Hamunaptra: Egyptian Adventures

[Mouseferatu]

*Casts Summon Mouseferatu*

*Appears in a puff of smoke*

You rang?

Glaurung, I'm very happy to hear that you're enjoying Hamunaptra. What you've found is exactly what we were aiming for. The lion's share of credit goes to C.A. Suleiman, who developed the project and wrote more of it than either Steve or I did. (Though not more than us together. )

Our objective with this set was not to lose any of the standard D&D features (with a few minor exceptions), but rather to rethink and change them so that they would work in an Egyptian-themed setting.

I'm more than happy to answer any questions you folks have, though there may be some issues for which I don't have the answers. (I'm not as familiar with the sections C.A. and Steve wrote, of course.) And I may only be checking sporadically over the holiday.

 

[FCWesel]

This isn't a historical setting book that has elves and dwarves and other fantasy races that are in D&D normally is it?

 

[Mouseferatu]

This isn't a historical setting book that has elves and dwarves and other fantasy races that are in D&D normally is it?

This isn't a historical setting. It's a cultural setting.

Hamunaptra doesn't claim to be historical Egypt. Rather, it's Egyptian fantasy. To put in D&D-familiar terms, what Al-Qadim is to Arabia and Nyambe is to Africa, Hamunaptra is to Egypt.

Does it have elves and dwarves? Yes. Are they shoehorned in? Not at all. Everything, including races and classes, has been changed--in some cases minorly, in some dramatically and from the ground up--to make them fit the Egyptian asthetic.

 

[ptolemy18]

I already picked up Mesopotamia and have gotten some use out of that one too simply for the 'ancient' feel of what it brings to my campaign.

*looks interested* Mesopotamia? Someone did a Mesopotamia supplement? Or do you mean Green Ronin's TESTAMENT? I thought that was very good. I'm looking forward to mixing TESTAMENT and HAMUNAPTRA in my current campaign I started a few months ago, which is set in an Egypt that uses the real map, but is otherwise pretty D&D-ized...

...but my razzin-frazzin' game store didn't get HAMUNAPTRA today!!! Agggh! Gnaagg! (rolls around on the floor like a spoiled person)

Jason

 

[William Ronald]

Hamunaptra is something I want to take a look at, as I am a big fan of history and cultures. I loved Nyambe and Testament. If Hamunaptra lives up to these standards, it will be hard to resist.

Distinct cultures can add a lot to a setting. There should be a sense that any world is a complex place where no two nations are exactly alike. Also, a sense of mystery and foreignness makes a long distance trip meaningful. I was impressed with the detail of Testament and the reimagining of many standard D&D concepts in Nyambe.

To me, I think campaign settings benefit from having a variety of cultures. Of course, it is possible for a culture to have ancient elements, such as religion or language, and have a different level of technology. (There was a good thread on ancient Egyptian culture with a medieval technology mix here recently. Hmm, that's an idea for an adventure -- heroes from an ancient Egyptian like culture awake in a latter era with different technology and other changes. Kind of like a fantasty Buck Rogers. Hopefully more like the source material from the 1930s not the 1980s series.)

 

[Banshee16]

This isn't a historical setting. It's a cultural setting.

Hamunaptra doesn't claim to be historical Egypt. Rather, it's Egyptian fantasy. To put in D&D-familiar terms, what Al-Qadim is to Arabia and Nyambe is to Africa, Hamunaptra is to Egypt.

Does it have elves and dwarves? Yes. Are they shoehorned in? Not at all. Everything, including races and classes, has been changed--in some cases minorly, in some dramatically and from the ground up--to make them fit the Egyptian asthetic.

Well, Al-Qadim rocked....my concern was the comparison with Relics and Rituals: Olympus and Excalibur, which I just didn't like very much.

Hopefully Hamunaptra is more similar to Al-Qadim..

Banshee

 

[Krieg]

*looks interested* Mesopotamia? Someone did a Mesopotamia supplement? Or do you mean Green Ronin's TESTAMENT?

Ancient Kingdoms: Mesopotamia by Ncromancer Games

http://www.d20zines.com/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1270

 

[Mouseferatu]

Well, Al-Qadim rocked....my concern was the comparison with Relics and Rituals: Olympus and Excalibur, which I just didn't like very much.

Hopefully Hamunaptra is more similar to Al-Qadim..

Banshee

Well, if it helps...

The two R&Rs came out after we'd already finished work on Hamunaptra. Al-Qadim, OTOH, was an active model.

Don't get me wrong, I think the two R&Rs are good products. But they don't represent the model we were we were going for. Hamunaptra includes full setting info, like Al-Qadim and Nyambe did, in addition to enormous amounts of the mechanical stuff.

 

[Pramas]

Well, if it helps...
Don't get me wrong, I think the two R&Rs are good products. But they don't represent the model we were we were going for. Hamunaptra includes full setting info, like Al-Qadim and Nyambe did, in addition to enormous amounts of the mechanical stuff.

Exactly. The R&R books tell you how to add cultural and stylistic elements to your game. Hamunaptra is a campaign setting in its own right, full stop. Now it does have a lot of mechanics stuff you can loot even without using the setting, but the approach really is more Al-Qadim than R&R.

 

[DMH]

A couple errors I want to bring to your attention- the map says Your river. Since I looked at that first, I was a bit confused

And the size chart on pages 18 and 19 of the book of days have the Sutekhra as the smallest race and yet the text has it as the Asari.

I love the picture on page 58 in the books of days, but it says Gamma World to me, not Egypt.

There is one thing, almost painfully, missing. Coming Forth by Day. The most famous book from ancient Egypt. Was it cut? For those who have no idea what I am talking about:

http://interoz.com/egypt/bkofdead.htm

and

http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/bod.htm

More as I read, but I still think it is a 4 or 5.