MOD: Zulu

[RedRover]

I just wanted to post a quick update here. Things are going slowly. I'm putting together an alpha .dm file and will be checking stats carefully with that before putting them up here. I will be using #clearrec and putting the Induna and Scout leader types back in.

I've decided (reluctantly) to go with an Arco overwrite for the Dom2 version. The current starting sites are planned: "Land of Pleasures Unattained", "Singing Stones", and "Lykeion."

After looking closely at the way shields are structured, I think I may have given the Zultu Shield too much. The first test version will use Prot 2 instead of Prot 3. It looks to me like any sort of nonmagic Hide/Leather/Wicker shield should have a protection rating of 2 and no more if historical baselines are to be observed. I think good history anchors good fantasy, so the tweak.

Also, I'm changing some weapon names: all "Guardian" become "Magic." The latter is both more accurate and shorter. Two virtues. Purely cosmetic? Ultimately utilitarian, IMO.

The name files are up to 135 male/140 female. I'll quit at 200 each.

The more I look at the Leopard Cult, the weaker they look to me. I'm changing them to Sacred for the first version. If it doesn't work, I can change it back.

I have gone over the gods with an eye toward matching the CB 5.0 mod. This mostly affects encumbrance, but I'll leave all these changes marked red next time I post stats. There were a few changes in point cost, and some alterations to base stats/skills. Also, all the lion-heads get the new Roar instead of Bite, except the White Lion, who gets both. Also, the CB changes to the Crone pretty much took the niche I put the Leopard Warlock in, so I had to readjust this Pretender more than others.

I had some ideas about how to get decent graphics for the mod, but they have all fallen through. For the time being, I have Oceania sprites plugged in...

[Oversway]

The research and themes of this mod are great! I think that is something that many other mods are missing, they don't have the 'depth' of the standard nations.

[RedRover]

Oversway: Thanks for the compliment.

I've paused on this for a few days. The other Credo Mutwe book finally arrived: Induna, My Children, and I have been immersed.

The story is fantastic (it reads a little like the best of the fiction AARs on this site). It is drawn from the oral traditions of The People (Bantu speakers), and covers their migration from sub-Saharan central Africa to what is current day Natal.

It has a huge cast of characters, some of whom are more than human (a fair amount of the narrative is a first person account by the Lost Immortal). By the time the saga ends, two warriors named Qwabe and Zulu are young men. They are founders of their respective tribes. This book is as close to an heroic tradition for the South African region as we are likely to ever get. Highly recommended, even if you have no direct interest in the subject. If you ever wondered about doing an African mod, I consider it essential reading.

For more recent history, I have been looking through Stephen Taylor's Shaka's Children, which is an impressive work as well. This nonfiction popular history starts with the rise of the Zulus in the 1820's, and continues their history to 1990. Good stuff.