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[Let's Read] Al-Qadim: Land of Fate Boxed Set
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<blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 7948781" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Land of Fate (Bestiary Booklet)</strong></p><p></p><p>The smallest of the three, the oddly-named Land of Fate booklet gives us 11 new monsters (5 if you don’t count subtypes) of setting-specific monsters.</p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/gzn1PZW.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><strong>Yak-Men (Yikaria)</strong> are inhabitants of the World Pillar Mountains. Their civilization is advanced and they are naturally gifted in the ways of magic, but they are a tyrannical society powered by the labor of slaves of other races. They do not interact much with the outside world save among spies and agents, which gives them a sort of fearful fabled status in the Caliphate as wicked and powerful savages.</p><p></p><p>Yikaria society centers around the cities in their mountain homes. Slaves outnumber them 5 to 1, and yak-men of all social classes have at least one servant. Dao servants are used to shape terrain and structures with exotic imported stone from the Elemental Plane of Earth, and military outposts guard key roads and vales traversing the mountain range. Their cities are a centralized empire, and their patron deity’s name is forgotten among all but the yak-men who do not speak his title in the presence of outsiders. This Forgotten God is their leader and demands daily sacrifices of slaves, culled from those who are incompetent and disobedient first and killed one of four elemental ways (pyres for fire, thrown off a mountaintop for air, buried alive for earth, and drowning for water).</p><p></p><p>Yak-men encountered outside of the World Pillar Mountains are typically scouts who have been exiled and can only have their crimes forgiven should they bring some valuable object or piece of intelligence back to their home city. They often make use of the Magic Jar spell to inhabit the bodies of other races to better blend in among Zakharan society.</p><p></p><p>Statwise the Yikaria are 5 Hit Die creatures who specialize in magical abilities: they can use any magic item without restriction, can command a dao genie 1/day to perform any task asked of them for 48 hours, have a touch range magic jar spell that only affects demihumans, humans, and humanoids but also grants the memories of the host body in addition to control over its motor functions. The yak-man’s presence cannot be detected by divination spells in such bodies, but can be dispelled normally.</p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/czb36RS.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><strong>Zakharan Rocs</strong> are more varied than the ones found in other lands. They typically live in the lusher regions of the Land of Fate, favoriting the Ruined Kingdoms region. Their plumage is a beautiful multi-colored hue, and a rare few have pure white, black, or red feathers. Beyond the common roc there is a two-headed variety, and a great roc which is the largest specimen of all.</p><p></p><p>Two-headed and great rocs are sapient, unlike the common variety, although the two-headed ones are Chaotic Evil and sadistically hunt beyond what is necessary for subsistence. Both they and great rocs are large enough to pick up and fling boulders and boulder-sized objects as ranged attacks.</p><p></p><p>Statwise there’s not much to say about the new roc varieties that separates them from the normal kind beyond larger dice numbers (and a bonus bite attack for the two-headed one). They’re big, tough flying animals with natural weapons and a ton of Hit Dice.</p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/6PBnHxu.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><strong>Island Giants</strong> are huge (13 feet tall), evil, horned beings who have varying physical features based upon their local ecosystem. Some have reptilian scales, others one or more horns, and some have features of other races such as a cyclopean single eye or the hindquarters of satyrs. They are hostile to other giants and enlightened civilization, and the feeling is mutual. Island giants speak a dialect of Midani peppered with Giantish phrases, and prefer to live by themselves save when they must come together to mate. The women of their species have the ability to polymorph into other human and humanoid (but not demihuman) forms and use this to lead travelers astray. Island giant children are able to breathe underwater to take advantage of fleeing into safe areas in coves, but lose this ability upon reaching adulthood.</p><p></p><p>Statwise they are tough 13 Hit Dice giants with the ability to throw boulders. They have some slight Magic Resistance at 10%.</p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/pfdDxr1.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><strong>Ogre Giants</strong> are even larger specimens of normal ogres, averaging around 20 feet tall with a single eye and fur covering their bodies. They keep cool by flapping their huge ears, and the males can grow tusks. They can speak Ogre, and some closer to civilization learn Midani, although most of their number is Unenlightened and are given a wide berth by others. A notable few converted to the Law of the Loregiver, becoming missionaries to the rest of their kind.</p><p></p><p>Ogre giant society is organized into small family units led by a male leader who has several wives. Some often serve as minions to ogre magi, spellcasters, and other powerful individuals in exchange for food, territory, and protection. Interestingly they demonstrate a level of honor towards their foes; any slain by an ogre giant will be buried in rock cairns, which they bury their own race in as well. The cairns are built upon with successive generations, a few becoming building and even palace-sized tombs.</p><p></p><p><strong>Note:</strong> Each of the genie entries has 2 pictures instead of one, portraying a male and female of their clan. I’m only choosing 1 for each entry for brevity’s sake.</p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/W9gGDKy.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><strong>Zakharan Marid Genies</strong> are considered by many in the Caliphate to be the most powerful of geniekind, and the marid’s impressive egos bask in this. Marids wear little or nothing in aquatic environs, but when they come upon land bound mortal society they dress in the most expensive and flashy garments they can find. Every marid claims to bear some noble blood, and titles of authority are practically part of their naming structure. Their family units are extended households of 2 to 20 members, with twice as many servants or slaves of other races who are given magical boons and water-breathing ability as part of this service. The marid take great pains to gain possession of the finest things in life, be they magical items, irreplaceable works of art, or anything that speaks to the individual marid’s hobby. Their capital is the Citadel of the Ten Thousand Pearls, a beautiful city in the center of the Elemental Plane of Water.</p><p></p><p>Statwise they are physically powerful 13 Hit Dice genies with lots of spell-like abilities. They are immune to water-based spells and are resistant to cold-based attacks. They, and all other non-Janni genies, can travel freely to any of the elemental planes and the Material Plane, although they avoid the territories of other genies save in times of need. Once per year they may cast Alter Reality.</p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/qrUgZIj.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><strong>Zakharan Janni Genies</strong> are the only subrace native to the Material Plane. They are servants of the other genie races and watch over the Land of Fate’s great deserts. They appear as human or half-elves with aesthetically pleasing features, capable of walking among mortalkind in disguise. Janni prefer to live as part of their own nomadic tribes away from others, although their leaders are allies of the Grand Caliph. They maintain a few permanent settlements, and they follow similar leadership structures as Zakharan mortals: sheikhs rule over smaller tribes, while amirs lead the larger ones and maintain a council of viziers. The janni are friendly to the djinn, but barely tolerate dao and efreet. They hardly ever deal with marid, but give them the proper amount of “royal treatment” during their stays.</p><p></p><p>Statwise janni are 6-9 Hit Die (more for sheikhs, viziers, and amirs) creatures who gain 20% magic resistance while in a desert environment. They can Speak with Animals at will to aid in their role as guardians of nature, and have a minor variety of spell-like abilities such as turning invisible, ethereal, and creating food and water along with permanent flight and water-breathing.</p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/DPhg3Cr.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><strong>Zakharan Efreeti Genies</strong> are evil social Darwinists who react to others based on their perceived power in relation to themselves. Most live in the Elemental Plane of Fire, and the few that do show up in the Material Plane are on some mission or service for a sha’ir or higher-ranking efreeti. They are prone to hold grudges and their society is highly militarized. The City of Brass is the efreeti capital, its soldiers making frequent raids into other planes for riches and slaves. There is a cruel irony that many efreet are not fond of their own society’s restrictive nature, and are eager to visit other planes when permitted for the relative freedom this brings. The efreeti’s relative willingness to grant wishes to mortals has led to the subject of many tales, and there’s an entire bureaucracy overseeing the wish trade in order to maintain their races’ power and reputation. Although the system favors the efreet, it is difficult yet possible for mortals to find loopholes and exploits to get out of a badly-worded wish.</p><p></p><p>Statwise efreeti are 10 Hit Die genies with powerful spell-like abilities. They are immune to nonmagical fire but take half damage from magical flames. Every member of their race can grant up to 3 wishes per day,* but have several restrictions: first they can only grant wishes to creatures native to the Material Plane, cannot grant wishes to other genies, and the wish will be reviewed by their superiors in the bureaucracy of the City of Brass.</p><p></p><p>*which contradicts the magic item chapter’s Ring of Genie Summoning, which claims that only the rare nobles among all genies are capable of granting wishes.</p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/Glu94Q0.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><strong>Zakharan Djinni Genies</strong> have the friendliest relationship with the Land of Fate’s mortals besides the janni. They live among floating islands in the Elemental Plane of Air, although their cities have architecture for nonflying visitors. Djinni society is much like the Caliphate’s, even down to identical noble titles and a Great Caliph of their own. Their settlements are autonomous but have mutual defense pacts to come to each other’s aid in times of danger. Those who visit the Material Plane prefer the natural beauty of the wilderness and tend to regard mortals as comical; they are quite fond of using their illusory and air magic to play practical jokes. They’re the most amenable to servitude by a sha’ir, but find longer-term contracts distasteful.</p><p></p><p>Statwise they are 7 Hit Die creatures capable of creating a rideable whirlwind to batter their foes and blow things around. Their magical powers are themed towards air, creating physical objects, and minor illusions.</p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/aGd9Nl0.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><strong>Zakharan Dao Genies</strong> are evil beings who live in the great caverns of the Elemental Plane of Earth. They enslave xorns and other natives to further excavate their holdings as well as use them as scouts if they have the ability to naturally move through the earth. The dao’s local settlements are known as mazeworks ruled over by a noble known as an ataman, who in theory pledge themselves to an emperor known as the Great Khan who rules over an empire known as the Sevenfold Mazework. Although punished when found out, more than a few individual mazeworks have managed to gain political independence. Their capital city is the Great Dismal Delve, rich in the trade of gems, precious metals, and slaves.</p><p></p><p>Dao are a hard-working race, eager to create new settlements, trade networks, and various plans of personal enrichment. For unknown reasons their race is bound to come to the aid of the yikaria when on the Material Plane. The dao hate having to serve the yak-men, and take out their anger on others while in service. But they’re capable of indirectly harming their masters under the right circumstances.</p><p></p><p>Statwise dao are 8 Hit Die beings whose spell-like abilities center around stone, the creation of magical walls, and detection-type divination spells. They can grant limited wishes once per day but with restrictions: they’re similar to the limitations of the efreeti, but additionally cannot grant their abilities to anyone with extraplanar heritage in their family tree (no cambions, planetouched, etc). Instead of being overseen by a bureaucracy, they can only grant a wish that will be twisted or bring misfortune. Even the dao cannot predict how said wish will be warped, although they are aware that their own wishes cannot be fulfilled as intended. Dao can also burrow through soil and soft earth, and are capable of lifting up to 500 pounds indefinitely without tiring.</p><p></p><p><strong>Thoughts So Far:</strong> I feel that most of the bestiary are twists on existing monsters rather than new ones outright. I do not see what is much different in regards to Zakharan genies than the ones found in the core rules besides some mention of specific setting detail. The two giants are interesting from a fluff standpoint* but statwise you know more or less what you’re getting. The yak-men/yikarians are my favorite, and make for a good major villainous faction in al-Qadim campaigns with unique abilities to go along with them. Their mountain empire got an expanded treatment in Dragon #241, although I do not own that particular issue so comment further on it.</p><p></p><p>*I like the ogre giant’s cairns.</p><p></p><p><strong>Concluding Thoughts:</strong> Al-Qadim still holds up well by modern standards, minus some dated 2nd Edition mechanics. It has enough unique features to make it stand out from other settings beyond the Arabian Nights aesthetic, and the various cities and regions have enough variation to host a diverse amount of campaign types. Courtly intrigue in the many cities, dungeon delving in the Ruined Kingdoms, and sailing the high seas of the Corsair Coast or Crowded Seas are but a few inspirational ideas which are not only supported, but expanded upon in further sourcebooks.</p><p></p><p>Al-Qadim’s major weakness is the datedness of the 2nd Edition ruleset, as I imagine most gaming groups would want to play it in the more modern 5th Edition. While the Land of Fate boxed set is mostly fluff, the class kits, magic items, and spells found in Arabian Adventures are a big part of the original campaign’s theme. Additionally there is a high-level bias on the part of many NPCs in power, although unlike the Forgotten Realms they are mostly confined to their individual domains. You don’t have Drizz’t or Elminster figures running around and saving the day to the point that you have to cook up excuses as to why the PCs are handling a crisis without their support.</p><p></p><p>I understand that this review was a long time coming ever since I polled the option two months ago, but I hope the wait was worth it. For my next review, we’re going to try something more modern and contemporary with <strong>SIGMATA: This Signal Kills Fascists.</strong></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Libertad, post: 7948781, member: 6750502"] [center][b]Land of Fate (Bestiary Booklet)[/b][/center] The smallest of the three, the oddly-named Land of Fate booklet gives us 11 new monsters (5 if you don’t count subtypes) of setting-specific monsters. [img]https://i.imgur.com/gzn1PZW.png[/img] [b]Yak-Men (Yikaria)[/b] are inhabitants of the World Pillar Mountains. Their civilization is advanced and they are naturally gifted in the ways of magic, but they are a tyrannical society powered by the labor of slaves of other races. They do not interact much with the outside world save among spies and agents, which gives them a sort of fearful fabled status in the Caliphate as wicked and powerful savages. Yikaria society centers around the cities in their mountain homes. Slaves outnumber them 5 to 1, and yak-men of all social classes have at least one servant. Dao servants are used to shape terrain and structures with exotic imported stone from the Elemental Plane of Earth, and military outposts guard key roads and vales traversing the mountain range. Their cities are a centralized empire, and their patron deity’s name is forgotten among all but the yak-men who do not speak his title in the presence of outsiders. This Forgotten God is their leader and demands daily sacrifices of slaves, culled from those who are incompetent and disobedient first and killed one of four elemental ways (pyres for fire, thrown off a mountaintop for air, buried alive for earth, and drowning for water). Yak-men encountered outside of the World Pillar Mountains are typically scouts who have been exiled and can only have their crimes forgiven should they bring some valuable object or piece of intelligence back to their home city. They often make use of the Magic Jar spell to inhabit the bodies of other races to better blend in among Zakharan society. Statwise the Yikaria are 5 Hit Die creatures who specialize in magical abilities: they can use any magic item without restriction, can command a dao genie 1/day to perform any task asked of them for 48 hours, have a touch range magic jar spell that only affects demihumans, humans, and humanoids but also grants the memories of the host body in addition to control over its motor functions. The yak-man’s presence cannot be detected by divination spells in such bodies, but can be dispelled normally. [img]https://i.imgur.com/czb36RS.png[/img] [b]Zakharan Rocs[/b] are more varied than the ones found in other lands. They typically live in the lusher regions of the Land of Fate, favoriting the Ruined Kingdoms region. Their plumage is a beautiful multi-colored hue, and a rare few have pure white, black, or red feathers. Beyond the common roc there is a two-headed variety, and a great roc which is the largest specimen of all. Two-headed and great rocs are sapient, unlike the common variety, although the two-headed ones are Chaotic Evil and sadistically hunt beyond what is necessary for subsistence. Both they and great rocs are large enough to pick up and fling boulders and boulder-sized objects as ranged attacks. Statwise there’s not much to say about the new roc varieties that separates them from the normal kind beyond larger dice numbers (and a bonus bite attack for the two-headed one). They’re big, tough flying animals with natural weapons and a ton of Hit Dice. [img]https://i.imgur.com/6PBnHxu.png[/img] [b]Island Giants[/b] are huge (13 feet tall), evil, horned beings who have varying physical features based upon their local ecosystem. Some have reptilian scales, others one or more horns, and some have features of other races such as a cyclopean single eye or the hindquarters of satyrs. They are hostile to other giants and enlightened civilization, and the feeling is mutual. Island giants speak a dialect of Midani peppered with Giantish phrases, and prefer to live by themselves save when they must come together to mate. The women of their species have the ability to polymorph into other human and humanoid (but not demihuman) forms and use this to lead travelers astray. Island giant children are able to breathe underwater to take advantage of fleeing into safe areas in coves, but lose this ability upon reaching adulthood. Statwise they are tough 13 Hit Dice giants with the ability to throw boulders. They have some slight Magic Resistance at 10%. [img]https://i.imgur.com/pfdDxr1.png[/img] [b]Ogre Giants[/b] are even larger specimens of normal ogres, averaging around 20 feet tall with a single eye and fur covering their bodies. They keep cool by flapping their huge ears, and the males can grow tusks. They can speak Ogre, and some closer to civilization learn Midani, although most of their number is Unenlightened and are given a wide berth by others. A notable few converted to the Law of the Loregiver, becoming missionaries to the rest of their kind. Ogre giant society is organized into small family units led by a male leader who has several wives. Some often serve as minions to ogre magi, spellcasters, and other powerful individuals in exchange for food, territory, and protection. Interestingly they demonstrate a level of honor towards their foes; any slain by an ogre giant will be buried in rock cairns, which they bury their own race in as well. The cairns are built upon with successive generations, a few becoming building and even palace-sized tombs. [b]Note:[/b] Each of the genie entries has 2 pictures instead of one, portraying a male and female of their clan. I’m only choosing 1 for each entry for brevity’s sake. [img]https://i.imgur.com/W9gGDKy.png[/img] [b]Zakharan Marid Genies[/b] are considered by many in the Caliphate to be the most powerful of geniekind, and the marid’s impressive egos bask in this. Marids wear little or nothing in aquatic environs, but when they come upon land bound mortal society they dress in the most expensive and flashy garments they can find. Every marid claims to bear some noble blood, and titles of authority are practically part of their naming structure. Their family units are extended households of 2 to 20 members, with twice as many servants or slaves of other races who are given magical boons and water-breathing ability as part of this service. The marid take great pains to gain possession of the finest things in life, be they magical items, irreplaceable works of art, or anything that speaks to the individual marid’s hobby. Their capital is the Citadel of the Ten Thousand Pearls, a beautiful city in the center of the Elemental Plane of Water. Statwise they are physically powerful 13 Hit Dice genies with lots of spell-like abilities. They are immune to water-based spells and are resistant to cold-based attacks. They, and all other non-Janni genies, can travel freely to any of the elemental planes and the Material Plane, although they avoid the territories of other genies save in times of need. Once per year they may cast Alter Reality. [img]https://i.imgur.com/qrUgZIj.png[/img] [b]Zakharan Janni Genies[/b] are the only subrace native to the Material Plane. They are servants of the other genie races and watch over the Land of Fate’s great deserts. They appear as human or half-elves with aesthetically pleasing features, capable of walking among mortalkind in disguise. Janni prefer to live as part of their own nomadic tribes away from others, although their leaders are allies of the Grand Caliph. They maintain a few permanent settlements, and they follow similar leadership structures as Zakharan mortals: sheikhs rule over smaller tribes, while amirs lead the larger ones and maintain a council of viziers. The janni are friendly to the djinn, but barely tolerate dao and efreet. They hardly ever deal with marid, but give them the proper amount of “royal treatment” during their stays. Statwise janni are 6-9 Hit Die (more for sheikhs, viziers, and amirs) creatures who gain 20% magic resistance while in a desert environment. They can Speak with Animals at will to aid in their role as guardians of nature, and have a minor variety of spell-like abilities such as turning invisible, ethereal, and creating food and water along with permanent flight and water-breathing. [img]https://i.imgur.com/DPhg3Cr.png[/img] [b]Zakharan Efreeti Genies[/b] are evil social Darwinists who react to others based on their perceived power in relation to themselves. Most live in the Elemental Plane of Fire, and the few that do show up in the Material Plane are on some mission or service for a sha’ir or higher-ranking efreeti. They are prone to hold grudges and their society is highly militarized. The City of Brass is the efreeti capital, its soldiers making frequent raids into other planes for riches and slaves. There is a cruel irony that many efreet are not fond of their own society’s restrictive nature, and are eager to visit other planes when permitted for the relative freedom this brings. The efreeti’s relative willingness to grant wishes to mortals has led to the subject of many tales, and there’s an entire bureaucracy overseeing the wish trade in order to maintain their races’ power and reputation. Although the system favors the efreet, it is difficult yet possible for mortals to find loopholes and exploits to get out of a badly-worded wish. Statwise efreeti are 10 Hit Die genies with powerful spell-like abilities. They are immune to nonmagical fire but take half damage from magical flames. Every member of their race can grant up to 3 wishes per day,* but have several restrictions: first they can only grant wishes to creatures native to the Material Plane, cannot grant wishes to other genies, and the wish will be reviewed by their superiors in the bureaucracy of the City of Brass. *which contradicts the magic item chapter’s Ring of Genie Summoning, which claims that only the rare nobles among all genies are capable of granting wishes. [img]https://i.imgur.com/Glu94Q0.png[/img] [b]Zakharan Djinni Genies[/b] have the friendliest relationship with the Land of Fate’s mortals besides the janni. They live among floating islands in the Elemental Plane of Air, although their cities have architecture for nonflying visitors. Djinni society is much like the Caliphate’s, even down to identical noble titles and a Great Caliph of their own. Their settlements are autonomous but have mutual defense pacts to come to each other’s aid in times of danger. Those who visit the Material Plane prefer the natural beauty of the wilderness and tend to regard mortals as comical; they are quite fond of using their illusory and air magic to play practical jokes. They’re the most amenable to servitude by a sha’ir, but find longer-term contracts distasteful. Statwise they are 7 Hit Die creatures capable of creating a rideable whirlwind to batter their foes and blow things around. Their magical powers are themed towards air, creating physical objects, and minor illusions. [img]https://i.imgur.com/aGd9Nl0.png[/img] [b]Zakharan Dao Genies[/b] are evil beings who live in the great caverns of the Elemental Plane of Earth. They enslave xorns and other natives to further excavate their holdings as well as use them as scouts if they have the ability to naturally move through the earth. The dao’s local settlements are known as mazeworks ruled over by a noble known as an ataman, who in theory pledge themselves to an emperor known as the Great Khan who rules over an empire known as the Sevenfold Mazework. Although punished when found out, more than a few individual mazeworks have managed to gain political independence. Their capital city is the Great Dismal Delve, rich in the trade of gems, precious metals, and slaves. Dao are a hard-working race, eager to create new settlements, trade networks, and various plans of personal enrichment. For unknown reasons their race is bound to come to the aid of the yikaria when on the Material Plane. The dao hate having to serve the yak-men, and take out their anger on others while in service. But they’re capable of indirectly harming their masters under the right circumstances. Statwise dao are 8 Hit Die beings whose spell-like abilities center around stone, the creation of magical walls, and detection-type divination spells. They can grant limited wishes once per day but with restrictions: they’re similar to the limitations of the efreeti, but additionally cannot grant their abilities to anyone with extraplanar heritage in their family tree (no cambions, planetouched, etc). Instead of being overseen by a bureaucracy, they can only grant a wish that will be twisted or bring misfortune. Even the dao cannot predict how said wish will be warped, although they are aware that their own wishes cannot be fulfilled as intended. Dao can also burrow through soil and soft earth, and are capable of lifting up to 500 pounds indefinitely without tiring. [b]Thoughts So Far:[/b] I feel that most of the bestiary are twists on existing monsters rather than new ones outright. I do not see what is much different in regards to Zakharan genies than the ones found in the core rules besides some mention of specific setting detail. The two giants are interesting from a fluff standpoint* but statwise you know more or less what you’re getting. The yak-men/yikarians are my favorite, and make for a good major villainous faction in al-Qadim campaigns with unique abilities to go along with them. Their mountain empire got an expanded treatment in Dragon #241, although I do not own that particular issue so comment further on it. *I like the ogre giant’s cairns. [b]Concluding Thoughts:[/b] Al-Qadim still holds up well by modern standards, minus some dated 2nd Edition mechanics. It has enough unique features to make it stand out from other settings beyond the Arabian Nights aesthetic, and the various cities and regions have enough variation to host a diverse amount of campaign types. Courtly intrigue in the many cities, dungeon delving in the Ruined Kingdoms, and sailing the high seas of the Corsair Coast or Crowded Seas are but a few inspirational ideas which are not only supported, but expanded upon in further sourcebooks. Al-Qadim’s major weakness is the datedness of the 2nd Edition ruleset, as I imagine most gaming groups would want to play it in the more modern 5th Edition. While the Land of Fate boxed set is mostly fluff, the class kits, magic items, and spells found in Arabian Adventures are a big part of the original campaign’s theme. Additionally there is a high-level bias on the part of many NPCs in power, although unlike the Forgotten Realms they are mostly confined to their individual domains. You don’t have Drizz’t or Elminster figures running around and saving the day to the point that you have to cook up excuses as to why the PCs are handling a crisis without their support. I understand that this review was a long time coming ever since I polled the option two months ago, but I hope the wait was worth it. For my next review, we’re going to try something more modern and contemporary with [b]SIGMATA: This Signal Kills Fascists.[/b] [/QUOTE]
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