Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Kate Monk's Arab/Muslim Names

http://www.gaminggeeks.org/Resources/KateMonk/Middle-East/Arab/index.htm

An English to Arabic Dictionary

Something to dress up the game.

http://www.firdaous.com/en/0023.htm

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Abulafia is the Ultimate Content Generator

I don't know about 'ultimate'; but incredibly cool and incredibly useful. Just be aware of the more AD&D oriented stuff.

http://www.random-generator.com/index.php?title=Main_Page

To re-state my position on Al-Qadim, I think the RPG system should serve the milieu, not the over way 'round. Al-Qadim puts the cart before the horse as does 1st Ed. Oriental Adventures, which is AD&D in Noh drag, Al-Qadim is 2nd ED. in a turban.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Reconcidering Element Magic

We had to drop element magic, the control and manipulation of the four elements, in the middle of the second incarnation; the applications were too broad to regulate, it was Swiss Army Magic. We did have the incredibly complex rules from the first incarnation, but the rules slow everything down. We monkeyed with powering it down until it wasn't worth using, and the honor system doesn't work with hard core rules lawyers.

Risus Magic makes the solution simple. No heavy math, the difficulty level is directly proportional to the spell's usefulness. For further complexity, Element Control is either an advanced skill (minus 1 die) or an arcane skill (minus 2 dice) in an appropriate Alchemy cliche.

By the same token Mesmerist and Illusionist can be taken as skills in appropriate cliches or through a talisman; skills can be taken through charms, cliches cannot. Specialized (limited) skills gain bonuses or lower TNs, a variation on my Unnamed Friend's weapon specialization from his Dark Conspiracy game. Say a PC took a Self Amused Street Magician (3) which allows for Universal Magic Abilities at (2); the PC can take Illusionist at (3), in lieu of a Lucky Shot slot.


http://www.io.com/~sjohn/element.htm

Great for inspiration. Element magic in RoA is more element control, manipulation, and transmutation.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Various Deities

Deities we used for demons, much like the way Celtic Christianity adopted pagan deities as saints and demons.

For example, Atar - Persian god of fire and purity - is a fire demon. The GM can decide if there is a bonus for 'fire'.





Persian Gods, Goddesses and Heroes

Aesma Daeva - Demon of Lust and Anger. Personification of violence, conflict and war. Eternally opposed by Sraosa

Agas - Demoness of illness. Her name means "the evil eye"

Airyaman - God of friendship and healing

Allatum - old Iranian goddess of the underworld

Ameretat - goddess of immortality and the protector of plants

Angra Mainyu - god of darkness and destroyer of good. Bringer of death and disease

Apaosa - Demon on a black horse with a white face who brings drought to the land

Asto Vidatu - demon of death no human can escape. Tries to catch the souls of the righteous as they rise to heaven

Atar - god of fire and purity. son of Ahura Mazda

Azi Dahaka - a storm demon shaped like a monsterous snake

Bahram - god of the planets and victory

Burijas - Kassite wargod

Bushyasta - yellow demon of laziness and sloth. Causes men to oversleep and to neglect their religious obligations

Daevas (devils) - demons who bring plagues and diseases in all forms

Dahaka - ancient god of death and deceit

Dena - daughter of Ahura Mazda

Dev - a powerful demon of war

Haurvatat _ one of the Amesha Spentas . Perfection personified. Associated with Life after death

Indar - god of warfare and bravery

Indra - one of the seven daevas. Apostasy

Izha - goddess of the sacrifice

Nairyosangha - messenger of the gods and a god of fire

Nanghaithya - demon of discontentment

Neriosang - a messenger god

Rapithwin - ancient god of the noon day sun, protector of the south and summer

Rashnu - angel of justice and last judgement. Righteousness personified

Rustam - hero of the Shah Nameh, originally a hero of Parthia. Greatest warrior. Owner of Rakush, the great warhorse

Saena - a legendary bird whose nest is in the first tree in Vourukasha

Saurva - one of the seven daevas

Tawrich - demon of hunger

Vanant - one of the four leaders of the stars who will fight on the side of Ahura Mazda

Vata - god of the wind 20th day is his

Verethragna - god of victory. Aggressive triumph. He punishes the evil that man and demon does

Zarich - The demon of aging

Zurvan - father of the immortal opposites Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu. God of destiny, light and darkness

Sumerian, Babylonian and Assyrian

Agdistis - a hermaphrodite monster

Anunnaki - children of Antu and Anu, underworld gods.

Anzu - demon with lion and eagle features. Guards Enlil's bath

Ashur - main god of Assyria and war. Symbolized as a winged disk

Dumuzi - shepherd demigod. Husband of Inanna. Shepherd king of Uruk.

Ereshkigal - violent goddess of the underworld. Wife of Erragal

Erra - hunter god, god of war and plague

Erragal - god of underworld, husband of Ereshkigal and lover of Aruru (Mami)

Gerra - god of fire, son of Anunito

Geshtianna - goddess who rules over the fall harvest.

Hadad - Canaanite god of thunder and lightning

Irra - a plague god

Ishkur - god in charge of the winds. simmilar to Akkadian Adad.

Ishum - god of fire and weapons. Lights the way for Erra and the Sebitti

Kabta _ god of bricks, lays foundations and builds houses

Lamashtu - female demon

Mammetum - mother of fate

Namtar - god of 60 diseases, "fate" demon of death.

Nedu - guardian of the first gate of the underworld

Nergal - Assyrian god of hunting and warfare. One of the main gods of the underworld.

Neti - chief gatekeeper of the Underworld.

Ningizzia - underworld god, guardian of Heaven's gate

Sebitti - Seven warriors led by Erra. (Pleiades)

Sharru - god of submission

Sun Ra head of falcon and sun disk


Music Hathor horns of cow and sun disk


Destruction Sekhmet head of lion


Sky Nut blue with golden stars


Earth Geb colour of plants and Nile mud


Dead Osiris dressed in white with crook and flail


Desert Seth animal head with long curved snout


Pharoah Horus head of hawk and crown of Egypt


Magic Isis throne on head or holding baby


Wisdom Thoth head of ibis


Embalming Anubis head of jackal


Justice Ma'at feather in her hair


Creation Amun crowned with feathers


Cats Bastet head of

Five Pillars and six articles of Islam

In Sunni Islam, the Five Pillars of Islam is the term given to the five duties incumbent on every Muslim. These duties are Shahada (Profession of Faith), Salat (Prayers), Zakat (Giving of Alms), Sawm (Fasting during Ramadan) and Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca).

Believing in angels is one of the six Articles of Faith in Islam, without which there is no faith. The six articles are belief in: God, His angels, His Books, His Messengers, the Last Day, and that predestination, both good and evil, comes from God.

Angels (Arabic: Malaekah) in Islam are light-based creatures, created from light by God to serve and worship Him.

Angels are intangible, sentient entities, who do not possess free will. They were created for the sole purpose of serving God. Being made of light, they can assume almost any form, completely real to the human eye, and traverse a distance as fast as light or faster.

Iblis (Satan/Diabolis/Devil) is a jinn who worshipped God so much that God had raised him to heaven and he used to worship God in the company of the angels. In sharp contrast to Judaism and Christianity in which he is a (fallen) angel, Islam does not recognise the concept of fallen angels. Angels in Islam do only as they are commanded by God, therefore they do not sin or falter.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Friday, April 3, 2009

The Pile On

Mechanically similar to a Team Up, Pile On, a hold over from our Dark Conspiracy setting for boss fights, players automatically lose a die to cost the boss a die, making a one for one trade. A number of players declare concert action and decide who is going to take one for the team. The only difference is that instead of players giving 6s to one player each player gets a turn in the spotlight.