Wonder of wonders! I have unearthed more articles from the bygone pages of Dragonne magazine, that alternate-history publication wherein my favorite game (and favorite setting) were never wrenched out of the hands of its creator.
In all seriousness, I’ve taken Gygax’s statements made online that he intended to flesh out the Baklunish pantheon, and invented a scenario in which that material as an expansion of the World of Greyhawk Fantasy Setting was revealed in a series of articles in the magazine, much as the material in Unearthed Arcana was given in small doses over the course of a year or more.
We begin with the introduction of the Baklunish pantheon as a stand-alone article (much like the Suel gods were introduced) and a separate article detailing a new cleric sub-class, the rashaw. The gods are most definitely my own creation, based on pre-Islamic Arab pagan deities, mixed in with a healthy dose of medieval Islam. I deliberately eschewed the later additions to the Baklunish pantheon that came from Living Greyhawk, except where they were included in canonical sources. I have my own plans for Al’Akbar…
Only the first handful of gods is detailed herein; there will be additional articles in the series if you all seem to enjoy this style. I’ve also got plans to do rashaw spells, some new monsters, etc. in a similar format, using the mid-80’s Dragon magazine articles as a model.
It’s also worth noting that my patrons on Patreon got a sneak peak of this a while ago. Just sayin’…
Anyhoo, I hope you all enjoy my first effort in this new direction. More to (maybe) come!
Really good job on this as usual, Mr. Bloch-and it ties into what has been, for me, one of the most interesting aspects of Greyhawk as it’s evolved over the years.
The Baklunish West’s evolution into a parallel Middle East (with references such as Al’Akbar and the Fiftyscore Tales of Al’Shari) dovetails nicely with the Flanaess as a parallel North America (as evidenced by the Flan being wrongly called primitive and backward by later human arrivals, when the Flan had their own sophisticated civilizations) and Hepmonaland as a parallel South America (as evidenced by the Shrine of Tamoachan and the Forbidden City, and from what I understand to be the city-state type civilizations of many Olman). Of course, we also have Erypt, Nippon, Zindia and other such places too (although I wish they had chosen more original names for them).
I also like the Rashaw class, but I’m confused as to why halflings who practice it would only be found in the eastern Baklunish lands. Are the halflings living further west or south not eligible for this type of clerical magic, for some reason?
Snagged! This is what I was talking about Joe! Offer will stand as long as I do.