Five Ancient Kingdoms (5AK) is a neo old school RPG in the three little books format pictured. Author Jonathan Becker has re-imagined White Box and the Chainmail man-to-man/Fantasy Supplement rules to bring them into line with modern game conventions and convert the milieu to something closer to the Arabian Nights than medieval Europe. I like what Mr. Becker has done. It is a fresh take on White Box and the custom milieu demonstrates the essential qualities of rebuilding the game for a specific setting.
Vol. 1 Men & Mettle describes the character generation method and game mechanics. 5AK uses a unique dice convention where the "one" is read as a zero (5AK comes with 4 special "zero" dice). Ability scores are the usual rolled up with three dice and zero's are re-rolled. Hit Points are re-rolled at the beginning of each session. Combat, skill checks and saves are roll two dice plus adds and compare to a target number. There are four core character classes are Hero, corresponding to Fighting Men, Saint (Shaman), similar to Clerics, Magician, or Magic User, and Thief, well, Thief! There are also sub-classes of each.
Alignment is the traditional three, Law, Neutrality and Chaos, but with a twist of Orientalism thrown in. Motivation is what drives the PC and can be a desire for fortune, duty, love, family, vengeance, faith, power, glory, knowledge or just about anything the player can imagine. Social status is important in 5AK and climbing the social ladder can be a principle motivation. Rules for Romance are included (initial attraction) and love and courtship can also play a role in the game if desired.
Faith in 5AK is centered on Salama (The One True Faith), the principle religion of the Salamaic Caliphate, the ruling regime of the principle country of Barica. Chisholms and Arasimians are followers of similar religions and the three suggest comparisons with the historic middle eastern monotheistic religions. Pagans also exist and the Shaman class serves them as Saints serve the single god faiths. Milieu names and geography all have a familiar middle eastern, but slightly different feel to it. There is no map provided, but really none is needed. Just imagine our own middle east circa 800 CE.
Vol. 2 is sub-titled Magic & Monsters and the booklet contains just that. The rules for magic differ some from White Box in they require a successful dice roll to cast a spell (similar to magic in Chainmail's Fantasy Supplement). In 5AK the player of a Magician has more decisions to make regarding the best use of magic resources and must calculate risk of failure into the equation. The three principle faiths all see magic as evil and the Magician also has that to deal with. Spell lists are familiar yet tweaked to give a more Oriental feel. The monsters include some familiar creatures, but also many forms of jinn and giant folk with a more middle eastern origin. Artifacts include intelligent swords (always a DM favorite!).
Vol. 3, sub-titled Dragon Master Secrets is the DM Guide. It further outlines the world, Barica and it's capitol Bagdabha, and the Five Ancient Kingdoms of Conzantium, Kitax, Sindar, Thelasheba, and Assygaria. Adventure is expected to include urban intrigue, the wilderness - as one makes holy pilgrimage to the birthplace of The Prophet at Chem perhaps or traveling to other cities and nations. The underworld can be visited by delving beneath the city of Basur built upon the ruins of ancient Suumat or entering other buried cities, tombs, caves, or castle dungeons. In the tradition of the first fantasy campaigns, players may find their characters ennobled and eligible to build strongholds, amass an army, build a fleet and join the struggle of nations. Rules are included for maritime adventure (ala Sinbad), naval engagements and army conflicts. Some DM advice regarding awarding treasure, experience points and other topics specifically aimed at 5AK rounds out Vol. 3.
Barica is an unusual and fantastic setting for a campaign and I am trying to find a place for it in my gaming schedule. Mr. Becker has done a nice job melding his chosen rules, heavily modified, but recognizable as having White Box roots, with his Arabian Nights influenced milieu. His choices indicate applied imagination and logic to me and demonstrate the flexibility of the original system. The fantasy of the Arabian Nights seems underutilized in the hobby in comparison with dark age and medieval European motifs. Maybe it's time to grab the flying carpet, rub the magic lamp and test wits with the jinni?
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