Aegyptvs is a fantastical re-write of a classic ancient period, combining a major epoch and its style (ancient Egypt at the time of Ramases II, circa 1250BCE), with elements of other epochs close to it (Hittites, Assyrians, Carthage, Rome, Greece etc), give or take a 1000 years.
Into that mix I have added several fantastical or mythical elements, modified and expanded somewhat; Minotaurs, Horse Princes of the Mitanni as Centaurs, Eye Lords, The Drahg The Sissra (pronounced Siss-rah) etc.
Aegyptvs is set in the lands of ancient Egypt, and the historical geography (at least on the big scale) of that time. There are some changes.
A massive raised plateau has been created in the south west for the Drahg homeland. This will in many ways be a “Lost World” land (dinosaurs?).
In the same region but to the east, will be The Broken Lands. A region that has been shattered geographically by massive unknown forces. In this land live the Giants.
The Aswan Dam has been kept (see the map) as a large inland lake of The Nile. It actually fits into one of the campaign stories where the Pharaoh of the Upper Kingdom tries to dam the Nile.
The far off world however remains as lands of the unknown with new, mythical and adventurous possibilities that you can add to the mix. Egypt is the centre of this world, and its Gods currently rule, but Greece and their very strong civilization is not far off. The Trojan Wars are thought to have occurred around 1200BCE so that saga could be easily slotted into your on going story. And Troy might win? Going on to join with the Lydians, who might not then lose their prophetical battle circa 550BCE, and a Greek Empire could arise in the lands where the Persians did historically. What would become of Sparta and Athens in such a world?
At the centre of the game are the lands of Egypt. The players of the main campaign will begin here. The lands around Egypt are physically the same as they are in our world and history, but the peoples are a little different. The history is a merger of different times and peoples.
Details of the various people used in the game are given later, but the most outstanding are briefly covered here:
The Horse Princes of the Mitanni – are Centaurs from the Russian plains, of Scythian origins.
The Minoans/Cretans (on the island of Crete) – are Minotaurs.
The Eye Lords – are giant intelligent molluscs.
There are Giants – very big ones, with two heads, with one eye, with animal heads.
The Drahg – are half dragon, half men creatures.
The Sissra – are a race of evil snake men, followers of Apophis, Lord of Chaos.
The Golems – steam powered mechanical monsters who serve the Golem King. A being left over from a past age when the Gods experimented.
The Scorpionmen – horrid human/arthropod crosses who serve the Scorpion King.
The Mummy King, cast out from his people and raising an army of the undead.
There are many other lesser races and monsters to chose from, see Chapter 9 Monsters.
The over-riding story of this period is religion, specifically the Egyptian pantheon. For this game we have assumed that the Egyptian Gods are real, they exist, and they dominate the world. All other gods are merely re-writes of the Egyptian Gods with a new name, in a local form, or possibly a combination of two or three gods. The Gods themselves are not overly concerned with the beliefs of mortals and are quite willing to merge and combine into many manifestations of themselves – they are Gods after all.
Over all is RA, the Great God, the Father, The Sun, the Creator God.
The Pantheon used in this game is broken into two classes, the Major Gods and the Lesser Gods.
· RA/Atum - the Creator God
· Shu – God of the Air
· Tefnut – Goddess of the Waters
· Nut – Goddess of the Sky
· Geb – God of the Earth
· Isis – Goddess of Magic and Healing
· Osiris – God of the Underworld, Fertility and Agriculture.
· Nephthys – Goddess of Death
· Seth – God of Evil, Desert and Chaos
· Anubis – God of the Dead.
· Bast – Goddess of Animals.
· Bes – God of Community.
· Hapi – God of the Life and Fertility.
· Hathor - Goddess of Love and Music.
· Horus - God of the Sky, God of War and God of Protection.
· Khonsu – God of the Moon and Healing.
· Monthu – God of War.
· Nefertem – Healing and Plants.
· Neith – God of Judgement and Prophecy.
· Ptah – God of Craft.
· Renenutet – Goddess of the Harvest.
· Sekhmet – Goddess of Destruction.
· Serket – Goddess of Magic.
· Seshat – Goddess of Knowledge.
· Sobek – God of the Nile.
· Thoth – God of Learning.
· Upuat – God of Travel and Doorways.
There are 27 gods in all, 3x3x3, a very powerful number.
There are plenty of other candidates for inclusion if you wanted, over the classical three kingdoms. Egyptian mythology was very dynamic and adaptive. I have simply selected this set as the basis for the game. I have also broadly interpreted each gods function to try to distribute them over different areas of influence, where historically they overlapped considerably.
As well as gods there are also divine beings, such as Apophis. These creature approach the Lesser Gods in power, and quite possibly may have been one in the past.
The Great God RA has left us. Tired of the squabbling of his children, the lesser gods, and his people, the mortals, he has retired to a higher place to contemplate what might be. RA himself no longer involves himself in the day to day dealings of the gods or the mortals. A part of him remains, watching, returning each day as the Sun to keep an eye on things. At night though he passes through the Underworld and those things that might fear RA’s burning gaze venture forth.
There are plenty of sources on the web about the rivalry between Osiris and Seth, the following is a very quick synopsis of the story line to set up this world’s scenario.
The two brothers Osiris and Seth (or Set) vied for dominance of the divine court, with Osiris winning. Seth plotted to kill his brother, and twice managed to do so, the last time carving Osiris body into 14 parts and scattering them across the world. Each time however Isis restored her husband back to life. Osiris then confronted Seth and banished him from the Court.
Seth has since then wandered the burning deserts and fermented rebellion amongst the other gods, and plots to slay his brother yet again.
At the time in this game, agents of Seth have seized control of the Upper Kingdom and plan conquest.
In Aegyptvs the gods are real, and can have a real world effect.
They are forbidden to actually physically appear on the mortal plane (a binding by RA himself), but they can affect the broader elements such as the weather, magic, knowledge, advice(dreams) or luck(bennies). They can also appear as images or spiritual forms with no physical substance.
They can also appear in the form of an Avatar, a mortal possessed by a part of a divine being and manifesting some, but not all, of their powers. Doing so is risky however as the Avatar can be slain and that part of the God would die as well.
In the main campaign attached, the players play the role of a group of people who are destined for great things. They have been chosen by Isis, secretly, to be the force that defeats all the forces aligned against her husband Osiris.
It says something about Isis that she has returned her husband to life twice already, this is a very strong willed and determined Goddess. She has used her powers to learn something of the future and the forces aligned against her husband, and has developed a long term plan to foil them.
At the end she wishes to slay the one creature she sees as the cause of all the troubles – the demi-god Apophis, Lord of Chaos. She does not want Seth, her brother, slain. Apophis is invisible to her, as he lives as a physical being on the mortal plain, using his powers to hide. But she has assembled a great many clues and prophecies and has an idea of what he is upto.
To slay Apophis she must assemble a team of very powerful humans, and equip them with great magics. Ultimately they must assemble the Spear of the Gods, a weapon capable of slaying a God. She hopes the players will use this to slay Apophis, and only Apophis. It is a risk she has decided to take.
The players will adventure, collect information, be guided toward opposing Apophis and Seth, be given clues and prophecies about what it is they need to do. As players they will hopefully be drawn into the challenge of defeating a god, righting the wrong etc etc.
At the very end they must decide if they will slay one, some or all of the Gods, as they will have this power.
Along the way the players will adventure! They will travel to strange lands and meet strange peoples. They will gain wealth and power, and they will need to expend these resources to bring forces into the right alignment – where they will support the players in the final confrontation.
Part of this game is political. The players will have the option to gain the friendship, or respect, of the world around them. They will also be able to buy that service, in return for gold, or in return to rarer items.
If your players are not inclined to that side of the game (the political) then you will need to adjust things considerably. I have however tried to keep it pretty simple. FFF.
Essentially the political side is a wealth and power sink that the GM can use to drain the players. Because this drain is available to you feel free to be liberal with your rewards. If you give them too much money at the end of one adventure, send them off on a Noble Mission and drain them of that excess wealth. Give them an item that turns out to be awesomely over powered – the Pharoah summons them to court… oh my what a nice looking item that is, I will have it!
Aegyptvs provides your players with a wide range of environments to adventure in. Changes in geography, changes in mythology, changes in monsters. A plethora of choices and changes that you as the GM should use to your best advantage to keep your players interested, and wondering.