The title The Complete Sha’ir’s Handbook is a bit of a lie, since it doesn’t entirely focus on the Sha’ir mage kit, but rather broadly fleshes out Al-Qadim’s most noteworthy addition to the Dungeons & Dragons canon: its novel approach to magic.

First, a note on Sha’irs, the most intriguing character kit in Al-Qadim. Rather than memorizing spells, Sha’irs use genie familiars to fetch them from the multiverse, channeling raw power from the elemental planes or even stealing them from gods and demons. The resulting mix of mischievousness and constraint provides endless potential for plot complications, just like a yarn from the 1001 Nights.

The bulk of the book is devoted to the introduction of new mage kits and sorcerous societies. Much of the magic presented here is, like the Sha’ir, indirect. Zakharan mages largely channel their spells through some sort of craft, like clockwork baubles, tapestries, arithmetic and astrology. This folds in nicely with the setting’s focus on roleplaying and culture – to be a literal weaver of spells has limited application for dungeon crawling after all.

This is a good place to mention Al-Qadim’s deep love of genies of all kinds. Much of the world is dependent upon genie magic, which leads to all manner of wonder and trouble. In its simplest form, this is entertaining and Al-Qadim mostly leaves it at that. I find it curious though, that, for a setting that follows Dark Sun – one so preoccupied with freedom and slavery – that genies were never examined very critically in Al-Qadim. The imprisonment and forced labor of genies (as well as their wrath over the same) is taken as granted, both by Zakhara’s fictional society and the designers themselves. To my eye, there is much rich (if perhaps uncomfortable) material to be mined there.