Surprised by the non-suckage

[Toric_Arthendain]

World of Synnibarr

*snipped*

Reading it makes me happy.

I've never had the pleasure of actually seeing this book so I can't comment as to its merits and flaws. The only thing I am certain of is that the art samples I saw posted over on CM are scary bad.

 

[Infernal Teddy]

Hunh? I'm a confessed BRP (Chaosium) purist, but my GOD the d20 CoC book is amazing! I say, take 'em both! If you don't like BRP, use d20, and vice-versa!

My Cthulhu-Party is dying it's way through "Horror on the Orient Express" with the d20 game...

 

[Tetsubo]

OK...people are going to think I am taking the piss here, but...

World of Synnibarr

In all honesty.

I think it shows a level of "Wahoo!" creativity that 1E Gamma World (pretty much the "Wahoo!" high water mark) can't come close to on it's best day.

Is it perfect? No it surely isn't. As game design it' not even particularly good (though not nearly as bad as the common parlance would have you beleive). But it's fluff is no insanely over the top that I find I can't help but be entertained.

Reading it makes me happy.

I consider that game to be a key part of my Bad RPG collection. It can be a fun read. But the author is insane and I consider it nigh unplayable.

 

[Tetsubo]

I love Magic of Incarnum. I'm still reading MMIV but so far I'm enjoying it.

And someone didn't like the Expanded Psionics Handbook?

 

[Staffan]

Incarnum isn't bad, but it's a bit hard to use in-game. For an NPC, it's a chore to keep track of what soulmelds they have and how much essentia they have invested, especially given the round-by-round modification nature of the thing. And none of my players would be likely to borrow my book so they can make an incarnum-user for themselves.

The other main new magic system, psionics, has an edge in usability because they are essentially sorcerers with spellpoints instead.

 

[woodelf]

Incarnum isn't bad, but it's a bit hard to use in-game. For an NPC, it's a chore to keep track of what soulmelds they have and how much essentia they have invested, especially given the round-by-round modification nature of the thing.

Is that really any worse than tracking a wizard's spells, or a cleric's spells & buffs, or a psion's ongoing effects, focus (or lack thereof), and augmenting of powers?

 

[Staffan]

Is that really any worse than tracking a wizard's spells, or a cleric's spells & buffs, or a psion's ongoing effects, focus (or lack thereof), and augmenting of powers?

I suspect part of it might be familiarity-related, but yes. The big thing is that spells and power points only move in one direction, and long-term ones (e.g. mage armor) can be incorporated directly into the statblock. Essentia can move all over the place, and moving it likely means you have to recalculate at least two values (the one you're moving from, and the one you're moving to).

 

[MutieMoe]

I recall it being relatively well received around here when it was released, and the reviews here and at rpg.net back certaintly don't support the vilified notion.

You misunderstand me, excuse my poor expression, I mean around here where I am from (Helsinki, Finland), not this messageboard.

Place I actually physically am.

 

[green slime]

You misunderstand me, excuse my poor expression, I mean around here where I am from (Helsinki, Finland), not this messageboard.

Place I actually physically am.

Don't try to trick us into thinking that you actually believe you think you're there. We all know that we think that none of us really think we exist outside this messageboard.

 

[Psion]

Call Of Cthulhu D20 version was pretty vilified around here

Coul've fooled me, seeings how I have the only review score for the product under 5.

Only diehard classic CoC fans seems to have a disdain for it... but their disdain burns like 1000 suns, or so it seems.

Edit:

You misunderstand me, excuse my poor expression, I mean around here where I am from (Helsinki, Finland), not this messageboard.

Ah...