Blog Archive

Monday 17 July 2017

Agypt – An Alternatity, mixture of Desert, Urban & Jungle Land.

This idea stems from a misspelling of the country in the north of Africa. I left the spelling in my monster description, as I thought it kinda fit. Eventually I realized that I wanted that name to be the one in game and then started thinking up an Egyptian themed area of my game world. This is a simple listing of my game ideas, for threads to be built up.

Agypt – often called "Land between the two rivers"
  • Small cities built along the rivers, they hold the wealth and power
  • Outside the cities are desert lands and jungle, the Middle Ocean is impenetrable
  • People are part of guilds, based on family memberships. Clerics rule over all.
  • Humans, Elves, Bastet (Cat-Kin), Tenderfeet, Jackalla & Phaetox are the main races
  • Elves are people of the jungle, green skinned and linked to elemental magic
  • Bastet are my cat-kin, very urban, highly magical many are spies, monks, ninjas
  • Tenderfeet are halflings, tied to oasis, many are druids. Many are prisoners in the cities
  • Jackalla are Jackal-Headed humanoids that protect crypts and ruthlessly hunt undead
  • Phaetox are dedicated to serving the sun cults, have flame wings, Cannot lie, Very Lawful  
  • Crafted Constructs are found in ancient temples, haven't been created in hundreds of years. some active ones still remain in remote regions (why???)
  • Dwarves are well known but not from the Agyptian lands, trading partners
  • Goblins, Gnolls, Giants are seen as enemies, because they cannot be trusted to keep their word
  • Minotaurs are well known from the Beastlands, act as high-end bodyguards
  • Multiple gods that both work together and very distinct, Mix of Nyssian and trad Egyptian ones
  • Every celestial object has an associated deity (Sun, Moons, Stars, Comets)
  • Astrology shows which of the gods have force...power...prestige...
  • Worship is open, most cities are devoted to one deity and have few temples
  • Every god is acceptable, some are only worshiped at specific times of the year
  • Everyone is pagan, worshiping more than one god, especially priests
  • Temples are rarely associated with just one deity, unless its the city Temple
  • Many Obelisks are dedicated to Ideals, not exactly godly overseers but similar
  • The afterlife is important concept, reached through specific actions and specific rituals. Different people needed to do different rituals. Thieving, sacrifice, murder, for some are holy rites. Often it is an art like sculpture, dancing or singing.
  • If you do not complete these rites, then you needed to give lots of coins
  • Temples always use obelisks to gather mana (magic), it is not a finite amount unlike most regions, so depending upon Astrology, certain temples will have more or less access
  • Clerics run the cities via culture, laws and followers
  • Knights ensure laws are kept, they are very rarely involved in political wars

  • Lots of underground passageways in cities, at times of death the people seek shelter below
  • No one is quite sure why the deadly famines happen, but people seek the dark passageways during these troubled times
  • Sacrifices happen during these times, of art, money and children
  • Very rarely do sacrifices happen of adults, but if it happens their faces MUST be covered
  • There are no official city libraries & no spell towers. Sorcery is a little known art, usually taught secretly in city temples, quietly. Many times they say they worship a different god, often referred to as a cult. When caught practicing magic, they are usually banished.
  • Wizards form small cults to study magic at an obelisk during specific times. They are often misunderstood as a religious groups, and many use this to avoid trouble. They use cosmology to cast ALL their spells, this is their spell components, They are sometimes unable to cast specific spells, if the alignment (need another word...) is off 
  • Anyone worshiping a non-recognized god is essentially assumed to be in a cult. A non-recognized cult can be seen as a heresy which calls for banishment
  • Adventurers have many ways to gain riches. Wars, arena combat, defeating cults, battling monsters and undead, trade caravans
  • Rogues have many ways, as they are an integral part of many cults or faiths. Every religion have these quiet hands to ensure their traditions are followed.
  • Theft is rarely wrong in any religion, what is more important is who you are stealing from
  • Poisoning is an art form, many thieving guilds have their own specific poison. For them it is not against their laws to poison as long as there is a bounty,
  • Undead are an ancient tradition, first used to protect wealth, now usually to secure sites
  • Originally cults, evil churches and necromancers started using them;
  • Good groups do use them, but only from the willing and the faithful to be bound 
  • Danger from not doing specific rituals, most people feel like the victim is to blame not the undead. Certain undead (wraiths) are accepted in many buildings, they hurt those who break the rituals, laws, customs, etc
  • Mummies come in many forms, always in the mastabas but elsewhere
  • Pyramids are dedicated to protecting wealth, power, knowledge,
  • Constructs were once very common, now less so
  • Lots of statues were deactivated, some seek the Activation Globes
  • Stories abound of Clock-Work Oasi in the desert 
  • Many believe they are connection points to LAWFUL outer planes
  • Cities and the nobility are always at war with each other
  • Trade & caravaning very popular way to earn favour and wealth

Monsters are based on Eqyptian mythology and desert lands, tables to be defined soon