Phoenicia Player's Guide in Layout! plus FAQ

Yes that's right, the Phoenicia player's guide is now in layout!  One of the interesting things about this player's guide is that there isn't going to be an image of the city with it's falls.  The problem is: No one in their right mind has built a thriving city around a waterfall yet, especially one as big as a cataract fall complex.

The cataract waterfall is actually inspired by Iguazu Falls in both Argentina and Brazil.  Although Mosi-oa-Tunya ("The Smoke that Thunders"), also known as Victoria Falls, is also an inspiration. 

Why would a thriving city be built around a cataract?   Well, people do dumb things.  But the major reason is the Lemurian Obsidian pyramid located under the major spill way.  Made of Orgonite, the pyramid attracts both Arcane Spellcasters and psions.  Fortunately, the psions got there first and started to build a magnificent city.  However, in real life, the practical problems of flooding and noise pollution (from the falls) are practically tough to overcome.  So, city builders had too many problems with cities centralized around waterfalls.

Q. Why a city of Psionics in Pathfinder?

A. Everyone needs a city that they can drop in their campaigns without a fuss.  Phoenicia, and it's three sister cities -- Sybaris and Syracuse; are designed so that the Game Master can do just that.  This allows you to explore psionics at your leisure if your players or you -- the GM -- enjoys the system.

Q.  Why don't you just add it to Glorion?
 
A. Are you nuts?  No Author in his right mind would submit his work to Paizo and sign a work for hire agreement when the Internet -- the world's most powerful and easiest Copying Machine -- is still operational.  I'll take my chances with releasing it under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.

Q. Why a Creative Commons License?

A. Why not?  With a creative commons license, major companies can compete with me directly.  So everyone wins.

Wizards of the Coast wins, because they can create a game book derivative of mine.

Paizo wins because they can do the same.

Same for Dreamscarred Press.

Steve Jackson Games.

And a host of other companies.   Plus, the city can reach an amazing amount of gamers.  So I win, and you win.  You can get an official 4e product and play Phoenicia with official 4e guidelines.  Or you can get an official Exalted product and play Phoenicia with Exalted.  Plus, gamers can translate it into their favorite languages and the translations can compete with each other.  Again.  Everyone wins.

Q. Are you nuts?

A.  No, I am not.  But please, don't flood my email box asking for permission, I'll get frustrated with you all.

More on the Orcs

I've been working on my orcs lately.

So far, I've got it down to seven tribes and marriage rituals. I decided to base the marriage ritual on Malay customs, since the western style of Marriage in America (and England) seems so common place.

You exchange vows and a cleric or a judge pronounces you man and wife. Didn't seem fair to put that spin on a Warlike race, especially when marriages today doesn't seem to be so special. It's easy to get divorce in America, so I wanted my orcs to have some class.

I looked up Indian and Malay marriage customs, and picked the Malay marriage rituals and added the Polynesian bride price ritual of giving a herd of cows to the bride's father. I then added a feast where a bull is slain and the orcs partake in the feast. Eggs are given to most every guest as a symbol of fertility. I could add shades of the Orphic Egg to the Mythology of the orcs to explain the Creation. ("from a cosmic egg laid by a diety, sprang forth the first orc man and the first orc woman. They then had sex, and gave birth to our race.")

However, I love the idea that the orcs believe that they came about as a result of an act of sexual reproduction. A society's religion that teaches that man and woman came from sex puts special emphasis on the family. I may even have tribe justify masturbation by making it into a creation myth ("Gruumsh rubbed his penis and spilled his seed upon the ground, and from the ground sprang Luthic"), thus justifying that tribe's backward ways in treating their females.

However, if you are a world builder, I must reccommend GURPS Religion. It teaches you how to build religions for your world. Since I'm building by ideas incorporated from other cultures, I tend to build mythology around this. But the book has been invaluable.