Advice for Middle-East themed campaign

[RJ Dalton 89]

The campaign I'm currently running is about to wrap up, probably in the next two sessions, maybe three. Afterward, I want to start up a campaign set in a sort of Arabic/Persian themed setting.
I want it to be a sort of low-magaic setting. Well, not exactly. Wizards are almost non-existent, but there are sorcerers (uncommon, but not rare and limited to a specific set of bloodlines), but the techniques for magic magic items have been lost, so magic items are rare and usually passed down through important families, or found in ancient ruins by chance (I want the finding of actual magic items to have the same kind of impact as finding the Ring of Power did in the hobbit, as in they are game changers). Potions can still be made and there are alchemists.
On the other hand, there are minor magic rituals that can be performed by anyone, which have more expensive components and take more time to cast than spells (though none of these rituals can duplicate spells that require save DCs, with only a few exceptions, which require the victim to be helpless first), and you have to learn them either from books (which are kept in the libraries of governments or noble families and most people are illiterate anyway), or must be taught by someone who knows them (some rituals are passed down through family lines). These usually duplicate effects like Bless, or Bull's Strength, or Magic Weapon, or similar spells like that. I'm still working that out, but I've got a couple of weeks and I've already worked out the rules for it, so that shouldn't be too hard (besides, as the DM, I have complete control over what rituals the players will ever have access to anyway).

I was going to ask about spell-less ranger variants, except as soon as I thought about it, I'm like, "wait, why don't I check the PFSRD?" And there it is. So, I don't need that anymore.

So I guess all that remains is the question: does anybody have a list of monsters from the bestiaries that are based on Arabic, Persian, or Zoroastrian mythology? I know some obvious ones, like the sphinx, the manticore and genies, and I can change some of the stats on a couple of giants to make them suitable for Arabic monsters. But are there others? Paizo's been really good about including monsters from various real-world mythologies into the bestiaries (it's my favorite set of monster manuals so far and I'm going to buy the remaining two as soon as I have enough money not already earmarked for school), so I expect there are, but as I have to use the SRD to dig up monsters, finding them is difficult without a list. Is there one?

[lemeres]

Well, div are going to be an obvious choice for enemies. They are corrupt genies, ostensibly, I seem to remember that they are genies that felt scorned by the relationship with mortals.

That distinguishes them from other evil outsiders- they are more focused in their enjoyment of spite and hate. Oh, their relationship with other genies is not good either...but they have far less of an opinion about most of the great beyond and such (where demons would love to have a tied up angel, or a devil might gloat over a beaten azata). They just hate mortals specifically. At least, if I remember right for this.

Lets see...quick search for persian monsters...rocs, manticores, ghouls, peri (mixed morality angels; maybe an aasimar or two since there is a whole bloodline written out for them? Bad relationship with divs- plot point?).... Yeah, you can gather enough to make a nice basic bestiary. And that is just creatures that seem specifically Persian- remember, there was a lot of trade between the Middle East and Greece in the ancient world, so there is some obvious bleed over (I think griffons are an example of that?)

Also remember- Apsu and Tiamat originate from legends of that area...so...maybe dragons? Or maybe a cult that worships the now gone/absent dragons? It is a good enough excuse to throw in some nut trying to become a half dragon.

The demonic lord Nurgal seems somewhat based off of the Mesopotamian god Nergal, and he is always an interesting figure (evil sun god; fear of the sun in a desert land). Maybe some cultists for him with demonic obedience for a powerful villain? I know, his obedience has flashy fire spells that might be a bit too magic for your tastes...but the obedience feats do seem like they are in line with the magic mechanics in your setting...and having a big dumb blaster after seeing only subtle magics so far can be a nice change of pace

[OldSmith]

the undead...mummies, zombies etc should fit in nicely

[RJ Dalton 89]

Oh, the divs are neat. I'll probably make use of that. Aasimar and Teifling are also playable races, as well as the genasi from Forgotten Realms (although I'm calling them Genie-blooded, and also making some modifications to their stats).

A world detail for this is that the dragons are an ancient race (millions of years old, existing alongside dinosaurs), but they've gone dormant, with all of the remaining great wyrms who didn't leave to other planes (about a hundred or so) going into a state of magical slumber, waking only if disturbed. Most people believe the dragons are extinct, and quite a few people don't believe they ever existed. So, no on the dragons.

Of course undead will feature. Ghouls are a major and constant threat (and I've even worked out ways of advancing them that give them powers like from the Arabic myths, such as the ability to turn into hyenas, take on the likeness of people they eat, gain turn resistance, other powers). There is even an organization of ghoul hunters (usually cleric/ranger cross-class with undead as the favored enemy).

Oh, and I'm going to be considering proteans as a possibility. A world detail is that an ancient empire performed some kind of magic ritual that went horrible wrong and punched a hole through to the Void, creating a permanent magical storm in one area of the desert that is several dozen miles wide. Lots of horrible creatures exist in there, but proteans are the only ones that can leave the storm area without taking on mortal vessels as hosts.

On the subject of magic, though, I was thinking of making some changes to the sorcerer, since I am going to leave it as a playable class. I'm going to lower their spells-per-day to the same as a wizard, and probably lower the number of spells known, as well removing some spells from the list and slightly nerfing others. How would people suggest balancing this? I was thinking of giving them a D8 as a hit die, the BAB of a cleric and maybe let them ignore 10% arcane spell failure chance so they can wear light armor.

[lemeres]

Oh, proteans, always fun. I particularly like how they are sometimes depicted with a multi speak thing where you pepper into their speech moments when you have multiple words spoken at once, each fitting in the sentence, but with different tone/meaning. It gives a nice vibe that they find our language too constraining.

You can see my poor rendition here for an exaple, and some commentary on the master on this matter. You can see some good sources for much, much better examples.

EDIT: Ah, here we go for an experienced example.

Sidenote- long sleeping ultrapowerful creatures, who have been gone so long that people do not ahve accurate information about them? That description of your dragons sounds like a perfect set up for someone to do something EXTREMELY stupid. If they aren't trying to wake the dragons up in hope of getting loyal minions (which....sounds like an extremely bad idea because of the simple question 'why would they follow you?'), you are going to get some guy that wants dragon blood because he thinks it can cure his little sister's polio or something (instead of lighting her on fire, which seems much more likely).

When real creatures have been gone long enough to simply be campfire stories told to toddlers, then that leaves a lot of room for people to confuse fairy tales and facts. And it is nice to have these kinds of things as options once you get further in your campaign and need more material...

[Marc Radle]

Have you checked out the Southlands yet?

LOTS of cool stuff for Persian/Arabian style adventuring! There's the Southlands Core campaign book, a Southlands Bestiary and an Arabian Nights adventure anthology!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/350683997/southlands-new-fantasy-optio ns-for-pathfinder-rpg?ref=discovery

(Sorry the above is not a live link - I'm on my phone)

[I'm Hiding In Your Closet]

First of all, are you familiar with AL-QADIM? That's a very magical setting, but absolutely worth being familiar with.

I may be entirely wrong, but your setting sounds like it actually might be a good one for Pact Magic (which is grounded in Solomonic demonology) and Sha'irs (the distinctive "genie mages" of AL-QADIM, who have some 3.5 updates out there, but not many I'm fully satisfied with). You could also import DARK SUN Bards.

[Paladin of Baha-who?]

Quote:

Oh, the divs are neat. I'll probably make use of that. Aasimar and Teifling are also playable races, as well as the genasi from Forgotten Realms (although I'm calling them Genie-blooded, and also making some modifications to their stats).

Oreads, Sylphs, Ifrits, Undines, and Sulis are often descendants of genies.

[Ciaran Barnes]

Try to keep the flavor consistent. A sudden appearance by Jim the Ifrit may affect the mood.

[Ms. Pleiades]

Golems are originally from Jewish folklore, so they make adequate additions to a Middle East-themed campaign.

Any other monsters have already been mentioned I think.

Even the Protean example works, because in the Odyssey, one of Odysseus' friends describes facing Proteus around the area of modern day Libya/Egypt.

[I'm Hiding In Your Closet]

Ms. Pleiades wrote:

Even the Protean example works, because in the Odyssey, one of Odysseus' friends describes facing Proteus around the area of modern day Libya/Egypt.

The mythical Proteus is a completely different thing, though.

Another suggestion could be perytons, since they were supposed to reside on the coasts of North Africa.

Griffons are originally from Egyptian mythology, I'm pretty sure, so they're another candidate.

Rocs, most certainly, if they haven't yet been mentioned.

[RJ Dalton 89]

A lot of great suggestions.

I have heard of Al-Qadim, and even read the book once, years ago, but the friend of mine who had the copy moved away, so I can't read it again. Alas. Griffons will definitely appear, though. As a world detail, both eagles and lions are sacred animals, so the Griffon is doubly so. Looked up the Perytons, too. Those might be useful as strange beasts from far distant lands (in a land that is already far-distant from where I usually set my campaigns; just goes to show you, there's always something strange no matter how far-distant you go from what you're used to).

And no, there will be no Jim the Efreet. I've always worked hard on consistency and every one of the countries I make for my games, I use a real-world language to draw their names from, which I consistently keep to. I consider consistency a necessity to making a world believable.

I know dragons are in a great position to be used in the way you described, Lemeres, but I just did a campaign a while ago that featured a silver dragon as part of the late-game story. I don't want to use another so soon. I want dragons in my campaigns to actually live up to the rare status I've described them as having for my PCs, because it would be silly to be constantly telling my players that dragons are rare, only to have one show up in every campaign. It's like how whenever Star Trek wanted to show how badass the baddie of the week was, they had him beat up Warf, with the effect that it started to seem silly that people to be surprised that Warf got beat up.

Um . . . what book were the Oreads, sylphs, etc. from? I think I might have that one, because I remember hearing those names somewhere recently.

[lemeres]

Oreads, sylphs, undines, and ifrits were all released in the advanced race guide, along with aasimar and tieflings. They are pathfinder's elementally touched, basically. They might descend from genies, but they can have any generic ancestry of the appropriate elemental subtype, really.

You can check them out here. You can also see a lot of cool and flavorful options like feats, archetypes, and silly equipment listed under those entries.

[VRMH]

Flying carpets. Don't forget the flying carpets.

[Tom Knauss]

Dunes of Desolation from Frog God Games has multiple flying carpets as well as magical hookahs and lots of desert goodies.

[Marc Radle]

Marc Radle wrote:

Have you checked out the Southlands yet?

LOTS of cool stuff for Persian/Arabian style adventuring! There's the Southlands Core campaign book, a Southlands Bestiary and an Arabian Nights adventure anthology!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/350683997/southlands-new-fantasy-optio ns-for-pathfinder-rpg?ref=discovery

(Sorry the above is not a live link - I'm on my phone)

Here's an actual link:

Southlands

Oh, and even cooler, for the folks that very correctly mentioned AL-QADIM ... the Southlands project is the brainchild of none other than Wolfgang Baur, one of the AL-QADIM authors!

"Lost cities, deadly ruins, and a wealth of new character options—from werelions to insect folk to jinnborn heroes, as well as black lotus magic, incantations, and demonic cults.

The Southlands offers tools for better games, such as the flavor and character of the City of Cats, as well as a heavily playtested Bestiary stuffed with creatures written by Paizo staff, professional freelancers, and project backers. Join the tradition of Conan, Aladdin, and Sindbad, and bring a touch of wild adventure into your game!"

The Core book alone has plenty of cool flying carpets and TONS of other stuff that would be perfect for the type of campaign you're describing! :)

[Kthulhu]

Speaking of Al-Qadim, it is available at DriveThruRPG for $4.99.

[blackbloodtroll]

I am surprised nobody mentioned the Legacy of Fire AP.

There is a plethora of things you can steal from that Adventure Path.

[Caryth Derellis]

There should be goats. Lot's of goats.