Disappointed with AU

[Gez]

I remember the ads for AU in Dragon Magazine went along these lines: "The training wheels are off! Now that you've played 3rd edition, you can look at Arcana Unearthed..."

It made two things very clear:
1° It's for people who've played D&D 3. How many games are labelled only "3rd edition" ? One. Because it's the only game every one may officially wrote material for, yet is restricted from naming it more explicitely, "D&D" being trademarked.
2° It's more complex than D&D.

 

[JeffB]

2° It's more complex than D&D.

I'm not sure I'd agree with that ad

The 3.0 & 3.5 books make my head spin. AU is more clearly written and not nearly as rule/exception/modifier laden as D&D. It's different in some ways, yes, but no more complex. I do wish a few more things from 3.5 crept in like some of the simplified skill & combat rules, but overall I find AU much easier to read and grasp than the 3.X player handbooks (which read like a stock earnings report) by a large margin.

Still hate the races (and dropped them for the core D&D races), but I'm using AU rules otherwise (modified slightly for campaign world/flavor) as a "replacement" for 3.5 in a campaign I'm working on.

Back to the topic, I never saw it as marketed as anything else but an alternative PHB. I DO wish, however, that Monte will write up a DMG, and MM for the line..I'd buy those in a heartbeat! Funny that I've never been a fan of his work.... but I guess AU just "clicked" for me

 

[Ranger REG]

And if Monte Cook is tired of writing a GMG, then he can contract one of the freelanced writers out to do it, and he can just edit the material before it goes to print.

 

[Pevishan]

Otherwise, just carry the label and simply refer to the DMG to make it GM-friendly.

I guess you are talking about the d20 label? When he wrote AU, he choose not to do that so you do not have to carry the PH if you do not want to.

 

[Ranger REG]

That also means you don't have to carry the DMG nor the MM because AU cannot refer to them explicitly.

 

[Pevishan]

Unless I am mistaken, it can refer to Core Rulebooks II & III.

 

[JeffB]

That also means you don't have to carry the DMG nor the MM because AU cannot refer to them explicitly.

IDHTBIFOM, but I believe AU mentions "DMG" a few times in the text.

 

[Ranger REG]

Of course, if you don't know what that initials mean, you will be completely in the dark.

I'm just looking at it from the eyes of a newbie.

 

[Gez]

If you're completely in the dark, "Core Rulebook <number>" won't help you neither. It's a shortcoming of the OGL and STL, they don't allow to refer plainly to books by their names, except in the back-cover for STL games.

The thing is aimed at being an alternate "Core Rulebook 1". This say it can replace the CRB 1.

The CRB1 is meant to work with CRB2 and CRB3. So, CRB1-A is meant to work with CRB2 and CRB3. No problems.

 

[Golem2176]

What Other Books Do I Need?
In theory you don't need any other books. Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed contains all you need to play the game. However, you will find mentions of some basic games concepts (such as certain conditions or specific magic items) explained more fully in the DMG. You will also read some references to monsters found in the MM.

You will find this on page three of Arcana Unearthed. I hope this lays this thread to rest.