My original conception for the campaign setting was "Fantasy F*cking Vietnam" set in a fantasy version of Vietnam in 1945, on the eve of the First Indochine War. Doesn't get much more grim and gritty than that. Plus, by using the First Indochine War as the backdrop, rather than the Second Indochine War (which is called the Vietnam War by the US), I could set up and subvert my players' expectations at various points.
However, upon further thought, I realized that when the party wasn't olde school dungeoneering, they'd be facing the whole host of issues from being in colonial Vietnam, flying in the face of the lighthearted humor of our gaming group. Alternately, as Dungeon Master, I could whitewash or ignore such issues, but that didn't seem right to me. I do think that Vietnam is an interesting place, with a rich history. Moreover, jungle settings are a staple of Swords & Sorcery, so I decided to keep the location but went with something much simpler:
It's 350 AD and southern Vietnam has been overrun by monsters. Unfortunately, the Vietnamese Emperor has even more pressing issues, so he's put out a call for foreign mercenaries to help keep control of the region until the army is deployed. Answering the call, the characters are Gauls from the Roman Empire (one of Fantasy Vietnam's most important trading partners).
As you can see from the above, I'm clearly not aiming for 100% historical accuracy! Rather, I wanted something vaguely familiar to the players but to also have creative freedom to mix-and-match as desired, as well as satisfy my own taste for the slightly gonzo. For example, the head of the Adventurers' Guild is the Marquis de Picard:
Next up: Dramatis personæ!
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