Ra	Anhur	Anubis	Apep	Apshai
Bast	Bes	Flame Snake	Geb	Horus
Isis	Nephthys	Osiris	Phoenix	Ptah
Seker	Set	Minions of Set	Shu	Tefnut
Thoth	-	True Ankh	-	Hieroglyphs
-	-	-	-	DDG

Nut
 

 

All alignments	Anubis
LG	Osiris, Shu, Tefnut
NG	Ra, Isis, Shu
CG	Anhur, Bast, Nephthys, Shu
LN	Geb, Horus, Ptah
N	Geb
CN	Bast
LE	Set
NE	Geb, Set
CE	Bast, Set
Farmers	Apshai, Osiris
Anyone seeking vengeance	Horus
Beings dealing  magick	Isis
Beings wishing for luck	Bes
Seekers of knowledge	Thoth
Worshipers of light	Seker

The ancient Egyptians developed a culture lasting over 3,000 years.
It  only natural that their faith would undergo a change  that time.
Their deities aged, with Ra starting as the ruler and growing senile and Osiris taking over after being killed by Set and being brought back to life.
The pantheon represented is one with Ra in prominence only because there are more beings of power in  early grouping.

Temples were many in Egyptian society,
but each city had only one major deity.
All the other deities could be worshiped,
but only in an inferior position.
They are shaped in a large rectangle,
and enclosed with high walls.
The entrance (the only obvious one, though there are several secret ones)
is supported by 2 large pylons that are marked with the symbol of the  of the city.
There is always a large public hall whose walls are covered with hieroglyphics depicting the story of the deity of the temple,
but no image of that being is permitted here.
There is always an inner sanctuary where the deity's image is presented in the best materials the sect can afford
(marble, alabaster, silver, gold, and the like).
Near the temple is a cultivated garden where the priests and priestesses of the temple have to bathe every day.

This area is holy,
and if desecrated, <cf. ceremony: consecrate ground>
the entire temple is rendered useless.
Offerings are always objects that are pleasing to the eye and made to dress up the altar,
either in the outer hall || the inner court.
Only priests && priestesses are allowed to enter the inner sanctuary.

Clerics of less than fourth level are expected to serve their deity by serving the people with their knowledge,
healing,
or the like.
Clerics of the fourth through sixth level serve the needs of the temple,
either by being messengers,
using their powers to fight for the sect,
or whatever else the higher clerics need.
Female clerics can rise no higher than 9th level in ability,
but it is necessary for all 11th level males or higher to take on a female cleric as a consort and advisor,
and these women often  in the stead of their male counterparts  the males have to be away from the temple.
The female clerics keep all official temple records.
All clerics wear white in some part of their dress,
and it is a  sin to be stipped of white for any reason and is cause for going on a major quest for redemption if it happens.
Otherwise,
clerics are as other humans,
save that the males shave their heads upon attaining the fourth or higher levels,
while the females wear long hair at all times.
Egyptian clerics can only rise in levels by donating large sums to the sect for its use
(in AD&D terms it is necessary to donate the equivalent of the needed XP in gold in order to rise in levels).

<Rope Use, Tie (reef knot: uses), Knot>

<the Whelan piece was chosen as it relates the the 24 Solars thread at DF>
 

prometheus713 wrote:
Gary, let me preface my question by saying that I am awed in the presence of the master. Having gotten that out of the way I wanted to ask you a non-rules AD&D question.  was your inspiration for Tomb of Horrors and how long was the creation process? I always saw Tomb of Horrors as somehow linked to your Necropolis super module, at least in my own mind.

Wishing you lasting good health,
Archie
 

Howdy,

A chap named Alan Lucien have me the inspiration...as I believe I stated in my original ms. for the module.

The Necropolis super-module was inspired by my own initial dungeon encounter area with an Egyptian theme.
As I was studying/researching the Ancient Egyptian religion and the Duat underworld, the whole was pretty easy to create at the time.

Cheers,
Gary
 

For those interested in tryly "Old Religion":

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news ... urial.html

Be sure as well to read the link about snake magic.

Gary
 
 

Elfdart wrote:
Colonel, lately I've been re-reading books of folklore and mythology from all over the world. One book about Middle Eastern mythology makes it pretty clear that the ghoul was based on hyenas: desert-dwelling, laughing, corpse-eaters. I noticed that you created Yeenoghu as demon lord of ghouls and gnolls. Did you make the ghoul/hyena connection way back then?
 

As far as I recall I had discovered that the ghoul was from Egyptian folklore, a demonic creature.
I then connected them to hyenas, famed scavengers, via Yeenoghu.
As I have seen plenty of hyenas as a lad at the zoo, heard their calls and smelled their stink, that seemed most fitting to me.
I really dislike those animals 

Cheerio,
Gary
 

Quote:
Have a question for you concerning ancient Egypt (from another thread that tweaked my interest): How was the court of the Pharoah arranged? I assume that it could be considered a theocracy... but what were the titles held by subordinates and did they have actual control over fiefdoms around the Nile valley or further? Or was the Pharoah strictly top dog?
I ask this of you because I assumed that much study went into the writing of Necropolis, and I thought you may have run across information pertaining to this.
 

Pharoah was absolute ruler, a living god.
The various districts of Egypt were ruled by governors, but they were generally absloutely under the thumb of the king.
The military was absolutely loyal too.

I do not have an organizational chart of the governemnt under the pharoah--the palace officials, priests, governors, overseers, and scribes. In all my reading I never came across anything resembling a treatment of this. Sorry.
Thank you dear sir!
Duglas K[/B][/QUOTE]
 

Quote:
Originally posted by Lord Zardoz
This is related to politics, but thankfully, not to firearms.

What non US country do you admire most, and why?

As one of the very select number who are members of the Zardoz Film Fans, how can I not respond?

Actually, from my historical interest perspective, I admire many other countries for one or more reasons.
Which one I admire most is a very difficult question for me to answer.
The criteria are manifold, so without some specific bases for selecting one, I can't name a special one.

I  mention that Ancient Egypt holds a special place in my heart, for it lasted so many centuries, and the people of the land wanted the afterlife to be no more than a continuation of their fleshly existance there. That's quite a nod for living under pharoah's rule.

Cheers,
Gary
 
 

Quote:
Originally posted by ColonelHardisson
Gary, given your apparent interest in Egyptology (based on your epic adventure "Necropolis"), I was wondering if you'd gotten a chance to see the recent "Mummy" movies - "The Mummy" and "The Mummy Returns"? I love these films, for their breezy nature and old-fashioned derring-do - plus, there is something very reminiscent of a good D&D session about them.
 

Howdy Colonel 

I've loved Egyptology since I was about five years old and my father took me to see the large exhibit in the Field Museum in Chigaco.
Next to the Lincoln Park Zoo, that was my favorite Sunday outing.
I have not really pursued Egyptology other than as a dilitant, but I have a fairly large collection of reference books on Ancient Egypt.
most of Budge's old works amongst them, as well as some issues of KMT magazine...

Indeed, I did see the "Mummy" movies, includng the original Boris Karloff ones  thus I have both many tanna leaves handy as well as a cat.
those flesh-eating (as opposed to dung-eating)scarab beetles in the new flicks are absolutely horrible.
A swarm of those could take out most D&D parties in a trice, I fear.

Speaking of films that recall D&D sessions, "The Deep," is in my estimation a great one for a modern equivalent of same.

Cheers,
Gary
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sir Elton
Gary,

I wondering about the nation of Khemet for Necropolis, or a D&D game on Egypt in general. All three kingdoms seems like a good setting for Adventure, but which Kingdom: New, Middle, or Old, would you prefer adventuring in?

Hi SirElton,

Sorry to have missed this post until now.

Using Khemit from Necropolis and the Epic of Aerth world setting is likely a lot less work for the DM that building something from the historical Old, Middle, or New Kingdom models.
For a Conan-like milieu with appropriate rules I'd go for the Old Kingdom, while a Classical Antiquity one would fit best with the New Kingdom.
That sort of leaves the Middle Kingdom out,but...

Cheers,
Gary
 

Aside from the usual weekly campaign game of LA that I run--and we are going to alternate those sessions with C&C game ones for a time at least--the usual games played here are:
Settlers of Catan, Rail Baron, backgammon, senat, and cribbage.

<bold added>

Quote:
Originally Posted by gizmo33
That makes sense for 3E, because 3E seems to put the positive/negative material planes on the good/evil axis. But ADnD as I recall didn't really define it so clearly - ex. creatures like the Xeg-Ya/Xag-Yi seem like mirror images and neither good nor evil. The one, as I recall, doesn't heal anyone. The later books, like Manual of the Planes, made Positive a kind of healing energy, but that was after Gary's involvement (I think). I always had this feeling in ADnD that the positive material plane was equally dangerous, and it was conceivable that such energy could power undead. Perhaps it's just a case of my imagination running off due to a typo? I was just wondering if there was a design, perhaps abandoned later on, that explained what postive material energy was in ADnD.

Actually, the negative isn't necessarily evil or inherantly malign.
Consider Osiris, the Egyptian god of the dead and  afterlife world, the Duat or Tuat.
Neither is positive necessarily good ot benign.
Using the same pantheon, consider Ra supporting Set over Horus son of Osiris and Isis.
Osiris put him in his place, though... <paranoid>

Cheers,
Gary

Quote:
Originally Posted by John Drake

Well it certainly worked!  So, Gary, as this topic of deities and such continues, I'm curious as to which mythology or pantheon you have a soft spot for, out of real-world mythologies? My personal fav has always been the Norse, followed by Celtic and Egyptian.

Well...

I likely have spent more time with Egyptian than any other, and I find the material regarding the Duat fascinating, compelling; but otherwise I enjoy virtually all the well-detailed mythologies equally.

Cheers,
Gary
 
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Fifth Element
What is your favourite real-world mythology? I mean in the sense of Greek, Norse, etc.

As a follow-up, what mythology lends itself best as inspiration for D&D?

Egyptian mythology for its plethora of deities and its underworld.
Next comes Hindic for its array of strange deities and the many stories.

I designed D&D with little regard for mythology; more for folklore, legend, and authored fiction.

Cheers,
Gary

Quote:
Originally Posted by jasin
Could you provide more details on this, please?

I had some ideas for a game that involved a world with a single solar as the spirit/ruler/personification of the Sun and a single planetar as the spirit/ruler/personification of Earth. The epic overarching plot would involve the planetar rising up against the solar: a bit of gnosticism, a bit of Ra vs. Apophis...

What got me thinking along these lines were mostly just the names for the creatures, "planetar" and "solar" which I never thought were chosen for any particular reason, but now that you mention being inspired by Theosophy, it seems I might have been going back to the roots without being aware of them.

I do not pretend to be an expert on Theosophy, so you must do your own research in regards information there.

You have the correct hierarchy for the Solar and Planatar, so I can not add anything there.

As for Egyptian deities at odds, the big dustup was between Ra and Osiris when Ra was taking Set's sind in regards who should rule earth, Horus son of Osiris or Set.
Osiris onfrmed Ra that he had "many savage faced messengers" to assert his claim, and Ra backed down.

Cheerio,
Gary

Quote:
Originally Posted by mhacdebhandia
Jasin was actually referring to the backstory of the television series Stargate SG-1, but I for one will forgive you for not recognising it. 

Now i know why i have never been fond of that program...the writers don't know their Egyptian mythology 

Gary

Well, haakon1,

It seems as if the writers for that program not only do not know much about Egyptian mythology, but are also equally misinformed about the Norse, for Thor was of the Aesir race...

anyway, this reinforces why I shun the show, much as U do the new BBC production of Robin Hood. What a travesty!

Cheers,
Gary

Groaning Spirit: Ra = Brahman (not to be confused with Brahma), Osiris = Shiva (except he gets pwned by Seth), Isis = Parvati, Horus = Muruga/Kartikeya, however you want it