The Campaign
The world is Earth in an D&D milieu. All things legendary and mythological are current in this world, for example the many headed Scylla is to be found in the straits of Messina between Italy and Sicily, the three Gorgons (Medusa, Stheno & Euryale) can be found somewhere in the deserts of Libya and the smith-God Vulcan has his home in the volcano Etna in Sicily. |
| Baba Yaga by Ivan Bilibin |
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| Sinbad & Roc by Edmund Dulac |
Mythical creatures are not the only inhabitants of the world because there are also places that time forgot such as the tundra of the Arctic, not only the home of Frost Giants but also the home of the Mammoth and the Woolly Rhino and the depths of the tropical rainforests are the home to dinosaurs of every description (even the depths of some well known lochs).
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| Robin Hood by N.C. Wyeth |
It is a cosmopolitan world thanks to the teleport network. This network is run by powerful wizards who own portals wherever there is an international airport in reality, so there is the Wizard of Heathrow, the Wizard of LA-X and the Wizards Charles De Gaulle and JFK. It is outrageously expensive to access these teleports and it is the luxury of the extremely rich and royal, nobody can access a teleport quietly or unnoticed and government restrictions apply. For example if France and Prussia are at war there will be no passage available between Paris and Berlin. It is not uncommon to see an Inca noble or a samurai or even a Wongi elder walking the streets of London, Kigali or Ulan Bator.
Due to the use of magic on the part of indigenous cultures the colonizing powers of Europe have not dominated the globe.
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| Visit - Mati Klarwein - 1996 |
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| Ka-tet of the Nineteen and Ninety-nine, |
There are small nations on the North American coast- the thirteen colonies that make up the United States on the east coast are Anglo Saxon-Celtic in origin and are all English speakers. They are independent of any British nation. They are governed by a republic based on the ancient Roman model and have adopted the classical architecture of Rome which is overlaid by a generally British culture. They are bordered on the east by two major Native American nations- the Iroquois south of the Great Lakes roughly in the area we know as the state of New York and the Cherokee nation in the Appalachian highlands.
Quebec is a French colony that controls the St Lawrence and has trading posts throughout the Great Lakes. They remain loyal to the French king and are ruled by a Duke in much the same way as the Duke of Normandy is an independent monarch that gives allegiance to France.
Florida on the southern peninsula is a Spanish speaking kingdom that is totally independent of any Iberian nation and the self proclaimed king is regarded as little more than a pirate ruling a pirate nation.
Louisiana was a French colony at the mouth of the Mississippi and the Caribbean archipelago is a pirate state ruled by Baron Samhedi of Haiti- rumoured to be undead. A few centuries ago Samhedi took New Orleans, the capital of Louisiana and that has become the largest free city in the world, rivalled only by Singapore, Tangier and Zanzibar. The former French colonists, called Cajuns remain in scattered settlements inland and along the Mississippi but they have no centralized government and though New Orleans has many rich and powerful families there is really no formal allegiance to Baron Samhedi.Texas is the European rival of the Aztec Empire of Mexico. Texans are ruled by an emperor and are Anglo-Saxon, Hispanic, Celtic and even Scandinavian in origin.
Texans are necessarily warlike as have been at war with Mexico for time immemorial. The war effort of both empires is hampered by the continual raids and harassment of the Apache who were driven from the powerful Sioux nations centred at the Black Hills in what we know as Dakota
The rest are trading port colonies that control only a limited area beyond the settlements themselves. Los Angeles is a largely Spanish speaking free city and San Francisco is a free city made up of Chinese and European immigrants.
The indigenous nations are numerous and varied, the Sioux are a Federation in the Midwest and The Huron is another nation continually at war with the Iroquois. Indigenous nations range from...(yet to be concieved)
South America is ringed by Spanish and Portuguese trading ports, (as Spain is not an actual nation most of the Spanish speaking ports will owe allegiance to their sponsor kingdoms in Iberia- Aragon, Castile etc). The Inca Empire of Peru is the only civilized nation in South America and the remaining native peoples are tribal in nature. The vast continent has the largest population of dinosaur species on the planet.
Europe is a patchwork of petty kingdoms and duchies.
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| Anglo Saxon map of the world |
In Britain there are the Celtic Kingdoms of Cornwall, Devon, The Summer Country (Somerset), Lothian and Dalriada who along with Brittany in Gaul and Lyonesse off the coast of Cornwall and Brittany all have allegiance to the High King Arthur; Wales is divided into Gwynedd, Dyfed, Deheubarth and Morgannwg. The rest are the Anglo Saxon Kingdoms of Wessex, Sussex, Essex, Mercia and East Anglia, along with the Danish kingdom of Kent and the Viking kingdom of Northumbria.
France proper is what is left without Normandy, Brittany, Aquitaine, Burgundy, Navarre and Provence, some of which are Kingdoms in there own right. Brittany is a Celtic kingdom and part of Arthur’s domain and Normandy is a half elvish duchy that is tribute to France. Aquitaine, Burgundy and France are all on the front line in the war against the Anti-pope in Avignon who has annexed Provence into his evil empire.
The Alps are the home of the Gnomes and the Celtic tribe of the Helvetians, Gnomes will be discussed later but the Helvetians are Europe’s dragon riders.
Iberia consists of Portugal, Galicia, Leon, Castile, Aragon, Catalonia, Cordoba and Granada. Navarre also takes up territory south of the Pyrenees. Catalonia also has the Anti-pope Empire of Provence on its northern border. Cordoba and Granada are Muslim countries with a hybrid culture of Arabic and Visigothic.
Apart from Bavaria and the Prussian Empire (Brandenburg), Germany is a myriad of counties, duchies, princedoms, kingdoms and bishoprics too numerous to mention save the most powerful such as Westphalia, Hanover and Saxony.
Poland is not a country of its own but is divided between Prussia and the Baltic states that are ruled by the Teutonic Knights.
What we know as the Czech Republic is called Bohemia and to the east are the kingdoms of Moravia and Silesia.
The Carpathian Mountains are the domain of goblins, dragons, monsters and the like. The Transylvanian Alps on the southern chain of the Carpathians is (of course) a vampire domain. The orcish kingdom of Orcatia is based at Zagreb. Apologies must be made to Croatians here but orcs had to go somewhere and Croatia was a convenient anagram and Zagreb makes a great sounding orcish capital. It is not just Croatians that come under the orcish banner, Bosnians also are the management class of orcs- boss orcs, Boss-nians, Serbians are the working class- Serf-ians and the equivalent of Tolkein’s Uruk Hai come from Montenegro- Black Mountain orcs. Eastern Europe is not entirely populated by evil humanoids, there are itinerant war bands and tribes of humans fighting the good fight to liberate Eastern Europe and forge empires of their own such as the Magyars and Bulgars and some nations in tutelage to these evil nations such as Walachia. Albania is a nation ruled by an evil wizard, a kind of Saruman character who is rumoured to be the creator of the Black Mountain orcs. Macedon in the south is a nation governed by the descendants of Philip and Alexander preventing the full scale invasion of Greece by the orcish hordes.
What we know as Bulgaria is what remains of the Byzantine Empire in Europe and also finds itself on the orcish front line. Thrace and Bulgaria also have the densest population of Centaurs who make up the bulk of Constantinople’s cavalry.Northern Italy is divided up in complicated fashion between the Church and the city states of Genoa, Milan (capital of Lombardy, the largest kingdom), Florence (capital of Tuscany and the descendants of the Etruscans), Verona and Venice to name a few. Venice is also in control of the islands along the Illyrian coast and the first line of defence against the orcs. In the south is the Norman kingdom of Naples.
The Aegean has the Minoan kingdom of Crete ruled of course by Minos complete with his subterranean labyrinth and Minotaur. Greece is divided up into self governing city and island states ruled by tyrants, kings and consuls all subject to the Emperor in Constantinople. Most of the west coast of Anatolia is still entirely Greek such as the Kingdoms of Lydia, the Trojan Kingdom of Illium ruled by King Priam and the kingdom of Phrygia ruled by King Midas while Ottoman and Seljuk Turks vie for supremacy in the interior along with Galatians, Hittites, Kurds and Armenians.
In the Mediterranean, Cyprus, Malta and the Balearic Islands are governed by the Knights Templar as are the cities of Jerusalem and Antioch. Sardinia and Corsica are the island remains of the Western Roman Empire boasting cities of Greek, Phoenician and Roman origin, the culture is still entirely classical. Most trade in the Mediterranean is controlled by the Phoenicians who are based at Tyre in Canaan (now called Lebanon) and their major ports include all the Carthaginian cities including the mighty fortified port of Carthage itself in what is now known as Tunisia. Sicily is a Norman Kingdom.
Russia is divided into three major kingdoms ruled by Tsars- Kiev, Muscovy and Novgorod. East of the Urals there are only remote outposts and is largely wild and undiscovered. The steppes stretching to the east contain many tribes such as the Tatars and the Cossacks (Kazaks) and the Khanate of the Golden Horde based at Kazan which is the westernmost frontier of the now divided Mongolian Empire.
Africa has remained undisturbed, there was certainly no slave trade centered on it and the witchdoctors of Africa proved to be a match in power to the wizards employed by the colonizing powers. There are very powerful kingdoms and chiefdoms in Africa- Ashanti, Benin, Congo, Zululand, Great Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Nubia, Mali, Morocco, Meroe and of course Egypt. Apart from the Greek cosmopolitan metropolis of Alexandria and the Arabic town of Cairo in the shadow of the Pyramids Egypt has retained its ancient culture but is ruled by the Greek Ptolemaic dynasty in Alexandria.
The Middle East is dominated by Arabia. Arabia is bordered on the north by Kurdistan and Persia, and takes up the entire Arabian Peninsula with its capital at Baghdad. It has lost land in the south to kingdoms such as Punt and Sheba and in the Levant, Lebanon is part of the Phoenician Mediterranean Empire and cities like Jerusalem and Antioch have been lost to the Templar Knights based in Malta. The city states of Babylon, Ur, Uruk (Erech) and Lagash are odd oases still entirely Sumerian in character while Seleucia is a Greek city left as a legacy of Alexander's invasion, and on the other side of the Tigris facing it is Ctesiphon, a Parthian city ruled by the Sassanids. Nineveh is what is left of the great Assyrian Empire and Palmyra is entirely classical-Greco-Roman in character. All are self governing but pay tribute to the Caliph in Baghdad.India is another patchwork of Hindu Kingdoms and Princedoms interspersed with tribes and chiefdoms. Rama and Sita and Lakshmana may be encountered, exiled in a dark forest and the island of Sri Lanka is governed by the evil demon Ravanna. Neighbouring Persia while still Arabic in character is largely Zoroastrian and the rulers like to govern from Persepolis and Pasagardae keeping in tradition with Xerxes and Darius. The land is still riddled with flying carpets and magic lamps in true Arabic fashion.
China is a vast empire that keeps all borders save Tibet. In the south, the kingdom of Annam is roughly modern Vietnam and is tribute to China. There is the Khmer kingdom of Cambodia based at Angkor Watt and the Kingdom of Siam to its west. Other kingdoms and sultanates include Malaya, Burma, Java and Kalimantan but the majority of Indonesia contains autonomous indigenous island populations.Australia is largely unexplored by foreigners and only a few trading ports have been established such as Sydney, Fremantle (Fiddler's Green), Darwin and Melbourne. The Aboriginal people are known to have powerful druidic type powers and even psionic ability; they all of course make excellent rangers.
Aotearoa is a Maori empire of the islands of New Zealand and the Pacific is largely unknown to all save the local inhabitants.
Non-human Races
Elves
High Elves-
The original and oldest nation of the elves is called Alfheim.It is situated in the forests of northern Sweden.
They are as Tolkein conceived and are immortal though they may be slain.
High Elves are always of good alignment but may be corrupted like Feanor in the Silmarillion.
Elves are never clerics, monks or paladins.
They can have unlimited progression as rangers, magic users and bards.
As regular fighters and illusionists they have limited progression as they tend to tire of such pursuits and they cannot be thieves or assassins at all unless corrupted.
High Elves have their own language and also will be fluent in Swedish, Norse, Danish, English, German and Finnish.
The Norse God Frey is the King of Alfheim.
High elves are active in the politics of Scandinavia and are employed as trusted advisors to the monarchies of Denmark Norway and Sweden.
These elves are closely associated with the Vanir gods and goddesses of the Norse pantheon and although the Bifrost Bridge can be found in Alfheim the Aesir of Asgard in Gladsheim are more directly involved in human affairs.
Sylvan Elves-
Wood elves dwell in the Black Forest of southern Germany.They are extremely insular, shy and xenophobic.
They are neutral in alignment, tending toward lawful as they have fairly rigid society.
Sylvan elves have a language of their own that is related to high elvish and High elves and sylvan can understand each other generally. They have limited but passable knowledge of French, German and Czech depending on which part of the forest they hail from.
Sylvan elves live for millennia but are mortal beings.
They are ruled by a senate, two consuls and a tribune in the manner of the ancient Roman republic.
Sylvan elves co-exist with the kingdoms of Bavaria and to a lesser extent Bohemia but they are never under those nations jurisdiction.
The Sidhe
Pronunciation- SheeThese elves live in Ireland in lands hidden beneath mounds and barrows.
The Irish elves can be of any alignment but are always chaotic.
They are immortal but may be slain.
Sidhe speak Gaelic, Breton, Cornish and Welsh but do not share a language with the continental elves.
Contrary to most AD&D books Banshees are not undead spirits but are Sidhe warning mortals of impending death. The word comes from bane and Sidhe.
The Sidhe are often in the company of dogs called cooshee which means elf dog, from the Irish-cu and Welsh-cw.
The Sidhe are ruled by Dagda of the Tuatha De Danaan.
Some Sidhe have kingdoms of their own such as Mebd queen of Connacht, and Titania, queen of Faerie.
The Sidhe are the most warlike and unpredictable of the elvish family.
Some Sidhe have even adopted St Patrick’s Christian creed such as St Brigid who was once the Irish goddess of poetry.
Half Elves
Half Elves are descendants of a human people that sojourned in Alfheim and departed the land with an extended lifespan of several hundred years. Half elves correspond to what we think of as Normans and they have their own Duchy of Normandy in northern France. They also established kingdoms in southern Italy and Sicily where they settled down as an aristocracy and adopted the Greco-Roman culture.The Duke of Normandy is William XI.
The King of Sicily is Robert VIII.
The King of Naples is Dominic II.
Half Elves consider themselves as human with an elvish heritage. The half elves of Normandy have become entirely Christian and those in the Mediterranean are Christian but rule a population that is largely pagan in the countryside peasantry. The papacy in Rome has more influence in France, Iberia, Germany and northern Italy than it does in southern Italy.
Half Elves are active throughout European society.
Half elves can have unlimited progression as clerics and monks but they are never pagan.
They can also have unlimited progression as paladins.
Halflings
Halflings dwell in the low lands and delta of the Rhine.They correspond in almost every way to Tolkein’s invention of Hobbits except for their obsession with tulips and windmills and in that they are keen sailors and master ship builders. As well as being common among human villages and towns all through northern Europe and southern Britain they have also established colonies and trading towns in the Americas and as far away as Zululand, Java, Australia and even Japan.
Nations of the Hobbits include Frisia, Holland, Flanders, Luxembourg and Walloonia.
Hobbits speak Dutch, Flemish and French, most will also be familiar with German.
They have the pastoral religion of the earth goddess Nertha, an ancient German religion now extinct in all but the most remote parts of Germany.
Gnomes
Gnomes are natives of the Alps.Gnomes are smaller than the gnomes familiar to AD&D and do not make very effective fighters. Gnomes are renowned for their technical prowess and are the industrial source for clocks, music boxes and other gadgets. They have a good natural magical ability and most magical items in Europe can be traced to Alpine/Gnomic manufacture.
They are employed as artisans all over Europe especially in Florence and Venice and even as far as Alexandria and Baghdad.
Gnomes speak Latin, Italian, German, French, Greek, Egyptian and Arabic. They are experts in languages of the world some even studying Sanskrit, Chinese, Sumerian, Persian and other languages as far a field as the Americas and Africa. As player characters, Gnomes make very useful sources of information and are useful in tight spot. They are always working on a new magical item and are constantly on the lookout for the right component and ingredients to complete the item and lodge the patent at the University of Geneva to make their fortune.
The other more familiar aspect of the gnomic character is they are expert botanists and horticulturalists and those that are not so suited to tinkering in technology and magic are employed as gardeners in Northern Europe. The more scholarly gnomes of the universities do look upon the garden gnomes with disdain.Tieflings
The race of Tieflings are the descendants of the survivors of Atlantis. The story is basically the same that is given in the core rulebooks-
The following was lifted straight from the pages of the PLAYER'S HANDBOOK® RACES: TIEFLINGS™ by Matthew Sernett. For the purposes of my campaign and to give the Tieflings a firm place in my world I have replaced the names of the ancient kingdoms and empires.
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| Tiefling by Julie Dillon |
Also as with all great empires, at its height Atlantis was closest to its fall. It strained under the pressures of ruling defeated peoples. Noble houses schemed to carve out their own kingdoms or to replace their betters in the halls of power. Civil wars, seceding territories, assassination plots, famine, plague-Atlantis endured all these threats to its existence and survived by only the barest of margins.
The ruling family and others among the nobility prayed for a means of securing their country and their eternal dominion. Atlantis had lasted for centuries, and they hoped to ensure its continuance for centuries more.
Alas, their prayers were answered.
The most avaricious, the most domineering, and the most paranoid -including the emperor himself- began to dream of a new age. They awoke from fevered sleep with visions of the future still floating before their bloodshot eyes. The empire could be saved. Indeed, it could grow to rival the greatest nations of history, perhaps even surpass them. Their noble lines would extend on into eternity. What price could outweigh eternal glory?
With the full force of the emperor's will behind them, chosen nobles were permitted to perform dark rituals that would put them in contact with the powers that would help them maintain their rule: the devils of the Nine Hells. This association with the devils showed the emperor the way. A month-long ritual, the Bloodfire Moon, would set Atlantis on the path to true greatness. The head of every noble house had to participate. Those who would not did not survive that bloody month. They and all their families died on the sword or the altar.
Hundreds blood-signed their names in the Atlantaeum, the temple where the first summoned devils appeared. Each noble house made a bond with a fiend through arcane pacts with names such as the Iron Crown of Madness, the Scarlet Claw of Hunger, Night's Loving Void, the Million Pains of Eternal Torment, the Heart of Fire and Iron, and the Cage of the Unnamed Master.
When the ritual ended and the last soul was bent to evil, the nobility of Atlantis transformed. There could be no doubt who ruled the empire now. Their pacts had given the nobles hellish power, and their bodies bore the mark of devilry. They had become tieflings, and any born of their bloodlines would bear the mark of their sins forever.
The power of hell and the nobles' shared vision of dominion not only secured Atlantis but drove it to unsurpassed strength and incredible size. As the decades rolled on, the horror of the time of the Blood· fire Moon faded, and the people of Atlantis began to care more for victory than virtue and to yearn more for wealth than liberty.
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| Tiefling & Dragonborn by Julie Dillon |
Of course we all know that the Land of Atlantis was swallowed by the ocean called the Atlantic, and was subsequently claimed by Neptune who now sits on the ancient throne of Atlantis beneath the sea
The following was lifted from the PLAY£R'S HANDBOOK® RACES: DRAGONBORN
by James Wyatt. For the purposes of my campaign I have changed certain names and details so that the dragonborn race have a firm place in D&D Earth mythology.
"Lyonesse was not the first dragonborn empire-nor, many dragonborn proclaim, will it go down in history as the last. Even so, it stands as a shining high point in dragonborn history, the pinnacle of their civilization and a culture that, though long dead, still shapes its descendants. Every living dragonborn is in some sense an heir of Lyonesse, and carries both the pride of that ancient lineage and the burden of the fallen empire's memory.
Lyonesse arose in the distant recesses ofhistory, untold centuries before the rise of the human empire
of Sumeria. It grew from a confederacy of seven city states united undcr the leadership of a single ancient dragon dubbcd the Golden One. It expanded partly through conquest and partly through simple diplomatic outreach and trade. Many dragonborn city-states and even some tribes and nations of other races deemed it preferable to Iive within the secure borders of a powerful empire than to fend for themselves in the darkness outside Lyonesse's borders. Arkhosia prospered for hundreds of years, taming the wilderness and expanding its trade and diplomatic missions to far-flung corners of
the world.
That constant drive toward expansion soon brought Lyonesse into conflict with the other imperial power of that distant era, the diabolic empire of Atlantis with its tieflng noble caste. Bitter wars between the two empires spanned centuries and wrought terrible devastation upon the world. The strains of the war brought internal connicts to light within Lyonesse as well, partly manifested in the renewed strength ofTiamat's secretive cults.
The fall of Lyonesse was as great as its accomplishments. The armies of Atlantis with their devil allies defiled great swaths of the empire's lands, swallowed entire dragonborn cities into deep caverns, or simply razed them to the ground. The Golden One was slain, and dozens ofother dragon lords fell or were scattered into the wilderness as their grip on the land slipped.
Atlantis fell under Arkhosia's relentless assault, but it took the dragonborn empire down with it. When neither side had the will or the resources to fight any longer, when the shouts and horns of battle were silenced at last, nothing remained of the two empires but scattered remnants of displaced populations and haunted ruins.
Few dragonborn still inhabit the lands at the heart of their ancient empire-lands that remain tainted by the evil and powerful magic that brought the empire low. Under later kingdoms, including Sumeria, dragonborn were prohibited from gathering in large numbers. Yet many dragonborn still think of themselves as citizens of Lyonesse, exiles from a land that no longer exists but might someday be reborn.
For these dragonborn, Lyonesse is more than a memory-it's a symbol of all that is great about their race. The empire's glory was the glory ofall dragonborn, but by extension its fall was their fall. As much as individual dragonborn seek to earn glory by their deeds. their efforts will never reach the heights of Lyonesse's renown, unless and until a new Golden One appears to rule over a restored draconic empire."
Although the lands of Lyonesse were much decimated and all but one of the seven city states are now under the sea. The city that remains Ys is now largely in ruins and there is still a guard for the throne waiting for the return of the Golden One
Character Classes
Characters can be from anywhere in the world and have to be logically part of the world so that means that a Paladin must be a Christian because there was no such thing as a Shinto or Buddhist Paladin in history neither was there a ever a Hindu Druid.
Fighters
Fighters are a class that you can let your imagination run wild. There are hardly any restrictions on the type of warrior. A warrior can be a Samurai, Cavalier, Templar, Zulu, Iroquois, Bedouin, Tatar, Maori, Nyungar or Viking. The world is quite cosmopolitan and NPC’s will be quite used to encountering exotic people from far off lands in the most populated cities however a certain amount of prejudice and mistrust is bound to be encountered in more isolated areas. A Viking warrior will not warrant a second glance in New Orleans but will inspire fear and mistrust in the small town of Baton Rouge.
Rangers
Rangers are also found worldwide and are especially suitable to indigenous tribal cultures. A warrior from the Kikuyu tribe in southern Africa will almost certainly have the tracking and outdoor skills of a Ranger
Paladins
Paladins are more specific in this world and historically are linked to the Crusaders and the Templar Knights. So A Paladin will have completed an apprenticeship in Malta and will also have completed a tour of duty in Jerusalem and therefore will always begin the campaign at 2nd level. The Teutonic Knights are also paladins and their apprenticeship is offered at Riga,
Clerics
All the major religions are represented with a few extras in the mix.
Pick your religion carefully as I do require clerics to be historically accurate, a priest of Zoroaster will be of Persian origin and a priest of Ganesh will be Indian in origin. Pagan clerics are culture specific so a priest of Odin is going to be a Viking, German or Anglo Saxon (the latter two will call upon Odin as Woden and Wotan respectively). The exceptions to this rule are where the cult has gone beyond its normal confines as in the cult of Isis which was very popular in Rome and throughout the Roman Empire.
Christianity
Christian blocs include the Celtic Church, the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church based in Constantinople, the Coptic Church based in Alexandria and the Nestorian Church based in Armenia with missions as far as India and China. Christian Clerics will also have to choose a patron saint and will have to make a pilgrimage at some point to the parish of that saint and it is also a very good idea to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and depending on their creed a pilgrimage to either Rome or Constantinople is also a good idea.
Islam
Islam is of course based in Arabia and is the prime religion of southern Spain, North Africa, the steppes of Russia and the Mogul Empire of northern India. . A Muslim cleric or Imam will be from anywhere in the Arab empire at its fullest extent so a Spanish Muslim cleric is allowed but a Danish Muslim cleric is so unlikely that it is not allowed. The religion is of course divided into Sunni and Shiite but this does not really matter too much ethically because it really amounts to a dispute about which family line was to succeed Mohamed. Sunni’s will give allegiance to the Caliph at Baghdad and Shiites will give allegiance the Ayatollah living in exile in Persia. An adventuring Muslim priest may well need a compass in order to know the direction of Mecca, pray five times a day in order to get his quota of spells and sometime during the campaign must visit Mecca for the Haj
Sufism-
The other branch of Islam is Sufism which is a more mystical, artistic and philosophical branch of the Muslim religion. Sufi priests are called Dervishes which for our purposes only means that a certain amount of whirling must be done in order to acquire spells. Sufism is most popular in what we know as Turkey, Lebanon, Iran and Pakistan.
Judaism
The Jewish Diaspora is thickest in Alexandria and Iberia but can be found throughout Europe and North America and even as far as India. The Templar Knights allow pilgrimage to Jerusalem and some limited settlement to Hebrews.
Zoroastrianism
Zoroaster (Zarathustra) was a Persian and his religion is the state religion of Persia. It is a religion that sees life and the universe as an eternal struggle between good and evil and light and dark which is personified as the struggle between Ahura Mazdah and Aingra Mainyu. High priests are called Magi and it was three Magi who appear in the Christian Nativity, one of these Magi was called Balthazar and it is he who is the current hierophant of the Zoroastrian religion.
Mithras-
Mithras was an Iranian culture hero within the Zoroastrian religion whose cult became popular in Roman times; the King of Pontus (eastern Turkey) Mithradates took his name from the hero. The cult became entrenched in the Roman army and Mithraic sites can be found from Arabia to Scotland, at one time it was the main rival of Christianity but lost out because women and slaves were not permitted within the cult. This is a perfect religion for the fighter-cleric combination; adherents are always male and somehow associated with the military in some way. Of course women and slaves are not allowed.
Buddhism
Siddhartha (Buddha) was Indian and the religion has its roots in India, the Mauryan King Asoka even made Buddhism India’s state religion. This state of affairs never lasted and Buddhism found lasting footholds in China, Tibet, Japan and Siam.
Buddhist priests will always be vegetarian and will never enter into combat. Buddhist priests will defend themselves but will never strike a blow. Non violence is always a priority for a Buddhist priest and those who want a more pro-active Buddhist character should choose the monk class which will allow for martial arts. Buddhist priests are always male; female Buddhist characters will always be of the monk class (Nuns).
Buddhist priest characters should think of Hsuan Tsang (Tripitaka).in Wu Cheng-en’s epic Monkey. Although non-violence may annoy other adventurers Lord Gautama Buddha will bestow all the usual spells on a Buddhist priest as long as the scriptures are strictly observed.
Daoism
Buddhism and Daoism are the norm in China- side by side as in the epic of Monkey. Taoist priests have the reputation of being great magicians so I will allow Taoist priests to multi-class as Cleric-Magic Users. Lao Tzu is the founder of the Dao and is still the spiritual leader of the philosophical religion. He lives on Kun-lun Mountain with many other worthy immortals.
Hinduism
Hindu gods preside over India, most of Indonesia and Cambodia. Hinduism is a microcosm of paganism worldwide so the possibilities are endless. Most priests will be vegetarian and will recite mantras in order to gain spells. All priests will belong to a temple, sometimes a temple unique to a local deity. Since the Hindu pantheon is so vast and varied I will leave it up to the player to do the research themselves and present reasonable and documented religious guidelines.
Shinto
Shinto is the pagan-like religion of Japan with similarities to Daoism and roots in animism.
Paganism
The Olympian Pagan religion coexists alongside Christianity. While the Gods and Goddesses are known by their Greek names in Greece, the Rest of the world is more familiar with their Roman names
The Norse pantheon followed the Vikings around except the Varangians of Russia who were converted to Orthodox Christianity and the Norman half elves who converted to Catholicism.
The rest of the world has its own indigenous religions, African clerics being known as witchdoctors and Siberian tribal clerics being known as shamans.
Druids
Druids are always from a Celtic culture without exception. The Druidic tradition is still practised in Gaul alongside Catholicism, Helvetia, Galicia in northern Iberia, Galatia in central Anatolia and the British Isles, Thus the class of Druid can only be chosen by natives of these lands.
Magic Users and Illusionists
Free reign is given to these classes as there are wizards in every culture in the world.
Thieves and Assassins
The major problem here is one of alignment. The rulebook states that assassins must be of evil alignment but then there is the example of the ninja- is a ninja necessarily evil? There are many cases where a thief can be of good alignment- Robin Hood and Bilbo Baggins are just two examples.
Bards
Bard is a Celtic word and the Norse word is Skjold but I will not limit the Bard to just a Celtic and Norse heritage. It would seem that storytellers and entertainers from far away exotic lands would be very desirable in any but the most xenophobic of societies.
Monks
Unless there can be found specific guidelines for the ninja (who must always be Japanese) I will allow the ninja to be a combination of the class of Monk and Assassin. Monks come into their own in oriental culture as in the Shaolin monks of China. Western monks always belong to a denomination such as the Cathars of Aquitaine who are the underground resistance movement in the fight against the Antipope though they are not aligned with the church at Rome and are fundamentally opposed to Catholicism. Other denominations include Benedictines and Franciscans who at third level gain the ability to talk with animals. Monks can also be of the Celtic Church as its own denomination.
Any other character classes I am open to if guidelines can be found and authenticated, I do remember seeing Chinese animal spirit classes on the net somewhere and as a big fan of Monkey I would welcome these classes, if the guidelines cannot be found I would be willing to make animal spirit classes as fighters with limited magical ability and the ability to shape change into their animal.
The game itself begins in the Cornish seaside town of Penzance; all characters have made their way there via boat from wherever their homeland is. All characters will have chosen Penzance to begin their careers because I said so and Penzance is the great pirate capital of Britain and the base of the Thieves Guild on that island.
Penzance is the place you will need to buy your supplies. Your first task is to meet Sir Galahad at the Jamaica Inn on the Bodmin Moor.
Facts you need to know-
1. Southern Gaul has been annexed by an impostor pope called ‘The Antipope’ who has set up a false papacy in the city of Avignon. The entire realm of Provence that was formerly part of the Kingdom of Burgundy is now in the Antipopes power. Burgundy, severely weakened, has called on the support of its neighbour France for support against the Antipope. The king of Burgundy was kidnapped and murdered and the crown prince is hostage. The nation is now run by a Duke that is the cousin of the King and pays tribute to the King of France in return for French military support.
2. The Antipope has stirred up the goblins and the Green Dragons in the Massif Central and created an army.
3. The capital of Burgundy Lyon is currently under siege.
4. The Gnome/Helvetian city of Geneva is also under siege and the Alpine nation has been dragged into the war.
5. The Antipope has unleashed the monster Tarrasque to terrorise France and Aquitaine.
Rumours-
1. The wizard of Milan is a traitor and has recently sold real estate to Count Dracula. It is said he has charmed the King of Lombardy to his will and may have even infected him with vampirism.
2. Pope Boniface XXVI in Rome has asked King Arthur for the use of the Holy Grail to help in the war against the Antipope
Cornwall is a kingdom that is part of the United Kingdoms of The Britons. Arthur is the High King of the Britons who rules from Camelot (Cadbury Castle in Somerset). Britons are the people of Brittany, Lyonesse, Wales and England west of the Salisbury Plain. They are a feudal society and were all once part of the Roman Empire, something which the rich and powerful take great pride in. The Roman legacy is Christianity and there will be a Church in every major village but Roman Arthur (Artorius) could never have won over the Britons without the support of the Merlin, The Merlin is the Druidic Hierophant and Merlin is a title rather than a personal name. The Merlin is the Druidic spiritual leader of the pagan Scots and Picts as well but his power does not extend to Ireland who have their own spiritual pontiff within the Tuatha De Danaan, The Knights of the Round Table run Celtic Britain and your point of reference is Sir Galahad the knight who discovered the Holy Grail at Glastonbury where it was brought by Joseph of Arimathea. It has become common knowledge that Pope Boniface XXVI has asked Joseph of Arimathea for the use of the potent magical power that is the Holy Grail in his struggle against the Antipope in Avignon. The Antipope has effectively cut off all land routes to Rome from northern Europe. Galahad has been entrusted with the quest of getting the Grail to Rome, the question is will he risk taking the sea route and the chance of losing the Grail ti the depths or will he take the overland route and risk the Grail falling into the hands of the antipope. Why not use the teleports I hear you ask? The Wizard of Rome has been kidnapped and is rumoured to be a prisoner of the Antipope at Marseille and the Wizard of Milan is a traitor who has charmed and controls the King of Lombardy to his will. Geneva and Lyon are under siege. Charles De Gaulle, the wizard of Paris and the Wizard of Heathrow are willing to help but Joseph of Arimathea strongly urges Galahad not to put the Grail within tempting reach of any powerful state wizard. Added to this is the fact that the minute the Grail enters a teleport the Antipope will know its whereabouts instantly and will react with lightning speed.
