I always thought it odd that Street Magic had the Egyptian Gods, but no Egyptian Tradition. So, I've taken a stab at creating it for myself. I'm hoping that some people here will be able to offer up some creative criticism and help me refine what I have as my first draft...

Here it is, for what it's worth:

Egyptian Heka Tradition

Concept: Calling upon the ancient Gods of Egypt, heka priests are graced with the powers of the once great empire of the Pharoahs.

Combat: Fire (the greatest weapon in the desert is the heat)
Detection: Guidance (to gain knowledge, one must seek the Gods’ enlightenment)
Health: Water (life stems from the mighty Nile)
Illusion: Air (the shimmering, heated air can fool the eye)
Manipulation: Earth (the empire is shaped by the shifting sands of the Sahara)
Drain: Willpower + Logic

Note: Egyptian Heka is a Possession Tradition

In the ancient Egyptian tradition, there is no difference between religion and magic; they are the same thing. The great Creator God, Atum (also known as Ra or Re, depending on the part of the empire) created heka for mankind to ward off the blows of events. Primarily used as a protective tradition, heka practitioners were typically priests and doctors, who used their gifts to protect people from snake/scorpion venom or sickness, threats from other people and even spiritual possession.

Words are very important to the heka practitioner. In every word is some form of power to control. Most heka magicians are extremely protective of their birth names, often choosing pseudonyms for themselves (even those not running the shadows), as knowing someone’s real name gives you some control of their life. Trappings of a heka priest are symbols of the old empire, rods of ivory and jewelry depicting the names of the ancients. Tomes in the Egyptian hieroglyphics are often carried (nowadays in digital form), so incantations can be invoked for protection, calling upon the Gods or preparing a vessel for a God’s inhabitation

In ancient times, tales were passed down of heka users animating wax and clay statues of animals, in the preferred forms of the Gods. Most summoners in the Sixth World have resumed these practices, though many adopt more resilient materials for their Gods to inhabit. With the right invocations in the ancient tongue, the heka priest can offer up themselves, or another living form for the Gods to inhabit. The power of the Gods is rarely called upon, unless the priest is desperate. The Gods were local to a part of the Pharoah’s domain in the ancient belief, and thus are curious about things outside their domain. There have been many times when a spirit has been reluctant to let a vessel go, so they might explore the world among men. This makes using themselves as a vessel unattractive, without the proper incantations being spoken first.

While most priests of the Egyptian faith are pantheistic of their worship of the ancient Gods, others align themselves with a particular deity that they feel best fits their goals. Due to Egypt’s being conquered many times over the years by various empires, and the widespread growth of the Islamic faith in the area, most heka magicians are spread across the globe, with no real concentration in any one place.

Thoughts?

SR13

The Egyptians were proud of their science so I almost think WIL+LOG for drain is more appropriate. They were a terribly deliberate people.

For a spirit based mage the CHA drain attribute allows the mage both to resist drain well and have a large number of bound spirits so thats a bit powerful possibly offset by the PITA factor of possession. In the end maybe a wash.

Lastly, Air could very well be Illusion and based on mirages. Spirits of Man are awfully powerful. That swap would make it very balanced indeed.

All in all an awesome roundup of Eqyptian stuff!

Thanks for the comments, Wasabi.

You're right...during the height of the Egyptian empire, they were one of the most advanced civilizations on the planet. Valid point.

Don't know why the air / mirage thing didn't come to me... hmmm... I think a little tweaking is in order.

Much appreciated!

SR13

After going over Wasabi's comments, I made a few tweaks. His suggestions made a lot of sense to me...

I'm still welcoming comments from any who feel like making them.

SR13

Only background related stuff.

You could mention that many things are similar to normal hermetic tradition, and you should change the mention of most practicioners still being in Egypt. It should be the other way. Most practicioners live outside of Egypt, because the country in 2070+ is deeply moslemic.

I can see a lot of elemental effects in use by the mages themselves. Priests of Ra using light effects, Priests of Anubis using darkness effects, Priests of Sutekh using, well, shapechange into monstrous crocodiles. There are a lot of places this could be a very fluffy thing added into a module!

Particle Beam: Good call. I was studying the history enough that I forgot to factor in the "current". Since Egypt's old kingdom was conquered by European nations (Romans, or the British Empire as an example) in the end, it'd make sense that their culture would be scattered around the globe.

Wasabi: Yeah, that was part of the mental image I had of a modern heka priest. A guy/gal tattooed with hieroglyphic stlye art with a whirling cloud of sand surrounding them (Earth Wall spell)... or the mage hovering slightly off the ground, wreathed in flame/light as Ra possesses him.

There are times I really wish I could draw worth a damn...

SR13