Arabian Adventures... would you buy it?

[Pielorinho]

I have the Al-Qadim setting as an ESD and Gurps: Arabian Adventures (or whatever it's called). I'd be unlikely to purchase Al-Qadim in 3E unless it were really, really good -- I like designing my own campaign books.

But I would loooove to see an OA-style treatment of middle-Eastern fantasy. I run a campaign set in a vaguely Persian/Byzantine world (Zoroastrian gods, Byzantium dress and architecture), and would be delighted to see character classes, monsters, spells, and the like in D20 format.

Daniel

 

[Greybar]

Redleg06,

That's actually precisely my point. There is no need for a Mamluk core class, and making one is probably a waste of paper. Your character might be a Mamluk, a Crusader, or a desert raider and all of those things happen to use the Fighter class on the sheet of paper. That's not a weakness of the d20 system, it is its strength.

There's a temptation for someone to try to make a fancy new class for those things, and all they are doing is risking making an unbalanced class. I'd suggest that the author of an Arabian Adventures d20 book would be better off spending that extra two pages on something that is unique to the setting, instead of reinventing the wheel... or the fighter in this case.

-dunk

 

[Davelozzi]

I'd like to see it, especially if it was done OA style. As in, a hardcover book that was mostly a toolkit, possibly with a very short chapter on one possible setting, which could then be given full treatment in its own book. I would not want to see the rulebook carry the FR logo (or that of any established campaign world), although I do like Zakhara and wouldn't really be opposed to it being the featured world as its ties to Faerun are very loose and it could easily be dropped into a another setting.

 

[der_kluge]

*ahem*

http://www.thunderheadgames.com/desc-dry.asp

 

[Greybar]

die_kluge, I think this is just what people are saying:

Many don't want a campaign setting that happens to be in the desert. Thunderhead, Avalanche, and others have done that. If you're a big fan of their worlds, or if you're looking for a plug-in, then those products are a good solution.

But a broader treatment would appeal to those who are working in homebrew campaigns.

Think _Manual_Of_The_Planes_ (here's how YOU can do it)
rather than _Dieties_And_Demigods_ (here's how WE did it).

John

 

[Mystic Eye]

die_kluge, I think this is just what people are saying:

Many don't want a campaign setting that happens to be in the desert. Thunderhead, Avalanche, and others have done that. If you're a big fan of their worlds, or if you're looking for a plug-in, then those products are a good solution.

But a broader treatment would appeal to those who are working in homebrew campaigns.

Think _Manual_Of_The_Planes_ (here's how YOU can do it)
rather than _Dieties_And_Demigods_ (here's how WE did it).

John

I would have to say that Dry Lands is FAR more akin to Manual of the Planes than Dieties and Demigods. It is a truly modular desert setting. We do offer ties to Bluffside but they in no way dominate the book or even a portion of it.
I will see if one of the authors will stop by with more info on this.

 

[der_kluge]

die_kluge, I think this is just what people are saying:

Many don't want a campaign setting that happens to be in the desert. Thunderhead, Avalanche, and others have done that. If you're a big fan of their worlds, or if you're looking for a plug-in, then those products are a good solution.

But a broader treatment would appeal to those who are working in homebrew campaigns.

Think _Manual_Of_The_Planes_ (here's how YOU can do it)
rather than _Dieties_And_Demigods_ (here's how WE did it).

John

Right, what Mystic Eye said - Dry Lands covers desert campaigning in general. Sandstorms, the types of desert, desert culture, desert life, surviving without water, etc, etc, etc. Yes, there is lore specific to TG's world, and yes there are new races which you could toss out the window if you wanted to. But, yes, it's "MotP" desert, rather than "Deities&Demigods" desert.

 

[Greybar]

Mystic Eye,

Glad to hear it! Unfortunately I didn't get that feel from the blurb at http://www.thunderheadgames.com/desc-dry.asp . It sounds much more like a location/campaign-expansion.

Perhaps more could be stated about the product here? A table of contents would certainly lay all questions to rest.

thanks,
John

 

[Olive]

its cool that this is coming out! i'll certainly be checking it out...

any other d20 publishers with similar plans?

 

[thg jim]

Without posting the entire table of contents, Dry Lands contains several chapters that deal with the region and its particularities. This first 53 pages or so is the plug-and-play setting portion. The last 80+ pages deals with NPCs, hazards, classes, creatures, equipment, feats, languages, magical items, races, spells, and skills. I think you will find that this is not just a setting. It is designed to allow you to adventure in the desert, wherever you chose to do this.

As far as how it intertwines with Bluffside, we are making a world from Bluffside out. While the setting has parts that mesh with Bluffside, you can use Dry Lands in basically any fantasy setting. You will also find that our future books along this line will do the same thing: they will detail one particalar region, while at the same time giving the GM information to use in his own world.

Hope this helps.

Jim Govreau
Director of Thunderhead Games
Mystic Eye Games