Product opinions: first look versus deeper look

[Psion]

Okay, here is a question for you all

Are there any D&D or other d20 system products that sort of turned you off at first that, upon deeper inspection, was very good? Which products and why?

 

[KnowTheToe]

Kingdom of Kalamar Setting book really turned me off at first glance. I bought it sight unseen because of the reviews and when I bought it I found it reads slow and dry. Reading it was like drinking sand.

I did realize it was full of great information, but thought I would shelf it until I started campaigning in the world. Anyways I dusted off the book and started rereading it. I love the book, and just realized it is not a book you read cover to cover. I read a chapter here and a chapter there and it works great. I am working on a large multifaceted campaign that should involve just about every country and power group. Since then I have enjoyed all of the KoK books.

 

[Desdichado]

I can think of a number of products that were the reverse of that situation...

 

[Psion]

I can think of a number of products that were the reverse of that situation...

Well, yeah. But that happens a lot, and thus was not really what I was after...

 

[Desdichado]

Yeah, but you ask a bit of a difficult question. Most gamers aren't very likely to buy a product that they aren't impressed with initially. I know I don't. I suppose I could defer a purchase, another gamer buddy of mine picks it up, I end up liking it after seeing it in action/flipping through it at the table/whatever but I can't say that that's happened to me yet. In general, I think I have about as much as most of the other gamers at my table, and I'm probably a bit more likely than they are to pick something up sight unseen as it's first released.

 

[Psion]

Yeah, but you ask a bit of a difficult question.

If it was an easy question, I wouldn't have to solicit input.

Most gamers aren't very likely to buy a product that they aren't impressed with initially.

True. But sometimes if you are at the FLGS, and you don't see much there, you might leaf through something you normally wouldn't and get hooked.

 

[Tsyr]

I can think of a non-D20 one fairly readily.

Changeling: The Dreaming, by White Wolf.

When a friend first showed it to me, I thought it was very dry, a bit silly, and very quirky... not to mention exemplifying everything I DIDN'T like about White Wolf (Mind you, overall, I DO like White Wolf)... I mean, for gawds sake... it's magic system uses terms like "Actor" "Prop" and "Scene" to determine spell targets and so forth.

Well, I still think it's kinda quirky at times... And the whole Actor/Prop/Scene/Etc thing DOES still irk me a bit, but the product on a whole is very cool. Easily my third favorite whitewolf setting, if not the second*. It's one of the least grim settings White Wolf puts out (It has it's own grim parts... the constant balance you have to play with Banality and Bedlam, for example), but it's a lot... brighter... than most White Wolf. And it's a LOT of fun to either play OR GM, in my experience. You can really create some imaginative characters, and not be at all "out of character" in doing so.








*(Nothing comes close to Exalted, and Changeling comes in a VERY close third, next to Sorcerer... Not Mage: Sorcerer's Crusade, but Sorcerer... a suplement for Mage that all but stands on it's own, much like how Demon Hunter X stands on it's own, but it still technicly a Vampire: Kindred of the East product).

 

[The Sigil]

Okay, here is a question for you all

Are there any D&D or other d20 system products that sort of turned you off at first that, upon deeper inspection, was very good? Which products and why?

Minions, by Bastion Press.

Picked it up with a bunch of other monster books at my FLGS.

Didn't like the art. REALLY didn't like the art. Put it on my shelf and forgot about it. First impressions are important.

Had an insurance pre-licensing class. Threw it in my bag. Read it during breaks.

Looked at the OGC designation. Realized, "hey, I can use this no strings attached."

Looked at the section in each entry where Bastion makes suggestions for dropping stuff into a campaign. Got lots of good ideas.

Looked over the monsters again - noted a lot of original ideas.

Decided I could forgive the art.

Minions is now my 3rd-favorite 3rd-party monster book behind the Netbook of Creatures (which I help on) and Scott Greene's Creature Catalog/Tome of Horrors (these score wins on nostalgia value and price)- and possibly ahead of the MM and definitely ahead of the Monsters of Faerun, Nightmares & Dreams, Creature Collection, and CCII.

--The Sigil

 

[Forrester]

I never had a negative opinion of it, but the Manual of the Planes just keeps getting cooler and cooler and cooler. I bought it at first just because it was on sale for 30% off, and it looked a little neat. Lately, though, I've been using it more than the MM -- and I run a 7th level campaign that's firmly on the prime material. (That doesn't mean there aren't occasionally visitors.)

But that's also probably not what you're looking for.

If I ever find any use for Skraag, I'll let you know . That would count.

 

[Krug]

Re: Re: Product opinions: first look versus deeper look

...
Had an insurance pre-licensing class. Threw it in my bag. Read it during breaks.

ARGH! YET ANOTHER STUDENT OF THE DARK ARTS!!!