Just got Dragon 315 - Campaign Classics

[Erik Mona]

>>>
any chance of getting an Al-Quadim minigame in Poly any time soon?
>>>

Probably not. I enjoyed the setting the first time around, but if I'm going to be doing "cultural" fantasy mini-games (which I've a mind to do) I'd rather focus on something that hasn't really been done before, like India, Egypt, Assyria, Nubia, etc.

--Erik

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

...Egypt...

Ooooooh... Egypt.

 

[Olive]

Probably not. I enjoyed the setting the first time around, but if I'm going to be doing "cultural" fantasy mini-games (which I've a mind to do) I'd rather focus on something that hasn't really been done before, like India, Egypt, Assyria, Nubia, etc.

I have to say that this is some of the worst news I've heard all year. There's a real need for a game that isn't too 'tolkien in the sand' that represents a mythic arabia/levant in the medieval period. Empire of the Dry Sands s the only d20 game that geals with this area and it is way too fantastic.

Ah well, I understand the reasoning at least.

 

[Erik Mona]

Don't feel too bad. I'm not sure 40-50 pages could do justice to Al-Qadim, which after all was an enormous campaign setting. Doubtless we'd have to pick a "tight focus" area and go to town on that, leaving out lots of elements that AQ fans think are "required" elements of the campaign setting. I've done that once before (ahem, Spelljammer), and the results were really mixed. About half of the people who wrote letters said stuff like "thanks for fixing Spelljammer, which always sucked!" and half said "you ruined Spelljammer! You suck!" These old campaign settings breed a LOT of controversy, and while that's good for sales, it's not the only way to get them.

Some day, someone will probably do something like Al-Qadim (or even Al-Qadim itself). I just don't think that person will be me.

--Erik Mona

 

[dlane001]

Well, we can only hope that if somebody picks up Al-Qadim and runs with it, they are equally as talented.

In terms of campaigns... Assyria? Egypt? Cool!

Tight focus is fine, by the way. So many places to explore on a map, so few opportunities. Always great to see a new take or ANY take on a place.

-Derek

Don't feel too bad. I'm not sure 40-50 pages could do justice to Al-Qadim, which after all was an enormous campaign setting. Doubtless we'd have to pick a "tight focus" area and go to town on that, leaving out lots of elements that AQ fans think are "required" elements of the campaign setting. I've done that once before (ahem, Spelljammer), and the results were really mixed. About half of the people who wrote letters said stuff like "thanks for fixing Spelljammer, which always sucked!" and half said "you ruined Spelljammer! You suck!" These old campaign settings breed a LOT of controversy, and while that's good for sales, it's not the only way to get them.

Some day, someone will probably do something like Al-Qadim (or even Al-Qadim itself). I just don't think that person will be me.

--Erik Mona

 

[Olive]

Don't feel too bad. I'm not sure 40-50 pages could do justice to Al-Qadim, which after all was an enormous campaign setting. Doubtless we'd have to pick a "tight focus" area and go to town on that, leaving out lots of elements that AQ fans think are "required" elements of the campaign setting. I've done that once before (ahem, Spelljammer), and the results were really mixed.

Yeah, I guess I was just looking for some old mechanics updated. I've got that with the Shai'ir now, and I can probably do some of it myself. Like most things I mostly look for mechanics, and I'm sure that 50 pages could handle that.

So when's the next DnD related mini game?

 

[megamania]

To the folks of Dragon...Thankyou for the early christmas gift!

I can't say there is not a page I have decided to skip over as of yet. The origins part is a nice touch.

I'm sure it has been said already but...can this be an annual thing? December is nice or make it January so that the holiday season is lighter of a work load for the editors whom can go over the articals months before.

Time to renew my subscription

 

[Brother Shatterstone]

I got mine today. Yay!!!

I've not read too much but the Ghostwalk is as disappointing as it's inclusion in the dragon... I have the CS and I like it for the most part, but man it needs a serious editor cause there is no organization at all...

What was included for Ghostwalk could easily be changed for any other campaign setting so that both good and bad. Good cause it is and bad cause it doesn't seem like pure Ghostwalk.

I'm also disappointed in the inclusion of so much FR! It's not dead, save that stuff for every other issue. (like normal.)

 

[TeaBee]

I doubt that a regular magazine like this would sell in the numbers required to keep a magazine afloat

It's just that most threads about Dragon or Dungeon Poly have always seemed to be mostly negative. Here's something where a lot of people seemed thrilled. Maybe you should try polling again...

Embarrased? Never! For adventures that have a LOT to do with Greyhawk continuity, we'll put a "Greyhawk" tag on it (see "Tammeraut's Fate," issue #106). "Racing the Snake," in issue #105, should have had that tag, too. Sometimes, if the adventure is about as "Greyhawk" as the "Sunless Citadel" or any of the other WotC adventure path adventures, we might put "Any Setting" so as not to scare off people who worry about having to do a lot of conversion.

What's scarrier than having Greyhawk gods mentioned (other than detailed history/ongoing plots)? If it has the pantheon from the PHB, and nothing that precludes it from being in the setting (an adventure includes, say, a giant crystal city, where mindflayers are ruled by orcs) I think that's still Greyhawk. Greyhawk Lite, yes, but Greyhawk.

If I was looking to convert something, I don't think I'd just go looking for the "ANY SETTING" tag only, IMHO. But when I'm looking for Greyhawk, I'm looking for Greyhawk. Why cater to homebrews instead of the official campaign setting, if you're the official D&D magazine?

We've got _lots_ of exciting Greyhawk stuff coming up. Lots of exciting stuff in general, but I've got two "major" projects in the hopper that I think Greyhawk fans will be talking about for a long, long time (assuming they both go off without a hitch).

That's great to hear. I'm a big fan of Greyhawk, any RPG stuff with the name Erik Mona on it, and the Paizo magazines. I'm such a big fan, I was even at the huge Paizo event at Origins 2003

 

[Snapdragyn]

Al-Qadim is rocking my (campaign) world!

Background: My homebrew setting is based in a cosmology where the Inner Planes never separated & the Prime Material doesn't exist -- instead, there's a (yet unnamed, doh) plane which combines parts of all of the elements in one big weightless (in most places) mix.

Enter the sha'ir, a class based on dealings with genies.

Suddenly my whole 'creation myth' got rewritten to make the various genies figure in... humans became (I'm thinking) a 'weakling' offshoot race of jann... & the great wars of the past are quite often involve meddling genies manipulating the 'lesser' races to further their own goals of supremacy for their species & element. Thankfully, the players have only just hit 2nd level & left their isolated village, so major gameworld revisions like this are still possible.



The downside of this, however, is that I just cannot see the sha'ir as presented really working as a typical adventurer. Certainly it'd work as an NPC class, sticking strictly to more urban settings & advancing through interaction xp rather than battles. But for a roam-the-world, delve-the-dungeon, conquer-the-dragon adventurer? Maybe I'm missing something, but the spell mechanics seem far too limiting, especially at early levels. Good grief, a 1st level sha'ir with 18 CHA has only a 50% chance to successfully retrieve a 1st level spell in their 'known' list! With the extra +2 to the DC to retrieve a spell after failing a check in the same day, there would be plenty of days marked by the words 'sorry guys, I couldn't manage to get a spell today'.

I'd really like to include the sha'ir as a playable class, especially since I'm now planning on having genies much more involved in the world. Anyone have suggestions on homebrew revisions to the class -- either ways to make the casting system better so they're more of a sorcerer/wizard alternative, or changes to give them a focus outside of their (IMO) incredibly weak casting abilities? I'd never heard of Al Qadim before this issue, so I'd especially appreciate suggestions from those more familiar with the original flavor of the class.