Episode 33 Adventuring in the Past: Americas

Adventuring in the 5th to 11th centuries:  Americas This week John Reiher takes us on a tour of ancient americas.  Mayans and Mixtecs and Mound Builders, Oh my! 1:49: Exploring the New World 5th to 11th Centuries 2:03: The Mound Builders. 2:27: The Anasazi. 3:00: The Mound Builders: What we know about them. 4:00: The Mayans: the Classic period. They lived in city states, ruled by a God king. 5:02: Combat with the Meso American peoples: Combat is for the taking of prisoners. 5:45: Your place in Mayan society. 6:00: Where to find more information about the Mayan. Wikipedia, Books, lots of them! 6:35: Mayans are not peace loving mathematician astronomers. 6:56: They developed their own writing system. 7:18: Nova: Cracking the Mayan code. 8:39: Dropping a Mellor into a Mayan society. It's a smorgasbord! 10:11: Mayan God Kings were the head of a personality cult. This may have helped lead to the collapse of their cities. 10:43: The Mayans are still living in the Yucatan today. 11:36: Missionaries converted the heathens. Christianity co-ops the local traditions. 13:23: The Mayan state was a caste system. 14:00: How to work the caste system. 14:10: Dealing with the legend of Kukulcan, Queztacoatl. Mayan religion in general. 15:19: The Mayan culture is the culture of personal sacrifice. 15:47: The Mayans were into all kinds of drugs. 16:47:  Trepanning for fun and profit. 18:09: Skull shaping by the Mayan. 18:28: Corn came from Southern North America or Central America. 19:12: Trade in Mayan Society. 19:48: No beasts of burden to provide labor. Guns, Germs, and Steel – [Fringeworthy GM’s read this book!] 20:26: Mayans had a very efficient agriculture that was did in by drought. 20:52: Mixtecs and Chichimecs invaded the Yucatan. 21:45: What kind of adventure to run in the Amazon. 22:04: Massive cultures in the Amazon that were wiped out by plague. 23:23: Most fertile soil in the world: Terra preta. 23:52: They would be friendly to foreigners. 24:22: Watch your step in the Mayans cities. 25:37: No Incas, but the Tiahuanaco built massive structures in the Andes. Tiwanaku – Pre-Incan Peruvians. 25:58: Chariots of the Clods. 27:02: Ancient Astronauts exist on some worlds. 27:18: The Nasca lines are being drawn. What were they for? Paths. 28:40: Having your PCs run into a Mayan raid on another Mayan city. 29:32: The different terrains that the Mayan lived in and their roads. 31:00: Fighting folks with obsidian swords. 32:01: Gas them with CS if you have the choice. 32:44: Flying over the Mayans. 33:36: Cortez didn't play by the rules.