The first-level characters in my new campaign are soon to be transported, via a mysterious portal in the Crystalmists, to the other side of the world, Erypt/Khemit to be exact.
I'm going to inport a lot of the exact Egyptian material from Kobold Press' Southlands setting (maps by Greyhawk's Anna!), but I'm still looking for any additional material to help make the area come to life and feel very distinct from the Flanaess.
• I've scoured the Canonfire archives and also got a hold of Erik Mona's Bounds of Oerth article from an Oerth Journal. I have the treatment of Khemit in Necropolis. Are there any other Greyhawk-specific sources that I should consult?
• From Erik's article, is the Theocracy of Tsing-Chu another name for Erypt/Khemit? He states "There, a devoted caste of priests diligently follow the teachings of the god Khuzkan (a complicated figure who may or not be Pelor under a different guise), who implores them to scour the world, rewarding the actions of kind men and the dispatching of evil."
• Are there any non-Greyhawk gaming sources I should consult besides Southlands?
• Are there any movies or novels that give a good feel for adventuring in a medieval Egyptian setting? Has anyone read Gygax's Samarkand Solution? Is that worth reading for making the setting come alive?
• I would like to have the gods of Khemit/Erypt actually be guises of more familiar Flanaess deities. I'd appreciate any help/suggestions in finding Flanaess analogues for these beings:
Anu-Akma/Anubis, Guardian of the Dead (LG)
Aten, God of the Sun (LG or N): maybe this is Erik Mona's Khuzhan above (Pelor)?
Heretical Aten: evil cult who worships Aten as god of fire and assassination (Pyremius maybe?)
Bastet/Bast, goddess of cats and hunters (CG): because this goddess is said to walk the streets of her city, I'm rather fond of the idea of this being a alternate persona of Ehlonna (more cat-centered than all-animal centered, but the earliest versions of Ehlonna had her dwelling on the Prime Material plane)
Horus, the avenger, god of the sun, moon and sky (LN): Pholtus maybe? or maybe this is Erik's Khuzhan
Ninkash, goddess of beer, childbirth, and merriment (G): and worshipped by dwarves? uh, Berronar? Berei?
Thoth-Hermes, god of knowledge, learning, merchants, and magic (N): Boccub probably
There are several Egyptian themed sources out there... but right off the top of my head, I would have to go with Egyptian Adventures Hamunaptra by Green Ronin. I used it quite successfully for add on material when my GH campaign hit the desert. Has feats, spells, PrCs, magic items, monsters, etc that you can drop in as needed as well as a several chapters of fluffy background stuff.
I will see what else I can find in the next day or so but try that one first.
• From Erik's article, is the Theocracy of Tsing-Chu another name for Erypt/Khemit? He states "There, a devoted caste of priests diligently follow the teachings of the god Khuzkan (a complicated figure who may or not be Pelor under a different guise), who implores them to scour the world, rewarding the actions of kind men and the dispatching of evil."
Although it was reprinted in Oerth Journal #26, "The Bounds of Oerth" is much older. Erik originally wrote that article before the publication of the Oerth world map in the 1996 Dragon Magazine Annual. He was going off the Oerik map found on page 18 of the Glossography, which didn't include Erypt. However, what Erik calls "the Southern Bay" seems to correspond to what the 1996 Dragon Annual map calls the Celestial Sea, so Tsing-Chu would correspond to both Erypt and much of the western coast of the Celestial Sea.
I like the idea of using Taiia, the monotheistic solar deity from 3rd edition's Deities & Demigods, as Khuzkan, but your mileage may of course vary.
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• Are there any non-Greyhawk gaming sources I should consult besides Southlands?
Also Old Empires, a first edition accessory for the Forgotten Realms (written by Scott Bennie, who created St. Kargoth and other Greyhawk saints) that details the Egyptian-inspired kingdom of Mulhorand and its neighbors, the Sumerian-inspired Unther and the Greek-like Chessenta.
• Are there any movies or novels that give a good feel for adventuring in a medieval Egyptian setting?
Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian and the Kingdom of Stygia described in that franchise.
Quote:
• I would like to have the gods of Khemit/Erypt actually be guises of more familiar Flanaess deities. I'd appreciate any help/suggestions in finding Flanaess analogues for these beings:
Anu-Akma/Anubis, Guardian of the Dead (LG): Wee Jas
Aten, God of the Sun (LG or N): maybe this is Erik Mona's Khuzhan above (Pelor)?: Pelor or Taiia
Heretical Aten: evil cult who worships Aten as god of fire and assassination (Pyremius maybe?): Pyremius would fit, or a flame-related demon lord or archdevil. Belial, perhaps, or Alzrius.
Bastet/Bast, goddess of cats and hunters (CG): because this goddess is said to walk the streets of her city, I'm rather fond of the idea of this being a alternate persona of Ehlonna (more cat-centered than all-animal centered, but the earliest versions of Ehlonna had her dwelling on the Prime Material plane): Ehlonna might work, or the Cat Lord.
Horus, the avenger: Trithereon
Ninkash, goddess of beer, childbirth, and merriment (G): and worshipped by dwarves? uh, Berronar? Berei? Or Wenta, or a feminine aspect of Olidammara. Hanseath is the dwarven god of war, carousing, and alcohol from Races of Stone.
Thoth-Hermes, god of knowledge, learning, merchants, and magic (N): Boccob probably: Boccob
Last edited by rasgon on Fri Oct 20, 2017 5:09 pm; edited 1 time in total
•Thothia (Isle of Dawn): Ancient Egypt (M5 Talons of Night )
•Lost Valley of Hutaaka (Brun): Ancient Egypt (B10?)
•Hutaakan Valley (Hollow World): Ancient Egypt (HWR2)
I also saw a reference to:
Wilderlands: Southern Reaches
I'm a *huge* fan of Osiriani stuff from Pathfinder RPG. I have a rather large selection products including adventures, Adventure Path, item cards, etc. all based on Osirion. There is a plethora of information for the setting.
I would highly recommend its use for an Erypt/Khemti game.
Thanks, everyone, for the suggestions. I hadn't thought about checking out the Pathfinder stuff and the Hamunaptra thing from Green Ronin I wasn't even aware of.
Has anybody actually read The Samarkand Solution? or any of those other late Gygax books?
Are there any good movies set in medieval Egypt or thereabouts (as opposed to 20th century tomb robbers e.g. The Mummy)? I don't feel I've got a good feel, as a DM, on describing a typical city street, for instance, or what fashions look like, etc. And there's no real point in a magical trip to Egypt if you can't get the flavor of the place right.
It's a little more Arabian Nights than strictly Egypt, but check out Luke Gygax's Blighted Lands setting. An overview can be found Gygax Magazine #2 and four modules (three written with James Ward, one with Christopher Clark) are now available at the Gary Con bazaar:
http://garycon.com/product-category/bazaar/modules/
Are there any non-Greyhawk gaming sources I should consult besides Southlands?
Some additional Set-Mitra themed adventures include several Judges Guild classics:
- Dark Tower by Paul Jaquays
- Caverns of Thracia by Paul Jaquays (although the Set connections may not be natively in this module, but instead added by our DM)
- Temple of Ra Accursed by Set by Edward and Thomas McCloud
Some other Egyptian- and/or desert-themed adventures worth checking out (some overlap here with previous mentions):
Egyptian:
- "The Ruins of Andril" in Dragon #81
- EGG's Necropolis
- CB2 Against Darkness
- S1 Tomb of Horrors
Desert:
- B4 The Lost City
- C2 Ghost Tower of Inverness
- EGG's Sea of Dust novel
- I3-5 Desert of Desolation series
- I9 Day of Al'Akbar
- FR3 Empires of the Sands and FR13 Anauroch
- UK6 All that Glitters
- WGR3 Rary the Traitor
- X4, X5, X10 Desert Nomads series
Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea also has a good desert-themed adventure: Ghost Ship of the Desert Dunes, details @ http://www.hyperborea.tv/products.html
There were also some latter-day d20-era 3.x books from Necromancer Games that were desert-oriented, too:
- The Crypt of Ronashim (in Raise the Dead)
- The Shadow (Temple) of Set (in Coils of Set)
- Pyramid of Amra (in Vampires & Liches)
edmundscott wrote:
Are there any movies or novels that give a good feel for adventuring in a medieval Egyptian setting? Has anyone read Gygax's Samarkand Solution? Is that worth reading for making the setting come alive?
I haven't read the NIPI Egyptian novels, but have heard (IIRC from Erik Mona) that they're better-written than the Gord novels.
Allan. _________________ Allan Grohe<br />https://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/greyhawk.html<br />https://grodog.blogspot.com/
X3 Curse of Xanathon also presents well as a Sinbad type adventure. Archetypal villain, dark magic, and fantastic creatures. I plan to run it this very way, set near the southern mountains in Ull. Just gotta get the PC's there, via Geoff. _________________ - Moderator/Admin (in some areas)/Member -
Lots of great suggestions here (though no movies, alas!). In particular, I'd forgotten about CB2, the Judges Guild stuff, and X3. I didn't know anything about Luke Gygax's modules--has anybody run these? or played in them?
Does anyone have any better suggestions for the Greyhawk analogues for the Egyptian gods than mine?
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