d20 Blackmoor - Worth buying?

[hong]

In a very attenuated way, perhaps. It uses the d20 + modifies = beat the DC (or in C&C, TN) to succeed system.

But it has NO feats, no skills, a combat system without AoOs and 5-foot steps, no prestige classes, etc.

My impression is that it is what the Basic and Expert DnD rules would have looked like, had they used the d20 mechanic (roll high) to resolve everything, and had many more classes (and no "race classes").

"What kind of system does a Real Man use to resolve tasks in the game? In theory, a Real Man could use any task resolution system he liked. Back in the days when adventures consisted solely of 10-foot-square rooms occupied by 50-foot-long dragons, this was of course moot. The only task resolution systems that mattered were the attack roll (see "Real Gaming" above) and the saving throw. Your typical Real Man knew the class attack matrices in the 1st Edition D&D Dungeon Master's Guide by heart, and exactly where the breakpoints were for optimal dual-classing. (Back then, classes were REAL classes. Every cleric was the same as every other cleric, every fighter was the same as every other fighter, and so on. This made it very easy to create new characters after your original ones got killed. These days, you can spend more time creating new characters than actually gaming.)"
-- from a web page somewhere

 

[DClingman]

Expedition to the Barrier Peaks was module S3 for AD&D (first edition). It was set in Greyhawk - the Barrier Peaks are towards the western edge of the Greyhawk maps - but not really closely connected to any setting. It featured a module from a spaceship that had crashed on a D&D world, and was populated by various creatures that were being transported and had escaped, malfunctioning robots, mutated humanoid plant-creatures, and so on. Really fun dungeon-style romp, IMHO.

As I understand it, it was originally a convention scenario used to introduce the Metamorphosis Alpha game, which featured colonists and survivors on a lost generation/sleep ship, the starship Warden. I have no idea if it's explicitly connected to Blackmoor, or if it just has enough common elements to make that sort of connection easy.

I have found nothing to indicate a relationship other than coincidental. There are, of course relevant themes in that module that are of import to Blackmoor.

Dustin

 

[BOZ]

3rd cousins?

 

[woodelf]

The differences between RC (and C&C for that matter) versus 3.x DnD are not minimal. You could play through something like the original "Isle of Dread" module in 2-3 sessions in RC. It would take at least 5 sessions in 3.x. Resolving tasks, levelling up, and (most of all) combat take much longer in 3.x.

Agreed: D&D3E is more complex, and combat, in particular, tends to take longer. But it's still a matter of degree, not kind. I'm not talking from ignorance--i've read the Rules Cyclopedia, and played the much-simpler Basic/Expert Sets (that's where i started). From my POV, the differences between that and D&D3E are more of degree than kind--in kind, they are basically the same system. I could easily strip D&D3E down to RC-equivalent (takes about 3 options out of the new Unearthed Arcana). And adding in all the options from Rules Cyclopedia, plus the Savage Coast stuff, would begin to get RC up to the complexity of D&D3E (well, not really--but it's a start).

You are right in your comments about the "original" Blackmoor. Given that it eventually did become part of DnD, though, a plot-focused, rules-lite version of the game seems most appropriate for the setting IMO.

Is there a negative missing there, or are we talking past each other, or am i just failing in my reading comprehension? Are you agreeing with me that something plot-oriented and rules-lite, a la Story Engine, would be closest to its roots, or saying that you think D&D (of some flavor) is plot-focused and rules-lite?

 

[woodelf]

In a very attenuated way, perhaps. It uses the d20 + modifies = beat the DC (or in C&C, TN) to succeed system.

But it has NO feats, no skills, a combat system without AoOs and 5-foot steps, no prestige classes, etc.

My impression is that it is what the Basic and Expert DnD rules would have looked like, had they used the d20 mechanic (roll high) to resolve everything, and had many more classes (and no "race classes").

But it *is* based on the D20SRD, and uses the WotC OGL. Sure, it's been significantly modified--but, from the sounds of it, no more so than, say, Grimm. It's still D20 System in my book. Not saying it doesn't sound interesting--i think the "skills are a subset of class" and more-or-less fixed target numbers are nifty ideas, if not to my taste. I just don't think it's so radical that it's stopped being "D20 System".

 

[DClingman]

I personally like 3e. The rules never get in the way in my games. I think that they only do when people let them. How you choose to play Blackmoor is up to you, just have fun.

Dustin

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

3rd cousins?

Probably closer to those "separated at birth" parodies.




Regards,
Eric Anondson