Hello again! I recently posted about plans for a Campaign Guide and Kickstarter campaign. Following up on that, I'm planning to post a number of questions concerning our content. We're looking forward to seeing what other GMs, players, and designers might want to see from our product-in-progress!
Perhaps what distinguishes "The Ages of Allu" most of all is our intent to distance ourselves from European Medieval and Tolkein-inspired fantasy. Instead, we hope to draw inspiration from Greek, Roman, and East Indian culture and mythology -- with an admitted bias towards Western pop-culture interpretations of those myths.
If you are a scholar or fan of Greco-Roman or Hindu mythologies (or even just have a casual interest in them), please help us shape the world and its inhabitants!
- What races from those worlds are your favorites?
- Which ones would you like to try out as playable races?
- What creatures, heroes, or gods would you like to see play major roles in a new campaign setting?
Thanks for your feedback! Our project is still in its early stages, but if you're keen to learn more, swing by agesofallu.com (under construction)!
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I am personally very fond of Vanaras. I also like Fauns and Dryads (and their South Asian counterparts, Apsaras and Gandharvas.
A 1/2 or 1/3 CR version of the last four don't exist in games yet.
Creatures: Asuras. Titans.
Heroes: Ulysses, Sindbad, Circe.
Gods: Kali (a nuanced version), Shiva (same), Hermes-Thoth.
Satyrs, Centaurs, Amazons, and Sirens would be the obvious ones
Thanks, everybody! These are great suggestions!
The Titans will definitely loom large in Allu's cosmology, along with most of the other Greek races mentioned.
I'm also a big fan of rakshasas and nagas. They won't be playable races, but vanaras and vishkanyas will be.
@ShadowcatX: I was just reading reviews on the SGG guide! They sound perfect for our First Age. Thanks!
Also, when I said fates, I think I actually meant the furies.
That makes a bit more sense, since I've always associated the Fates more with Norse mythology. The Ancient Greeks had their own version (called the Moirai, I think?), but I suspect that "fate" is going to be a knotty enough concept in Allu without anthropomorphizing it.
Then let me elaborate, and hopefully our setting will sound even more awesome as a result.
In Allu, all the gods are Fates, in the sense that they are all engaged in weaving a cosmic tapestry. Souls are threads, anchored to the weave at the points of their birth and death...unless you are one of the Freefolk, in which case your death is untethered, and your fate becomes your own.
Some (chaotic) gods support the endeavors of Freefolk, believing that the tapestry will be improved by their actions. But plenty of other gods are more concerned with ensuring their vision of the tapestry perseveres. That's why meeting a god (which happens more often in Allu than in most worlds) usually involves some sort of bargaining -- an agreement regarding the hero's destiny, or a request to provide that god with other souls in exchange for their own free doom.