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Babylon On Which Fame and Jubilation Are Bestowed (2nd Edition)

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Babylon On Which Fame and Jubilation Are Bestowed (2nd Edition)

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Shukamu Press

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There is no king who is strong on his own.
Ten or fifteen kings are following Ḫammu-rapi, the master of Babylon,
the same for Rīm-Sîn, the master of Larsa,
the same for Ibal-pi-El, the master of Ešnunna,
the same for Amud-pi-El, the master of Qaṭna.
Twenty kings are following Yarim-Lim, the master of Yamḫad.
- A letter from Itūr-Asdu of Mari, to vassals of King Zimri-Lim, written ca. 1769 BCE.

Over 3,700 years ago, Hammu-rapi reigned in Babylon. Known today for his law code, this Amorite king took a minor city-state located on a branch of the Euphrates and created an empire which rivaled any the world had yet seen.

Babylon On Which Fame and Jubilation Are Bestowed is a roleplaying game set during the 25th year of Hammu-rapi’s reign. Whether players choose to situate their game in historic Mesopotamia, or in some fantastic variant, BFJB gives players and gamemasters the tools needed to experience the cultural milieu and personalities of Babylon in the eighteenth century BCE.

Now updated with a simpler, faster ruleset, this new edition includes significantly more information on the peoples and cultures of the Old Babylonian Era. The gazetteer has also been substantially expanded from the first edition, and includes notes on 29 additional cities of the Ancient Near East. In addition to this book, a group needs only paper, several six-sided dice, and their imagination to play.

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Reviews (2)

Discussions (4)

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Christopher K July 02, 2021 8:25 pm UTC

PURCHASER

Your review of Mythic Babylon was highlighted by Loz of Design Mechanism. After reading your review, I decided to pick up your products too. Put me down as one who thinks there’s room for both lines, especially in supplements and adventures which compliment both lines.

Matthew R August 06, 2020 6:42 pm UTC

Your preview is better than a lot of previews I've seen on DTRPG, which often have hardly any actual content in them. However, it appears to consist entirely of historical information with no game-mechanical information. Since this is listed as having a unique system, it would behoove you to give a taste of what that system is like. Otherwise, it's hard to judge what this has to offer as a *game* as opposed to a history text.

Geoffrey D August 06, 2020 7:11 pm UTC

PUBLISHER

When we chose the preview, I felt that it was important to emphasize the setting content of BFJB 2.0. Game systems are a dime a dozen, but it’s the wealth of historical content that sets BFJB apart from other “Bronze Age” RPG products.

I appreciate your comment, and I’ll look at a possible revision of the previews to include some of the mechanics. (This is not an easy choice, since they’re covered over roughly 100 pages.)

In the mean time, I’ve commented in several places about the mechanics of BFJB 2.0, including below. You can also see our website at shukamupress.com.

Finally, the blogger alea iactanda est (aleaiactandaest.blogspot.com) has several detailed posts describing character creation and skill checks, which will probably give you a better taste for the system in play than any number of preview pages.

Patrick B May 08, 2020 7:38 pm UTC

PURCHASER

Does this ever go on sale? I am a lover of ancient history and would really like this game but $15 is a little steep for me. Surviving month to month on disability doesn't provide a lot of discretionary income.

Geoffrey D May 08, 2020 9:22 pm UTC

PUBLISHER

Patrick, my heart goes out to you — sadly, it's a tough time for a lot of people right now, and with no end in sight.

After the initial release of the print version, we dropped the price by $5.00 on both versions for a full month. This was around the time the economic effects of COVID-19 began to be felt; I was also concerned that people who purchased the PDF version on day one and wanted the print version would be disappointed at paying full price twice, which was never our intent.

As you see, it's back at the original price for now. For the time being, I don't anticipate this product going on sale. Šukamu is a tiny DIY publisher. BFJB 2.0 is the only real revenue generator Šukamu has currently, as least until we release another product. None of our first edition products bring in revenue anymore, in part because everyone who wants those has already purchased them, but also because they've been rendered obsolete by this second edition. That's part of the reason those products...See more

Josh W August 06, 2020 3:25 pm UTC

PURCHASER

The PDF is on sale now! Deal of the Day! $8.99!

Paul H August 06, 2020 3:25 pm UTC

PURCHASER

Patrick, I don't know if you will see this in time but this is Deal of the Day for August 6th at 40% off.

Sándor G March 25, 2020 11:19 am UTC

Very intriguing!
Could you summarise the most important bits of the system?

Geoffrey D March 25, 2020 2:39 pm UTC

PUBLISHER

I'm going to try to synthesize a few things I've said elsewhere to answer your question. For starters, the First Edition (2016) of BFJB ran on a modified version of the 3.5 OGL; BJFB 2.0 explicitly does not.

Basics. The system of BFJB 2.0 is based around single 1d6 rolls and three character stats. When a character attempts a task, the player rolls a 1d6 and adds the appropriate stat, as well as any applicable penalties. Modified results of 6 and over succeed; a roll of 6 automatically succeeds, and rolls of 1 automatically fail. Of course, that means that statistically one out of every six attempts always succeeds, while one out of six always fail. However, BFJB encourages GMs not to have players roll for every task. There are a lot of things that trained characters should be able to do without having to worry about succeeding. The system runs on a healthy dose of GM discretion -- it's meant to be rules light, after all.

Professions and Talents. Characters start with one profession,...See more which grants them a specific professional talent. In addition, they choose three non-professional talents. As you probably expect, these talents can affect the mechanics of the game, with professional talents on-the-whole being more powerful. Among non-professional talents are included spells and rituals, which are available to all characters, even if some characters, based on profession, will be better at casting them than others.

A character's profession is very important with respect to task resolution. For instance, with the exception of Soldier, none of the professions confer professional familiarity with a broad range of weapons. Many of the professions offer no knowledge of weapons at all. As a result, when a Moneylender, for instance, tries to strike someone with a sword, he'll suffer a -3 penalty to his task check because he's not trained in combat, in addition to any other applicable penalties. This extends to casting spells; a Soldier attempting to cast a spell suffers a -3 penalty even though he's learned the spell as a talent, while a Priest would suffer no penalty.

Non-Combat Games. Not every RPG has to be combat-focused, and BFJB 2.0 provides an architecture to run a game based around other things, e.g., bureaucracy, commerce, and travel to name a few. Several of the professions excel at influence-based tasks or wealth acquisition, and just like in the real world, there are many ways to solve your problems that don't involve physical conflict.

Combat. That's not to say that BFJB 2.0 can't be focused on combat, but it necessarily changes the way a normal game will play out. Most of the professions suffer significant disadvantages in combat, and even for trained characters, combat is dangerous and characters die often. This is completely intentional, and players who try to resolve every encounter with a sword shouldn't be surprised when they have to roll up a new character. That said, character creation is relatively easy, and can be completed in a matter of minutes, so from a time-management stand point, it doesn't take very long to replace the PC who was just killed.

All of that's not to say that there aren't ways to make a character very good and deadly at combat; correctly choosing talents for a combat character can significantly improve their chances of surviving to the next session.

Getting into the mechanics of combat, when a character successfully attempts to hit an opponent, that opponent gets a skill check to try to avoid a successful strike. If the attacking character succeeds, and the defending character fails, they are hit, and take a fixed amount of damage based on the weapon. This damage immediately reduces a relevant stat. When one of the character’s stats reaches 0, they are removed from combat and suffer an injury, which is rolled on a chart relevant to the injured stat. Results of injuries vary between temporary and permanent disabilities, to total and lifelong incapacity, and even immediate death.

Conclusion. The system of BJFB 2.0 is meant to be rules-light, because the real focus of this book is all of the setting information. I've always suspected that very few groups used the complicated OGL rules system of BFJB 1.0; I know in my groups I've always mixed and matched rules systems and settings, to fit the flavor of the scenario I'm running. The system of BFJB 2.0 is meant to be faster and simpler, and thereby encourage its use; however, the vast amount of information presented is rules independent, and can be adapted to fit whatever system you're comfortable with running.