Al-Qadim & Sha'ir
Guillaume Godbout
Well, we have seen a few comment on the Al-Qadim Campaign world and one
posting about the Sha'ir.
I am currently DMing a PBEM set in Al-Qadim and about to strat a ftf game.
I have read and re-read the rules about the Sha'ir and still am not
comfortable about the mechanics of this kit. Can anyone Enlighten me?
BTW, I would like to say that I think Al-Qadim is the best world yet!
--
Tamitha Carpenter
I am not certain exactly what you need enlightening about, but I would
guess that it is the "usefullness" and "game mechanics" of the Sha'ir.
I am currently playing a Sha'ir in a PBEM game, and have run a few games
with Sha'ir in them, both as enemies and players.
First, the Sha'ir is not quite a mage: If you want to be a combat mage
able to act at an instant's notice then play a mage, not a Sha'ir. In
battles, the Sha'ir spend most of their time waiting around for their
gen to return with what they guessed will be helpful in a few rounds.
Players who need to be in on the action dislike Sha'ir for this reason.
Sha'ir are more like a spell-point substitute mage. While the true-mages
are able to release power instantly, but can only hold X number of
spells, a Sha'ir has the ability to gather spells they will need as they
need them.
Game mechanics: The Sha'ir determines a certain spell will be useful in
the near future. They ask their Gen to try and fetch it. Then, if it
is a magic user spell they can cast, a few rounds later the gen returns
and informs its master either it could not find the spell, sorry. Or it
GIVES the Sha'ir the power to cast that spell.
The Sha'ir can hold onto that spell for about 30 minutes, before it either
has to be cast, or it fades.
But there is no limit to the number of spells the Gen can get for the
Sha'ir. Only the time required, and the fact that repeated searching for
the same spell reduces the chance. The way I have run this is to keep
track for a 24 hour period all the spells sought after. Any duplicate
request is at the reduced chance... until 24 hours have past, then the
Gen can try again at full chance, meanwhile, any spell "over sought"
will remain 0% chance.
Also, the Gen is doing something like plane-walking/shifting when in
search for a spell.. roaming the elemental planes for the power/spells
it is looking for. This is the basic reason for the time delay. But in
a campaign, you might want to set this in rules carefully, to be able
to determine if the Gen is blocked from returning/leaving by materials
or spells. (Can they pass through lead, etc.)
IMHO a Sha'ir is great, for they are able to solve things that a
memorization-based mage can't do in a day. If the Gen can find it,
the Sha'ir, stuck at a door, could try to get a Knock spell, failing that
she might try for a Stone Shape to melt the door-frame, or if that
still fails, she could even try to Lightening-Bolt her way through!
But the same Sha'ir, caught in a battle might, if lucky, be able to
call for 1 Magic-Missle in the fight, but better have some other
means to save her (quarterstaff combat, friends, etc).
Two further things:
1) Munchkin players will read through all the spells possible
for thier Sha'ir and choose all the spells that have long durations
and cast all of those successively. But so will mages not limited
by memorization times. Sha'ir just don't have books.
2) Decide for yourself, before you introduce Gen into your game
how they travel. Do air gens fly? Can water gens breath in water?
Can water gens float in the air like the picture in the Al-Qadim
book, or do they walk?
This will make a large difference in those battles and dangerous
situations. If the Sha'ir has to stop and pickup the small gen
because it only can run at 6", or if the gen will fall to its
doom over a cliff, the player needs to know. And having a flying
familiar who can talk etc. is very helpful.
If the gen can plane shift even when NOT retrieving spells
for the Sha'ir, then why not leave it behind when doing something
dangerous, and it will reappear at the Sha'ir's side when called.
Have fun,
Wizard of the 7th Circle
David E. Wall
email: w...@donald.phast.umass.edu
or this account
Thom Watson
>The Sha'ir can hold onto that spell for about 30 minutes, before it either
>has to be cast, or it fades.
This is an important point. Until either this time elapses, or the
sha'ir casts the spell, the gen can not be sent back for another. THe
sha'ir can have only a single spell in progress (either in hir head or
being searched for) at any given time.
Priest spells are always dangerous to try to acquire, and always take
a number of hours for the gen to find. In the meantime, you *cannot*
call it back; it will only return when the time has elapsed.
My first-level sha'ira has no higher than a 55% chance to get a spell,
and that only for 1st-level Al-Qadim wizard spells, which take 1d6+1
rounds to retrieve, if at all. 2nd-level wizard spells take 1d6+2
*turns* (30 to 80 minutes) and are at only a 45% chance for location.
After that, the percentages drop off even more... her gen requires
1d6+3 turns to find a 3rd level wizard spell, at only a 25% chance,
1d6+4 turns for a 4th-level at a 15% chance, and 1d6+5 turns (so at
least an hour) for a 5th-level, at just a 5% chance.
She has only a 15% chance to find a 1st-level priest spell, and this
takes 1d6+1 *hours*, and a 5% chance to find a 2nd-level priest spell
after 1d6+2 hours.
And other than 1st and 2nd level wizard spells (and then *only* those
in teh Al-Qadim appendix), she can attempt to find no spell unless
she's seen it cast be someone else. So far my sha'ira has seen no
wizard spells of higher than 1st level, and only "cure light wounds"
from any priest. Since there are no ajamis (foreigners), she's
unlikely ever to see anything not in the Al-Qadim paradigm.
> 2) Decide for yourself, before you introduce Gen into your game
> how they travel. Do air gens fly? Can water gens breath in water?
> Can water gens float in the air like the picture in the Al-Qadim
> book, or do they walk?
This is covered in the Al-Qadim book, and in the monstrous compendium,
though by all means make changes for your own campaigns if you like.
Air gens do fly; water gens can swim; otherwise gens walk. Neither can
confer those abilities to anyone else, not even to their sha'ir.
> This will make a large difference in those battles and dangerous
> situations. If the Sha'ir has to stop and pickup the small gen
> because it only can run at 6", or if the gen will fall to its
> doom over a cliff, the player needs to know. And having a flying
> familiar who can talk etc. is very helpful.
Remember, the gen can never be more than 100 yards away from its
master while on the prime material plane. So it's not particularly
useful as a spy. Plus, they're weak and tend to be cowardly. (A gen
popping back in to the prime plane will also intersperse the sha'ir
between it and danger).
> If the gen can plane shift even when NOT retrieving spells
> for the Sha'ir, then why not leave it behind when doing something
> dangerous, and it will reappear at the Sha'ir's side when called.
The gen itself can leave to an elemental plane when in danger, but it
takesan amount of time (1d6 turns, I think?) to get back. It can't
just pop in and out.
All in all, I think the sha'ir is balanced and, if anything,
underpowered in our campaign where priests do not have to memorize
spells but can choose one at the moment of casting.
Nonetheless, we do not play a power campaign, and I've chosen to play
a sha'ira for the sheer roleplaying challenge. Here's someone who has
teh potential to be extremely powerful some day (double digit levels,
which we've only seen one time in any of our campaigns, so it's not
likely to happe here) but who is really quite weak and vulnerable now,
so she has to *appear* powerful and self-assured. I like the class
almost more than any other I've seen in any AD&D game.
--
Thom Watson th...@digex.net
"What sane person could live in this world and not be crazy?"
--Ursula K. LeGuin
jesse d. mcgatha
> 2) Decide for yourself, before you introduce Gen into your game
> how they travel. Do air gens fly? Can water gens breath in water?
> Can water gens float in the air like the picture in the Al-Qadim
> book, or do they walk?
Believe me, this is really important!!!
>
> If the gen can plane shift even when NOT retrieving spells
> for the Sha'ir, then why not leave it behind when doing something
> dangerous, and it will reappear at the Sha'ir's side when called.
>
I thought a sha'ir couldn't contact their gen when they were plane walking,
can they? Just thought I'd point that out.
--
===================================================================
| I don't care if I'm apathetic! | |
| I was going to form a procras- | Jesse McGatha |
| tinator's club--but I haven't | n904...@henson.cc.wwu.edu |
ShadowMaster
>In article <tamitha....@chaos.cs.brandeis.edu> tam...@chaos.cs.brandeis.edu (Tamitha Carpenter) writes:
>> 2) Decide for yourself, before you introduce Gen into your game
>> how they travel. Do air gens fly? Can water gens breath in water?
>> Can water gens float in the air like the picture in the Al-Qadim
>> book, or do they walk?
>Believe me, this is really important!!!
This definetly needs to be understood between players and DM
>> If the gen can plane shift even when NOT retrieving spells
>> for the Sha'ir, then why not leave it behind when doing something
>> dangerous, and it will reappear at the Sha'ir's side when called.
>>
>I thought a sha'ir couldn't contact their gen when they were plane walking,
>can they? Just thought I'd point that out.
The Al-qadim book states specificly that the Gen will go out to retrieve
a spell no matter what chance of success is possible and can not be
recalled until the search is complete.
The question to be asked really should be can the Sha'ir and Gen communicate
telepathically?
We ended up saying that the Gen can talk to the Sha'ir mentally thus sharing
the spell with the Sha'ir but the Sha'ir can not communicate back. So
the Sha'ir must speak aloud to request a spell. The gen isn't necessarily
stupid either. If the Sha'ir is tied up the Gen will try to help if it
can
"Hey boss you want me to get a spell for you??"
"MMMmmphhr pmmp" <he's tied and gaged>
"Sure thing would you like a fire ball?"
"NNNnnnnnmmm" <shaking his head no>
"How about lighting bolt"
"Nnnnn"
"How about rope trick?""
Well you get the idea
--
Joe Carl Jr. "It ain't what a man don't know that makes him a
jc...@jabba.ess.harris.com fool, but what he does know that ain't so."
-- Josh Billings
Tamitha Carpenter
(jesse d. mcgatha) writes:
>> If the gen can plane shift even when NOT retrieving spells
>> for the Sha'ir, then why not leave it behind when doing something
>> dangerous, and it will reappear at the Sha'ir's side when called.
>
>I thought a sha'ir couldn't contact their gen when they were plane walking,
>can they? Just thought I'd point that out.
> Jesse McGatha
> n904...@henson.cc.wwu.edu
and th...@digex.net (Thom Watson) writes:
>> This will make a large difference in those battles and dangerous
>> situations. If the Sha'ir has to stop and pickup the small gen
>> because it only can run at 6", or if the gen will fall to its
>> doom over a cliff, the player needs to know. And having a flying
>> familiar who can talk etc. is very helpful.
>
>Remember, the gen can never be more than 100 yards away from its
>master while on the prime material plane. So it's not particularly
>useful as a spy. Plus, they're weak and tend to be cowardly. (A gen
>popping back in to the prime plane will also intersperse the sha'ir
>between it and danger).
>
>> If the gen can plane shift even when NOT retrieving spells
>> for the Sha'ir, then why not leave it behind when doing something
>> dangerous, and it will reappear at the Sha'ir's side when called.
>
>The gen itself can leave to an elemental plane when in danger, but it
>takesan amount of time (1d6 turns, I think?) to get back. It can't
>just pop in and out.
> Thom Watson
> th...@digex.net
Both corrections are indeed right. Most gen's simply walk, and
their movement rate is given in the book and monsterous compendium.
While they are off plane, searching for spells or hiding from
danger, the gen is out of contact, cannot be called back, and
must have little to no idea what is happening to thier master.
The 100 yard limit is nebulous, since there is no description
as to what happens to the gen if it is exceeded. Does it fade
back into the elemental plane, subject to the time penalty
trying to come back? Or is it in pain, possibly going to die
from the 'severed link'.
My interpretation of the above is that the gen must return to
its plane, and take the time to find its way back. But, the
fact that it will return with its master between it and danger
indicates that the gen, when appearing, can see the situation
and judge danger. Therefore, you could send the gen away
when you are going through something dangerous (say tightrope
walking across a spikefilled pit with a fire gen) and let it
choose when to come back.
Since all gens other than air are a weight on the Sha'ir's
shoulder, pack, turban, etc. this could be prudent in some
cases.
Most humble apologies for my previous mistakes, nobel ones.
Wizard of the 7th Circle
David E. Wall
email to: w...@donald.phast.umass.edu
or this account.
Erik Warren Selberg
was with a combination of a Sha'ir / Monk (yes, I know it's not supposed
to be done like that, but rules are meant to be bent if not broken
completely!). It was quite fun -- I could almost always grab a stoneskin
spell and have one spell loaded in (my happy single-shot mage!).
However, in combat I rarely used his abilities whatsoever -- I'd let the
single spell go off (usually lightning bolt or sunfire [ground-zero
fireball]), then resort to monk attacks.
One thing I did notice about the sha'ir: it suffers (as by-the-rules
AD&D Wizards suffer) from the loose-big-at-first / win-big-eventually
syndrome. I have yet to call on the jann and I never needed to recognize
genie works. The semester ended with me attaining 7th level, which gave
me protection from elements, which is useful. I think that low-level
sha'irs aren't very practical in a mostly combat-oriented adventure
(which is most of them in my experience), and completely too powerful at
high levels (face it, once you have a trapped genie and can be granted
arbitrary wishes, you can do some serious damage at little risk if you
word it right). I think things might be more interesting if the sha'ir
started out being able to ask genies for aid, and gradually gained the
ability to capture them (but only be able to do that at _really_ high
level {like 17}
-Erik
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