WoA Introduction
From MRQWiki
INTRODUCTION
“It is my belief that there was in those days no nation, no city, no individual beyond the reach of Alexander’s name; never in all the world was there another like him …” - Arrian, The Campaigns of Alexander
Centaur, dryad, griffin, gorgon - creatures like these litter the pages of most fantasy roleplaying games. Creatures from Greek myth. Of course, there are plenty of other entries that would fit nicely into a Greek campaign with a suitable name change: giants, passion spirits and so on. The great pull of roleplaying the ancient Greeks, however, is not the ‘fit’ of many monsters or races, but the unique and atmospheric society of the day. Nodding horse-hair crests, long-shadowed spears, many-columned temples of marble, triremes surging across turquoise seas guided by painted eyes on the prow, phalanxes of grim hoplites, unconformist philosophers debating science under shady colonnades … classical Greece.
WARLORDS OF ALEXANDER is a fantasy setting for Mongoose’s RuneQuest Roleplaying Game. A gamemaster need only have a copy of main Rule Book or SRD to play. Player characters are tough and rootless mercenaries, or wandering fortune hunters seeking a rich patron or perhaps rumour of a lost treasure hoard. The world they inhabit is dominated by huge and powerful kingdoms, massive fragments of Alexander the Great’s short-lived world-spanning empire. His generals spawned a number of dynasties which now make interminable war on one another. All wish to be the next ‘Alexander’ - and the hoplite armies pay for these fruitless ambitions in blood …
WARLORDS OF ALEXANDER gives you a way to mix the vividly historical with the monsters and magic of Greek myth. We get both halves of Greece - as long as you enjoy a little ‘imaginative interpretation’ at the expense of rigorous historical accuracy. The aim of the book is firstly to map out the amendments and rules additions needed to convey the Greek setting. Secondly it is to provide a solid gaming ‘hook’ taken straight out of classical Greek history that can be used as a foundation for building scenarios and campaigns. The hook I’ve chosen is the period of the Successor Wars, a violent and bitter struggle in the mid-3rd century BC between the loyal generals of Alexander the Great (and their sons and grandsons) for the remnants of that youthful hero-king’s vast empire. It is Classical Greece writ large across the known world, with every mercenary a hoplite, the common language Greek, the Olympian deities worshipped from India to Italy and Greek city comforts (baths, agora, gymnasia, theatres etc.) available in hundreds of cities newly established throughout conquered territories by Alexander himself. This almost universal Greek culture stands in well for the accepted fantasy society that is a prevalent and unwritten standard in many RPGs. In fact the Successor period is ripe for roleplaying in every way, mirroring the standards and assumptions of fantasy games: a common language (in fact the universal dialect of Greek in use at the time was called koine Greek, quite literally ‘common’), numerous warring kingdoms, an accepted universal culture understood by most civilized folk, a well-known pantheon of gods, a well-known bestiary of monsters and supernatural beings and an international society that tolerates and even promotes heavily armed and armoured adventurers travelling freely in search of fortune and glory.
Why not leave the field open for GM’s to pick any date in Greek history? Well, historically the Greeks were constantly at war with each other. Long term rivalries, feuds, petty bickerings, alleigances, leagues, differing governmental systems and competing interests meant that the Greeks never enjoyed co-operation. There was never a Greek nation in ancient times. There were very occasionally unifying events such as the Persian invasions of 490 and 480 BC, but even these epic battles for Greek survival were marred by infighting. To see just how deep the Greek rivalries could get take a look at the ultimate Greek-on-Greek conflict: the Peloponnesian War (431 - 404 BC). A war that is filled with bone-shuddering atrocities. The freedom to travel (which is cherished by many roleplaying groups) is incredibly restricted in these war-torn circumstances.
