Aztec Society

[Thelonius monk]

Hey, so I'm working on a campaign based on the discovery of the Americas, and the main antagonist society present is going to be based off of the Aztecs. I have a few ideas (currently using lizardfolk for the tribe) such as lots of sacrifice and extreme devotion to the deities, but I want to know what you guys think would be good for this setting.

Thanks.

[Gildedragon]

Trade. Lots of it. People came from all over mesoamerica to Tenochtitlan, with trade ranging from the Amazon basin to the United States' Southwest.
Tenochtitlan was one of the world's Greatest Cities in terms of population.
As such go for many races trading many goods and neighborhoods.

Suntuary laws up the wazoo

Some bronze, but not much.

No pack animals or animals related to them: no pegasi or unicorns or suchlike... Though one could imagine magebred dogs and the like to be popular for pulling things along

Baths. Seriously. A lot of emphasis on personal hygiene.

Awe at the ruins of those that came before. The Aztecs regarded ruins such as Mitla and Teotihuacan as strange and powerful places.

Geometer-style density in spellbooks/spell codices being the norm
...
Actually from what we know of priestly training: Archivists/Cloistered Clerics are probably the way to go for most priestly sorts...

vampires running about as a common enemy of the people

Political intrigue. Lots of it.

Also note that human sacrifice is a bit... Overhyped. At the smaller neighborhood temples of tutelary deities that probably didn't happen that often. Heck even at the big temples it was a Big Deal. Food offerings. Cords with bits of blood of the Most Devout. Art Objects. Libations. Flowers (lots of those).

[Zakerst]

So if you're set on making the lizard folk the BBEGs maybe look at warhammer fantasy for some inspiration on military formations.

Use obsedean weapons (OA)
Use poisons.
Look to the MM for appropriate monsters coatls in particular stick out in memory.
Read some mythology from the area.
Remember sacrificing beings to evil gods can get you boons (BoVD)
Just because you're an evil god doesn't mean you can't be nice to your chosen people.
Just because tech is "primitive" doesn't mean society is and engineering in particular can be impressive considering for the most part working without hard metals.
Alchemical gold is another good weapon material (makes heavy weapons can't recall the book off hand)
Rivers can be just as dangerous as any other body of water.
Lots of clerics favored souls and even variant paladins can make for powerful enemies.
Weather weather weather. Seriously tropical storms floods landslides and others can all be important. After all climbing stone steps is one thing climbing them wet is another.
Serpent kingdoms may have some interesting bits for you.
Take them alive! As a plot thread have an ambush or open fight where instead of using the obsedian edge they use the flat clubby bit to knock out a PC or important person to take for a sacrifice (you get bonus points if they are a cleric devoted to an opposed diety)
Nets they're just fun and under used and good for the above and can make even non mages dangerous particularly with how long some more amphibious kinds of lizardfolk can hold their breath, dragging someone into the water can spell doom if they're not saved.
The mob pseudo template can be useful for larger engaments.
Wild magic zones could be fun.
Remember to refluff as you see fit and add templates.

[Bullet06320]

look for 2nd edition box set maztica, and the 3 associated adventures and novels. its the forgotten realms equilivent of the Aztec

and heres some good home brew on candle keep for 3rd and 5th edition
http://forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=19368