AVALANCHE PRESS NileWar in Heliopolis Empire Requires the use of the Dungeons & Dragons® Player’s Handbook, Third Edition, published by Wizards of the Coast® Gora McGahey (order #19251) 69.136.21.109 ‘D20 System’ and the ‘D20 System’ logo are Trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast and are used according to the terms of the D20 System License version 1.0. A copy of this License can be found at www.wizards.com. The Open Game Content in this book includes game rules, character and creature statistics, and similar material using the D20 system. This content is denoted by its placement in bordered-style sidebars and by text highlighted in bold italic type within the main body of the text. Additionally, all of the material in Parts 3 and 4 is designated Open Game Content. The remaining material, including that in bordered-style sidebars and the presentation of this book as a complete work is designated Product Identity. With the exception of the Open Game Content, reproduction of this work without the written permission of the Copyright Holder is a violation of copyright law and is expressly forbidden. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead less than 3000 years is purely coincidental. Avalanche Press Ltd. P.O. Box 4775, Virginia Beach, VA 23454 USA 1-800-564-9008 • www.AvalanchePress.com Copyright © 2002 Avalanche Press LTD. All rights reserved. ISBN 0-9707961-7-X Printed in the United States of America. First Printing, 2002. Gora McGahey (order #19251) 69.136.21.109 Table of Contents Scribe 25 Career Choices 16 Trader 27 Introduction 4 Money 16 Prestige Classes 28 Part 1: History of Wages 16 Avatar 28 the Nile Empire 5 Sick Leave and Vacation 16 Godslayer 29 A Brief History of Early Egypt 5 Funerary Cost 17 Pharaoh 30 Pre-dynastic Period 5 Workers’ Rights 17 Alignment 32 Archaic Period 5 Agriculture 17 New Skills 32 Old Kingdom 6 Inundation and Fertilization 17 New Feat 34 First Intermediate Period 7 Reservoirs and Irrigation 17 Equipment 35 Middle Kingdom 7 Planting and Harvesting 17 Money 35 Second Intermediate Period 8 Gardens 17 New Kingdom 8 Lumber and Other Crops 18 Part 4: The Great Ennead 36 Mythic History 8 Controlling Agriculture 18 The Creator Gods 36 The Jealousy of Set 8 Livestock 18 Atum 37 The Death of Osiris 8 Cattle 18 Shu 37 Isis’s Search 9 Sheep, Goats, and Pigs 19 Tefnut 37 The Queen of Byblos 9 Poultry and Fish 19 Nut 37 The Rebirth of Osiris 10 Exotic Animals 19 Geb 37 The Revenge of Set 10 Transportation 19 Apophis 37 The God of Death 10 Taxation 19 The Ennead of the Nile 38 The Exile of Set 10 Architecture 19 Amun-Re 38 Current State of the Empire 11 Building Materials 19 Osiris 38 Worker Housing 19 Isis 40 Part 2: Life and Culture in Egypt 12 Furnishings 20 Horus 40 Hieroglyphs and Writing 12 Royal Palace 20 Anubis 41 The Beginnings of Language 12 Lifestyles 20 Hathor 41 The Makeup of Hieroglyphs 12 Food Staples 20 Thoth 41 Pyramid Shorthand 12 Delicacies 20 Bastet 42 Egyptian Grammar 12 Hygiene 20 The Ennead of the Desert 42 Writing Utensils 12 Clothing 21 Set 42 Learning Hieroglyphs 14 Family Units 21 Nepthys 43 Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts 14 Religion 21 Sokar 44 Royalty 14 The Cosmos 21 Khonsu 44 Divine Rule 14 Religious Festivals 22 Ptah 45 Commander-in-Chief 14 Death, Mummification, Sobek 45 Trappings of Office 14 and Burial 22 Bes 45 The Vizier 15 Death 22 Government 15 Mummification 23 Part 5: War in Heliopolis 46 Egyptian Socialism 15 Burial 23 Running Heliopolitan Adventures 46 The Justice System 15 Forces of Isfet 46 The Military 16 Part 3: Characters 23 The Gods of Evil 46 Military Regiments 16 Race 23 Avatars and Godslayers 47 Military Advancements 16 Gender 23 Monsters 47 Military Transport 16 Standard Character Classes 23 Undead 50 Egyptian Economics 16 New Character Classes 23 Foreign Invaders 51 Nomad 23 3 Gora McGahey (order #19251) 69.136.21.109 Part 1: History of the Nile Empire The actual origin of the great state of Egypt is lost in the sands of the desert. What little is known has been gathered by piecing together various archaeological findings. All agree glyphs into Egypt, and for the beginnings of a definite split that the Kingdom of Egypt was formed when the states between the upper class and the rest of the Egyptian people. of Upper and Lower Egypt merged for the first time, but The First Dynasty would last about 175 years and be led beyond that things get a little hazy. by the pharaohs (after Menes) Atoti (Athotis I), Djer, Wadji, A Brief History of Early Egypt Dewen, Adjib, Semerkhet, and Qaa. The Second Dynasty began with the rule of the pharaoh, Although the myth of Egypt is that it was an empire that Hetepsekhemui, and lasted about 150 years. Although there lasted for thousands of years, the truth is a little different. is little information about this dynasty, what is known suggests Egyptian culture was split up into several widely diverse a time of unrest and possible splitting of the state. periods (often referred to as kingdoms). This section chronicles the rise of Egypt from its earliest origins to the The troubles seem to have begun when Hetepsekhemui and beginning of the New Kingdom where the adventure WAR IN the two succeeding pharaohs built their royal mastabas not HELIOPOLIS is set. in the necropolis of Abydos, but in Saqqara. While space was probably a great consideration, there was a sense of lost Pre-dynastic Period (3182-3032 BC) respect for tradition. Two of the later pharaohs, Peribsen According to archaeological findings, the first known king and Khasekhemui would return to Abydos for their tombs, appears to have been named Narmer. In the one record of but by then the damage seems to have been done. his kingship, he is shown wearing a Red Crown in one place Moving the pharaoh’s tomb from Abydos to Saqqara located and a White Crown in another. Both depictions, however, both the capital (Memphis) and the royal tomb in Lower show him holding dominion over his enemies and feature Egypt. Prior to this change, the tomb in Upper Egypt (at prominently the symbol for Horus, the falcon. His reign Abydos) served both as a reminder of the unified kingdom falls into relative prehistory and is usually referred to as the and as a way to ensure it remained that way. Pre-dynastic Period. From what records exist, it seems as if Upper Egypt grew Archaic Period (3032-2707 BC) increasingly disconsolate with this turn of events and its The Archaic Period marks the rise of the first pharaohs and loss of political power. Eventually these disputes led to open the first two dynasties in Egypt. The period lasted a little over warfare. During the reign of Khasekhemui, Upper Egypt 300 years, during which Memphis became Egypt’s capital. defeated Lower Egypt and re-unified the kingdom. The first recorded pharaoh was Horus-Aha, also referred to The reign of the pharaohs of the Second Dynasty as Menes. He appears to have been the son of Narmer and from Hetepsekhemui to Nebre, Ninetjer, the first pharaoh to inherit his position. He headed what is Wenegnebti, Sekhemib, Neferkare, Neferkasokar, known as the First Dynasty. This period was marked by the Hudjefa, Peribsen, and Khasekhemui and the dis- use of mastabas, or raised tombs, for burial in solution and reunification of the unified kingdom the necropolis of Abydos, would lead Egypt into its most memorable period. for the introduction Old Kingdom (2707-2170 BC) of hiero- With the end of the Second Dynasty, Egypt moved into what is called the Old Kingdom — a period encompass- ing the Third through Eighth Dynasties. The great- The Pyramids of Giza still inspire awe in visitors 4,500 years later. 4 Gora McGahey (order #19251) 69.136.21.109 est achievements of the Old Kingdom are still visible nearly 5,000 years later: the pyra- mids. However, the existence of these monumental structures is dwarfed by the sheer scope of the economy, government, and popular will needed to create them. The first pharaoh of the Old Kingdom, Nebka, begins the Third Dynasty. However, his predecessor, Djoser, the builder of the first pyramid, overshadowed his reign. Djoser, the son or son-in-law of Khasekhemui, worked with his trusted assis- tant and architect, Imhotep, to create a monument worthy of the pharaoh in the afterlife. They built upon the idea of the mastabas used by previous pharaohs in Saqqara. Their novel idea was to take the mastaba, which looked like a raised building with a flat top, and build a smaller mastaba on top of the first, and so on, until they created a series of mastabas that reached to the heavens themselves. Thus was born the first, or the step, pyramid. After Djoser, the remaining pharaohs in the Third Dynasty, Djoserti, Khaba, Mesokhris, and Huni, attempted but failed to build their own step pyramids. Most of their tombs have yet to be found. The Fourth Dynasty marks the period of Egypt’s greatest achievement in the art of pyramid building. The dynasty began with the lengthy reign of the pharaoh, Snefru. This was a time of peace and great prosperity for Egypt. Without the need to fight their enemies, resources could be allocated to the works of wonder so intimately linked with Egyptian culture. Snefru’s son, Cheops, is probably the most recognized of the pharaohs for his construction of the Great Pyramid, but under Snefru’s guidance the kingdom flourished.