Product upload 5: Starting

Section 2: The Starting Gate

Dungeon Masters familiar with creating different or radical campaign worlds may not be intimidated by the choices and potential pitfalls I outlayed above. This is a very good thing for them, however, as a DM with some experience under my belt myself, I would like to relate that creating a Bronze Age style campaign hit me hard in the face. Among the many problems I immediately encountered was the problem of the starting gate, indeed, I didn't get much farther than it in my own attempt at a campaign.

The D&D game incorporates a generous and bizarre list of weapons and equipment whose economics are never very easy to understand. Though illogical and incongruous, the weapons list allows characters to easily hail from a diverse list of nations or cultures: Scimitars and Falchions for Middle Eastern themes, Rapier for a Renaissance theme, Bolas for a wild hunt, that net and trident for a Gladiatorial battle, and the Dungeon Master's Guide presents a wonderful list of minor tweaks and additions to create weapons for an Asian campaign, including the Katana, Wakizashi, Blowgun, and Kusari-Gama (the standard weapons table itself provides for a number of “Monk weapons” with a generally Asian feel). Sample statistics for Renaissance weapons, Modern weapons, and science fiction weapons are also listed alongside the Asian ones (DMG 145-146). This information, as well as the written discussions of it, do much of the heavy lifting of the inventory changes that may need to be made for a potential campaign. The guide also provides a short blurb on stone and bronze weapons, yet the text in the book suggests simply blanket penalties to players for using these non-steel resources. Furthermore, it focuses more on the theme of “survival” which would be appropriate to a Stone Age or early Bronze Age campaign but is hardly appropriate in the developed societies which were present and increasingly dominant in the middle and late Bronze Age. When there is no steel available and with weapon types restricted by decreased variety, it hardly seems logical to punish players by making Bronze start with a penalty.

As I've mentioned, the eclectic equipment in D&D borrows from many sources. I recommend taking a reasonably accurate approach to actual bronze age equipment, and am including my own table of weapons from my modification, but be warned: creation of your own equipment set (or revision of my 1-draft attempt which ended in an aborted playtest) will be taxing. You will have to work hard just to get to a place that is, for other campaign worlds, square one.

In addition to weapons, armor available was completely different. Many soldiers in Egyptian and Mesopotamian depiction or almost entirely unarmored, and the most notable suit of armor the found, the Dendra suit, is believed to be more of a unique individual piece than a common, practical defense. With differences in the likelihood of meeting heavily armored opponents, the technique of combat changes from the Medieval standard which is itself very poorly implemented in Dungeons and Dragons.

Equipment available to the party will be more sparse and probably poorer in every measurable level: quality, quantity, utility, and availability. You will have to be responsible to how much you are willing to revise the Equipment table beyond normal.

Mundane equipment, however, is just one of your worries. Magical equipment and magic items are another. The problems with magic and the Bronze Age campaign become obvious almost immediately, and there are multiple ones. To begin with, Wizards and their feat, “Scribe Scroll” are in an awkward position as the powers of the earth wrote on clay tablets and stelae during the Bronze Age.

This presents interesting opportunities to reform the magic system or add in new content, but it is also one paradox you will have to answer before somebody asks why it is you're still using spellbooks. It's work to do to get your campaign back to square one.

Beyond tablets and lack of writing are the magic items presented in the SRD. Some systems, like the rules governing the creation of magic weapons or armor, shouldn't cause too much trouble. However, deciding on what rings, potions, wands, staves, rods, and wondrous items have to go and making your own to fill in potential setting problems is a monumental concern. This is also where you should take care: your decisions here will affect your final spell list and vice verse. Don't hesitate! I discovered the hard way the this process needs multiple tests. You should allow your Magic Item process to influence how you treat spells and magic itself, and as you revise one, revise the latter was well.

This approach applies to more than just magic items and spells. At every point along your creation efforts, you will find yourself frustrated by obstacles that seem to prevent each other from being solved. Plow on ahead and then revise your results after feedback or looking at what you have.