(OT)???Egypt and Greece Classes???

[gamecat]

The Serpent Archer and Scorpion Scion PrCs at www.seankreynolds.com fit wonderfully into an egyptian game...

 

[mmadsen]

In general, people should be human. Elves could be cast as outsiders from the desert or the plains to the north. Dwarves should probably be friends of rocky cliffs. Gnomes could be nomads, traders and generalists. Halflings could be a slave-race, or a race of desert raiders. I can't think of many races offhand who would be good in an Egyptian setting...maybe serpent-people (Lizardmen, ECL +2), if you'd like.

Is there any reason to keep elves, dwarves, gnomes, and halflings in an Egyption-themed campaign?

 

[Ace]

Dwarves make sense in an Egyptian game.

IIRC one of the dietys and Earth God named Geb or Ged was pictured as a Dwarf.

To Egyptize them just call them Children of Ged or something like that.

 

[William Ronald]

Ace,

The deity Ptah (creation) was sometimes seen as a dwarf and so was Bes (god of luck, protector of children).

Joshua, the difference between Ares and Mars is striking. (Indeed, most Roman legionaires would frown on a soldier who acted like Ares.) Also, while I did not know about the incident concerning Julius Caesar, I am not surprised. The Romans seemed to portray themselves as superior to the Greeks morally and in terms of military might. I suppose a love-hate relationship is not too surprising.

As for how to handle the Greek pantheon versus the Roman pantheon, it is possible to have both. Some deities would likely be worshipped in common by both cultures -- Apollo and Pan. (The Romans were know for worshipping the gods of many cultures. I seem to recall that an Isis statue was found at a British archeological dig.)

 

[Horacio]

One of the D&D writers, James Wyatt, has a full Imperial Rome campaign for D&D in his site: www.aquela.com

 

[mmadsen]

Dwarves make sense in an Egyptian game. IIRC one of the dietys and Earth God named Geb or Ged was pictured as a Dwarf. To Egyptize them just call them Children of Ged or something like that.

I'm not saying you can't do that, but having a couple dwarf gods in their pantheon doesn't mean the Egyptians naturally have Tolkien-esque Dwarves too -- and Halflings, and Gnomes, and Elves.

 

[Ghostwind]

I'm not saying you can't do that, but having a couple dwarf gods in their pantheon doesn't mean the Egyptians naturally have Tolkien-esque Dwarves too -- and Halflings, and Gnomes, and Elves.

Exactly, you could make the elves more along the lines of desert nomads or even base the races off those in the Dark Sun setting which would lend itself easily to an Egyptian pantheon.

 

[mmadsen]

Exactly, you could make the elves more along the lines of desert nomads or even base the races off those in the Dark Sun setting which would lend itself easily to an Egyptian pantheon.

Does Egyptian mythology have the notion of magical not-quite-men out in the wilderness (desert elves) or under ground (dwarves)?

 

[Ghostwind]

Does Egyptian mythology have the notion of magical not-quite-men out in the wilderness (desert elves) or under ground (dwarves)?

Whether or not or keep demihuman races in an Egyptian campaign is entirely up to a DM. Egyptian mythology does not specifically address dwarves and elves per se. But there is no reason why you can't create a suitable culture that would flow with Egyptian mythos. Dwarves wouldn't necessarily have to be an underground race but could very well be the driving force behind the construction of the pyramids, for example. It's all how you want to make it (or not make it for that matter).

 

[bmcdaniel]

Whether or not or keep demihuman races in an Egyptian campaign is entirely up to a DM. Egyptian mythology does not specifically address dwarves and elves per se. But there is no reason why you can't create a suitable culture that would flow with Egyptian mythos. Dwarves wouldn't necessarily have to be an underground race but could very well be the driving force behind the construction of the pyramids, for example. It's all how you want to make it (or not make it for that matter).

IMHO, you are better off getting rid of elves, dwarves and halflings than trying to shorehorn them into a setting where they don't fit. The biggest component of the PC races are the cultural baggage which they carry: elves are long-lived, artistic, beautiful, nature-loving, etc. Dwarves are grubby, practical, axe-and-hammer wielding, etc. If these conceptions don't fit into your campaign, don't force them in. You are much better off "custom-designing" your own races from scratch (the trade-offs and balances are fairly well understood; there is even a section in the DMG); or if that is too much work, just adapt a different standard race without all the typical D&D cultural baggage, e.g. lizardmen.