Now here’s a little something to impress your gamer friends with: A twenty-sided die from the second century AD. A tad expensive, though…
The notes tell us that “Modern scholarship has not yet established the game for which these dice were used.” But we know better, of course…!
In a typical sword and sorcery campaign such as the World of Xoth, the traditional demihumans do not exist, and the majority of player characters and non-player characters are human. The following broad cultural archetypes can be used to distinguish between characters who would otherwise have the same racial abilities.
Savages include warriors from the frozen north and witch-doctors from the snake-infested jungles of the south. Savages tend to have a close connection with nature, but remain ignorant of many developments that more civilized people take for granted.
Savages have the following racial traits:
Nomads roam the empty wastes beyond the civilized cities; quick to strike and bound by no laws. Nomads live with their animals and usually ride into battle with them; they feel ill at ease without them.
Nomads have the following racial traits:
Savages and nomads eventually gather together to cultivate the land, build great cities, develop trade, and study medicine, mathematics and languages. In the civilized lands dwell noble knights, wise kings, and learned sages — as well as greedy merchants and cunning thieves.
Civilized people have the following racial traits:
A few great civilizations rise above others and gain half-mythical status. Learned beyond normal men, people of enlightened cultures are builders of cyclopean pyramids and towers that pierce the skies. Their magnificent buildings can last forever, and likewise the flesh of the enlightened ones can withstand the passage of time like no other mortals.
Enlightened people have the following racial traits:
Great civilizations reach their peak and eventually start to decline. Such fallen empires are ruled by jaded nobles, corrupt priests and wicked slave-traders. Demon-worship, human sacrifice and drug abuse is all too common in these cultures.
Decadent people have the following racial traits:
The last survivors of decadent civilizations start to feud over dwindling resources, or are driven away by stronger cultures. Fleeing into the wilderness, or deep underground beneath their ruins, they start to inbreed and devolve into something no longer entirely human. Degenerates may outwardly resemble savages, but they carry the evil taint of fallen empires.
Degenerates have the following racial traits:
“In the temple of the city of Morm, which lies between the desert and the sea, are two images of the god Amanon, a bronze image facing an iron image, across the fires and blood-stains of the alter-stone. When the gory sunset of the day of sacrifice is over and the writhing fires of the sacrifice are dead, and the moon smiles with a cold and marble smile on the blackened altar — then Amanon speaks to Amanon, with a voice of iron, and a voice of bronze…”
— Clark Ashton Smith: The Image of Bronze and the Image of Iron
Here follows a list of the religions and cults of the World of Xoth. Note that this post is called Cults of Xoth, not Gods of Xoth, for who can be certain that the gods really exist? The ecclesiastical members of a cult are called cultists.
Ahyada is the bringer of truth and protection to the people of Taraam, and the patron of the royal house of Achad as well. He grants visions and omens to the king, which are interpreted by astrologer-priests and soothsayers. Amulets of Ahyada are said to be effective wards against demons.
Figurines of this god, who has few temples and no priests, depict Akhlathu as a deformed dwarf, whose facial features even show a hint of retardation. Many Susrahnites swear “By Akhlathu’s Beard!” when in trouble. This is also a god of thieves and gamblers.
Some say that Al-Tawir dwells in the black gulfs between the stars, others that he sleeps in a sealed and forbidden tomb beneath the desert sand. Al-Tawir is one of the Old Gods. The nomads hear his voice in the howling of the desert winds, and they see his face in the rage of sandstorms. He is the emptyness of the desert, associated with getting lost, with thirst and hunger, with darkness, and with sandstorms.
Initiation Rite: Gouge out your own eyes, as a sign of respect to Al-Tawir, whose true form it is forbidden to behold.
Class Skills: A cultist of Al-Tawir adds Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (Arcana) (Int) and Survival (Wis) to his list of class skills.
Cult Spells: Unseen Servant (1st), Whispering Wind (2nd), Deeper Darkness (3rd), Crushing Despair (4th), Nightmare (5th), Find the Path (6th), Control Weather (7th), Whirlwind (8th), Antipathy (9th)
Cult Secrets: Air Barrier, Wind Sight, Dweller in Darkness, Guiding Star, Interstellar Void, Lore Keeper, Nature’s Whispers, Lifesense
The lord of the sky, protector and judge of humankind, Baal-Khardah is a distant god, usually worshipped only by nobility. The common people tend to favor the more earthly passions of his mate, Belet-Lil. His lavish temples are filled with ram-headed statues, golden sun-discs, and sacred swords.
Voluptous mate of Baal-Khardah, and earth-mother, Belet-Lil is a goddess of fertility, revelry, and beauty. She is very popular among the Susrahnites, not least due to the large numbers of temple prostitutes found in every city.
Initiation Rite: Offer your virginity to a member or patron of the cult.
Class Skills: A cultist of Belet-Lil adds Acrobatics (Dex), Handle Animal (Cha) and Knowledge (Local) (Int) to his list of class skills.
Cult Spells: Charm Person (1st), Delay Poison (2nd), Neutralize Poison (3rd), Restoration (4th), Dominate Person (5th), Antilife Shell (6th), Heal (7th), Sympathy (8th), Dominate Monster (9th)
Cult Secrets: Combat Healer, Mantle of Moonlight, Moonlight Bridge, Delay Affliction, Enhanced Cures, Healing Hands, Life Link, Safe Curing, Spirit Boost
The true form of Ia-Azutlatl is unknown, but he is one of the Old Gods; some even claim that he is the greatest and oldest of those ancient ones. It is known that the blood-druids of now-sunken Ptahaana worshipped him with ceremonies of mass slaughter atop their stepped pyramids of green stone. Today, his name survives only in the rituals of primitive savages and mad hierarchs.
The sweltering plains of Azimba are dotted with hundreds of monstrous statues of lizard-birds. Whether these grim effigies were crafted by an older civilization, or placed there more recently by the feather-cloaked shamans of Jul-Juggah, is not known.
Initiation Rite: Fetch an egg from a devil-bird’s nest in the mountains of Azimba.
Class Skills: A cultist of Jul-Juggah adds Knowledge (Nature) (Int), Perception (Wis) and Ride (Dex) to his list of class skills.
Cult Spells: Feather Fall (1st), Scare (2nd), Rage (3rd), Stoneskin (4th), Song of Discord (5th), Stone Tell (6th), Wind Walk (7th), Earthquake (8th), Soul Bind (9th)
Cult Secrets: Battlecry, Surprising Charge, War Sight, Armor of Bones, Bleeding Wounds, Bonded Mount (pteranodon), Natural Divination, Rock Throwing
The Zadjites worship a nameless elemental god, the Living Flame, above all other gods. The priests tend everburning fires in their marble temples. Fire is considered pure; both the dead and the unbelievers are cast into the flames to be purified. Fire also imbues metal with a spark of the divine; the priests of the Living Flame are skilled metal-workers and weaponsmiths.
Initiation Rite: Purify your body and soul by immolating yourself in the sacred temple fires of Iraab.
Class Skills: A cultist of the Living Flame adds Intimidate (Cha), Perform (Cha) and Sleight of Hand (Dex) to his list of class skills.
Cult Spells: Produce Flame (1st), Burning Hands (2nd), Quench (3rd), Greater Magic Weapon (4th), Wall of Fire (5th), Contagious Flame* (6th), Fire storm (7th), Incendiary Cloud (8th), Mage’s Disjunction (9th)
Cult Secrets: Iron Skin, Weapon Mastery, Burning Magic, Cinder Dance, Fire Breath, Firestorm, Gaze of Flames, Molten Skin
Abominable are the brass idols of Maggash, the fire-god of Zhaol, and even worse are the rites of the priesthood, which include the burning of infants as sacrifice. The priests of Zhaol accept no other god than their own, and worship of other gods is strictly forbidden and punishable by death.
Maggash is sometimes depicted as a bull, or a bull-headed humanoid.
The ivory woman, said by some to be the mate of Yadar, is worshipped largely by Khazistanis who disapprove of Belet-Lil’s open sensuality, which is a source of conflict between the Khazistanis and the Susrahnites.
Known and feared across the Jungle Kingdoms, this bloodthirsty god is master of the beasts that howl at the moon. His shamans are always served by flocks of bonded animals.
Depicted as a horse-headed humanoid clutching a bronze key, this mysterious god is a protector of homes and vaults, as well as the guardian of secret and hidden places.
Turbaned priests strangle sacrificial victims on the white jade altars of this grim ape-god of the east, whose cult has even begun to spread to the west.
This is an elephant-headed god of the east, revered for its great strength and wisdom. Temples of the cult contain rich treasures of ivory.
Initiation Rite: Solve the Sacred Riddle before your head is crushed underfoot by an elephant.
Class Skills: A cultist of Yaathra Yok adds Appraise (Int), Knowledge (Dungeoneering) (Int) and Linguistics (Int) to his list of class skills.
Cult Spells: True Strike (1st), Calm Emotions (2nd), Explosive Runes (3rd), Locate Creature (4th), Telepathic Bond (5th), Legend Lore (6th), Vision (7th), Repel Metal or Stone (8th), Foresight (9th)
Cult Secrets: Iron Skin, Resiliency, Life Link, Lifesense, Arcane Archivist, Brain Drain, Focused Trance, Think On It
The mysterious high god of the Khazistanis, Yadar, is said to live in the desert and to collect the souls of every living man and woman when they give up their final breath.
Yadar is associated with scorpions and bats. Many carry charms and amulets in the image of Yadar, said to ward against disease and violent death.
Such worship is often personal and unorganized, since the locations of Yadar’s temples are generally kept secret and known only to the priests. The cult is suspected to have subterranean shrines in cities, and temples in desert ruins. The nomads stay well away from such ruins, since any who stray too close disappear without a trace.
The greatest temple of this Susrahnite sea-god is located in the sinful port city of Ghazor, although sailors from many nations offer sacrifice to him before setting out on long ocean voyages.
Initiation Rite: Survive ritual drowning.
Class Skills: A cultist of Yammosh adds Escape Artist (Dex), Knowledge (Geography) (Int) and Swim (Str) to his list of class skills.
Cult Spells: Touch of the Sea* (1st), Fog Cloud (2nd), Water Breathing (3rd), Black Tentacles (4th), Suffocation* (5th), Control Water (6th), Control Weather (7th), Seamantle* (8th), World Wave* (9th)
Cult Secrets: Guiding Star, Star Chart, Lore Keeper, Friend to the Animals (aquatic creatures only), Speak with Animals (aquatic creatures only), Fluid Nature, Water Sight, Thunderburst
Despite having its cult-centre deep within the poisoned marshes of Fakhuum, whether Yibboth is part of the true Yar-Ammonite pantheon is uncertain; some claim he is one of the Old Gods. The priests of Yibboth are reputed to worship a golden “frog-thing”, along with mummified crocodiles and all manner of water lizards and giant toads.
The Lamurans bow before black idols of Yot-Kamoth, the monstrous eight-legged god worshipped for centuries in the mountain fastness of Lamra, the capital city. In truth, the priests of the spider-god are the royalty of Lamu, for they wield considerable influence and for a common man to resist their demands is a certain death sentence.
The ancient demon-serpent of Yalotha, in some worlds known as Hassith-Kaa, is the father of various ophidian races and a master of sorcery. Zanthiss is currently believed to be confined to an extradimensional prison, or perhaps banished to a remote star, after the downfall of the serpent-empire of Yalotha.
However, cults of Zanthiss still lair in ancient temples, with pits filled with writhing serpents, giant slithering temple snakes, malachite altars stained with the blood of centuries of sacrifice, and demon-guarded vaults wherein lie hidden the lost papyri of jungle-lost Yalotha.
Among the gods worshipped in the cold wastes of the north are the Moon-God, the Wolf-God, and the Skull-God.
The Moon-God is served only by female priestesses; old hags and crones are respected omen-readers and oracles among the Tharagians.
The Wolf-God is a god of strength, war, and bloodlust. Tribal chieftains are often also priests of the Wolf-God.
The Skull-God is the lord of the dead and the king of ghosts; this god has no priests or followers, but each village has a hut set up with a skull-adorned altar where he is placated with offerings.
The Yar-Ammonites worship an ancient pantheon of beast-headed man-gods, disturbing fragments of a lost age. These gods, said to have brought knowledge and wisdom to the first civilization of Yar-Ammon, are usually depicted as humanoids with the heads of hyenas, rams, goats, vultures, and other animals. The priests of Yar-Ammon often wear masks in imitation of their gods.
Just came across a mention and short review of Ancient Kingdoms: Mesopotamia, a book I wrote for Necromancer Games back in 2004, over at the Planet Algol blog.
Bill Webb, co-founder of Necromancer Games, approached me back in 2003, and, based on my work on the Hyborian Age Campaign Website, basically gave me free reins to write whatever I wanted. After digging through my old files, here is the initial outline for a book that I submitted to Bill:
I’d like to present to you an idea I have for a mini-campaign. The main concept is the exploration of two lost cities connected to each other by magical gates (although they can also be reached by overland travel).
“City one” is a dead city of the great desert, buried for centuries beneath the desert sands. At the beginning of the campaign, a great sandstorm uncovers the ruins of the city. It is first discovered by desert nomads, but soon attracts the attention of adventurers, including the player characters. As they explore the ruins, they slowly uncover the history of the city and learn of “something” of great power buried in the tombs beneath the city. The ruins are crawling with undead and other foul monsters, of course.
Possible supporting material for “city one” includes:
- The trek through the great desert, where perils include sudden sandstorms, desert raiders and predatory beasts.
- Defeating monsters and finding treasure in an oasis near the lost city.
- Interacting with the desert tribe that first discovered the city.
- Hearing legends of an immense sand-worm that lives beneath the sand near the city, rumored to cause earth-quakes unless appeased with sacrifice by a worm-cult.
- Exploring outlying towers or other outposts of the city itself.
- Interacting with and/or defeating various kinds of undead and monstrous inhabitants of the city, such as a ghoul-queen, a terrible one-eyed bat, an immortal sphinx guarding secret wisdom, and spectral priests haunting the city’s temples.
- Exploring the cyclopean architecture of the lost city, learning its history. The principal locations of the city include a great temple guarded by undead clerics, an artificial sacred lake, several gargantuan obelisks inscribed with powerful sorcery, and the trap-filled tombs beneath the city.
- Finding the gate that leads to “city two”.
“City two” is a hidden city of the jungle, inhabited by a race of serpent-people and ruled by a powerful sorcerer (the grand villain of the mini-campaign). The city is surrounded by the lands of cannibal tribes worshipping foul, alien gods. The city itself is an immense labyrinth where all chambers are interconnected. During their explorations, the player characters might discover that the key to defeating the sorcerer-king of “city two” is to be found in “city one” (the desert city). The existence of a gate between the two cities allows the player characters to travel back and forth between the two settings, while also allowing the main villain to send his servants to harass intruders anywhere.
Possible supporting material for “city two” includes:
- The lands of the cannibal tribes, with shamans worshipping strange gods.
- A lake inhabited by a monstrous being whose strange dreams draw humans to it.
- Labyrinthine, interconnecting chambers inhabited by serpent-people with strange magics and treasures; shrines dedicated to the ancient serpent-god; and sacrificial pits where huge snakes slither across the yellowed skulls and bones of countless victims.
- An undercity inhabited by slime-covered, tentacled beasts, and albino savages who were once men but are reverting to ape-kind.
- The deadly lair of the city’s sorcerer-king, guarded by his serpent minions.
The two cities of the mini-campaign will be set in a generic sword-and-sorcery location which includes barbarian warrior lands to the north, a great but corrupted city-state on the central plains, a great desert inhabited by nomads to the southwest, and savannah fading into dense jungle to the south.
I’ll be aiming for a feel combining elements of Robert E. Howard’s Conan, H. P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos, mixed with the usual elements of fantasy adventures. The world will be dominated by humans (mighty warriors, evil sorcerers and beautiful women) and filled with exotic locales. Standard D&D magic rules apply, but magic items and flashy spells will be uncommon. However, there will be no shortage of tentacled gods, powerful necromancy and strange relics of bygone ages.
As it turned out, “city one” was enough for one book by itself; it became Ibnath, “a city of unspeakable antiquity”, also known as “the City That Worshipped a Thousand Gods”. (Side note: Perhaps if you want to use the original idea of two linked cities, you could use Dwellers of the Forbidden City as that second city, it would fit the bill quite nicely.)
Clark Peterson, the other co-founder of Necromancer Games, listed Ancient Kingdoms: Mesopotamia as one of his all-time Top Five books from Necromancer Games. He also happens to own the original cover painting by Rick Sardinha (hey Clark, if you ever need money, I’ll give you a good price for that painting! :-).
Inspired by a certain big award ceremony, I’d like to take this opportunity to send a big thank you to Bill and Clark for giving me the opportunity to write a “real book” back in the heydays of Third Edition D&D. Who knows when Necromancer Games will be resurrected from the dead? You know, that is not dead which can eternal lie….
Got my copy of The Dungeon Alphabet from Goodman Games today. There’s already a long list of glowing reviews of this book, so I’ll just join the choir of praise: This is a great book! Well worth 10 bucks.
My bookshelf includes a couple of other (more or less) system-neutral books that I have found useful when designing dungeons and wilderness encounters, including (in no specific order):
Some of these may be (long) out of print, but are worth hunting down if you are interested in dungeon and adventure design. Most of them include a lot of tables for random generation, just like the Dungeon Alphabet.
The following is a randomly ordered table of various items, events, names and creatures that would appear in sword and sorcery tales. Use the table to spur your imagination when designing or running sword and sorcery adventures.
For example, rolling three times on the table gives me “Amoth“, “human vice or addiction“, and “Amoth” (again!). What do I get out of this? Well, perhaps there is a minor noble called Amoth who is secretly addicted to some kind of insidious lotus drug. He has an unknown twin brother (also called Amoth, see!) who commits heinous crimes in an attempt to blame and depose his brother. Amoth the innocent does not remember anything because he was drugged out when the crimes were committed, so he hires the player characters to investigate before he is lynched by the angry mob. Or something like that… got your creative juices rolling?
Update (March 10, 2010): I have incorporated the suggestions left in the comment section, and split the list into multiple tables (each having a maximum of 100 entries).
TABLE I
Can you help me fill out the last next 20 entries? Leave a comment below!
Here is a map of the of the World of Xoth, at least the part of the world that is known to the inhabitants of its central western landmass (click map to see full size):
The map can be downloaded here.
It’s been almost a decade since I launched hyboria.xoth.net, the roleplaying campaign website for Robert E. Howard’s Hyborian Age setting. The website still attracts thousands of unique visitors every month.
The Hyborian Age website was created because at the time, there was no officially supported role-playing game based on this setting. Then, in 2004, Mongoose Publishing released the Conan RPG. Over the years, they published a dozen sourcebooks for the Conan game.
Now, however, Mongoose has essentially ended the Conan line of products, due to licensing issues with the owner of the Conan intellectual properties.
So, until another major publishing company (Paizo, are you listening?!) picks up where Mongoose leaves off, it’s back to an existence powered only by fans like you and me for the Conan roleplaying game, and hyboria.xoth.net will continue to be the natural place to find game-related materials for the Hyborian Age setting.
That said, I also enjoy working on my own sword & sorcery campaign setting, called the World of Xoth (what else?!). A couple of years back, I set up Xoth.Net Publishing and released a 200-page book filled with background material and a big collection of adventures, called The Spider-God’s Bride and Other Tales of Sword and Sorcery. It’s available in print from Lulu, or as a PDF directly from me.
And in this age of social media and web 2.0, this blog will enable me to publish various snippets related to fantasy role-playing games and weird fiction in general, and sword and sorcery in particular.