Post by David on Jul 21, 2005 11:15:11 GMT -5
As many of the Thursday night crowd now, we're playing an Arabian-style campaign. The setting is Zakhara, the Land of Fate. Pretty much everything from all of the Arabian Adventures books and modules is fair game, although there are a few exceptions and alterations which I'd like to elucidate, below:
* there are NO elves, orcs, hobbits, leprechauns, pixies, etc in Zakhara. If there are dwarves, they're VERY rare (in other words, I'm still trying to decide). The only known non-human races are al karak elam (rare), centaur (uncommon), crat/naamar (very rare), gnome (rare), half-dryad (very rare and called half-ashira), half-jinn (very rare), half-ogre (rare), lizard men (rare and swamps ONLY), merfolk (uncommon), minotaur (rare and thought to be evil), although even these are all much rarer than in the West. Wendi Pini's Rayek, Savah, and Sun-Toucher were cool, but they don't fit in very well to a true Arabian setting. Figure that 99% of the population is pure human, with the frequencies for all non-humans as very rare. The frequencies I've listed are just for people to have ever SEEN the indicated non-human, assuming you're in a major port city. Given all of that, the Law of the Loregiver is very cosmopolitan and as a result, non-humans who are obviously enlightened are just as welcome as enlightened humans to MOST believers.
* the Arabian gods have spheres and clerics just like everyone else, although factors such as law and chaos, good and evil are not strong cultural values, so long as a person keeps to their god's core teachings. I've written the faiths all out and I will post the details later. For now, Zakharan clerics will worship Kor, Hajama, Najm, Selan, Jisan, Haku, Hakiyah, Zann (with mosques found everywhere) or possibly Jauhar, Vataqatal, or Bala (mosques tend to be localized). There are also two composite cleric-faiths: the Pantheon and the Mosque of 10,000 faces.
Clerics of the Pantheon worship ALL five of the gods of the Pantheon political entity (Kor, Hajama, Najm, Selan, and Jauhar) and have access to most of their deities' spheres. This is basically a socio-political attempt to create valid pseudo-monotheism in a Dnd universe. Clerics who worship the gods of the Pantheon as a collective group of deities are found all across Zakhara, although they are most common in the city-states of the Pantheon (here meant as a theocratic/political group). The worship of Jauhar as an independant goddess is found only in the Pantheon city-states; she has no mosques elsewhere and has almost no specialized clergy at all. This causes friction with worshippers of Jisan of the Floods, the goddess who takes Jauhar's place in most regions. As a result, THESE clerics, clerics of the five Pantheon gods, are allowed to be Pragmatists, Ethoists, and Moralists, but NO OTHER clerics may be. These clerics also have some other drawbacks, to be spelled out on request.
The clerics of the Mosque of 10,000 Faces have minor access to nearly every sphere, but gain only 5th+ level spells from the All sphere and suffer other defects. They are all effectively pragmatists.
I'm not planning on adding any more local gods at this time, although unenlightened temples are found in the Northern Free Cities. Anywhere else, worshipping an unenlightened god is a good way to get shanghaied by slavers, thus there are no foreign temples in other regions.
* the southern cities have much stronger ties to the Far East. Beyond the ruins of Nog and Kadar lie the cultures of India and pockets of Babylon/Messopotamia and further East is Kara-Tur (China, Japan, Korea, Tibet, etc). The northern cities have stronger ties to Neregan (Egypt) and even some minor trade with Fridgia (Viking lands). All ports in the north and west have strong contacts with Eastern Medegia (the Greek isles and Crete). The main language is Mindani (Arabic) spoken universally and held "pure" by the desert peoples, although in the South there is a dialect used almost exclusively among the port cities. This language, called Archipelican, is nearly the same as Mindani, albeit with slight shifts in pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary (think Spanish and Italian), largely taken from contact with the fallen civilizations of Nog and Kadar, as well as contact with Indus and Nihon.
* platinum is NOT a valuable metal. Pearls are much more common than in the West. Trade goods from other lands are more plentiful than in the Flanese. Potions and scrolls are much more commonly found for sale, as are minor magical baubles, although permanent magic items are almost never sold. Because of the more common contact with various genies, wish items are also more common, although many have drawbacks. Trade is a MAJOR focus of wealth-acquisition with very large and densely-populated urban centers. More cultural info to follow (in other words, it's by the book).
Other than this, my Zakhara is just like TSR's Land of Fate. I'll post some more general cultural information in the future. Keep in mind, because of the mercantile and "cross-roads" nature of the region, PCs from a wider variety of cultures are more commonly found than in the West. Naturally, most frequent are native Zakharans (Arabs), but it is not unusual to meet a Medegian (Greek), Thymescrian (Amazon), or Nereganti (Egyptian). Also seen in larger trade cities are Babylonians, Hepmonalanders (Sub-Saharan Africans), Hindus, People from Nog/Kadar (Thais), or even Shou Lung (Chinese) or Nihon'jin (Japanese) or Frigians (Vikings).
* there are NO elves, orcs, hobbits, leprechauns, pixies, etc in Zakhara. If there are dwarves, they're VERY rare (in other words, I'm still trying to decide). The only known non-human races are al karak elam (rare), centaur (uncommon), crat/naamar (very rare), gnome (rare), half-dryad (very rare and called half-ashira), half-jinn (very rare), half-ogre (rare), lizard men (rare and swamps ONLY), merfolk (uncommon), minotaur (rare and thought to be evil), although even these are all much rarer than in the West. Wendi Pini's Rayek, Savah, and Sun-Toucher were cool, but they don't fit in very well to a true Arabian setting. Figure that 99% of the population is pure human, with the frequencies for all non-humans as very rare. The frequencies I've listed are just for people to have ever SEEN the indicated non-human, assuming you're in a major port city. Given all of that, the Law of the Loregiver is very cosmopolitan and as a result, non-humans who are obviously enlightened are just as welcome as enlightened humans to MOST believers.
* the Arabian gods have spheres and clerics just like everyone else, although factors such as law and chaos, good and evil are not strong cultural values, so long as a person keeps to their god's core teachings. I've written the faiths all out and I will post the details later. For now, Zakharan clerics will worship Kor, Hajama, Najm, Selan, Jisan, Haku, Hakiyah, Zann (with mosques found everywhere) or possibly Jauhar, Vataqatal, or Bala (mosques tend to be localized). There are also two composite cleric-faiths: the Pantheon and the Mosque of 10,000 faces.
Clerics of the Pantheon worship ALL five of the gods of the Pantheon political entity (Kor, Hajama, Najm, Selan, and Jauhar) and have access to most of their deities' spheres. This is basically a socio-political attempt to create valid pseudo-monotheism in a Dnd universe. Clerics who worship the gods of the Pantheon as a collective group of deities are found all across Zakhara, although they are most common in the city-states of the Pantheon (here meant as a theocratic/political group). The worship of Jauhar as an independant goddess is found only in the Pantheon city-states; she has no mosques elsewhere and has almost no specialized clergy at all. This causes friction with worshippers of Jisan of the Floods, the goddess who takes Jauhar's place in most regions. As a result, THESE clerics, clerics of the five Pantheon gods, are allowed to be Pragmatists, Ethoists, and Moralists, but NO OTHER clerics may be. These clerics also have some other drawbacks, to be spelled out on request.
The clerics of the Mosque of 10,000 Faces have minor access to nearly every sphere, but gain only 5th+ level spells from the All sphere and suffer other defects. They are all effectively pragmatists.
I'm not planning on adding any more local gods at this time, although unenlightened temples are found in the Northern Free Cities. Anywhere else, worshipping an unenlightened god is a good way to get shanghaied by slavers, thus there are no foreign temples in other regions.
* the southern cities have much stronger ties to the Far East. Beyond the ruins of Nog and Kadar lie the cultures of India and pockets of Babylon/Messopotamia and further East is Kara-Tur (China, Japan, Korea, Tibet, etc). The northern cities have stronger ties to Neregan (Egypt) and even some minor trade with Fridgia (Viking lands). All ports in the north and west have strong contacts with Eastern Medegia (the Greek isles and Crete). The main language is Mindani (Arabic) spoken universally and held "pure" by the desert peoples, although in the South there is a dialect used almost exclusively among the port cities. This language, called Archipelican, is nearly the same as Mindani, albeit with slight shifts in pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary (think Spanish and Italian), largely taken from contact with the fallen civilizations of Nog and Kadar, as well as contact with Indus and Nihon.
* platinum is NOT a valuable metal. Pearls are much more common than in the West. Trade goods from other lands are more plentiful than in the Flanese. Potions and scrolls are much more commonly found for sale, as are minor magical baubles, although permanent magic items are almost never sold. Because of the more common contact with various genies, wish items are also more common, although many have drawbacks. Trade is a MAJOR focus of wealth-acquisition with very large and densely-populated urban centers. More cultural info to follow (in other words, it's by the book).
Other than this, my Zakhara is just like TSR's Land of Fate. I'll post some more general cultural information in the future. Keep in mind, because of the mercantile and "cross-roads" nature of the region, PCs from a wider variety of cultures are more commonly found than in the West. Naturally, most frequent are native Zakharans (Arabs), but it is not unusual to meet a Medegian (Greek), Thymescrian (Amazon), or Nereganti (Egyptian). Also seen in larger trade cities are Babylonians, Hepmonalanders (Sub-Saharan Africans), Hindus, People from Nog/Kadar (Thais), or even Shou Lung (Chinese) or Nihon'jin (Japanese) or Frigians (Vikings).