I need more time! Land of Two Rivers musings

James's post over at Grognardia about Historical Campaigns had me breaking silence about my regrets over not running my long-thought about Sumerian campaign in an alternative historical setting. It is something I greatly regret - both not having the stones to write the setting and not having the time to run the setting.

I remember the exact moment that "Tombs of Hulkursag" and my Two Rivers setting book projects came to screeching halts. It was the day I sat down with Michael Curtis's Stonehell and realized I was the worst module writer in the world.

No, really. I know that's funny, but it's true. There was no way I could write something half as good as what the esteemed Mr. Curtis wrote and as I picked my way through my own writings, it just seemed boring. What good was having another dungeon with reskinned orcs, goblins and gnolls (as jackalmen, insectoid invaders, jackalmen warriors)? OK, the traps and whatnot, but I really messed up with the dungeon design (only one way between levels. Dumb. DUMB!) and ... well, then I realized that what I really needed was a setting to wrap around the Tomb. The Tomb in and of itself might be a curiosity, but what would make it work was to have the Two Rivers alive around it... with the gods involved, the sorcerors who use demons to cast spells and the warrior priests who perform quests for their deity... and average joe who might be working to establish a trade route with some nearby city-states, but you have to worry about getting involved in the latest war, avoiding the plague devils and negotiate with the river goddess to be allowed to cross so you can get your goods to the other side....

... and that kind of richness is not something that just falls out of my ass. Writing the Quick Start was easy for me - take S&W Core, tinker/refit/rebolt and boom-badda-bing, you're done! The dungeon was already drawn, I just had to populate it. This though.. this requires that I know/feel/live Mesopotamia in my head. Look, it took Rob Conley playing for 30 years to get him to write Majestic Wilderlands, who knows how long Kyrinn has been gaming in Urutsk, and McKinney's probably been seeing Carcosa in his dreams for years.

So I know that in order to make Two Rivers come to live, I have to game it. I have to play it, live it, get things to work the way I want... and then maybe, just maybe, I can match my writing to the level that the above 4 named authors is at. If I'm lucky. And have a good editor. And party like Kellri. Wait, that last one I want to do first!

Anyway... I have to have some gametime and fleshed out the setting that the Tomb of Hulkursag lives in. Then, I think, things will *feel* right and Hulkursag becomes a portal to the Sumerian Underworld.

Problem... no time.

My Dark Ages campaign is rocking. I'm back to running 4 to 5 times a month. My players are busy plotting behind my back to meet the challenges I've laid before them. @thePrincessWife has taken a step into a story that is going to feel like a roller coaster to her... if she continues the path she's been taking so far. I hope to keep playing that once or twice a month... so when can I run Two Rivers? I'm mentally taken up by both tabletop and two online games - the Modern OD&D one (which may finally see some action... my players decided to go back and equip a bit more, since the portal spell to the Underworld has a finite duration and they are afraid of getting stuck over there...) and the Dark Ages online implementation (which the characters are busy looting a tomb of what seems like innumerable coins)... I'm an extremely lucky guy to have all this, and still, Mesopotamia sits in my dreams.

It doesn't help I'm painting my Sumerian DBA I/1a army and imagining how the players would get involved in a mass combat and somehow be a part of it...

Anyway...

Maybe once a month? Maybe I can game it once a month? But then that means giving up a Dark Ages game and I'm not going to do that. It's too cool of a campaign and things are really getting wild and crazy now.

Memo to Father Time, can I have an extra couple of warp days a month, so I can pull people into it to game with me?

So the Land of Two Rivers sits in my head...

Civilization forming

You're not an adventurer. You're some poor schmuck whose father had a farm, same farm his grandfather did and so on. You're a guy who toils in the fields, who happened to be on the wrong side of the road when the Lugal came by conscripting those surrounding his city for a little hike over the hill and down to the river valley to face the army of the opposite city. Oh, and he has a job for you that involves raiding the other guy's camp and stealing away the Cup of Indrikal, which they say contains the power that Irrup-sa-gal uses in battle. Good luck there, Sparky! If you manage to take a noble prisoner, well, that ransom money might allow you to do a few upgrades and increase your standing in the world.

You're not an adventurer. You were supposed to be married off to some idiot, but what your father DIDN'T know was that you've been hanging around with the sister of the smith. Yes, the smith, that strange man who knows how to fold and beat the metal that brings strange power to your world. The sister even knows... WRITING! Somehow, that's made a connection in your head, but the dark little being that sits at the foot of your bed hasn't been persuaded yet to tell you, even as he teases you with the promise of power. He started showing up when you started wearing the metal around your neck and Gil-a-kel's voice in your head grew less.

You're not an adventurer. You're sweeping the halls of the Lugal's second home. You know that the fervor of worshiping Ish-ri-kal fills your blood and that you've had a knack for chasing away the flu demons and healing the wounds of battle. You've also smited a few enemies while screaming the cries of your god. The Lugal liked that, especially when he was taking the spoils of battle from you in exchange for giving you a place in Ishrikal's priesthood. But man, sweeping halls suck! But something is going on, because there is a lot of talk of sending people to the Underworld to try and bring back Al-kas-hag's soul back to his body. Strange tales of what lies there... riches and strange rewards. Maybe you'll get lucky... or maybe you'll never come back.

And did I mention that you'll be stretching your timeline from your Father to your sons/daughters and their sons/daughters? There's a civilization to be made... and gods to serve.

What if, when civilization was first forming...

(These are notes that I had compiled a while back when I was foolishly thinking I was good enough to write modules. I had considered publishing an alternative history deal centered around a Black Ziggurat. Ha! Boy was I dumb. So, I'll just muddle around here with it, and maybe get together some players for it someday...)

What if ...

... the god/dess/es were real, and they influenced PCs on a much greater level - similar to a charm person, or to where the player had to make a saving throw versus an attribute to do something against the will of a god inside of the god's city? And what if this was easier at lower levels, because everyone is basically a grunt, and as you grow in levels/importance, you grow in the sight of the god/dess?

... magic users were really sorcerers and your very first "first level" spell wasn't Read Magic but Summon Demon so that you could use the demon to cast spells? And what if the mage had to have a high Charisma as well as high Intelligence? And what if the mage had to make a Charisma save to have the Demon cast the spell (ala, EPT's Spell Fumble roll prior to casting a spell?) And what if instead of sucking up the Demon's HP when the spell is cast, on a failed save, the Demon would still cast the spell but the hp cost came from the Mage?

... only those who wanted to risk disfavor with the Gods could write?

... technology was something that caused the Gods influence/power to be less? So that yes, you could use the higher technologies of refined metals, writing and what-not -- but then those Cleric spells might not work so well?

... everyone had a shot at divine favor/intervention?

... you could move up in levels, but you also had some measure of how happy your God or the city's royalty were with you... and that depended on how much of your "stuff" you gave?

... gp/sp was only a relative "measure" - coins and money was not as prevalent as jewelry, cattle, slaves, property?

... going into the "Underworld" meant you really did go to a place where the rules changed in how things worked?

... Resurrect spells were really opening portals to the deepest parts of the Underworld where you had to battle to regain the souls of your lost comrades.

... the end game was your quest to become a lugal so that you could be equal to a god through technology, control of the people and worship of a god and how the god's influence was spread to other cities, territories?

... Jeff's game of EPT at Winterwar had influenced my view of "Land of 2 Rivers" a lot more than I had realized?

More illustration previews for Tombs of Hulkursag

There is something about the process of art where you start off with ideas and see them come to creation and fruition. It's true whether you're writing or whether you're drawing - and when the two go in sync, it's just a whole lot of fun to be part of the process.

Mark Allen/marjasall has completed the back cover illustration for the Tombs of Hulkursag as well as an overview map and the Title/Credits page illustration. Last week, I posted a portion of the pencil sketch of the back cover:

Here's the same portion from the completed, inked, colored version:


"Yes, come on - there's riches and glory untold in the Black Ziggurat!" he seems to be saying...

Mark's illustrations continue to amaze and awe me - he really captures the feel I'm going for in my module.

More on Tombs of Hulkursag and setting

Before I get to the Tombs stuff, I wanted to say this - tomorrow, I'm running a Swords & Wizardry demo at Unique Gifts & Games in Grayslake, IL. It'll be from noon to 3. I have no idea how many will be out there, but I'll have my miniatures, my terrain and my quick start plus some old school stuff to show people. If you'd like to come play the Quick Start adventure, please come on out!

Now, for Tombs related stuff. Monday or Tuesday next week, I'll be sneak-peeking some art that the incomparable Mark Allen has done for the back cover illo. I'm up to 3 of the 4 pieces from this man and his work is amazing! I'm very lucky to have his services.

I am still working out the magic stuff in my head, on how to explain the differences of how clerics will be the "main guys" and magic users are going to be more demon-centric than anything else. So I thought I would talk about how demi-humans will fit into the picture.

In Sumerian mythology, the god Enki and goddess Ninmah, at the urging of the primeval sea goddess Nammu, created man to serve the gods and toil for them. Ninmah created six imperfect beings, which Enki decreed "fates" for. In an attempt of one-upmanship, Enki created up to two beings were also flawed.

In the Land of Two Rivers, 6 beings that Ninmah created form the basis of the major races: human, elf, dwarf, goblin, kobold, orc. The two races that Enki created are the basis of giants and nagas.

The humans, elves and dwarves are the favored races to serve the gods. Dwarves live in the hills and mountains while elves are a sea-faring race, found near the Persian Gulf, Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea as well as on the legendary Isle of Dilmun.

The orcs are also a sea-faring predator race - fighting the elves for control of the seas and rivers. The goblins oppose the dwarfs in their caves deep in the mountains. The kobolds are like hyenas - they are pests and vermin to man, living in small burrows and constantly raiding the cities and villages.

The giants are found all over, but they are not very numerous. What they do have is a whole lot of power, strength and fearsome abilities. The nagas are sorcerous and cunning, using the various races against each other to further their own aims. Like the giants, they are not numerous.

Previews of illustrations from Tomb of Hulkursag module

Mark Allen of Marjasall Productions is producing the larger pieces of art for my Tombs of Hulkursag module. The winner of the Fight On!/Otherworld Miniatures/Erol Otus contest, he did the cover for the Quick Start (you can buy the color prints of the artwork here, for extremely reasonable prices!)[1] and he's done a lot of work for Troll Lord Games.

He's given me permission to leak a portion of the pencil of the back cover illo. In the distance, the Black Ziggurat of Hulkursag beckons to those brave enough to enter...


The inked version is going to be awesome!

And for another sneak peek, here's a tiny bit of the dungeon overview illo... I don't want to reveal too much and spoil the surprise of what Mark did...

The full view is amazingly cool - Mark did an awesome job!

Treasure and Mesopotamia

"Currency evolved from two basic innovations: the use of counters to assure that shipments arrived with the same goods that were shipped, and later with the use of silver ingots to represent stored value in the form of grain. Both of these developments had occurred by 2000 BC. Originally money was a form of receipting grain stored in temple granaries in Sumer in ancient Mesopotamia, then Ancient Egypt."

  - Wikipedia, currency.

"In the earlier second millennium there are references to kaspum kankum "sealed bags of silver." Sealed silver is also noted in texts of the late third millennium and the Old Assyrian documents from Cappadocia mention silver "marked" (uddu) with its weight (CAD s.v. idu 4.a). Copper might be packed into purses called (c)hurshianu (CAD s.v.; Dercksen). "

  - ANCIENT ECONOMIES I, Morris Silver

"The ancient economy was mainly based on subsistence farming. The Shekel referred to an ancient unit of weight and currency. The first usage of the term came from Mesopotamia circa 3000 BC. and referred to a specific mass of barley which related other values in a metric such as silver, bronze, copper etc. A barley/shekel was originally both a unit of currency and a unit of weight... just as the British Pound was originally a unit denominating a one pound mass of silver."

  - Wikipedia, Economy - Ancient Times

My research into Sumerian history and Mesopotamia for the Tombs of Hulkursag has taken me into some really cool mental exercises. Part of the module will be to introduce my take on an alternative history of Mesopotamia, where the Gods really do walk the Earth. (This, by the way, has made me very aware that I don't have a single source book on Deities - no OD&D or AD&D books). Reading up on the culture and viewpoints makes me realize how cultural D&D really is. I know this is no surprise to the smarter of my readers, but it's the difference of "hearing" it and really seeing it.

One such area is the concept of treasure. We, as players, are used to gold pieces, gems, scrolls and things that "feel" right - we're not that far removed from reality in how we view wealth and things of value. Taking a step back into history means that we're winding back the clock and our conceptions on how wealth was collected and distributed. The above quotes really point that out - coin currency wasn't widely used until maybe late in the Mesopotamian era, more likely in the early Greek era. Trade was based on barter and a rough conceptualization of the value of commodities against each other. Silver was the standard and it's use wasn't a "coin" but a weight equivalent. This means that our intrepid band of adventurers exploring the Lands between the Rivers aren't going to be finding chests of gold.

Wealth was also expressed in jewelry and adornments, as well as possessions. Mesopotamian tombs (what few have been found) are not filled with coins, but with rings, necklaces, crowns and headdresses and items of value like musical instruments, oxen carts and even slaves. Now everyone seems to love finding lots of gems and jewels, but what is the very first thing the vast majority of the adventurers do? They go find a fence in town and get gold coins. That's not going to happen in Mesopotamia.

This brings me to a design issue - how far to do I "break" the conventional wisdom of D&D? When players sit down for D&D, there are expectations based on previous play and based on what we perceive D&D to be. Presenting a module and setting that breaks those expectations too much makes it possible that people are going to get frustrated and give up. Do players really want to buy equipment based on trading 5 shekels of grain that they have to store and carry somewhere? I doubt it. I know I wouldn't want to do that - and that's a metric I usually use on my first decisions about a game - would I like it?

I think I may change the terms, but leave the basics the same - gold is now "silver (ingots/shekels)" (same diff), silver becomes "copper" - there is no equivalent to copper pieces in my game. Players won't find mounds and mounds of gold, but if I cast it right, the difference is more in the names, not the feel.

Treasure is going to be more about finding the jewelry and gems and things that can be traded. I'll give equivalent values (in silver) but players won't be able to fence the 3 rings and 2 copper helmets into coins - so they'd better find a secure place to hold their stashes.

Another interesting point is that metal is rare - so much so that finding a metal weapon is equivalent to finding a +1 to +3 weapon.

Does breaking the convention too far limit what you can do, especially in terms of the "rewards"? I think we're all used to strange settings and even limits on classes and races, but the treasure and methods of economy in D&D? I'm not so sure.

What do you think?

(Picture from studio22k.com)

Mesopotamian Tombs

When I was designing the Tombs of Hultep-Khoa back in March, I stumbled onto this fascinating atlas of the Valley of the Kings tombs at Thebes, Egypt. I still love going to that site.

You'll then understand the pleasure I had in finding an interactive map of the Royal Tombs of Ur at the British Museum's website. It's fascinating that this is a complex, very similar to VotK. I won't have to change much on my maps, then. :)

However, the Tombs just became enclosed in a ziggurat.


(Photographs Copyright by Lasse Jensen, all rights reserved.)

The fate of the Tombs of Hultep Khoa

So... I pitched my module idea to a publisher who liked the concept of the tomb and a 4 level dungeon already finished, but wanted it non-Egyptian and wanted to stick to their trade dress. The concept I pitched for how to present this module is very different. This publisher was really cool and I totally appreciated his comments. I think, though, I want to test my idea badly enough that I'm going to take LotFP's route and self publish. I don't know how this will go, but we'll see.

One change, though, is that this is going to change from an Egyptian themed adventure to a Sumerian/Bronze Age themed adventure and it will start including some aspects of an alternative Bronze Age that literary influences will play a part of. My first objective is to do a bit of reading on Sumerian history to get a bit more into that mindset - that may also mean a trip to the Oriental Museum in Chicago - one of my most favorite destinations.

So the dungeon's name has changed - it is now the Tomb of Hul-Kur-a-sag.

This will be my Next Big Project once I get my head back together from the scare of my wife's illness. You're probably going to see a lot more stuff being written about that age period as I do my research.

Speaking of my wife, she's doing as well as can be. We know that the issue is not life-threatening cancer, so the huge sucking black hole in my soul has gone away - which was one of the reasons my head was not into gaming. We still have to go to specialists to find out what *is* wrong, but we're going thru that. She's still not at work, and we're dealing with the loss of income the best we can.

Which brings me to a possible change to this blog. You see, my whole concept for this blog, aside from sharing my love of playing solo S&W/OD&D w/my wife and my OSRIC/AD&D campaign, was to share free stuff in the love of the game. But... I'm thinking of hanging a donation button on it, given the change in my finances. I have really mixed feelings about that. One, the generosity of friends can never be underestimated -- but I was brought up with some strict sensibilities towards money and propriety and that factors into how I feel about the donate button. I don't begrudge anyone else doing it, but I'm still wrestling with it myself. Not that I expect to get rich, but the fact that I am reaching a hand out to my virtual friends and readers ... it's not pride, it's that is the exchange of what I do here really fair to ask for money? I know, shut the *bleep* up, Chgowiz, and suck it up...

I am so going to get eaten alive tomorrow by the OSR-cognoscenti at the TARGA conference call.