Quasi-Mythic Greece

[Durandal]

I'm thinking of starting a new campaign in a world much like that of mythic Greece, inspired in no small part by things like the Illiad & Odyssey, tales of Hercules, and Sean K. Reynolds' own Greek campaign. I know most of the inhabitants of such a game would likely be humans, but I'm looking for other races to possibly use. I know that generally elves, dwarves and the like aren't races that fit in witha mythic age of Greece, so I'm looking for other suggestions, as my knowledge of that kind of time isn't what it could be. I know there were centaurs, as there were several mythic heroes who had centaurs as their tutors, but are there any other races that might be fit for use in such a campaign?

As for what to do with the characters, I'm thinking of having each character be the mortal descendant of some god or divine/supernatural entity. I'm split between using heroic paths from Midnight, the racial progressions from Dawnforge, or the bloodlines from Unearthed Arcana, though I'm not as fond of the bloodlines. Has anyone else tried this? Would it be better if I just tailored things to each particular PC, or used something pre-made, like the heroic paths?

There are certainly things I'll probably have to alter in some way for the game - IIRC, the ancient Greeks weren't al too fond of their women going off on adventures, except for the Amazons, so I think I'll set it up to be a little more female-friendly, as one of the players happens to be female. I'm thinking of either using the Greek gods right out of the box, or changing the names and tweaking them slightly, if I can find someplace to help me out with possible domains for the Greek gods. I also might end up using the piety rules from Green Ronin's Testament, as even if the Greeks weren't exactly God-fearing people in the traditional sense, they still seemed to know it wasn't wise to anger beings that could smack you with lightning bolts from on high. Does anybody have any thoughts or ideas that might be helpful? I'd love to hear 'em. Thanks.

 

[Ace32]

Deities and Demigods covers the Greek gods, which can help you with figuring out what domains to give them, as well as some basic information on what they were responsible for (all in one source).

The book also had a little bit of information on what monsters would be appropriate for a game set in mythic Greece.

 

[Barastrondo]

[shameless plug] Although it probably won't be of any help to you right now, Sword & Sorcery Studios is coming out with Relics & Rituals: Olympus, a game that pretty much sets out to do that very thing — mythic Greece + D&D, with emphasis on smoothing out some of the archetypes of D&D so that they fit the setting better instead of just excluding anything that isn't originally part of the setting. Thus, you'll see a race of dwarves that owe their creation to Hephaestus, gnomes who epitomize the philosophical, rational side of the culture, new races like the spartes (descendants of the original warriors born of dragon's teeth), and so on. Plus, a bunch of monsters, some of which are cast in their more mythic flavor — expect Medusa to have wings and brazen talons this time around.

It also presumes a more female-friendly campaign setting, and there are feats that represent a god's favor; so you could take a feat that represents being Poseidon's chosen to represent being his mortal love child, or maybe one of his high priests, or whatever.

Oh yeah, and there's an optional Hubris system for tracking how far you can go before the thunderbolts start to fall.

The down side is that it's coming out in a couple of months, as I recall; so it might be too late to help you. Still, it seems so close to what you're talking about that I couldn't resist pitching it. [/shameless plug]

 

[Faraer]

For two wonderful and different takes on ancient Greece, read Gene Wolfe's Soldier books (available as Latro in the Mist) and David Gemmell's Lion of Macedon.

 

[Durandal]

For two wonderful and different takes on ancient Greece, read Gene Wolfe's Soldier books (available as Latro in the Mist) and David Gemmell's Lion of Macedon.

I've read Lion of Macedon; it's a little too late and too historical for what I'm thinking, as I think it deals with Alexander the Great (or possibly someone analogous to him). It's still a good book, though, just not what I'm looking for.

 

[scourger]

I was inspired by Sean Reynolds's campaign log, too. So, I bought the AD&D book Age of Heroes at a nearby con a couple of weeks ago. You can get at rpgnow.com a lot cheaper. Here's a link:

http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=948&

There is some good information there, albeit not d20. The book does present much Greek flavor though, which is what it sounds like you're looking for.

My idea is to keep a campaign of Greek Heroes as simple to construct as possible. I don't want a bunch of variant rules, just clever application of the core rules. I'll use some kind of method to give the PCs great stats, but I probably won't let them pick their stats. Maybe 5d6 -2 (low) dice rolled in order. Race restricted to human. Just the way it's got to be. I have pondered making the other races human variants, though. Since all magic comes from the gods, the PCs have a major advantage in just being able to be spellcasters at all (there will be virtually no NPC spellcasters; the Oracle at Delphi MAY be an adept or diviner). Most NPCs would be just NPC classes from the DMG: commoner, aristocrat, warrior or expert. That NPC restriction ups the PCs' power level quite a bit. Magic is rare. Spells restricted to no "flashy" magic. No fireballs but lightning bolt if you can stand to risk the ire of Zeus. But, item creation feats become very important. How else does a PC turn that medusa head into a "wand" of flesh to stone? Or those minotaur horns into a potion of bull's strength; or a magic strength bow? I really want the players to define the divine abilities of the PCs with their choices.

More importantly, there is an overall story. The meta-plot I'm considering is that an errant Titan has stolen some ambrosia (food of the gods) and his careless eating and sanitation has caused all manner of mythical beasts to plague to countryside. Enter the aspiring heroes, having just competed in the Olympic games, to set forth to solve various riddles and vanquish the monsters while slowly realizing there's a titan about. The final battle will probably be at the foot of Mount Olympus. If the heroes succeed at beating (or tricking) the titan out of the ambrosia, they may be able to consume it and ascend Mount Olympus to divinity.

 

[Stormrunner]

Well, I read a couple of books recently by H. Turtletaub (sp?), _The Wine-Dark Sea_ and _The Gryphon's Skull_, which do a pretty good job of conveying the "feel" of Bronze Age Greece. We're trying for something vaguely Grecian in our current campaign, though the players are mostly junior high boys and are more interested in killing stuff, so I've been reading up on Greek culture/history.

Also check out this site:
http://www.theoi.com/Bestiary.html
Lotsa good stuff on more obscure Greek critters. Other sections of the same site have info on the gods, etc.

 

[Durandal]

Also check out this site:
http://www.theoi.com/Bestiary.html
Lotsa good stuff on more obscure Greek critters. Other sections of the same site have info on the gods, etc.

That's a helluva site there. I could run a game for years on those monsters alone, without having to resort to more Northern creatures like elves and orcs. This is why the Greeks were cool: they had the best myths. I'm currently reading through a new collection of short stories based int he Bronze Age edited by Harry Turtledove, called The First Heroes - it has a number of good ideas, as well.

What about other possible PC races? I think centaurs, satyrs and minotaurs would work well (with a toning-down, like the way they are in Dawnforge), seeing as I'm using a more fantastic Greece, but are there any others, not necessarily Greek, that might fit thematically?

 

[Goddess FallenAngel]

Nymphs were big in Greece, if I recall correctly - which also allows the half-nymph race that I know exists (I'm just not sure where, but I could find out from someone if needed). Dryads are partially Greek as well, but Dryads are not good PC races.

 

[GrayPumpkin]

Also check out this site:
http://www.theoi.com/Bestiary.html
Lotsa good stuff on more obscure Greek critters. Other sections of the same site have info on the gods, etc.

Thanks for that link it’s been added to my favorites.

I can second Age of Heroes as good supplement. Also didn’t Mongoose recently release OGL Ancients? I have never looked through it myself but it could possible be useful.