Arabic themed campaign

>>54696531
My only advice is that you should have made this thread two years ago.

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Have some Turks

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I'm gonna lurk this thread OP. I'm currently running a homemade desert campaign based around tribes of djinn. If this thread is still up when I get done with work I'll post some of my ideas.

>>54696531
As far as I know there weren't 'greatswords' among those cultures, they favored spears for infantry, and anyone wealthy enough to have a sword also had a horse or camel, so they used curved one-handed swords for use on horse-/camel-back. Axes and maces were also not uncommon, and of course archers and especially mounted archers existed.

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OP here, actually found some good references for greatsword counterparts, the Thracian Rhomphaia, while anachronistic would fit the description.

>>54696531
it would be slightly curved...but probably called something similar yes. look at weapon and armor books for the areas/cultures you just mentioned such as DK books and net geo stuff. Study pictures of things in museums and maybe a few documentaries.

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>>54697660
>>54697644
I love the idea of jannissaries but god damn their outfits were fruity.

Mamluks were the superior slave-soldiers both in appearance and achievement. Actually took over the nation rather than just running things behind the scenes and the first force to decisively defeat the Mongol horde.

>>54696531
I think if Arabs were going to use two-handed weapons, they'd lean towards axes/halberds. The spear and the bow were probably their chief weapons across history, like most human cultures really.

I suppose you could just give someone a giant scimitar.

Fuckheug swords were actually a bit of a curiosity to most cultures, to my knowledge only Europe and Japan really developed the tech beyond ceremonial use and even then, the Jap one was more for show than combat.

>>54698155
But the Thracians and Dacians didn't have anything to do with Ayrabs.

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>>54698486
I assume that's why he said it was anachronistic but it's still an 'exotic' looking weapon if you want a two handed sword that isn't a no dachi or two-hander.

Straight bladed swords were a thing, particularly in Africa. Common, but never really fielded as units. Some of the swords wielded by the Mahdi's followers were said to be a thousand years old.

>>54696531
Not OP here, I'm actually curious, how would you handle Arabian fighters and paladins at higher levels? Part of what makes them both good is they can wear heavy armour, and as far as I know heavy armour like full-plate wasn't used in the Middle East, I'm guessing at least partially due to heat.

Personally I'd maybe give them a Dex*2 to their AC after a certain level to compensate, representing more of a reliance on agility in combat over armour. Don't know how well that would work though.

>>54698454
Also correct me if I'm wrong but I think I remember hearing that in both cases these big swords were more often used like polearms than swords, since its usually more effective to thrust a long weapon like this then swing it.

>>54696531
>Arabic campaign

Its called the migrant crisis

>>54701873
Or you could put penalties for wearing heavy armor in the heat. Sure, your AC won't be that high, but at least your character isn't dying from exhaustion levels. Same thing for monsters. Heavily armored monsters can only move so much before overheating. Lightly armored monsters are easier to fight but more mobile.

>>54703089
Sure but that kind of misses the point. Of course characters should not wear heavy metal armour in the desert, but fighters and paladins are still nerfed in this situation.

>>54696531
i think there is a setting about this alqarim or somethign

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>>54698354
I thought this guy would make a good foot soldier to a resurgent Thulsa Doom-type.

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>>54703129
Then use full plate stats, name the damned thing something like "masterwork reinforced mail (full plate)", say that it is made of a very special steel and call it a day. Optionally, turn medium armor into some "waxed hide" and light into "folded cloth", essentially aesthetically downgrading all forms of defence.

>>54696531
Like how heavily into islam are we going?

You could do a math quest based around the baghdad house of wisdom, culminating in its distruction either due to your ingame players burning it, or helping your ingame mongol hordes destroy it or whatever.

Some of these mathematicians were paid equivalentally to basketball players today.

>>54703461
Al-Qadim, almost forgot about that one. Its technically part of the Forgotten Realms world but I don't think there's too much interaction between the two settings.

OP may want to look into it.

>>54704159
https://dnd.rem.uz/Advanced%20D%26D%20(unsorted)/AD%26D%20Accessory%20-%20FR-AQ%20-%20Arabian%20Adventures.pdf

Found PDF.

>>54696531

Have you found any good battle music yet?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQoJvI8XUa0

>>54703646
good idea

*Bombs your path*

>>54698354
The problem is that Janissaries were musketeers, hence the fruity clothes. From the devshirme perspective they were the lowest of the low, hence why they never really took over the country but turned into mafia instead.

Also, a small part of the Mamluk army were actual Mamluks. Baibars is an excellent commander and a cool historical figure, but I wouldn't say that it was his Mamluks alone that won the war.

>>54696531
Persians are more intersting than Arabs

>>54696531
did you consider making a middle eastern setting with arabs, persians, africans, turcics and so on?
in this way you can draw inspiration all of these cultures and the subcultures of them. you can add indians, chinese, etc. they had trade realitionships all of this cultures and such.

>>54696593
Why?

What races do you use in fantasy Arabia?

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>>54696531
>Thracian Rhomphaia

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>>54711984

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>>54712000
>checked

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>>54712012

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>>54712025

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>>54712040

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>>54712049

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>>54712069

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>>54712087

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>>54712099

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>>54712115

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>>54712138

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>>54712159

Arabic/desert settings are one of my favorites if only because how easy it is to describe characters/scenery.

>This dude wears a turban
>Something something fine dunes reaching the horizon

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>>54712169

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>>54712186

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>>54712201

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>>54712214

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>>54712229

>>54696531

Pick up 2e AL Qadim.

>>54701767

The North African cavalry men were well known for their straight bladed swords.

Curved swords came from further Eastern influences and didn't get big in the Near East/Muslim world until later.

Not much later, the style would also pretty much overtake Western military forces as well.