This article originally appeared in d20 Weekly
Nile Empire: War in Heliopolis
Produced by Avalanche Press LTD
Written by Fred Jandt & John R. Phythyon, Jr.
Cover art by Lorenzo Sperlonga (front) & Terry Strickland (back)
Interior art by Peggy Gordon & Terry Strickland
64 b&w pages; $16.95
Nile Empire: War in Heliopolis provides setting information and game mechanics for adventuring in a mysterious and magical New Kingdom Egypt, where the heroes must defend the realm from the schemes of the evil god Set and his minions, both mortal and divine. This book is broken into five parts: History of the Nile Empire, Life and Culture in Egypt, Characters, The Great Ennead, and War in Heliopolis. All material presented in the "Characters" and "Great Ennead" sections is designated Open Game Content.
The first two parts detail the basic elements of the setting, history, and culture; the writing is informative and concise. The historical overview sums up the previous 1,500+ years, from the Pre-dynastic period (3182-3032 BC) to the beginning of the New Kingdom (1547 BC, during the reign of Ahmose I). The events of the mortal world run parallel to those of the divine, as presented in the Mythic History section, which is a reworking of the Osiris myth; the twist here is that upon Osiris' return as King of the Gods, a rival pantheon is established by Set to overthrow the Heliopolitan gods.
"Life and Culture in Egypt" is equally informative, but perhaps too succinct, and includes topics like hieroglyphs, economics, lifestyle, and religion. It's a nice . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: July 31, 2002
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