Libertad
Legend
Mr. Rhexx’s Storefront, PDF
Edition Note: This product was originally made for 2014 5th Edition, but brackets are provided for 2024 stat blocks for monsters and NPCs from the Monster Manual.
Fermin Caballero, better known as Mr. Rhexx, had his start online making lore videos for popular RPGs such as Skyrim and Dungeons & Dragons. He would soon extend his love of tabletop to self-publishing his own 5th Edition products. At first writing smaller supplements such as playable monster classes and new magic items, he set about working on a much more ambitious project. That project is Sands of Doom, a 1st to 11th level sandbox adventure path inspired by the Red Hand of Doom module. Taking place in the desert land of Kirat, a resurrected army of Fantasy Egyptian Gnolls led by a godlike Pharoah sets about conquering the surrounding region, and the PCs must travel around collecting powerful Divine Relics in hopes of stopping them.
Mr. Rhexx’s channel is very popular on YouTube, but I don’t see as much discussion on his latest adventure. The intriguing concept, combined with the high production values for a comparatively less-known self-publisher, and even a complete soundtrack, piques my interest enough to give it a review.
The Introduction outlines campaign expectations, future chapters, as well as the brief history of the Kirat region in which the entire adventure takes place. Kirat is a dry, arid realm, the majority of its territory being a Great Wasteland. The major population centers border the Wasteland, most notably the tiefling city-state of Al’Kirat to the west, the orc/giant Kingdom of O’grila to the southeast, and the Beastlands in the southwest, which are populated by various anthropomorphic humanoids (minotaurs, harpies, etc) collectively referred to as beastfolk.
Long ago, a civilization known as the Old Kingdom prospered, made up of gnolls whose fiendish gods demanded ever more blood sacrifices. A pantheon of deities known as the Aru came to offer the gnolls a better path once the fiends began demanding the sick, children, and loved ones in addition to social undesirables. The Aru aided the gnolls in overthrowing the fiends and their warlocks, helping forge an Anubian Empire whose first Pharaoh was the union of an Aru and mortal. The Empire grew in size and might, with different territories assigned to different Aru, and Divine Relics were forged to enact miracles to help lead their civilization into a golden era of prosperity.
The Anubian Empire lasted for about 6,000 years before it met its ends at the mandibles of the Darakni, a race of psionic insects lairing deep underground. Driven to the surface by the depletion of subterranean food stores, they rampaged across the Anubian Empire, their superior numbers and resistance to divine magic destroying most of the gnolls. The Aru unleashed a Cataclysm to indiscriminately destroy every living creature within hundreds of miles, giving the gnolls enough time to construct pyramidal vaults to place their people in a suspended animation. The plan was that the Pharaoh use the Ankh of Life, one of the Divine Relics, to reawaken the Anubians several centuries later when the Darakni would hopefully be dead. In practice, the Cataclysm was even more terrible than expected, turning much of the Empire wasteland and reducing the Aru themselves to nearly powerless and drained mortals, forced to wander the world as half-dead weaklings. The hibernating Anubians remained sleeping, the magic protections weakening over time and causing their bodies to rot to a state of being a “living corpse,” with some outright becoming undead.
2,000 years later, the wastes were settled by waves of tiefling settlers, fleeing persecution from foreign lands due to their fiendish lineage. Thanks to their innate quality of resisting fire and heat, they could more comfortably subsist in warm climates. This, combined with the region’s relative isolation from their former kingdoms, made it an ideal place to start a new civilization. The tieflings named the land Kirat (“jewel”), and their largest city became known as Al’Kirat.
But the tieflings weren’t the only people living here. There was also the native beastfolk, organized into independent bands of tribes, and the giants and orcs of the Kingdom of O’grila to the southeast. The relative lack of natural resources would’ve resigned A’Kirat to a backwater were it not for the ample Anubian ruins and tombs holding priceless treasures and magic. As word spread, merchants and explorers across the known world came to Al’Kirat, turning its economy into a boomtown within the span of twenty years. The discovery of a particularly large and marvelous pyramid encouraged a joint Kirati-O’grilan expedition to delve into its dungeons. An expedition which the PCs will be on, and will also be the focal point of the Anubians’ reawakening.
After covering history, the Introduction talks about some brief design/setting notes and houserules, notably the change that spell scrolls can be used by anybody, even noncasters, provided that their level/CR must be equal to or greater than the level of the scroll in order to cast. Scrolls with effects that don’t correspond to a spell level are therefore usable by anyone. Additionally, this book was being worked on before the announcement of the 2024 version of 5th Edition, so bolded references to monsters and NPCs reference the 2024 version in brackets next to the original. We also briefly discuss two kinds of treasure of altered/elevated status: platinum pieces, which are the official currency of the Anubian Empire and thus have its full value when interacting with Anubians and orcs, but to everyone else it’s merely equivalent in value to gold. Secondly, Heka is the solidified form of an Aru’s divine essence stored in resin. All Heka amber has a specified worth in gold pieces, and said amber can be used to empower certain magical items and places. There’s also multiple references to Upscaling Encounters throughout the book, providing suggested alterations in enemy strength and numbers. This is particularly the case for larger-than-four-player gaming groups and the few times a powerful NPC ally accompanies the party.
Thoughts: It is hard to judge the Introduction and the adventure background on its own, but Sands of Doom does a good job in covering the broad strokes of what to expect later on in this book. Of the house rules, I like the Upscaling options and the accessibility for spell scrolls, although I’m not as fond of the devaluing of Platinum Pieces. There are orc and Anubian merchants in the module, but they are quite rare and either sell very specialized equipment, or in the Anubians’ case might be passed over by “kick in the door” style groups who refuse to traffic with the enemy.
Al’Kirat functions as the urban hub city for Sands of Doom, although its position on the western edge means that traveling to and from locales can vary depending on how far away it is from the big city. The citizens are known as Kirati, and they pride themselves on their society’s independent spirit, rejecting formalized laws and taxes in favor of personalized contracts and assigning political and social power on the basis of one’s wealth. But in spite of their supposedly free status, a complex bureaucracy has grown around various merchant families, cartels, and unelected officials keeping each other in check via copious amounts of signed agreements. The city’s structure is very unstable, and there are two factors keeping things from collapsing. The first is its wealthiest citizen, the Sultana Zanara Zin’Zara, a good-aligned generous soul who uses her ample wealth to fund various charitable projects, and she owns all of the gates and ports in the city along with being responsible for the city guards’ budget. Were it not for the Sultana, things would be a lot worse for Al’Kirat’s disenfranchised.
But before one thinks that this is an Author Tract extolling the virtues of US Libertarianism/Anarchocapitalism, Al’Kirat also reflects the more negative side of said ideology. The other primary factor for social stability is the Church of Asmodeus. Being the most popular religion in Al’Kirat, the archdevil and his followers are perfectly fine with using a society’s lack of government to advance his Lawful Evil agenda via promoting various other kinds of inequality and tyranny. The most controversial and hypocritical practice to the Kirati’s vaunted love for freedom is the toleration of debt bondage and slavery, the latter being used on beastfolk who were taken as prisoners of war and forced to work off their sentences.
Generally speaking, forced labor is colloquially referred to as slavery but is separated into two categories: the first is indentured servitude, which is practiced on non-beastfolk. Indentured servants are usually someone guilty of a serious crime or someone selling themself into such a contract. The “rights” that indentured servants have is that their masters cannot make them take actions that would result in the servant’s death or leave lasting injuries, although physical abuse and torture that is short of the former are still allowed. Masters are also legally required to pay for a servant’s housing, food, and clothes and cannot force them to work for more than 70 hours per week. Indentured servants are either enslaved to individual citizens, usually in cases as part of a contract where both parties are shown to be adults of sound mind, or enslaved to the city, where the servant is made to perform various labor for strengthening what passes for public works projects. The justification of the latter practice by the Sultana and her allies is that it serves as an alternative to the use of prisons and lets lawbreakers contribute back to society.
The second, referred to as “true slavery,” is for now restricted only to beastfolk, and the only “rights” such slaves have is that they cannot be killed, and publicly abusing such slaves can result in a master’s punishment if it disrupts public order. The practice arose out of the Beastwars, when the tiefling settlers warred against the beastfolk over water sources. The beastfolk captured during the war, as well as beastfolk who attack Al’Kirat’s water caravans, are subject to a period of slavery to a maximum of 15 years, after which they are freed and released into the wilderness. Beastfolk slaves are primarily used for manual labor, especially by the city’s wealthy oligarchs, although harpies are often treated as living ornaments where they’re placed on pedestals and ordered to sing. However, the more vengeful and sadistic citizens, particularly those who lost their homes and loved ones during the Beastwars, often purchase slaves to torture and abuse them.
In spite of its legality, the adventure’s narrative portrays slavery and indentured servitude as a moral failing of Al’Kirat, being a tool for the powerful to control the less fortunate, with slavery of beastfolk attaining popular support out of a desire for revenge. One of the most significant purveyors of the slave trade is an organized crime syndicate known as the Veiled Society, who are hoping to incite a beastfolk revolt against the Sultana, but in a more accelerationist way of “we need to make things worse in hopes that the common folk get angry enough to do the revolution we want to happen.” While the Sultana despises the slave trade, this was one of the few issues she faced significant pushback in attempting to deny or curtail, as huge portions of Kirati society wanted to make the beastfolk pay for the war and she faced popular revolt if she refused. The Sultana permitted it, but has regretted the decision ever since and hopes to sway public opinion against it by changing hearts and minds.
Another problem facing the city is its water supply. While a river runs through Al’Kirat, it is saltwater, not fresh, and most drinkable water is imported from lakes 26 miles north under heavily-guarded caravans. Beastfolk hostile to Al’Kirat frequently attack these shipments, which only increases the cost of water, with water-based costs and services being triple the normal price.
Al’Kirat does have actual laws, but they are basic and cover straightforward universal taboos like assault and murder (as well as being wasteful with water). Most legal governings are made up via copious amounts of written agreements and paperwork, and the Sultana has a mercenary company known as the Law-Keepers who are willing to use force against those who violently resist and break said agreements and laws. Disputes and disagreements over contracts are handled in the Church of Asmodeus, with the archdevil’s priests and priestesses acting as judges and philosophers for hire acting as lawyers. Prisons only exist for the most dangerous people, with fines and indentured servitude more common. The text does note that in trying to create a “small government” society with less laws, the Kirati ended up replacing it with an equally complicated system. Al’Kirat also has a loose immigration system for tieflings, and all tieflings are automatically considered citizens and cannot be banished or exiled from the city. But those of all other races are faced with stricter regulations and usually have to prove that they can benefit society in a tangible way.
We also get details on a variety of other topics to liven up the city, such as how other races in particular are regarded (they are overall distrusting as outsiders save for dwarves whom they respect, and jackalweres are a thriving element in the city’s organized crime and thus their human disguises engender more discrimination against humans), how certain innate abilities of tieflings affects housing and accessibility (most doors don’t have handles as the Thaumaturgy cantrip is commonly available), what a PC can get from selling their soul to the Nine Hells (1k gold pieces x level/CR worth of goods, one magic item up to 5k gold pieces, or one Blessing/Epic Boon), what creatures are banned within city limits and why (dogs are banned as they are naturally uneasy around tieflings, and goblins are subject to a “kill on sight” policy due to being naturally violent), how the local temperature and climate varies throughout the day/season, and so on. While individually brief, together they make for a lot of content to help liven up Al’Kirat and make it feel unique.
The Church of Asmodeus is a peculiar religion. Even those partial to Lawful Evil fiends don’t recognize the Lord of the Nine Hells as a true deity, although he is viewed and honored as one by the Kirati tieflings. Although still Lawful Evil, Asmodeus’ church couches his doctrine and ideology in terms of self-empowerment. His most fundamental values are known as the Decrees of the Five-Pointed Star: laws should be designed to encourage both lawbreakers and their victims to improve themselves (favoring “the hungry shall not be caught stealing” vs “the hungry shall not steal”), making decisions and laws based on morals is bound for failure due to differing interpretations on good and evil, laws should apply universally in order to allow the strong and skilled to demonstrate their power in an easily-recognizable way, the accumulation of wealth is a civic duty that will benefit others via trickle down economic theory, and knowledge should be disseminated rather than hoarded, as hiding away truths ensures the growth of fools.
In addition to serving as courthouses for contract law, the Church of Asmodeus also hosts debate halls, where all attendees are encouraged to discuss and advocate for all manner of issues. This turns the temples into social gathering spots even for those who don’t worship the archdevil, and just about anything is allowed to be debated. There are only a few taboos, such as casting Asmodeus in an unfavorable light or advocating harm to children.* The presence of devils isn’t allowed in the city save within the Temple of the Five-Pointed Star, the largest temple in Al’Kirat which is legally considered to reside within the Nine Hells rather than Al’Kirat or the Material Plane. Devils can be hired for tasks by outsiders, using a specialty priest known as an Arbiter who acts as intermediaries between the Hells and the city. The Temple has a special deal for explorers of the eastern deserts, where an imp can accompany one member of the expedition, serving as their loyal familiar, and in exchange the imp receives an equal share of spoils. The imps also keep records of places and events of interest, making the Church an effective intelligence-gathering agency.
*The latter of which is ironically forbidden in the teachings of LaVeyan Satanism.
Citizens of Note details the most prominent NPCs in the city. Barring Rashid and Tasar-al-Fajr, they are all tieflings They include Sultana Zanara Zin’Zara, who is the city’s ruler in all but name due to her wealth and assets, and helped see its economic expansions after the treasure rush from looted Anubian pyramids; Vizier Rashid, the pre-eminent authority on magical affairs in the city, but is in fact a disguised rakshasa who closely monitors mages that can be a threat to his power; Morgiana, a would-be assassin of Rashid who became his slave via a series of powerful spells, and is used to kill off the Vizier’s rivals; Zaluna Al’Zara, the youngest Arbiter of Asmodeus and the Sultana’s niece, whose governor is the father of Kunaten Keep; and Yasar-Al-Fajr, an efreeti ambassador from the City of Brass who lives in a manor in the Palace Quarter. All but the last two NPCs have sidebars for roleplay notes. For example, Zanara should serve as the “light in the darkness” of Al’Kirat’s ruthless society so as to not make the players uncaring about the city’s fate, the Vizier should be ingratiating yet creepy in wanting to appear friendly to the PCs, and Morgiana wishes to be free of Rashid and kill him. In regards to Morgiana’s magical bindings, we do get game effects for them as well as how to temporarily suppress them (Dispel Magic cannot rid her of it permanently).
Locations in the City covers Al’Kirat in broad strokes, detailing 27 locations across 6 neighborhoods. The major neighborhoods include the Palace Quarter (financial high class district that is also home to the city’s adventurer’s guild), Artisan’s Quarter (trades and professions considered “dirty” such as butchers and tanneries, also the center of the slave trade in beastfolk), the Slums (made up of the poorest residents, many being tiefling refugees from rural villages burned during the Beastwars), Central Medina (the oldest district that has a little bit of everything, including the Temple of the Five-Pointed Star and and a Museum of Anubian Studies), the Field Quarter (former military barracks turned housing for farmers and farmland, primarily grow salt-tolerant plants such as dates, spinach, and beets irrigated from the river), and the Harbor Quarter (houses the river docks, has a very expensive and involved checkpoint for travelers via the Iron Gate).
One location in the Palace Quarter is deemed special enough to deserve 3 pages: the Grand Bazaar, the chief marketplace in Al’Kirat where adventurers can find all manner of useful (and not so useful) goods and gear. We have write-ups for 5 Special Shopkeepers who sell wares of particular interest to the PCs: they are Speaksby, an unhygienic imp who sells potions and oils; Jackal John, an imaginatively named disguised jackalwere who sells poisons; Celine, an intelligent cat familiar capable of speech who inherited her dearly departed master’s belongings and now operates his shop specializing in spell scrolls; Radija, a tiefling child whose unscrupulous father dropped her off in the city after training her in various ways to swindle people to provide him with kickbacks, meaning she can “procure” any item worth 50 gold pieces or less; and Skreeyek, an earth elemental partially fluent in Common who sells various precious gems and intricate toys, the latter being a favorite for children. The Bazaar makes reference to Appendix E in the back of the book, which has specific prices for the new magic items in Sands of Doom along with guidelines for what other items would be available at the Bazaar and how much they cost.
Thoughts: Al’Kirat makes for an interesting city of contradictions, founded on the ideals of liberty and independence but rife with slavery and devil worship. We have a heavy amount of detail on the city from both a big-picture level and how things look from a “street-level view.” There’s various goods and services explained here that would be of interest to running the game, from the cliche Magic Item Mart to overviews of common laws and social taboos. My main criticism is that some information is oddly placed. For instance, the Anubian hieroglyphs are immune to Comprehend Languages spell, which you’d think would be detailed in the upcoming pyramid dungeon, but instead is under the Museum of Anubian Studies entry. Or how the Beastwars and the more detailed cultural entries on tieflings, beastfolk, and other races are elaborated upon in the following Outskirts of Al’Kirat chapter, when such subject matter would feel more congruent to be put in the history section in the Introduction.
Thoughts So Far: Sands of Doom leaves a strong first impression: the main city has an unusual premise but one that also feels believable in spite of its oddball government and religion, and the layout and placement of images, text, and sidebars makes it easy to remember one’s place while reading. Virtually all relevant information for particular subjects are contained within the same page or adjoining page, and I spotted no orphaned or widowed lines.
Join us next time as we venture into the wastes in Chapter 2: Outskirts of Al’Kirat!
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