rust Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 At the moment I am gathering ideas and informations for a potential new setting, a fictional colonial state in West Africa (in my alternate history it replaces real world Liberia) in about 1880 / 1890. Unfortunately it seems there is not much roleplaying material for this region and time period, at least I was unable to find anything about West Africa in my Call of Cthulhu material (Congo, Kenya and Sudan are too different from West Africa), and the potentially interesting Dark Continent RPG is obviously no longer available. So, if you know any useful roleplaying oriented source (the Wikipedia and other Internet sources cover the non-roleplaying stuff quite well), please let me know - any help would be most welcome. Quote "Mind like parachute, function only when open." (Charlie Chan) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seneschal Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 (edited) Just to make sure I understand, you are looking for pre-done RPG material for the period and region? I mean, from a game mechanics standpoint there shouldn't be any big adaptation required. If you already have historical and historical personality info, just run with it. Surely there are enough odd events and odder people to fuel your campaign. History is always stranger than fiction, Mythos included. Here's a GURPS Horror adventure set in the region: http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/Roleplayer/Roleplayer10/IsleofNight/HorrorAdventure.html It even has the appropriate Lovecraftian flavor. Edited October 16, 2011 by seneschal Add link Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rust Posted October 16, 2011 Author Share Posted October 16, 2011 Just to make sure I understand, you are looking for pre-done RPG material for the period and region? Yes, it would help to see how others have "translated" the real world informations into roleplaying game material, from the typical cultural professions and skills to the stats of unusual cultural weapons. Of course, I can (and will) do that "trans- lation" myself, but I would prefer to have an opportunity to compare my approach to a fictional West Africa of the period to that of others. Thank you very much for the link. Quote "Mind like parachute, function only when open." (Charlie Chan) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rust Posted October 20, 2011 Author Share Posted October 20, 2011 Hmmm ... 70+ hits and no recommendations, it seems West Africa still is a "here there be dragons" region on the roleplaying games map. Quote "Mind like parachute, function only when open." (Charlie Chan) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seneschal Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 That means no one can gainsay your take on the region. And, given what I've seen of your work on your Varun and Pharos IV campaigns, you don't need to compare your work unfavorably with anybody's. My only request is that your translate your translation into English and publish the finished version as the definitive West African sourcebook. Besides, game mechanics won't be an issue here. A West African spear is ... a spear. A Liberian sword or shield is ... a sword or shield. An Ivory Coast fisherman, farmer, herdsman, or warrior is ... a fisherman, farmer, herdsman or warrior. Your cultural and historical research will be invaluable to your fellow role-players, but as far as game stats are concerned, it's all more of the same. No sweat. The region may have 37 shapes of knives with 14 spiritual or ceremonial associations, but in game terms they're all just a 1D6 dagger. Do the research you were going to do anyway, and let the mechanics take care of themselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rust Posted October 21, 2011 Author Share Posted October 21, 2011 Thank you very much. Your are of course right when it comes to most of the weapons, but unfortunately there are also some rather unusual types which I find impossible to treat like any of the well known weapon types, partially because it seems difficult to find out how exactly they were used in combat. This here is one example of what I mean. As far as I know, it was ba- sically a thrown weapon, but it was also used in melee. Quote "Mind like parachute, function only when open." (Charlie Chan) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seneschal Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Short haft, three blades, can be thrown like a war club as well as used as a knife. Treat as a dagger when used as such, perhaps with a bonus to hit because of the extra blades. Treat as a boomerang or axe when thrown, no penalties since it is apparently balanced for throwing. Naturally it requires a specific skill, not a generic Knife skill, and perhaps Martial Arts as well in order to use the extra blades to trap an opponent's weapon. If the handle was longer, I'd treat it as a halberd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rust Posted October 21, 2011 Author Share Posted October 21, 2011 Thank you for your ideas. My own preliminary idea was to treat it like an axe in melee combat, mainly because the way the blades are arranged seems to support hacking better than stabbing, and to give it a small bonus to hit and to damage both as a melee weapon (because of the number of blades) and as a thrown weapon (because the blades can impale, which the blade of a throwing axe usually cannot). Quote "Mind like parachute, function only when open." (Charlie Chan) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GianniVacca Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 My unfinished Atrilia BRP-rolegame has many peoples, religions, etc, inspired by western Africa, most notably by the Yoruba. Sorry, it's in French. http://www.basicrps.com/atrilia/fr/jdr/ Quote 「天朝大國」，https://rpggeek.com/rpgitem/92874/celestial-empire 很有意思: http://celestialempire.blogspot.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rust Posted October 21, 2011 Author Share Posted October 21, 2011 Thank you very much indeed. My French is worse than that of a Spanish cow, but with a little help from my favourite online translation program I will probably be able to comprehend most of the material. Quote "Mind like parachute, function only when open." (Charlie Chan) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMonroe Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 Not an RPG book, but my brother recently published a book about his archeological work in West Africa: http://www.amazon.com/Power-Landscape-Atlantic-West-Africa/dp/1107009391/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319866082&sr=8-1 Quote Please don't contact me with Chaosium questions. I'm no longer associated with the company, and have no idea what the new management is doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rust Posted October 29, 2011 Author Share Posted October 29, 2011 Thank you very much, I will try to get it from the library. Quote "Mind like parachute, function only when open." (Charlie Chan) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.