Creating a 16th Century Philippines-inspired D&D World – Native Fauna

by goobernutsAugust 30, 2021August 31, 2021

Creating a 16th Century Philippines-inspired D&D World – Native Fauna

Since I want nature to have a significant presence in my setting, I made a long list of animals that are endemic to the Philippines along with their native names. Some of these animals are already wiped from the face of the islands, but that doesn’t mean I can’t have them in my setting. Note that I don’t have the Crocodile (Buwaya), Carabao or Tamaraw, and rodents in here because I have anthropomorphic versions of those animals as ancestries in my setting, and it feels weird to have both versions to be walking on my islands. I dunno, should I also have creature versions of those animals, too?

These beautiful creatures won’t be hostile all the time. I’ll be sure to use the Reaction Table from OSR games, so they will tend to be more neutral than friendly or hostile which sounds about right. I don’t think people and creatures that inhabit RPG worlds should be hostile all the time.

The exception for that in my setting are monsters, which come from enmity and corruption. They will have a reason to be angry; that anger is what makes them monsters, but I don’t think they should necessarily be blamed. Anyways, having a list of animals is useful for making new monsters for my players to face.

The young me who was obsessed with learning about learning about new animals had fun making this list. I also have commentary on some of the animals in the list, because I like making useful and useless comments.

A Selection of Native Creatures

The Islands have a vibrant population of fauna in its forests, mountains, caves and the Sea. Predators, prey, and everything in between.

Archerfish Ataba
Bat Paniki
Bee Bubuyog
Beetle Salagubang
Boar Baboy Ramo
Centipede Alupihan
Coelacanth Isdang Sinauna
Cone Snail Balisungsong
Crab Alimango
Dog Aso
Eagle Haribon
Elephant Gadya
Fire Ants Hantik
Firefly Alitaptap
Flying Fish Bolandor
Frog Palaka
Gecko Tuko
Grasshopper Balang
Jellyfish Dikya
Leech Linta
Leopard Cat Maral
Macaque Matsing
Mantis Shrimp Alupihang Dagat
Monitor Lizard Bayawak
Moray Eel Igat
Octopus Pugita
Owl Kuwago
Pangolin Halintong
Python Sawa
Rhinoceros Sungaykuda
Salamander Balubid
Scorpion Alakdan
Scorpionfish Alakdanisda
Sea Turtle Pawikan
Sea Urchin Tuyom
Shark Pating
Snake Ahas
Spider Gagamba
Squid Pusit
Sting Ray Pagi
Swordfish Malasugi
Tiger Musangbatuk
Turtle Pagong
Wasp Putakti
Whale Shark Butanding

Some Commentary

Bat – Remember that in the Philippines live these giant bats.

Boar – I have boars, I have a monster corruption effect called “Legion”, meaning I can do a Princess Mononoke boar horde

*watch Princess Mononoke (its on Netflix)*

Coelacanth – I read somewhere that the Philippine seas had these fish. I don’t know how true that is, but I’ll still have these weird fish. I could not find a native name for them, so I’ll just call them “ancient fish” in Tagalog.

Dog – Apparently the Philippines has this breed of dogs that that have sharper-than-normal claws and can climb up trees dubbed witch dogs. That sounds awesome.

Eagle – Fun fact about the Philippine Eagle: it’s also known as the Monkey Eating Eagle.

Elephant – Elephants and Stegodons used to walk the islands of Mindanao, but now they are extinct. I read that they came from other South East Asian islands, so I used the Malaysian or Indonesian name for them.

Leopard Cat – This was the native species of small felines that I found.

Mantis Shrimp – I love that their native name is literally “centipede of the sea”. Imagine crustaceans that have small clubs they can swing so fast it heats the water surrounding them to the temperature of the surface of the sun, rendering armor and exoskeleton useless. Now imagine them but giant.

Monitor Lizard – Big fast venomous lizard bois. Far Cry 3 taught me to just RUN when they’re around.

Octopus – What setting with a big focus on sea travel is complete without a giant octopus?

Pangolin – I used to play a flash game about a pangolin knight and I’ve loved them ever since.

Rhinoceros – Another big boye that is extinct in our islands. I couldn’t find a native name for them, so I made up my own. I learned that rhinos are actually in the same order as horses, so while it’s a bit of a reach, I latched on to that fact. I eventually came up with sungay kuda or “horned horse”, kuda being the Malaysian term for horses because our term for horses here has Spanish origins.

Dugong and Duyung – The Sea Cow and Manatee is the source of a lot of the legends about Merpeople and Sirens. Since I already have those legends as reality in my setting (some in the form of the dugong and duyung), I thought it best not to include them here.

Sting Ray – Fun fact, Filipinos believe the sting ray’s tail is an effective weapon against the bloodsucking Aswang. I’ll have a magic weapon based on this belief haha. Perhaps I should have more magic items made from animal parts?

Tiger – Another creature wiped out from our islands. First I considered Musang as its name because I remember a race of catpeople in a local TV show with this name, but I learned musang actually referred to civets. So I, being bad with thinking up names, just slapped batuk or tattoo as a suffix because y’know, they got stripes.

Whale Shark – Precious gentle giants of the Sea. Their spots are like the tars in the Sea of the Night.

Venomous Creatures – There are lots of venomous animals here. The cone snail, the centipede, the jelly fish, the octopus, the monitor lizard, the snake, the scorpion, the scorpion fish, the moray eel, the spider. It’s no wonder the ancient Filipinos loved coating their weapons in venom in war; they have so many sources of it!

Creating a 16th Century Philippines-inspired D&D World – The Creation Myth of the Islands and Ancestries

by goobernutsAugust 23, 2021August 23, 2021

I have a creation myth for my islands and the seafaring natives that live on them. I’ve been writing the setting under this concept, so it’s about time I talk about it in this blog series.

I’m a bit insecure about it, so know that this is the very first thing I wrote for this project and I’ll polish it up later on hahaha

The Creation of the Islands

Before, there was only the Sky and the Sea. Bathala, the Creator, saw a coconut floating in the vastness of the Sea from His throne in the Sky. It would not have taken root without land so Bathala sent down His familiars, the crocodile, the turtle, and the eagle. They became the three Island groups, Buwaya, Pawikan, and Haribon.

This is based on a Philippine creation myth. In that myth, a piece of bamboo floats to the shore, which was then pecked open by a bird. Out of the bamboo came the first man and woman. Apparently in other regions, coconuts replaced the bamboo element of the myth. I went with the coconut version for reasons I’ll talk about later.

I added in the bit about the creation of the islands because I’m really, really bad at thinking up names. I knew I wanted to have analogues for three island groups the Philippines has IRL, but I was lost on what to name them, or how they would even look like. Then I thought, what if there were shaped like animals? Then I wouldn’t have to think of complicated names for them. Buwaya, Pawikan, and Haribon are literally just Tagalog for Crocodile, Sea Turtle, and Eagle.

Then ideas came streaming in, like what if they were large enough to be islands because they were the creator god’s pets? Or what if the physical features of the islands pertained to the physical features of the giant familiars? The more I developed the concept, the more it became a very very neat idea.

The Creation of the Tawo

The coconut took root and soon forests covered the Islands. In time, the first coconut tree began to wilt. Bathala felt mercy for the tree and granted it a second life. And from the tree emerged the Tawo.

In elementary school, I read a legend about the coconut. I forgot how it went exactly, but what stuck with me was that all of the parts of that tree and fruit had use in the lives of the Filipino. Its juice and meat quenched and nourished, its wood was used as lumber, its husk was a floor polishing tool, etc.

Inspired by that, I wanted the ancestries of the Tawo, the people, to originate from the different parts of the coconut. You have the ~~boring~~ ~~generic~~ usual human ancestry, but I also wanted to have ancestries that came from nature.

The Tawong Kinis, or Smoothman; when born, their skin is as soft and smooth as coconut meat. Not much to say about them aside from they’re the usual human, no special weaknesses, no unique strengths.

The Tawong Ilog, or Crocodileman; they came from the bark of the Coconut tree. Tough scales, powerful jaws, swimming, you know the drill. Ancient Filipinos lived alongside the crocodiles in the rivers. Like, if someone was eaten by crocodiles, they believed it was punishment for some sin. This was also one of the ancestries I’ve always wanted to have since starting this project. Who wouldn’t wanna be a crocodileman in an RPG?

The Tawong Balahibo, or Ratman; they came from the fibers of the coconut husk. Fuzzy, sneaky, and tiny. I admit, this is the ancestry that makes the least sense to have in a village situation, but take a look at the Northern Luzon Cloud Rat and tell me you would not want to be an adorable fuzzy ratman. Also, there’s so many species of rodents on the Philippine islands that it’s hard to ignore their presence.

The Tawong Sungay, or Carabaoman; they came from the branches that hold the coconut fruits. Hardworking and earnest. I took some liberties to have the Carabaoman in my setting. According to some books, Filipinos of the 16^th century did not have beasts of burden; all farming was done by themselves. I decided to have carabaomen anyways because it felt wrong not to have them.

The Tawong Puno, or Treeman; they came from the palms and leaves of the coconut tree. Their form is like the coconut tree that they came from the most, so I wrote that they have traces of creation magic flowing in them. Apparently, ancient Filipinos were careful not to unnecessarily cut down or uproot trees and plants in building their houses, so you could say trees are also a big part of villages.

Having a creation myth for the ancestries is sort of limiting. Like if I want to have other ancestries, they would have to fit in the myth. But at the same time, I like the coherence it gives to my setting.

The Nature of the Tawo

Though from the same tree, the Tawo were greedy and bloodthirsty, and they always fought amongst themselves. They separated into different tribes called Barangay; some stayed along the Sea and rivers, some retreated to the mountains, and others found other islands to call home.
For ages, the Tawo sought each other out and stole and killed. Ships were sailed in raids and in defense. Lives were a commodity as valuable as gold.

I might have fuzzy ratmen and magical treemen in my setting, but I still want to stay true to the prevailing culture of the 16^th century Philippines, which is one of constant war and bloodshed. Tribes raided other tribes for gold and manpower.

Not that players have to be forced onto this path, but it does set the tone for what campaign will be run in this setting.

This is only half of the myth I wrote up, but I went on for too long about the Tawo. Perhaps I’ll do a part 2 of this.

Creating a 16th Century Philippines-inspired D&D World – Tools/Gear/Equipment List and Flavoring the Economy

by goobernutsAugust 16, 2021August 16, 2021

I made an equipment list! Check out a previous post for the weapons in this setting. I’m mainly using the prices in Ben Milton’s Knave (but also sometimes arbitrary) which uses a copper coin standard, and also The Black Hack’s Usage Dice mechanic because I find it nifty. Weights are minor, regular or heavy (an idea from Whitehack and Knave). I’m mixing up a lot of mechanics from different books, but even if you don’t use those, the list itself should be interesting enough to someone curious about the ancient Philippines.

But first, the economy and mediums of trade. While you could probably use the usual gold, silver, and copper currency in a 16^th century Philippines-inspired world, but ancient Filipinos mostly used to barter than exchange currencies. So I settled on gold rings, blocks of salt, and dakot of rice.

Ancient Filipinos used gold powder and rings to trade, but gold rings are easier to get a feel of so I went with that. Salt and uncooked rice were also very valuable. Salt back then was in the form of lumps that were scraped or stirred into food, made by making some lye and saltwater mixture (if I understood correctly) and pouring into small, boat-shaped moulds. I’m just calling them salt blocks for ease. Dakot is a measurement for rice that I’m not really sure was used in the 16^th century, so I’m taking liberties here. I didn’t specify exact measurements because that doesn’t really matter if you use item slots.

Mechanically, I’ll be running these in my game like they’re the usual gold/silver/copper because I’m not numbers-savvy and history-savvy enough to make exact values of these things. Haha, sorry.

I will describe some of the equipment and gear after the list itself. Without further ado, below is the equipment table. Also, here is the link to table in google sheets: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zoptJ7YdmtLW75tfSxE2UXGXqjXyowDkPB41XiErQcI/edit?usp=sharing

Description of Some Items

Axe – I didn’t catch in my book if there was an actual axe tool (aside from a headhunting weapon), but I did catch that blacksmiths made large, woodcutting bolos so I went with that.

Adventuring Gear– I like the concept of adventuring gear from Dungeon World (basically for players that tend to forget to buy specific stuff or replenish supplies), so I have them here too. Sari-sari means something like “an assortment”.

Bag, Bamboo Carrying Basket, Knapsack – these are what’s used to carry stuff in my setting. The bayong is a handheld bag and the kupit worn on your back, both made of weaved dried leaves. The bangkat is an open basket storage worn on the back, made for collecting bamboo but I imagine you can also fit other stuff in there.

Bamboo – I have a bunch of bamboo stuff in there because it’s an extremely useful thing. Need a 10’ pole for probing traps? You get bamboo. Need to store water? Chop off a bamboo section and fill that with water. Hell, the ancestors even used bamboo to cook certain foods! Need a scroll to inscribe spells onto? Apparently, ancient Filipinos carved characters for magical formulas on pieces of bamboo. Need a trap? Dig a pit and sharpen some bamboo and you got yourself one. Bamboo, a must-have tool for every adventurer.

Box of Betel Nuts – the ancestors loved chewing betel nuts so much that it stained their teeth dark red. Offering betel nuts was also an important for socializing, so much so that offering it partially chewed was an act of flirtation

Caltrops – I can’t imagine ancient Filipinos would spend precious iron for spikes mean for just throwing away, but I think fishbones and plant thorns would do the same trick.

Crossbow Trap – ancient Filipinos didn’t have crossbows meants to be used as a weapon, rather then set up a lot of of these crossbow traps in a line, in different heights. They were powerful enough to drive a shaft clean through a boar’s body.

Drums – it’s something like a bongo drum.

Engraved Boar Tusks – ancient Filipinos threw boar tusks and crocodile teeth like lots as part of divination rituals. I included it here as part of a homebrew rule I’m workshopping where you can invoke the gods to hopefully get a bonus for something, or a penalty if you’re unlucky.

Rattan Ball – not necessarily a useful item but it’s used for a game of sipa or sepak takraw.

Hunting Net – meant to be set up beforehand, after which hunters and their dogs will lead game into it.

Top – another toy, because why not?

Creating a 16th Century Philippines-inspired D&D World – Natives of the Sea and Foreigners of the Islands

by goobernutsAugust 9, 2021August 9, 2021

I planned to make a separate post for the foreigners and colonizers of the islands, but I wrote about mermen just last week. Mermen stuff would be too short to be its own post, so I’m bundling them together for this post.

Bantay Dagat

Bantay Dagat is translated to protectors of the sea. I had some difficulty characterizing this group of natives in my setting. At first, I wrote them as antagonistic towards natives of the land, but that didn’t feel quite right. My mistake was not referring to my Philippine Folk Literature books first. Seriously, those books are lifesavers.

There’s a story about the wife of an abusive man becoming a manatee and finding a better life in the sea. There’s a story about a child who stayed in the mansion of a merman for a few days before coming back with wealth.

So the theme I found connecting some of the legends I read was escapism. Life is better in the deep waters. There are grand, golden mansions, servants at your beck and call, and endless riches. All you need to do is to leave your life behind and dive.

The Duyung are like your classic sirens and mermaids; half-human half-fish enchanters that pull you towards the abyss. I mixed it with the ancient Visayan belief that the souls of those who died at sea stay there. Their souls are turned into these creatures with childlike innocence. They retain fragments of their former lives, so they are curious about the natives of the land. Too curious, perhaps, that they pull sailors into the water to take a better look at them.

The Kataw are those who dive into the Sea to escape their lives and situations on the land. They enter into the service of Alimugkat, Diwata of the Sea. Being warriors tasked to protect the sea and considering they don’t have very nice memories of people on the islands in the first place, their encounters with them are less that friendly. They more or less keep their human forms, but added gills and the power to control water. That’s right, they’re freaking waterbenders.

Samot

Samot is a general term for foreigners that ancient Filipinos used. Though there are specific terms for specific groups of people (for example, the Chinese), I will just be using Samot for simplicity’s sake.

The ancient Filipinos traded heavily with its neighboring nations (Southeast Asian, China, Japan, etc) so foreign trade ships are not an uncommon sight. But with trade also comes piracy, meaning not all Samot are very friendly.

For the sake of further simplification, not taking away the spotlight from the Philippines, and just so I don’t have to think of names for each foreign nation, I classified Samot into two.

Southern Samot are people from the Southeast Asian analogue of the setting. They are similar, but not entirely the same culture as the natives of the islands.

Northern Samot are people from the equivalent of China and Japan in the setting. I imagine that for the ancient Filipinos, who were always surrounded by the sea, China’s vast land area must has felt endless. From here is also where they bought guns and gunpowder from, technologies developed from endless wars to control this endless land.

Sun Priests

The Sun Priests are the colonizers of the islands, my analogue for the Spanish colonization. The colonizers cut through Pacific Ocean, an immensely vast distance at the time. They came from the East, from where the Sun rises. I thought, in a fantasy setting, these feats could be grounds for deification. Definitely not saying this is what happened historically, this is just me planting my own imagination.

And the more I themed the colonizers for my islands with the Sun, the more it made sense. The Spaniards used Christianity to rule over the natives of the Philippines. In my setting, the Sun Priests used The Light of the Sun. It protects and separates the saved from the unbelievers. Those subjugated by the Sun Priests are put to endless labor to sate the Sun’s endless hunger.

The unbelievers will face The Fire of the Sun. It’s what I used to call the bombing of villages with ship cannons and the lines of muskets that kill anything in front of them. Musketeers, mounted knights, and Priests who harness the power of fire make up the forces of the Sun Priests.

Creating a 16th Century Philippines-inspired D&D World – Geographic and Oceanic Features (Part 2)

by goobernutsAugust 2, 2021August 2, 2021

It’s been a while since I wrote the first part where I talked about the overland or surface of my setting, but now I’m back for the underworld and the sea. It took a while to figure out.

The Underworld

Caverns and tunnels are a staple of Dungeons & Dragons, especially in OSR, so it’s a must-have. The impression I had while reading about 16^th Century Filipino culture is that caves are generally associated with death. A belief in Visayas tells that the entrance to the underworld is a deep cave known as Lalangban. It echoes a loud noise, like the slamming of a door, when a datu died. Caves were also used as burial sites when available.

I leaned towards those kinds of beliefs of the afterlife, above all else. Caves and the underground are where spirits stay. The gold they wear at their burial eventually reintegrated back into ore.

But caves aren’t just places of death. Life also thrives within. Many beasts and creatures treat these places like nighttime shelters. Even deeper within, there are creatures who never leave because they have complete ecosystems in these depths. This duality of these domains are like the duality of Diwata and Yawa, so it makes some sort of sense in the setting, maybe.

Volcanic caves are a special kind of cave that occur near volcanoes, which the Philippines has many of. I’ve already associated Volcanoes with Minokawa, the Sun Eater eagle, so it’s easier to characterize. These caves burn with the deadly heat of lava and are inhabited by Anakminokawa, children of the Sun Eater.

Underground Rivers are another special kind of cave. It’s a river that flows under a cavern; that alone makes it very interesting to explore. A god in Visayan myth, Magwayen, ferries the souls of the dead to the underworld from the sea or rivers, so underground rivers being something like an entrance to the underworld or spirit hotspot is not a difficult connection to make.

The Sea

For a while now, I knew the Sea (and rivers) had to be something significant in my setting. Water had such importance in the ancestors’ lives. They settled near rivers and seas. They are provided with water to drink and fish to eat. They used the waters as roads, using boats to get everywhere. Water connected life. Water is life.

But the sea also doles out death. Drowning is a common occurrence. The Philippines is visited by typhoons more than any other nation, and with these typhoons, the rivers and seas swell up and deal destruction. Sea raiding being the preferred method of war means that the sea is the grave to countless men. It gives life and death. Another duality.

The Sea Bed covers most of the terrain of the sea. Basically the plains of the Sea, but there are some mountains and hills and what not, too.

Coral Reefs are home to not just sea creatures, but also Bantay Dagat (or Bantay Tubig), mermen. Legends say they have mansions of gold and jewels and all that jazz, but I wonder where they got those metals from. I lean towards their castles being made of corals and pearls, because they might as well flaunt their own natural resources.

Sea Trenches are the deepest points of the sea. Our very own Philippine Trench is the second deepest point in any ocean. I don’t know if the ancestors had legends about this part of the sea. It’s likely they never even knew about its existence, so I’m planting my own. The winding trench in the sea was made by Bakunawa, the serpentine Moon Eater, as he slithered and dug out a place to sleep. It’s home to the strangest sea creatures, living in complete darkness, and Anakbakunawa, children of the Moon Eater.

Goobernuts' Blog

Month: August 2021

Creating a 16th Century Philippines-inspired D&D World – Native Fauna