Monkey God and FFE

[Coredump]

A gaming store I know is getting rid of a bunch of gaming supplies. And they have a lot of material from both Monkey God Enterprises, and Fast Forward Entertainment.

I was hoping to get a quick feel from people here as to the average quality of these companies. Is it worth picking some stuff up? Or will it mostly be a waste of money and time?

Thanks

 

[Crothian]

Monkeygod = good

FFE = Bad

There are acceptions to each, and different ways you can look at it. For instance FFE is really weak in the rules area but do havea lot of good ideas.

Monkeygod's two books Stone and Steel, and Frost and Fur are brilliant books. Their moduels are usually good but I'm not as much of a module person.

 

[haiiro]

I can only vouch for MonkeyGod's From Stone to Steel, which is excellent. Even if it doesn't look quite up your alley, at a good price pick it up anyway! It's well put together and is full of material.

Nothing I've ever looked at from FFE was worth my time, and I don't own any of their stuff. I've even avoided there books at $3.00 a pop. Even if the ideas are good (which Crothian mentions and I've heard elsewhere), everything else about what I've looked at was so lousy that the tradeoff just wasn't worth it.

 

[Psion]

I'll second recommendations for Stone to Steel and Frost and Fur. Also, Monkey God has a few pretty good adventure offerings like Song of Storms and Black Ice Well, though I confess there are a few I really don't like (I wasn't going to name names, but since Ari already did, let me mention I hated Maze of Screaming Silence. The whole module was an absurd exercise in displaying how EEEEVIL the city is. I'm surprised that the citizens weren't cited as crossing the street to kick puppies.)

FFE is more miss than hit. I have received some use out of their Treasure Quests book, and dungeon world is an interesting concept. I was interested in using some classic ideas from their Encyclopedia of Demons & Devils book, but it would have taken more work to repair the rules to a usable state than their was really time for. Mechanics in their books, more often than not, were simply attrocious, though if you have a taste for fluff, there are some decent books. Their Deadliest Creatures Tome and Orcfest are probably the most mechanically decent books they have.

 

[Mouseferatu]

At the risk of coming across as arrogant, may I suggest "The Hero Snare"? Nothing shakes up players like the discovery that kobolds can still kick their @$$ even though they're 7th-level.

And just so I don't come across as completely tooting my own horn, some of MonkeyGod's other really good modules would include Black Ice Well, Hellstone Deep (great high-level play), and the Maze of Screaming Silence. (This last one has some really bizarre, and in a few cases disturbing, elements to it. It's actually even better as a mood-setter and as inspiration for a region than it is as a module.)

 

[Kesh]

MGE's Frost & Fur is a great book. It has its problems, but it has tons of useful stuff for a cold-based campaign (or if you want a Slavic culture, etc.).

 

[Ghostwind]

MonkeyGod's work is good. As others have said, From Stone to Steel and Frost & Fur are first rate. I'd also recommend their adventures because many of them cater towards roleplaying over roll-playing (aka hack and slash).

Honestly, the only books from Fast Forward that I cared for are Cloud Warriors, Devil Player's Guide, and Tombs of Ra. If you don't mind doing a little work to compensate for balance issues, Complete Book of Prestige Classes has some interesting concepts.

If I had to choose between the two, it's a no-brainer. MonkeyGod wins by a mile.

 

[Voadam]

From FFE I liked the encylopedia of angels and the most dangerous monsters tome (I've got their undead one but haven't read it yet).

I got the devils encyclopedias (I &II) but there are a lot of problems with many of the entries such as 2HD demon lords with 9th level sorcerer abilities, massive SR, and DR 20/+3. One hit from most guys with a +3 sword kills him. Or with 3.5 one shot of acid arrow does him. Some entries are OK but you have to take each one bit by bit and evaluate.

 

[talien]

For a list of reviews and info about the adventures I published through MonkeyGod (All the King's Men, Tsar Rising, The Dancing Hut, and Frost & Fur), visit: http://members.toast.net/talien/michael/writing/monkeygod.html

Yes, I do reference the "bad" reviews too.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

If you can get either At the Edge of Dreams or All the King's Men do so, they are both excellent adventures with a mystery theme - something rare in published D20 adventures. While I have not run Song of Storms it also looks very good.

The Auld Grump

*EDIT* Hmmm, I see one of the "Good" reviews mentioned in Talien's post was by me...

And it seems that Monkey God's website is down, I hope that they are still in business, even if they are not producing D20 stuff.