Race
This isn't saying there is no diversity. The Greeks were at great pains to differentiate themselves from other Greeks, the inhabitants of each state were famous for certain stereotyped attributes. We can use these attributes to create Greek races.
Race Descriptions
Amphictyonic: Unsophisticated, hardy and enduring
Arcadian: Primitive and uncultured, close to nature
Argive: Believers of 'Nothing in Excess'
Athenian: Enterprising, cosmopolitan, artistic thinkers
Boeotian: Rural-people, hard-working, hardy, and athletic
Corinthian: Mercantile-minded, enterprising and industrious
Cretan: Untrustworthy and sly
Ionian: Intelligent, thoughtful and lovers of pleasure and relaxation
Laconian: Hard, uncivilised, brutal and fierce (Only class available is Spartan)
Thessalian: Lovers of open spaces and horses
Racial Ability Adjustments (and Local Dialect)
Amphictyonic: +2 CON, -2 CHA (Western)
Arcadian: +2 WIS, -2 INT (Arcadian)
Argive: no adjustment (Doric)
Athenian: +2 CHA, -2 WIS (Ionian)
Boeotian: +2 STR, -2 INT, -2 CHA (Aetolian)
Corinthian: +2 CHA, +2 INT, -2 STR (Doric)
Cretan: +2 DEX, -2 CON (Doric)
Ionian: +2 WIS, +2 CHA, -2 STR (Ionic)
Laconian: +2 CON, -2 CHA (Doric)
Thessalian: +2 DEX, -2 CON (Aetolian)
Character Classes
We associate each character class with a brotherhood, organisation, cult or college. This will prevent players from taking an unsuitable class and turning it something totally 'way out'. When players take a class they take up the trappings and roles of the Greek organisation that goes with it. Of course plugging the player characters into the Greek world from day one is a nice side-effect! The following classes (with their D&D equivalents) are available for player characters in Heroes of Delphi:
ARCADIAN PRIEST - Most Greek priests tend the altar in front of their temples, and are paid by the local city council. In wild Arcadia, land of ancient forests and towering mountains, worship of the gods is conducted less formally. The priests of Arcadia wander the land and tend altars hidden in caves or woodland grottos, or on mountaintops. The wilder tribes have no cities and their savage rituals are performed by the Arcadian Priests. Close to nature, these holy men revere the wilder sides of the Greek gods rather than their more civilized aspects. They worship Zeus Lycaon (wolf-like) above all the gods, for example, and from him gain the ability to shape change into beast form. Use the Druid class.
HOPLITE - The wars of the Greeks are waged and won by hoplites, heavily armoured soldiers marching shield to shield as a mighty phalanx. With their long thrusting spears, shining armour and nodding horse-hair crests, these tough fighters are very distinctive. In days past the citizens made up a part-time hoplite army, but in the 4th century BC most hoplite armies are mercenary forces. The armoured spearmen wander the world looking for employment, and fight faithfully for their employers. Some states still call their citizens to battle, but many prefer to rely on the hired hoplites. Use the Fighter class.
OLYMPIAN - The Olympians are professional athletes, members of a devoted athletic brotherhood that live to improve their bodies and minds. They are boxers, wrestlers, runners, javelin-throwers, practitioners of pankration fighting, and more. The brotherhood recruits every four years at the Olympic Games (at Olympia in Elis). It recruits from winners of the events. Olympians also compete in other contests around the Greek world. They live for excellence and competition, and make a living training those who pay for their time at public baths and by collecting prize money. Every Greek city has its own games organised on some festival, the largest are shared by several states. The most important are the pan Hellenic games, drawing competitors (and Olympians) from across the Greek world and included the Olympic Games (at Olympia), Pythian Games (held at Delphi), Nemean Games and the Isthmian Games (held near Corinth). These Games are consecrated respectively to Zeus, Apollo, Zeus (again) and to Poseidon. Lesser games are held every year (the Greater Dionysia at Athens) or every two years. Often the games of a city or group of states are only open to citizens of that city or state. Pan Hellenic games (held every four years) are open to any Greek. Use the Monk class.
ORPHIC - Orpheus was an ancient poet and hero that travelled to the underworld to free his love from the clutches of Hades. He was torn to pieces at his death. Orphics honour Orpheus with lyre-playing, music and poetry and they carry the message of reincarnation with them. They travel constantly and earn their living giving performances and teaching music to those who wish to learn this noble art. The Orphics are able to use magic. Imagine them as lyre-playing mystics. Use the Bard class.
PELTAST - While the hoplites, arrayed in their tight formations, form the devastating heart of every Greek army, they are protected on the battlefield by the peltasts. The peltasts are light troops, scouts and auxiliaries, mountain-men, hunters and barbarians who sell their services to Greek city-states. They move freely and quickly, scouting out enemy units, moving along trails, and searching for ambushes. In battle they fling javelins at the enemy in rapid succession, or pepper them with arrows or sling-shot. The peltasts have great knowledge of the wilderness. They get their name from the pelta, the small (and easily carried) wicker shield carried by them into battle. The first and still the best peltasts are from Thrace, but any rough hill-country in Greece (such as Aetolia or Acarnarnia) can provide hundreds of peltasts, ex-shepherds and huntsmen. Use the Ranger class. The human Feat Bonus must be allocated to Point-Blank Shot, and in return the character gains four javelins as part of his starting gear.
PHILOSOPHER - Philosophers are academics, thinkers, inventors, rhetoriticians and wizards. They are men (and sometimes women!) who attempt to control the forces of the universe without regard for the gods. The first and greatest philosophers were Ionic. All philosophers are of 'good' alignment. Every member of this class must select a school from which he receives his training and with which he has an on-going relationship. The most common schools are:
Platonist
Plato, a student of Socrates, is alive and teaching at his Academy, in Athens (Neutral Good/ Conjuration)
Pythagorean
A school popular in Magna Graecia, founded by Pythagoras (Neutral Good/Necromancy)
Megaran
Founded by a Euclid, student of Socrates, great debaters (Chaotic Good/Enchantment)
Milesians
Ancient Ionian school famous for its astronomers and engineers (Lawful Good/Transmutation)
Cynicism
Founded by Antisthenes, a pupil of Socrates, ascetics, beggars and preachers who revere Hercules (Chaotic Good/Abjuration)
One famous female Philosopher was Hipparchia the Cynic. Philosophers do not receive familiars and do not need to carry around a spell book. Instead their spells need only be kept safe in a library. New spells must be added to this library and the entire works consulted and re-read to go up a level. This takes one week per current level of uninterrupted study. To 'learn' spells ready for casting the next day, the Philosopher spends one hour in feverish calculation the day before. Use the Wizard class.
PYTHIAN - The Pythians are the archer guardians of Delphi and the countryside around it. Named after Python, the great dragon of the valley originally slain by Apollo, these tough mountain-men patrol the hills and slopes. They safeguard the trails, routes and roads used by pilgrims, as well as the treasuries of Delphi. Their wages are paid by the Amphictyonic League council. Apollo blesses the Pythians with magical powers, and like the god, they are skilled warriors and healers. Use the Paladin class.
ROGUE - The Greeks were fast-talking individuals, entrepreneurs and opportunists - all except the Spartans, at any rate! There were many rogues in Greek society, from the mythical Odysseus, to the Athenian playboy Alkibiades and the traitorous shepherd who led the Persian army around the pass of Thermopylae. In the 4th century BC every major city-state has its underworld of rogues; a secret society of thieves and con-men, assassins, spies, black-mailers and burglars. Some are free citizens; some are immigrants (metics) while others might even be slaves. A Rogue character begins with an affiliation to one such secret society, whether it is the Corinthian Pirates, the Red Thebans, the Elean Underworld, the Long Walls Gang of Athens or the Krypteia (Sparta's own anti-helot secret police). These societies work for themselves and often freelance their espionage and assassination services to factions within the city. Use the Rogue class.
SPARTAN - The Spartans are a brave, honourable warrior-people devoted to prowess in combat. They are a noble elite, a haughty aristocracy that looks down on all weaker races and nations. Its towns are inhabited by poor periokoi ('dwellers round about') and a class of despised slaves called helots does much of the farming. A Spartan lives in a 'mess' with his mess-mates and rarely sees his family. He trains continually, honing his skills and proving his loyalty to the state. The Spartans are pious worshippers of the gods and of Sparta's ancient heroes - the Dioscurii (the Twins, Castor and Pollux). While they remain courageous and honourable, the Dioscurii grant the Spartan warriors wonderful powers of fortitude, fearlessness and violence on the battlefield. They wear their hair in long ringlets, fancifully kept, and are clad in distinctive scarlet cloaks. These cloaks hide blood-stains and keep up morale. Use the Barbarian class, with the proviso that the character must be Lawful (the general alignment of Spartan citizens is Lawful Neutral). In addition the class is proficient with heavy armour as well as medium and light armour. To compensate for this his Hit Die is d10, the same as the Hoplite.
SORCERER - The sorcerers of the 4th century BC have the blood of ancient gods and heroes from Greek myth flowing in their veins. They have magical powers; they are witches (if female) or seers (if male). Medea (lover of Jason) is the archetypal witch. Tireseas is the archetypal seer. Sorcerers are not common figures in Greece but are accepted figures in society. They are neither shunned nor applauded; perhaps they are a reminder of a primitive, unrestrained period in Greek history. All expect to receive payment for their services. There are a number of magical colleges in existence which female sorcerers may join, including the Delphics, the Dactyls, the Empusae and Medeans (the Thessalian Witches). Each focuses on a different school of magical specialisation. Use the Sorcerer class and allow familiars.
Sorcererous Schools
Dactyls Enchantment
Delphics Divination
Empusae Transformation
Medeans Necromancy
All male Sorcerers Divination
TEMPLE PRIEST - The polytheistic religion of the Greeks is world-renowned. Huge temples of marble were erected in the name of individual deities; often a city would adopt a patron god and shower that being with statues, shrines and temples. Priesthoods varied tremendously, in some places priests were permanently employed, in a few children held the posts, in Athens the priesthood was an office held for only a year or two. Assume that all temple priests are permanent staff, conducting daily sacrifices at the temple altar (outside the front of the temple) and overseeing other important rituals (including caring for the statue of the god and preparing the monthly festivals). A priest is devoted to his chosen god, but recognises and pays homage to the other Olympian deities also. He especially venerates any gods, goddesses, heroes or lesser beings related to the god in any way. Use the Cleric class. For a list of Greek deities and their domains, see later.
Notes on Greek Skills
All of the skills listed in the Players Handbook can stand, but the DM and players might like some further detail concerning a number of the skills and how they pertain to the Greek setting.
Craft
The crafts are not a prestigious way of life in Greek eyes; they tie a person down and reduce his independence. Many crafts are carried out by metics, Greeks living in foreign city-states. Greece is famous for its elegant and sophisticated pottery, and vase-painters are well thought of. The artistic skills required to design shields are also appreciated. Greece is also known for the stunning architecture found in many city-states, the stone-masons really know how to work in marble and limestone. Statues adorn temples and agoras, streets and private gardens. Bronzemiths, creating works of intricate beauty, blacksmiths creating solid works for daily use and carpenters are other common craft occupations. Of course there are also bakers, dyers, tailors, cobblers, ship makers, jewellers, armourers, joiners, basket-weavers, leatherworkers and so on.
Knowledge
In Heroes of Delphi the DM might want to allow the players to select Knowledge skills from this list:
Arcana (ancient mysteries, witchcraft, magic traditions of Persia, Egypt, the Druids, etc)
Architecture (buildings, theatres, city-planning, fortifications, weak-points etc)
Geography (the Greek states, the Aegean, barbarian races and their customs)
History (the Greek states, mythic times, the heroes, the Trojan War, the Persian invasion, the Peloponnesian War and so on)
Local (intricate knowledge of the character's city-state, customs, history, people)
Nature (plants and animals, weather etc)
The Olympians (the gods and goddesses, mythic history, symbols, ceremonies, traditions)
Philosophy (knowledge of science, mathematics, geometry, and theories of the universe)
Perform
The Greeks use a number of different musical instruments. The lyre is the most common; it is a harp-like instrument with a sounding box. The kithara is a heavier version of the lyre used by professional musicians. There are bronze horns used by the army and in religious ceremonies, and for dinner parties and banquets the flute and the pan-pipes. Flute-girls are commonly hired to entertain the men at drinking parties. Other popular types of Greek artistic expression include dance, drama, tragedy, comedy, storytelling, Homeric epic, ballad and juggling. The great actors of Athenian theatre are masters of tragedy, drama and comedy.
Profession
There are many professions in the Greek world, some of the more common include herdsman, farmer, scribe, fisherman, engineer, architect, playwright, herbalist, physician, miller, siege engineer, house-slave, steward, barber, innkeeper, school-teacher, cook, sailor, courtesan, merchant, athletic trainer, sycophant and so on...
Speak Languages
The Greeks are insular and not keen to learn other languages. Crude barbarians aspire to learn Greek, not the other way around! Likewise they are very snobbish on the subject of one's own Greek dialect. Separated by mountain chains, a number of separate dialects have developed and these form very distinctive variations of Greek. A character can learn these different dialects and speak them like a native, this means there are no chances of misunderstanding and he will not stand out as an outsider. Greek characters learn dialects as if they were languages. The only foreign languages available for a Greek to learn are Italian and Phoenician.
Dialects
AEOLIC - Lesbos and the Asia Minor coast opposite, Boeotia and Thessaly.
ARCADIAN - The oldest dialect spoken in Arcadia, Pamphylia and on Cyprus.
DORIC - Spoken in Messenia, Laconia, Argos, Corinth, Syracuse (on Sicily), Megara, Crete, Rhodes and the islands of Thera, Melos, the Dodecanese and Cyrene.
IONIC - Attica and Athens, Euboea, the Chalcidian Penninsula, Lemnos, the Cyclades and Sporades and Ionia on the Asia Minor coast.
MACEDONIAN - This dialect of Greek is spoken by the northern mountain kingdoms and tribes.
WESTERN - Elis and Achaea, Phocis, Locris, Aetolia and Doris.