I'm running the alpha test for my RPG in meatspace and partially over the internet through Skype. I've been working on this project for about 2 years. It is a lighter-fare system which is all about immersive roleplay geared towards a classic epic fantasy style. The system itself is setting agnostic, but the core design, combat design, and mysticism design all draw off of primarily real world mythology, epic poetry, and real world practices.
I am an anxious full time college student with a part time job and a million distractions. Coming back recently to these wonderful forums is one of them. I figure that I'll try to use my time here for something that is more productive rather than less so, and also force myself to stick to the schedule for the alpha test I had originally planned by opening it up to this virtual mindscape.
BUT I'M NOT YET FULLY SOLD ON THE IDEA!
That's where you all may come in.
The Alpha Test Modules contain three campaigns; The first campaign, named 'Solomon's Madness', the Shaherazad campaign WITHIN that campaign named 'Words of the Easterling', and the second campaign, which presently has no name. There are 9 Modules, but they are in comparison to Paizo modules, let us say, extremely concise.
The year is 233 BC.
The soul of the dead King Solomon has been sitting within the confines of Abraham's Bosom for what he akin'd to be about four hundred years. For four hundred years he sat, waiting for the Messiah to break him and his brethren from their jail-cell like existence and into the promised thereafter.
And he was exceedingly bored. So he pulled the strings of his several hundred servant spirits, using the authority of his greater and lesser keys, and by some miraculous feat of wisdom and sorcery, he revived himself to the middle plane.
He has but one goal; to try and achieve immortal bliss another way- Find the legendary Garden of Eden, break into it, and eat of the Tree of Life.
To do this he must aqcuire several implements; some he once had in his former life as the third king of Israel, and some which if not for his demonic informants' tellings he would not believe have ever existed.
In order to accomplish all these things, he has raised six champions from death through eldritch means;
Gilgamesh of Babylon
Semiramis of Babylon
Hatshepsut of Egypt
Imhotep of Egypt
Arjuna of the East
Adu Ogyinae of the West
These he has chosen to reclaim his seal, his stores, the secret plunders of Thoth, Tiamat, and ultimately the Tree of Life.
But there is one alarming thing in their path: The rites by which these fool souls have been brought back require much of those residing in the bodies they do not own; they must eat the flesh of man and drink its' blood to sustain the weak vessels they were given.
The first campaign will deal mostly with combat rules, while the shaherazad campaign will deal mostly with magic rules. Both will be played with pregenerated characters.
The second campaign will be one without pregenerated characters, and if we get to it, the sky is the limit, so to speak. It's gonna be fun.
If that sounds like something enriching to you, please post here and tell me about yourself. Basically everything you want to share pertaining to any of this content and more. Ask about these characters and how I've statted them out. Tell me which of these characters you'd like to play as, probably 2-3, and why. If you don't know who they are, google them!
If people are interested and it ends up working out, I will PM those people the necessary documents needed for them to be informed on how the game's rules work, and we will proceed from there. I will give out a lot of info, but if you're a history buff and know about the cultures we'll be playing in please inform me, for I am but a child trampling on the temples of those I barely know.
If you're also a writer or designer and just want to talk writing or design feel free to PM me as well... I love looking at and providing feedback.
|
I'd like to know more about Imhotep, Hatsheput and Gilgamesh. All I know about Egypt has come from The Mummy movie series(yes cheesy, I know, but true), and every Chistian Jacq book(started reading them after The Mummy piqued my interest) I could get my hands on. And the Pharoah PC game, the 3 books, River God, Warlock and The Seventh Scroll by Wilbur Smith.
Gilgamesh I know nothing about other then what they make of him in Fate Stay Night and the Final Fantasy Series (yes he has a bucketload of weapons).
My choices from what I know alone will be Imhotep, followed by Gilgamesh, then by Hatsheput. As you probably can guess by now, I'm a nerdy bookworm. I am not a student of babylonian and Egyptian history, though, so there may be errors in my knowledge. I have a strong preference for spellcasters (arcane, divine, doesn't matter so much to me). I also like all the rules to be spelt out, with as little uncertainty as possible.
To be honest some of your characters are a little hard to find, Arjuna wasn't easily available on google search.
Imhotep was a high priest (of Ra I believe). He was also his Pharaoh's confidant and advisor. He is attributed with some part of the design of the pyramids, and mentioned as an all around intellectual philosopher kinda guy who was reputable for his humane heart. Within the campaign he will be an advisor/booky type and will grow into being a full caster. He is a caster from the get go, but the magic-per-capita during the first few modules will be truncated to a degree.
Gilgamesh is a warrior city-king hero whose mother is a goddess (I can't discern whom off the top of my head). He did many feats of glory, and then tried himself to gain immortality from the babylonian Noah. Noah gave him a challenge; he was to not sleep for a week in order to gain his immortality. Gilgamesh lasted like 3 days or something... I've seen him in the fate series and whatnot. The 'bazillions of weapons' trope is to my understanding unfounded in any iteration of his legend. It may be just a large stroke of creative freedom, expanding on the fact that he was both a mythological and historical king, and that because he ruled a city state thus he commanded a thousand spears (or what have you.) In this playtest he will be a fearsome warrior wielding axe and bow.
Hatshepsut was one of the more successful Pharaoh's of her day to my knowledge. She has no mythical origin or prehistoric legend (to my knowledge). Google her. She will function primarily as a socialite negotiator, and will have command over several servants. (Her mechanical functionality is subject to slight change, but I imagine that this will be her shtick).
Arjuna was an Indian prince who was trained to be the greatest archer in the history of man. He is a kind, studied person.
Adu Ogyinae is the man. He's the only one on the list who isn't directly royalty. He's not like, overpowered in comparison to the other champions, I just think how we've interpreted his premise is really cool. That's all I'm gonna say for now.
...
If anyone is interested, I hope to start this up around the end of September beginning of October. It will be fun.
If you the reader has any inquiries of the actual system PM me and I shall reveal and expound. My target amount of players for this is 4, but there are 6 characters present if we get more people. I'd be happy with even just three players.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Definitely seems like an interesting campaign! I haven't seen too many Middle Eastern/Egyptian based campaigns before, and think it would be cool if enough people showed interest.
Just a clarifier: Are we playing as the raised champions?
Also: Second campaign idea appeals most
The Players will be the raised champions, yes. And if one of these happen they will all happen, I don't mean for Solomon's Madness to drag on if I can get the science I need to do conducted. I keep saying this, but I only do so because I am so utterly excited for it: It will be fun.
Bumperino