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Imperium Romanum - A fantasy campaign


OddHat

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A history that never was, featuring nations, characters, artifacts, and random ideas.

 

Table of Contents

 

Song of the Ainu

 

List of Empires

 

Vague, Sweeping Overview

 

Shen Zhou Quick Take

 

Magadha Quick Take

 

Totun Quick Take

 

Imperium Romanum Quick Take

 

A Quick and Easy Map

 

Magic Overview

 

Magic Overview: The White

 

Magic Overview: The Black

 

Magic Overview: The Green

 

Magic Overview: The Gold

 

Magic Overview: The Red

 

Technology

 

Fighting Styles

 

Attitudes Towards Magic

 

Astral Projection and The Sight

 

Sample Starting Character - Xu Ruibai, apprentice magicker

 

Religion in the Imperium

 

Religion in Shen Zhou

 

Immortals

Feeding the Gold

Feeding the Red

 

Nonhuman Races and Monsters

 

Haemon - Sample Sorcerer, Minor Villain

 

Becca, sample starting character

 

Currency of the Imperium

 

Secrets of the Black - Short fiction illustrating Black Magic in use.

 

Secrets of the Black - Mechanics: Mechanical rules for Black Magic in the campaign

 

Secrets of the Black - Spirit Warriors, Aspects, Mounts, and Avatars

 

Secrets of the Black - Summoning - How Summon works in the setting, and a brief discussion of Spirits, Ghosts, Daemons and Avatars

Secrets of the Black - Summoning Concluded

 

Secrets of the Green - Abbot of Green Bat versus the Red Khagan

 

Secrets of the Green - Mechanics

Ghosts and Spirits - Mechanics - How ghosts and spirits are built by default in the campaign, and the rules for Manifestation.

 

Law, Order and Government in the Provinces of the Imperium

 

Travel and Trade

 

Air Ships Part I

 

Air Ships Part II

 

Sample Foes:

 

Typical Bandit

 

Veteran Bandit

 

Local Hero

 

Auctorati

 

Player's Contributions to the Imperium Romanum:

 

The Destruction of the House of Appius, adventure recap by Tribal

 

On the Destruction of the House of Appius, adventure recap by SatinKitty

 

Liamfada's Report Part One, adventure recap by Winston

 

Liamfada's Report Part Two, adventure recap by Winston

 

Marcus Sevarius Varus, sample character by keyes_bill

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Re: Imperium Romanum - A fantasy campaign

 

Before the ice, before the fall, there were the People of Ainu. Wise were the People of Ainu, gifted with the knowing of ten thousand names and crafts. Strong were the People of Ainu, in their hands lighting, in their blood fire. Rich were the People of Ainu, their cities built of jewels and glass, their raiment glorious. Then came the time of ice, and wisdom did not save, and strength did not save, and wealth did not save. The time of ice came and passed, and with it passed the People of Ainu, the people of fable, for all things pass, and all things fall, and sea and stars are not forever.

 

- Song of the Ainu

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Re: Imperium Romanum - A fantasy campaign

 

Intrigued... How about a vague' date=' sweeping overview?[/quote']

 

The key setting questions are:

- What is the limiting factor for Empire?

- What differences, cultural, technological, social and historical, would result from real, reliable, repeatable magic?

 

The key personal questions are:

- How do we find ourselves corrupted?

- Can we find our way to redemption?

- How do individuals change the course of history?

 

Historical inspirations include:

- Proto-Indo European Culture and Mythology

- Greek, Roman, Indian, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese history

- Greco-Buddhism and the cultural and commercial traffic connecting Greece, Rome, India, and China

 

Literary influences include:

- David Gemmell, most importantly Echoes of the Great Song, Lion of Macedon, and ideas drawn from his body of work.

- Tom Holt, most importantly Song for Nero, Meadowland, Alexander at the World's End, and Olympiad.

- Robert Graves, I, Claudius and Claudius the God

 

Much more to follow.

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Re: Imperium Romanum - A fantasy campaign

 

The Empires -

 

Imperium Romanum:

 

Symbol: The Eagle

Official Languages: Latin, Greek

Capital: Roma

Date: 2760 R (2760 years since the founding of the city of Roma)

Government: Constitutional Monarchy

Head of State: Emperor

Head of Government: Shared between the Emperor, the Consol for the Plebeians, and the Consol for the Patricians

Deliberative Body: Senate

Area: 2.4 million square miles, not including the Meadowland Colonies

Population: 180 million

Establishment: 722 R

First Emperor: Augustus

Current Emperor: Claudius IX

Official Religions: Roma Numina (Animism), Roma Genius (Ancestor Worship). The city of Roma itself is worshiped as a god, and all emperors are considered to be invested with divinity upon their ascension to office. Greco-Buddhism is widely spread and officially sanctioned.

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Re: Imperium Romanum - A fantasy campaign

 

The Empires-

 

Shen Zhou:

 

Symbol: The Dragon

Official Languages: Putonghua

Capital: Beijing

Date: 2228 SZ (2228 years since the unification of the Empire) (Yang Calendar)

Government: Absolute Monarchy

Head of State: Emperor

Head of Government: Emperor, though in practice the bureaucracy dominates government policy.

Deliberative Body: None, though day to day policy is debated within and implemented by the bureaucracy.

Area: 3.8 million square miles, not including the Meadowland Colonies

Population: 450 million

Establishment: 0 SZ

First Emperor: Qin Shi Huang

Current Emperor: Hu Jintao

Official Religions: Shen Buddhism, Shen Taoism, Shen Confucianism. Shen Zhou also features a rich folk religion built on ancestor worship and worship of the court of the Jade Emperor.

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Re: Imperium Romanum - A fantasy campaign

 

Before the ice, before the fall, there were the People of Ainu. Wise were the People of Ainu, gifted with the knowing of ten thousand names and crafts. Strong were the People of Ainu, in their hands lighting, in their blood fire. Rich were the People of Ainu, their cities built of jewels and glass, their raiment glorious. Then came the time of ice, and wisdom did not save, and strength did not save, and wealth did not save. The time of ice came and passed, and with it passed the People of Ainu, the people of fable, for all things pass, and all things fall, and sea and stars are not forever.

 

- Song of the Ainu

 

I like that. Is it yours, or from something else?

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Re: Imperium Romanum - A fantasy campaign

 

Empires -

 

Magadha:

Symbol: The Lion

Official Languages: Sanskrit, Pali, Prakrit, Greek, Latin, Aramaic, Putonghua

Capital: Pataliputra

Date: 2760 R (uses Roma dating)

Government: Absolute Monarchy

Head of State: Emperor

Head of Government: Emperor

Deliberative Body: Extensive nobility, bureaucracy and administration

Area: 1.9 million square miles

Population: 100 million

Establishment: 411 R

First Emperor: Chandragupta Maurya

Current Emperor: Ashoka Gupta

Official Religions: Buddhism (official state religion), Hinduism. As the source of world Buddhism and the meeting place of West and East, Magadha exercises cultural, economic and moral influence disproportionate to its population and military power.

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Re: Imperium Romanum - A fantasy campaign

 

No Persians?

 

Crushed by Alexander the Great and never recovered as a world power, though they remain as an ethnic group and hold land roughly in the area of Iraq and Iran. The map only shows the major powers in the campaign.

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Re: Imperium Romanum - A fantasy campaign

 

Empires -

 

Totun:

Symbol: The Panther

Official Languages: Nab'ee Maya' Tzij

Capital: Cholula

Date: 2207 R (Roma dating, the Totun use multiple calendars)

Government: Theocratic Monarchy

Head of State: God Emperor

Head of Government: Priest Kings

Deliberative Body: None, administrative duties performed by priesthood

Area: 4.9 million square miles

Population: 110 million

Establishment: 532 R

First Emperor: Itzamna

Current Emperor: Hunahpu

Official Religions: Totunan (Animistic Pantheism). The Totun, among their other religious beliefs, hold that their Emperors are living gods. Human sacrifice is practiced to honor the gods, the land and the God Emperor.

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Re: Imperium Romanum - A fantasy campaign

 

Crushed by Alexander the Great and never recovered as a world power' date=' though they remain as an ethnic group and hold land roughly in the area of Iraq and Iran. The map only shows the major powers in the campaign.[/quote']

 

Fair enough. Clearly the Successor period worked out rather differently.

 

It's interesting that no major power has emerged in the good old "Fertile Crescent". In fact, now that I think about it, this would be the perfect place for PC empire building... ;)

 

Let's see: you could either be a local, or someone from the fringes (Arabia, the steppes, or a mountainous area). It probably doesn't matter which. It would be better to be a clan leader of some description, although being a mercenary leader might work too. In the latter case you would need to engage in a serious diplomatic marriage, though. Of course "clan leader" could be little more that "bandit chief" to begin with.

 

Alternatively, I suppose you could be a religious leader. Combining clan and religious leadership would be preferable, but an itinerant preacher type might be able to win over a powerful patron.

 

Either way, you can potentially get control of some serious agricultural and urban centres, lying nicely across the trade routes between the other states...

 

Alternatively, you could empire build a bit further north, and grab the trade routes across the steppes. You could move south after you've declared yourself the Great Khan.

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Re: Imperium Romanum - A fantasy campaign

 

Crushed by Alexander the Great and never recovered as a world power' date=' though they remain as an ethnic group and hold land roughly in the area of Iraq and Iran. The map only shows the major powers in the campaign.[/quote']

 

Wait, is there an actual map with drawn boundries?

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