Has there been any discussion, writing, or other easily-sourced material on Amazon-like tribes of primarily barbarian-classed females in Greyhawk? I thought about resurrecting Tamoachan or Dwellers for my upcoming game and I think they'd be a hoot, either as enemies, patrons, enemies who later become patrons, or somesuch. I want to cleave as close to canon as I can, given the other departures I'm taking from it.
I'm just not sure how female-dominant I want them to be. Killing male children and only breeding with captured males seems awfully over-the-top, but a fully egalitarian society is not what I'm after either. Perhaps just "men as second-class citizens" would be enough to give rise to Amazon-like rumors in other lands.
If it matters, I think I'll do most of the tribeswomen as barbarians, with Olman pantheon clerics, a few druids, and some serpent- or verdant-bloodline sorcerors for that Yuan-ti feel. This is a Pathfinder game, if that is of import.
Don't forget the Suel barbarians in the same region. I'm not sure what kind of extra material you need, though - the PCs could just encounter a group of female warriors and never find out exactly how, or if, they reproduce. There was an amazon kit in the 2e Complete Fighter's Handbook. They could just have a deal with other tribes where they periodically sleep with single men and give male children to them to raise.
Don't forget the Suel barbarians in the same region. ... They could just have a deal with other tribes where they periodically sleep with single men and give male children to them to raise.
Oh... that's very good. Visually, It would provide some skin tone variation, and prevent silly explanations of a sexist sort. One sourcebook I consulted actually posited that they were reproductively different and tossed male children off cliffs ala300. I want the culture to exist within the conceits of Greyhawk, and having Suel involved certainly solves that.
My chosen ruleset recently added a large number of interesting non-European options including the Ninja alternate Rogue class. The mental image of stealthy assassins in Aztec-like garb and weaponry is compelling and helping fuel this particular storyline that leads up to Tamoachan or Dwellers-like adventuring in a lost city.
Obsidian throwing stars in a slaver's throat will be the first clue that they're not in Verbobonc anymore...
I remember way back when in 1e there were sets of official Greyhawk amazon miniatures. I seem to remember that the advertising placed them in Hardby, although that could be a faulty memory. It was quite some time ago. Anyway, I found a gallery with pics of some of them. Check it out - **NSFW: Naked mini breasts, yo!***http://www.miniatures-workshop.com/lostminiswiki/index.php?title=World_Of_Greyhawk The painter has definitely gone for Suloise looking amazons.
Also check out some information on the Sauromatians of 6th-5th centuries BC. They were a war-like nomadic people of the the Scythian steppes. Their burial mounds indicate that their women held typically "male roles" of warriors, priests and such.
The wikipedia page on the Sarmatians only offers a paltry amount of information on the early Sauromatians, but there should be some other resources online.
Thanks for the link smillan. I have been looking for more pics of Minifigs for the WoG product project. This helped out a lot. _________________ - Moderator/Admin (in some areas)/Member -
The wife and I, over steak and baked potatos, discussed the Olman, Aztecs/Mexica and how to blend them. What sort of options to use, that kind of thing. We delved a bit into character classes, and I used all of this during the discussion. I might try to write it all up after reading a bit more of the articles around here to get an idea of style and Canonfire syntax.
Briefly, they will be a tribe that started out taking in Olman and Suel women and children left behind after wars, smaller tribal conflicts, etc. Over time, the population of females was so great that the balance of gender roles tipped over, and males were relagated to support positions. It wasn't long until they became "protected" (i.e. second-class citizens)
A few more centuries pass, and rather than restore the balance, the tribe's priestesses maintained this proportion through the usual manipulation of the leaders that priests always seem to employ.
Rather than discuss system specific class options, I've settled on dressing up the base and core classes of Pathfinder in new ways. While I'm sure my Poctli (Smoke Warriors) are usually written up as PFRPG Ninja, you could also make them using Rogues or a 4E analog that I'm simply unfamiliar with. I'll try to include a discussion of all classes, and how they fit into the societal structure.
So when I complete my article, there will be an attempt at incorporating all systems, but I might need some help from those with knowledge of 2E and 4E.
Despite the "historical" problems of mounted Aztec-themed characters, I think given the proximity of Tamoachan to the other nations of Flanaess, I'm justified in introducing some kind of knight/cavalier concept. Perhaps mounted on axebeaks. I'm a sucker for big predatory birds.
Last edited by jephkay on Thu Oct 20, 2011 9:44 am; edited 1 time in total
Very hip, Jeph. I look forward to the full article. Also, I like the idea of the bird-mounted cavalry--it reminds me of the toriuma from Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind, which I've always loved (and used as inspiration in a campaign setting I created long ago).
Very hip, Jeph. I look forward to the full article. Also, I like the idea of the bird-mounted cavalry--it reminds me of the toriuma from Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind, which I've always loved (and used as inspiration in a campaign setting I created long ago).
Reminds me of one of my favorite arcade games: Joust!
Seriously, though, there are many other potential mounts available in Greyhawk if you want to keep the horseless meme: Wyverns, dragonnes, manticores, dragons, giant lizards, mobats (for halfling and gnome Amazons ), and even dinosaurs, though I prefer to keep the latter restricted to more isolated spots like the Isle of Dread and other 'lost valley's'.
... Perhaps mounted on axebeaks. I'm a sucker for big predatory birds.
SirXaris wrote:
Reminds me of one of my favorite arcade games: Joust!
Wow! I hadn't thought of joust in YEARS, either! I used to love Joust! This really got my brain going! I would love to see Axebeak-mounted Amazons! The Axebeak in 3rd Edition D&D (or any edition, I guess) doesn't fly, so it's not quite the same as Joust, but, I would love to see that!
If you went with the Axebeak, I think that I would use it as written in the 3rd Edition Arms and Equipment Guide, rather than the one written up in the Tome of Horrors from the Swords & Sorcery line from Necromancer games. I like the way they handled the Axebeak's speed there. It makes them a little more unique. (65ft, rather than 60ft, and they can move 5x their speed when using a Run action, rather than 4x).
Well ... I just found the "official" Pathfinder version in the Bonus Bestiary. I have to say that I am not altogether impressed with it. I like the way they have an ability called Sudden Charge.
Pathfinder Bonus Bestiary, p.7 wrote:
Sudden Charge - (Ex) When making a charge attack, an axe beak makes a single bite attack. If successful, it may also attempt to trip its
opponent as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If the attempt fails, the axe beak is not tripped in return.
Thing two things that I don't like about them is that they were always s'posed to be very fast. In the pathfinder version, they are no faster than a typical horse. Also, they were always a minimum of seven feet tall - some more like nine. It seems to be a trend in later editions to simply say that are seven feet tall, implying that they don't deviate from that very often.
At any rate ... I love the Axebeak, and there's likely many ways to tweak them, especially since you were saying that the Amazons were to be played in a Pathfinder game. You could make the mounts trained, and learned the Run feat, or Fleet of Foot (giving them +5ft speed) if there's an equivalent for that in PF RPG. And ... if you wanted to, you could give them fly speed with clumsy maneuverability ... nothing too fast, mind you; perhaps about the same as their land speed.
I like your take on the Axebeak, Icarus. That all sounds good.
I'm sure I remember that picture. It's the one I prefer too, simply because a more fantastic-looking creature is better in a fantasy setting. Is that picture of the axebeak from the module Dungeonland?
Is that picture of the axebeak from the module Dungeonland?
Nope. It's actually from the third edition Arms and Equipment Guide. It's more similar to the original first edition MM than any of the other more photorealistic ones I've seen. To me, it's called a "axebeak" for a reason, and it's not because it's just sharp. I imagine its thick powerful neck throwing its head in an almost chopping fashion to make its bite attack. Like it's trying to bite mostly with incisors, if it had them.
My thoughts exactly. I think in terms of real-world biology when playing around with monsters, with plenty of variations on a given theme. While a full-blown linnean taxonomic study of the Amedio would be awesome, it would also be impossible.
However...
I think there should be a variety of terror birds. This leaves one plenty of room for any edition's views on the beasts. From the pack-hunting Smedger's Wolfbird through the Amedio Axebeak, (typical PFRPG Axebeaks) to Titornis Amediensis (larger birds from previous editions) all the way up to Gigantornis Amedio (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigantoraptor).
Even some semi-flightless birds for jousting competitions over lakes of lava.
...Perhaps just "men as second-class citizens" would be enough to give rise to Amazon-like rumors in other lands...
-Hardby is already sort of like that, but with wizards.
jephkay wrote:
...One sourcebook I consulted actually posited that they were reproductively different and tossed male children off cliffs ala300. I want the culture to exist within the conceits of Greyhawk, and having Suel involved certainly solves that...
-Tossing male children off the cliffs would be rather... dynamic.
rasgon wrote:
... They could just have a deal with other tribes where they periodically sleep with single men and give male children to them to raise.
-The Amazons keep the females, the other societies keep the males.
One for you, one for me!
Maybe the evil aligned amazons toss them off the cliffs, and the others cut a deal?
Hmmm... A society that wanted more male children would consider this a good deal. It might even be mandatory.
Also, this sounds like the sort of creepy thing the Suel Brotherhood would try to get in on. They probably wouldn't be interested in half breeds unless they were some sort of heretics, or maybe for experiments, but they'd have to be investigating it.
Anyway, there must be something there...
Icarus wrote:
jephkay wrote:
... Perhaps mounted on axebeaks. I'm a sucker for big predatory birds.
SirXaris wrote:
Reminds me of one of my favorite arcade games: Joust!
Wow! I hadn't thought of joust in YEARS, either! I used to love Joust! This really got my brain going! I would love to see Axebeak-mounted Amazons! The Axebeak in 3rd Edition D&D (or any edition, I guess) doesn't fly, so it's not quite the same as Joust, but, I would love to see that!
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), and even dinosaurs, though I prefer to keep the latter restricted to more isolated spots like the Isle of Dread and other 'lost valley's'.
