on?

Post by Mistmaster »

Well, to me, Lamordia has always been akin to Switzerland.
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