So I've been pondering about a OSR/D&D-ish setting which is centered on Mediterranean cultures rather than English/Nordic/Germanic fantasy. D&D has always included some monsters from Mediterranean cultures (and way beyond), but the core elements of dwarves and elves and orcs - and heavy armor and adventurers hiking around are really centered on Tolkien and English/Nordic/Germanic.

I'm thinking more of a broad-strokes fantasy setting that evokes more like Ray Harryhausen Sinbad the Sailor movies - with wild creatures and magic without being too historical.

That said, it isn't just Arabian - it's also Greek and Italian and Spanish and Egyptian and others. I've looked at but not played Al Qadim, but that seems narrowly about the Arabian peninsula, and it gets into a lot of historical nitty-gritty, like Faris and Mamluks.

Are there any OSR or other games that do something like this?

Greetings!

The Mediterranean World provides an excellent tapestry for running a game campaign. Very historical, or just fantasy and heavily inspired. Season and spice to taste!

Game-wise, I have always enjoyed GURPS: ROME, and GURPS: GREECE. In addition, old green TSR D&D books, Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece are also full of strong inspiration and many much-needed details on culture, lifestyle, arms and equipment, food, clothing, and more.

For Historical Sources, I recommend the following:

The works cited I have selected for not just scholarly reliability and skill, but also with an eye towards illustration and visual elements, especially vivid and useful when thinking about developing a game campaign.

Ancient Rome: A Definitive Visual History By DK
Ancient Egypt: A Definitive Visual History By DK
Africa: A Definitive Visual History of a Continent By DK
An Illustrated Encyclopedia of The Uniforms of the Roman World By Kevin F. Riley
Ancient Greece: An Illustrated History By Nigel Rodgers
Ancient Rome: An Illustrated History By Nigel Rodgers
Ancient Rome: From Romulus to Justinian By Thomas R. Martin
Ancient Greece: From Prehistoric to Hellenistic Times By Thomas R. Martin
Carthage Must Be Destroyed: The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Civilization By Richard Miles

A large collection of books written by Dr. Adrian Goldsworthy; Likewise, books written by Dr. Michael Wood. Michael Wood teaches at the university of Manchester. Dr. Goldsworthy is I think at Oxford or Cambridge. Michael Wood also produces and hosts several different video series about historical topics--especially relevant would be his series on Alexander The Great. Just for additional edification, his video series on "The Story of India" and "The Story of China" provide insights into ancient and medieval periods in other parts of the world beyond the Mediterranean.

Follow my advice, and you shall be well-equipped for developing a game campaign set within the Mediterranean World of ancient times, and also be able to organize and run such a Mediterranean themed campaign with fun, confidence, and an excellent foundation of scholarly knowledge and insight.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Mazes & Minotaurs is the go-to answer here, isn't it? Not precisely OSR but certainly hanging on tightly at the border.

The Glory of Rome and the Age of Heroes historical campaigns for AD&D 2e are probably worth a look.

Into the Odyssey maybe. Not a fan of Into the Odd myself but who knows.

Outside of those you have the various incarnations of Atlantis: the Second Age, and you could probably cherrypick some of Palladium Fantasy Adventures on the High Seas.

If you're just looking for era appropriate campaign direction there is no shortage of Greek settings. GURPS, Rolemaster, and Savage Worlds are all still out there. 

I started building a low-fantasy ~200 BC setting but given the slavery & misogyny in the cultures at the time I'm not sure my players would be up for it. If you want overlapping cultures, Corsica has so much potential in the Western Med (Phoenecians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Etruscans, and the previous inhabitants), and Cyprus was perhaps similar in the Eastern Med earlier but I've had less luck finding sources.

There have been several pseudo-greek 5e settings, although they're more high-fantasy: Arkadia, Mystic Odysseys of Theros, Odyssey of the Dragonlords. "A Fantasy Guide to Classical Greece" is a lot more grounded.

Zenobia from Zozer Games isn't D&D-mechanics OSR but is of a similar mindset.
The Mythras standard setting, Shores of Korantia.

Greek-flavoured OSR:
* Skirmisher Publishing has Swords of Kos, which is mostly system-free but has some publications with 5e or their house rules.
* Mazes & Minotaurs.

If you are looking for medieval and not Ancient era there is Brancalonia

You might want to look at the various (and there are several) Bronze Age sword and sorcery rpgs out there as several are described as OSR or adjacent.   Blood and Bronze comes to mind though I don't recall if it was OSR.

Quote from: Ruprecht on April 23, 2025, 09:59:28 AMIf you are looking for medieval and not Ancient era there is Brancalonia

That's the one I couldn't remember based on medieval Italian states. Thank you.

Quote from: jhkim on April 23, 2025, 01:57:58 AMSo I've been pondering about a OSR/D&D-ish setting which is centered on Mediterranean cultures rather than English/Nordic/Germanic fantasy. D&D has always included some monsters from Mediterranean cultures (and way beyond), but the core elements of dwarves and elves and orcs - and heavy armor and adventurers hiking around are really centered on Tolkien and English/Nordic/Germanic.

I'm thinking more of a broad-strokes fantasy setting that evokes more like Ray Harryhausen Sinbad the Sailor movies - with wild creatures and magic without being too historical.

That said, it isn't just Arabian - it's also Greek and Italian and Spanish and Egyptian and others. I've looked at but not played Al Qadim, but that seems narrowly about the Arabian peninsula, and it gets into a lot of historical nitty-gritty, like Faris and Mamluks.

Are there any OSR or other games that do something like this?

It isn't pure Mediterranean, but there is a lot of Mediterranean in the setting we did for Sertorius (I was always more interested in that region's history than Europe). I should say though, it isn't OSR. And another one we did, Servants of Gaius, is set in the Roman Empire during the reign of Caligula (so that is alt. history Mediterranean)

Quote from: HappyDaze on April 23, 2025, 11:13:08 AM

Quote from: Ruprecht on April 23, 2025, 09:59:28 AMIf you are looking for medieval and not Ancient era there is Brancalonia

That's the one I couldn't remember based on medieval Italian states. Thank you.

Thanks, I hadn't heard of Brancalonia. And yeah, I am looking for medieval fantasy - not Bronze Age or ancient. I'm not looking to be historically accurate, but even in broad strokes there's a big difference between ancient and medieval as far as human culture. Some of the mythology and monsters stay the same, but it's distinct. i.e. Roman Empire fantasy is different than Brancalonia's spaghetti fantasy.

At first glance, Brancalonia looks specifically about the Italian peninsula in the same way that Al Qadim is specifically about Arabia.



So it might be useful source material, but also not quite what I'm looking for.

I feel the point of Mediterranean fantasy like the Sinbad stories is the amazing voyages to different lands, which encapsulates how the Mediterranean has been such an amazing center. So the RPG would assume traveling around a lot, not staying on the Italian peninsula or Arabian peninsula.

Is Mediterranean a good descriptor here though? I think Sinbad encountered a mixture of monsters, including some from India(?) Maybe it's more of a certain style/aesthetic you're aiming for?

Anyway, this thread also reminds me of a board game I like: Tales of the Arabian Nights, which is all about traveling the world and encountering people and monsters etc.

Odyssey of the Dragonlords for 5e, you could run it in OSR (especially 1e/2e clones) easily enough.

Quote from: Trond on April 23, 2025, 07:05:03 PMIs Mediterranean a good descriptor here though? I think Sinbad encountered a mixture of monsters, including some from India(?) Maybe it's more of a certain style/aesthetic you're aiming for?

Anyway, this thread also reminds me of a board game I like: Tales of the Arabian Nights, which is all about traveling the world and encountering people and monsters etc.

There's an element of style/aesthetic, sure, but I feel like that style/aesthetic is tied to the Mediterranean look and feel.

I'm reluctant to call it "Arabian Nights" or "Sinbad" because there's a broader aesthetic of medieval sailing to weird lands and islands, and trusty crewmates, which is different than the English/German/Nordic fantasy of adventurers hiking around - but not specific to Arabia or Sinbad. From what I've read, much of the "spaghetti fantasy" of Brancalonia seemed like a good fit as well.

Quote from: S'mon on April 24, 2025, 12:26:37 AMOdyssey of the Dragonlords for 5e, you could run it in OSR (especially 1e/2e clones) easily enough.

I've heard plenty of good things about it, and I'm open to trying it some time. As a question: it seems like its setting is specifically based on ancient Greece - plus it's trying to be compatible with mainstream D&D and its English/Germanic/Nordic archetypes.

I feel like a Sinbad / medieval Mediterranean game or campaign is distinct.

If you don't mind going for non-Earth reskins of Mediterranean nations, Warhammer Fantasy has Tilea (Italy) and Estalia (Spain) along with some other nations that exist largely south of the Empire.

Great question! I really think of Sinbad as a more swords-and-sandals, Ancient theme.

Orlando Furioso probably has more in common with the French/English stylings than you're looking for, but it's what comes to mind for Medieval - although written in the early sixteenth century - and https://www.reddit.com/r/osr/comments/nfb5co/italian_osr_appendix_n/ might be a relevant Reddit thread, suggesting https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/307020/lo-scrigno-d-avorio.

I'm not super-keen on Historica Arcanum products, but https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/metismediarpg/historica-arcanum-era-of-the-crusades-5e does Cairo & Jerusalem. Off the top of my head their other projects are later-period?

Quote from: jhkim on April 24, 2025, 02:21:20 AMI've heard plenty of good things about it, and I'm open to trying it some time. As a question: it seems like its setting is specifically based on ancient Greece - plus it's trying to be compatible with mainstream D&D and its English/Germanic/Nordic archetypes.

I feel like a Sinbad / medieval Mediterranean game or campaign is distinct.

It's based on ancient Greece especially the Aegean Sea & the myth of Odyseus. It allows D&D races by default but has full rules for Greek Myth themed PC races like Centaurs, you could easily discard the standard D&D races except humans & maybe dwarves - one of the gods is a dwarf. It's distinct from Medieval Mediterranean as it's Ancient Mediterranean. Pretty sure Sinbad was mostly in the Indian Ocean not the Mediterranean BTW.