Desert-themed RPGs?

[jdrakeh]

I'm trying to compile a list of desert-themed RPGs or RPGs based in Middle Eastern culture. To be clear, I'm looking for standalone RPGs, not supplements for D&D 5e (or any other existing RPG). The only two that immediately leap to mind are In a Wicked Age and The Nightmares Underneath. What else do I need to be looking at?

 

[dbm]

Capharnaum by Mindjammer Press is a fantasy Arabia based stand-alone RPG.

The system has the same six stats as D&D but it is a d6 roll-and-keep system rather than a d20 system.

 

[Ulfgeir]

The Dune Rose has as the implied setting by the examples in the booking where a modern woman get's isekaied into a strange romance setting in the dessert.

And The Sentinels of the Weave, is kind of Babylonian setting.

 

[SableWyvern]

I went looking for Persian/Arabian Nights themed games about 10 years ago, and there was almost nothing out there, which is how I ended up giving Al Qadim a look. I was genuinely surprised how little there is. I get the feeling the situation may have improved a little since then, but I'm out of the loop. Good luck with it.

 

[Bagpuss]

Dune: Adventures in the Imperium - I mean the whole planet is a desert and it has Middle Eastern influences.

Would Conan the Barbarian RPG count the setting has a lot of desert regions and lots of the nations reflect historical Middle Eastern regions.

TORG had the Nile Empire as part of it's core setting.

Saying you don't want supplements really narrows it down you are cutting our all of Al-Qadim for AD&D, The Emirates of Ylaruam (Gaz2 for Basic D&D), Birthright had the Khinasi region (again for AD&D) then there is Dark Sun of course, especially if you discounter GURPS which is basic rules plus a settting such as Arabian Nights, Crusades or Egypt, and the last one I can think of is When Gravity Fails (for Cyberpunk).

 

[Bagpuss]

Completely forgot Mad Max/Post Apocalypse style settings not Middle Eastern, but certainly deserts feature significatantly.

The Scorched Basin, Fallout RPG would be some examples, there are probably others but not really sure it's what you are after.

 

[jdrakeh]

Saying you don't want supplements really narrows it down you are cutting our all of Al-Qadim for AD&D, The Emirates of Ylaruam (Gaz2 for Basic D&D), Birthright had the Khinasi region (again for AD&D) then there is Dark Sun of course, especially if you discounter GURPS which is basic rules plus a settting such as Arabian Nights, Crusades or Egypt, and the last one I can think of is When Gravity Fails (for Cyberpunk).

I don't care for most of those D&D supplements (I feel they're poorly written and lean too heavily on bad racial stereotypes as opposed to actual Middle Eastern culture), which is actually a big reason why I ruled out supplements. GURPS supplements are much better from a research and writing standpoint, but I'd still prefer self-contained games.

 

[sevenbastard]

Tales of the Caliphate Nights

Never played it, but saw copies and whe. I Google searched it pulled up this thread

Thread '[Paradigm] Tales of the Caliphate Nights at the printers!'

May 20, 2006

Tales of the Caliphate Nights is now at the printers! We expect to have the book in hand for Origins.​

A Thousand and One Adventures Await!​

The stories come from Arabia, Persia, India, even China. They tell not only of fearsome djinni and fantastical palaces, but also of profound spiritual insight and transformation. They reflect the enormous Islamic civilization during the ninth to thirteenth centuries, which stretched from Spain across North Africa to Cairo, across the Arabian...

• Paradigm
• Replies: 11
• Forum: *Tabletop General

 

[Piperken]

I'm trying to compile a list of desert-themed RPGs or RPGs based in Middle Eastern culture...

Don't know how strict you want to stick with games that are self-contained:

Seas of Sand by Sam Sorenson (this is a toolbox setting)

Vaults of Vaarn by Leo Hunt (probably doesn't need any introduction)

 

[Bluenose]

Scheherazade. Although I suppose it's only desert-themed as you could equally be doing Sindbad-style stories.