drowdude
First Post
I apologize for the relative lateness of these reviews, things have been hectic of late around here...
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B1: Quest for the Unknown
I have been an avid reader of KotDT for several years now, and was very interested initially when I heard they were going to make Hackmaster into an actual RPG. However constraints on my budget have prevented me from picking up any of the books thus far. That is why I jumped at the chance to get a free look at the system. Thanks!
That said, lets move on to the actual review.
B1 is an entertaining read and is, for the most part, a straightforward hack-n-slasher. I enjoyed much of the parody, and I got a nostalgic feeling just flipping through the pages of the book. The map in particular reminds me of those old first edition D&D maps, and I will certainly find some use for it in the future.
The cover art is decent, though not particularly eye-catching, while the interior art ranges in quality from average to poor. But even that helps add to the nostalgia.
Overall I found the product entertaining, but unfortunately, I can’t say that it sold me on the Hackmaster system as a viable alternative to D&D/d20. I might pick up the Hackmaster PHB & GMG sometime though, just for the entertainment value alone.
K&C1106: Deathright
Let me start off by saying, that on the strength of this product I will be purchasing more Kingdoms of Kalamar products in the near future.
While the premise of the adventure itself is relatively simple, it is presented in a well thought out and thorough manner. It is presented with rich background material, and the plot is well thought out and intriguing. The encounters seem well balanced, and several are supported by the Image Quest section of the book, which provides illustrations for you to show the players. This is one of my favorite features, and something I hope to see more of in future products (and not just from K&C!).
Several appendices proceed the adventure itself, lettered from A-N. These include a section for detailed accounts of important NPCs, descriptions of 2 new monsters + a new form of disease, new items, a single new spell, 2 new prestige classes (more about those in a bit), a timeline relevant to the adventure, and several other useful bits, including encounter tables and a glossary.
The maps are very easy on the eyes and serve their purpose well, and the interior art is of good to average quality (all b&w). The cover art, while not terrible by any means, just doesn't catch my eye at all, and I think that it is likely that many casual consumers will pass by this adventure before giving it a thorough look.
There are, of course, a few editorial glitches here and there in the module, but that is to be expected, and is easily overlooked when the overall quality is high, as it is in this case.
However the 2 new Prestige Classes are where this book’s major failure lies. While the concepts behind each are very good, they are both somewhat overpowered, and both lack key bits of information that would be required to utilize the classes in any meaningful way. Most notably the PrCs are missing any indication of what their hit dice per level are, and neither indicates which stats they use to determine the strength of their spells, my best guess would place these as 1d4/Int & 1d8/Wis.
(edit: see coyote6’s excellent review for a more thorough discussion of these PrCs.)
The only other major problem I had with this product was the cover price. While this is an excellent product, I feel that it is possibly somewhat overpriced at $16. I have to say that I think it is an excellent buy for someone running a KoK campaign, it would be something of a harder sale to someone with a limited budget casually looking for adventures to adapt to an alternate setting.
___________________________________
B1: Quest for the Unknown
I have been an avid reader of KotDT for several years now, and was very interested initially when I heard they were going to make Hackmaster into an actual RPG. However constraints on my budget have prevented me from picking up any of the books thus far. That is why I jumped at the chance to get a free look at the system. Thanks!
That said, lets move on to the actual review.
B1 is an entertaining read and is, for the most part, a straightforward hack-n-slasher. I enjoyed much of the parody, and I got a nostalgic feeling just flipping through the pages of the book. The map in particular reminds me of those old first edition D&D maps, and I will certainly find some use for it in the future.
The cover art is decent, though not particularly eye-catching, while the interior art ranges in quality from average to poor. But even that helps add to the nostalgia.
Overall I found the product entertaining, but unfortunately, I can’t say that it sold me on the Hackmaster system as a viable alternative to D&D/d20. I might pick up the Hackmaster PHB & GMG sometime though, just for the entertainment value alone.
K&C1106: Deathright
Let me start off by saying, that on the strength of this product I will be purchasing more Kingdoms of Kalamar products in the near future.
While the premise of the adventure itself is relatively simple, it is presented in a well thought out and thorough manner. It is presented with rich background material, and the plot is well thought out and intriguing. The encounters seem well balanced, and several are supported by the Image Quest section of the book, which provides illustrations for you to show the players. This is one of my favorite features, and something I hope to see more of in future products (and not just from K&C!).
Several appendices proceed the adventure itself, lettered from A-N. These include a section for detailed accounts of important NPCs, descriptions of 2 new monsters + a new form of disease, new items, a single new spell, 2 new prestige classes (more about those in a bit), a timeline relevant to the adventure, and several other useful bits, including encounter tables and a glossary.
The maps are very easy on the eyes and serve their purpose well, and the interior art is of good to average quality (all b&w). The cover art, while not terrible by any means, just doesn't catch my eye at all, and I think that it is likely that many casual consumers will pass by this adventure before giving it a thorough look.
There are, of course, a few editorial glitches here and there in the module, but that is to be expected, and is easily overlooked when the overall quality is high, as it is in this case.
However the 2 new Prestige Classes are where this book’s major failure lies. While the concepts behind each are very good, they are both somewhat overpowered, and both lack key bits of information that would be required to utilize the classes in any meaningful way. Most notably the PrCs are missing any indication of what their hit dice per level are, and neither indicates which stats they use to determine the strength of their spells, my best guess would place these as 1d4/Int & 1d8/Wis.
(edit: see coyote6’s excellent review for a more thorough discussion of these PrCs.)
The only other major problem I had with this product was the cover price. While this is an excellent product, I feel that it is possibly somewhat overpriced at $16. I have to say that I think it is an excellent buy for someone running a KoK campaign, it would be something of a harder sale to someone with a limited budget casually looking for adventures to adapt to an alternate setting.
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