Personal AU Reviews (KM, JeffB and Kitsune here)
- Thread starter JeffB
- Start date
Rpg.net has been quicker than I'd anticipated in posting my review, so I'm putting the link here. Anyone interested in it should head over there and support the great people who host such a good resource of gaming reviews.
Here's the link.
Here's the link.
Tyler Do'Urden
Soap Maker
Earthdawn
I see I'm not the only one who caught the Earthdawn similarities.
I noted that Ceremony feats are remarkably similiar to the threadweaving system from Earthdawn, and truenames provide some very interesting roleplay opportunity-
I have a feeling that Truenames are used to keep some measure of social control- when a truename is given to a character, it is likely recorded by the "priests" of his society in a register that the priesthood and aristocracy have access to. The higher your rank in the social pyramid, the harder it is to find your truename- and unnamed characters would be complete social outcasts, residing on the fringes of society. This lets one add a sort of "magical feudalism" back into the game, and certainly changes up the power dynamics of a setting!
I see I'm not the only one who caught the Earthdawn similarities.
I noted that Ceremony feats are remarkably similiar to the threadweaving system from Earthdawn, and truenames provide some very interesting roleplay opportunity-
I have a feeling that Truenames are used to keep some measure of social control- when a truename is given to a character, it is likely recorded by the "priests" of his society in a register that the priesthood and aristocracy have access to. The higher your rank in the social pyramid, the harder it is to find your truename- and unnamed characters would be complete social outcasts, residing on the fringes of society. This lets one add a sort of "magical feudalism" back into the game, and certainly changes up the power dynamics of a setting!
Impressions
This isnt a full-blown review, per se, merely my impressions after seeing the book in the store (for like 2 minutes). I agree that the binding has me a little worried, and even more importantly I think the difference between black and white art and full color art is massive. I heard A&EG wasn't in color so I haven't bought it, even though its probably a decent book. Some of the books I do own (some of the FR) wouldn't have been purchased without full color (Lords of Darkness springs to mind). I don't know why, but its always a big turn-off to see b&w photos in d20 material. Of course I put up with it enough to get ALL the splatbooks, so maybe I'm making a big deal out of nothing.
I think the spryte mechanics are tight, I spent most of my time reading about it. Its a cool concept, there are 2 base "faen" races and by giving up a feat anytime after 3rd level they can create a cocoon and pop out as a (tiny) spryte. Its cool that all their equipment changes to match them (if they bring it in the cocoon). Giants I had already seen the preview for, and I like those a lot as well. The others I didn't really look at.
The classes (at a glance) seemed interesting but very cluttered. I suppose you can't really reinvent the classes like rogue and fighter, but I really like their simplicity, AU classes all reminded me of the monk, or the 3.5 ranger. Cool stuff, just a lot of stuff going on, almost like every base class gets prestigious stuff at high levels (nothing wrong with this, btw).
Overall I think its a good book, but I didn't buy it for a few reasons:
1. Lack of full color art
2. Lack of AU setting (this will be remedied when the Diamond Throne comes out).
3. Lack of 29.95
Anyway, I think I'll keep my wait and see attitude and see how the rest of the books turn out, I'm also considering getting one of the .pdfs (though I almost never buy .pdf).
Technik
This isnt a full-blown review, per se, merely my impressions after seeing the book in the store (for like 2 minutes). I agree that the binding has me a little worried, and even more importantly I think the difference between black and white art and full color art is massive. I heard A&EG wasn't in color so I haven't bought it, even though its probably a decent book. Some of the books I do own (some of the FR) wouldn't have been purchased without full color (Lords of Darkness springs to mind). I don't know why, but its always a big turn-off to see b&w photos in d20 material. Of course I put up with it enough to get ALL the splatbooks, so maybe I'm making a big deal out of nothing.
I think the spryte mechanics are tight, I spent most of my time reading about it. Its a cool concept, there are 2 base "faen" races and by giving up a feat anytime after 3rd level they can create a cocoon and pop out as a (tiny) spryte. Its cool that all their equipment changes to match them (if they bring it in the cocoon). Giants I had already seen the preview for, and I like those a lot as well. The others I didn't really look at.
The classes (at a glance) seemed interesting but very cluttered. I suppose you can't really reinvent the classes like rogue and fighter, but I really like their simplicity, AU classes all reminded me of the monk, or the 3.5 ranger. Cool stuff, just a lot of stuff going on, almost like every base class gets prestigious stuff at high levels (nothing wrong with this, btw).
Overall I think its a good book, but I didn't buy it for a few reasons:
1. Lack of full color art
2. Lack of AU setting (this will be remedied when the Diamond Throne comes out).
3. Lack of 29.95
Anyway, I think I'll keep my wait and see attitude and see how the rest of the books turn out, I'm also considering getting one of the .pdfs (though I almost never buy .pdf).
Technik
I'm A Banana
Potassium-Rich
Arcana Unearthed: Meh.
I picked up Arcana Unearthed the other day and after flipping through it like a half-starving Marlon Brando through an all-you-can-eat buffet, I had to get a few things off of my chest. So consider this my semi-review.
Before I start in on this thing, let me just say this at the front:
HARD COVERS WITH BLACK AND WHITE INTERIORS MAKE BABY JESUS CRY!
I feel like a friggin' Hostess commercial animal-puppet of some sort. "Hey, where's the cream filling?" I wasn't exicted when Nyambe did it (but it's okay, they shelled out for a few pages, and were small pioneers), it irked me when the Arms and Equipment Guide did it (I guess the splatbook + idea was just coming around...all right), and now I feel the need to speak out against it. I feel a bit cheated. I guess I just expected a great amount out of an alternate PH. Y'know, the original was a great legacy that it would be tough to live up to.
Now that that's off my chest, on to the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Point #1: Balance makes me nervous. I trust Monte, but my DM's judgement alarm is going off in all sorts of directions, from the minor (slightly unbalanced racial ability score modifiers) to the ginormous (an extra feat at first level?! Holy crap, those TALENTS?!). Basically, I had to put the kabosh on allowing in the book full monte (so to speak) about halfway through the 'feats' chapter, when I realized that the Talents could literally make or break a character. They're unusually potent feats that are certainly more powerful than any other feat, and their only limitation is that you can only have one, and can only choose one at first level...which doesn't make me feel much better, to be honest. A talent can save you several thousand GP down the road with damage bonuses and AC bonuses and to-hit bonuses that are nearly as good as magical equipment, and sometimes better.
Point #2: New Races. I almost universally love them all, and want to have their freakishly delicious children. The only quibble I could have is over giants being called 'giants' (which makes for weird semantics outside of the Diamond Throne setting), and several of the races having quesitonable balance (mentioned above). Perhaps also a quibble on the racial classes giving +1 to ability scores, as it makes me nervous, but not enough to outlaw it yet.
Point #3: New Classes. Again, nearly nothin' but love. The quibble here lies in things 'left out.' Namely, there's no religious figures at all...which could be okay, but it made me feel like the setting as a whole was missing religion, and that nearly obliterates my suspension of disbelief, personally. The closest thing are the 'magical hippies', the Greenbonds, who are just pretty much worshipers of life itself....which is cool, but remarkably 'duh,' in that it didn't take a whole lot of creative leaps to make a healing druid. The other aspect left out would be a 'stealthy type.' While you could make an Akashic who specialized in stealth, and some of the other classes won't do too shabby in it, there's nothing that tells me 'I'm the sneaky one.' Again, it feels like a missing link in the world and in the party...stealth seems to be an almost-overlooked approach.
Point #4 : 3.5. Honestly, I would've waited another week or two for AU just so the 3.5 rules could be blended with it seemlessly. I know Monte doesn't agree with all of them (and the game, not being d20, has no requirement to conform to all of them), but some of the advancements are substantially better, and Monte could've benefited from them (speed bonuses instead of listed speeds for monks/"unfettered" for instance; or the better rules for animal companions for the Totem Warriors, or just the right name for Survival, or some of the deleted/rolled skills). As it is, it's gonna be a bit sloppy...related to this, the editing seems...not up to par. Things like the 'runechild' template have their requirements ill-defined, or contradictory in some places. Still, that second point is only a minor erratta point.
Point #5: Skill Consolidation. I love the idea to have one skill covering Hide and M. Silently ("sneak"). I'd also like one opposing though...maybe "sense" or something.
Point #6: Equipment. I heart this entire chapter, basically. Other than 3.5 compatibility, I could groove on this gear for a long time to come.
Point #7: TEMPLATES FOR ALL! Not just for monsters anymore! Spells, weapons, races, everything gets a template. I actually like it, as it makes the basic system far more flexible.
Point #8: Flexibility. This is a grand step up and I'm for it. The only worry is that, other than the spellcasters, you're not giving up much for it. Which threatens to make some things obsolete.
Anyhoo, those are the main things. Overall, good...I just had to get them off my chest. Thanks for listening.
I picked up Arcana Unearthed the other day and after flipping through it like a half-starving Marlon Brando through an all-you-can-eat buffet, I had to get a few things off of my chest. So consider this my semi-review.
Before I start in on this thing, let me just say this at the front:
HARD COVERS WITH BLACK AND WHITE INTERIORS MAKE BABY JESUS CRY!
I feel like a friggin' Hostess commercial animal-puppet of some sort. "Hey, where's the cream filling?" I wasn't exicted when Nyambe did it (but it's okay, they shelled out for a few pages, and were small pioneers), it irked me when the Arms and Equipment Guide did it (I guess the splatbook + idea was just coming around...all right), and now I feel the need to speak out against it. I feel a bit cheated. I guess I just expected a great amount out of an alternate PH. Y'know, the original was a great legacy that it would be tough to live up to.
Now that that's off my chest, on to the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Point #1: Balance makes me nervous. I trust Monte, but my DM's judgement alarm is going off in all sorts of directions, from the minor (slightly unbalanced racial ability score modifiers) to the ginormous (an extra feat at first level?! Holy crap, those TALENTS?!). Basically, I had to put the kabosh on allowing in the book full monte (so to speak) about halfway through the 'feats' chapter, when I realized that the Talents could literally make or break a character. They're unusually potent feats that are certainly more powerful than any other feat, and their only limitation is that you can only have one, and can only choose one at first level...which doesn't make me feel much better, to be honest. A talent can save you several thousand GP down the road with damage bonuses and AC bonuses and to-hit bonuses that are nearly as good as magical equipment, and sometimes better.
Point #2: New Races. I almost universally love them all, and want to have their freakishly delicious children. The only quibble I could have is over giants being called 'giants' (which makes for weird semantics outside of the Diamond Throne setting), and several of the races having quesitonable balance (mentioned above). Perhaps also a quibble on the racial classes giving +1 to ability scores, as it makes me nervous, but not enough to outlaw it yet.
Point #3: New Classes. Again, nearly nothin' but love. The quibble here lies in things 'left out.' Namely, there's no religious figures at all...which could be okay, but it made me feel like the setting as a whole was missing religion, and that nearly obliterates my suspension of disbelief, personally. The closest thing are the 'magical hippies', the Greenbonds, who are just pretty much worshipers of life itself....which is cool, but remarkably 'duh,' in that it didn't take a whole lot of creative leaps to make a healing druid. The other aspect left out would be a 'stealthy type.' While you could make an Akashic who specialized in stealth, and some of the other classes won't do too shabby in it, there's nothing that tells me 'I'm the sneaky one.' Again, it feels like a missing link in the world and in the party...stealth seems to be an almost-overlooked approach.
Point #4 : 3.5. Honestly, I would've waited another week or two for AU just so the 3.5 rules could be blended with it seemlessly. I know Monte doesn't agree with all of them (and the game, not being d20, has no requirement to conform to all of them), but some of the advancements are substantially better, and Monte could've benefited from them (speed bonuses instead of listed speeds for monks/"unfettered" for instance; or the better rules for animal companions for the Totem Warriors, or just the right name for Survival, or some of the deleted/rolled skills). As it is, it's gonna be a bit sloppy...related to this, the editing seems...not up to par. Things like the 'runechild' template have their requirements ill-defined, or contradictory in some places. Still, that second point is only a minor erratta point.
Point #5: Skill Consolidation. I love the idea to have one skill covering Hide and M. Silently ("sneak"). I'd also like one opposing though...maybe "sense" or something.
Point #6: Equipment. I heart this entire chapter, basically. Other than 3.5 compatibility, I could groove on this gear for a long time to come.
Point #7: TEMPLATES FOR ALL! Not just for monsters anymore! Spells, weapons, races, everything gets a template. I actually like it, as it makes the basic system far more flexible.
Point #8: Flexibility. This is a grand step up and I'm for it. The only worry is that, other than the spellcasters, you're not giving up much for it. Which threatens to make some things obsolete.
Anyhoo, those are the main things. Overall, good...I just had to get them off my chest. Thanks for listening.
Re: Arcana Unearthed: Meh.
It's pretty much standard for most other publishers besides WotC. White Wolf does it, Hero does it, SJG does it. It's only WotC who can really afford to do full-colour spreads, and that's because their sales volumes are so much higher that they can afford to spend a bit more on production costs.
Heh, heh. The creeping HEROization of D&D continues apace. Heh, heh, heh.
Hong "heh" Ooi
Kamikaze Midget said:
It's pretty much standard for most other publishers besides WotC. White Wolf does it, Hero does it, SJG does it. It's only WotC who can really afford to do full-colour spreads, and that's because their sales volumes are so much higher that they can afford to spend a bit more on production costs.
Heh, heh. The creeping HEROization of D&D continues apace. Heh, heh, heh.
Hong "heh" Ooi
Last edited:
re
This is the way GURPS does stealth. It works perfectly for D&D as well. Then the player need make only one roll and the DM can decide whether a Spot or Listen check is required to pick up on the individual. Once Sense skill wouldn't work particularly well because you never know how the character will be able to pick up on them, and pseudorealistically some people have better sight and hearing and vice versa. I would love to see this change in future editions of D&D.
This is the way GURPS does stealth. It works perfectly for D&D as well. Then the player need make only one roll and the DM can decide whether a Spot or Listen check is required to pick up on the individual. Once Sense skill wouldn't work particularly well because you never know how the character will be able to pick up on them, and pseudorealistically some people have better sight and hearing and vice versa. I would love to see this change in future editions of D&D.
Re: Arcana Unearthed: Meh.
I haven't been able to lay my hands on AU yet, but the way I understand it it's merely that religion doesn't give magical powers, not that religions don't exist. Personally, I like that - it provides for far more interesting religions if the official ranks don't "have to" swell with armor-wearing warrior-priests (aka clerics). Now you can have primitive shamanistic religions served by Totem Warriors, high-brow religions with lots of magisters around, and all sorts of other stuff.Kamikaze Midget said:
Re: Arcana Unearthed: Meh.
I bought two hardcovers on the same day. Arcana Unearthed and D&D Warcraft. If you had purchased D&D Warcraft you wouldn't be complaining about Arcana Unearthed.
D&D Warcraft
$34.95
248-pages
B&W Hardcover
BIG-ASS TYPE
Arcana Unearthed
$29.95
256-pages
B&W Hardcover
Small Type
I tried to write a review of D&D Warcraft but it turned into a rant. I posted it to my site this morning.
What I'm trying to say is that while Arcana Unearthed may be B&W the book is at least packed.
Kamikaze Midget said:
I bought two hardcovers on the same day. Arcana Unearthed and D&D Warcraft. If you had purchased D&D Warcraft you wouldn't be complaining about Arcana Unearthed.
D&D Warcraft
$34.95
248-pages
B&W Hardcover
BIG-ASS TYPE
Arcana Unearthed
$29.95
256-pages
B&W Hardcover
Small Type
I tried to write a review of D&D Warcraft but it turned into a rant. I posted it to my site this morning.
What I'm trying to say is that while Arcana Unearthed may be B&W the book is at least packed.
Tsyr
Explorer
Re: Re: Arcana Unearthed: Meh.
Exactly.
This is actually an established way of doing it, and one I personaly like... Look at Soveriegn Stone... There is most definetly religion, but the only spellcasting priests are just mages in the priesthood. This answers a lot of peoples big gripe about "Why is there such a big difference between divine and arcane magic?". It's also how I do it in most of my settings (My current Time of False Gods campaign being an exception).
Staffan said:
Exactly.
This is actually an established way of doing it, and one I personaly like... Look at Soveriegn Stone... There is most definetly religion, but the only spellcasting priests are just mages in the priesthood. This answers a lot of peoples big gripe about "Why is there such a big difference between divine and arcane magic?". It's also how I do it in most of my settings (My current Time of False Gods campaign being an exception).
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