Help me populate a Babylon-esque Bronze Age city's power players for political intrigue

[RangerWickett]

Questions:

1) Is this a human only campaign, or do you have nonhuman sentient species as well? If the latter, are they open to being PCs? What kind of societies do you envision them having?

2) are you open to including a society of monotheistic* nomads within the region? I’m thinking they would be loosely based on the early Israelites, but with a different actual faith.

3) Is “Kek” an abbreviation/nickname for people from Kequalak? If so, might I suggest “Keq” as an alternative spelling? Pronunciation would be the same, and visually, would be both more intuitive and “exotic”. (It also wouldn’t be the same as a word popular with certain members of the alt-right.)



* in typical FRPG terms, not necessarily that there’s only one divine being, but believing that one is significantly more powerful than any of the others, and thus, the only one truly worthy of devotion.

1. I'm going with the idea that humans are the baseline, and everyone branches out from them. A major group are various 'beastmen' tribes who 'thread their flesh with the strength of beasts,' which leads to orcs, minotaurs, gnolls, kobolds, and the like. There are likewise communities of folks who through various blessings are attuned to nature, or who after a calamity sunk their region underground have to make offerings to gods so they can survive in the dark.

2. Actually, the historical premise is that hundreds of years ago, a desert storm god tried to wipe out all the nonbelievers with a great flood. And unlike in the myth of Noah, in this world, the other tribes beat El the Deluge, killed His high priest, and basically blackmailed Him: make one of us Your high priest so we can wield your power, or You will have no voice on this world, and no one will know to pray to You.

So the great city is built on divinely empowered dictates, but then (stealing a bit from Pathfinder) a century ago the reigning high priest lost the ability to make commandments, and as far as people can tell, El the Undeniable has withdrawn His power.

Also, if you are interested in a fun comic that delves into the way ancient Mesopotamian culture ties into modern law: What were they thinking? p 48 | The Illustrated Guide to Law

It's LONG. But I love it.

3. I guess I would use Keq. I've been using the name Kequalak and that abbreviation for like 20 years in various games, so I hadn't thought about Pepe and such.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

1. I'm going with the idea that humans are the baseline, and everyone branches out from them. A major group are various 'beastmen' tribes who 'thread their flesh with the strength of beasts,' which leads to orcs, minotaurs, gnolls, kobolds, and the like. There are likewise communities of folks who through various blessings are attuned to nature, or who after a calamity sunk their region underground have to make offerings to gods so they can survive in the dark.

Ok. But I’m still unclear: are any of those beastmen playable?

If playable, I’d reskin the standard races to at least be more VISUALLY like fauna you’d find in the region you’re using for source material. Gnolls are probably fine as-is. Minotaurs might be more like ibexes, while orcs might be more like wild boar. Kobolds might be akin to geckos or monitors. And something like lizardmen would be more crocodilian.

 

[Tonguez]

Ok. But I’m still unclear: are any of those beastmen playable?

If playable, I’d reskin the standard races to at least be more VISUALLY like fauna you’d find in the region you’re using for source material. Gnolls are probably fine as-is. Minotaurs might be more like ibexes, while orcs might be more like wild boar. Kobolds might be akin to geckos or monitors. And something like lizardmen would be more crocodilian.

The area already has a ibex hornen man in the form of Kusarikku (not to mention Enkidu)
Also Vampires, Werewolves, ghoul, mermaids, hydra, dragons, scorpion-men, lion-men, dog-men, serpent/lizard-women, lion-centaurs (Wemic) and bariaurs, and a whole lot of demon spirits.