[Dungeon] Dungeon/Polyhedron Goes Monthly

[TheAuldGrump]

Here's a question I put to Dungeon readers: Why would I -- a 10-year RPG veteran whose first love is D&D -- find any value in Dungeon when I can create my own adventures tailored for my group?

(No offense intended, Chris Thomasson.)

The answers from a player of D&D from 1976 (more than 26 years! Gods, where does the time go?) , I only get it when it has something that I wouldn't have thought of, or when it serves as a how to. ( I bought the first ones out after editions 2 & 3 came out, to look at formating... as well as the issue with the Adventure Design Tips article - which really did change the way I write adventures, it never occured to me to keep a list of encounters by EL so that there would be the right proportions of challenging, easy, and deadly...)

Polyhedron adds some stuff, I bought the Gamma World issue out of sheer nostalgia. I have bought at least one other because of Poly content.

You know back when I subscribed to Dragon in the back and beyond of time they used to promise a new game with every issue... So, yeah, I guess reason 3 is nostalgia....

The Auld Grump, suddenly feeling REALLY Auld....

 

[Dark Psion]

Let me start that ball rolling: For those of you who don't find any value in POLYHEDRON, why is that? More specifically, what is it about your game that prevents you from mining Mini-Games for useful material? (I'm honestly curious.) Is it a time factor? Is it a flavor issue? Something else entirely?

There are several "problems", one is that the subject matter of the mini-games is just "SO" different. Switching from Cannonball Run to Gundam can cause headaches and dizziness. Two, some games, like Gamma World, are just too complex to do in a mini-game and others, like Spelljammer, are reduced to a "Diet" flavor that just leaves a bad taste in the mouth of someone who loves the setting.

As to not being able to find something useful, I agree, you are not tring too hard. While I have no intrest in playing "Mecha Crusade", the advanced classes easily converted into Psionic Prestige classes and the Shocktropper makes a great Psychic Warrior PrC! The last one, Genetech, was probably the one I was most dissapointed in. I was expecting something like GURPS:Bio-Tech, with rules for genetic engineneering, but got Furries instead.

The real key to the sucess of the magazine is not it's price or frequency, it is the quality of the magazine! At the time Dungeon was in danger of being cancelled, the adventures just were not very good. The current batch are better, but a little too "campaign specific" for most of my gaming. I would have to do a lot of Railroading to get the campaign into them.

As I have posted before, I am not a happy customer with my subscriptions, but they are (or were) good till April 04. I am waiting till April 03 to decide if I will allow them to run their course.

When will we see the "New and Improved" version of Dungeon?

 

[Ranger REG]

Dizzy enough to cause you headache? You've had two months to play with a mini-game!

Too complex? A lot of those who tried Tweet's version don't think it's too complex, including myself. They do have questions about the setting. The same goes for Spelljammer: Shadow of the Spider Moon but rules-wise, it's easy to get into.

Genetech has both Moreaus (which you can find in d20 Modern) and Franks found in that article. It's about as genetic engineering as you can get, in a Dark Angel sort of way. So don't expect Wizards to follow SJG/GURP approach. In fact a lot of people wanted THIS campaign model to be in the core rulebook.

 

[Mouseferatu]

For what it's worth, the version of Spelljammer that appeared recently in Poly is the only one I've every liked. The setting always really just left me so cold my eyelids froze together. But after reading the one in Poly, I might actually be willing to play one day.

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

Let me start that ball rolling: For those of you who don't find any value in POLYHEDRON, why is that? More specifically, what is it about your game that prevents you from mining Mini-Games for useful material? (I'm honestly curious.) Is it a time factor? Is it a flavor issue? Something else entirely?

The answer is simple. I buy Dungeon because it gives me a library of adventures to keep my D&D campaign running each and every week on schedule. The mini-games will never be supported in such a manner as to keep a long-term campaign running. I would say a serious lack of support compared to D&D is the number one reason for me. [Most other games I have enjoyed such as Shadowrun and Earthdawn have gone unplayed for the same reason.]

 

[Arnwyn]

Let me start that ball rolling: For those of you who don't find any value in POLYHEDRON, why is that? More specifically, what is it about your game that prevents you from mining Mini-Games for useful material? (I'm honestly curious.) Is it a time factor? Is it a flavor issue? Something else entirely?

I am another who dislikes Poly, so I'll give my answer here. I run a long-term fantasy campaign - more than 10 years now. This campaign has always been much like the LotR in style. Thus, the mini-games are useless for a variety of reasons: 1) My players want to continue playing their long-term characters in the long-term campaign. 2) Most of the mini-games are inappropriate to my campaign world (ie. the flavor issue). "Weird" doesn't equal "good". My players reject the notion of "kewl" or "eXtreme" in their roleplaying (which is what results when you try to add the strange mini-games to a hardcore LotR-type campaign). 3) Time is also a factor. My players want to play their usual characters in the usual game - and they want to continue doing so when there is time to play.

Therefore, the mini-games are useless to me. However, if Poly adds some variety (for example, loads of maps [modern or otherwise] - which can be used anywhere and anytime, and is one of the more difficult things for DMs to create), then I will certainly give Poly a chance.

 

[Arnwyn]

Here's a question I put to Dungeon readers: Why would I -- a 10-year RPG veteran whose first love is D&D -- find any value in Dungeon when I can create my own adventures tailored for my group?

Why would *you* find any value in Dungeon? Beats me.

Why do *I* - also a 10-year veteran - find value in Dungeon? Because I have a career and, well, a life. While you seem to have more time than many of us, it's certainly at a premium for me. I'm sure we all know that DMing is very time consuming, and anything that helps reduce the preparation/creation time is very valuable. *VERY* valuable.

 

[Kenpo Wolf]

,,,The mini-games will never be supported in such a manner as to keep a long-term campaign running. I would say a serious lack of support compared to D&D is the number one reason for me. [Most other games I have enjoyed such as Shadowrun and Earthdawn have gone unplayed for the same reason.]

Any good GM can keep a campaign going without much outside support. It's just a matter of coming up with good ideas which is sometimes hard to do

 

[Dark Psion]

Dizzy enough to cause you headache? You've had two months to play with a mini-game!

Too complex? A lot of those who tried Tweet's version don't think it's too complex, including myself. They do have questions about the setting. The same goes for Spelljammer: Shadow of the Spider Moon but rules-wise, it's easy to get into.

Genetech has both Moreaus (which you can find in d20 Modern) and Franks found in that article. It's about as genetic engineering as you can get, in a Dark Angel sort of way. So don't expect Wizards to follow SJG/GURP approach. In fact a lot of people wanted THIS campaign model to be in the core rulebook.

I was refering to all that is Gamma World. The mini game, Omega World doesn't even scratch the surface. I have always said the best system for Gamma World would be GURPS since you would need about half of their books to cover every aspect of that setting.

As too Spelljammer, the mini game version is missing everything that made it fun for me, I like giant space hamsters (especially roasted on white bread).

And Genetech, you hit the mutant right on the head. Moreaus have already been done in d20Modern. I was expecting new rules for enhancing existing characters (called Upgrades in GURPS:Bio-tech).

 

[Ranger REG]

You know what? Just let your subscription expire. Mini-games are simply not for you.