Ask me about Egyptian Adventures: Hamunaptra

[Mouseferatu]

When will I get my copy?

Soon as I get my author's copies, one of 'em's on its way to you. Have no fear.

Really, I think Crothian's covered most of it, but could you tell us if there are any more player races beyond that standard D&D races and the gnoll-like people from the preview?

Well, the standard Hamunaptra PC races are the Khemtian variants of the races from the core rules (minus the half-orc), plus the Anpur gnolls. However, the monster section has at least one race (possibly more, I'm not sure) that can be used as a PC race and has sections on how to do so, much as (for instance) the goblin or kobold entries do in the Monster Manual.

 

[Mouseferatu]

It is very disappointing that there are no adventures in the campaign setting. :\

IMO I am far more likely to give a "different" FRPG setting a try if there are a few adventures included. Even if I don't use them myself, they can give the DM some good guidance on what s/he should be aiming at in terms of "character", "plot", etc.

I am sure that there were important design reasons for not including adventures, and I will still give it a look, but it is disappointing nonetheless. Especially in a box set!

Nice to hear about the map, though!

I do understand your disappointment. As I said, it would have been nice if we could have included a short adventure. Unfortunately, we just didn't have an unlimited page count, and including even a short adventure would have meant cutting stuff that was (we felt) more important to the set.

Glad you're still willing to check it out, though.

 

[talinthas]

i've got more of a conceptual question- Why Egypt? and How did you get the opportunity to write this for GR?

( i ask because i love the mythic vistas line, and am always curious on how getting gigs works, as it were)

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

Hmm, could you tell us something about how the politics of the setting? Will the influence of priests be reflective of their crazy, as in crazy cool, role in historical Egypt?

Is their, and I must admit I have a preference here, a nod to the ever present little demons/djinns/spirits world view of historical Egypt and Africa and will their be a class, preferably a summoner style class, that will take advantage of that?

 

[Mouseferatu]

i've got more of a conceptual question- Why Egypt? and How did you get the opportunity to write this for GR?

( i ask because i love the mythic vistas line, and am always curious on how getting gigs works, as it were)

Because Ancient Egypt is a fascinating culture, one full of mythology and fantasy potential, and one that--in our opinion--had not yet been sufficiently covered for the D&D/D20 crowd.

As to how I got the opportunity, well, Hamunaptra is the brainchild of C.A. Suleiman, who has worked with Egypt in RPGs before. (He wrote Cairo by Night and developed the Mummy: The Resurrection Player's Guide for White Wolf.) He proposed the idea to Chris Pramas, who loved it. C.A. and I have worked together on a great many projects, so he invited me aboard. Needless to say, I jumped at the chance. I love the notion of taking historical cultures and tweaking them to make them D&D-compatible without losing the cultural flavor. Al-Qadim and Nyambe are two of my favorite products. I loved doing this, and I hope to do other cultures in the future.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Hmm, could you tell us something about how the politics of the setting? Will the influence of priests be reflective of their crazy, as in crazy cool, role in historical Egypt?

Priests and religion are absolutely integral to the politics of the kingdoms* of Khemti. I think you'll be satisfied with their presence and their role therein. (And yes, the pharaoh is a religious figure in his own right, and is, in fact, partly divine.)

*That plural on "kingdoms" is not a typo. Three kingdoms, engaged in constant low-grade struggles and "cold wars," make up most of the Black Lands of Khemti.

Is their, and I must admit I have a preference here, a nod to the ever present little demons/djinns/spirits world view of historical Egypt and Africa and will their be a class, preferably a summoner style class, that will take advantage of that?

Didn't really go that route, I'm afraid. The magics of Khemti are somewhat different from those of core D&D, but we focused more on the larger deities, as opposed to smaller spirits. Not to say that spirits and spirituality don't enter it, of course; it's just not the direction we went with the classes.

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

Priests and religion are absolutely integral to the politics of the kingdoms* of Khemti. I think you'll be satisfied with their presence and their role therein. (And yes, the pharaoh is a religious figure in his own right, and is, in fact, partly divine.)

Didn't really go that route, I'm afraid. The magics of Khemti are somewhat different from those of core D&D, but we focused more on the larger deities, as opposed to smaller spirits. Not to say that spirits and spirituality don't enter it, of course; it's just not the direction we went with the classes.

Hurray!

...and, sigh.

 

[iblis]

Are there, or will there be more detailed maps, or just the one large-scale?

I suppose I really should ask on that note, will there be supplements for it at some point? - my apologies if that's a stupid question and I should've just looked or something.

Essentially, is it a one-off, or a product line?

Either way, it's got my interest so far!

 

[Belen]

I have had this one on pre-order through Amazon almost since the moment it was announced. I really cannot wait to get my hands on a copy.

Kudos, Ari!

 

[Djeta Thernadier]

I apologize if these have been asked before...

Would adding in elements of actual ancient Egyptian history be difficult? I mean, would it seem totally out of place, or do you think it would be easy to blend right in? What about the actual Egyptian gods?

I can't wait to see this. I've wanted to play/run something set in Egypt for a long time. This looks great!