4e Fan Creations and House RulesWorking on variant powers? Statting up a PC race or your version of a monster? Creating or converting an adventure? Put it here!
Well, the law is the law. I don't know that the great unbinding is going to cause a religious crisis unless a bunch of enlightened gods start going down as a result of the crisis.
Zhakara's meta-religion seems petty resilient.
I think the new action in the deserts is going to be pretty big news.
The return of the Banished Kingdoms will certainly have huge implications.
From the society's perspective I think the big thing would be re-establishing normal relations with the Genie kingdoms.
We've now seen a complete campaign world work up for FR in the campaign guide and player's guide.
Using that as a template how would we fill out a shorter version for Al-Quadim assuming we got permission to do a Net-Book or something?
Let's do the Player's Guide first.
Filling out - roughly - the spaces on the 'template' we would need:
Player's Guide:
2 Races
1 New Full Class
1 New Full Build
1 Multi-Class
1 Section of Appropriately Flavored Feats
1 Section of Backgrounds for different Regions
We've now seen a complete campaign world work up for FR in the campaign guide and player's guide.
Using that as a template how would we fill out a shorter version for Al-Quadim assuming we got permission to do a Net-Book or something?
Let's do the Player's Guide first.
Filling out - roughly - the spaces on the 'template' we would need:
Player's Guide:
2 Races
1 New Full Class
1 New Full Build
1 Multi-Class
1 Section of Appropriately Flavored Feats
1 Section of Backgrounds for different Regions
Hey! Thanks for keeping this thread going, Dr. Strangemonkey.
Here are my thoughts on the template (which I don't think should be treated as a hard and fast thing). I think providing "kits" to modify the core class features works well.
Anyways, shooting off the hip here...
2 Races: Well, we already have genasi. So, going out on a limb I'm going to say the al-miraj as a PC race and either zakharan ogres or a new race called "the fateless".
1 New Full Class: Best candidate would be the sha'ir...perhaps reimagined as an arcane/elemental leader whose powers are based on summoning and who offers mystical guidance to allies.
1 New Full Build: I vote for Hakima as new Cleric build.
1 Multi-Class: Beloved of Fate, or a similar concept.
Backgrounds: I'd do it by city-state. It would be a lot, but not overwhelming. Or you could simplify it into Heart Cities, Pearl Cities, Pantheist League, etc.
I just wrote a quick vignette to capture the feel of a 4th edition Al-Qadim. Take it or leave it.
The stranger stood in the back of the mosque, one foot in the morning light kissing veins of white marble, the rest of him in cool shadow. Nazaam knelt again, bowing his head to the floor, saying the extra prayers for the first of the High Holy Days. From the corner of his eye, Nazaam watched the stranger pray, an otherworldly fierceness in the stranger’s eyes as the celebrants clapped to ward off evil. There was no mistaking – he was an aleef, one of the first nomads, wandering eternally in the desert, seeking something he could not define, fast as the wind, and merciless. Nazaam contemplated his prayer beads with a grimace; they still seemed stained with blood from years ago. Perhaps it was time to answer for his crimes, but not like this, not in a holy place. Rising, Nazaam quickly left through a side exit, stepping out into the street. The stranger caught his arm from behind.
Nazaam snarled stepping into the stranger, “Do you wish to spill my blood before the mosque?” The stranger was impassive. “You keep tormenting me, appearing when I pray like a specter. Why can’t you leave me in peace?”
His wild gray eyes appraised Nazaam carefully before the stranger put him in an arm lock and pushed him against the wall of the mosque. “I would kill you if I thought it would bring you peace, but we both know it is not your time yet.”
Nazaam struggled for a moment then went slack, resting his forehead against the decaying clay plaster. “For three years, I have come here each day asking forgiveness. By night I see her face in my dreams, by day you stalk me without speaking a word. My wife and children don’t know who I am anymore. I keep praying for death…”
Gently, the stranger released Nazaam. “Even in death there would be no peace for you, Nazaam ibn-Daoud, but you must release her.”
“What have you come here for?” Nazaam looked up at the aleef.
“You took my sister’s life, the least you can do is give me a moment of your time,” the stranger said smoothly, beckoning for Nazaam to follow. “Will you do that for me, Nazaam?”
Wiping his face, Nazaam felt the dual jambiyas hidden beneath his clothes resting against his ribs. It was a terrible thing to think how many lives those jeweled knives had taken, to think that he could kill the brother of the innocent woman he had killed in a heartbeat. He thought of abandoning the jambiyas which he had lived by, surrendering to his fate, but a glimmer of self-preservation, a memory of what his family had once been, prevented him.
Nazaam nodded, “Yes.”
Hey! Thanks for keeping this thread going, Dr. Strangemonkey.
Sure, I just thought that working through the template would provide us with a conceptual refresher.
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Here are my thoughts on the template (which I don't think should be treated as a hard and fast thing). I think providing "kits" to modify the core class features works well.
On that point: what if we retooled the Background Features to make them about Station rather than geography and then used that to simulate most of the kits. The feat section could then expand on them.
Naturally this wouldn't work for all of the kits, but plenty of them are mechanically light enough that we could run them through some sort of station system. Which is something I'm loathe to drop completely from the core game.
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Anyways, shooting off the hip here...
2 Races: Well, we already have genasi. So, going out on a limb I'm going to say the al-miraj as a PC race and either zakharan ogres or a new race called "the fateless".
That could work. Though it'd also be tempting to introduce something new and exotic. Perhaps a Ghul themed race?
It's certainly true that there just isn't much of anything in the way of Zhakaran themed races. Could be we just replace this section with a section on station or expand the build section.
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1 New Full Class: Best candidate would be the sha'ir...perhaps reimagined as an arcane/elemental leader whose powers are based on summoning and who offers mystical guidance to allies.
Agreed. The Shaman actually seems like a good model for the Sha'ir. Maybe make the Gen a less combatitive version of the Spirit Companion and then add in lots of the new Summoning mechanics.
It's also very tempting to use Elemental as the source for Sha'irs since Arcane appears to be locked down.
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1 New Full Build: I vote for Hakima as new Cleric build.
Hakima works. Or...
What if we use this to create a new Wizard build off of a weave implement? Or the dreaded Geomancer off of the sorceror? Or even create a new bard build off the Barber?
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1 Multi-Class: Beloved of Fate, or a similar concept.
And then make this the Hakima? I make this suggestion because while it's absolutely true that if anything besides the Sha'ir needed a write up it would be the Hakima:
1.) The Hakima probably isn't enough for a full class. If for no other reason than that it has no defined combat role.
2.) The Hakima is also very different from other classes. It was put into cleric in the old edition because of the tradition of specialty priests, but it has no real divine emphasis. It's hard to think of a class that directly fits what the Hakima is working to do.
3.) It's really too little for a full class, and too different for a build. So Multi-Class seems like a decent solution.
Maybe what we do is keep the Multi-Class as Child of Fate and then split it into 2 sub-builds - as was true of the spell scarred - with one build representing the Hakima and the other a masculine equivalent, a mystic or ghazi perhaps?
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Backgrounds: I'd do it by city-state. It would be a lot, but not overwhelming. Or you could simplify it into Heart Cities, Pearl Cities, Pantheist League, etc.
I think we should do it by station. We could have regionally aligned feats, but on the whole I think that one of the interesting things about the setting was how it emphasized caste over geography as your origin.
Set it up so that each class has a few obvious choices, but also so that the kits they reflect become more flexible.
I mean Corsairs - for instance - were defined as fighters or rangers in the old game, but in 4e there's no reason Rogues, Str based Clerics, Paladins, Warlords, or even Barbarians couldn't join in on the fun.
And conceptually there's no reason almost any class couldn't become a Corsair. A wizard who wants to be free on the water can make a fine pirate captain. A warlock with a cutlass in one hand and a pact-blade in the other could chill the blood of any fat merchant captain.
And surely all of those characters are more brothers in the sea than they are citizens of any one city?
2 Races: Well, we already have genasi. So, going out on a limb I'm going to say the al-miraj as a PC race and either zakharan ogres or a new race called "the fateless".
Al-Miraj? Am I missing somethng here? Last time I looked, the Al-Miraj were "depicted as a cross between a rabbit and a unicorn—in effect, it is a large hare with a horn protruding from its forehead".
I am also not in favor of another completely new race, but I am willing to hear your explanation of what they are and where they come from.
Al-Miraj? Am I missing somethng here? Last time I looked, the Al-Miraj were "depicted as a cross between a rabbit and a unicorn—in effect, it is a large hare with a horn protruding from its forehead".
Oops, meant the al-jahar from City of Delights, but after reading the race again I'm not sure if it would be a good fit - I think where I would take it would be too similar to my interpretation of eladring in AQ.
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I am also not in favor of another completely new race, but I am willing to hear your explanation of what they are and where they come from.
Actually I love Dr. Strangemonkey's idea about a ghul-kin race. It would fill the "creepy hero" archetype, and would have very unique abilites. Also it ties in nicely with the plot he worked up about the scorned ghul lady who orchestrated the Great Unbinding.
By all means - work on what interests you and we can all compare notes - but there's still organization to be done before we could really start delegating tasks.
Concerning the Spellcasters:
The Spellplague shuffled away the old magic system in Faerun, with the Weave falling and such.
Do any of you see any reason why that shouldn't affect Zakhara?
Should we do away with the Elemental Mages and Sorcerers?
-> I'm loathe to rework all Wizard Powers to fit into the elemental categories.
But how to preserve the oriental touch with magic?
I'd like to see more Clockworkers and Astromages (the latter clearly Star Pact Warlocks) emerging.
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Concerning the Mamluks:
As you pointed out with the Corsair, I don't see any reason why the Mamluks shouldn't invite any class into their ranks. Surely a spellcasting Mamluk is something to be feared, though I believe the majority to still be of martial classes.
Concerning the Spellcasters:
The Spellplague shuffled away the old magic system in Faerun, with the Weave falling and such.
Do any of you see any reason why that shouldn't affect Zakhara?
Should we do away with the Elemental Mages and Sorcerers?
-> I'm loathe to rework all Wizard Powers to fit into the elemental categories.
But how to preserve the oriental touch with magic?
I'd like to see more Clockworkers and Astromages (the latter clearly Star Pact Warlocks) emerging.
Well, we've already discussed some of this, and I think the general consensus is that the 'Breaking of the Seals' disrupted magic, but didn't necessarilly radically reorganize it from the average Zhakaran's perspective.
All you need to do for any of the themes of magic you want to preserve for the 4E Wizard is take the path of Necromancy or Summoning in the latest issues of Dragon. There a few feats and a set of new Power is all you need to create the flavor of a specialist. At least until you get a dedicated class.
For most of the Wizard kits in the core Al-Quadim book you really only need a feat giving you bonuses to spells with certain elemental flavors. Maybe not even a feat. A background slot could cover ti just as well.
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Concerning the Mamluks:
As you pointed out with the Corsair, I don't see any reason why the Mamluks shouldn't invite any class into their ranks. Surely a spellcasting Mamluk is something to be feared, though I believe the majority to still be of martial classes.
Sure. I mean what you'd have to do is write-up the Mamelukes two different ways:
First, there are PC Mamlukes and them you write up in a way that makes the vast variety of PCs comprehensible in terms of who Mamlukes are: Chaplains, scouts, spies, duelists, officers, and so forth.
Secont, there are the Monster Manual Mamlukes. Then you only have to write up in a way that gives them enough diversity to create a good challenge and enough power to reflect their importance in the setting.
For most of the Wizard kits in the core Al-Quadim book you really only need a feat giving you bonuses to spells with certain elemental flavors. Maybe not even a feat. A background slot could cover ti just as well.
Well, that'd surely work. The Genasi get Feats that give bonuses to certain elemental powers - or else you could write the Zakharan arcane classes into Heroic Tier pathes for the Wizard class - namely just giving them advantages to their power.
What we could also do is enhance to roleplaying aspect simply by saying that a "magic missile" mustn't always be such. Different mages surely have different missiles - a Elemental Flame mage's missile would surely look as a fiery ray while an Elemental Earth mage's would look more like a stone flying unerringly toward it's target.
What bugs me still is that this kills off the antipathy between the Zakharan sorcerers and the purists who follow just one elemental doctrine.
Where does the famed Brotherhood of Flame distinguish itself from their lesser arcane brethren if not in their art?
Well, in theory, you will eventually get an Elementalist power source and those dudes will have some pretty great antipathy against the arcanists of Zhakara.
That said, you just introduce a Paragon path for Elementalists or - maybe more interestingly - a Warlock pact for people who throw souls unto the Elemental bonfires of the Terrible Lords of the Elemental Chaos.
Hello,
I noticed this forum threat from google search. And I read it -not completely but I will- and noticed you mentioned about old Al-Qadim fans.
You are right, most of the Al-Qadim fans I know don't like -some deeply hates- 4th E. and most of them seems to be not active on internet -at least about Al-Qadim subjects-. You may notice offical Al-Qadim fan site al-qadim.com does not active for more than two years.
I agree with most of ideas about 4th E. with other 'old Al-Qadim fans' but I am also interested with converting it to 4th E. Because it seems to be only way to make Al-Qadim known to younger/new RPers.
Well...About converting. I noticed this 'spellpleague thing and Zakhara' discussion;
Al-Qadim published at 92 after Times of Troubles. And there is no 'Death or Wild Magic Zones' in Zakhara! Zakharan magic -at least wizardly magic- has no connection with Mystra or Fearun.
Jeff Grub -who is also creator of old Manual of Planes- desined Zakharan Magic based on Elemental concept -you may also can see oldest verision of Al-Qadim spells from Anarouch accesory of FR which is also created by Jeff Grub. It seems to be first tryout of 'Arabian Magic'-.
Zakhara has much more direct connection to inner planes than any other setting -this is why genies can have easy access to Zakhara-. You may notice from Tome of Magic and Player's Option:Spells&Magic elemantal magic called as 'schools of effect' unlike traditional magic schools which are called 'Spells of Philosphy'. You may also notice in elemantal concept of planes inner planes are planes of effect while outer planes are planes of philosopy.
They probably take this idea (magical concept of al-qadim) from Alchemy of medieval near east/arabia; every matter from produced from fire, water, earth, air and aether (which is also called universal).
Even unique spell casters of Zakhara like Ghul Lords (they are necromancer) has their contacts from negative energy plane (another inner plane).
This is why any ajami spell casters can't use Zakharan scrolls or spellbook.And same thing also applied to them too. They are totaly based on different ways.
Well it is early morning here in Turkey and I did not sleep for whole night and I have to write some stuff about madrasas for tomorrow so I have to leave now. But I will return tomorrow adn I also will read all posts on this subject.And of course will come with ideas
If you wish to contact me or ask anything you may do this from here or e-mail/msn.
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