Nile Empire: War in Heliopolis
The year is 1547 BC. The setting is Egypt. The Period of the New Kingdom has just begun, with a strong centralized government under the leadership of Pharaoh Ahmose I. But there is a war in Heliopolis, a conflict among the gods. The evil god Set has established a rival pantheon, the Ennead of the Desert, and he means to topple the celestial order.
The mortal realm is but a reflection of the divine. As the Gods of the Nile are faced by Set's rebellion, so too does Egypt face threats from foreigners, like the Libyans and Nubians, and supernatural manifestations, a reflection of the precarious state of existence. Against enemies both mortal and mystical, Heroes struggle to preserve orderly existence; if they fail, evil and chaos shall reign.
This d20 settling supplement endeavors to provide all the mechanics and techniques of implementation required to play in a game set in New Kingdom Egypt and face the challenges presented by Set and his followers, human and fantastic. A perennial favorite among historically minded gamers, an exploration into the magical and mysterious land of the Pharaohs is a welcome addition to the d20 system.
If it delivers, . . .
Premise
"So intense is the divine warfare that the gods' power has faded. They can only extend it to their most devout worshippers. Foreign armies are mustering on the borders of the Empire and new evils are beginning to prowl the streets at night.
The people are afraid, and seek new heroes to protect the empire from those that would see it destroyed." (p.4)
The premise is fairly obvious here. It's an exploration of setting and situation. The setting is a magical, "cinematic" New Kingdom Egypt. The situation is the "War in Heliopolis." The players design heroes who seek to preserve the divine Order of existence, maat. In thwarting the forces of chaos and injustice, isfet, the PCs will travel from the palace of the Pharaoh to the harsh deserts of the Libyans, into the tombs of the earliest dynasties and along the length of the Nile.
This sounds great! How does this product meet its premise through mechanics and techniques?
Mechanics
In terms of mechanics, this product is extremely weak. Simulation of setting should be a priority here, but there isn't enough to set up a solid Egyptian game. The little that we are offered is wildly buggy. The relevant mechanics in this analysis are new classes, setting simulative mechanics, and NPC/threat examples.
Classes are the basis from which the players begin to explore the setting. This product introduces three new classes (nomad, scribe, and trader) and three prestige classes (Avatar, Godslayer, and Pharaoh.) Each class presented is perfectly fine in terms of establishing setting, but they all suffer from poor mechanical implementation.
Consider the Nomad, "a desert dweller, who travels from oasis to oasis, living off what he or she can find or raise amid the sand dunes." In terms of concept, this is little different from a ranger, an allowed class within the setting. However, the nomad is drastically underpowered in comparison. While lacking the ranger's special abilities and encumbered by alignment and armor restrictions, the weak class features do not compensate. For instance, the "Whirling Dervish" class ability, which imparts a circumstance bonus to AC and attacks, is generally less effective than fighting defensively and totally useless until iterative attacks are possible.
Likewise, vague and poorly designed mechanics derail the smooth utilization of the scribe and trader classes. Like a sorcerer without spells, the scribe is given weak abilities that lack easy adjudication or coherency with the premise. For instance, the "Scribe Network" ability is a way by which a scribe may get privy knowledge or special favors from contacts. As a scribe progresses in level, these contacts become more prestigious and influential. Unfortunately, there are no rules for utilizing this network, no check DC, no guidelines, no nothing! It's left up to GM whimsy. Considering that this is the scribe's primary ability, this is lazy design.
Furthermore, the scribe gets bonus feats like improved unarmed strike, dodge, and stunning fist. That sounds nice, except that the scribe has no armor proficiency, a weak BAB and only a d4 for hit points. These feats do not significantly empower the combat ability of the scribe. In fact, using these feats is generally a tactically poor choice on the part of the scribe's player. Again, it's bad design.
The trader gets a vague ability to trade goods, but zero mechanics to actually put it into play. It boggles the mind that a class focused on trade would be provided with no actual in-game ability to fulfill the class premise! It's like making a wizard but given no rules on spellcasting or even spells from which to cast! Again, we need to fall back on GM whimsy and "do-it-yourself" implementation.
However the prestige classes are worse! While the ideas behind each are good and very flavorful to the setting, the actual mechanics are not impressive. For instance, the Avatar is the living embodiment of a god, but compare their abilities to a standard cleric of the same god. A quick "fight club" playtest of the two reveals that the cleric's increased spell progression beats the "Blessed Ra" out of the Avatar's "divine magic" ability. Moreover, the flexibility of the cleric's spell selection makes it the obvious winner over the course of campaign play. This is an absurd imbalance.
All in all, class design was atrociously handled in terms of mechanics. I felt that offering advice on tailoring the core classes to the setting would have better suited this game. The special abilities that these classes offer could have been designed as feats with which the classes could have been customized. After all, how tough would it have been to make desert specific feats to make the ranger or fighter classes fit with the nomad concept? Likewise, wizards or monks could have received slight modification to emulate the scribe, while rogues or bards could have become traders. There are good ideas here, but shoddy design ruins them.
Setting simulative mechanics should be at the vanguard of goodies in this product. How do we run wild, cinematic chariot combat? How about some cool traps, curses and challenges for "tomb raiding" Egyptian style? What types of rules do we have for boat combat on the Nile, against Nubian archers or Sobek's crocodile minions? How about some expanded rules for desert survival? How about Egyptian flavored magic, papyrus scrolls, magic ankhs and scarabs, and special rites to Isis and Osiris (or Set, for the evil NPCs)? Well, I'm waiting. . .
They aren't there. All of those things just mentioned, which any gamer can immediately visualize for this setting, are simply not addressed. Instead we receive tedious blinkered rules for literacy, nearly useless skills for charioteering and worship, and meager lists for equipment. Even these paltry lists contain poor design decisions, failing to sufficiently emulate Bronze Age technology or even offering standard game stats. What's the critical range for a khopesh? How much does it weigh? Oops, looks like this needed another round of editing.
Examples of NPCs and threats are the final mechanical point botched in this product. We get stats for over fifteen deities and four new monsters. Unfortunately, nearly every single stat block contains copious errors. Moreover, the design decisions are questionable in terms of game effectiveness. Let's turn our attention to the gods.
"While they can influence the world with their powers, the gods cannot physically enter the mortal plane. That is why they need Avatars: mortals filled with their power." (p.28)
That's understandable. The gods exist in Heliopolis; their actions sway the mortal realm, but they don't directly interfere, except through the directing of their mortal pawns. This is an acceptable genre convention. However, why then does this book go on to dedicate abundant space to useless game stats? Furthermore, if the designers felt the need to offer up the stats so as to make this product of greater utility in "porting" to D&D, why are the stats and powers so abominably designed?
The Heliopolitan racial traits are poster children of awful design. How do the Egyptian gods travel? They walk at 30'. Do they teleport or have a flying speed? No. Of course, they can change into their sacred animal at will, so that'll let most of them fly. Unfortunately, Anubis, Hathor, and Bastet are out of luck, since jackals, cows and cats aren't known for their flight expertise.
How quickly do the gods heal? Their "rapid healing" extraordinary ability allows them to recover at twice the normal rate! Not too impressive. How about their spell resistance? It's 10! Yes, even a first level wizard has a 40% to pop Isis with a magic missile. How about their AC? Well, greater gods get a +10. Hey, Osiris, King of the Gods, do you think that walloping big AC 25 is going to be enough? Don't forget about the Damage Resistance; oh, it looks like the designers did.
Maybe the "Divine Magic" ability will balance everything out. After all, it allows the deity to cast from their respective domains presumably at will. Let's do a whimsical "fight club" for a moment.
Elminster vs. the Heliopolitans
For those of you unfamiliar with the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, Elminster is a nearly omnipotent NPC wizard, the paradigm of totally over-the-top, uber-powered, magic item laden, D&D absurdity. Elminster is the type of character into which the most rabid of powergamers seek to make their PCs. In my playtesting experience, a character that can beat Elminster in combat is of "Godlike" power, while a character that provides only a tough challenge is "Epic." No balanced character under 20th level should even come close to threatening him.
Let's look at the results.
In the first bout, the Ennead of the Desert sends in their "big gun," the Lord of Deserts himself, Set, God of Evil. Calling upon the spells from his domains, air, chaos, and evil, Set is a mighty foe. Unfortunately, when faced by Elminster's Forgotten Realms "munch" abilities, superior spell selection, and magical items, Set falls before the opposition. Elminster, the Paragon of Powergaming, makes an ass out of the Master of Storms.
The following bouts go on with agonizing humiliation for the Heliopolitans. Osiris, Horus, Ptah, Sokar, Sobek, and Thoth all get crushed one after another by the Mighty Elminster. Is there no hope for the Egyptian pantheon?
Then, the Ennead of the Nile sends in the delicate goddess of love and joy, Hathor, a lesser goddess. Is this some sort of joke? No, you see Hathor has the good, luck, and trickery domains; that's Miracle and Time Stop at will! Whoa! Even the Master of Munchkins can't stand up to this onslaught of raw power. When the dust clears, Hathor, Protector of Babies, stands victorious, the Smack down Queen!
What?!!
The designer obviously gave not even a single thought towards balance. Isis, a greater goddess, traditionally associated with magic, has no magical abilities! Horus, god of vengeance and war, has combat feats equal to a sixth level fighter! Anubis, Judge of the Dead, can create undead as a 20th level cleric, but he can't control them or even turn them! And these are only the most obvious oversights.
Monsters are a lot less difficult to design than deities, so one would hope that the skimpy offering of four new creatures would be somewhat less awful than the gods. Hope in vain! Haphazard skill allocation, incorrect attacks, and missing information make these new threats very poor additions to your game. Yes, they're good concepts and very apt for the setting, but their utility is ruined by poor mechanics.
Okay, I can live with awful mechanics, but only if there are enough ideas and guidelines being offered to inspire me to fix them. Think about it; we get a total of four monsters for this setting. We get no special treatment for customizing mummies, sphinxes, scorpions, crocodiles, cobras, or even desert terrain beasties. Heck, we don't even get much mechanical assistance in designing Libyan or Nubian opponents. Why not?
In short, the mechanical implementation of this product is dreadful. It is a slapdash and amateurish attempt, which the average gamer could have done with moderate reference to a good primer on ancient Egypt. The mechanical mistakes and oversights of this product cannot be excused.
Techniques
Here is where the game rises above its atrocious mechanical failures. The advice on running a game in this setting is smooth and helpful. This is accomplished by detailing the setting and offering adventure seeds.
Setting is the selling point to this product. It's a very nice primer, concisely written but informative. It covers over 1500 years of history, from the Pre-dynastic period to the New Kingdom. Lifestyle, religion, economics, and culture are briefly discussed. However, they may be a bit too brief. Within the constraints of the book size, it's understandable that room for deeper detail isn't overly feasible. Nevertheless, I felt that some more information could have been squeezed in. At the least, a bibliography should have been included to help interested GMs pursue further information.
Another complaint is in adapting D&D's resource balance to the setting. For instance, the difference in wealth levels between this setting and the d20 baseline is drastic. PCs in this setting will not have nearly as much "wealth" as the core rules expect. This discrepancy is not addressed in how it relates to adventure design or balancing challenge.
Adventure seeds are provided as samples in adventure design. Although they contain no helpful mechanics, these adventures are wonderfully evocative of the setting and situation. The writing is smooth and accessible. This is the best part of the entire book. These ten adventure seeds capture the magic and mystery of the setting, incorporating the machinations of Set and his allies in a cinematic series of escalating threats. They are excellent scenarios and helpful as guidelines in constructing your own.
So, in terms of techniques of implementation, this product is decent. It could have been more informative in setting information, but it's functional. In offering inspiration through example, it shines!
Appraisal
To be honest, when it comes to Egyptian games, I can be a harsh critic. In my early experiences as a gamer, I played in an AD&D module by Tracy and Laura Hickman, I3: "Pharaoh," the first part of the "Desert of Desolation" trilogy. My previous gaming experiences had paid very little attention to setting, they were just nondescript "dungeons" in which to slaughter monsters and take their treasure. The Egyptian flavor of I3 hooked me; for the first time in my gaming experiences, I felt as though I was there. Even twenty years later, I can clearly remember the mystique of that module.
That's what I want in my Egyptian games: mystique, an air of mystery and magic.
This product has its heart in the right place. It isn't trying to bury you with mundane facts and dry figures. It isn't going down the "realism" only route. The War in Heliopolis is a setting in which big mythic adventures take place, where Heroes struggle for the very preservation of existence. High cinematic thrills should fill every game session, with Bronze Age flavor pervasive in the background.
However, as wonderful as this premise may be, it needs dependable mechanics for proper performance. Unfortunately, this product totally fails because of its poorly designed mechanics. Although it regains some value in offering techniques of implementation, it just isn't enough to salvage this product.
I would have loved to recommend this product, but I cannot.
---OMW
