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<blockquote data-quote="Urriak Uruk" data-source="post: 8619540" data-attributes="member: 7015558"><p>No.</p><p></p><p>Here is the description of Al-Qadim's contents on Wikipedia;</p><p></p><p><em>Arabian Adventures offers over 40 pages of player character <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Character_class_(Dungeons_%26_Dragons)" target="_blank">kits</a>, including the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sha%27ir_(Dungeons_%26_Dragons)" target="_blank">sha'ir</a>, barber-thieves, beggar-thieves, and other rogues, as well as other characteristically Arabian roles such as merchants, moralistic priests, hakimas (wise women), mystics, mamluks, corsairs, and elemental wizards. Each kit includes benefits, hindrances, and discussion of the kit's societal role in the desert of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zakhara" target="_blank">Zakhara</a>, the Land of Fate.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Qadim:_Arabian_Adventures#cite_note-Dragon_#219-1" target="_blank">[1]</a> The rulebook also includes rules for calling upon Fate, the Evil Eye, and discussions of honor, piety, the salt bond, and other characteristics of Arabian society.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Qadim:_Arabian_Adventures#cite_note-Dragon_#219-1" target="_blank">[1]</a> The rulebook offers a comprehensive list of desert equipment, lists of spells with a desert motif, Arab character names, and proficiencies like Haggling and Display Weapon Prowess.</em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Qadim:_Arabian_Adventures#cite_note-Dragon_#219-1" target="_blank"><em>[1]</em></a></p><p></p><p>I won't say this is as awful as Oriental Empires (because that is really bad), but this is not good. And the simplest answer I can say for not doing Al-Qadim, is simply that Jeff Grubb, who is not Arabian, wrote it. That's not a knock against Grubb who is an excellent designer, but the fact is that even if he did research on the product, he's going to write something with inherent biases/stereotypes.</p><p></p><p>I mean, here's one review that was written Allen Varney (and this review was written back in the 1990s, by another non-Arabian!)</p><p></p><p><em>The "lack of Arabian flavor may derive partly from the uneasy relationship between the Arabian Nights adventures and standard AD&D rules. It's hard enough justifying elves and dwarves in this setting, and there's a worse lack. The Al-Qadim campaign accepts slavery and polygamy as facts of life, and dispassionately discusses the ways of holy slayers, but it never dares hint at that ultimate taboo of all AD&D campaign worlds, monotheism. We must presume that developing a fantasy equivalent of Allah would offend Muslims, whereas compromising Islamic culture with a polytheistic hodgepodge is just fine. No doubt TSR also wished to avoid unpleasant links to the modern Islamic world in the wake of the 1991 Gulf War."</em></p><p></p><p>So IMO, make a new setting, don't bother updating this stuff. If you make the necessary changes to fix it, it'll make FR fans made. So don't bother, make something new.</p><p></p><p>I'll add, I'm super confident that the D&D team, who now work with great creators like Ajit George, probably agree with the "don't bother, full do-over" on this.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Urriak Uruk, post: 8619540, member: 7015558"] No. Here is the description of Al-Qadim's contents on Wikipedia; [I]Arabian Adventures offers over 40 pages of player character [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Character_class_(Dungeons_%26_Dragons)']kits[/URL], including the [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sha%27ir_(Dungeons_%26_Dragons)']sha'ir[/URL], barber-thieves, beggar-thieves, and other rogues, as well as other characteristically Arabian roles such as merchants, moralistic priests, hakimas (wise women), mystics, mamluks, corsairs, and elemental wizards. Each kit includes benefits, hindrances, and discussion of the kit's societal role in the desert of [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zakhara']Zakhara[/URL], the Land of Fate.[URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Qadim:_Arabian_Adventures#cite_note-Dragon_#219-1'][1][/URL] The rulebook also includes rules for calling upon Fate, the Evil Eye, and discussions of honor, piety, the salt bond, and other characteristics of Arabian society.[URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Qadim:_Arabian_Adventures#cite_note-Dragon_#219-1'][1][/URL] The rulebook offers a comprehensive list of desert equipment, lists of spells with a desert motif, Arab character names, and proficiencies like Haggling and Display Weapon Prowess.[/I][URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Qadim:_Arabian_Adventures#cite_note-Dragon_#219-1'][I][1][/I][/URL] I won't say this is as awful as Oriental Empires (because that is really bad), but this is not good. And the simplest answer I can say for not doing Al-Qadim, is simply that Jeff Grubb, who is not Arabian, wrote it. That's not a knock against Grubb who is an excellent designer, but the fact is that even if he did research on the product, he's going to write something with inherent biases/stereotypes. I mean, here's one review that was written Allen Varney (and this review was written back in the 1990s, by another non-Arabian!) [I]The "lack of Arabian flavor may derive partly from the uneasy relationship between the Arabian Nights adventures and standard AD&D rules. It's hard enough justifying elves and dwarves in this setting, and there's a worse lack. The Al-Qadim campaign accepts slavery and polygamy as facts of life, and dispassionately discusses the ways of holy slayers, but it never dares hint at that ultimate taboo of all AD&D campaign worlds, monotheism. We must presume that developing a fantasy equivalent of Allah would offend Muslims, whereas compromising Islamic culture with a polytheistic hodgepodge is just fine. No doubt TSR also wished to avoid unpleasant links to the modern Islamic world in the wake of the 1991 Gulf War."[/I] So IMO, make a new setting, don't bother updating this stuff. If you make the necessary changes to fix it, it'll make FR fans made. So don't bother, make something new. I'll add, I'm super confident that the D&D team, who now work with great creators like Ajit George, probably agree with the "don't bother, full do-over" on this. [/QUOTE]
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