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[Brainstorming] How would you do a setting like this...

Started by Anglachel, April 22, 2013, 12:51:27 PM

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Anglachel

April 22, 2013, 12:51:27 PM
Hey all,

I was watching Spartacus (the tv series) and some time ago, i was watching the second Clash of the Titans movie and Immortals, another greek-myth movie.

Now my brain is full of images and ideas for an rpg set in a setting that has a ancient feel to it (not the standard pseudo european medieval setting).

Ancient Greece, Biblical times, Mesopotamia, Babylon and so on.
I also have a collection of some short sentences that i want to somehow incorporate on top of the above :

Quotetake the oddest bits of the Old Testament, stir in various secondary material from all three Abrahamic religions and you have one of the weirdest and wooliest sword-and-sorcery settings around:

* Sophisticated, but scattered civilizations
* Wildernesses full of every cool prehistoric critter of every era
* Centuries-old patriarchs - drop by the right place, and you can meet the very first man
* Mysterious wandering deities. You can't tell them apart, you can only take them at their word when they say they're your old benefactor. However, while quite powerful, they're less than omniscient.
* The beautiful and awful servants of at least one of those deities
* Giants and other fabulous hybrids of humans and some of those servants
* Strange and wretched once-humans cursed by those deities, who've gained vast power that they often use against humanity

I think this could be an awesome mix but somehow i can't come up with something coherent that is to my liking.
Maybe you guys have more luck/ideas/genius than i have?

Let us find out...

The Traveller

#1
April 22, 2013, 02:43:41 PM
Sounds like a lot of fun, swords and sandal action! I could definetely go for a mashup of some classical age cinema/biblical stuff. I'm not sure what you're looking for though, a suitable system? Reference sources? Random classical details?
"These children are playing with dark and dangerous powers!"
"What else are you meant to do with dark and dangerous powers?"
A concise overview of GNS theory.
Quote from: that muppet vince baker on RPGsIf you care about character arcs or any, any, any lit 101 stuff, I\'d choose a different game.

flyingmice

#2
April 22, 2013, 02:50:47 PM
How would I do a setting like this? Badly, I'm sure.

-clash
clash bowley * Flying Mice Games - an Imprint of Better Mousetrap Games
Flying Mice home page: http://jalan.flyingmice.com/flyingmice.html
Currently Designing: StarCluster 4 - Wavefront Empire
Last Releases: SC4 - Dark Orbital, SC4 - Out of the Ruins,  SC4 - Sabre & World
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Anglachel

#3
April 22, 2013, 03:47:36 PM
Quote from: The Traveller;648135I'm not sure what you're looking for though, a suitable system? Reference sources? Random classical details?

I guess all of it.
For a system i was thinking RQ 6, but i could be tlked into another one, i'm sure ;)
If you have good sources, i'd like to see them. Same for random details you think are a "must have" for this.
But most of all, this is supposed to be a brainstorming thread. Write down what elements you would want to see in this kind of setting, write up stuff in here if you have the time and ideas. Maybe we will create something cool in a sort of created-by-community :)

Phillip

#4
April 24, 2013, 05:37:16 PM Last Edit: April 24, 2013, 05:40:42 PM by Phillip
Some previous explorations:
Mazes & Minotaurshttp://mazesandminotaurs.free.fr/revised.html
Paul Elliott's Zenobiahttp://zozer.weebly.com/free-rpgs.html
Aaron Allston's Mythic Greece (Iron Crown/Hero)
Heroes of Olympus (Task Force Games)
Lee Gold's Lands of Adventure (Fantasy Games Unlimited)
And we are here as on a darkling plain  ~ Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight, ~ Where ignorant armies clash by night.

Amalgam

#5
April 28, 2013, 10:18:30 AM Last Edit: April 28, 2013, 10:23:03 AM by Amalgam
If you haven't already, you should try to get ahold of some form of the Epic of Gilgamesh. Wikipedia has some rough condensed versions of it available for perusal. I found it very interesting, and the character of Gilgamesh curiously tragic. Might be a good backdrop for a setting, or at least one campaign.

Since you're going with an Semitic theme for the culture, take special note of the Noah type character in the story. They say that a global flood myth exists in every culture's oral history/traditions/etc, and the Epic of Gilgamesh is one of them.

The Butcher

#6
April 28, 2013, 12:10:50 PM
The Design Mechanism folks behind RQ6 (Loz & Pete) have a Mythic series of books planned; those include Mythic Greece and Mythic Mesopotamia, which are obviously relevant to your interests. No idea when they're coming out, though.

Anglachel

#7
April 29, 2013, 02:35:16 AM
Thanks for the tips, guys.

Yeah, i'm totally looking forward to the mythic series by Loz and Pete.

As it seems, nobody has any concrete ideas to share... too bad (i know the feeling, though).
It seems this kind of setting would interest a lot of people but nobody knows how to start one :D

Oh well...

Rincewind1

#8
April 29, 2013, 04:39:37 AM
I've done something similar, just hadn't time to post my thoughts on the matter ;p. Give me a few days, I'm swamped and only post silly things at the moment.
Furthermore, I consider that  This is Why We Don\'t Like You thread should be closed

Arkansan

#9
April 29, 2013, 07:40:20 AM
Sounds like a cool idea for a setting and similar to an idea I have had kicking around for a few years, I am just to lazy to do anything with it.

I would start by gathering up some material for inspiration, The Epic of Gilgamesh is good stuff, the Old Testament particularly Genesis, the Baal Cycle and so on. There is a lot of good material on the subject of near eastern mythology.

Another thought worth exploring is that ancient near eastern nations often saw the status of their nation as reflecting that of their chief god, could set up some cool conflicts. You should also look into the common idea of minor spirits and dieties that often inhabited particular places, they were often good for some form of trickery or malice.
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