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Sat Nov 04, 2006 2:46 am Background for a Greek-style character

Hello all,

Kind of a n00b question, but since I traditionally played most of my games in the northeast of the Flanaess, you might udnerstand.

I created a Greek-like character for a "Expedition to Castle Ravenloft" game.

While I thought it would vaguely be set in Karameikos, now it turns to have been placed somewhere in the Flanaess.

Now, where could my distinctly greek-style (medieval Byzantine Greek, not Old Greek) character come from?

To stay as *default* as possible, I have named Brindinford from "The Speaker in Dreams" as his home, but I am not too satisfied with that backstory. Smile

Any suggestions welcome!

Yours,

Rafael
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"A Minstrel's Memory": PBPs & Other Games, since 2005.

Sat Nov 04, 2006 7:13 am

Well, I always joke that the Keoish are much like the Greeks in that when they are not fighting against outsiders they are fighting among themselves, at least in ancient times.

The character could be from pre-Greyhawk Wars Tehn though, which could lead to some interesting adventuring opportunities as that land becomes more and more unstable and likely to be slowly retaken by its neighbors in little bits and pieces. This might be a better option, but it all depends on what you want to do with the character and your campaign.

Sat Nov 04, 2006 10:48 am

Thank you!

Is Tenh a Greek-style country?! I am, like my name suggests :), more a Great Kingdom DM, and had always treated the area totally differently... Shocked

Keoland seems a good option - the area holds many possible Greek-style settings, like Sterich or maybe even the Yeomanry. Smile

Still, I am not too sure what would be the best choice... Smile

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"A Minstrel's Memory": PBPs & Other Games, since 2005.

Sat Nov 04, 2006 12:14 pm Re: Background for a Greek-style character

Sun Nov 05, 2006 11:06 am

I'll check the individual regions and check where my backstory (the PC is a gnoll-fighting mercenary who has spent years in frontier forts) fits best...

Really, Tenh could do, Keoland as well, and maybe even Ahlissa and the Azure Sea regions...

Gaah! So many choices... What shall I do?! Smile

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"A Minstrel's Memory": PBPs & Other Games, since 2005.

Sun Nov 05, 2006 11:29 am Re: Background for a Greek-style character

Sun Nov 05, 2006 3:07 pm Re: Background for a Greek-style character

Mon Nov 06, 2006 1:00 am

So, where? - I think I am going with the Keoland option in the end...

With Barovia being vaguely set in or near Sterich, that's a reasonable distance for my character to travel.
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"A Minstrel's Memory": PBPs & Other Games, since 2005.

Mon Nov 06, 2006 3:09 am

There isn't really a perfect choice, as there isn't any country that is "Greek" in its portrayal really. If you want to portray a country as Grekk in style then go right ahead. As you mentioned Barovia it reminded me of another thread started by "hal" on placing Ravenloft in Greyhawk here:

http://www.canonfire.com/cf/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=1724&highlight=vale+mists

There are some ideas there, and it seems you posted there too, so this is just a reminder then I guess. Perhaps The Caverns of Thracia might also be of use:

http://secure1.white-wolf.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=41&products_id=527

Mon Nov 06, 2006 12:02 pm

Wow, thank you! I had totally forgotten about those posts. :)

Indeed, it seems that the "western Flanaess" option is slightly favoured, which works with my idea to give my character Keolandish roots.

It's maybe not an "ideal" choice, but, really, given that the distinctly Slavic flavour of RL is not found in WoG in general, that won't be bad.

Exclamation

Wasn't there a distinctly Slavic country described in the Chainmail setting?
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"A Minstrel's Memory": PBPs & Other Games, since 2005.

Mon Nov 06, 2006 1:23 pm If anyone asked me...

Hi all,

I would have said the Lendore Isles would make a good Greece analogy, but that suffers if you treat the elves evicting the humans from it as canonical.

South Province is slavic.

Scott "-enkainen" Casper

There's a Yak-Man named Borat out there somewhere...

Tue Nov 07, 2006 1:06 am

Yeah, that's the problem with Lendore. But, of course, I am only a player in our group, and surely won't start canonical debates in a game that, apart from using the 3e "default" setting, doesn't include any other references to WoG. Smile

I had never thought of South Province as slavic. Thank you for the inspiration. (Goes to reread his Greyhawk booklets.)
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"A Minstrel's Memory": PBPs & Other Games, since 2005.

Wed Nov 08, 2006 5:46 pm Or if anyone asked me for more...

Hi again,

It made sense to me that a hilly region just outside a Romanesque Great Kingdom would be analogous to the Balkans. And I once asked Gygax at GenCon if he thought South Province would be culturally analogous to a slavic country and he said yes (though, admittedly, he could have been humoring me). If the Greytalk Archives were up, you could search for a longer list of reasons why South Province is slavic I once prepared.

~Scott "-enkainen" Casper

Yak-Men like to bug famous people at conventions...

Sat Nov 11, 2006 7:45 am

Very interesting... Brindinford could be located there as well. Exclamation

And there goes my character background! Happy

Thank you!
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"A Minstrel's Memory": PBPs & Other Games, since 2005.