Pulp Alley AAR: The Sha'ira's Ring, an Al-Qadim inspired scenario

[ragsthetiger]

Twentysome years ago, when 2nd Edition D&D ruled the realms, our little gaming group had quite a time playing Al-Qadim.  (Did you?  Let's see some hands...)  Here is a Pulp Alley scenario inspired by that great RPG setting, with a terrifying genie, a cursed ring, and small village well...

In the small desert crossroads village of al-Hambar, there is an ancient well in the middle of the town square.  The well is perhaps thousands of years old, but the water is cool and crystal clear, and, when the light is overhead, something small, gold, and sparkling can be discerned on the sandy bottom, some 12 or 15 feet below.  The item is, in fact, a fabulous gold and sapphire ring, and it has been at the bottom of the well for centuries, for it is far too dangerous to attempt to remove it.
The ring is cursed, say the locals, and a terrible genie will appear and slay anyone who tries to retrieve it. (The complete background story -- moving, powerful, and commendably brief -- may be read, along with scenario details, here: https://imgur.com/a/wdAj3cI ). 
But of course, whenever there is treasure to be found, cursed or not, there will be someone, or several someones, who are willing to take the risk, and the other day a couple of veterans of that old campaign came by to try their luck one more time.
Complete AAR here:  https://imgur.com/gallery/tcfw2F3
Thanks for your interest!
rags
(edited for crummy spelling)

[Sterling Moose]

Excellent game Rags, looks like it was loads of fun.

[lethallee61]

Yep - I loved the Al Qadim setting. I think it was one of the best settings ever done for 2nd Edition. I think I still have a lot of the books hidden away somewhere.

[whomever1]

  My Al-Qadim rawun character Fahreed was so cheesy and impulsive he spent half his time tied up on a camel. but he could sling a mean oud.

It's another stupid song about Zakhara,
It's the land of Fate so you know you can't go wrong!
It's another stupid song about Zakhara--
You know the words so won't you sing along!

[Matt]

Great looking game, Rags!  I always enjoy your story lines and presentation.  You rolled out some minis I don’t recall seeing before.

Do you have a number of “stock” leagues on standby, or do you just generate new leagues regularly?

Look forward to your next report.

Matt

[ragsthetiger]

My Al-Qadim rawun character Fahreed was so cheesy and impulsive he spent half his time tied up on a camel. but he could sling a mean oud.

IIRC, Fahreed spent one side adventure restrained by his colleagues, when his mind was stolen by an evil sorceress at an oasis.  Two episodes, tops, but I grant you it must have felt like a lot longer.  And I can still hear the oud CDs in my head.

Great looking game, Rags!  I always enjoy your story lines and presentation.  You rolled out some minis I don’t recall seeing before.
Do you have a number of “stock” leagues on standby, or do you just generate new leagues regularly?

Thanks, Matt.   Most of my own Malted Falcon league minis were from a set of prepainted Arkhkam Investigators I got about seven or eight years ago; the genie and a couple of the minis on the title page were bought and painted by me for our old Al Qadim campaign.  Whomever and ManaUser brought their own minis, of course.
I have about a dozen leagues of various types, but I also frequently make up ad hoc leagues using the numerous character card sets that are now abundant.  The Malted Falcons were originally made up this way for playtesting the scenario.  They won it once, so I thought I'd give them a try in the multiplayer game.
Here's a gratuitous shot of the Genie's card:

[dadlamassu]

I like that a lot. A clever use of a d&d scenario updated.

[d phipps]

Wow, great stuff! THANKS for posting.