Arabian Nights at the Gaming Table: Arabian Adventures, Part VI

We had our first taste of snow this morning. A cold, wet, insta-melt snow powered by winds strong enough to blow the trampoline halfway across the yard, or about a hundred feet overnight. So, it seems only fitting that I continue our examination of the Arabian Adventures rulebook and get back to desert stuff.

So, we're looking at priest kits. No specialty priests; there aren't any in Zakhara. So, regardless of what god a Zakharan priest worships, he gets the same, standard clerical abilities based on his kit. There are seven kits to look at: the Clerics of Order (three kits) and the Free Priests (four kits). The Clerics of Order are the Pragmatists, the Ethoists, and the Moralists; the Free Priests include the Hakimas (wise women), Kahins (idol-priests), Mystics, and Outland priests (the outsiders).

We'll start with the Clerics of Order. The Pragmatists are the most common cleric of the Land of Fate, wandering about and preaching tolerance and mediation instead of kicking followers of other religions in the shins. They can and will fight when necessary, but it's not their go-to tactic for the most part. Any cleric (race, gender, etc.) can be a Pragmatist. They get Religion as a bonus proficiency, of course, and their most popular church is the Temple of Ten Thousand Gods. They get the standard spell spheres that clerics get, regardless of which deity (or deities) they serve. Basically, they're as close to a bog-standard D&D cleric as Al-Qadim has to offer.

Next up are the Ethoists, or Clerics of the Faith Ethical. These are the temple workers, the ones who maintain the mosques and monasteries, sort of like a parish priest. They can't be chaotic, but that's the only restriction on the kit in terms of who can take it. Eventually (around 8th level) they are the ones who set up new mosques and temples. They're less tolerant than the Pragmatists when it comes to religious ecumenism, insisting that those who don't follow the same faith they do are misguided. But they won't push people around about it, either. They get Religion and Bureaucracy as their bonus proficiencies, as well as a few special benefits from the kit. Safe haven, food and board within the temple, borrowing money, fighter-servants when needed, and an assistant once they've gained a few levels. Like the Pragmatist, the Ethoist gets the standard cleric spheres, and they can, of course, turn undead.

Third, we have the Moralists. These are the Taliban-types, the hardcore, strict types who follow every dietary law and consider themselves the 'purest' of all priests. Militant and arrogant, you're either part of their faith, or you're a godless heathen. Their favorite colors are black and white. Moralists must be lawful, and of any race or gender (although the Moralists do segregate men and women). They also take vows of celibacy and chastity, and give their lives entirely to the mosque. They are not at all fun at parties, and even the lawful-good ones can be implacable enemies of a group of PCs if they don't measure up. They get Religion and Debate as their bonus proficiencies, as well as the same benefits the Ethoists get. Their spells are cleric-standard. They also have some serious clout within their temple, able to push around lower-level moralists. However, this cuts both ways; higher-level moralists will tell them what to do, and they'd better get it done. Oh, and the temple gets 50% of whatever money they earn adventuring or whatever.

So, those are the 'traditional' clerics of Zakhara. Next up, we have the Free Priests, starting with the Hakima, or wise woman. These are not pacifists, but they aren't bloodthirsty fighters, either. These women (no men allowed) have a special ability to see the truth, which makes them valuable advisors to rulers and leaders. They don't do a lot of fighting, having only a few weapons to choose from, and while they get no bonus proficiencies, they are considered to have access to all NWP groups, meaning they don't pay extra slots for any proficiency regardless of who normally has access to it. Their primary power is their truth-sight, which allows them to detect all sorts of things, including disguised shapeshifters, depending on their level. They get a limited selection of spells, and can't turn undead. They also can't use any class-specific magic items, only the general-use ones. Only human and half-elven women can become Hakimas.

The Kahin, or idol-priest, worship powers that predate Zakhara's enlightenment, and thus are considered uncultured and uncivilized by the majority of the people. They are as close as Zakhara gets to having druids, but they aren't quite the same. They are always some variation of neutral in alignment, and there are no other restrictions on who can become a Kahin. They are wanderers and teachers, rather than settling down, and tend to preach a doctrine of moderation in all things in tune with the environment. No, they aren't Greenpeace. They get Survival as a bonus proficiency, but only get to wear hide armor and no shields. Their special abilities don't kick in until they get to 16th level, at which point they start collecting immunities to various things (weapons, elements, creatures, etc.). Their spells are limited, mostly the same as a druid would get. They don't turn undead, either.

Mystics are hermits in the desert, sort of like the desert dervishes of Arabian tales. They can use additional weapons beyond those a cleric normally can, and get Religion and one other bonus proficiency. The other proficiency has to relate to how they receive their spells; dancing, meditation, singing, etc. are typical methods to get spells. They get the standard clerical spells, and can turn undead. They even attract followers at high levels like standard clerics do. However, their spells can only be retrieved through their particular method, and Clerics of Order don't like them (2-point reaction penalty for Pragmatists and Ethoists, 4-point penalty for Moralists). Any race or gender can become a mystic, and demihumans with this kit can exceed their maximum level by 2.

Outland Priests are the outsiders, yadda yadda yadda, like the other 'non-kit' kits for non-Zakharan characters. They can even be specialty priests and have outsider kits. However, they get reaction penalties in Zakhara, which get worse with native priests (-2 for most people, -3 for pragmatists, and -4 for ethoists and moralists). Other than that, there's nothing special about these guys; they're visitors from another land, nothing more.

And that concludes our overview of the various kits of Zakhara. Next time, we'll tackle the new proficiencies of the Land of Fate.

The Lord Giveth...

...and the Lord taketh away. One thing about life on a farm: Life and death are a lot closer than they are in the city.

First, the good: We actually have three baby chicks in our kitchen, and not previously-hatched birds that we bought and brought home. No, these are sitting in our incubator on the kitchen counter. The first one, a black Cemani named 'Pumpkin', was born yesterday morning while my wife was outside doing farm chores. I was sick in bed; don't judge.

Pumpkin was discovered by Tanner, who heard his peeping and called me downstairs to see. I threw open a window and called Dannielle, who jumped for joy as she came back in, the farm chores forgotten momentarily. I opened the incubator and snapped a picture while everyone marveled over the tiny miracle.

Pretty exciting, isn't it? I know, I know...we're total newbies here. But it's still quite a moment.

This afternoon, another egg started to crack, and Pumpkin was right there to help the newcomer to break free from its eggy prison and out into the wide world of the incubator. Tanner immediately named this one 'Pie.' Because why not? Pie is a brown chick, and we don't know nearly enough about these birds to know what breed she is. We're assuming (and hoping) that most of these birds are female, because we've got plenty of roosters. Oh, did I forget to mention that the Crazy Chicken Lady got six more this week? Seven, actually, but one was a lone rooster who spent a week being chased into the rafters by the Highland girls, who are just mean to newcomers. So we found him another home with friends of ours, where he's the only roo and gets to hang out with six girls that aren't trying to tear him apart with their beaks.

The third one showed up only a few minutes ago, and hasn't gotten a name yet. It's black, but not Cemani black, so we think it might be an Orpington. This is based on a complete wild guess. Still, it's been a pretty exciting weekend on the chicken front.

Now, for the bad...

Sadly, our beloved Flemish giant bunny, Daisy, was found stiff as a board this morning in the bunny kennel. We're not sure what it was, but we're afraid she didn't get enough food; Bugs is a piggy of a bunny, and she must not have been getting enough to eat. Tanner is devastated, because he's the one tasked with feeding them, and he's missed a few meals for them because of his general lackadaisical attitude and rush to get his chores done as quickly as possible regardless of how complete they might be. We warned him repeatedly about this, asking how he would feel if one of the animals died because of his neglecting his chores. Well, now he knows.

It may seem harsh, but he's thirteen and a half years old now; his childhood days aren't over, but they are waning, and adult responsibilities are growing. It's a hard lesson to learn, but it's a necessary one. We will see if the lesson takes.

Speaking of adult responsibilities, a Happy 19th Birthday to Ashton, our oldest here at the farm. He celebrated with his first 'legal' beer, chosen carefully from the brands he's tried before. In a decision that satisfies irony in every possible way, he had a Corona.

So, that's the weekend on the family farm. The garlic's in the ground, the animals are tuckering in for the winter, and there's snow on the horizon. It's going to be a fun winter. 

Time's A Wasting...

They say time flies when you're having fun. It also flies when you're doing stuff that isn't so fun. But it flies faster when you're distracted by everything else, taking you away from what really matters. In my case, there are a few things that have fallen by the wayside, including this blog. Not that this blog is the most important thing in my life; my family is far higher on the list. But I need to get things back on track, and this blog is one of the things that has been derailed.

It's funny...turning 51 a couple of months ago didn't really seem...real. I mean, obviously it happened; I can read a calendar and do basic math, so yeah, I'm 51 years old. To put that in perspective, if I'm scheduled to live for a century, I'm already on the second half of that. If I've got less, then time is winding down. Either way, it's time to take serious stock of where I've been, where I am, and where I'm going.

Where I've been is simple enough; I've talked about that before, and won't go over it again now. Where I am is smack-dab in middle age, looking backward and forward at the same time. Where I am going...well, that's the real question, isn't it? I haven't done much writing whatsoever since moving to Prince Edward Island; I've done farm stuff and work, but not much on the creative side. And that does frustrate me.

This farm is important to our family; it's a chance to start over in a new home, a new way of living, and a new part of the country that I hadn't seen in nearly fifty years (and had no memory of whatsoever). But my writing matters, too. And I've let myself get too distracted by everything under the sun. It's easy to get distracted in today's world; distractions are all over the place, even in your own home. The internet, in particular, is a big distraction. I've toyed with the idea of just canceling it altogether; we've got plenty of entertainment to keep us busy for the rest of our lives if we wanted to, and arguing with strangers on the internet really isn't a productive use of time. In fact, after a discussion with my family tonight, the arguing with strangers is over and done with. I'll lurk about in a few places, but I'm no longer going to be an active, anonymous commenter on political or religious matters.

So, what's next? I want to get back to regular blogging, and especially regular writing. I was working on a pulp short story that I need to get back to, so I'm going to sign off here and revisit that. The Arabian Adventures read-through/review will continue once I get myself back on track. And of course, the farm. Winter is rapidly approaching, and we've got work to do. The skating rink will be back, bigger and better than before.

And if all goes well, the second half will be an improvement over the first.

Arabian Nights at the Gaming Table: Arabian Adventures, Part V

Let's get sneaky, shall we? The rogue kits of Al-Qadim are a diverse bunch, from the gregarious barber to the deadly holy slayer. There are seven kits in total, but not all of them are for thieves; bards are rogues, too. The seven are the sa'luk, the barber, the beggar-thief, the holy slayer, the matrud, merchant-rogue, and rawun.

We start off with the sa'luk, who is basically the adventuring thief of the Arabian lands. It's the 'generic' rogue kit of Zakhara, and includes the outlanders (like the ajami wizard). The difference with these outsiders, though, is that they aren't treated as outsiders the way the wizards are; thieves stick together, even if they are different. They can even take kits from other sources like the Complete Thieves' Handbook, keeping most of their special benefits. The kit is also for local thieves, though; like the outsiders, they are free-roaming adventurers, not tied to any particular location. Bards can take this kit as well as thieves.

The barber, on the other hand, is found in just about any bazaar, and most of them are quite gregarious and friendly. But they are skilled with their razors, skilled enough that some of them double as surgeons and doctors. This kit is open to thieves and bards, any race or gender. They tend to congregate in cities, not the desert. They get healing and herbalism as bonus proficiencies, which is a pretty sweet deal, since they normally cost two slots apiece. Bards who are barbers also get reading/writing and a modern language for free. The amusing thing about this kit is the description of how barbers are portrayed in folk tales. They talk and talk and talk, going into long-winded nested stories that go on forever, driving customers crazy. That is actually taken directly from the Arabian Nights, where there is indeed a barber who does exactly that, telling ridiculous stories about his seven brothers that ultimately has no point. 

All barbers have the bard's ability to discern the general use and purpose of a magical item; bards get 5% per level, thieves get 3%. They get less regular thieving skill points than they otherwise would at first level, since so much of their training involves learning how to barber (and heal people).

Next up is the beggar-thief. Hi, Aladdin! This is exactly what it looks like: thieves who are also beggars. Again, these are more of a city dweller; there aren't too many opportunities to fleece passers-by in the middle of a desert. This is a thief-only kit, and western beggar-thieves (from the Complete Thieves' Handbook) are considered sa'luks in Zakhara, not beggars. Don't ask me why; I didn't write the book.

Obviously, beggars get begging as a bonus proficiency. They can have other marketable skills such as weaving or tailoring, but beggars don't generally want people to know they could work for a living; it cuts into their profits. Their starting equipment is...a bowl. Nothing like reinforcing the stereotype, is there? They also don't tend to wear armor, since it interferes with their begging. Magic items are even worse, since they're a flat -5 to the begging proficiency check. They're great at disappearing in crowds, but they are treated as having the lowest of stations (because they do). Any race or gender can be a beggar-thief, of course.

Fun fact: Dragon 22 was the first (and only, prior to Al-Qadim's launch) magazine to include an article about the holy slayers, the original assassins. And unlike the 1st edition assassins, these guys are religious zealots who kill not for money, but for paradise. Well, here they are, in all their hidden glory. The holy slayers are fanatics who serve their own particular fellowship and its leadership. They are described as 'ghosts of the desert.' They tend to live in remote locations where their recruits are brought and trained. In Zakhara, there are several of these fellowships, including the Soft Whisper (all females), the Wind of Fate (all males), the Wrath of the Old, the Storm Which Destroys, and Grey Fire; there are probably others as well.

Holy slayers have a simple life: live your life as normal until the call comes, at which time you drop everything and do whatever your master commands. Word of advice: Don't ignore the call, unless you want to spend the rest of you (likely short) life dodging the people who trained you. If you really screw the pooch, the Grandfather (or Grandmother) might come after you personally.

Holy slayers get to specialize in a weapon, just as fighters do; each fellowship has their signature weapon (all one-handed). They have superior stealth abilities compared to other thieves, but lower pickpocket and read languages skill. They get Disguise as a bonus proficiency, which enables them to hide in between suicide missions Elves, gnomes and halflings are rarely holy slayers, although dwarves are more common (especially among moralist dwarves). Bards can't be holy slayers.

The fifth kit is the matrud; these are the desert thieves (no bards), rejected by their tribes and living on the edges of what they think of as civilization. Another thief-only kit, these guys can be found everywhere from the sea to the desert; they're outcast, as well-respected as beggars. In fact, they eke out a living by doing things even the beggars don't want to do. They're very transient, usually one step ahead of the local law. They travel light, and can be of any race and gender; non-human matruds are sometimes branded or otherwise marked.

Merchant-rogues are the stereotype for all merchants; not all merchants are thieves, but enough of them are that the label sticks. That and their notorious haggling practices convinces most people that none of them can be trusted to be honest. This reputation makes it easier for merchant-rogues to operate; everyone expects you to be a thief anyway, so why disappoint them? This is another thief-only class. Needless to say, they get haggling as a bonus proficiency, and often improve it to obscenely high levels. Their special abilities revolve around money: They can buy in bulk at low prices from other merchants, and they can set up a profitable company. I mean, any character could do that, but these guys are really good at it. Of course, they have to pay taxes on their profits, because even fantasy worlds can't escape the taxman.

Finally, there are the rawuns, the bards of the desert (no thieves allowed). Like their western counterparts, rawuns are the tale-tellers, the walking Wikipedias, and party animals. Most of them are members of desert tribes; they might appear in the cities as well. Desert rawuns are often advisers to shieks and tribal leaders, while in the cities they can be street entertaininers all the way up to grand viziers. They can all sing (bonus proficiency) and can recite epic poems from memory; they love to collect books and scrolls to add to their knowledge. They get a bonus to their legend lore ability, and have the terrifying ability to call down the evil eye upon someone once a day. They can also remove it from someone else instead.

And that's Zakhara's rogues. One more set of kits to go: the priests.

Arabian Nights at the Gaming Table: Arabian Adventures, Part IV

Well, so much for consistency. Let's try this again. We're back to the Arabian Adventures kits, and this time we're looking at the wizards. There are only three wizard kits in Arabian Adventures, four if you count the 'outlander' wizard kit. Two of the kits are pretty standard wizards, but the third is Al-Qadim's signature class, and one of the best design concepts TSR ever came up with.

We'll do the easy ones first. The sorcerer is the bog-standard wizard, or at least as close to it as you get in this game. Wizard spells in Al-Qadim are divided into five categories: the four elements of flame, sand, sea, and wind, and the 'universal' category, where everything else fits. Sorcerers get to use any spells in the universal category, and also pick two elements to use. Unlike the 'normal' elements of air, earth, fire and water, there are no opposing elements in Al-Qadim; a sorcerer can pick any two elements, such as fire and water, if that's what he wants. However, they can never use spells from the other two elements, no matter what. Or at least, they can't ever 'learn' them, but perhaps a scroll or a wand would be permitted. That should be a DM's call, but I'm inclined to widen the ban just to keep the character's theme intact. Otherwise, you end up with 'my sorcerer specializes in wind and sea spells, but he carries a wand of fireballs just in case.' Yeah, we'll make that a wider ban.

Sorcerers are the most common wizards in Zakhara, although they aren't hanging out on every street corner (unless you really want to do that). They're also the most socially accepted of the wizard classes, having the least damaging reputation compared to the other two. Any race allowed to have magic-users can be a sorcerer, and of course there are no gender limits, because women could and were sorcerers in the Arabian Nights stories.

Next up is the elementalist. There are really four of these kits, one for each element, but their abilities are functionally identical regardless of the element they choose. Each of these can use universal spells, and only one element. However, they get some nice bonuses with their element, adding +2 to any saving throws or proficiency checks related to their element, as well as +1 to damage inflicted with it.  They also reduce the target's saving throws by -2 when attacking with spells of their element. Conversely, if they are attacked by magic using their element, they get two points taken off of the damage done.

Now, for the downside. Elementalists are the most feared of Zakharan wizards, thanks to the reputation of one particular group of elementalists: The Brotherhood of the True Flame. These are called out as one of the big bad organizations of Al-Qadim, being a sort-of magical mafia that takes down not only any mages of other elements, but even fellow fire elementalists who don't join their ranks. And they are not a nice group at all; even flame elementalists who aren't part of the Brotherhood have a tendency toward evil alignments. So fearsome is their reputation that any elementalist is going to be looked at sideways, regardless of how nice they might be. Most people don't differentiate between True Flame elementalists and any other group. It might be possible to use that reputation in social circumstances, but overall, it's a definite negative. Thanks to the reputation and predatory nature of the Brotherhood, elementalists are a rare breed in Zakhara.

The ajami is the outsider wizard, the foreigner who has no culture and no manners by Zakharan standards. Note that western elementalist wizards (from the Tome of Magic) are considered ajami, not elementalists, in Zakhara. There's nothing special about these guys, although they can replace the 'ajami' kit with one from another source (such as the Complete Wizard's Handbook).

Finally, we get to the big guy: the sha'ir. These are, as mentioned earlier, Al-Qadim's signature class, the one class that definitely screams 'Arabian Nights' tales. These are the genie masters (or genie worshipers, or genie servants, or whatever relationship they have with the genies might be). They are unlike other wizards in that they don't study scrolls and spellbooks and memorize their magic ahead of time. Instead, they each have a small familiar called a 'gen', a tiny elemental of one of the four (Arabian) elements. The gen is a spell-fetcher, going out to 'find' a spell for its master and bringing it back so the sha'ir can cast the spell.

It's a pretty neat concept, but it seems pretty limited. After all, the gen can only get one spell at a time, and it takes a while to get them. However, there are some serious advantages to this method of spell-casting.

First, the sha'ir isn't restricted to spells in his spellbook; he can get any spell he wants. And I do mean any spell, including cleric spells. Mind you, those ones can (and do) take longer to retrieve. However, it's still a big deal when your sha'ir can pull out a neutralize poison to save your dying cleric.

Second, the sha'ir has a special bond with genies, and gains special abilities related to them. These won't be detailed until a later chapter, but they can be pretty significant, especially at higher levels. Let's just say that now we know where efreet bottles and rings of djinni summoning come from.

Sha'irs are usually loners, but some will serve as advisors to powerful rulers. And, unlike sorcerers and elementalists, anyone can be a sha'ir; dwarven and halfling sha'irs are permitted, although they have significant level restrictions.

And there we have the Arabian wizards. Ja'far from Aladdin would probably be a sorcerer, since he used both sand and flame magic, and he really didn't have much of a relationship with the Genie.

Next up, the rogue kits!

Big Plans

The harvest is done; now it's time to start thinking about next year. Actually, we've been thinking about it for a while, but now we're doing something about it. Our gardens this year were bigger than anything we've tried before, and it was a good trial-and-error process that taught us quite a bit. Now, it's time to scale things up.

After doing some research and watching some videos on market gardening, we're putting together a much bigger garden that will easily provide for all our vegetable needs for the year. We've torn up the gardens we already had and plowed over them, creating a new space that we'll be planting our garlic crop next weekend. But there's a lot more space than that, and we'll be using that area to grow melons, pumpkins, squash, and so on. We left our berry bushes alone, since we're just starting to get some raspberries.

That's our small garden. The big one is a full fifty feet long and forty-eight feet wide, almost a square. It's going to hold sixteen raised beds, each fifty feet long, where we're going to plant most of our veggies. With the methods we're going to be copying from successful market gardeners, there's going to be a lot of veggies in that garden in the spring.

Another bonus is that my wife just used up a box of fresh peaches to make a nice rhubarb-peach compote. And we have the pits, about twenty-five of them. We've already got one peach tree growing, but now we're going to plant these pits this fall and see what comes of them in the spring. From what I've read about peach pits, they don't have the greatest germination rate, but even if we only get a couple of trees out of them it would be a nice addition to our mini-orchard. We're also going to be adding cherry trees, and if we can find some that grow here, some grapes.

It's crazy to think that just over a year ago, I had zero experience with farming of any sort; I couldn't even grow flowers in a pot. But now, I'm looking at growing a big pile of food for my family, with some leftover to donate or even sell. I'll have to work really hard at it, but then, that's part of being out here like this. And with the price of food going up and up and up, I have a feeling more people are going to start doing the same thing.

Ooh, there's an interesting idea. I wonder if anyone would be interesting in renting garden plots from us. We've got two big fields in the back of our property that might serve to do a community garden. Hmm...that's something to discuss with the wife. But I like the idea.

At the Twilight's Last Gleaning

Leviticus 19:9-10 When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field to its very border, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest...you shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner.

There are two things everyone knows about Prince Edward Island: It's the home of Anne of Green Gables, and it grows an absolute mountain of potatoes every year. This year is no different, of course. But what is different, at least for us, is that we live right behind a potato field. And the harvest is done. So, the boys decided to go on a little trip in the side-by-side, and brought back some goodies...

Actually, that's a lot less than what they brought home today; we filled an entire bin with these potatoes before they picked these ones up. Now, these are not the organic potatoes that we grew ourselves; these are most definitely GMO potatoes. But with the coming winter expected to be much worse than last year, we want all the food we can get. And hey, it was free. Literally sitting on the ground, missed by the harvesters, waiting to rot and turn into compost. What a waste that would be.

Now, there are some people who think 'gleaning' is a bad thing; after all, you're taking something you didn't grow and didn't pay for. Well, that is true, but while stealing is a Bad Thing, gleaning is a direct command from God, with the above passage being only one of the instances where gleaning is allowed and encouraged in the Bible. I'll take that ruling any day of the week. Gleaning is where people who are struggling can make up for some of their misfortunes. We're not exactly poor, but we're not swimming in money, either.

Now, we have enough of these monster-potatoes (and they are huge, believe me) to keep Mark Watney alive until the Ares IV mission arrives. And there's no way we're going to eat them all before they go bad. However, we can and will donate a good chunk of what we got to the needy and the poor, such as at our church and some of the food banks on the island. Hey, it's better than leaving it all to rot.

The fields are very, very generous to humanity; just about everything we eat originates in those fields. And when we plant something, we get a lot more of it back. It's a pretty awesome system, and it's good to give back ourselves.

Arabian Nights at the Gaming Table: Arabian Adventures, Part III

Hey, two posts in the same week! Improvement!

So, we're taking a look at Chapter 3, which is all about Kits. I'm going to break this chapter up into a couple of parts, since there is a lot to go through here. Not one page at a time, though. Remember, this is a 2e book, so players of more recent editions might not recognize some of the terminology. Since I don't know anything about 4e or beyond, I can't really help bridge those gaps. Sorry. I do know that proficiencies are basically skills, although the mechanics are different from 3e. and 3.5.

After the usual introduction and explanation of the various aspects of kits, we get straight to the warriors. Most of these are available to fighters, rangers and paladins, although there are some exceptions. I wonder how paladins and rangers would work in this setting; paladins are pretty obviously Christian warriors, based on both Joan of Arc and Sir Galahad. And rangers come straight out of Lord of the Rings, essentially a gaming version of Aragorn. I suppose it was easier to look at these as archetypes instead of creating a whole new class, but it's an awkward fit for a setting based on Islamic fairy tales.

Anyway, the seven warriors are: The Askar, your basic, typical warrior; Corsairs, your sailors and pirates; Desert riders, the 'nomad' types who ride horses and/or camels; the Faris, or holy warrior (the paladin equivalent); the Mamluk, slave-soldiers who are usually in charge anyway; Mercenary Barbarians, the 'uncivilized' types from outskirt lands, and Outland Warriors, who are outright foreigners (typical 'western' characters from the core books).

One more thing: Being a fantasy world, there are no gender restrictions for any of these kits; women can be mamluks or corsairs just as well as the men.

The Askar are the 'urban' fighters, the village militias and such. They can be caravan guards or palace officials, and are generally the fighters trusted with important missions. However, they're more provincial, assuming that wherever they are from is better than everywhere else, and they aren't afraid to show it. They are also more literate than typical warriors, getting reading/writing as a bonus proficiency. Their only special benefit is their 'home town' bonuses, where they get a +2 bonus to proficiency checks related to town business. It's not applicable in combat or other situations, just when dealing with the locals in their own town. They can also buy their starting equipment at cheaper prices in their home town, which is a nice bonus for beginning characters. Any race can be an askar, as can any of the three warrior classes.

Next is the Corsair. Rangers can't be corsairs, but paladins can. Hey, a paladin's sea-warhorse! There's an image for you. Anyway, corsairs are brave, meritorious, and free, riding the waves instead of the dunes. They are not quite outside the societal bounds, but they are on the borders of civilization. They tend to hop from port to port, and love to explore and find new lands. Sinbad is the obvious archetype here. However, they are also pirates, looting and pillaging in the style of the Barbary Pirates from our history. They start out with seamanship as a bonus proficiency, and are restricted to light armor (no better than studded leather) at first. They can upgrade if they want, but they lose a lot of their efficiency when wearing metal armor, including their two-weapon fighting ability. They fight like rangers in that respect, with no penalties to attack rolls for using two weapons. They start out with less money than the typical warrior, which isn't that big a deal since their armor purchases are restricted anyway. Any race can be a corsair, including a gnome, halfling or dwarf. Good luck to the latter with swimming in the ocean.

Alright, the Desert Riders. These guys are the 'classic' Arabian warriors, sweeping out of the desert on their mounts and terrorizing the civilized peoples in the cities. Well, not necessarily. But they are definitely survivalists in the desert. To their fellow nomads, desert riders are the ultimate warriors (no, not the wrestler), the heroic paragons they all aspire to be like. To the small towns they like to raid, they're just thieves and terrorists. Well, everyone is entitled to their own opinions. Desert riders can be good or evil, so there isn't a 'standard' type of warrior among their number. Their most important possession is their mount, which can be either a camel or a horse. They start with riding specialization with one of the two types of mount, which makes them even better riders, and they also have survival proficiency for the desert. They won't wear anything heavier than chain mail, since they live in the desert. Their expertise with their own mounts makes them experts in evaluating other horses or camels, meaning that any horse (or camel) they buy will always improve in quality while in their care. Some unscrupulous types might train up a horse to a better quality, then sell it; after a week, the horse (or camel) reverts back to its original quality. This doesn't help the desert riders' reputation. Outside of the desert, they are less effective at proficiency checks (but not combat). They start with a mount, as well as a small amount of coin to buy their weapons and such. Only humans, elves and half-elves can be desert riders, since the other races are too small to properly ride a horse (or camel).

The Faris is the paladin of the Arabian desert, although they are not restricted to a good alignment; they can serve evil causes as well. However, the majority are good, and this is definitely the paladin kit to take, with their abilities meshing well with those of this kit. They get religion as a bonus proficiency, of course. They aren't restricted in their armor or weapons, although considering the terrain and climate, they probably won't be wearing full plate armor. They get bonuses when dealing with members of their faith, whether laypeople or clergy, and can draw upon the local temple's resources for a brief time (no more than a week). However, they can't borrow magic items, full stop. On the negative side, they are also obedient to their faith, which means the local imam can pluck him out of his adventuring party and tell him to go chastise the desert riders who just sacked the temple on the other side of those hills. If he doesn't do what he's told, there are consequences. They also tithe 20% of their income from adventuring (or anything else). Any starting money they don't spend gets donated. Any race can be a farisan.

Mamluks are a historical group, based on the jannisaries of the Ottoman Empire. They are slaves, bred for battle, but they are also bureaucrats and professional soldiers, to the point that they were effectively running Turkey for a time. They are a strict meritocracy; you didn't have nepotism to help you advance, since everyone in the organization was a slave, even the highest-ranked generals. The mamluks of the Land of Fate wear facial tattoos to identify their particular organization and their rank within that group. Rival groups tend to respect each other, since they're all very good at what they do. Mamluk adventurers are a possibility, since they can be given leave from their units (with the understanding that they will report anything they learn back to their superiors). They use the curved khopesh sword that was common in Egypt, and get both reading/writing and bureaucracy as bonus proficiencies. Their starting equipment includes a set of laminated scale mail and their sword, as well as a little bit of money. They don't need much money; their needs are taken care of by their organization. They are part of a chain of command, giving orders to lower-level members and taking orders from higher-ranked ones. All races can become mamluks; demi-humans, with their longer lifespans, tend to rise high in the ranks over time.

Mercenary Barbarians are the uncivilized warriors, but not the European-style foreigners; they get the next kit. These are the tribes living on the outskirts of Zakharan civilization: the hill tribes, the plainsmen, and the jungle warriors. They've left their homes to come to the Land of Fate, for various reasons. Being uncivilized, they take a -2 penalty to reaction checks from anyone not from the same homeland as they are, and reactions will never be higher than 'indifferent.' These are mercenaries, as the title indicates, so they basically fight for the money. Unlike the mamluks, these warriors aren't organized, sometimes having rivalries even with warriors from their own homelands. They all learn the short sword and the spear, as well as a third weapon from their own homeland. They also get survival as a bonus proficiency (based on their home terrain), as well as the Midani language, which is Zakhara's equivalent of the 'common' tongue. Their reputation as savage brutes gives them an advantage in intimidating native Zakharans, but it also gives them the penalty mentioned above. They don't get to keep any of their starting money, either; whatever they don't spend is lost. Any race can be a barbarian mercenary.

Finally, there is the Outland Warrior. These are the foreigners, whether they be from the 'west' or the 'far east,' viewed as uncivilized savages regardless of how they see themselves. They don't even speak the language! The interesting part of this kit is that it can encompass kits from other sourcebooks like the Complete Fighter's Handbook; any of those kits will qualify as an 'outland warrior' in Zakhara. They are restricted in that they can't learn any of the Zakharan-specific weapons or proficiencies at first; they are newcomers, after all. Any race can be an outland warrior, although some of the demi-humans from other lands might struggle with Zakhara's racial equality; elves and dwarves don't hate each other here, and just because you're a dwarf doesn't mean you can go all John Cleese on an orcish wedding and expect to be treated as anything but a mass murderer by the authorities.

Next time: The Wizard kits, including the legendary sha'ir!

Arabian Nights at the Gaming Table: Arabian Adventures, Part II

Since Castalia House has been so kind as to link to my previous post, I suppose it's high time I write the next one in this series. I really, really need to get more consistent on this.

So, Chapter 2 of the Arabian Adventures rulebook discusses Characters. Specifically, PC races and classes. The ability scores get a two-sentence paragraph that says 'look at the Player's Handbook for this info'. That's easy enough; there are no special rules for ability scores in Al-Qadim.

Races are likewise the same as they are in the PH, although humans dominate the culture. Elves don't stick to the forests (which is good, since Al-Qadim has a lot of desert terrain), dwarves aren't restricted to living in the mountains and hills, and humanoids (orcs, goblins, gnolls, even ogres) can be found in the cities.

Here's the part that doesn't jive well with me. "Despite their small numbers, nonhumans suffer almost none of the prejudices found in most "Western" AD&D campaigns. In comparison, Zakhara is an egalitarian society. Here the standard “racial hatreds” of the AD&D game—such as the antipathy between dwarf and elf, or hatred between gnome and goblin—no longer exist. Zakharan elves deal with orcs and dwarves as easily as they deal with humans (though it’s true that many elves ultimately prefer to deal with other elves)."

Well, that's a noble, very modern Western viewpoint. Without getting political, I'm going to point out that the Islamic culture on which this is based has no such egalitarianism at any point in its history. So, this is very much a Westernized, idealized fantasy version of the world. I'm sure there are people who enjoy playing in that sort of game, but it just cuts against the grain for me. One of the fun things about playing the demihuman races in D&D is the fact that they are different, and they get treated differently by the normal people in society. Can you imagine if Drizzt Do'Urden had surfaced in Zakhara instead of Icewind Dale? I mean, aside from the constant heatstroke he'd be suffering. But there goes all that story potential of a drow on the surface; he'd be treated as a religious outsider, but being a drow wouldn't faze anyone, not even the elves.

No, the racial issues being handwaved away by the sheer awesomeness of the Law of the Loregiver isn't a good take, in my opinion. Better to just leave the demihumans out altogether, or create new ones.

Oh, and the racial harmony in Zakhara means dwarves and gnomes don't even get their combat bonuses against certain humanoids. We also learn that dwarves and gnomes can actually become wizards in this setting, although dwarves are restricted to the sha'ir kit, can't multiclass, and are restricted to 10th level. Gnomes aren't forced to be illusionists, since the normal specialist wizards aren't available in Zakhara.

Speaking of kits, this is one of the highlights of the book. There are no generic 'fighters' or 'wizards' in Zakhara; every character must take not only a class, but a kit as well. There are no druids or, as mentioned above, specialist wizards in Zakhara, unless they are foreigners. And even the foreigners get their own kits. Multi-class characters must also take kits, one for each of their classes. So, instead of an elven fighter-wizard, you might have an elven corsair/water elementalist, which would be a pretty potent combination.

Each kit has a special statistic called 'station,' which ranks from 1-20 and determines your place in the social pecking order; the higher, the better. The highest station a PC can start with is 12, for one of the three kits of priests (Pragmatist, Ethoist, and Moralist). Beggar-thieves can't start higher than 3. NPCs can, of course, go higher. Station can be improved through experience or money. If your experience level is higher than your initial station score, your station automatically moves up to match. I just had a vision of a 20th-level beggar-thief now dealing on equal terms with the Sultan of the realm.

Station has gaming effects; the highest-station person in the party is assumed to be its leader/spokesperson, and interruptions from their lessers (other PCs with lower station scores) will impact the speaker's station. Being a criminal, enslaved, or too broke to buy a meal will negatively affect your station, of course. Station can be masked, although you risk being found out, which will have negative consequences.

In some parts of the Land of Fate, station is fixed in a caste system. You can fall, but you can't rise. There is no specific such land indicated here (since the setting hasn't been put together yet), but the DM can include such places if he wants. In caste systems, don't speak to people too low on the station totem pole, or your own will drop.

Next up, names. There are some example names taken from the Arabian Nights as well as actual Middle Eastern names, with examples of how to construct surnames. There's also a note that 'Abdul' is not a name; it means 'slave of the', which is nonsensical and doesn't work.

And that does it for chapter two; next up, the big chapter on kits. Which I will do this week, period.

One Year in Paradise...

Exactly one year ago, my family and I woke up in our new house. We arrived on the 29th, a little after suppertime, and spent that first evening just trying to get our bearings and all the usual stuff that goes with a new house: What rooms do the kids get, where's the master bedroom, why did it look so much bigger in the pictures we saw, why does the floor slant so much that the rooms look like villain lair sets from the old Adam West Batman TV show...like I said, the usual.

We were on day one of our mandatory 14-day quarantine, where we were treated like lepers forced to stay outside the walls of civilization. Fortunately, with nineteen acres of space, we weren't cramped together or bored. In fact, those two weeks provided us with some great family bonding time. Thankfully, however, once the two weeks were up we went back to ignoring each other like normal families do.

I kid, I kid. But now that we've been here for a full year, and we actually own the property that we bought...let me explain.

See, Prince Edward Island has this rule, more like a law, that states that if you are not a resident of Prince Edward Island, you cannot purchase more than five acres of land per adult on the premises. Well, there were two adults in our family; Ashton was still only seventeen, and a minor, so he didn't count. Therefore, by PEI law, we were limited to a maximum purchase of ten acres. And the property we bought is nineteen acres.

Now, here's where things get interesting. We dealt with two realtors before buying. Neither of them ever mentioned that rule, not even when we were negotiating on the purchase price with the third realtor, who also didn't mention this rule. Neither did the bank while we negotiated our mortgage. Nor did the lawyer who was writing up the contract and settling the affairs. It wasn't until the second lawyer that someone pointed out that what we were doing was actually illegal in PEI.

By the time he told us this startling tidbit of information, we had already sold our own house and closed the deal. We had already packed up everything, and the giant shipping crate was on the truck heading east. We were going to be officially homeless in less than a week, and we were six days from setting our GPSes to Prince Edward Island and leaving Ontario behind for good. And now we weren't legally allowed to own the property we had bought.

Fortunately, we had an understanding seller, who just wanted to be rid of the property anyway. And since the realtors and the bank had already cleared the sale, there wasn't anything to be done but let us come. The property is actually split into two parts; one is the house itself, which only covers about fifteen or so feet away from the actual building. The rest of the property was technically separate, including the garages and barn. So, we worked it out with the former owner that we would buy the house, and 'lease' the rest of the property for a year for the princely sum of one dollar.

And now, that year is up. We (or rather, the bank) officially own this whole property. We've added the chicken coop, we've grown some veggies, we're raising rabbits...we're doing the farm thing. And it's great.

Seriously, anyone who's never been to PEI before...what are you waiting for? There's more to this place than Anne of Green Gables. That's one tiny corner of the island. And while it's a small island by provincial standards, it's got a lot to do. It's a three-hour drive from the northern tip to the eastern tip. Charlottetown is a small city that acts big, but it's smaller than Chatham. And yet, they pack a lot of stuff to do there. Summerside is beautiful; the harbor is just gorgeous at any time of day. There are beaches galore, nature trails and ATV runs, and the area outside the two cities can basically be described as 'split' between farmland and forest. You've got acres of trees next to acres of potatoes and barley. There's still a lot to explore and enjoy.

I said when we first moved here that I could spend the rest of my life on this island and never leave. That's partly because I'm cheap, and don't really want to shell out fifty bucks to cross the Confederation Bridge. But it's also because there's literally nowhere else I would rather be than right here, on this island, on this farm, with my family.

Next week, I plan to work with Ashton to dig up the gardens we're going to be preparing for next spring. There will be a bunch of garlic going in before the snow falls, of course, and in the spring we're going to get some serious planting done. We dabbled this year, and it was a lot of work; next year, we're getting serious.

So, come on out to this little island and see what I'm talking about. You won't regret it.