Arabian Adventures for DF

[Tinman]

Originally Posted by jason taylor

Lifesaving takes precedence over kosher in most circumstances. I doubt that means that getting a healing spell from the devil is acceptable, but if mana is neutral as in Yrth that might be different.

I think you missed my point.
My point was that the rules in question were not in effect yet. While you are correct that a Jew can eat non-kosher to avoid starving, a Jew in Egypt before the giving of the Torah (& therefore before the giving of the laws of kashrut) was not braking the laws of kashrut.

As for spells on Yirth the Banestorm book clearly indicates that most Rabbis approve of the use of malice except for Demon & Spirt summoning spells.

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by Peter Knutsen

Lots of groups who play GURPS Dungeon Fantasy cheerfully and openly go for the murder-hobo style. Torture is perfectly legit.

Not if they are supposed to be the Good Guys.


Also in a standard DF the Town is a 'safe space'. If my PCs violated the safety of the Town, the Town would violate their safety right back until they were dead.

And then they'd all make new characters and understand not to do that again.

[Bira]

This seems to be an Ars Magica-inspired setting as well. That's where the concept of Dominion comes from. Ars Magica games are mostly about magicians belonging to the Hermetic Order, which teaches a "scientific" approach to magic and views magic itself as a morally neutral natural force.

It mostly takes place in a mythic version Europe circa 1220 AD, though campaigns can span many years. As you might expect, the Catholic Church is quite powerful in the areas described by the game, and it mostly disagrees with the Hermetic view of magic. Nevertheless, they are a bit more tolerant of it than it would seem at first glance, in that their first reaction to learning a bunch of wizards set up shop near town isn't to call a crusade down on them. It is, in fact, quite possible to be both a Hermetic magician and a Christian, at least according to the game's mechanics. I suspect the same attitude has been transplanted to this Arabian Nights-style setting, replacing Catholicism with Islam.

Ars Magica has a fine-grained system for mystical auras/power sources. There are several types (Magical, Faerie, Infernal, Dominion), which can have different numerical ratings, and interact with each other in different ways. Dominion is the power of God (who is real in the setting). It's usually strongest in towns and cities with significant churches and/or cathedrals, though you could have a holy place out in the wilderness. It penalizes all the other power sources and enhances powers which call on the divine. "Dominion rises during the calls to prayer" is a perfectly valid interpretation using that framework.

Hermetic magicians, by default, benefit fully from Magical auras (which are neutral), and to a lesser degree from Faerie auras. An Ars wizard could become a diabolist and benefit from Infernal auras, but that's villain material. And an old edition used to have a supplement about Pious Magi who could benefit from Dominion, but I understand they were considered grossly overpowered.

[Verjigorm]

Also, if a Magician is channeling divine power, then there might be times when that power is unavailable. During the times of prayer for ISlam, and the Sabbaths seem like good times. Catholic mages may have sharply diminished powers during Lent, Jewish mages may have trouble during passover, all Christian mages may have problems from Good Friday to the monday after Easter Sunday.

[b-dog]

After the oasis encounter, the PCs journey to a small fishing village on the banks of the Nile. The leader of the fishermen looks at the PCs and welcomes them to eat and drink. He says he has been expecting them and has a boat for them to use on their way to Cairo. The fishermen offer to let the PCs stay in their houses to sleep over the night. Only one PC can stay in a house so the PCs can decide to do so or they can rent a room.

Either way the night passes quickly and the next morning they are given a boat with a wizards sigil carved on the bow.

The PCs must use their boating skill to travel up the river. There are hippopotamuses on the banks of the river and care must be used to avoid them. As day turns to nigh, the PCs must make a Per roll to notice that crocodiles are following the boat. At night these crocodiles will attack as some of the crocodiles are actually crocodile men. They look just like normal crocodiles in the water but they strap weapons to their side and swim behind the boat. If nobody stands watch then they will climb in the boat and attack. Otherwise they will try to sink the boat by puncturing holes in the boat and then bite and stab with their swords and spears.

[Drop Bear]

there is also the question of Thergy, the practice of Sanctified Magics held my many branches of the Abramic faiths to be one of gods gifts to the faithful. practiced by Profits, Saints and (normally) ordained (or otherwise sanctioned) scholars and such. according to Lore and Theological Law you are only meant to use Thergy to serve God and protect the Faithful (heal the Sick, ward off or cast out evil spirits and such) not for petty and worldly pursuits.

Is Thergy suppressed during payer? or dose the big guy sustain it for the duration so his faithful servants can get their Pray on?

why did the patron not just go to the local Thergists, perhaps because diffing sects don't recognize the sanction of each other holding each others Thergists to be Sorcerers.

[jason taylor]

Originally Posted by Verjigorm

Well, the Wisemen were not "Wizards" in the sense that they threw fireballs or lightning bolt, or trafficked with spirits. They were simply the priests of the Zorasterian religion, which heavily influenced Christian and Islamic thought. They did apparently practice some form of astrology/primitive astronomy, as almost all religious castes appear to have done.

But if we ascribe them supernatural powers, then those powers come from a Godly source: they are "clerics" more than "Wizards" or "sorcerors".

Uh-huh, though I believe I remember that the cliche cone hat was originally Zoroastrian.

There was too, if I remember, some confusion as to what Zoroaster actually taught. Some Greeks thought him a sorcerer of the spell-casting sort when he was actually closer to Jews or even some of the more refined Greek philosophers.

Speaking of that, I have a parsee cookbook in my kindle. It has a few other things, including bits on ritual, the parsee calendar, and pieces of folklore.

[roguebfl]

Originally Posted by jason taylor

Some Greeks thought him a sorcerer of the spell-casting sort when he was actually closer to Jews or even some of the more refined Greek philosophers.

I would be careful using that description. Both the Greeks and Jews made a strong distinction between the Users of Magic, and the Users of Magic to Harm others. And most early translation used Sorcerer for the word the meant the users of harmful magic.

[b-dog]

The boat voyage was long and dangerous but now the PCs proceed to Cairo, a bustling city where the power of Dominion is strong. When the call to prayer occurs, the people of the city pull out their prayer rugs and prostrate themselves toward Allah and Mecca.

The PCs must go to the Hermetic cabal to receive further instructions. The Hermetic cabal is located in the Coptic quarter and is a tower built over the ruins of a temple to Orsirus. There is a mystic sigil on the door to the towrr and it can be seen in the moonlight. The PCs enter and are greeted by servants who take the to meet the master wizard. First the PCs are offered food and drink and then they are taken to a room with a golden triangle inlaid on the tile floor. There are candles at each point of the triangle and there there are magic symbols inlaid with silver within the triangle. The room is kept dark and the smell of incense is strong.

The PCs are instructed to stand in the center of the triangle one at a time. After 3 seconds standing there the PC disappears.

The PCs have been teleported deep into the earth away from the sounds of the adhen. This is the lair of the Blue Wizard named Hassan Al Malacca. He is an old man who greets the PCs wearing all blue clothing. He tells the PCs that the cabal wants them to explore the tomb of Makrut. He says the PCs can keep any treasure and magic items. He says that none have penetrated the tomb and the magical power from there us immense. He gives them an ankh to help them to find the location of the tomb. He gives them a map the shows where the valley of Makrut is as well.

The PCs are then teleported back to the tower and then they are ready to set out for adventure

[b-dog]

As the PCs now set out for the valley of Makrut, they must make sure to have enough water and supplies because the desert is harsh and magical water will not quench thirst here. It takes many days travel and there is a 1 in 6 chance per day of being attacked by bands of bouda or hyena-men. They can shift form to appear as a normal hyena and they can become bipedal hyena-men. They often travel with packs of normal hyenas and then transform to bipedal form to wield weapons when they encounter prey like the PCs.

Once the PCs get to the valley of Makrut, they see only a valley full of sand and the sun glints blindingly bright. It is hard on the eyes of those who look into the valley. This is a powerful ward placed over the valley. It can be broken by looking through the hole in the ankh and it reveals ruins of an ancient temple in the fore ground and a pyramid behind it. Using other magical detections besides the ankh incurs a -10 penalty to see the temple and pyramid.

The ruins and pyramid are in the distance and will take a few hours to travel to. The adventure begins!