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Look, I wasn't "fiat killing" the PC. I was just saying, if you set expectations that "Hey that thing is deadly," and someone does the thing without prep anyway... then it 'aint the DMs fault. The DM should set the height to be deadly if they say it is.

I believe Dark Sun 4E slightly advances the timeline to be post-Kalak's death, but barely beyond that.

I don't really want to get into hypotheticals, as Jeff Grubb is not a cultural consultant, and does not AFAIK have any degrees showing expertise in the Near/Middle East. I would say it is in good form to get cultural consultants and experts advisors... who are actually members of the community...

This is very true... I don't think omission is a bad thing always, but it is often very unhelpful to a new DM. Handholding I think is required for an adventure in a starter's set, and I don't think they should push the limits of a system much.

I think a non-Arab could write something with a cultural consultant. AFAIK Grubb didn't have that.

No worries! I personally don't find the solution that complicated, and sometimes I appreciate when information is vague as it gives more freedom. With what you've described I can't really determine if the omission here would be helpful or frustrating.

EDIT: I'm going to exit the discussion here as clearly my intention is not getting across, but set the height to something that will likely kill all the players if they fall. That's it. I dunno what that is because the OP hasn't said the module, what level it's for, or much context at all...

This is literally just a part of DMing. You decide whether the orcs sit and do nothing, or attack while prepping. I don't know 4E well so won't comment much on this. At this point, I'd have to actually read what the module says instead of the OP's summary. But yes, on the last sentence, if you...

No. Here is the description of Al-Qadim's contents on Wikipedia; Arabian Adventures offers over 40 pages of player character kits, including the sha'ir, barber-thieves, beggar-thieves, and other rogues, as well as other characteristically Arabian roles such as merchants, moralistic priests...

You're making this way more complicated than it needs to be. If you want the PCs to die from the fall, then they die. If you don't, they don't and take a lot of falling damage instead. It's really just that easy. I'll add, if you're clear with your players that "Hey, you're going to be really...

Well, the module already does that; if they fall, they probably die. Whether they do is up to you I guess. Do you really need the exact falling damage laid out for you? It's like when someone complained to me about Infinity War, saying it was a "plot hole" that they didn't explain how Thor...

Planescape (I want it to be Dark Sun, but I'll hedge), and Greyhawk.

I literally gave Out of the Abyss as the example for how 5E has slavery. I know it does. Still, slavery is such an overwhelming, constant presence in DS that there should be at minimum an option for DMs to write it out. There should explicitly be a "warning DMs" section, much like how Ravenloft...

I don't think Mystara can be saved for 5E. It's just way too tied to real-world cultures mashed together... I understand it's appeal, but I think it's firmly in an OSR sector.

Yep, this comment does sum up the worst parts of Dragon Heist. And I actually like that module!

I'm with you on the more nuanced "It depends." Dark Sun needs a bit of rework, Planescape is mostly ok how it is, everything else probably somewhere in between. Except Mystara, don't go near Mystara.

Sometimes an adventure being incomplete is helpful. In the Orcs on Stairs example, it gives you the freedom to set whatever height you want. So if you think this fight is unfair, you can set the height to be lower so that players can survive the fall. If you want PC death a possibility, set it...

I don't think we actually know which Crystal Spheres they are covering in the book, that hasn't been made clear yet AFAIK.