[DF] Arabian Nights questions

b-dog · 03-25-2016, 03:47 PM

I was thinking that spells could be written in ancient languages like Egyptian and Babylonian. They may be written in obscure form as well. The idea is to have wizards know a lot of different languages and thus the the reason why they are assumed to be so intelligent and scholarly. I was thinking that maybe the spells were grantee to mortals by the earlier pagan gods or maybe they were some sort of prayer to then that they responded to by granting supernatural favors in any case, the spells were part of an earlier time before Islam became dominant.

jason taylor · 03-25-2016, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by b-dog

I was thinking that spells could be written in ancient languages like Egyptian and Babylonian. They may be written in obscure form as well. The idea is to have wizards know a lot of different languages and thus the the reason why they are assumed to be so intelligent and scholarly. I was thinking that maybe the spells were grantee to mortals by the earlier pagan gods or maybe they were some sort of prayer to then that they responded to by granting supernatural favors in any case, the spells were part of an earlier time before Islam became dominant.

That's cool and goes with the flavor; just as the lost cities are now archeological digs, the ancient writing is now something like, "Buy me another slave, this one is lazy and good-for-nothing." But there were real lost cities and there were real lost languages.

~~mukibear~~ · 03-26-2016, 12:39 AM

Islamic and Indian Magic Squares, part 1

if you sign up with JSTOR, you can read the whole thing - which is actually kinda nice.

b-dog · 03-26-2016, 01:17 PM

Ars Magica has some monsters called the blemmyae which are headless men. I am not sure what advantage they would have over other men but they might be sort of scary or they could be supernatural. Also they listed cynocephali as a type of dog headed man who is savage. They could be a sort of Middle Eastern orc or hobgoblin type monster. Or they could be like gnolls in D&D.

Gold & Appel Inc · 03-26-2016, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by b-dog

Ars Magica has some monsters called the blemmyae which are headless men. I am not sure what advantage they would have over other men but they might be sort of scary or they could be supernatural.

Well, Mute, Injury Tolerance (No Head), and Appearance (Monstrous) seem like a good start. ;] Maybe something like a magical Scanning Sense coupled with Anosmia and Blindness (but they hear with their nipples or something)...

b-dog · 03-28-2016, 09:13 PM

How useful would GURPS Egypt be to a DF Arabian Nights game? I was thinking that a lot of the monsters and magic of ancient Egypt would be around to defeat and loot. I was thinking that way the souls are divided in Egyptian mythology could be a magical power that the Egyptian gods use so they can divide them. In the present when Allah is dominant the souls don't divide like this unless the person has strong attachments to the Egyptian gods.

03-25-2016, 03:47 PM	#1
b-dog Join Date: Nov 2006	Re: [DF] Arabian Nights questions I was thinking that spells could be written in ancient languages like Egyptian and Babylonian. They may be written in obscure form as well. The idea is to have wizards know a lot of different languages and thus the the reason why they are assumed to be so intelligent and scholarly. I was thinking that maybe the spells were grantee to mortals by the earlier pagan gods or maybe they were some sort of prayer to then that they responded to by granting supernatural favors in any case, the spells were part of an earlier time before Islam became dominant.

03-26-2016, 12:39 AM	#3
~~mukibear~~ Banned Join Date: Feb 2016	Re: [DF] Arabian Nights questions Islamic and Indian Magic Squares, part 1 if you sign up with JSTOR, you can read the whole thing - which is actually kinda nice.

03-26-2016, 01:17 PM	#4
b-dog Join Date: Nov 2006	Re: [DF] Arabian Nights questions Ars Magica has some monsters called the blemmyae which are headless men. I am not sure what advantage they would have over other men but they might be sort of scary or they could be supernatural. Also they listed cynocephali as a type of dog headed man who is savage. They could be a sort of Middle Eastern orc or hobgoblin type monster. Or they could be like gnolls in D&D.

03-28-2016, 09:13 PM	#6
b-dog Join Date: Nov 2006	Re: [DF] Arabian Nights questions How useful would GURPS Egypt be to a DF Arabian Nights game? I was thinking that a lot of the monsters and magic of ancient Egypt would be around to defeat and loot. I was thinking that way the souls are divided in Egyptian mythology could be a magical power that the Egyptian gods use so they can divide them. In the present when Allah is dominant the souls don't divide like this unless the person has strong attachments to the Egyptian gods.