Zardnaar
Legend
As some of you know I have been working on an ancient Egyptian campaign. I have changed a few names bit for the most part it will be using map of Egypt on earth. Influences are pop culture, books like The Mummy by Anne Rice, The Mummy movies, Gods of Egypt movie, Stargate SG1 and even Star Wars Legends. Also various documentaries on Youtube have also helped.
Resources in addition to the core 3 5E books include various desert and Egyptian themed adventures in Quests of Doom, various races from the Kobold Publishing Midgard, Southlands, Unlikely Heroes, Sandstorm, Darksun, Pathifnder Osirion, and The Hollow World PDF from Mystara. Other major cultures include fantasy not Roman and Not Greeks.
The Theme
Fanatasy Egypt and surrounding lands
Concepts
Ancient Past
Deserts
Undead
Constructs
Tombs/treasure
Nile (aka Nuria).
Generally anthropomorphic races are fine and since I have Fantasy Greeks things like Minotaurs are also fine. I have covered my thoughts on themed games here before but I find to hammer home the point of a theme you do no let in races, classes etc that negate, trivialise or do not fit the theme. Something like a warforged for example is out, Lizardmen, Minotaurs, Gnolls etc are in. A Warforged for example can ignore the desert conditions and walk through the Nile and not drown. Other things generally belong on specific world or campaign based on those worlds. Nithia (Egypt) might be a sandbox, my game is not only the classic 4 races make it into my game from the PHB.
Most of this was in my original walk like an Egyptian thread.
Here is how I plan to structure my game, as always advice and input here would be great. BTW I plan on using the real world map of Egpyt so i will use real life terms so I do not confuse anyone.
Nithia is a land of ruin and faded glory. Most of the human population is in the Nuria Delta, roughly from Cairo to Alexandria. The further south you go the worse it gets. Civilization ends about 20 miles south of Cairo with the Nithian remnant giving way to the deep desert and the lands of middle and upper Egypt. My fantasy pyramids of Giza the limestone coating has been melted with fire (Dragonfire?), and roving bands of Gnolls are everywhere. Fantasy Sakaara, Amarna, and Thebes are going to be major locations. Amarna will have an undead Egyptian heretic in it probably a mummy lord while further south the Valley of Kings will have a Lich. Various tombs will have vampires, wights, mummies etc in them and unlike the real world most tombs will have guardians and will be plundered. IRL the tom,b of Alexander the Great went missing, my equivalent will be around t be found but Orokio will be alive in stasis for the PCs to find.
If the PCs want to establish strongholds seizing lands of the desert and freeing slaves and captives and locating lost villages etc will allow that.
I think I will structure the game like Kingmaker and have a hexcrawl exploration game with keyed locations of tombs etc to find. I also plan on doing an aquatic adventurer or two where the PCs can go into the Nuria and recover treasure off boats or get into underwater tombs. Undead Dragons could also be put into some of these tombs and locations along with some extraplanar portals and "Stargates". Old school energy drain may also come back but it will cause exhaustion rather than level loss- Egyptian Wights and Vampires can be a bit nastier.
Level 1-3 Raid low level tombs
level 4-5 Aquatic adventure
Level 5-10 Hexcrawl and explore the land/tombs
Level 11-15 Learn the secrets of the ancient past/establish domains (if they want to)
Level 16+The ancient past returns
The Nile itself will be a point of light, its reasonably safe to travel on subject to things lie pirates, undead hordes in the water and marauding Dragons, its the locations near there that will have the nasty stuff. The Valley of Kings I plan on making that more like the Valley of the Dark Lords from Korriban in the Star Wars Universe. The Valley of the Dark Lords is based on the Valley of Kings anyway so full circle there perhaps.
The big bads I am leaning towards a reveal I have been building up towards for 20 odd years over numerous campaign. What happened to an ancient race of basically Melinboneans. Well they are likely undead entombed beneath the desert sands with undead Dragons. A CR 12 lvl 18 wizard can be riding a CR 15 undead Dragon. In the South Thebes, Aswan and the Valley of Kings will be key locations.
This is a very rough outline of my plans so far. Fishing for any ideas the collective ENworld hivemind has.
Resources in addition to the core 3 5E books include various desert and Egyptian themed adventures in Quests of Doom, various races from the Kobold Publishing Midgard, Southlands, Unlikely Heroes, Sandstorm, Darksun, Pathifnder Osirion, and The Hollow World PDF from Mystara. Other major cultures include fantasy not Roman and Not Greeks.
The Theme
Fanatasy Egypt and surrounding lands
Concepts
Ancient Past
Deserts
Undead
Constructs
Tombs/treasure
Nile (aka Nuria).
Generally anthropomorphic races are fine and since I have Fantasy Greeks things like Minotaurs are also fine. I have covered my thoughts on themed games here before but I find to hammer home the point of a theme you do no let in races, classes etc that negate, trivialise or do not fit the theme. Something like a warforged for example is out, Lizardmen, Minotaurs, Gnolls etc are in. A Warforged for example can ignore the desert conditions and walk through the Nile and not drown. Other things generally belong on specific world or campaign based on those worlds. Nithia (Egypt) might be a sandbox, my game is not only the classic 4 races make it into my game from the PHB.
Most of this was in my original walk like an Egyptian thread.
Here is how I plan to structure my game, as always advice and input here would be great. BTW I plan on using the real world map of Egpyt so i will use real life terms so I do not confuse anyone.
Nithia is a land of ruin and faded glory. Most of the human population is in the Nuria Delta, roughly from Cairo to Alexandria. The further south you go the worse it gets. Civilization ends about 20 miles south of Cairo with the Nithian remnant giving way to the deep desert and the lands of middle and upper Egypt. My fantasy pyramids of Giza the limestone coating has been melted with fire (Dragonfire?), and roving bands of Gnolls are everywhere. Fantasy Sakaara, Amarna, and Thebes are going to be major locations. Amarna will have an undead Egyptian heretic in it probably a mummy lord while further south the Valley of Kings will have a Lich. Various tombs will have vampires, wights, mummies etc in them and unlike the real world most tombs will have guardians and will be plundered. IRL the tom,b of Alexander the Great went missing, my equivalent will be around t be found but Orokio will be alive in stasis for the PCs to find.
If the PCs want to establish strongholds seizing lands of the desert and freeing slaves and captives and locating lost villages etc will allow that.
I think I will structure the game like Kingmaker and have a hexcrawl exploration game with keyed locations of tombs etc to find. I also plan on doing an aquatic adventurer or two where the PCs can go into the Nuria and recover treasure off boats or get into underwater tombs. Undead Dragons could also be put into some of these tombs and locations along with some extraplanar portals and "Stargates". Old school energy drain may also come back but it will cause exhaustion rather than level loss- Egyptian Wights and Vampires can be a bit nastier.
Level 1-3 Raid low level tombs
level 4-5 Aquatic adventure
Level 5-10 Hexcrawl and explore the land/tombs
Level 11-15 Learn the secrets of the ancient past/establish domains (if they want to)
Level 16+The ancient past returns
The Nile itself will be a point of light, its reasonably safe to travel on subject to things lie pirates, undead hordes in the water and marauding Dragons, its the locations near there that will have the nasty stuff. The Valley of Kings I plan on making that more like the Valley of the Dark Lords from Korriban in the Star Wars Universe. The Valley of the Dark Lords is based on the Valley of Kings anyway so full circle there perhaps.
The big bads I am leaning towards a reveal I have been building up towards for 20 odd years over numerous campaign. What happened to an ancient race of basically Melinboneans. Well they are likely undead entombed beneath the desert sands with undead Dragons. A CR 12 lvl 18 wizard can be riding a CR 15 undead Dragon. In the South Thebes, Aswan and the Valley of Kings will be key locations.
This is a very rough outline of my plans so far. Fishing for any ideas the collective ENworld hivemind has.