Hey Chris - Nice cover for Nyambe!

[kenjib]

I saw the Nyambe cover posted in the ENWorld news section. It looks great. I'm excited to see this product. Congratulations again on getting this work published, it is so very much deserving of such and a really fresh breath of air in the d20 world.

 

[BV210]

Mega dittoes on the cover. I, too, can't wait for this sourcebook to hit the shelves. I always enjoyed those few adventures in Dungeon magazine that took place in fantasy Africa and always wanted to run a campaign in Hepmonoland or Chult.

What other Nyambe resources are being considered?

 

[CWD]

What other Nyambe resources are being considered?

I can't speak for the publisher, but I suspect they need to see how well this book does before they'd consider any supplements.

Even if they don't publish anything else though, I plan to support it through the website - I know I haven't updated the web site in ages, but that's because everything has been going into the book!

Now I'll hand out a tiny scoop (I hope John doesn't mind):

Prestige Classes (subject to change):
Amazon (elite warrior-women of Nibomay)
Dembe (monster hunter, similar to a ranger)
Engolo (African martial artist)
Inyanga Insimbi (iron-doctor, a type of artificer)
Leopard Cultist (leopard shapeshifters)
Magic-Eater ("eats" arcane magic to gain power)
Mask Maker (can graft enchanted masks onto his own face!)
Ngoma (drum-dancer, similar to a bard)
Mganga (witch-doctor, specializes in divination)
Soroka (siphons life from poisoned creatures to power spells)
Zombi Cultist (specializes in serpents and the undead)

 

[JohnNephew]

Chris has it right -- it's too soon to consider how we may do follow-up items. At this point our assumption is that it will be a sui generis, stand-alone item. (Well, standalone plus the D20 System basics that you need, anyhow.) If the book's reception is truly outstanding, we may change that plan, whether by working on supplementary books or licensing others to get involved. In any case, there will be some support appearing out there, such as the Nyambe monsters in the new issue of Gaming Frontiers, and a feature in an upcoming issue of Game Trade Magazine.

I don't remember if it says on the news page, but the cover artist is Mike Dutton. He's done a number of really excellent pieces for us -- I loved his drawings for "Fisher on the Lake of Souls" (my TBTG outtake in Gaming Frontiers #0 and #1), and his superb cover for "Instrument of Destiny" sits as a painful reminder that I need to finish what I start. He also painted the cover for "Burning Shaolin."

We're working hard to have a sample interior color spread to show off to retailers and distributors at the GAMA Trade Show next week. I'll see if we can get a sneak peek online somewhere too. (Yep, I mean full-color -- we'll have at least a 16-page bit that will be glorious four-color printing on coated paper. I'm actually looking into the price repercussions of possibly having more, and I hope that I'll nail down the details so we can have an actual product announcement at GAMA, complete with a price tag and a realistic ship-to-distributors estimate.)

-John Nephew
President, Atlas Games

 

[2WS-Steve]

That has got to be the coolest set of names and concepts for prestige classes I've seen yet. Looking forward to the book.

 

[JoeGKushner]

If possible, please change the name of the amazon. No offense to anyone here, but if I see one more generic prestige class name for a specific setting, I'll scream! Now in a book like War when you have some stupid names like Epic Athlete and some very generic names like Footman, Brute, and Beast Handler, it's somewhat okay because these are general all setting books but when it's a setting specific book, please make us look at something in a new light. Most of the names sound great and unique but amazon screams completely unoriginal, even if the prestige class itself is 100% original and great.

Or at least, that's my take on the naming of prestige classes.

 

[CWD]

If possible, please change the name of the amazon. No offense to anyone here, but if I see one more generic prestige class name for a specific setting, I'll scream! Now in a book like War when you have some stupid names like Epic Athlete and some very generic names like Footman, Brute, and Beast Handler, it's somewhat okay because these are general all setting books but when it's a setting specific book, please make us look at something in a new light. Most of the names sound great and unique but amazon screams completely unoriginal, even if the prestige class itself is 100% original and great.

Or at least, that's my take on the naming of prestige classes.

Well, the prestige class is based on the warrior-women of Dahomey, who were really called "Amazons" by the first Europeans to encounter them.

Here's an example:
http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/genocide/reviewsw81.htm


But the book is still in editing, and I can easily change the name to something more African-sounding, like "nyek-ple-nen-toh woman". I'll give it some thought...

 

[enrious]

Well, the prestige class is based on the warrior-women of Dahomey, who were really called "Amazons" by the first Europeans to encounter them.

Here's an example:
http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/genocide/reviewsw81.htm


But the book is still in editing, and I can easily change the name to something more African-sounding, like "nyek-ple-nen-toh woman". I'll give it some thought...

I tend to agree with the "NO AMAZONS" camp. How about something like Warrior-Women of Dahomey? Makes it sound part of the world while being easy to adapt - just change the name.

Does this have any rules on voodoo? I think it's one of the neat magic systems that I haven't really seen a lot of info on (the Primal Codex has a prestige class that's similar).

I mean Marie Levoue would be at least CR 12 or so, right?

Just to echo what's already been said, but hats off to you Chris. It's a neat idea and from what I read in the Players Lorebook, it's going to be a must have for me.

Now if only I can figure out where in Faerun it can go...

 

[kenjib]

If you change the name from "amazon" you could always put something like this in the description:

They are also called "amazon" by the [I forgot the name of the foreigner culture] peoples.

That way you still have the historical reference, but like in real history the actual word is still a word used by outsiders looking in, not by the people themselves. I dunno.

EDIT: On second thought, maybe it's odd to have a real world historical term used in the setting when most other real world historical counterparts have been renamed? Hmm... I still dunno.

 

[CWD]

Does this have any rules on voodoo? I think it's one of the neat magic systems that I haven't really seen a lot of info on (the Primal Codex has a prestige class that's similar).

Voodoo is a Hoylwood version of Vodun, which is based on "La Regula Lucumi" (the Yoruba religion), which is more-or-less what the religious system in Nyambe is based upon. However, I've re-worked the god-like spirits of La Regula Lucumi (which I call the Celestial Orisha and Fiendish Orisha), and added ancestor spirits, animal and plant spirits, and geographic spirits to the mix.

Nyamban clerics and druids are rolled into a single core class variant called "N'anga", and they do cast their spells by allowing themselves to become posessed by the orisha rather than indirectly channeling divine energy like a regular cleric. This has some interesting role-playing effects in that the cleric takes on the personality of the spirit for several minutes after casting a spell, but the game mechanics that will used to represent this (if any) are still in flux.

The only real African god-spirit used in the setting is Zombi (a West African snake god who also has the power to animate the dead). This of course is the origin of the voodo zombie.

You can learn more about the Yoruba belief system here:

http://www.seanet.com/~efunmoyiwa/ochanet.html