Okay, I'm really digging into Al-Qadim lately. Zakhara is a continent that looks open for expansion! The Middle Eastern culture of Zakhara is something I'm looking into. It's too bad it wasn't redeveloped for 3e, though.
What do you think about Al-Qadim? Did you think it was cool to adventure in?
I will say I only REALLY learned of Al-Qadim as the campaign setting in depth AFTER it had fallen by the wayside. I didn't buy the material at the time, because I didn't have the money. But looking back, the lore is wonderful, but needs further development. There are some tropes that are just a little overdone (by that I mean monsters that were created that were just a rinse/reuse that didn't need to be done or that basically got repeated throughout the various monsters they introduced.... all that to say they could have reduced the number of creatures by simply combining some as they were so similar... but it was 2e and they were putting out monster splat books left and right).
The area definitely could use a bit of a dig into the history of the region, by that I mean if someone with the love enough to do it right would sit down and try to develop something akin to the GHotR for the region to go into the various fallen empires, etc... it could really turn it into a shiny gem. However, it doesn't really need that to be a viable game resource... it just would be a fun thing to try and develop this history and then possibly synch it up with the rest of the world.
Al qadim is a brilliant place to delve into now. It has an awful lot of lore associated with it (a sourcebook and at least 6 adventures, plus a number of dragon articles etc).
Even better the lore is portrayed in the ultimate if unreliable narrators (bardic myth and legend tales).
All that stuff needs sorting through, codifying properly, with dates attached and relating to the rest of toril, because nothing exists in isolation on toril.
Its a monumental task.
Personally I prefer to work only with toril lore, and stay away from real world stuff.
I made a start, but have put it onto hold because alqadim has its foundations in giant and genie empires and there is some big reveals in the works regarding some of those historical empires. I felt it prudent to wait for them to be set in stone before exploring alqadim and deciding which events came first and when (giants founded lands in alqadim, they likely brought the genies, and fought off the dragons, but the when is important.
Zakhara, the Land of Fate
Posted - 12 Jul 2025 : 22:41:15
