Aia of the Italian MMB has kindly reformatted my Ochalean mini-gazetteer with a Gazetteer-like style.
He did a great work, so if you liked the original, you might want to have a look at this enhanced version (link).
There's also a new map (mostly an hex-based version of Mystaros' one).
GP
It will make a great addition to OldDawg's gazetteers.
Regards
Gary
Hm. I guess I'm the only one who isn't able to see it. Link opens to a blank page for me.
What version of ACrobat Reader are you using Andrew? According to the document's properties it was created with Acrobat 7 (pdf version 1.6) so if you have an older version...
Regards
Gary
What version of ACrobat Reader are you using Andrew? According to the document's properties it was created with Acrobat 7 (pdf version 1.6) so if you have an older version...
That's true, but I can read it with evince or kpdf on Linux, so it should read with Acrobat 6 as well (at least).
GP
P.S.: anyway, if you need a pdf 1.3 or 1.4 compliant version, I can easily filter it.
Looks pretty good- I really like how he got the Oriental Adventures style font in there, and all the artwork.
That's very nice, pass on my appreciation to Aia.
It will make a great addition to OldDawg's gazetteers.
hi gary! tnx a lot!
referring to OldDawg gazs, pls note that i made an enhanced version for his very first product and he never gave me a feedback on my work... should you want to see it, pls write me an email: axel.boucher (AT) poste.it
hence due to his not so nice behaviour, i never went further with him...
ciao
It is just beautiful! Loved the art.
I love what was done by Aia for v2 in terms of art and layout. It really made reading through it much more fun, and the art really added to the flavour of the text.
I was intrigued by the Lupin/Taymora connection. Is this new from this gazetteer, or something I have missed?
I liked how Lupins and Rakasta (Pardasta) are now fully incorporated as common races of Ochalea. I remember feeling that the human-only description from DotE made the country sound a little boring. Ogre Magi are also a welcome sight.
I liked the treatment of the temples, though I generally don't like the idea of philosophers. OTOH, they fit better in an oriental setting than say in Karameikos OMHO.
I guess what I feel is missing here is a players guide. Beyond the temples, very little is provided on which character types are possible here, special equipment, races etc. BTW, when you are discussing different Rakasta and Lupin breeds, feel free to remind us what a Pardasta looks like for instance. I still get those subraces mixed up and have no idea where I last put that Dragon magazine (actually that advice is not just for agathokles, but for anyone discussing these things).
Also, how about some more info on Mystics? And I have previously suggested adding more about Dragons and Drakes, but I noticed they were in there so that is a good start. Ofcourse, limiting yourself to 29 pages is a good idea. Bigger documents than that are likely not to be read by most people, unless they are already set on running a campaign in the country.
Summary: Great job!
Havard
Okay, finally I had some chance to sit down and read through this! Overall, a well written and very impressive piece of work Agathokles!
Thanks!
I was intrigued by the Lupin/Taymora connection. Is this new from this gazetteer, or something I have missed?
It is an old idea of mine. I wrote something already in the Lupin Timeline here:
http://www.pandius.com/lupnhist.html
I liked how Lupins and Rakasta (Pardasta) are now fully incorporated as common races of Ochalea. I remember feeling that the human-only description from DotE made the country sound a little boring. Ogre Magi are also a welcome sight.
I go fully with the "Campaign Classics" version of the two races, so they are quite common, especially Lupins, in Ochalea.
The DotE version, by making demihumans very rare in Ochalea, reduces the possible character classes quite a lot, so I think the presence of Lupins and Rakasta should make up for the absence of the traditional demihumans.
Ogre Magi were mentioned in the Lupin article on Dragon Magazine, so I expanded on the idea to fill up for the lack of othe goblinoids.
I liked the treatment of the temples, though I generally don't like the idea of philosophers. OTOH, they fit better in an oriental setting than say in Karameikos OMHO.
Philosophers are easily replaced with Pantheists or Specialists, depending on the temple. They appear as a separate group because in AD&D, I use them as a strongly variant cleric type (with less magic -- they use prayerbooks and have access only to spells they learn, like wizards).
I guess what I feel is missing here is a players guide. Beyond the temples, very little is provided on which character types are possible here, special equipment, races etc.
I know. I wrote this GAZ with a minimal emphasis on rules, since very few people would use my version of AD&D classes and kits for Ochalea anyway -- I actually have a separate document with specialized character classes and kits for all the Known World: http://www.elet.polimi.it/upload/agosta/.private/campaignbook.pdf
I've joined it with the Mystara Newbie Guide to make an AD&D campaign book for the Known World and nearby regions.
In the Ochalean gazetteer, you can assume that races that are mentioned in the population section are available as PC races -- so you've got Humans, Lupins (Shar-Pei, Chow-Chow, Crested and Houndling), and Rakasta (Pardasta only), as well as "Spirit Folk" (here you can use Genasi, Aasimar and Tieflings as suggested, or use the Oriental Adventure Spirit Folk races).
Character kits, from my AD&D2e guide:
Myrmidon/Chanshi (any Warrior, from SC): this is the typical soldier (imperial or local)
Honorbound/Xia (Fighter, from SC): these are typical ortodox martial artists (e.g., Li Mubai in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon")
Defender/Nosheng (Fighter, from SC): temple warriors (the name comes from Kara-Tur's Shou Lung, like most other here)
Kensai/Chujen (Fighter, I use a kit adapted the Oriental Adventures 2e conversion): these are weapon masters, focusing on a single type of weapon (usually the jian/longsword) -- they also model the non-spellcasting Monk in Ochalea and Sind.
Biaoshi (see my earlier post on this class, but I also have an earlier version of it as a Ranger kit)
Wu Jen (Wizard, standard AD&D 2e kit)
Thieves can use the Bandit, Thug, Fence, and Beggar kit with little or no modification. One could also mirror some Thief kits from the Iron Monkeys and the Ghost Eaters of DragonFist (especially the latter in some undead infested provinces).
As to equipment, AD&D books already have a lot of oriental weapons, though it must be noted that chinese weapons are somewhat less exotic than japanese ones -- most chinese martial arts involve the use of longswords, broadswords/sabers, long and short spears, staves, and halberds/glaives.
The more exotic types include three section staves, deerhorn knives, hook swords as well as some chain weapons.
Daggers, axes, maces, and clubs are also common, though less so in martial arts that I know of.
For OD&D, you may refer to DM's very comprehensive weapon masteries guide:
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/9940/armi.zip
It's in Italian, but the tables are quite easy to understand, since they use the Master Set standard format.
As to armor, lamellar (metal and leather) and brigantine are the most likely choices: they are present in AD&D, and in OD&D you may consider metal lamellar to be equivalent to banded mail, brigantine to be equivalent to scale mail and leather lamellar to be equivalent to leather armor (or maybe to Milenian cuirboulli). Standard leather and scale mail are also common.
BTW, when you are discussing different Rakasta and Lupin breeds, feel free to remind us what a Pardasta looks like for instance. I still get those subraces mixed up and have no idea where I last put that Dragon magazine (actually that advice is not just for agathokles, but for anyone discussing these things).
Ahem, sorry! Pardasta look like leopards, while the Shar-Pei and Chow-Chow look like the dogs of the same name. Ochalean Crested and Houndling are basically like Hairless Chinese Crested and Pekingese dogs, respectively.
Also, how about some more info on Mystics? And I have previously suggested adding more about Dragons and Drakes, but I noticed they were in there so that is a good start. Ofcourse, limiting yourself to 29 pages is a good idea. Bigger documents than that are likely not to be read by most people, unless they are already set on running a campaign in the country.
As the above: the Ochalean gaz, while nominally written in AD&D 2e, actually has almost no mention of rules topics -- both because the audience would be too small and because I'm not very good at creating new rules.
However, there's already a large work on Mystics by tjedge here: http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=478581
which could certainly be adopted for Ochalean campaigns
Also, the Combat Stunt system by Jacob Skytte is another excellenct way to model the feats of martial artisti (mystics or not): http://www.pandius.com/c_stunts.html
Hope it helps!
GP
I just caught the link to the pdf on the Asia-in-Mystara thread. (I don't know how I missed this the first time round. Must of been when I was out job hunting back in the spring. )
But let me offer a belated "Bravissimo, singore!"
This is a wonderful work (I'd suggest some adventure hooks at the end to finish it off). Axel did a remarkable job with layout and the creative use of public domain images.
referring to OldDawg gazs, pls note that i made an enhanced version for his very first product and he never gave me a feedback on my work... should you want to see it, pls write me an email: axel.boucher (AT) poste.it
hence due to his not so nice behaviour, i never went further with him...
Then allow me to publicly offer my most sincere and humble apologies. Your craftsmanship was indeed excellent on that work, too (with only the watermark needing correction). I have no defense save that of a forgetful memory during a hectic period. It is no excuse to allow communications to linger until forgotten. Sadly, you are not the only individual I have grieved in such a manner, and for that, I am sorry.
-OldDawg
GP,
I just caught the link to the pdf on the Asia-in-Mystara thread. (I don't know how I missed this the first time round. Must of been when I was out job hunting back in the spring. )
But let me offer a belated "Bravissimo, singore!"
Thanks
This is a wonderful work (I'd suggest some adventure hooks at the end to finish it off).
Yes, adventure hooks are the typical missing element from my gazetteers... I tend to write a lot in the geographic/npcs/society parts, only to arrive tired at the end, so I never manage to write down a coherent set of adventure hooks
Axel did a remarkable job with layout and the creative use of public domain images.
Indeed.
GP