Quasi-Mythic Greece

[tarchon]

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.

It would be considered unusual among Hellenes, but among some of the barbarian tribes of Asia, women warriors were thought to be common. There are mythical precedents in Greece though, like Atalanta. Camilla from the Aeneid and the Thracian maiden Harpalyce are other examples.

 

[Durandal]

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.

Does anybody else have any information on the half-nymphs? I seem to recall them being in a Dragon magazine some months ago, but I can't seem to find the issue. I think there also might have been half-minotaurs, as well, so if somebody could point me in the right direction, or better yet tell me how they work, it'd be great.

 

[tarchon]

Here's a link to an article on Atalanta - she's probably the best literary prototype for a female Ancient Greek adventurer, with "Argonaut" on her resume.

http://www.pantheon.org/articles/a/atalanta.html

Medea (if you can handle the alignment issue) and Ariadne might qualify too.

 

[Durandal]

Here's a link to an article on Atalanta - she's probably the best literary prototype for a female Ancient Greek adventurer, with "Argonaut" on her resume.

http://www.pantheon.org/articles/a/atalanta.html

Medea (if you can handle the alignment issue) and Ariadne might qualify too.

Thanks for the info, Tarchon. I knew there were some few examples of women as key figures in Greek mythology, but my sense was that it was an oddity and somewhat looked down upon. Which is the reason I'll be altering that slightly to fit more with the makeup of my group. Nice to have more places to hunt down information, though.

 

[tarchon]

Thanks for the info, Tarchon. I knew there were some few examples of women as key figures in Greek mythology, but my sense was that it was an oddity and somewhat looked down upon. Which is the reason I'll be altering that slightly to fit more with the makeup of my group. Nice to have more places to hunt down information, though.

It's one of those things that would be bad if it was your daughter, but men of the ancient world had an undeniable fascination with the idea. Most of the huntress-types were held up to be virginal and under the patronage of Artemis/Diana.

 

[Goddess FallenAngel]

Does anybody else have any information on the half-nymphs? I seem to recall them being in a Dragon magazine some months ago, but I can't seem to find the issue. I think there also might have been half-minotaurs, as well, so if somebody could point me in the right direction, or better yet tell me how they work, it'd be great.

Let me get ahold of Brother Shatterstone; he knows what source the half-nymphs are in, he has a few characters with the template....

 

[Goddess FallenAngel]

The source is Dragon 313. Do you have a copy of it?

 

[Pramas]

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?

You may want to check out our Trojan War book, which is at print right now. Although focused on the the time period of the Iliad, lots of the info is generally applicable to Bronze Age Greece. In particular, you would probably dig the race option of Divine Offspring. You can choose to be a minor, medium, or major Divine Offspring, with level adjustments of +1, +2, and +3 respectively. You then get bonuses based on your type, with the major Divine Offspring obviously getting the biggest boost.

We should be doing a preview of Trojan War soon on the website and we should have copies to sell at Origins.

http://www.greenronin.com/cgi-bin/product.cgi?prodid=1405

 

[Theron]

Of limited usage rules-wise, but of tremendous value in terms of source material is Aaron Allston's Mythic Greece, written for the Hero System and Rolemaster. It's long out of print, but shouldn't be too hard to track down via e-bay or other used sources.

One of the cool things it did was put characters into one of three categories: Demi-gods, Greater Heroes, and Lesser Heroes. Demi-gods were obviously vastly better than Lesser Heroes, but the amount of undue attention they got from meddling "relatives" more or less balanced things out.

 

[Durandal]

You may want to check out our Trojan War book, which is at print right now. Although focused on the the time period of the Iliad, lots of the info is generally applicable to Bronze Age Greece. In particular, you would probably dig the race option of Divine Offspring. You can choose to be a minor, medium, or major Divine Offspring, with level adjustments of +1, +2, and +3 respectively. You then get bonuses based on your type, with the major Divine Offspring obviously getting the biggest boost.

We should be doing a preview of Trojan War soon on the website and we should have copies to sell at Origins.

http://www.greenronin.com/cgi-bin/product.cgi?prodid=1405

To be honest, I was hoping to use that, if it arrives here in time - I have a pre-order set with Amazon, though whether they'll deliver it at anytime resembling the actual release date is beyond me. Buying Testament was what tipped me over the edge to buying this (along with, I might add, Skull & Bones and Spirosblaak, but neither of those is likely to be helpful - just good stuff). Though the gaming stores around Omaha are understocked, I still try and pick up whatever Green Ronin books I can, as they have proven to be great books thus far. I'm actually also hyping up my female player to get Blue Rose, as she's an insane Mercedes Lackey fan.

But yeah, Trojan War. And what better timing, hey?