On my research concerning the AD&D odyssey modules I found some modules under the name of the Skull&Bone Campaign Setting, depicting a barbarian society in a continous struggle against some evil necromancers/ liches on an Isle called Jakandar.
What do you think, wouldn't Jakandar be a good addition to any Greyhawk campaign detailling the southern or eastern seas?
*I personally would consider to put it south of Aquaria*
I must confess that I know absolutely nothing of this series but the names!
Thank you
While the first accessory published about it depicted a society of barbarians that had migrated to the island only to find itself facing "evil necromancers", the second accessory revealed that the natives were actually quite enlightened and only trying to defend themselves and rebuild their civilization.
Let's try to "translate" this into something compatible with Oerth.
Imagine, if you will, an island lost in the middle of the sea where an ancient Suloise colony was trying to reclaim the lost secrets of the Suel Imperium.
Suddenly, Rovers of the Barrens who fled the continent (to avoid being slaughtered by Iuz) disembark on the shores and claim this is their new "Chosen Land" and everyone else is just "evil".
End result: bitter war between two cultures who refuse to see each other as anything else than an "invader".
The first thing to know is that Jakandor is not what it seems.
While the first accessory published about it depicted a society of barbarians that had migrated to the island only to find itself facing "evil necromancers", the second accessory revealed that the natives were actually quite enlightened and only trying to defend themselves and rebuild their civilization.
Let's try to "translate" this into something compatible with Oerth.
Imagine, if you will, an island lost in the middle of the sea where an ancient Suloise colony was trying to reclaim the lost secrets of the Suel Imperium.
Suddenly, Rovers of the Barrens who fled the continent (to avoid being slaughtered by Iuz) disembark on the shores and claim this is their new "Chosen Land" and everyone else is just "evil".
End result: bitter war between two cultures who refuse to see each other as anything else than an "invader".
A noble answer from a noble Greyhawker!
Out of bad luck (or better, sheer ignorance ;) ) I missed the Scarlet Brotherhood module and, as far as I can say, I am unlikely to start a campaign in the southern Flanaess. (When finished, will give my Kul'gobsula stuff a try and then look what I can make out of Blackmoor...)
However, I think this is are great ideas! Should Jakandor ever come into my possession, I will consider to try how far I can develop your idea.
BTW, do you know, on which world was Jakandor set?
A noble answer from a noble Greyhawker!
BTW, do you know, on which world was Jakandor set?
Unless my memory fails me, not on one of the "traditional" settings.. but it could easily be inserted in most worlds. WoG and FR certainly. With some work, it could become an island of terror in RL but the heavy use of necromancy by some of the natives would doom them sooner or later (probably sooner).
Overall, Jakandor was one of the better efforts from that time, and definitely worth adding to your collection if you can find it. Some things would require a great deal of effort converting, and some was of better quality than other parts, it was still a very good set of books, and I definitely recommend them to anyone.
It must be definitely something special about these books...
Although the next RPG books on my list are The Guide to Transylvania, Dark Druids and Howl from the North, should I get my hands on them, I will give them a closer look!
As I am no FR player, Al Quadim is unlikely to be a setting I use, and of Arcanis I have never heard
. If, then WoG or RL might be the background.BTW, I think there is nothing specific for The Isles of the Brutes from DL. Would this be an idea?
BTW, I think there is nothing specific for The Isles of the Brutes from DL. Would this be an idea?
Unlikely. For one thing, the "Brutes" and the barbarians described in Jakandor are nothing alike. The latter would have resisted any and all attempts to turn them into mercenary slaves by the Dark Knights.
For another, if the Dark Knights had discovered the "other" natives (those trying to rebuild their magic-happy civilization), you can bet anything you have they would have either struck an alliance or looted them dry.
Then again, it might explain where the Knights of the Skulls learned their peculiar brand of magic...
It's as simple as that!
It's not that it wasn't interesting, but I as a DM really got annoyed how superficial most players I conducted dealed with the Arabian- or African culture.
What I missed in RPG sessions with most non-european settings was that people didn't make the slightest effort to understand the foreign cultures. Mostly playing *nordic* characters, they focused on *getting all they could get out of dungeons and got confused with the simplest cultural hints.*
I'd really like to test such a setting once more, but the able players lack in my gaming community. ;)
I'll check Cannonfire soon to look where you place Zhakara on Oerth! :D
What I missed in RPG sessions with most non-european settings was that people didn't make the slightest effort to understand the foreign cultures. Mostly playing *nordic* characters, they focused on *getting all they could get out of dungeons and got confused with the simplest cultural hints.*
Heh.
That's why I tend to avoid non-standard (quasi-European Sword & Sorcery) settings as well. Most players don't get it and don't want to.
The Al-Qadim materials and adventure account for that nicely though, both with reasonable penalties for violating the cultural taboos, provisions for "outsiders" roaming around, and adventures geared towards those taboos. That's part of the reason I consider it one of the better alternative culture settings. The same with Jakandor.
So I switched again to simple, comprehensive stuff in european cultural context.
As has been discussed many times and with some thoroughness via the GreyTalk listserv, Gary Gygax crafted the Flanaess from his knowledge of a diverse array of historical Earthly cultures. Elements of these were fused creatively to detail the societies of the Flanaess. This is why simple or direct analogies between Oerthly and Earthly cultures tend to be somewhat strained -- with certain exceptions, e.g., the Suel barbarians of Rhizia (created by Gary) or the Olman of the Amedio Jungle (not created by him but by the folks who authored Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan and the Meso-American Mythos section of 1e's Deities & Demigods).
Leaving behind general encouragement, in the past four years or so my campaigns have begun to incorporate my limited knowledge of Chinese dynasties to formulate my version of the Great Kingdom of Aerdy. Based upon visiting several exhibits at a local museum and game resources like Oriental Adventures, I've begun to detail the Celestial Houses of Aerdi and the church armies devoted to Hextor that are inspired by Asian history and its representation in film (like in Akira Kurosawa's classic Ran, which itself is derived/inspired from Shakespeare's play King Lear).
Specifically, IMCs certain orders of what others might term templars (a martial order dedicated to protecting the property and personages of a church) in the See of Medegia (prior to its devastation in the Greyhawk Wars) include elite formations of OA's sohei. I find that ki frenzy and limited spellcasting help me represent a distinctive (and fearsome) group of heavy flail-wielding Hextorian zealots. Taking further from OA, these soldiers wear red and black-dyed leather scale, which permits them to move quickly on the battlefield. Beyond mobility, leather scale accords with the cultural representations of Hextor's armor, and leather scale may be more durable in the climate of the See of Medegia. (Review its latitude and attend to the subtropical islands just barely to its southwest.)
To end, despite some players disinterest in non-European cultures and histories, I encourage interested DMs to incorporate such historical cultures in order to realize their visions of Oerth.
With *non-European* characters I have made the experience that they don't.
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For my personal fantasy developments, I use every legend or cultural info I can find.
After all that *castles and crusades*(please, take no offense, my friends at Troll Lord Games
) thing can become quite boring and lame, especially if you deal with non-human societies... ;)