There a LOT of other cultures on Earth with interesting folklores to explore... personally I've got a growing interest in Hindu mythology... it's wild and colorful and passionate and chock-full-of-flavour.
My own fantasy campaign, going way back, is and eclectic mishmash set on 'the planet with a thousand names'...
There are several distinct human cultures...
A few different groups of large centipede/grub like creatures...
Airborn nuedebranch/jellyfish that enslave/partner with the smaller cousins of the centipedes...
and lots of 'magic' created object-spirit-creatures (such as horseless chariots that are sculpted to look like demons and birds or baroque metal jars that can be ridden through the sky)...
and mutants spawned in a huge 'magic' disaster.
None are just elves/dwarves/orcs under different colors...
Other games I've played have been set in much stranger places... and then there is the whole 'urban fantasy' thing too... stuff like Hellboy and Beauty And The Beast (the tv show) and Buffy the Vampire Slayer...
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