Rock the Casbah!

[Nota Biene]

Hey all. I'm a long time player, but its been quite awhile since I DM'd. I'm hoping to get together a campaign for college next year, and I want to create an "Arabian Adventurers" campaign for 3.5. I have the arabianadventures.org conversion, but I was wondering if anyone knows of another conversion to recommend.

Also, since its been awile, does anyone have any tips for a newbie DM, (one who can have trouble with a lot of information moving quickly around the table) with DMing tricks in general, or with story-arc writing? How about world building? Thanks.

[Fax Celestis]

Well, you could try looking into the Faerun books that deal with the Calimshan region. You could also look into the d20 Athas conversion (Athas.org, if memory serves).

[Penguinsushi]

It's not strictly 'Arabian', but I would highly recommend getting a hold of a copy of Sandstorm as a supplement - it has lots of cool stuff for desert & wasteland settings.

To a lesser extent, Unearthed Arcana has some rules for environmental races (including 'desert' races)...

~PS

[TheThan]

Yeah, Sandstorm is your best bet for homebrewing. As far as Athas.org, that’s Darksun and might not be what you’re looking for. The Unearthed Arcana stuff can be found here

Oh there’s also Al-Qadim, but that’s Advanced dungeons and dragons, and I don’t think it’s been converted over, but a quick google search should yield some results… well it didn’t give me anything terriblely promising, maybe you’ll have better luck.

[Attilargh]

Also, since its been awile, does anyone have any tips for a newbie DM, (one who can have trouble with a lot of information moving quickly around the table) with DMing tricks in general, or with story-arc writing?

Make an effing big list of random names. There is very little more embarrassing than having to go "um..." when a player asks a name. (Been there, done that.)

If uncertain, ask. If you feel you've missed something important the players just said, ask them to repeat themselves. They'll probably understand.

I once read an advice about writing a story, which I will now horribly mutilate: First concern yourself with saving something small, like a city. Then you have the basics, and can move up to bigger leagues, those involving saving entire civilizations, planets and such. When you've done that for a while and are feeling really confident, you can then try saving the universe.

Spend a minute or three thinking how it all works and comes together. Read some Stupid Plot Tricks (especially the Evil Overlord part!) and remember to have at least one back-up plan. The Adventure Builder and Villain Builder articles are a good read.

Oh, and as the GM, you can't cheat: Whatever you do, goes. (Within reason, fo course.) It's okay to fudge a die roll when a punk with a dagger is about to kill the One, but don't get caught: Players appreciate a certain feeling of danger.

How about world building?

I've found my golden rule to be "start small". I've dreamed up and worked on more settings than drank beers, and had them all fall flat when I've lost motivation. My latest is going better, however, because I've been thinking up only small, self-contained slivers of it at a time, in very general detail.

Internal consistency is for sissies. "Mages did it, now shut up and roll some dice."

Alternatively, read some articles by the Giant. I've heard they're pretty good.


Oh, and there's some good stuff in Wizards' previous edition downloads section.

[Nota Biene]

Thanks Guys! Also, I have some difficulty drawing maps. Does anyone know a good mapping program, preferably a pretty simple one?

Feel free to comment on the campaign idea to- would you like playing in this kind of campaign, and why or why not.

[Matthew]

You could probably stand to check out the Old Edition Downloads page for a couple of Al-Quadim Downloads.

[bosssmiley]

You could probably stand to check out the Old Edition Downloads page for a couple of Al-Quadim Downloads.

Paizo.com. Al-Qadim setting and Birthright "Cities of the Sun" pdf downloads.

Just downloaded most of the Planescape section, currently cherrypicking the others for RP goodness.

"Y hullo thar all the Birthright books I missed on eBay..."

v-- *nod, nod, nod* Oh my yes...

[Matthew]

$4 a piece? Al-Qadim never looked so good. I take it you got the Free PDFs off of the Wizards Website? (Caravans and Corsairs, I think). I always wanted to play Arabian Nights D&D... Spelljammer, Planescape and Birthright too... gah... very tempting.