Thanks!
The specific myth I draw upon is the Levantine myth - which is related to the Mesopotamian myth, of course.
Oh, and Sakkara, this setting equivalent of Zahar, is Egyptian-inspired - complete with an obssession with death and afterlife (and undeath) and a lot of tombs to loot (with undead guardians and traps).
I’m thinking about adding some “normal” Earth animals to my Human areas, especially domesticated beasts and some pests (cats, dogs, mice, rats, sheep, goats, cattle and horses). They probably came with the Humans when they “fell upon a shooting star”. Native fauna of this world is reptilian and/or insectile, though… And almost all predators, except for cats and feral dogs are reptilian or insectile.
Given that your setting is based on Levantine myth and your handle is Golan, can I safely guess you live in Israel somewhere?...
Yes, I do, in Rehovot (20 minutes by train from Tel-Aviv).
Ah, cool! As an undergraduate I studied military history with a lot of work on the Arab-Israeli Wars. My senior project was a wargame to assess what would happen if Israel abandoned the Golan Heights and was invaded. I've always wanted to get out and see the land for real, but haven't quite managed to do so...
What did your war game turned out?
I have decided, for the sake of flavour - no mammals except for Humans and Cats, There rest were killed when the Shooting Star crashed…
As someone interested in history (and probably archaeology), you should definitely visit Israel. So many archaeological and historical sites to visit, dating from the Stone Age to modern times. Even better, you might want to combine this with a tour of Jordan and Egypt (political situation permitting, of course) as well for more archaeology. Or send in some of the ACKS artists for some inspiration.
Here is the Lizardman Hunter class I made using the Companion:
http://spacecockroach.blogspot.co.il/2013/02/barbarian-conqueror-king-lizardman.html
Here is the Campaign map for Barbarian Conqueror King:
http://spacecockroach.blogspot.co.il/2013/02/barbarian-conqueror-king-campaign-map.html
Greatly updated map:
http://spacecockroach.blogspot.co.il/2013/02/barbarian-conqueror-king-updated.html
Let’s do some basic math for Barbarian Conqueror King.
Population density is realtively low, at 50 people per square mile (5,000 families per 24-mile hex), similar to Roman levels and far lower than Greek or Medival French levels. While some areas are richer than others, I’ll use this average for the sake of simplicity.
All realms are city-states and thus considered “advanced” and urban, though in fact they are not very much technically advanced. They also have a centralized settlement pattern. This means that I always go down one row in Urban Population and down one row in Largest Settlement.
Harat has 8 hexes and a total population of 40,000 families. While it is a “Duchy” in ACKS terms it is ruled by Hardun, the Gladiator-King (who also happens to be a lizardman, more on that later). It has an urban population of 8,000 families, 4,000 of them in Harat itself, which is a proper City and a Class-III market. It is also moderately rich, with an average land revenue of 6gp.
Yimara has 9 hexes and a total population of 45,000 families. While it is a “Duchy” in ACKS terms it is ruled by the corrupt King Balrazar. It has an urban population of 9,000 families, 5,000 of them in Yimara itself, which is a Large City and a Class-II market. It is also a rich realm with highly fertile farmland, with an average land revenue of 8gp.
Khishrom has 9 hexes and a total population of 45,000 families. While it is a “Duchy” in ACKS terms it is ruled by the even-handed King Adyan. It has an urban population of 9,000 families, 4,000 of them in Khishrom itself, which is a City and a Class-III market. It is also relatively rich, with an average land revenue of 7gp, mostly from mining.
Irem has 10 hexes and a total population of 50,000 families. While it is a “Duchy” in ACKS terms it is ruled by the Merchant-Prince Argum. It has an urban population of 10,000 families, 4,500 of them in Irem itself, which is a City and a Class-III market. It is also realtively poor, mostly desert and grazing land, with an average land revenue of 4gp.
Zarnas has 9 hexes and a total population of 45,000 families. While it is a “Duchy” in ACKS terms it is ruled by the Eternal Pharaoh Pilsar IV from his seclusion in the Great Pyramid. It has an urban population of 9,500 families, 4,000 of them in half-dead Zarnas itself, which is a City and a Class-III market. It is also quite rich with an average land revenue of 8gp.
The City of the Crescent Sun has 11 hexes and a total population of 55,000 families. While it is a “Duchy” in ACKS terms it is ruled by the Lizard-Queen Xelana. It has an urban population of 11,000 families, 5,500 of them in The City of the Crescent Sun itself, which is a Large City and a Class-II market. It is also avarage economically, with an average land revenue of 6gp.
The (Chaotic) City of the Sunken Moon has 7 hexes and a total population of 35,000 families. While it is a “Duchy” in ACKS terms it is ruled by the mad Lizard-Sorceress Manatxu. It has an urban population of 7,000 families, 3,500 of them in The City of the Sunken Moon itself, which is a proper City and a Class-III market. It is also moderately rich, with an average land revenue of 7gp.
Cibola has 18 hexes, divided into three districts (“Duchies”), and a total population of 90,000 families. While it is a “Principality” in ACKS terms it is ruled by the High Priestess of Ixchala, Nalana. It has an urban population of 18,000 families, 9,000 of them in Cibola itself, which is a Large City and a Class-II market. It is also fabolously rich, with an average land revenue of 9gp.
Dinosaurs and their kin (as well as insects) replace mammals (except for humans, that is) both as wild beasts and domesticated enemies. Dinosaur Riders! Triceratops egg omletes! Random encounter with a T-Rex!Great minds think alike! I’ve been cooking on exactly this for a while (I worked with pen & paper though, hope I can find my books).
I’ve definitely gone with tropical utopia, I’ve drawn a world map that I’ve zoomed in and zoomed in (I used the Hexbooks from Albatross Press).
It’s just the local place that’s tropical, not necessarily the whole world.
The name of the continent is Selte’azda, which means in the local language “Dwelling of the Terrible Ones”.
The time line is that first, dinos lived there.
Then, just a hundred or two hundred years ago, humans came along and quickly settled along the coast line — so right off the bat we have a strip of civilization with wilderness to the west and oceans with weird islands to the east.
Then a few decades ago weird things started leaking in a la The House on the Borderland (the old novel, not B2).
I’ve changed the alignments from lawful v. chaotic to instead be alignments with one or the other of the two clashing dimensions — humans, plants, dinosaurs from this vs demons and orcs (in the style of HotB) from the other.
There are ancient ruins and buildings in two ways—perhaps some old dinosaur civilizations, but also that ruins and buildings have warped over from across the Border.
As for technology, the only things I’ve got for sure is that I want to put some flickering bulbsand fluerencent tubes in some of the dungeons, and have some tile floors and busted-up radiators there. I imagine that cross the Border there is access to all worlds and technologies.
I’ve got my economy more or less done (again, it’s in a paper book), what I miss is dinosaur stats (I have GURPS Dinosaurs but I couldn’t convert them easily since I only have a little experience with the well-known family of games that ACKS belong to) and also lairs for all types of monsters.
Maybe what would be most helpful for me would be a small flowchart on how to make lairs for the ACKS book’s monsters .
It was hard to map out the realm and understand the economy chapter in ACKS. I wish it had been more of a step-by-step instruction—but I did understand it finally so now that part is done.
We ran three different scenarios.
1. If Israel maintained the Golan Heights, Syria had no practical means of winning a war, even if it resorted to WMD.
2. If Israel abandoned the Golan Heights, it would still beat Syria in a war, but it would suffer terrible civilian casualties from the initial assault, and heavy losses retaking the Golan against an entrenched defender.
3. If Israel and Syria agreed to turn the Golan into a DMZ, the speed of modern combat and the small geographic distances involved would still lead to a grim outcome for Israel if Syria attacked, with heavy civilian casualties and hard fighting.
We concluded that Israel needed to maintain the Golan Heights for its strategic defense.
The game I used in college eventually turned into Modern Spearhead: http://www.modernspearhead.net/
I'd love to. It's on my list of things to do! Egypt as well. When I was a child I lived in Algeria and we toured all around these regions; there are photos of me on a camel outside the Great Pyramids at age 3. Sadly I remember nothing of it.
Both Chris Hagerty (cartographer) and Ryan Browning (artist) drew great inspiration from Near Eastern history.
2097, your setting sounds fun!
If you’re looking for Dinosaur stats, I’m thinking about writing my own Sword & Sorcery Bestiary for ACKS (and maybe also S&W:WB and BFRPG). This will include a good number of dinosaurs as well as Chulhu-type weirds and serpentine stuff.
I do love the dinos 
I put together stats for the dinosaurs listed below for my campaign. I’d happily post them if someone can suggest a decent format for them. They are currently just rows on a spreadsheet, which isn’t ideal for posting to a forum.
Dinosaur, Ankylosaurus (huge)
Dinosaur, Dimetrodon (medium)
Dinosaur, Dromeosaur ('raptor; medium)
Dinosaur, Huge Hadrosaur
Dinosaur, Large Hadrosaur
Dinosaur, Pachycephalosaurus (large)
Dinosaur, Pleisiosaur (huge)
Dinosaur, Pterodactyl, Gargantuan
Dinosaur, Pterodactyl, Huge
Dinosaur, Pterodactyl, Large
Dinosaur, Sauropod (gargantuan)
Dinosaur, Stegosaurus (huge)
Dinosaur, Struthiomimus (medium)
Dinosaur, Triceratops (huge)
Dinosaur, Tyrannosaur (huge)
Dinosaur, Tyrannosaur (gargantuan)
Now that I have a Campaign Map and Basic Demographics for my Barbarian Conqueror King setting, it’s time to determine the basic characteristics of the great monarchs, despots and sorcerer-kings of the setting. Note, however, that since this setting is composed of relatively small islands of civilization - City States - within hostile wilderness, most rulers are rather low-level in comparison to more civilized campaign settings.
Also note that the barbaric lands of Enyom, Queddar and Mala lack high-level rulers; the highest-level characters are typically tribal chiefs or sheiks, and lack the personal power of the civilized rulers of much larger realms. If and when a high-level character will arise from these wild regions, chances are that he or she will unite the tribes under him or her and be a major power to be reckoned with - and, perhaps, a scourge of Civilization.
Harat is ruled by Hardun, sometimes called “King Hardun”, a Lawful level 10 Lizardman Gladiator (AKA Thrassian Gladiator).
Yimara is ruled by King Balrazar, a Neutral level 11 Fighter.
Khishrom is ruled by King Adyan, a Lawful level 10 Fighter.
Irem is ruled by the Merchant-Prince Argum, a Neutral level 10 Venturer.
Zarnas is ruled by the undead Eternal Pharaoh Pilsar IV, a Chaotic level 10 Sakkaran Ruinguard turned into an intelligent undead creature three centuries ago.
The City of the Crescent Sun is ruled by Lizard-Queen Xelana, a Lawful level 10 Lizardman Warrior.
The City of the Sunken Moon is ruled by Lizard-Sorceress Manatxu, a Chaotic level 10 Lizardman Witch-Doctor.
Cibola is ruled by High Priestess Nalana, a Lawful level 12 Lizardman Priest(ess).
In my Barbarian Conqueror King setting, the only playable non-human species are Lizardmen. With strong fighting (and predatory) instincts, a “level 0” Lizardman - anything from a dinosaur herder or coffee farmer to caravan guard or common Lizard-mercenary - fights and saves as a 1HD creature, i.e. as a Level 1 Fighter. Level 0 Lizardmen, however, are not trained in armour use (as they do possess good natural armour), and if they don any kind of armour except for shields (which they can use), they fight and save as Level 0 Humans.
If they gain Level 1, they may normally choose between Lizardman Hunter (the Hunter’s skills grow from a Lizardman’s predatory instincts) and Lizardman warrior (then gain the warrior’s totemic abilities - based on common Lizardman beliefs). To become Gladiators, they must have been specially bred and trained for that from birth; to become Priests Witch Doctors they need to become acolytes or apprentices of the appropriate class.
Young (up to the age of 10-12), old and infirm Lizardmen, on the other hand, are non-combatants, have 1d4 HP and fight and save as Level 0 Humans.