It fills my heart with so much joy that I can open a D&D book and find someone in here that looks like me, a not-skinny Black woman. And she’s not the only person of color in the book or depicted in the art. She’s got my hair, my “What in the heck is THIS nonsense?” expression, and even my lipstick game! She isn’t a specific character (pre-pub several people speculated she was one of the Weathermay-Foxgrove twins), but can be found on page 35 under the “Investigator” character type. A few weeks before the book shipped, I was watching one of the Ravenloft previews and happened upon this image: I definitely want to see!Īnd finally, a touching footnote.
Please consider this an invitation to share all those things with me on social media.
When the inevitable Akkiran soundtrack comes out I will be putting it on repeat.Īs much fun as I’m having now seeing people talk about the domain and things they want to do, I know I have years and years ahead of me seeing great fan art, hearing fan songs, and hearing about adventures set here. Those of you who know me will be unsurprised to discover music is a big part of it.
I had a hand in shaping the culture of people who live in Har’Akir. You might not like where you end up 3,000 years later. Look at this guy.īe careful when you wish to be face to face with your gods and gain power from them at any cost, including murdering their favorite dude. I also enjoyed playing around with the Dark Lord’s backstory. I imagine there will be a slew of great dungeons crafted from the description. Not pictured is the Labyrinth, which runs all through the desert area and to the various monuments and pyramids. I had fun filling out this domain with more locations, such as the oases that aren’t Muhar (that one existed in previous editions), Ousa’s pyramid, and the Bent pyramid. What would D&D be without maps? Here’s Har’Akir, created by Mike Schley. DnD Beyond has a TON of info (almost as much as the book itself). The book is getting great reviews as a whole, and this one from Altoholism mentions Har’Akir specifically.
Wes also did a deep dive for the Lore You Should Know series on Dragon Talk. Wesley Schneider, the book’s lead designer. If you’re interested in learning about Har’Akir before deciding to pick up the book, I have some resources for you!Ī good starting point is Polygon’s piece on Har’Akir with F. I loved getting the opportunity to reimagine the problematic aspects of the domain that were introduced decades ago based off of media depictions of ancient Egyptian culture and custom that were not very accurate or respectful. If you’re new around here you might not know that I’ve been researching ancient Egypt for years and years for fiction projects and that’s the main reason I was tapped for this. I worked on one of the domains, Har’Akir, which is a fantasy realm based on ancient Egypt. I am still so excited to have been part of making this book along with a spectacular team, moreso now that it’s out and I’m seeing people’s reactions to it. Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft is out in the world and already there are hundreds of gamers preparing their horror campaigns around it.