Dungeons & Dragons: The Islands of Sina Una introduces players to the world of mythical pre-colonial Philippines

The widely popular tabletop game, Dungeons & Dragons introduced a new setting, The Islands of Sina Una, inspired by pre-colonial Filipino mythology. It was researched and designed by a team of Filipino writers, researchers, and artists led by Lucia Versprille and Joshue Mendenhall. Their goals were to diversify this tabletop game that has a largely Western focus and sharing Filipino mythology to the world through the characters and even a sourcebook with carefully researched myths, legends, and folktales with aims of being a learning resource for audiences, even relevant to outside of the game. The characters include various gods, goddesses, and creatures that may be familiar to Filipinos who may have grown up hearing stories from their childhood but also new discoveries. 

The team also took this opportunity as a creative way to learn more about their Filipino heritage and culture, especially from a time prior to colonial history. They hope that Filipinos who play the game also experience this excitement to learn more about their heritage and culture. Sina Una translates to “those who came first”, acknowledging native Filipinos from whom these stories originated.

Creating the Sina Una world was a creative endeavor to decenter Western narratives in this medium and make way for Filipinos to learn more about the rich pre-colonial history that was largely erased due to colonization. While this is the case, I think it is also important to acknowledge that while this is a way to share and learn about pre-colonial Philippine history, this media is a form of commercializing culture and especially of indigenous histories and culture. The team states they did careful research and that the name is an homage to the indigenous peoples of the Philippines, but I believe perhaps they should consider donating profits to directly support indigenous Filipinos who continue to organize and fight for their land and rights.

Sources:

https://philstarlife.com/geeky/925863-play-in-mythical-pre-colonial-phil…

https://www.scoutmag.ph/69876/the-islands-of-sina-una-dungeons-and-dragons/