5e & 4+3 Campaign Notes: The Land of Songs

 My eldest requested that I do a write-up of one of the worlds suggested by my last post. I'll cover some of the foundational stuff in this post, and then follow up with the seven classes re-skinned so as to make sense in the world that emerges from this little thought experiment. Thus, I bring you The Land of Songs:

Known by the humans as Leóthland and the dragon kin as Eordracân, The Land of Songs is what most of the world calls the largest island in the world, at the center of the map above. The people of that island, however, know the entire world as The Land of Songs. This is due to their songs of how the world came to be.

The humans and dragon kin of The Land of Songs worship the Song of the Land, who is known in three particularities: Wóthbora the Singer, Leód the Song, and C'hor the Dancing. The Land was once one, sung into existence by Wóthbora through His Song while C'hor was dancing over the abyss. 

Wóthbora gave language to the dragons so as to help teach humanity, to whom he gave the ability to sing — to be co-creators with Him. Rather than use their gifts to sing in harmony with Leód, humanity and dragon kind built an earthly empire that sought the heavens by their own power. So, Wóthbora stripped humanity of the Song, and the dragon kin of either their wings or their intelligence and ability to speak. He then broke the Land into islands separated by the sea. 

Humanity and the dragon kin fell into silence and darkness; however, Wóthbora preserved one peoples and gave the Song back to them. These are the people of the Land of the Song, who strive to heal the wounds of the Land by teaching the world to Dance with the Song.

This is no easy task. It takes brave adventurers to cross the sea into unknown territories filled with ancient ruins from the fallen empire of humans and dragons. Shadows and monsters lurk within. The people of the Land, however, know that each island has its own melody that can add to the Song. Should the island be cleansed and  that melody be found, the island will return to its place as part of The Land of Songs.

5e & 4 + 3

Last month, James over at Grognardia reflected on how the "4+3" structure of how B/X presents classes is simple, sturdy, flexible, and helps build a world that feels real. 

While 5e is not my preferred rule-set (I would play 0e, Holmes, or B/X before I play any other edition), I think it is by far the best of the "new school" editions and (depending on the day) I might even admit that I would rather play it than 1e ADnD. 

One of the reasons I am not enthusiastic about 5e is precisely the reason that it so radically departs from the 4+3 presentation of classes. If one looks merely at the core rules, there are 9 races each with at least two variants and 12 classes with at least two variants each. All told, there are thousands of different mechanical ways to represent a character. Add in the various splat books and this number goes up exponentially. In other words, the only descriptor that can still be applied to both BX and 5e is "flexible," though I probably prefer the word "chaotic" in the case of 5e.

As one might infer from reading my blog the over years, I take great delight in building worlds based on what can be inferred from the rules and mechanics of the game. BX is a fantastic vehicle for this approach. 5e makes such a project virtually nigh impossible due to information overload; however, one of the things I do like about 5e is that it does present all this information as optional. It empowers the DM to put limits on which rules get used and which do not. 

Thus, it invites me to apply the "4+3" paradigm to the races and classes of 5e. What follows is, I hope, inspiring because what I consider to be the "core classes" is, in some cases, not what one might expect. 

Note:  I do have access to a pair of the splat books and am taking advantage of them due to some thematic elements found therein.

 

World One 

Core Classes 

Cleric

Paladin (Oath of Vengeance), Variant Human with Heavy Armor Master Feat 

Fighter

Barbarian (Path of the Zealot), Variant Human with Durable Feat 

Magic-user

Rogue (Arcane Trickster Archetype), Variant Human with Ritual Caster Feat 

Thief

Monk (Way of the Shadow), Normal Human 

Race-as-Class 

Dwarf 

Barbarian (Path of the Berserker), Mountain Dwarf 

Elf 

Fighter (Eldritch Knight Archetype), High Elf 

Halfling

Rogue (Assassin Archetype), Stout Halfling

 

World Two

Core Classes 

Cleric

Sorcerer (Divine Soul Origin), Variant Human with Fey Touched or Shadow Touched Feat 

Fighter

Fighter (Rune Knight Archetype), Variant Human with Fey Touched or Shadow Touched Feat

Magic-user

Warlock (Archfey Patron), Variant Human with Fey Touched Feat 

Thief

Rogue (Phantom Archetype), Variant Human with Shadow Touched Feat

Race-as-Class 

Dwarf 

Ranger (Fey Wanderer), Half-elf

Elf 

Wizard (Blade Singing), High Elf

Halfling

Wizard (School of Illusion), Forest Gnome

 

World Three

Core Classes 

Cleric

Cleric (Tempest Domain), Normal Human

Fighter

Barbarian (Path of the Storm), Normal Human

Magic-user

Sorcerer (Storm Sorcery), Normal Human

Thief

Rogue (Swashbuckler Archetype), Normal Human

Race-as-Class 

Dwarf 

Warlock (Genie Patron), Dragonborn

Elf 

Wizard (Blade Singing), High Elf

Halfling

Warlock (The Fathomless Patron), Half-elf

 

World Four

Core Classes 

Cleric

Monk (Way of Mercy), Variant Human with Healer Feat

Fighter

Monk (Path of the Kensei), Variant Human with Weapon Master Feat

Magic-user

Bard (College of Swords), Variant Human with Ritual Caster Feat

Thief

Rogue (Swashbuckler Archetype), Variant Human with Dual Wielder Feat

Race-as-Class 

Dwarf 

Rogue (Assassin Archetype), Half-orc

Elf 

Bard (College of Whispers), High Elf

Halfling

Rogue (Mastermind Archetype), Half-elf

 

What I love about this approach is that each world has a distinct feel, grounded in the mechanics of the classes themselves. One can start imagining reasons why each class has the mechanics they do. Speaking of the mechanics, since that is all they are, we are free to re-skin everything within a class to better explain them in context of the world in which they appear.

So, which world would you like to run or adventure in?

World Building with the Noahide Laws

In my last post, B.W. Byers asked me if I had ever looked at the Noahide Laws as a model for a pre-historic law/religious system for a FRPG setting. For those unfamiliar, they are a set of laws said to have been followed by Noah and his descendants after the flood. They seem to be implied in the admonitions God give Noah in Genesis 9:

But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.

They are also implied by both the Book of Jubilees, a pseudographical book dated to the second century B.C., as well as Acts 15, where the Council of Jerusalem decides that Gentiles do not need to be circumcised but:

that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality (v.29).

The earliest compilation of the laws can be found in the Tosefta, a collection of Jewish oral law dated to A.D. 189. The laws can also be found in the Talmud.

Traditionally, the laws can be enumerated as follows:

Not to worship idols.
Not to curse God.
To establish courts of justice.
Not to commit murder.
Not to commit adultery, bestiality, or sexual immorality.
Not to steal.
Not to eat flesh torn from a living animal.

The Noahide Laws are simpler than the Ten Commandments and yet still feel very grounded Scripture. In other words, this is an interesting starting place to create a world that feels both similar yet alien.

Bringing out the alien nature of a campaign world can begin with the law about murder. In Genesis, this law concerns bloodshed and this is echoed in the Tosefta. This brings up a dilemma, because God seems to demand that blood be shed for blood. While one could argue that He is warning us of the cycle of violence that revenge creates, it is also an opportunity to start building a society around the Noahide Laws based on various castes where a Law is either abrogated or specifically applied. If blood is to be shed for punishing murderers or in defense of a city from an invading force, a society needs a caste or classification of people who are allowed to break the Law of Bloodshed without fear of retribution from the Law.

Thus, I decided to take an ancient Hebrew letter and use it as both a symbol and a name for each of the castes:

Bet

Related to the Latin letter 'B'

The letter 'Bet' is associated with Family, so I thought it appropriate for representing the caste associated with sexual immorality. In a Scriptural context, this caste would be a place to protect victims: widows, orphans, and the abused. It is here that I am going to borrow one of the better ideas from The Witcher — practitioners of arcane magic are rendered sterile in exchange for the power they gain from becoming a spell caster. Since, victims are damaged and see sexual relations in a broken way, the choice to become sterile in exchange for power becomes a much easier choice. Consequently, it would make sense that in context of the Noahide Laws that the Wizard's Guild would be the new family for the widow, orphan, and abused. One interesting side effect of this idea is that Magic-users are more likely to be women than men.

El

Related to the Latin letter 'A'

The letter 'El' is associated with Leadership and Power, appropriate for the caste responsible for setting up courts of justice. This would be the de facto aristocracy of the society, where leaders are known by the title Judge. Given that this is a pre-Davidic reality, however, this caste is not hereditary. It is something one must earn.

Hey

Related to the Latin letter 'E'

The letter 'Hey' is related to the verb Reveal. Societies are quite capable of mistaking medicine, science and certain creative acts as blasphemy by muscling in on what properly belongs to God (as the creator of all things). Thus, I thought this caste would be a place where such endeavors can happen in their proper context. Alchemists, blacksmiths, physicians, etc. all belong to this caste.

Mem

Related to the Latin letter 'M'

The letter 'Mem' is related to Blood, so it was a no-brainer to have this be the caste responsible for soldiering and execution.

Shin

Related to the Latin letter 'S'

The letter 'Shin' is associated with Eating, so it made sense to have this caste be related to the law against eating from a live animal. This caste would involve all those professions responsible for  processing animals into food: butchers, herders, hunters, etc.

Sin

Related to the Latin letter 'X'

The letter 'Sin' is related to the verb Grab. As such, I thought it a good fit for those who need to Steal legally — tax collectors; however, in context of a FRPG it also opens up the possibility for a legitimate version of the Thieves' Guild trope and a place for the Rogue/Thief class to have an official place within society. I am reminded of the classic Japanese movie The Taxing Woman.

Yad

Related to the Latin letters 'I & 'J'

The letter 'Yad' is associated with Worship, so this is another no-brainer: this is the priestly caste and a home for clerics. As an aside, the Noahide Laws are a polemic against paganism. The implication here is that the 'gods' worshipped by pagans are creatures, something that I have mediated on before in context of Deities & Demi-Gods.

Ghah

Finally, we have the letter 'Ghah' which is associated with Rope, Twisting, Dark, and Wickedness. This symbolizes everything outside of Society — Chaos, in the tripartite alignment system of older versions of D&D. There are several things I like about this. Rope implies that those who have rejected the Noahide Laws are bound by sin. Twisting dovetails nicely into my Tolkien-inspired understanding of humanoids. Dark and Wicked nicely describe what monsters ought to be. As a bonus, while every letter used above has an analogue in the modern Hebrew, Greek, and Latin alphabets, Ghah has none. It is a nice reminder that Scripture tells us that God created everything from nothing and without God we return to the nothing from whence we came.

Revisiting World-Building and Clerics

JB of BX Blackrazor has been interested in having religion being part of his RPG experience for a long time. As a consequence, our two blogs have bounced off of each other several times over the years. So, it came as no real surprise that JB decided to use my last post as a jumping off point for discussing his current state in the ongoing struggle of all us who play D&D with Alignment. As it so often happens with these kinds of things, JB has inspired me to revisit a post I did earlier this year on world-building.

In his own attempts at world-building for the purpose of creating a campaign that he could be entertained by for the rest of his life, JB wanted to ground his world by

…picking an epoch in our real world past that is so far removed from today that who knows WHAT might have happened "way back then"

To this end, he has gone far back enough in time that Judeo-Christianity is not a thing. He does, however, indicate that he still wants his cosmology to be sensible.

He opts for what he calls a “New Age-y” cosmology than boils down to a form of pantheism. Historically speaking, the word “pantheism” was coined in the late 17th century and as a concept only really ever showed up as a tendency in other non-pantheistic religious traditions.

While not my cup of tea, he does pose a world-building conundrum that I find tantalizing: how would I build a FRPG game world based on a real world human epoch in the far distant past? As suggested by the title of this post, this isn’t my first time meditating on such things, but JB lays out a few needs that I find inspiring:

• The cosmology need to be sensible
• There needs to be a answer as to what is evil and how it came about
• The cosmology needs to justify the existence of a megadungeon as a central focus of the campaign

In a move that will surprise no one, I am going to turn to the Biblical narrative of Genesis for a lot of these answers; however, where I go in Genesis may be unexpected:

So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth. — Genesis 11:8-9

So, the idea here is that Tower of Babel represents that move away from the monotheism of ancient man towards the development of a pagan pantheon as humanity moved from hunter gatherers to agriculture. The people who built the Tower seek to elevate themselves and the gods they have created to the heavens. God came down (which in a Christian context would have been the Angel of the Lord, aka the pre-incarnate Christ) and scattered the people and confused their tongues. In a fantasy context, this could be the genesis of all the various fantasy races. Humanoids in this context can be seen as members of the different races that are twisted because they continue to strive for the goals of the builders of the Tower in defiance of God.

This event also marks the collapse of the prior, more technologically and magically advanced age. These artifacts are not inherently evil, though one might be tempted to have the occasional intelligent sword remind players that the civilization that created the sword set itself against God. So, there would be a desire for the current civilization to recover what it could of the old and use it in a more appropriate way.

The Tower itself could be the megadungeon. The city that built it was abandoned. Given the apparent size of the building, it would be a perfect vehicle for a megadungeon. Want something resembling volcanic caves? No problem, the presence of God Himself walked down to earth using the Tower. Given that God tells Moses that anyone who looks upon the face of God would not survive, we have a lot of leeway as to what the Tower looks like in the present campaign.

In terms of building a civilizational ethos without the advent of the Covenants of the Old and New Testaments, we have the command of God to tend the garden. The People (which will cover all of the various fantasy races, given that God’s action at the Tower is the origin of all the races) are created according to the Image and Likeness and therefore bear the responsibility of representing God to creation and to lift up creation to God. Thus, being caretakers of creation and attempting to return it to a pristine condition might be the motivating factor for lifting up the sword against the humanoid hordes which seek to claim creation for their own.

World Building and Clerics

Earlier this year, Circas K meditated about rethinking clerics and religion on his Sword of Mass Destruction blog. He and I are of one mind when it comes to the way later iterations of D&D model the cleric class: the game uses a pseudo-christian monotheistic foundation upon which is built a polytheistic structure. As a consequence, later editions of D&D don't do either monotheism or polytheism justice. For those of you who are interested in the latter, you can go and see how Circas K suggests building a polytheistic foundation. Of course, if you are a long time reader of this blog, I have spilled a lot of digital ink explaining how older editions of D&D actually do a really good job of emulating a Christian fantasy world with little to no modification.

One of the assumptions made in gaming where any form of religion is involved is that monotheism is a later development. Animism and Ancestor worship develop into polytheism which then develops into monotheism. A great example of this is Avalon Hill's Advanced Civilization, where Monotheism is one of the most expensive Civilization Cards in the game. Thus, in context of a pre-historical fantasy age like that found in REH's Conan stories, it seems to make sense to default to a polytheistic world-building foundation.

This, of course, is not what is found in the Biblical narrative. Scripture suggests that the most ancient peoples were actually monotheists. Polytheism arrises later as civilizations grow and develop. Despite the apparent uniqueness of the Hebrews, this pattern even develops within the nation of Israel. The prophets are constantly warning the People of God to stay true to the ancient ways of monotheism instead of adopting the polytheism of the nations around them.

Recently, I came upon this video done by Inspiring Philosophy:

I realize it is 55 minutes long, but given the fact that most of us are isolated at home why not take the time?

It takes us through a bunch of evidence that suggests that the general shape of the Biblical Narrative is actually far closer to historic reality than what is assumed by the games we play. Again and again we find that primitive, nomadic cultures tend toward monotheism. Some even have strikingly similar stories and concepts found within the OT. Thus, the whole hypothesis that monotheism is a later development than polytheism is neither tenable nor realistic.

Thus, for the purposes of world-building a fantasy world inspired by Swords & Sorcery pulp stories about a Pangean/Hyperborean age it is actually quite realistic to use a monotheistic belief in a Creator god who spoke the world into being. This god might go by many names, but the fundamentals are pretty much the same across cultures.

If one wanted to add some polytheistic pantheons, these would be features of decadent city-states and urban areas rather than the more "primitive" areas outside the cities.

This creates an interesting inversion of my own classic campaign structure of Christian Civilization  (Law) vs. the Demonic Wilderness (Chaos). Indeed, a campaign could be centered around retrieving objects and treasure hidden inside the City rather than the Dungeon and the classic fantasy and D&D trope of raiding a Temple could be a central activity.

In this context, I do find it quite ironic that the D&D ruleset itself mimics this historic development of religion. The farther back one goes, the easier it is to see the roots of a monotheistic influence on the game; however, as time goes on the game becomes more and more polytheistic not just in its assumptions, but in the rules themselves.

The real irony, though, is that the assumption made by both myself and Circas K that those later editions of D&D do a bad job of portraying clerics (whether you prefer monotheism or polytheism) may be less true than I ever thought.

A Wu Xing Diagram

Yesterday, I posted about using a Wu Xing diagram to map out relationships between factions in a campaign world. Here is the actual diagram that I described:

Using this, it can be fairly easy to start putting together a political plot and conflict that is the main background noise of a campaign.

It starts with the Green Clan and their hatred of the Gold Clan and the Fire Faction in general. To get at them, they have convinced members of the Red Clan to secretly break ranks. The diagram shows that the break-away members of the Red Clan harbor enmity towards their fellow member of the Fire Faction, the Brass Clan.

A simple way to explain this is that the Brass Clan has married off one of their daughters to the head of the Red Clan, who is impotent and has no heirs. The Green Clan has exploited the anxiety within the Red Clan to place blame on the Brass Clan as a whole.

Thus, members of the Red Clan are secretly working out ways to get their revenge on the Brass Clan. To do so, they are exploiting the Silver Clan’s hatred of the Blue Clan to obtain items necessary to exact their revenge. They are also misdirecting the Blue Clan’s friendliness toward the Brass Clan in order to accomplish their goals.

In the meantime, the Copper Clan has begun to suspect the Red Clan’s plans, but have so far been unable to convince the Silver Clan of the danger. They have thus resorted to working with the White Clan through their fellow Acid Faction member the Black Clan. The plan is to sow distrust between the Bronze and Blue Clans in order to disrupt the workings of the Red Clan.

See how wonderfully complex this all gets in short order?

As an aside, I plan to have the Fire Faction territory at or near the border regions of the Empire. In other words, they are the ones that are in charge of the campaign world’s version of the Great Wall. As both the Fire Clan and the Brass Clan begin to be ripped apart by the various political plotting began by the Green Clan, the defense at the Great Wall will weaken. This, of course, opens up the possibility of a major outside threat getting into the Empire and creating havoc.

World Building Using Wu Xing

When I am building a new campaign world, I especially like to create factions in sets of five. This allows me to plug factions into a Wu Xing diagram which indicates which factions are enemies and which factions are allies. What is particularly fascinating about this model is that enmity and friendship really only go one direction. This creates a wonderfully complex set of relationships. It also is really easy to use.

To demonstrate how useful this is, take a look at how I have plugged in the Ten Clans from my last post, where I posited a campaign world based on using only four of the twelve available 5e classes:

The Poison Faction is friendly with the Lightening Faction and has enmity toward the Fire Faction:

• The Green Clan specifically likes the Bronze Clan and hates the Gold Clan
• The Green Clan has also convinced elements of the Red Clan to betray the Fire Faction. This traitorous element specifically likes the Blue Clan and hates the Brass Clan

The Lightening Faction is friendly with the Fire Faction and has enmity toward the Acid Faction:

• The Bronze Clan specifically likes the Gold Clan and hates the Black Clan
• The Blue Clan specifically likes the Brass Clan and hates the Copper Clan

The Fire Faction is friendly with the Acid Faction and has enmity toward the Cold Faction:

• The Gold Clan specifically likes the Black Clan and hates the White Clan
• The Brass Clan specifically likes the Copper Clan and hates the Silver Clan

The Acid Faction is friendly with the Cold Faction and has enmity toward the Poison Faction:

• The Blue Clan specifically likes the White Clan and hates the Green Clan
• The Copper Clan specifically likes the Silver Clan and hates the Red Clan

The Cold Faction is friendly with the Poison Faction and has enmity toward the Lightening Faction:

• The White Clan specifically likes the Green Clan and hates the Bronze Clan
• The Silver Clan specifically likes the Red Clan and hates the Blue Clan

By simply plugging in these factions into the Wu Xing model, all kinds of interesting relationships and conflicts arise. This becomes especially useful when planning a campaign full of political intrigue.

And because I love doing it, here is some heraldry for the Ten Clans:

World Building using 5e Classes

One of my favorite poetic forms is the haiku. While tempting to see it as a very simple style of poetry where one need only come up with seventeen syllables and be done with it, writing a haiku is much more difficult than it seems. The goal is to capture a singular moment in time without allegory, simile or analogy. The skill and creativity to write a truly brilliant haiku is much greater than one might be led to believe.

Thus, I have always seen limitations as powerful creative tools. This explains my love of random tables. They severely limit my initial input as to what happens in an encounter, but open up a huge amount of possibilities when I am forced to rationally explain why that particular encounter happened when and where it did. This has consistently led to an enriching of my campaign worlds beyond what normally would have been possible if I had used my own input on encounters instead of a random table.

This leads me to today’s post — a thought experiment using limitations. Specifically, limiting the number of classes available to players in a 5e campaign and then building out a campaign world based on those classes available.

Since my favorite edition of D&D is B/X and B/X has four basic classes, I decided to use that as a benchmark. I then divided up the twelve available 5e classes into four groups:

• Barbarians, Fighters, Rangers
• Bards, Monks, Rogues
• Clerics, Druids, Paladins
• Sorcerers, Warlocks, Wizards

I then asked my children to pick one class from each category to come up with this list of four available classes:

• Ranger
• Rogue
• Cleric
• Sorcerer

Two interesting patterns emerge from this group of four classes:

First, the Cleric is the exception when it comes to magic. Rangers, Rogues with the Arcane Trickster Archetype and Sorcerers all use spontaneous casting from a list of known spells. Clerics, on the other hand, prepare spells from the cleric spell list and have access to ritual casting.

Second, there is no class that truly represents a standing army. Rangers are skirmish fighters. While rogues can emulate the sense of a disciplined army or coordinated fighting with their Sneak Attack, their limitations with both weapons and armor as well as their focus on dexterity and stealth suggest an army far more used to spying than to fighting toe-to-toe battles on a regular basis.

The campaign world that emerges from these patterns is one that is primarily focused inward because what outside threats exist can be kept in check by rangers and rogues. Thus, the driving force of most adventures is going to be political intrigue between factions that exist within the campaign world.

These factions are suggested by the various damage types available to sorcerers from the Draconic Bloodline:

• Acid (with Black and Copper clans)
• Cold (with Silver and White clans)
• Fire (with Copper, Gold, and Red clans)
• Lightening (with Blue and Bronze clans)
• Poison (with the Green clan)

This nicely fits into a five point pattern similar to the Asian Elemental System of Wu Xing which creates a nicely complex but balanced system where each faction has an enemy and and ally. Given that the Poison faction has only one clan (and thus has their power base consolidated) and has a specialty so convenient to the art of assassination, it makes sense to understand this faction as the current royal clan (and gives me permission to use names like the Jade Throne).

What emerges from all this is a Far East-flavored, Middle Kingdom-esque campaign world where the aristocracy are descended from dragons, magic is seen as a sign of the elite and most martial weapons are highly regulated and only used by a special class within the ruling elites — rangers.

Clerics represent an outside (Western-esque) influence both culturally and magically. They would be rare and, given that their magic can be used by those outside the aristocracy, possibly illegal in various parts of the campaign world. Due to the fractious nature of the Fire faction, I could see the Gold and/or Copper clans being the most tolerant of these new ideas and magics.

Thus, the four classes can be understood in context of the campaign world in the following ways:

Rangers are akin to a samurai class. They are far more concerned about outside threats than an average citizen, but still suffer from a myopic view inward as evidenced by the Beast Master Archetype which is more about show and prestige of the animal companions (where more exotic and well-trained companions are more prestigious).

Rogues represent the default class of the average citizen. Thieves’ Cant is a kind of trade language and a (not so full proof way) to communicate under the noses of the aristocracy. The Thief Archetype represents your basic thug. The Assassin Archetype represents a basic soldier or city guard. The Arcane Trickster represents a low-born aristocrat, a dilettante that likes to slum it with the peasantry, or an aristocratic spy that keeps the ruling class informed about the rumblings and rebellions amongst the hoi polloi.

Sorcerers generally represent the upper echelon of the aristocracy. Those of the Dragon Bloodline are those that have the most royal blood running through their veins. Sorcerers who use Wild Magic are the exception. They are generally low-born who have enough dragon blood to manifest magic but not enough to control it and manifest it the same way as those who have the Dragon Bloodline. These sorcerers are generally looked down upon and seen as dangerous by both the ruling class and the peasantry.

Clerics and their followers are the most outward-looking citizens of the empire. Their magic and world-view is heavily influenced by foreign culture and ideas. Due to their focus on and care of the lower classes, they are seen as a threat by most of the aristocracy but are mostly tolerated in the lands controlled by certain Fire clans. Their existence hints at a greater (most likely undead) outside threat than the Empire has faced in generations.

Mathetes to Diognetus Chapter 10

In the 10th Chapter of his Epistle to Diognetus, Mathtetes explains:

If you also desire [to possess] this faith, you likewise shall receive first of all the knowledge of the Father. For God has loved mankind, on whose account He made the world, to whom He rendered subject all the things that are in it, to whom He gave reason and understanding, to whom alone He imparted the privilege of looking upwards to Himself, whom He formed after His own image, to whom He sent His only-begotten Son, to whom He has promised a kingdom in heaven, and will give it to those who have loved Him.

For the purposes of world-building, the salient point here is the idea that humanity is created in the image and likeness of God. We are created with the potential to be like God. As Mathetes says:

And do not wonder that a man may become an imitator of God. He can, if he is willing.

Since the Trinitarian metaphor for our analogue of the Father is Tizan (Artisan), it follows that the main way of imitating God in context of our campaign world is that of co-creator. We are given creation by God and are expected to work it with our own hands and present something newly created back to God. This is why the eucharist is bread and wine and not wheat and grapes.

Mechanically, this suggests a house rule where PCs are given some kind of crafting skills. I see two distinct choices as to how to do this practically:

• A table with various types of skills (like the Tool Proficiencies from 5e). Players would randomly roll on this table and their PC would then be skilled in that particular area. As long as the character is doing something reasonable using that skill, no roll is necessary. The character can do extraordinary things using the skill with an appropriate roll.
• Crafting skills that are class-specific. This follows the logic of Holmes allowing 1st level magic-users to craft scrolls at a cost of 100gp and a week per spell level. Each class would be able to spend time and money create a class-specific item for use on an adventure. Given the one-use property of a scroll, this should probably be universal across all classes.

Here are some ideas for this latter approach:

Cleric

• Healing salve (equivalent of a Laying on Hands)
• Incense (bonus to a single Turn roll)
• Holy Oil (bonus to AC for a single combat)

Fighter

• Liquid Courage (bonus to hit for a single combat)
• Baning Oil (bonus to damage for a single combat)
• Ablative Armor (absorb 1 hit per damage die until destroyed; has 1d6+1 hits when made)

Magic-user

• Scrolls
• Duration Component (double the duration of a spell)
• Range Component (double the range of a spell)

Thief

• Liquid Courage (bonus to hit for a single combat)
• Jury-rigged Tool (bonus to a single Thief ability roll)
• Smoke bombs (bonus to a surprise roll)

Since scrolls are 100gp for a 1st level spell and all the various bonuses are less than what one would gain from a 1st level buff spell, I would suggest that the non-scroll items would all be 1d6 x 10 gp per use and would take 1d6 days to make.

Mathetes to Diognetus: A Campaign Map

Hades as a concept is not only useful as an inspiration for the Aidisian Empire and how it functions, but it is also fodder for influencing the geography of the campaign. According to the Aeneid, the underworld had an entrance close to the volcanic Lake Avernus which is located near the city of Naples. Here is where I go really old school. The best fantasy maps are really just maps of real places that have been rescaled, turned upside down and/or relabelled.

Thus, if one takes a look at a topographical map of the area around the Lake Avernus, one finds something that looks great, is geographically realistic (because it is real) and inspires all kinds of ideas:

Therefore I am going to start here by changing the scale and re-labelling things. 

Here is another tid bit of advice from a guy who has run a lot of games over the years and has drawn a lot of maps: practically, most of a typical fantasy campaign happens within an area approximately 20-30 square miles. There is really no real need to do any kind of serious mapping beyond that. Generally, I will have abstract ideas pencilled in like, “there is a big jungle to the south” or “the Great Kingdom is to the east” or “there are barbarians to the north.” Sometimes those notes become relevant. Most of the time, they don’t. Thus, whenever I begin a campaign, I stick to a map that is approximately 20x30 miles and it generally serves me very well throughout a campaign.

One other inspiring thing about using the concept of Hades is that it offers up a lot of names that I can port into re-labelling the map. Thus, this will be a fun place to explore for anyone who is up on their Greek and Roman mythology:

Mathetes to Diognetus Chapter 9 Part 2

In the 9th Chapter of his Epistle to Diognetus, Mathetes understands death as a natural consequence for humanity’s sins against God. This understanding, of course, comes from Judaism which forms the foundation upon which Christianity is established. In paganism, death is better understood in context of the person of Hades/Pluto, or whatever name the God of death in a pagan pantheon goes by. I mention the name Hades because not only is that Puto’s name under the Greek pantheon, but it was used by the Romans as the name for Pluto’s kingdom of the underworld.

Rather than a consequence of human sin, death is just the way things are in paganism. Pluto, being the God who rules the realm of death, is someone who needs placated so that one’s experience under his rule is tolerable.

Interestingly, the pace of the dead in Judaism — Sheol — is very similar to the Greek and Roman conception of Hades. Both are seen as being underground and dark. In fact, when Greek speaking Jews began translating the OT into Greek beginning in the 4th century B.C., they translated the Hebrew Sheol (שְׁאוֹל) as Hades (ᾍδης).

Given the focus on the undead within the Empire of this nascent campaign world, this suggests that the Empire itself is an extension of the realm of the dead. Hades has bled out onto the surface world and has been imposing its will upon the living. This, in turn, helps define a few things and raises a few questions:

• The Greek word ᾍδης suggests a name for the Empire — the Aidisian Empire or Aidisia.
• In certain applications of old school D&D play, the Mythical Underworld plays a large role in how dungeons work. Doors for PCs are all locked while they open easily for monsters. PCs can’t see in the dark (even with ultra- or infra-vision), while monsters can. As parts of the underworld are cleared out, monsters are replaced and even geography changes. The question becomes, how much of this reality bleeds out onto the surface world within the Aidisian Empire?
• Another question is the relationship of the Mythical Underworld, the person of Hades, and the God-Emperor of Aidisia. I am most tempted to understand them as three different entities. The Mythical Underworld is a manifestation of the Natural Order being corrupted by Chaos. Hades is a demon that has tempted humanity onto the path of Chaos. The God-Emperor has embraced lichdom through the influence of the demon Hades. In order to pay homage to early versions of D&D, this demonic version of Hades can be replaced with Orcus.
• Since the Mythical Underworld has such a significant influence on the Aidisian Empire, this suggests that it is easily accessed. The adventure trope of the Temple suggested from Mathetes’ description of idols being guarded from theft suggests that the primary bleed points of the Mythical Underground into the world at large are the pagan temples. This, in turn, suggests that every pagan temple has a dungeon complex underneath it.
• Finally, there is the question of what relationship the Artanian Church has to the Mythical Underground. Historically, Christianity met secretly in house churches and catacombs. In older editions of D&D, the end game involved conquering a piece of Wilderness and making it into the demesne of a PC. Would the “end game” of this nascent campaign world be to conquer sections of the underworld to be consecrated as safe havens for Artanians to congregate?

Mathetes to Diognetus Chapter 9 Part 1

In Chapter 9 of his Epistle to Diognetus, Mathetes lays out why the theological differences between paganism and Christianity is so important. He is brutally honest about the reality of the human condition:

[We are] borne along by unruly impulses, being drawn away [from God] by the desire of pleasure and various lusts…our wickedness [has] … clearly shown … its reward, punishment and death…

The great conundrums of the human experience have always been suffering and death. Mythologies, religions, and even political systems always try to explain why they are necessary and how to move beyond them.

In the pagan world-view, the gods are petty beings that cause all kinds of problems. When they become angry, natural disasters follow. Thus, the sacrificial system that pagans employ is based on the hope that such offerings will keep a certain deity placated as to avoid disaster. When disaster inevitably happens, it is explained away by claiming that the sacrifices made were not enough.

Note that within the Judeo-Christian religious system there is also a sacrificial system; however, rather than placating God it is a teaching tool used by God to help humanity understand that it was not

possible that we, the wicked and ungodly, could be justified

by anything other than God Himself.

Thus,

when the time had come which God had before appointed for manifesting His own kindness and power, how the one love of God, through exceeding regard for men, did not regard us with hatred, nor thrust us away, nor remember our iniquity against us, but showed great long-suffering, and bore with us, He Himself took on Him the burden of our iniquities, He gave His own Son as a ransom for us…

Christ Himself became the sacrifice so as to pave a path for all of humanity to overcome suffering and death by entering into His Kingdom.

Note how vulnerable the pagan sacrificial system is to abuse by those in power. If one has the ability to either predict or manufacture disasters, this knowledge could be used to demonstrate how the gods are angered by political opponents or by certain philosophies, activities, etc. It is ripe for using in order to oppress those under the influence of the pagan power structure.

Christianity is a threat to those interested in power. It always has been and always will be. Christ empowers the individual to move beyond the influence of power. By trampling down death by death he removes fear for those who have faith in Him. Those in power have nothing to hold over or threaten a Christian. This is why the martyrs were able to endure. The Roman Empire exerted all of the power it had at Christianity and still the martyrs endured and even convinced others in the face of death to accept Christ.

Thus, in a world where the Empire is pagan and has the ability through magic to manufacture disaster and death, the pagan system of sacrifice is going to be a tool of those in power to keep and maintain that power. In turn, any Christianity/Church analogue is going to be understood to be an existential threat to those who wield that power.

Mathetes to Diognetus Chapter 8

In Chapter 8 of his Epistle to Diognetus, Mathetes starts laying a theological foundation for why Christianity and paganism are so different:

For, who of men at all understood before His coming what God is? Do you accept of the vain and silly doctrines of those who are deemed trustworthy philosophers? of whom some said that fire was God, calling that God to which they themselves were by and by to come; and some water; and others some other of the elements formed by God.

Pagans mistake created matter for God. In contrast, Christians worship

God, the Lord and Fashioner of all things, who made all things, and assigned them their several positions…

This is one reason I dislike later editions of D&D. Starting with 2e, D&D took a hard turn towards a pagan world-view and hard-wired it into the mechanics of the game. Domains represent the “silly doctrines” of pagan philosophers who say that fire was God. In later editions of D&D, deities only have dominion over certain aspects of creation and as a result, their clerics can only use certain powers or spells.

Christ, through whom all things were made, has dominion over everything, including death, disease, decay and even demons. It makes absolutely no sense to me to assign Christ or a Christ-like analogue to a couple of later-edition D&D cleric domains. It demands that the Fashioner does not have dominion over what He fashioned.

To put in another way, one of the radical differences between the Christian and pagan world-views is that the Christian God created from nothing. Therefore everything owes its existence to God. No pagan would ever even consider the idea that the various pagan deities did anything other than create from some pre-existent matter.

As an example that inspired one of early D&D’s great primal villains, in the Babylonian creation myth Marduk slays the dragon Tiamat and from her body creates all of the various pieces and parts of the world. Humanity is created by squeezing the blood from the dragon’s heart. This is why humanity is flawed and evil. This, like so many other myths, impugns the various pagan deities with flaws and mistakes that reveal them to be, well, rather human.

Sin, in the Christian world-view, is introduced by humanity not God. Humanity is revealed to be utterly incapable of overcoming sin through the Law. Thus, the only way humanity is capable of overcoming sin and death is through God Himself.

With cleric spell lists inspired by the miracles of the saints, older editions of D&D make it far easier on me to build worlds based on a Christian world-view and to construct analogues like Artanianism.

Mathetes to Diognetus Chapter 7 Part 3

Now that I have settled on the trinitarian metaphor for the Christianity/Church analogue of Artaniamism, it is time to decide on a holy symbol and therefore some of the story behind the Incarnation of the Christ figure Arta. As with Christianity, the symbol will derive from how Arta dies.

Looking at Chapter 7 of his Epistle, Mathetes challenges Diognetus:

Do you not see them exposed to wild beasts, that they may be persuaded to deny the Lord, and yet not overcome? Do you not see that the more of them are punished, the greater becomes the number of the rest? This does not seem to be the work of man: this is the power of God; these are the evidences of His manifestation.

Thus, the Artanians do not fear death by wild beast. I am willing to imagine that this is because Arta died in a similar way and yet overcame death through his resurrection.

The first idea that pops to my mind for a holy symbol would be based upon the icon of St. Iranaeus being torn apart by lions:

While this would make for a really interesting holy symbol, lions don’t really fit as nicely into the trinitarian metaphor of Artanianism as I would like.

Therefore, I did some searching on animals in Roman mythology and found this very interesting website.  Listed here are a bunch of animals reported my Roman writers from various parts of the world. Among them are several animals and monsters that made it into D&D:

• Amphisbaena
• Jaculus
• Basilisk

It is this last one that intrigues me the most, because it plays very nicely into the Artanian metaphor. Victims are turned into stone — they are turned into statues. They are turned into a form of art. How cruel would it be for victims and their families that their death visage could be put on display to be mocked and spat upon for all to see?

Basilisks as presented in D&D are probably too dangerous a beast to keep in captivity unless there were an entire class of basilisk handlers that were voluntarily (or involuntarily) blinded. Regardless, using a D&D basilisk would severely limit the ability of the Empire to conduct public executions in this particular way. I wouldn’t put it past some of the aristocratic families from having such beasts for the purpose of having private executions, however.

If one goes to heraldry and how the basilisk is depicted, it appears as what we who play D&D would call a cockatrice. Now here is a beast that would be much easier to keep and use for public executions. The spectacle of such an execution could be amplified by having the cockatrice on a chained leash that could be lengthened or shortened. Thus, a victim could be toyed with as the cockatrice is kept just out of reach long enough for the victim to suffer more and to present the best “pose” for their death.

So, the holy symbol for Artanianism is the cockatrice:

Mathetes to Diognetus Chapter 7 Part 2

To continue yesterday’s post, one of the factors that I want to consider when choosing which metaphor to use to express the Christianity/Church analogue for this nascent campaign world is the world itself. Thematically, I want it to run counter to the prevailing culture so as to heighten the differences between the Empire and the Church.

Thus, I am able to reduce the number of choices to these four:

• Creator of all things (King establishing a kingdom)
• Savior (keeping people alive)
• Creator (Craftsman)
• Fashioner (Artisan)

The first is the basis for the analogue I use in my Lost Colonies campaign. While I could drop this campaign idea into my existing campaign world, I went into this project hoping to have something that was separate from everything I have done before. Therefore, despite the confrontational title of “King of All” in contrast to the Empire’s God-King, I am going to pass on this option.

I am really tempted to use the second, because it contrasts beautifully with the undead factor that exists within the Empire, but it poses the most difficult concept to tease out in terms of a trinitarian metaphor. I am going to pass on this as well.

The last two are very similar, and I must admit I was inclined to use them primarily because neither term is Scriptural — it allows me to push the envelope of this whole pattern in a new direction. They both contrast with the Empire in the same way that Savior does, but in a more subtle way. While the Empire fashions idols, golems, constructs and undead, the Trinitarian God of the Christian/Church analogue fashions everything.

Artisan is the term I am finding the easiest to fit into the Athanasian pattern of Source/Embodiment/Participation:

Artisan = Source
Art = Embodiment
Beauty = Participation

This also fits nicely within Orthodox Theology which holds that beauty is a place where we can encounter the divine.

Since the Empire is roughly based on Rome, I am inclined to have a Latin-esque feel to naming things. Romanian is my default source for Latin-sounding names because, of all the Romance languages, it is the closest to Latin. Indeed, it could be argued that Romanian is modern Latin.

Artisan in Romanian is Artizan, which could be truncated to Tizan. Art is Arta, where the last ‘a’ is supposed to have a mark over it indicating the pronunciation of ‘uh.’ Ironically, if an American were asked to pronounce ‘Arta’ that’s probably how they’d pronounce it anyway. Finally, the word Beauty is Frumusete, which is a bit complicated for my taste. If one goes with the word Beautiful, however, the Romanian is Frumos, which sounds about right.

Thus, the trinitarian structure of the analogue is this:

Tizan = Source
Arta = Embodiment
Frumos = Participation

Since the name of Christianity comes from the Second Person of the Trinity, the name of the analogue will be Artanianism and members will be called Artanians.

Mathetes to Diognetus Chapter 7 Part 1

In the 7th Chapter of his epistle to Diognetus, Mathetes explains that the basis for Christians behaving in such a different manner than the rest of society is not to be found in any philosophy or other human-derived source. Rather, the source of all things Christian is God.

Of import for the nascent campaign world is all the various words to attributes to God (with the interesting onesin italics):

God Himself, who is almighty [παντοκράτωρ], the Creator of all things [παντοκτίστης], and invisible, has sent from heaven, and placed among men, [Him who is] the truth, and the holy and incomprehensible Word, and has firmly established Him in their hearts.

As a king sends his son, who is also a king, so sent He Him; as God He sent Him; as to men He sent Him; as a Saviour He sent Him, and as seeking to persuade, not to compel us

the very Creator [τεχνίτην] and Fashioner [δημιουργὸν] of all things

The reason these words are important is due to the way in which I create the Christianity/Church analogue for fantasy campaigns. I have noted this before, but St. Athansius the Great gives me a template with which to take a metaphor and use it to come up with an alternate description of the Trinity that stays true to the biblical understanding of the Trinity:

Father = source of the metaphor
Son = the embodiment of the metaphor
Holy Spirit = the means humanity participates in the metaphor

Thus, I am able to take the idea of God as King and Giver of the Law in order to produce the following persons of the Trinity for my Lost Colonies Campaign world:

Nomos = Law
Isten = King or Crown
Thikeosyni = Citizenship or Righteousness

Here is the list of words that are available from Mathetes to build a trinitarian analogue for this nascent campaign world:

• Almighty [παντοκράτωρ] where the Greek (κράτος) implies strength
• Creator of all things [παντοκτίστης] where the Greek (κτίζω) implies a king or ruler establishing a city or a kingdom
• Truth where the OT understanding implies something firm, solid, valid and binding
• Word where the Greek (λόγος) implies the primary verb for creation attributed to God in the OT ποιέω, which means Author and is the root for the word Poet
• King which is not explicit in the text, but is implied (especially with the use of παντοκτίστης)
• Savior where the Greek (σᾠζω) implies salvation, keeping alive, benefitting through cures and good health and the preservation of the inner being
• Creator [τεχνίτην] where the greek means Craftsmen and is the root of the English word Technician and interestingly is not attributed to God in Scripture.
• Fashioner [δημιουργὸν] where the Greek means one who pursues public affairs, builder or artisan. Like τεχνίτην this is never attributed to God in Scripture.

Now, all I have to do is choose...

Mathetes to Diognetus Chapter 6

This quote from the 6th Chapter of the Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus demonstrates why I believe a Christian world-view works so well in the context of D&D:

what the soul is in the body, that are Christians in the world…The soul loves the flesh that hates it, and [loves also] the members; Christians likewise love those that hate them. The soul is imprisoned in the body, yet preserves that very body; and Christians are confined in the world as in a prison, and yet they are the preservers of the world.

Take a look at this prayer from the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom:

Enable us to offer You gifts and spiritual sacrifices for our own sins and the failings of Your people. Deem us worthy to find grace in Your sight, that our sacrifice may be well pleasing to You, and that the good Spirit of Your grace may rest upon us and upon these gifts presented and upon all Your people.

Note that the phrase “all Your people” does not say “all Christians.” It is intended to include everyone:

Again we offer You this spiritual worship for the whole world, for the holy, catholic, and apostolic Church, and for those living pure and reverent lives. For civil authorities and our armed forces, grant that they may govern in peace, Lord, so that in their tranquility we, too, may live calm and serene lives, in all piety and virtue. And remember those whom each one of us has in mind…Remember, Lord, this city in which we live, and every city and land, and the faithful who live in them. Remember, Lord, those who travel by land, sea, and air; the sick; the suffering; the captives; and their salvation. Remember those who bear fruit and do good works in Your holy churches and those who are mindful of the poor, and upon us all send forth Your mercies.

If one goes to the Anaphora of the Liturgy of St. Basil, this list is even longer and more specific.

In other words, the Divine Liturgy is not done just for the people in the pews. It is offered up for the entire world. From the perspective of spiritual warfare, Orthodox Christians (and, in particular, monastics) are front line fighters taking on the demons where they live and trying to make the world a better place through asking God to have mercy and forgive all those that we bring to mind — even those who hate us and hate God.

In context of D&D, especially when one considers such tropetastic, classic modules as B2: Keep on the Borderlands, this life style of going out to where demons reside (i.e. Chaotic monsters) and to do those things that the rest of Civilization isn’t willing to do to make Civilization a safer place is exactly what the D&D adventurer is actually doing.

The typical D&D character doesn’t quite fit into the social norms of civilized society, and may even be despised. Yet, because they are going out into the lairs of various monsters, they are keeping society safe despite themselves.

Thus, in this nascent campaign world, when charges are leveled against the Christianity/Church analogue those charges are going to be false. The Church is out to help society, to improve the lives of everyday people. They will be willing to risk their lives to do so. Thus, despite all of the risks, all of those Christians from all the various walks of life within the empire are going continue to strive in their own ways to make the world a better place.

Mathetes to Diognetus Chapter 5 Part 2

In the 5th Chapter of his Epistle to Diognetus, Mathetes attempts to describe a typical Christian:

For the Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country, nor language, nor the customs which they observe. For they neither inhabit cities of their own, nor employ a peculiar form of speech, nor lead a life which is marked out by any singularity. The course of conduct which they follow has not been devised by any speculation or deliberation of inquisitive men; nor do they, like some, proclaim themselves the advocates of any merely human doctrines. But, inhabiting Greek as well as barbarian cities, according as the lot of each of them has determined, and following the customs of the natives in respect to clothing, food, and the rest of their ordinary conduct, they display to us their wonderful and confessedly paradoxical method of life.

In other words, there is no real way to classify a Christian by normal, societal means. They defy the normal stratification of human society. To quote St. Paul:

Here there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scyth′ian, slave, free man, but Christ is all, and in all. — Colossians 3:11

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. — Galatians 3:28

For those interested in power, this is a very dangerous idea. Power is gained and maintained by pitting artificially created groups against each other.

In context of an FRPG, this suggests that Christians can be found in all walks of life, including those who walk in such circles as the imperial family. Thus, one of the first questions that I asked at the beginning of this series (Is Diognetus sympathetic to Christianity?) seems to be answered here in the affirmative.

Given the horror show I spun out of the phrase that Christians “do not cast away their fetuses,” Diognetus now appears as someone truly horrified by what he has witnessed walking through the upper echelons of society and wishes to find out more of Christianity to see if it is a more agreeable way of seeing and living in the world.

This also means that Christian NPCs can be sprinkled everywhere in the campaign, possible creating a very interesting espionage feel to the background noise of a campaign. Should PCs be Christian, they’d be constantly tested to see if they could be trusted and then secretly allowed in to various parts of society. If the PCs aren’t Christian, then they could possibly be constantly be spied upon.

Mathetes to Diognetus Chapter 5 Part 1

In the 5th Chapter of his Epistle to Diognetus, Mathetes delineates how Christians are different in manner from other citizens of the Empire. In one of his more intriguing statements, he notes:

They marry, as do all [others]; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring.

The translation here is more poetic and practical than literal — “destroy their offspring” literally means “cast away fetuses.” I always find it fascinating how little human behavior changes over time. The ways in which modern Americans behave in a similar fashion to pagan Rome and the ways in which Christians criticize such behavior in both contexts never ceases to amaze me.

In context of an FRPG this little phrase opens the door to a horror element in the campaign world that suggests one of my favorite intelligent undead. In the MMI, ghouls are described as “undead” with quotes:

Ghouls are “undead,” once human creatures which feed on human and other corpses…their change from human to ghoul has deranged and destroyed their minds…

Ghasts are described:

These creatures are so like ghouls as to be completely indistinguishable from them…however…they exude a carrion stench in a 10’ radius which causes retching and nausea unless a saving throw versus poison is made.

In addition, while the stat block of ghouls indicate they have low intelligence, the ghast stat block indicates that they are very intelligent.

Imagine, for a moment, that the reason the Empire so blithely “casts away fetuses” is that not only are they considered delicacies by the aristocracy, but are an important rite of passage for the upper classes. Regular consumption of dead human flesh turns the aristocracy into “undead.” This process destroys the minds of the weak, thus culling from the aristocratic class members who cannot stoop to such debauchery.

This all suggests that the elders within aristocratic houses are all ghasts and regularly hold fetes where human fetuses are the center piece of the main course. Since ghasts exude a rancid stench of such potency as to require a saving throw, perfume would be in very high demand among the upper echelons of the imperial elite.

In fact, I could well imagine an entire adventure centered around the theft of a shipment of perfume to a ghast just ahead of having to make a public appearance…

This all implies the delicious irony that PCs who throw their lot in with one of the aristocratic houses will be working for a baby-consuming ghast. It would be very interesting to see player’s reactions when they realize the truth.

Mathetes to Diognetus Chapter 4 Part 3

In yesterday’s post, I felt rather unsatisfied with my musings about the ways that solar cycles affect the magics of the pagan priests of the nascent campaign world that is emerging from my study of the Epistleof Mathetes to Diognetus. As a consequence, I did a bit of research about the religious cults of Rome prior to Christianity and found some very interesting tidbits.

The patron god of Rome was Mars, who was originally an agricultural deity. It wasn’t until Rome began to expand its territory by force that Mars morphed into a god of war. By the time of Christ, however, Mars had largely been supplanted by the Emperor Cult. This reinforces my instinct to use the anti-cleric as one of the pagan priest classes. Since war is a central theme within the Mars/Emperor Cult, it seems appropriate that their priests should be able to fight. The anti-cleric fits this profile nicely and also backs up the idea of an undead slave economy where priests of the Emperor Cult are called on to be the main controllers of the undead slave population.

One of the oldest cults imported by the Romans from other cultures was that of Cybele. Originally a goddess from Asia Minor, Cybele became popular during the Second Punic War when Rome narrowly defeated Carthage. While Cybele was an earth-mother goddess, she was also seen as a protector in times of war. Of interest to my current project, priests of the Cybelean Cult were eunuchs. Thus, my instinct for having low born magic-users be both male and castrated was more spot on than I thought.

This is further reinforced by the demographics of one of the most popular mystery cults in Rome, Mithraism. Cultists were exclusively male and almost universally low born. What really interests me about Mithraism, however, has to do with yesterday’s post.

In its art. the cult almost always depicted Mithras sacrificing a bull surrounded by various creatures. These were most often a dog, a scorpion and a serpent. All of these animals correspond to constellations. We don’t know a lot about the practices of the mystery cults, but there is some interesting scholarly work that hypothesizes that the emphasis on animals corresponding to constellations indicates that the cult paid attention to how the position of the sun related to each of these constellations through the course of the year.

In other words, the bonus spell available to pagan priests could be determined by which of the constellations is currently closest to the sun. I also plan to include a period of the year in which the sun is roughly equidistant from these constellations and, therefore, no bonus spells are available.