Byzantine Era

[jimstama]

Thank you so much for your feedback, especially the advice on the religion aspect. Now my next question is on magic. Now I know that the Byzantines where religious people but how much magic should I put into the game? And what type?

Thanks in advance,

JS

 

[shadoe]

It all depends on what time period you are looking for. The Byzantine empire lasted for a long time, if I remember correctly more than 1100 yrs.

The first Byzantine emporer was a major proponent of christianity and he built a lot of churches, The second emporer was a very religious pagan and tried to stamp out christianity with some success before he died.

For how much magic you should allow, in the early part of the empire, divine magic about, but at the later times in the empire, more psuedo-scientific magic would be best. Also Constantinople has had several religious icons in it's boudries for its entire exsitance that would work as great artifacts.

A good book to give you an overview of the history of Byzantine is A Short History of Byzantine by John Julius Norwich. It is about 500 pages, but does cover most of the major events and emporers of the Byzantine empire.

 

[Old One]

Great Suggestion...

A good book to give you an overview of the history of Byzantine is A Short History of Byzantine by John Julius Norwich. It is about 500 pages, but does cover most of the major events and emporers of the Byzantine empire.

shadoe beat me to it!

Norwich (who also has several lengthy treatments of Byzantine history) provides an excellent treatment in A Short History of Byzantium.

My own campaign, Faded Glory borrows heavily from early Byzantine history. There are 4-5 separate periods, each with different challenges, that would make a great backdrop for roleplaying...good luck!

~ Old One

 

[Eosin the Red]

What the Old One said..

A Short History is the bar to meet for books on the Byzantine world.

As for magic - I would take a clue from Ars Magica or even 7th Sea (while others may disagree, I loved the fantasy/history backdrop). The rules stink, but the writing is excellent and the church/magic/ancient beings of power thing is well put together.

 

[LoneWolf23]

1) Yes

2) A previous poster mentioned some of what Kay has done. I think it is actually a fairly well thought out parable.

A) "Christians" believed the divine creator was symbolized by the sun. It was fragmented by various sects that believed or not in the sacrafice of his Apallo like son who used a chariot to fly behind the sun.

B) Islam was symbolized by the followers of the moons (3).

C) Pagan/Heathen was symbolized by the multitude of stars.

Actually, the way I read it, the Moon Worshippers were meant to represent the Jews/Isrealites, while the Star worshippers and their Desert Prophet represented the rise of Islam in the west. The Pagan faith it displaces is a Zoroastran-like religion followed by the Desert Kingdoms at the time the main story is set.

 

[Aitch Eye]

Now I know that the Byzantines where religious people but how much magic should I put into the game? And what type?

I found these sources poking around Kay's official site:

"...They also have a book of essays called Byzantine Magic , edited again by Harry Maguire, that supplemented some other reading I'd done in curse tablets and other aspects of magic in late antiquity.

"Gager's Curse Tablets and Binding Spells is a wonderful, unsettling source. ("As this lead is cold and useless, so may X be cold...") Allan Cameron discusses the curse tablets and invocations against charioteers and horses, as well, and even raises the 'theory' of the time that successful charioteers had to be sorcerers - since they survived so many curses directed at them! I also liked Valerie Flint's The Rise of Magic In Early Medieval Europe , especially on the way the church made use of pre-existing sites and traditions to smooth the way for doctrinal acceptance."

His bibliography is quite detailed, it might be worth your while to take a look at it:

http://www.brightweavings.com/bibliographies/bib_sarantine.htm

The links section of site has a few good Byzantine sites:

http://www.brightweavings.com/links/index.htm

 

[optimizer]

Howdy!

I don't recall the issue numbers, but there was an adventure in DUNGEON magazine last year (I believe) that took place in a parallel Holy Land where magic exists. That article may have some background information that you can use in your campaign (I believe that the adventure is based upon the campaign world that was also the basis for a couple of recent short stories in DRAGON.

I hope that this vague information helps.

Mike