One Shot
This new article offers a setting for an RPG that didn't quite fit into the Sanctum universe.
Disclaimer: This article began its life as an installment of Sanctum, but quickly became too diverged from that cosmology. It is also too diverged from reality to be considered historical, so I don't want to see any comments about "accuracy" in the forum. Just keep your hands and arms inside the cart and enjoy the ride.
"Six G-men, armed with swords and springbolts, stopped Sayeh in her tracks. She didn't have time for this; Adar was hot on her heels. She took a quick sip of Soma from her hip flask and felt its power flood her body, then offered a silent prayer to Indra and waited for her pursuer to float into view. A wave of heat pulsed from the alley behind her, melting the horseless chariots that lined the street. Adar rounded the corner and fixed his bonfire gaze on Sayeh... as she called one of Indra's thunderbolts down from the clear, blue sky! It lanced through her body, arced down the length of her out-stretched arm, and slammed into the Yazata's chest with divine fury!
"A half dozen arrows were already flying towards her back. Sayeh spun around with unnatural speed and took one step back. The guards were good shots; their arrows nearly bounced off each other as they impaled the empty air she had just vacated. To Sayeh's Soma-heightened senses, they appeared to hover in place. She plucked them out of flight and hurled them back as time resumed its normal flow. Six bodies hit the ground with a single thud.
"Adar regained his feet just in time to hear her footfalls fade into the distance."
Pulp Persia
An empire ruled by former demons. Speakeasies that serve Soma and sacrifice animals to fallen gods. Horseless chariots, spring-powered guns, and skyscrapers made of stone. Does the gaming world need a noir setting inspired by ancient Persia? Probably not, but I'm gonna give it one, anyway!
(Yeah, I realize that opening fiction was more wuxia than noir. I just can't help myself.)
Three thousand years ago, a religious revolution was taking place in the kingdoms of Persia. In an attempt to curtail the inhumane (and unprofitable) sacrifice of cattle, Zoroaster turned polytheistic religion on its head. Previously, the people had worshipped a family of gods called "daevas." It was to them that animals were so often sacrificed. Zoroaster demonized the daevas and elevated a lesser family of gods in their place: the asuras.
He also invented the concept of monotheism by stating that all these deities were actually "emanations" of Ahura Mazda, the uncreated creator of all things. His benevolent incarnation, Spenta Mainyu, was locked in an ages-old war with Angra Mainyu... who was created good, but chose to embrace evil. If this is starting to sound familiar, it should. Zoroaster's ideas took root in nearly all of the world's major religions, from Buddhism to Islam.
Now, let's make the familiar unfamiliar. In this alternate history, Zoroaster was more than a guy with a catchy idea. The asuras made him their liaison with all of Persia and offered him a deal: They would bestow upon his kind all the power and wisdom of the heavens, in return for outlawing daeva-worship and swearing allegiance to Ahura Mazda. Zoroaster agreed and was transformed into Spenta Mainyu, the living avatar of the Creator.
The six most powerful asuras proclaimed themselves the "divine sparks" of Ahura Mazda, his Amesha Spenta. They recruited other asuras into an army, renamed them the Yazata, and swept across the kingdoms of Persia. The daevas fled before them, retreating to the deep jungles of India. The Amesha Spenta outlawed their worship and slaughtered those priests who would not renounce them. The asuras united Persia under a new religion and set about making it the most advanced civilization on the face of the Earth.
Plumbing, irrigation, and steel were just the beginning. Steam has been harnessed as a power source, ushering in a new age in mechanized warfare. "Springbolt" weapons exceed the bow in both range and accuracy. Persian dominance of the battlefield is challenged only by the exiled daevas, to the west, and the rising power of Greece, to the East. War is inevitable; the only question is which enemy to strike first.
For their part, the daevas have chosen to wage a covert war. They dare not trespass on Persian lands, but they can still grant boons to mortals who make the proper sacrifices. A pagan underground thrives in Persia's new cities of stone and steel. Daeva-worshippers meet in speakeasies where animals are sacrificed and Soma is served. (Soma is an hallucinogenic elixir made from a rare plant that must be smuggled into Persia from remote mountain ranges. It is the divine drink of the daevas and, therefore, outlawed. It grants mortals increased speed, strength, and fortitude, another reason the Amesha Spenta revile it.)
The daevas believe it is folly to give mankind power it has not earned. Their faithful work to overthrow Ahura Mazda's empire and dismantle the engines of evil it has produced. The not-so-faithful simply want to use the daeva's magic under the guise of rebellion. They make their sacrifices dutifully, but play both sides against the middle for personal gain. Most Soma smugglers are of this sort; they charge unholy fees for their services.
It's not that they don't deserve the compensation. The Yazata hunt them relentlessly. Backed by a vast organization of imperial guardsmen (aka. "G-men"), the Yazata enforce the Amesha Spenta's laws. In this light, their mission is almost sympathetic: They are keepers of the peace and defenders of Earth's greatest civilization. After all, it's not like they took power by force. Zoroaster made a deal.
Icons & Iconoclasts
Games can be built around either side of this conflict, or squarely in the middle. Players who want to fight the power should become members of the Underground, devotees of the daevas. A group of PCs could be based out of the speakeasy where they make their sacrifices. Missions would involve tactical strikes against the G-men, sabotaging Ahura Mazda's war machine, and maybe even plotting to kill the gods themselves.
Soma smugglers and other criminal types have experienced a boom in business, fuelled in part by asura technology. Horseless chariots make it easy to carry Soma from the foothills to the speakeasies in just a night or two. Factories pump out consumer goods so fast that the G-men can't guard them all, and there are many Persians who can only afford such niceties at, shall we say, below wholesale prices. The Greeks are even more eager to get their hands on Persian machines and weapons, though commerce of that sort is considered high treason!
In either case, player-characters should select a patron daeva whose might they wish to wield:
- Agni - God of fire. He carries ritual sacrifices into the heavens.
- Indra - God of weather and war. His weapon is the thunderbolt.
- Rudra - The Howler, god of storms and death. His arrows can kill anything.
- Varuna - God of law, rain, and the night sky. Lord of the underworld.
- Soma - Goddess of (you guessed it) Soma. Patron of speakeasies.
The rise in organized crime takes its toll on society, and innocents are inevitably caught in the crossfire. Players who want to take a stand in defense of civilization can join the Imperial Guard. The G-men are the best-equipped fighting force on the face of the planet. Springbolts and horseless chariots make them the unmatched terrors of the ancient world. Their steel weapons can cut a gladius in half and still slice a tomato.
If magic is more your thing, take on the mantle of the Yazatas. Each of these immortal godlings has total control over a narrow sphere of influence. However, even they must answer to the Amesha Spenta... who punish failure almost as harshly as betrayal.
- Mithra - Champion of truth and justice. God of human welfare.
- Ghosh - God of animal welfare and enforcer of the ban on sacrifices.
- Ram - God of luck and rejoicing. Tasked with shutting down speakeasies.
- Adar - God of fire, heat, and light. A bitter rival of the daeva Agni.
- Govad - God of wind and waves. A rival of Indra, Rudra, and Varuna.
There you have it: The world's first Zoroastrian Noir setting!
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoroastrianism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persia
http://www.pantheon.org/areas/mythology/middle_east/persian/articles.html
http://www.pantheon.org/areas/mythology/asia/hindu/articles.html
