Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Let's read the entire run
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5683682" data-attributes="member: 27780"><p><strong><u>Dragon Magazine Issue 246: April 1998</u></strong></p><p></p><p></p><p>part 7/8</p><p></p><p></p><p>Roleplaying reviews: Zero is a rather interesting little game from our other reviewer Lester Smith. Somewhere between Paranoia without the humour and Star trek if you were a rebel Borg, you were once a happy part of the collective, but suddenly woke up with individuality, and have to do your best to survive in a world that suddenly and inexplicably hates you. The rules are similarly minimalist and offbeat, with you having to choose between number of skills you know, and being able to adapt to new situations. Like Paranoia, it seems like it would struggle to accommodate long campaigns, but could be good for a one-shot. </p><p></p><p>Mediums: Speakers with the dead for Wraith, on the other hand, could make for very long-term games indeed, as you can get a full career as a mortal, and then eventually transition into being a wraith. (and then become a risen or spectre, and back again) It has a lot of writers, and consequentially feels a bit unfocussed, but that just means it'll be good for being interpreted in different ways and causing flamewars, like many old white wolf products. And crucially, you don't have to worry about your fricken shadow constantly undermining everything you do like you would if you're a wraith. It's a hard life, being a game writer and stuck with previous design that's already proven to be a mistake and trying to work around it. </p><p></p><p>Tribebook: Stargazers reminds us that white wolf could get pretty silly at times. Buddhist werewolves? That's just an excuse to give your flesh-ripping engine of death kewl martial arts on top of everything else. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite7" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue :p" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":p" /> Still, White Wolf has got better as lampshading their cheesier urges over time, and that proves the case here, with the combination of W:tA animism and real world eastern mysticism actually fairly coherent. You don't have to be a twink to want to play one, but it can't hurt. </p><p></p><p>The great modron march showcases some of the weirdest bits of the planescape setting, using the big cosmic event as a backdrop for a whole bunch of little adventures of various levels. In theory, you could play all of them, but in practice, they don't really happen in order, plus you know how slow the AD&D leveling system is, so you'd have to add other ones in between, and in the meantime, the march would move on. Really, you're unlikely to use more than one or two with a particular set of characters. </p><p></p><p>Faces of evil: the fiends evokes considerably less wonder in Allen. Far too much of it is rehashed or overly conservative in approach, and amusing IC writing can only go so far. They could do much better now they're not bound by that sodding code of ethics. </p><p></p><p>Dreams and nightmares is for Changeling:the Dreaming, and explores their own weird world away from the one we know. (while making it clear that the PC's are never actually going to get back to Arcadia without ceasing to be characters as we know them) As should be expected from WW, the editing continues to be a source of contention with the reviewers, and as expected from the topic, the continuity is a bit scattershot. Still, there's plenty of material to add to your campaign. And given changeling PC's tendency towards amnesia, it's pretty reusable as well. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite7" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue :p" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":p" /> </p><p></p><p></p><p>Re:Views: The Pocket Warrior is an experiment with format, fitting three little booklets into a CD jewel case which cover rules, creatures and setting with more detail than many books with twice the page count. Of course, if you have poor eyesight, you might as well not apply, but it's a brave design choice that stands out in this era of bloating page counts, and deserves credit. Of course, an actual .pdf on a CD would be able to go thousands of full colour pages with the right compression settings, but that's neither here or there. In the meantime, if you like easy to learn universal systems, drop a few dollars, give them your support. </p><p></p><p></p><p>KotDT shows up again, this time to abuse and drive off the newbie.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="(un)reason, post: 5683682, member: 27780"] [B][U]Dragon Magazine Issue 246: April 1998[/U][/B] part 7/8 Roleplaying reviews: Zero is a rather interesting little game from our other reviewer Lester Smith. Somewhere between Paranoia without the humour and Star trek if you were a rebel Borg, you were once a happy part of the collective, but suddenly woke up with individuality, and have to do your best to survive in a world that suddenly and inexplicably hates you. The rules are similarly minimalist and offbeat, with you having to choose between number of skills you know, and being able to adapt to new situations. Like Paranoia, it seems like it would struggle to accommodate long campaigns, but could be good for a one-shot. Mediums: Speakers with the dead for Wraith, on the other hand, could make for very long-term games indeed, as you can get a full career as a mortal, and then eventually transition into being a wraith. (and then become a risen or spectre, and back again) It has a lot of writers, and consequentially feels a bit unfocussed, but that just means it'll be good for being interpreted in different ways and causing flamewars, like many old white wolf products. And crucially, you don't have to worry about your fricken shadow constantly undermining everything you do like you would if you're a wraith. It's a hard life, being a game writer and stuck with previous design that's already proven to be a mistake and trying to work around it. Tribebook: Stargazers reminds us that white wolf could get pretty silly at times. Buddhist werewolves? That's just an excuse to give your flesh-ripping engine of death kewl martial arts on top of everything else. :p Still, White Wolf has got better as lampshading their cheesier urges over time, and that proves the case here, with the combination of W:tA animism and real world eastern mysticism actually fairly coherent. You don't have to be a twink to want to play one, but it can't hurt. The great modron march showcases some of the weirdest bits of the planescape setting, using the big cosmic event as a backdrop for a whole bunch of little adventures of various levels. In theory, you could play all of them, but in practice, they don't really happen in order, plus you know how slow the AD&D leveling system is, so you'd have to add other ones in between, and in the meantime, the march would move on. Really, you're unlikely to use more than one or two with a particular set of characters. Faces of evil: the fiends evokes considerably less wonder in Allen. Far too much of it is rehashed or overly conservative in approach, and amusing IC writing can only go so far. They could do much better now they're not bound by that sodding code of ethics. Dreams and nightmares is for Changeling:the Dreaming, and explores their own weird world away from the one we know. (while making it clear that the PC's are never actually going to get back to Arcadia without ceasing to be characters as we know them) As should be expected from WW, the editing continues to be a source of contention with the reviewers, and as expected from the topic, the continuity is a bit scattershot. Still, there's plenty of material to add to your campaign. And given changeling PC's tendency towards amnesia, it's pretty reusable as well. :p Re:Views: The Pocket Warrior is an experiment with format, fitting three little booklets into a CD jewel case which cover rules, creatures and setting with more detail than many books with twice the page count. Of course, if you have poor eyesight, you might as well not apply, but it's a brave design choice that stands out in this era of bloating page counts, and deserves credit. Of course, an actual .pdf on a CD would be able to go thousands of full colour pages with the right compression settings, but that's neither here or there. In the meantime, if you like easy to learn universal systems, drop a few dollars, give them your support. KotDT shows up again, this time to abuse and drive off the newbie. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Let's read the entire run
Top