Wow guys, there are some great concepts here!

So here's my conundrum as a gamemaster. In order for this to be an Argonauts-style campaign, I need your characters to be strongly unified together. The biggest obstacle I see here is that you're all picking strong alliances with different Greek gods. The pantheon is in ferocious conflict during the Iliad, so this must be approached carefully. Different cities are a headache for the same reason--they are all aligned with a different patron god or goddess, and are at odds with each other. So let me give a pitch for my first concept, and see if that changes anything. If nobody likes the starting point, then we can scrap that one and propose another.

Thoughts on the character ideas will be in a post following the next one.

Before I run through the first concept, I will answer the comparison to a more serious version of Kevin Sorbo's Hercules. Yes, in that there is no historical accuracy, and it's a fantastic setting with gods and goddesses. No, in that Xena and Hercules were silly and full of modern-world 'lessons' applied through a very 1990s lens. That show was like the 1970s Batman with Greeks. I would frame this campaign as Troy but with the Greek gods behaving like the original Clash of the Titans. Your characters represent a particular faction in the epic struggle, and while there's room for alliances and friendships between outsiders, your PCs are much more like the Myrmidons or Argonauts than a faux European D&D mishmash adventuring party. Alternately, you could think about this as a far less gory version of 300, with gods and goddesses overhead.

Or, envision it exactly like the Iliad and Odyssey.

Pitch #1: Thyatis, an Island of Wealth and Fire

In the warm waters of the glorious sea, an island of fire stretches black spires towards the sky. Thyatis, a prosperous crossroads of ships, her gleaming white docks stretching in splendor among the natural harbors. Thyatis, blessed with countless fish upon her reefs, crowned with olive trees and vineyards, filled with lush foliage thriving in the volcanic soil. Herds of goats bound among the dark, porous slopes of Thyantine. Whitewashed cottages of coral blocks and cemented pumice surround the beaches, their red clay roofs rising in rings towards Vulcan's domain. Above the vineyard slopes, rings of dark pillars mark the places where healing springs bubble up from the fire god's forges. Upon a lean plateau, the statue of the forge god looks down towards the western ocean, hammer in hand. And there, where Thyatis rises from the waves, the statue of Neptune gazes back, trident resting, a net ready, upon his coral plinth. Servants attend both, with incense, and dancing, and burnt offerings, and both are well pleased.

The two kings rule the two folk as one, a twin voice of tension and balance; the line of Ethios, heralds of Neptune, and the line of Althinaeus, keepers of Vulcan's gifts. Peace abounds; the temples are full of the happy faithful. The sea yields up fish and squid, salt and shellfish; the slopes house game birds and goat herds, olives and grapevines and rare healing herbs. The people are prosperous, the law is strong; the fleets of Thyatis sail proudly with their Helots in the name of Neptune, with harpoon, and trident and fierce lean bows; the soldiers of Thyatis bear their great shields with the red slash upon bronze, with spear and short sword, chariot and javelin. Feast day races rumble to cheers in the colliseum, and around the island, sprints of sleek ships.

Yet everything is about to change. Far away, a youthful prince named Agamemnon rises to power, and on the mainland's green coast, a man-god is born. Steeped in the River Styx, harbinger of doom and blood, a champion, a hewer of human fields, a reaper of souls... Achilles.

For Olympus and for Greece, so begins the war.

Chapter 1: The Conquest of Thyatis by Menelaus, in which Achilles defeats Phylodomides in the name of Agamemnon.
Chapter 2: The Seduction of Helen, in which the Temple of Neptune is given to her goddess Aphrodite, and Vulcan approves.
Chapter 3: The Overthrow of Ethios, in which the servants of Aphrodite rise to queenship over Neptune's children, and the throne is united.
Chapter 4: The Murder of Ethios, in which the supporters of Ethios rebel and are massacred.
Chapter 5: The Fleet of 1000 Ships, in which Helen absconds with Paris and the Trojan War begins.

Chapter 5 begins the present day.

* I'm just going to use Thyatis as a placeholder. The island's name will be selected from a proper Greek list.

Oh, and if my original idea doesn't work, I have an idea for a fighter who gets struck by lyssa, or "wolfish rage."

@all: So in my initial thoughts, I'd like to play up the angle of Neptune's rage and the schizophrenic oppression of Aphrodite and Vulcan. Would you guys be willing to sign up for a kind of resistance and/or redemption campaign? Avenge the old king, restore the island to its former glory, avenge your parents, bring woe upon Aphrodite and her priestesses, go acquire fantastic bling and become famous... that sort of thing.

@pk: I like the Dionysus angle. I'm not really sure why he'd be Asian? I have some reservations about chaotic neutral characters. I'll freely admit that my experienced is colored by CN getting picked by problem players who are like, "Well, I'm not getting on the ship. I go to the tavern instead, and spend the money the king gave us to buy passage. Also, I steal Bill's horse and sell it." I'm not sure why a half-mad character would go off to fight for glory and adventure with the other characters, but I'm willing to listen.

@J: Might I interest you in Neptune instead of Apollo? Female or male priest?

@North: I'm not going to overplay the "ancient women" discrimination angle. It's still fair to say that 99.999% of warriors will be men. However, your character could be a priestess of Neptune or another god, and be regarded as superior in society. She could also have some minor royal blood, or perhaps some kind of other magic or divine aspect that would make her valuable in battle or on adventures. If Greek society didn't really think she was much, at least the PCs and Argonaut-equivalents would see her value.

@Timespike: The concept is very cool. Does it have to specifically be Athena? I've already got a couple thoughts on how I could tie your character's semi-blindness into the group template and the city's history. Actually, your character jumps out at me as a good candidate for the royal line of Ethios, or at least a non-titled member of the royal family. Also, paladins as a class are European and don't exist in Greek settings, but what you're describing is really a homebrewed Greek-style 'paladin'. I think you could mechanically accomplish your concept through just a plain fighter with maybe a few tweaks on abilities, gear and mystical fluff.

@goat: Looks like you're gunning for the traditional hero spot. Have you read the "Age of Heroes" sourcebook? I can send you a link, if you like. There's a Hero kit for warriors. I don't have the Complete Warrior's Handbook, and I don't remember the stat block for Myrmidons. I haven't decided on a particular build method yet, but I'm thinking it will tend towards the high side for AD&D 2e. Not Achilles or Hector, but maybe Eudoros or Diomedes.

Yeah, I'd be cool as a priest of Neptune.

Re: the campaign. Sounds great. Very evocative, full of potential for high adventure and fun role playing. It's also very fitting with the sort of stories from the Greek myths.

Re: my character concept. I'm really trying to play up the Dionysus angle. He's a foreign god of madness, fertility and death. It makes sense to me that his offspring would embody those themes. Dionysus is described as being not just the only mortal made fully divine but also as a foreigner. Accounts vary, saying he was from Ethiopia or from the East (which could just as well be Turkey or Uzbekistan as China) or somewhere else.

'Madness' in Greek mythology is more about ecstasy and rage. He'd be ruled by his passions. Think of the story wherein Heracles is driven mad (by the blood of a centaur, perhaps? I don't recall offhand) and kills his family. Then there are the joyous nights of madness that come from the bacchanalia. As a child of Dionysus, my character would be more prone to these than others. It's also worth noting that the Greeks, like many ancient cultures, didn't consider madness a bad thing. Madness was a way of leaving your mortal mind behind and experiencing an altered consciousness that brings you closer to the divine. This is why brewing beer and making wine was traditionally a province of religious orders (also why temple prostitutes were common in ancient Mesopotamian religions; the female orgasmic state was considered a brush with the mind of the divine). My hero would be fond of wine, women and song; have a passion for theater and given to powerful swings of emotions. He'd be a capable warrior but would prefer to think or talk his way out of a situation.

If you're not feeling the madness angle because it could be disruptive, I could switch it to be Hermes and change the focus be more of a womanizer, following Hermes' aspect of virility.

Re: CN characters being difficult. Eff those players. Seriously, they're just being jackasses and aren't playing with the other people at the table. The first priority for me as a player is to play with other people. Chaotic neutral means you are unpredictable and are just as likely to do good as evil, as fits your perspective of what is best at the time. Greek heroes will be bound by oath, quest or fellowship, and I am all about that. Derailing the game because of a childish desire to assert your independence isn't fun for anyone. In short, don't worry about me being a douche. Not my style.

That works for me. I'm thinking maybe Artemis... but I'd be happy with a different patron deity as well. It would not be overly hard to justify something ranger-like in that case. Since Artemis is associated with both childbirth and young female children, perhaps skill as a healer would make sense as well.

Edit: Follower of Artemis and follower of Dionysus in the same party? Oh well, some intra-party conflict isn't bad, right?

Idea, based on what you guys described. I'll just use your names as substitutes for your unnamed characters.

Chapter 3: The Murder of Ethios, starring Timespike and pkalata.

Timespike is a member of the royal family that has just been sidelined by Aphrodite's declaration of a Queen of (her freshly stolen) Temple. Seeing that she must act quickly to consolidate power, Aphrodite arranges for a nymph to be secreted into her temple. Nymphs are so beautiful that any mortals who gaze upon them will instantly die. The plan is for a traitor to unleash the nymph in the royal chambers of Ethios, killing his entire family and all witnesses without leaving a mark.

Neptune's servants intercept this treachery and prepare a counter-trap. The sea god prepares six drops of water from the deepest ocean. The drops will delay the nymph's effects. The first drop confers one day of invulnerability from death, the second drop for one year of freedom from lust-madness for her (which lasts a year and a day), and the third drop for one lifetime of sight saved from her searing perfect beauty. Timespike is intended to await the nymph in the royal chambers as if unawares, and when the trap is sprung, slay the nymph and save the royal family (and also royally punish Aphrodite by killing her precious servant).

However, the instructions and drops are given to pkalata. Being the offspring of Dionysus, he knows he cannot die from the nymph, and is partly immune to the madness. Why not take the third ocean drops, which will preserve his sight, and sneak into Aphrodite's temple? Nobody will be guarding the nymph, as they'd be killed by gazing upon her. A whole day of passion with the nymph might be his. Options:

1. He plans to off her after their wonderful day, sparing Timespike, but she unexpectedly paralyzes him before leaving for her mission.

2. He plans to off her after their wonderful day, sparing Timespike, but just can't because he's fallen under the spell of her flawless immortal beauty.

3. Timespike? Well, he'll get to see a nymph and live, and save his family. Geez, these full mortals ask for a lot, don't they? You can live without eyesight--you know, drink wine, enjoy music, give spirited debate, savor the company of women... hey, he might be better off without eyes! Don't hate the player, hate the game. Or hate being a pawn, that's got to suck for the rest of you. I have a hot date for the afternoon!

When he hears petite footsteps that night, Timespike opens the phials, and realizes there's only two drops in each. Even if he runs now, there won't be enough time to save his entire family, not to mention all the guards and servants. So he uses the remaining drops and slays her, knowing that after one year he will lose his eyesight (he's also got the last day of her madness to deal with in another chapter).

How the tension is redeemed or resolved is dealt with in a later chapter.

Unfortunately, I'd better back out for now, at least.

I've got a lot going on at work, and plus, I'm really trying to get Narratavius ready for release. Maybe if/when things calm down, I can look back into it.

Thanks for the invite, though, BM!

MT, I've mentioned this to a few people who don't have time right now. If you want to help build an NPC into the group template, with the chance to play that character later, you are more than welcome to do so.