[Dungeon Fantasy] Setting Conversion: The Epic of Aerth

[LoneWolf23k]

Sorry for the lack of updates, I've been busy with different projects. Here's an examination of Dungeon Fantasy templates from "Adventurers" on Aerth.

-The Barbarian: This template represents “uncouth barbarian culture warrior” types, like Norse vikings, or Steppes nomadic riders, or even brave warriors from Vargaard. But with some finessing (and perhaps using some cross-training lenses) can also represent a knight with anger issues.

-The Bard: This template represents not only the Western tradition of the bards, derived from old Celtic and Germanic traditions, but can also represent wandering storytellers, such as the ones from the Middle and Far East. Cross-trained with the Barbarian, it can also represents a Northern Skald.

-The Cleric: The standard Cleric template can represent a “generic” magic-casting priest dedicated to the worship of a single pantheon, but with the variant Clerics of DF7: Clerics, they can also be customized into priests dedicated to a single patron god. Of course, in a world of various competing pantheons, but also of dominant gods and threatening demons, the purpose of the cleric is as much fighting against demons and their ilk as it is serving the will of the gods.

-The Druid: The classic dungeon fantasy “nature priest” Druid isn’t really historically accurate, but even here, there’s room to work with. I’ve already established that the gods were predated by the Titans, which I’ve interpreted as “primordial deities”, much the same way the Norse Jotun represented raw nature rather than civilisation. So in this interpretation, Druids represent those priests who deal with the wild spirits outside of tamed lands, warding them from farmlands and preventing them from striking back at humanity for perceived slights.

-The Holy Warrior: in a world without monotheism, the “Templar Knight” almost seems out of place, but just as wit the cleric, the Holy Warriors do have a place in hunting down demons and other monsters, serving as a living weapon of divine retribution against the divine order.

-The Knight: Possibly the most universal adventuring type on Aerth. Despite the name “knight”, this template represents all sorts of men-at-arms, not just the ones with official titles. This template can be customized in all sorts of ways, representing everything from an European Knight to a Middle-Eastern Janissary to a Nihon Samurai.

-The Martial Artist: Despite the stereotype of this Template representing Far-Eastern martial artists, it can also represent surviving traditions of Greco-Roman pugilism that have endured in Europe and the Middle-East.

-The Scout: Hunters, Rangers, Master Archers, the Scout template represents warriors specializing in outdoorsman skills, mixing the knight’s combat prowess with the stealth of the Thief. The Longbowmen of Albion are famous for their archery skills, for example.

-The Swashbuckler: In the Western lands, the art of swordsmanship has been greatly refining, and narrow blades like the rapier have seen recent development. Meanwhile, Far East in lands like Ch’in or Khitai, the various sword-saints have mastered the art of the blade.

-The Thief: Almost as universal as the knight, all cultures of Aerth have rogues, both cutpurses and cutthroats. Every city in every nation has something like the Mob, whether it’s the various Mafia families of the Italian peninsula, or the Yakuza of Nihon.

-The Wizard: Inheritors of the ancient arcane traditions born in Atlantis, Wizards are scholars that seek to master the secrets of magic. Aegypt is one of the centers of Arcane research in the world, as is the island of Atlantl. Other Colleges of Wizardry have been founded across the world, with one notable example being the Scholomance in Transylvania, rumored to be run by demons, although this might simply refer to cultists of Chernobog.