Failed promises

[Garnfellow]

• Dragonlords of Melnibone: Many years later I am /still/ ticked off at this weak copy-and-paste effort. What's really sad is that all the crunchy tools are out there right now to do this setting right, but I doubt we'll ever be lucky to see a serious d20 Elric.
• The Secret Book of Necromancy: Zeb Cook and Wolgang Baur, two of the most respected 2e designers -- check. Green Ronin, reknown for doing 3e rules right -- check. Necromancy, one of the coolest fantasy topics EVAR -- check. And the result: a few neat ideas, and lots of awkward or downright broken 3e mechanics.
• Cry Havoc: the need for a mass combat system was there. Skip Williams and Monte Cook sounded like the men for the job. And yet, we get a weird throwback system that scales badly.

I thoroughly agree with the other folks howling over the limitations of Deities and Demigods and the Epic Level Handbook, but at least I had a good idea going in what I was (and was not) getting with those books.

 

[Arashi Ravenblade]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Arashi Ravenblade
I forgot Engel, i thought it was really cool until I found out the secret of the Engel.



What's the secret?? (end Quote)

There Not Angels

 

[Abstraction]

I was somewhat disappointed in my copy of FATAL. A lot of good ideas, but the mechanics were slightly off.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

I was somewhat disappointed in my copy of FATAL. A lot of good ideas, but the mechanics were slightly off.

-5 exp for you

 

[JoeBlank]

Song and Silence burst my 3e bubble. I was excited by the idea of the bard from pre-3e days (thanks to Eric Noah!), but felt the PHB bard did not quite live up to potential. Then I followed the "bards suck" debates, mostly on the WotC boards but here as well. I was certain that S&S would solve this problem, and present some great options for another cool class, the rogue.

I rushed to my FLGS on the way home from work on the day it was released. So excited was I that I locked my keys in my car. So I called the wife, who had to get 2 kids up from their naps and load them in the minivan to come let me into my car. As I sat by the car waiting, I turned to S&S to make me happy.

It did not.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

A lot of products passed through my mind, but for me nothing will ever top the 2e PHB. A case of too close, yet too far. Why the heck should I buy something that doesn't really change the rules, and yet seems to take everything I like about the system out of the game?

R.A.

The more I think about it, the more I come to realize I completely agree with you.

Anyway, since I've seen so many drubbings of Deities & Demigods on this thread, I have to chime in in support of it. Yes, I agree it needed more info on the actual religions, though with the way 3e's clerics are, there is no need of 2e's myriad of priests as in the "Complete Priest's Handbook." I would have paid more for a book that had such info and the stats for deities. Maybe someday I'll wanna run a combat between gods - ya never know. I do like many of the concepts in the book, such as the divine ranks - divine rank 0, for example, really spices up a monster or NPC. I also enjoyed stats for einherjar and Valkyries.

 

[MerricB]

Let's see:

Cry Havoc - I had been getting more and more disillusioned with Malhavoc Press, but this sealed it for me. I'd been very, very positive about this book before I got it, and then I discovered that it failed on every count.

Hero's Builder's Guidebook - Yes, it is a bad book, and many people said that about it. However, I had hope that it would be useful for newbies. Boy, was I wrong.

Races of Destiny - Races of Stone and Races of the Wild were great (I like RotW a lot more than Psion does ). RoD just drops the ball utterly - there are good bits in the book, but they're almost by accident (and feel like they are in the wrong book).

Cheers!

 

[Breakdaddy]

The ELH was a suck-fest of the highest order. Probably the number 1 offender on my list. And on an off-topic note, the new Weezer album R0xx0rz my B0XX0r.

 

[WildWeasel]

Deities and Demigods

I was excited about 3.0. I thought an update of this old classic had to be great...

Yeah, especially since the original D&Dg wasn't just a bunch of god-monster stat blocks with a few mishmash rules...wait...

 

[Felon]

Song and Silence burst my 3e bubble. I was excited by the idea of the bard from pre-3e days (thanks to Eric Noah!), but felt the PHB bard did not quite live up to potential.

Hmm. Of all the crappy kitbooks, the only one I actually have fond recollections of is the Bard's Handbook. The Herald, The Skald, The Meistersinger, The Jongleur, The Jester, The Blade, The Gallant, The Loremaster, The Gnome Professor, The Gypsy--one kit after another that had special abilities with applications that were actually cool, interesting, and innovative. More than one insipient 3e mechanic was introduced. Well-done, Blake Mobley, wherever the hell you are.

Beat the hell out of Song & Silence.