Franks Geekdom SaturdaysAl QadimYep this week we're going to continue with the campaign settings for Dungeons and Dragons, old school (first and second edition) with a setting that I totally love: Al Qadim.
Al Qadim is the setting for Arabian Nights.
Genies... got em.
Desert warriors... got em.
Mysteries island kingdoms... got em.
Powerful desert sorcerors... yep got those too.
Everything you'd want in a campaign setting and more.
I love it.
It also happens to be the only campaign setting I have complete.
(Yeah call me major geek).
I own all the box sets, the monstrous compendium and the books.
There isn't alot of any of the above, so it wasn't a huge challenge to find them all.
What I really love about Al Qadim is the sense of awe and wonder the folks who wrote the books brought to the world.
The sense of genuiness.
It feels genuine.
From the genies in lamps to the holy slayers to the blood debt.
They culled the stories of a 1001 nights and other legends, not to mention a tremendous amount on the culture of the middle ages in the mid east.
Of course they changed a lot.
The concept of religion, while present (even in a radical form) is still polytheistic.
The races are all here too.
Elves, dwarves, gnomes, halflings, goblins you name it.
But the catch is, there are no real racial cultures, for the most part.
So you play an elf, you're pretty much treated like anyone else, same if you play an orgre or an orc.
More important than race is honor, station, piety and family.
These are important roleplaying elements.
That's another reason why I love this setting.
If you play in it correctly, you're actually forced to roleplay.
That's the trap of most settings.
Yes they all have s certain flavor, but they don't capture an essence, not like Al Qadim (or the even Oriental Adventures) did.
But it's easy to get away with playing the same types of characters.
Archetypes aren't a problem, every game system is based off archetypes.
The problem is getting into a rut while playing.
Bards are almost always the same.
As are fighters.
And wizards.
and... well you see my point.
That's why I am a fan of the kits.
Kit's are subjobs, or more definitive categories that characters can be placed in.
And kit's are mandatory for Al Qadim.
Why?
Well it's simple, they help add the flavor, and they aid in the roleplaying.
You'd roleplay a basic fighter much differently than you would a mumlak.
Mumlaks are slave soldiers. They spend their entire lives, from a baby till they die, in the service of their kingdom, or in this case the caliph.
And Sha'ir are not your run of the mill wizard.
They deal only with genie kind. IN fact they only way the can get spells is by sending their familiar, as small creature called a gen, to go get them.
Their real power comes from their ability to persuade and control genie.
Mostly why I love Al Qadim is because I like the stories the setting was inspired from.
Aladin and Ali Baba, Sinbad and the fourty thieves.
These tales are adventurous, tragic, and salacious and at times prurient are the epitome of what D&D and other roleplaying games were originally trying to capture.
High adventure, and epic events.
Primitive man relied on his wits and cunning to survive.
Not just his stealth, and focused skills with bows and short spears, but also refined observational abilities.
Through the use of these skills he was able to hunt game, and forage edible plants on his own.
He was also able to cooperate with others, predicting and anticipating their movements on the hunt, to know where he was needed, and where to strike.
Modern man doesn't fair so well....
We got's us technology. Yep, T.V.'s, stereos, c.d.s players.....COMPUTERS!
We have information handed to us on a silverplater.
We don't need to hunt for our food, we have mass production for that.
Both meat and green food collected (and I use the term loosely) on a massive scale, processed and readily available.
I'm not complaining about the convience of all this.
I partake, wholeheartedly.
I embrace the ideas and comforts of modern society, but I am aware it isn't without it's downside.
One side affect that I think is blantant; if it isn't obvious people won't notice it.
Our awareness of things around us, as a society, has gone down to nothing.
Don't believe... look.
Look at the way people behave, particularly when you are at your job.
See what seemingly obvious things, they completely miss.
It happens so frequently at the book store that I feel like posting a sign on the door in large multi-colored lettering that says: "Please be sure you can read before coming in."
Signs are posted through out the store with our, admittedly, overpriced pricing system.
I haven't counted but I'd venture an estimate of about fifty signs posted.
How many people notice... one out of ten, or twelve, or twenty.
Or how many miss the PINK colored sheet on the counter that lists the stores name?
It is horriffying to me that someone would come into the store and not the name of it.
I can't recall a time that I've done that, it could have happened, but...
How can one do that?
End up in a place called "XXX Leroy's Toy's"
And it is NOT a childrens toy store.
Then gape in wonder at the devices around them and ask 2 questions: "What's the name of this place?" and "What kind of store is this."
This is a bookstore.
Do we sale dvd's?
No, we're a books store.
Do you have cd's?
No, we're a book store.
Do you sale computer games?
No, dumbass, WE ARE A BOOK STORE!
Do you think Leroy gets these types of questions?
Yeah, I'm sure he does.
Do people actually read the name of the store before going in.
Here, it's true, people get up to the counter all the time and say "Now, what's the name of this place?"
Well if you don't know that isn't a good sign now is it.
Nor is it a good sign that you didn't notice the pink sign that you're looking directly at with our name on it.
IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS GOOD AND HOLY PLEASE BE OBSERVANT PEOPLE.
I'm all for throwing balls, not hard ones, at children from the age of two to fifteen.
Throwing without warning or provication, when they are completely unaware.
But don't stop with balls; rolled up news paper when they miss a sign that answers a question they have just proposed, and is placed... obviously for them to read.
Grapes and oranges when they have a question about fruit.
Old circut boards when they miss an obvious observation on a technelogical question.
You see the pattern?
Teach them to think for themselves, but most importantly be aware.
Stupid questions, questions to obvious anwers, would drastically dimish implementing this system.
Think about it.
How likely would you be to not be observant, if past experience has cause a projectile to come flying out of no where and bing you in the noggin?
Not very.
Observation levels would go up.
Dumb, redundant and inane questions would go down.
We could all breath a sigh of relief because idiocy levels would decline.
And... and this is the kicker, those insticts we've been repressing for generations, because the hadn't been needed, would begin to surface again.
That way when the world decends into a nuclear winter and tribes of mutant humans roam the landscape looking for victims, those that underwent the "ball training" will be adept at handling the situation.
"Hey Walter here comes those mutants!"
"Walter?"
"Walter?"
"Hmmm I guess Walter should have gone through the training."
Gen, I'm sad to see your blog go.
I hope you reconsider, but I can understand privacy issues.
As for me, well I'm gruntled.
The sun is shiny, and I think the tempeture may just climb above the freezing point today.
I hope so.
The dreary days of winter have worn me thin.
My pactience with it has all but dissappeared with the weather.
I'm keen on bland weather myself, these extremes just don't settle well with me.
Give me daytime temputures in the low seventies, nighttime temputures in the mid fifties, partly cloudy five days a week with rain twice a week and I'll be happy.
The cold of utah winters, just doesn't sit well any more, nor the summers, Vegas is going to afflict me so when I venture down that way.
I've got two days off of rehearsals this week, tomorrow and friday (well the weekend too, but I don't usually count the weekend).
I'm at a loss of what to do.
I've gotten weary of religion.
I've decided heaven, if such a place exsists, is a place where religion isn't continually thrust into one's face, nor flaunted as a status symbol.
Admittedly as religions go, the LDS is one of the more polite ones: they don't throw insults or threats of hell at people they know aren't LDS.
That's nice.
I couldn't handle the south, I get a taste of the bible thumping rants from relatives of mine when I happen to go to family reunions.
To be continually bombarded with it would drive me nuts, then again, I'd probably be inclined to retaliate then.
It's something I don't do with LDS folks, that is retaliate. Typically because they are polite, if not a little smug and patronizing.
It's something easy to do when you believe you have the monopoly on truth.
And the abstract idea that you might be wrong is oft times hard to wrap your head around.
Not that it matters.
I know many LDS folks who are content to let me live my life, in fact they're happy to know me, and aren't seeking to actively change me.
I appreciate and respect that.
I have some LDS friends, who while happy to know me, and be my friend, want to change me, and convert me.
They're not overtly active in doing so, but sometime's their suggestions and hints are none too subtle.
I have encountered many LDS folks, who give me the impression of pity, while at the same time looking down upon me.
Those are the ones who rankle my feathers.
Those are the ones who make me angry.
The point of this isn't to get into a doctorinal or religious debate on what is correct and true.
But to point out that this sort of smugness and condescending attitude is not indicative to people who are at peace with the truth in their lives.
Now on that hand, non-lds folks aren't typically polite and understanding either.
They tend to moody and defensive most of the time, lashing out occasionally with insults and anger.
This isn't excusable behavior, despite the fact that it is typically in response to the type of LDS church members listed above.
The gap between non-lds, and lds people here in utah has been talked about with some scrutiny.
There is anger and resentment on both sides of the equation.
There isn't an easy answer to the problem, especcially when one side feels justified by their faith in their attitudes.
Bridging such gaps are easier said then done.
(any comments you might have, either the regular or casual reader send to
lojakz@yahoo.com )
So yeah. Didn't watch the superbowl.
I know I'm only one of about five people in the country who didn't.
But I'm ok with that.
I don't like football.
WHAT?!
Yeah that's right, don't like the game.
Oh I understand it; i know how first downs work, and the line of scrimage and all of that.
It's not rocket science.
It's just goddamn boring, or at least it is to me.
I don't begrudge those who watch football, I've got nephews who rave about the game.
I just don't partake.
So the ten minute shows are done.
They varied from excellent, to ok.
The one I was in turned out good, despite the incredible dancing bear on stage.
I picked up another script Saturday night. I shouldn't have because I've got alot on my plate, but it's such a great script.
It's called Last Tuesday, it's about five people on a subway car a week after 9 11.
The way the playwright sets the dialogue up and the impact of the last few moments really grabbed me.
The coversations are overlapping and the characters are nothing more than numbers.
1, which is the part I'm playing, is a bussiness man on his way home from work, he spend nearly the entire play on his cell phone to his wife.
2, is a young woman trying to read a book (she doesn't say much)
3 and 4 are a couple discovering that the man is probably cheating on his wife.
and 5 reads the newspaper, which has the headlines recorded and pop up during the scene.
number 6 is the train conductor, and she appears periodically.
The final character is a young boy who appears bedraggled and forlorn. Injured from something, who sings a haunting melody before leaving.
There isn't much movement.
We're all seated, which by itself can get boring.
Until you factor in the dialogue.
Lines begin in the middle of other lines, are started and spoke at the same time.
There are so many things going on with the dialogue, the audience will have to choose what to focus on.
It's trully a kickass script and well worth a look for those of you who are into such things.
