What is your question(s)?
Fire away!
Regards
Gary
Snap! I've all the Gaz's in print form except the Five Shires which I have as a pdf - I really should get the rest on pdf as well.
Regards
Gary
that was the last one for me to get as well ...
They have a system in the gazetteer of conflicting traits Chaste vs. Lustful etc. What are these traits?
Is it the Mithold Guilds that has an Italian feel to it with trade houses?
I believe it is "Northern Reaches" that has the Viking feel to it?
They have a system in the gazetteer of conflicting traits Chaste vs. Lustful etc. What are these traits?
These traits are measures of personality on a 1-20 or 3-18 scale with names such as Lazy and Industrious representing the extreme concepts at the end of each scale.
Seven such measures of personality are given as an OPTIONAL step in character creation that ties into the other pre-adventuring background options to flesh out a character. If the Player knows what he wants, he can forgo the random rolls and just fill in the scores.
The trait scores themselves never really affected the game from a mechanics perspective. They were just a crib for how to play the character.
In the fan gazetteer Gaz F4 The Hidden Treasure of Ghyr, some of the scores were given a more mechanical importance in relation to the way the Heartstone (a personality changing item) functioned.
Is it the Mithold Guilds that has an Italian feel to it with trade houses?
I don't think Minrothaddan culture has ever been definitely nailed down to a RW analog, but it is something of a sea-born Hansiatic League. [Please correct me guys]
Italian trade houses are more in-line with Darokin, although a significant English-ification was done in the gazetteer. If you're looking for a Marco Polo scenario, the DDC (Darokinian Diplomatic Corps) is always in need of folks to find the next nation over the hill.
-OldDawg
Can you post a list of the traits used in Northern Reaches (Chaste vs. Lust) etc. I am thinking of using this in my 3.5 game.
I don't think Minrothaddan culture has ever been definitely nailed down to a RW analog, but it is something of a sea-born Hansiatic League. [Please correct me guys]
That's a pretty good analogue actually (I'd never thought of it before). I've always tended to view it as something along the lines of the British East India Company myself, but perhaps a combination of the two might be interesting (as the Minrothadders begin to establish their own colonies outside of the islands.)
"sea-born Hansiatic League"? If you look at where the Hanseatic League cities were, you'll realise it *was* a seabourne power.
Indeed! My impression is that the Minrothad Guilds have considerably greater naval power than the Hanseatic Leage had though, in that way and a few others resembling 17th Century Britain. Naming traditions also in part strike me as British. I like the Hanseatic comparison slightly better than the East India company one though, as that would make it a bit too advanced for me to place it within Ac1000-1010 Mystara.
I did play Minrothad as an East India company parallell in my Freeport campaign, though in retrospect that campaign should probably be retrofitted to AC1100.
Havard
was set up by a Minrothad-Ierendi conglomerate.
"sea-born Hansiatic League"? If you look at where the Hanseatic League cities were, you'll realise it *was* a seabourne power.
:embarrass Oops. Yes the Hanseatic League held monopoly rights over many sea lanes in the north. I was thinking more in terms of the real estate: The League was mostly coastal towns on the mainland while the Minrothad Guilds were island-based.
Darokin was essentially early USA, and Minrothad was identified as some kind of weird Venice.
All the way from X1 Darokin was meant to represent the Italian city-states like Venice and Genoa. Gaz11 English-ized some of the culture and names, and USA-ified with the "Land of Leftovers" (= "Great American Melting Pot"), but I think the Venetian/Genoese concept still dominates.
As the two great trader nations, it's a shame more attention wasn't drawn to their conflicting interests:
Darokin: minimal-producing, land-based, free-traders with cultural exploration
Minrothad: heavy-production, sea-borne, monopolistic on both production and trade, with minimal cultural involvement.
In fact, ignoring the explicit OOG association of Hule=evil, Minrothad would make an intriguing trade partner for Hule if for no other reason than to counterbalance Darokin. Darokin would likely find allies in the City-States, with the nobles of the Savage Baronies split.
Oh, to ZenZ's question on the Trait's from Gaz7: I don't remember those explicitly, but if you download Ghyr and check out the player section, you should find those adapted for that work.
-OldDawg
Darokin that's what I was thinking of!
Can you post a list of the traits used in Northern Reaches (Chaste vs. Lust) etc. I am thinking of using this in my 3.5 game.
A quick glance at the Ghyr link earlier, and didn't see the reference about the player section and the adapted traits (maybe I didn't look hard enough).
I'm listing them below, anyway. It looks like they were assigned a number from 1-20. The list below gives the name for each trait and its opposite in parentheses:
Cautious (Rash)
Modest (Proud)
Peaceful (Violent)
Generous (Greedy)
Courageous (Fearful)
Reverent (Godless)
Forgiving (Vengeful)
Energetic (Lazy)
Honest (Deceitful)
Trusting (Suspicious)
Loyal (Unreliable)
Dogmatic (Open-Minded)
These certainly add color, but can't say I've ever used them; just think they'd add more paperwork, though I wouldn't ban interested players from using them. Again, maybe a crutch for role-playing, but could be fun for making colorful northern characters.
:
As the two great trader nations, it's a shame more attention wasn't drawn to their conflicting interests:
Darokin: minimal-producing, land-based, free-traders with cultural exploration
Minrothad: heavy-production, sea-borne, monopolistic on both production and trade, with minimal cultural involvement.
In fact, ignoring the explicit OOG association of Hule=evil, Minrothad would make an intriguing trade partner for Hule if for no other reason than to counterbalance Darokin. Darokin would likely find allies in the City-States, with the nobles of the Savage Baronies split.
I wouldn't say that Darokin is minimal-producing, even if you mean manufacturing by "production". The Streel offers an inexhaustible source
of hydro power for manufactrures (which the Gaz mentions IIRC). The Streel plain is the most fertile arable land in KW, and Darokin-side Canolbarth and the various mountains offer vast resources. Also the Gaz clearly hints at a developing banking system - move towards more modern forms of currency.
I'd say that Darokin is a powerful economy in most regards, but in a very "modern" sense. The public and private sectors are very distinct, and taxation is very important.
Actually one might surmise that the rigid and protectionistic economy of the Minrothad Guilds, their enduring focus on gold as the foundation of wealth (the legistlation on importing and exporting coinage), and their non-competitive ethnic division of labour might hamper their manufacturing abilities.
Basically the Darokinian economy is outward bound and suited to international trade, whereas the Minrothadian economy is focused on keeping the fragile multi-ethnic nation at a balance and ensuring the continuation of the social stratification (castes). In Minrothad the public and private economy is much more interwoven, as it seems that the family guilds (the real power groups) handle many public functions.
On the other hand, Minrothad is not so isolated as it seems. Their secret trade policies, handled through the thieves' guild and the port agents, are very aggressive. Darokinian traders do a lot of trading between other countries, gaining wealth from international trade at large - and in the end bringing new investment funds and taxe revenue to the country. Minrothad trade seems to be organised into bringing crude wealth, luxury items and above all new technological innovations into the country, while stubbornly trying to keep developed technologies in Minrothadian hands.
There surely are conflicts between the nations, and indeed those are an interestinc facet hardly at all handled in the Gazs. But I'd think that mostly the conflicts happen between Darokinian (Athenos) and Minrothadian sea traders (I'd think the Minrothadians have upper hand there) or in distant coastal cities which are the endpoints of Darokinian caravan trails. Thus indeed Sind would be a contested ground. But one should remember that the bulk of Darokinian trade centres on caravan routes (Glantri, Wendar, Heldann, Ethengar, Karameikos, Five shires...), whereas Minrothadian trade must by necessity focus on coastal trading hubs. In that sense the two nations have clearly distinct portfolios.
But perhaps the Nomad War would create a change in Minrothadian policies, if the Darokinian economy suffers? Minrothadians might have a chance to make an economic landfall.
A quick glance at the Ghyr link earlier, and didn't see the reference about the player section and the adapted traits (maybe I didn't look hard enough).
Ah, page 24 the Special Rules Section right after Creating Characters.
GAZ 7 The Northern Reaches introduced optional personality trait scores to help define a character. The essence of a Ghyr campaign is the revelation of who a person was born to be, and the trait scores from GAZ 7 are mechanically useful in describing this revelation.
With one addition, the twelve personality traits are:
Caution, Peacefulness, Courage, Forgiveness, Honesty, Loyalty, Modesty, Generosity, Reverence, Energy, Credulity, Dogmatism, and Ambition
The DM is free to contract, augment, or otherwise modify this list to better fit the game environment. Examples of other possible traits include aggression, cynicism, gentility, inquisitivity, and optimism.
Trait scores range from 1 to 20. The player may select the scores or determine them randomly. If scores are rolled, use 3d6 rather than 1d20.
As with ability scores, a high personality scores implies that the character is well described by the trait. If Ban has Courage 17 and Energy 3, he is quite courageous (in combat, in public) but he is very lazy in his normal activities.
Scores are grouped as follows:
Ideal: 1-4, 17-20
Characteristic: 4-8, 13-16
Latent: 9-12
The importance of this classification will be developed under the section on the Heartstone.
Here is the optional ways to use the traits in conjunction with the Heartstone.
The powers of the Heartstone include:
...
Reveal One’s True Self: The stone forces a person to become who they were meant to be. This power is applied to all within viewing distance of the stone except the user.
...
Revelation takes one of three forms: characteristic traits become ideal; latent personality traits become ideal; or ideal traits are reversed.
If Arweena has Courage 15, Honesty 9, and Peacefulness 19, exposure to the Heartstone could leave her with Courage 20, Honesty 1, or Peacefulness 2. The wielder chooses the type of revelation – this will affect all potential subjects.
...
Revealing the true self of a character has major roleplaying implications for which the referee should prepare his players. If the personality scores seem too constricting or time consuming here are two variants of the Heartstone’s power.
Optional Rule 1 (Easy): Alignment comparison. If a character loses his save/combat, her ethical and moral alignments are switched, i.e. Lawful (good) becomes Chaotic (evil).
Optional Rule 2 (Moderate): Free roleplaying. If a character succeeds, he grows into his idealized character. If he fails, he becomes his feared fate.
N/PC character matters a great deal in a Ghyr-centric campaign, and keeping track of personality scores elsewhere is not so important, so as I said in my original reply, the scores are really crib scores for role-playing the character.
-OldDawg