This is a quasi-historical Fantasy campaign that will contain lots of anachronisms. It is roughly set in the Crusader States around the year 1135 - between the First and Second Crusades.

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Religion

In the Latin East, a persons religion is a key part of their identity. If defines how they view themselves, and how they view and are viewed by others.

Christianity is primarily divided into the Latin (Roman) and Orthodox (Greek/Byzantine) branches, but there are numerous other sects (Armenian, Syrian, Copts, Maronites, Melkites, etc...). The rulers of the Crusader states are mostly from the Latin church, but rely on the support of other Christian sects.

Islam Like Christianity, there are numerous different Islamic sects. The main division is between the Sunni and Shia. Other sects (Hashshashin, Sufis, etc...) abound and even the Sunni and Shia have different traditions within them.

Judaism In this period Judaism is generally divided into Rabbinic and Karaite.

Other There are other minor religions that have adherents. Zoroastrianism/Mazdaism, Yazidism, various European pantheist, etc...

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Magic
Magic is real and a part of everyone's life. Prayers for intercession to Saints or directly to God/Allah are answered for the faithful. Nefarious sorcerers practice dark arts in secret to avoid the watchful eyes of the Inquisition. Some heathen tribes still have Shamans to help them deal with the spirit world.

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Maps

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Persons of Note
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Coinage

We will generally be using the following coinage value, though during the period and in the region there was a huge variety of coinage which varied greatly in weight and quality.

The system of reckoning the money of account in France throughout the period was as follows: 1 Livre (Pound) = 20 Sous (Schillings, Solidus) = 240 Deniers (Pence, Denars) = 480 Oboles = 960 Pites (Farthings)

1 Sou/sol/solidus (gold) = 12 Deniers/denarius (silver)
1 Denier/denarius (silver) = 2 Oboles (smaller silver)
1 Obole (smaller silver) = 2 Pites (copper or bronze)

As far as value goes a Denier is about the equivalent of $20 in current USD.

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Here is a list of sites, books, and films that are good sources of inspiration for this setting or Historical sources that I found useful.
Crusader Earth A d20 setting/campaign by Thomas Harlan. An adventure published in Dungeon Magazine was one of the things that originally inspired me to put this campaign together.
Booke of Days by Stephen J. Rivele is the story of a French (provencal) nobleman who joins the First Crusade. It is presented in the form of a Journal and is thoroughly entertaining and provides a glimpse at society of the time.
Kingdom of Heaven - I really like this movie. It is set at a slightly later time then the this campaign takes place, but should give you a picture of the life of the Franks in Outremer. Get the Director's cut - it is a much better movie then the theatrical release.
A concise book that introduces the major players in the First Crusades and examines the motivations. I give it 4 stars.
This book covers the all the crusades, but does an excellent job with the first crusade. It also has an excellent chapter on life in the Crusader States between the crusades. 5 stars.