Are Avalanche Press products good?

[ColonelHardisson]

You were impinging on mine

They entered last year, and submitted awesome stuff in my opinion (though I think only the Colonel agreed with me on the Judging Panel)

Anyway, i demand an apology!

My long-lost Canuck brother TB speaks truth. Avalanche's products contain some of the best historical fantasy source material on the market. The one-time controversy over their covers - which have begun to feature far different subject matter, by the way - unfairly detracted from the fine work within those covers. My favorite book from them is "I, Mordred." Their Dracula/Transylvania book is also very good. I'm hoping to get my hands on their recent knight book; my numerous skimmings of it in gameshops indicates it's a good, solid product.

It's very unfortunate, in my opinion, that they chose not to enter the ENnies this year.

 

[Psion]

Anyway, from what I've been told, the China one is good, the Norse one is poor, and the rest are average.

I thought both Atlantis and Jade and Steel were decent, if a bit slender for the cost. The earlier avalanche books had a format that was a bit pricey and vapid.

Of the later books, I rather liked Black Flags, and found it interesting, useful, and well researched and inciteful. Blood Prince was a first rate effort as well.

 

[Psion]

You were impinging on mine

They entered last year, and submitted awesome stuff in my opinion (though I think only the Colonel agreed with me on the Judging Panel)

Nay, nay, sly fox. I rather liked Black Fox. I don't recall if it pulled ahead of the pack enough that it garnered a nomination vote, but I certainly found there was a lot to like.

 

[Christian Walker]

War Games

Slightly OT, but their historical war games are excellent. Blood on the Snow is my fave.

Pesky Finnish ski guerillas! Rassa frassa mumble mumble...

 

[Barastrondo]

I'll say again though: Avalanche makes some fantastic products, and if you refue to buy them because of the covers, the only "point" you are making is that you are willing to deprove yourself of great product for the sake of political correctness.

This may be the "married to an art director" part of me talking, but the way I see it, covers and interior art are part of the product. If they bother you, then the product does less for you, and can't be construed as "great" (at least not objectively). There's nothing wrong with reacting that way; that's why we have art in RPG books at all, in order to enhance a reader's overall enjoyment of the book in question.

To be honest, I've heard much, much flimsier reasons to refuse to support a given RPG company or line than "the art offends me."

 

[Gothmog]

I agree with Teflon Billy, HellHound, and Crothian- I have been pretty impressed with the material I have bought from Avanlance. I have the Celtic book, the Celtic Faeries book, Vlad the Impaler, Ragnarok, and Noble Steeds, and all of them so far have been well done and subperbly researched. While the covers aren't the best for an RPG product, they don't bother me either. I bought the books for the content, not for the covers.

 

[Dinkeldog]

I picked up Last Days of Constantinople and wasn't overly impressed. There was nothing in there that I didn't get (with better feel for culture) from fantasy fiction. I looked through the norse book, and again wasn't overly impressed. Unless I'm guaranteed that I will like it, the covers make the purchase problematic. My mother would see the stupid thing, and then I'd start getting questions on whether I'm thinking about going out with girls. Blech.

 

[HellHound]

Thank you, oh benevolent moderator.

For with that laugh... (going out with girls... goodness, that would get in the way of gaming and posting!) I feel this argument is once again hashed to death.

Ethan: I understand your view on the art (as another person married to an art director), and I agree that it is MEANT to make the book more enjoyable (or at least more sell-able) (whether or not it does), but with the original question being about the content instead of the covers...

---

Hound Post # 1949 - The year that George Orwell released 1984, a terrifying vision of a dystopian future.

 

[JoeGKushner]

I bought the first one about Constanitople when it first came out. Wasn't impressed by their knowledge of the d20 system, art, or layout.

I've picked up a few half priced here and there when there isn't a lot of support for that particular era or theme that I'm looking for but the feeling still holds true.

Some good historical data and facts, no reference work, bad internal art, bad stats and pretty much so-so material otherwise.

 

[Voadam]

I just finished reading the Celtic faeiries one and Twilight of Atlantis, both are relatively slim but good. The fairies has a good feel for historical fairies and their story roles as tricksters and morality enforcers while the Atlantis one is a great high magic greek mythology setting but no statted npcs or even a map or in depth description of the city of Atlantis. Atlantis has some of the only good phalanx feats out there.

The low power gods of most of Ragnarok and War in Heliopolis are a bit too low powered for a standard D&D game, I've just started reading through Ragnarok (their best cheesecake cover IMO) and will write up a review of that and Doom of Odin (their worst cheesecake cover IMO) for pyramid once I get through them.