No love for Oathbound?

[Turjan]

First off, I find it extremely disturbing that so many gamers in today's market judge a product by their tastes in art. So what if product is well written and original, if you don't like the art then by default the product sucks? Perhaps we should publish RPG products with Sesame Street-style pop-up in the future? Use words in 50pt print like “See Unga chop dwarf!” instead of being creative and grammatically correct? I remember the days when gamers would practically creme their shorts to see an Erol Otus original in the Gen Con Art Gallery, yet in the 21st century if a product's visual stimuli does not tickle a gamer's frontal lobe then it's not worth drek? Art does serve a purpose in RPGs, but it should not rule them with such pig-headed and opinionating bias. Give me a well written product with substandard art any day of the week. If a product helps me more with my game, then who cares if it's pretty or not. Were Oathbound some utterly ugly pile of dung that looks like it was laid out by a one-eyed color blind graphic school drop-out (sorry Jim, had to throw that in there), then I might be less critical of these comments; but the fact of the matter is we get more feedback on how pretty the book is *AND* how well it is written then we do the opposite. It just seems like if someone doesn't like art in a product nowadays they have some odd urge to tell as many people as inhumanly possible how much they think it sucks.

I've rarely seen such a thin-skinned answer from any company representative over here. I would understand such a reaction from one of the authors or from the artist himself (he would be a bad artist if he were not emotional about his work ), but this whole post does not really look very understanding. Quite the opposite, it's quite derogatory towards the critics. This thread bears the title "No love for Oathbound?". The posters gave an answer as to why. I like descriptive art to be clearly recognizable, and I like maps to be functional. The Oathbound campaign setting had quite a lot of pieces of beautiful art; but there, where it really matters (race depictions, maps), I think it was a failure. You may have a different opinion in this regard. The conclusion that I probably like "Sesame Street-style pop-up" art and 50 pt print instead comes over as quite insulting and not at all self-confident.

Bastion's color books consisted of (in the order of their release) Minions: Fearsome Foes, Arms & Armor, Villains, Alchemy & Herbalists, Spells & Magic, Oathbound: Domains of the Forge, Guildcraft, Oathbound: Plains of Penance, and Pale Designs: A Poisoner's Handbook.

A short look at my bookshelf shows me that you forgot at least Airships and Faeries in the ranks of colour books, two very beautiful publications with lots of cool ideas. The Complete Minions is one of my favourite creature books, and I actually like the b/w printout without borders the best (better than the original colour art ).

As far as Oathbound is concerned, there's not much to be done with the main Campaign Setting book as it is now. It is nice that you try a different path regarding the design of the future books, because the setting deserves it. Good luck on your way .

 

[Darrin Drader]

I've done quitea bit of work on Oathbound, as some of you know, so here's my two or twelve coppers.

Love for Oathbound? There's lots of it out there, you just need to know where to look.

I've got a slightly different take on the setting. I'm not going to comment on Todd's art, and I'm not going to try to tell anyone that they must play furries. If you don't dig it, you don't dig it, and that's fine. Aside from the original module by Tracy and Luara Hickman, I never dug the Ravenloft setting, and there's nothing anyone can say that will convince me to give it a try. That's just the way personal preference works, and I respect that.

As a designer, Oathbound took my designer virginity. Before the adventure I wrote for Plains of Penance, I had never been paid for anything larger than a magazine article. I'm not dissing articles, but they are often shorter and easier to write than material that ends up in a book. Anyway, Todd Morrasch was thrilled with the way the ulatra was used in the adventure since he thought this creature up way back in highschool, and even made a custom plastic figure of it at one point. In many ways, this was probably the same thrill I get any time I see a character I thought up appear on the page with some kick-butt artwork. Of course I've also seen some characters that weren't done justice on the page, but I try not to dwell on those.

One of the things I do when something I've written gets published is I give a copy of it to my younger brother. I wrote about thirty pages worth of material for Oathbound: Arena, and of course my younger brother was given a copy. One night we were talking on the phone about the pros and cons of the mass combat system in the Miniatures Handbook, and he said something to the effect of "I think the system in Arena works extremely well. Why not use that one?" He had no idea that I was the one who had designed that system. He had no idea that I was the one who wrote that.

One of the things I love about Oathbound, as a designer, is that I was given the license to be as creative as possible on my sections. Keep in mind that my RPG history involved a lot of the Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, and other more traditional medeivel homebrew settings. I wasn't a big Darksun fan and I really felt (still feel) that Planescape was taken in the wrong direction in so many ways. So when I came to Oathbound, I was given the challenge and the task to create some really cool and bizarre stuff. In essence, I was told to throw Tolkein out the window and change my way of thinking about heroic fantasy. I rose to the challenge and really got into the setting, and I'm proud of the work I've done on it. The arthrigyle (a monster) from Arena, remains one of the pieces of design work I am the most proud of because of its strangeness (ahem... I still wish those eyes hovered around its head like they're supposed to, Jim). Add the errata to the mass combat section that I posted to the Bastion boards, and that also ranks pretty high on my list of material I am the most proud of. This was the chance to let that strange highschooler with the off-the wall sense of humor which still resides inside of me (though securely locked in a padded room) out of my subconscious to wreak havoc upon the printed page. The more I designed for the setting, the more I became comfortable with pushing the boundaries, and I think that this has had a positive effect on everything else I've designed since then.

So I guess that to me, the love of Oathbound has been in the making of it. The fact that Wrack and Ruin received an honorable mention for an Ennie this last year shocked and thrilled me to no end, given the fact that it was the first book to bear my name on the cover. I am frequently amazed when people still bring it up as one of their favorite setting books, and it makes me happy that some people have gotten so much use out of it.

As for the criticisms I've read on this thread, I can understand and appreciate the feedback, both positive and negative, that has been left here. No product is perfect. No product will appeal to every gamer. No art will appeal to everybody. In some cases, like the art, steps were taken some time ago to remedy the situation. In other cases, like the weird races complaint, that just comes down to personal preference, and I echo Psion's comments that this is really more of a selling point of the setting. I'm really too close to the setting to tell people how awesome it is and that they should go out and buy it. I just hope that people have tried to see some positive in it, maybe used it in their games, and have looked at the last two or three books.

 

[Zelda Themelin]

I actually like Oathbound world very much.
I love the concept and background story works fine.

Still there is some things that went wrong for me.

Worst is Penance. Not because it would be that bad or boring,
but I had to discover that what was supposed to be campaing book
was actully 1/3 of the world and 2/3 was of Penance and module-like.
And I really felt I needed a bit more information for other lands.
And lacking information was about basic thing, if those lands are supposed to be part of the world, more information should have been there about them, and not so much module-like stuff for penance.

Too much module like detailness made it also confusing to read.
Specific information was hard to find and maps didn't do much good.

Even all that detailness was lacking some information. For example, and yep,
maybe this is supposed to be meta-plottish,
but if some character has feathered fowl racial prestige class, book should tell what it is. Otherwise it should read in background story, not part of his stat-block.


I didn't like name Feathered Fowl. Maybe it is my non-english speaking thing, but it remains me too much of chicken flock. I was paintaking to come up with translation that didn't sound stupid. Fowl and flock aren't separete words in my language as far as I know.

Art is weird. I remains me a bit about Planescape art, as do some other things in Oathbound world. This is bad thing for me. Some pictures actually look really great to me, but I had to got used to that style. I thought it was ugly when I first saw it, but it has started to appeal to me and feels original.

I also don't like how much the world remain me about Planescape, especially with so much Penance. It's way too Sigil-like. Queen Israfel remains me a bit too much about Lady of Pain too. This is bad thing to me, since I don't like Planescape, and I especially didn't like Sigil.

This is why I was pissed there was nothing to on with other parts of the world. Well, when I started my campaign I set it into Wildwoods anyway. Wonder now how different my version and book is.

I like idea of prestige races, but I think they cost way too much. I halved the cost and it worked for me that way.

What I really like about Oathbound world, is that can't easily be ruined with metaplot. It's very broad in sense of feel, that makes the world what it is. So unless writers change their minds about some very basic concepts and make world wrecking meta-plot with only one "true" outcome,
I thing Oathbound does well with meta-plots.

My favourite world Scarred Lands was ruined IMO from very beginning, when they desired to start writing different kind of world, than they originally presented in first few books. And then there was sucky
metaplot. And I hated the books first one was based on.

Incidently I liked "Forged" and I hope Bastion press gets more of that story published.

 

[tf360]

This is why I was pissed there was nothing to on with other parts of the world. Well, when I started my campaign I set it into Wildwoods anyway. Wonder now how different my version and book is.

If you want to give me a few details, I'll give you an idea of how close your version is.

 

[Zelda Themelin]

If you want to give me a few details, I'll give you an idea of how close your version is.

Um, that would put my english-language to test, and I think my ideas are far away from what book actually got, but never mind.

Ok, players ended up into are called "Wilderlands". In my game it's basicly area that's not quite Plains of Penance and not quite Wildwood. South of Sevenil actually. Term it something few creatures who travel a lot between those lands use, since they have noticed there is something strange going on that area everytime they pass it.

My most defining thing about wildwood is, that it's not some big jungle or something, but actually strange shifting enviroment. What kind of vegation there is, varies in sort of zones within wildwood, as do temperatures.

There are also some very special areas. One of them is grounds very near to Haiel's fortress. They are called "Nexus",

Evolving in those areas (there are two more) is very easy. Even creatures without Evolve-feat can do it, or learn that feat normally (one roleplaying reason). Also, weird things can happen to people who die there with ring of regenaration on, as one of my players discovered.

Lands tend to change often, since Haiel doesn't just steal creatures, or at least it seems, at times part of the ground they used to stand on appears with them. Or maybe it's just that wildwood itself changes to be able to grow all kind of interesting plants Haiel likes to gather form those multiple worlds.

This is not only time when lands change, they seemed to be constantly at shift. Yep, I have backgroud written for all this weirdness.

Of course I'd come up with all kind of adventure-related stuff (that was adventure related at the time).

New lizard-humanoid (seemingly) critters, called "Colorful". Weird multicolored lizards-folk, my players made bargains with.

I use a lot of dinosaurs in wildwood. A lot.
And dire versions of animals, and lot of plans and incects.

Then there is this black dimension-travalling pyramid which appears at wilderland once in about 50 years. As arcane mathematicians of that lizard folk have counted. They have records of almost everything. They called it the "The Chronicle of Ancestors" or simple " The Chronicle". They also knew strange object stays for 7 days.

Players went inside through the wall, there was no door or anything, it was just shiny black thing, that seemed wet and very cold to pass through from the outside but not otherwise corporeal.

Adventure was strongly inspired by Cube 2 - the Hybercube. Not like it, but well, inspared.

Players went there to recover item for current ruling matriarch of Colorful, that thief had taken 50 years ago, and then espaced inside pyramid. Nobody who went inside came back and then thing had disappered before others had time to investigate it.

And then there was old temple of Frey players visited.

And they fought necromantic alien mages. New arrivals who started by immediatly "conquer" and alter land to suit their alien tastes. And had hit the big one (appeared near one Nexus-oint), that could have corrupted a lot of areas other creatures lived in.

And as reward of helping certain self-appointed spirit guardian of said Nexus-point as promised is granting them access to secret garden. Where grows tree where "Fruits of Rebirth" grow. Really amazing and powerful artifacts. Well, if they manage to gain those, I do hope they don't selflisly use all of them on themselves, or they are going to run into some real trouble when they hir ruins of Illinum. One of my players is having dreams (she thinks them as divane sendings), that ways to get back to their own home worlds.

So, any ideas what kind of quest I should throw at them to get those fruits?

And should some answers about getting home be found in ruins of Illum, and if so what? they can be nasty lies as well, as long as those lies lead them to do something really interesting. Party is at 10th level.

And I so don't want them to go for long stay in Penance.

Oh, and what you think I am gonna like about Wildwood, when I get the offical book?

Uh, my english sucks. Sorry.

 

[tf360]

Um, that would put my english-language to test, and I think my ideas are far away from what book actually got, but never mind.

Ok, players ended up into are called "Wilderlands". In my game it's basicly area that's not quite Plains of Penance and not quite Wildwood. South of Sevenil actually. Term it something few creatures who travel a lot between those lands use, since they have noticed there is something strange going on that area everytime they pass it.

My most defining thing about wildwood is, that it's not some big jungle or something, but actually strange shifting enviroment. What kind of vegation there is, varies in sort of zones within wildwood, as do temperatures

Wildwood consists of several different ecosystems, jungles to the south, deciduous forests in the central portions, swamps and marshes on the eastern coast and coniferous forests to the north. Temperatures and vegetation vary so you're not far off here.

There are also some very special areas. One of them is grounds very near to Haiel's fortress. They are called "Nexus",

Evolving in those areas (there are two more) is very easy. Even creatures without Evolve-feat can do it, or learn that feat normally (one roleplaying reason). Also, weird things can happen to people who die there with ring of regenaration on, as one of my players discovered.

You're pretty close here. There are a number of special areas within Wildwood all of which have varying effects upon those venturing into and through them.

Lands tend to change often, since Haiel doesn't just steal creatures, or at least it seems, at times part of the ground they used to stand on appears with them. Or maybe it's just that wildwood itself changes to be able to grow all kind of interesting plants Haiel likes to gather form those multiple worlds.

This is not only time when lands change, they seemed to be constantly at shift. Yep, I have backgroud written for all this weirdness.

Of course I'd come up with all kind of adventure-related stuff (that was adventure related at the time).

Terrains changes to some extent but not as drastic or frequent. The inhabitants have more influence on the terrain than the aloof Haiel does.

New lizard-humanoid (seemingly) critters, called "Colorful". Weird multicolored lizards-folk, my players made bargains with.

I use a lot of dinosaurs in wildwood. A lot.
And dire versions of animals, and lot of plans and incects.

Sorry, no new reptilian races. There's already a good number of them in the Forge. There are five new races, two fairly humanoid ones and three others, one of which is an insect race. Dire animals are a force within Wildwood, and one particular one that has been awakened is detailed. There are some dinosaurs, but dragons occupy the highest rungs of the food chain in Wildwood (green dragons in the "green" environments and black dragons in the swampy coastal regions.

Then there is this black dimension-travalling pyramid which appears at wilderland once in about 50 years. As arcane mathematicians of that lizard folk have counted. They have records of almost everything. They called it the "The Chronicle of Ancestors" or simple " The Chronicle". They also knew strange object stays for 7 days.

Players went inside through the wall, there was no door or anything, it was just shiny black thing, that seemed wet and very cold to pass through from the outside but not otherwise corporeal.

Adventure was strongly inspired by Cube 2 - the Hybercube. Not like it, but well, inspared.

Players went there to recover item for current ruling matriarch of Colorful, that thief had taken 50 years ago, and then espaced inside pyramid. Nobody who went inside came back and then thing had disappered before others had time to investigate it.

A nice idea although I'm not familiar with Cube 2-the Hybercube.

And then there was old temple of Frey players visited.

And they fought necromantic alien mages. New arrivals who started by immediatly "conquer" and alter land to suit their alien tastes. And had hit the big one (appeared near one Nexus-oint), that could have corrupted a lot of areas other creatures lived in.

The neighboring Vault is the stronghold of the Forge's necromancers. They have some influence in Wildwood but not as much as the forces of Penance do.

And as reward of helping certain self-appointed spirit guardian of said Nexus-point as promised is granting them access to secret garden. Where grows tree where "Fruits of Rebirth" grow. Really amazing and powerful artifacts. Well, if they manage to gain those, I do hope they don't selflisly use all of them on themselves, or they are going to run into some real trouble when they hir ruins of Illinum. One of my players is having dreams (she thinks them as divane sendings), that ways to get back to their own home worlds.

So, any ideas what kind of quest I should throw at them to get those fruits?

And should some answers about getting home be found in ruins of Illum, and if so what? they can be nasty lies as well, as long as those lies lead them to do something really interesting. Party is at 10th level.

And I so don't want them to go for long stay in Penance.

Oh, and what you think I am gonna like about Wildwood, when I get the offical book?

Uh, my english sucks. Sorry.

The adventure included within the sourcebook should be right up your alley then. I think that you'll like the strange wilderness locales the best since that seems to be what you've created on your own. Also there's a good deal of information on the failed civilizations and the possible artifacts and other treasures that can be found at these locations.

If you're concerned about what your players will do with the "fruits of rebirth" give them a quest that tests their moral character, i.e. pose a dilemma that requires them to make a choice between greed and the world's greater good. If they decide to go for the power and money make them pay for it. Maybe the tree is located within the heart of a powerful green dragon's lair, although use an illusion to disguise this fact. That way you solve two birds with one stone. You give them a deadly challenge while providing a test of their personal characters. I hope that helps and thanks for the response.

 

[Zelda Themelin]

Thanks for answers.

Well, Wildwood sourcebook is not going to help much my next sunday game.
It ain't even published yet.

I prefer high adventure, mysteries, and alien horrors in my games. Oathbound does just fine. I also kind of like wild ideas, and high level game, eventually. This is one reason, I think Oathbound world does great.

At last world where not every adventure is made for characters under 7 levels. I really hope some high level adventures (16 to 20 lv) are published too.

I know that doesn't happen often, because high level adventures (merely because of stats) take so much longer than low level. I think this is why most dm:s and most publishers stick to low level adventures. Combination of preferance, fear of (handling) power and laziness.

I don't like epic rules, so I am not sorry they were not included.

______________
Well, my fruit of rebirth thing, is actually adventure they get as reward. It's not so much about morality, but about powerhungriness vr wisdom. World's greater good is not relevant here. They are newcomers, and they still very much like to get back home. So, mmh, I think test will measure their ability to judge between short-term effect and long-term effect.
I think I tell them a story.

Oh, and I will make them fight. Creature who gave them this possibility tell them that if they get to the tree they can pick one fruit and should not try to pick more. That greed-test, dragon, thanks, good.

But there are supposed to be three crossroads they must pass on the way there. One they face together. This will be fight. i've been thinking some really big plant-monster (that was once adventureer like them, who went a bit too wild with fruit of rebirth ). Any idea what I should use. It should be big, doesn't have to move, but has improved grap.

Or if someone can give me quick good idea, I take it.

Well, then there is test of mind, it's basicly facing illusions and seemingly being alone.

Last will be test of choice. They are basicly asked what they are going to do with fruit and I tell them story relevant to that choice. Then they can go, there is no wrong answers here. And nothing to stop them from changing their minds about it.

Well, it's going to make lot more sense when I make up my mind and write it down.

Oh, yes, Necromantic critters weren't from Vault. They were newcomers from different world, just like pc:s. And they had arrived to wildwood.

Well, i don't if this kind of talk, belongs to this thread, but whatever.
This is my forum-writing day.

 

[smaugdragon]

My 2 cents worth

OK, You don't see the dragon on threads very much. Why? because I spout off a lot on the Mortality Radio Show and don't see the need for further editorializing when I spend most of my free time reviewing games.

Oathbound is one of the strongest world setting to have come down the line in a while. It is also one of the few non-WotC settings to still have product support.

It is a good place to shift players to after you start to reach that 'I have killed the best of my world, set up my domain and bedded enough wenches to fill a brothel, where do I go from here" point in the campaign. It is one of the few (yes I know Eberron has Epic settings) to be adaptable easily enough for epic play.

Someone a few hundred posts back complained that it just stole from Planescape. Even if it did (which it didn't) so what? It's not like WotC is producing all of the classic game settings for 3rd ed and as popular as Planescape was, it's not going anywhere (although maybe after Monte Cook's Countless Doors takes off). The premise is sound and any design flaws can be overcome by a decent DM, which is what most of us are supposed to be right? If you're too lazy to do design or adapt, then run stuff from Dungeon and have absolutely no imagination of your own (that is not a slam of Dungeon). No one I have ever known has ever and I mean EVER, ran a campaign without adding their special and unique tweaks to the published material.

It is heavy handed because it is set to play with whatever house rules are desired to be used. If you want to use Plot & Poison or Torn Asunder then apply the critical hits stuff to it.

I do agree with the posts about the artwork. This has been my main beef with Bastion's work from the beginning. It is eye catching but the post that called it a vivesectionist's skin fetish isn't far from the mark. But I disagree with the video game snipes.

I, myself, play in my own homebrewed campaign setting that has absorbed some of the better campaign settings like Bluffside, Freeport, Hunt: The Rise of Evil and a good many of the one shot wonders but I found a lot to port from Oathbound and rather than bash it, support it as the company does because how many other publishers are supporting their campaign products? How much PS came out with Ghostwalk? Dungeonworld? Nyambe?

People who come out like this and just bash need to get a life, if you don't like it, don't play it. If you think you can do better, the markets wide open. If you think you can improve what's already there, I'm sure Jim Butler would like to hear your proposal.

I spend an awful lot of time trying to find the good in product while putting out the crap I didn't like or would never use. My early campaign's didn't use psionics and for the most part still don't. It has a place as a more common occurance in D20 Modern but I don't like it for a medieval setting (call me a purist).

So instead of bashing it, why not add some suggestions of improvement to any objections?

 

[trancejeremy]

What sets Oathbound apart from other settings is something of a double edged sword. It's a very alien setting. Some will like that, some will be turned off by it. Probably most people will stick with the more normal settings.

That's why kilts have never really caught on outside of Scotland.


Anyway, the layout has improved a lot since I guess last year (or maybe the year before). and the artwork that most people seem to dislike, has mostly disappeared, since the artist responsible for it, has left Bastion.

Also, while Bastion's early prices weren't cheap by market standards when they were in color, they are actually cheaper than average nowdays. I mean, Mysteries of Arena was 160 pages, and I think $25.95 (at any rate, the same size as Arena, but $2 cheaper). 96 page books that are $25 are not uncommon (AEG's Spycraft stuff, for instance) and in some cases, they are $30

 

[EvilBeeker]

I've rarely seen such a thin-skinned answer from any company representative over here. I would understand such a reaction from one of the authors or from the artist himself (he would be a bad artist if he were not emotional about his work ), but this whole post does not really look very understanding. Quite the opposite, it's quite derogatory towards the critics. This thread bears the title "No love for Oathbound?". The posters gave an answer as to why. I like descriptive art to be clearly recognizable, and I like maps to be functional. The Oathbound campaign setting had quite a lot of pieces of beautiful art; but there, where it really matters (race depictions, maps), I think it was a failure. You may have a different opinion in this regard. The conclusion that I probably like "Sesame Street-style pop-up" art and 50 pt print instead comes over as quite insulting and not at all self-confident.

Turjan ... your comments regarding my post are fair and to the point; however, I would like an opportunity to clarify my position. I don't post to ENW a lot, as Jim seldom lets me out of my cage, but mostly because I just don't have the time. This does not mean I am out of touch with the Internet community. While I do represent a publisher, I do consider myself a gamer first and foremost. We who are publishers are also allowed to comment on things in the RPG world just like anyone else. In it’s context, my first post was more from a gamer standpoint if you’ll allow me to separate the two.

Like my BP comrades like to point out (in less than kind ways sometimes), I've been around gaming longer than most and often have a different perspective on gaming today. I'll be the first to agree that I can be thin-skinned and defensive about things I enjoy, but that can be said for many other publishers that post to ENW as well as non-publishers. I don't think this is an exclusive club either way. In fact, this community probably has some of the most opinionated people on the Net. This is a good thing. On the flip side, critics of publisher (reviewers or otherwise) should in turn be open to other critics (publisher or otherwise) -- it is only fair. While I may have a bit harsh, that was the basis of my previous posting.

At the core of my argument was the discussion of art, since it seemed to be at the core of everyone’s “no love for Oathbound”. Oathbound or otherwise, it burns me a little that people tend to judge a product more on it's art rather than its contents. Truth be told, I'm not a huge fan of Todd Morasch's art (or maps) either, and I told Jim as much after he published MINIONS long ago. However, critics of Oathbound and Todd's art make it sound like he is the *only* artists for Domains of the Forge, be it the core book or something we published last month. I happen to love Jeremy Jarvis's interiors in the core book, as well as the cover art by a'lis and Jim’s layout. To bash Oathbound art based on a dislike for Todd’s art is slightly and a poor critique overall. Now, if you dislike the majority of the artists, the layout, the maps, AND the cartography --- that’s another story.

In addition, many of our critics fail to bring forth the fact that Jim is the only original member of Bastion Press still around. Both Todd and Greg have moved on since before the publication of Wrack & Ruin, and both Oathbound and our d20 lines have continued to grow with new artists, layouts, and other aspects of overall design. Often this seems to be forgotten when taking the entire campaign into account, which does nothing but irritate my so indicated thin skin. How many other publishers who have been around since the onset of d20 have changed the way they do products, art or otherwise, over the years? Probably everyone; yet Oathbound is the most heavily criticized for something that was done two years ago and the campaign is not taken into account as a whole (i.e. six products total and counting).

Where I get my thin skin on this subject Turjan is with those that discount Oathbound (or any product or publisher for that matter overall) based mostly on their dislike of (Todd’s) art. Again, I’m not overly wild about many of Todd’s pieces, but at the time I did not let that dissuade me from reading through what is a very original and well-written campaign. In the end it became what is probably one of my most favorite campaigns (even before I joined BP) in my past 25 years of gaming. Yes, art is important, but it is not (in my book) what an RPG product is all about. If that were the case, D&D would have never became this popular because the original blue and red box set look like they were designed on Sesame Street compared to today’s *standards*. People tend to forget those humble beginnings of our favorite hobby, and often let is skew their overall opinion of product.

If you thoroughly read through my post Turjan, you will notice that I made the statement that all of our critics are listened to, whether we agree with them or not, and all critiques are weighed by our entire design team. If there are overwhelming issues, we do address them. In addition, I did defend the right for everyone to have an opinion, which I do fully support. What I personally do not care for is when people do not take the time to fully understand (or read) the product and circumstances they are critiquing. If after all that, someone doesn’t like Oathbound, then that is their choice and I respect that – but don’t come online and belittle a product when not taking the entire product into account. It is nigh impossible to design “the perfect product”, it is more important to us that we strive to design “the perfect campaign”, because in the end I believe that is what really counts.

Kevin W. Melka
Bastion Press, Creative Director
http://www.bastionpress.com
http://www.oathbound.net
kmelka@bastionpress.com