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R1: To the Aid of Falx - Reviews?
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<blockquote data-quote="dragonlordofpoondari" data-source="post: 3427056" data-attributes="member: 42088"><p>Dragon 133. Review by Ken Rolston ...</p><p>"Of all of the better-known designers of AD&D game modules, Frank Mentzer comes closest to creating scenarios in which the protagonists behave as if the game's rule books were physics texts describing the laws governing the workings of the universe ... snip ... As a result, the distinctive feature of Mentzer's scenarios is that no matter how bizarre and offbeat their conceptions, they are all peculiarly persuasive and logical, as long as you accept the rules of the AD&D game. Furhtermore, they are often pretty weird and strikingly original ... snip ... given what is suggested about the infinite variations in Outer Planes, and the peculiar logics that may form the physical laws there, the common availability of planar-travel magic is bound to place adventurers in some very strange settings ... snip ... I have my reservations about the final scenario which, despite having a plausible game rationale and logical self-consistency, strikes me as gross and overly busy rather than lean and elegant. Individually, however the other scenarios are original, challenging, and entertaining, particularly in their exploitation of the peculiar logic of the AD&D game universe. However, the assemling of these various former tournament scenarios into an epic campaing is not very successful ... snip ... were not originally designed as a sequence by Mentzer, in fact, they had nothing to do with one another at all. Developer Paul Jaquays was given the difficult task of taking the diparte pieces and providing the narrative glue to join them into an epic campaign ... snip ... What went wrong? We have some basically strong scenarios by a clever and original designer, and additional design and development by another first-class designer. In my opinion, however, publishing these scenarios as an epic campaing was a bad idea, though I can understand the logic behind the decision. Epic campaings and campaign supplements sell well, while anthologies of scenarios sell less, and an anthology of tournament designs sells even less ... snip ... There's some very good stuff in here: nine sessions or more of solid and occasionally brilliant material. The tournament-based adventures may be the strongest of Mentzer's peculiarly original AD&D game designs. However, the campaign frame and the production quality are not satisfactory. I can recommend much of the distinctive wit and plausibility of the tournament scenarios, but fussy campaign DMs will find a lot to pick at."</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="dragonlordofpoondari, post: 3427056, member: 42088"] Dragon 133. Review by Ken Rolston ... "Of all of the better-known designers of AD&D game modules, Frank Mentzer comes closest to creating scenarios in which the protagonists behave as if the game's rule books were physics texts describing the laws governing the workings of the universe ... snip ... As a result, the distinctive feature of Mentzer's scenarios is that no matter how bizarre and offbeat their conceptions, they are all peculiarly persuasive and logical, as long as you accept the rules of the AD&D game. Furhtermore, they are often pretty weird and strikingly original ... snip ... given what is suggested about the infinite variations in Outer Planes, and the peculiar logics that may form the physical laws there, the common availability of planar-travel magic is bound to place adventurers in some very strange settings ... snip ... I have my reservations about the final scenario which, despite having a plausible game rationale and logical self-consistency, strikes me as gross and overly busy rather than lean and elegant. Individually, however the other scenarios are original, challenging, and entertaining, particularly in their exploitation of the peculiar logic of the AD&D game universe. However, the assemling of these various former tournament scenarios into an epic campaing is not very successful ... snip ... were not originally designed as a sequence by Mentzer, in fact, they had nothing to do with one another at all. Developer Paul Jaquays was given the difficult task of taking the diparte pieces and providing the narrative glue to join them into an epic campaign ... snip ... What went wrong? We have some basically strong scenarios by a clever and original designer, and additional design and development by another first-class designer. In my opinion, however, publishing these scenarios as an epic campaing was a bad idea, though I can understand the logic behind the decision. Epic campaings and campaign supplements sell well, while anthologies of scenarios sell less, and an anthology of tournament designs sells even less ... snip ... There's some very good stuff in here: nine sessions or more of solid and occasionally brilliant material. The tournament-based adventures may be the strongest of Mentzer's peculiarly original AD&D game designs. However, the campaign frame and the production quality are not satisfactory. I can recommend much of the distinctive wit and plausibility of the tournament scenarios, but fussy campaign DMs will find a lot to pick at." [/QUOTE]
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