Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="rounser" data-source="post: 5395237" data-attributes="member: 1106">This is a good point.&nbsp; In fact, the Hackmaster (4E) Gamemaster's Guide caused me to pause for thought the other week when I found the section on torture.&nbsp; It immediately made me think of the ramifications regarding the tone of the campaign that features such as a given (i.e. that it's AD&amp;D as directed by Terry Gilliam).&nbsp; And the book makes no bones about it, starting with words to the effect of &quot;The use of torture is ubiquitous...&quot;&nbsp; This brings home how the adult elements of the game have really been dialled down since AD&amp;D 1E, and I had that familiar feeling of dread and reminder of how nasty the world and the people in it really can be at times settle in.&nbsp; Although I wouldn't dwell on it, no light without the dark, and the richest veins of heroics and humour rely upon such darkness and borderline horror being around the place.Coincidentally, I read a blogger recently who was talking about how the really memorable combats for him weren't in AD&amp;D, but rather in systems involving gratuitous critical hits (i.e. Rolemaster).&nbsp; I'll give him this:&nbsp; I've only played Rolemaster once but I still remember those encounters.&nbsp; (The game design theory side of me knows that such systems lead to crippled PCs, because they sustain many more hits than the monsters, but there are ways around that.)&nbsp; This has further renewed my interest in Hackmaster 4E, because it borrows this from Rolemaster and puts it in a D&amp;D chassis.&nbsp; (Although they may need monkeying with to alleviate some of the &quot;cripples by 4th level&quot; factor...)This made me think of my own memories.&nbsp; One of the most prominent involves a Spear +2, Cursed Backbiter, some unlucky peasants, and one of our PCs starting a &quot;Spear Throwing Competition&quot;.&nbsp; Purging the game of cursed and silly spells, rules and items destroys a lot of the ability to create such memories.&nbsp; It is, for me, the height of irony that things like the Rust Monster are purged for being &quot;unfun&quot;, because the memories such a creature creates can be the very essence of fun.&nbsp; I think Hackmaster 4E is on the right track, funwise, by not just keeping the monster, but making it magnetic.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="rounser, post: 5395237, member: 1106"] This is a good point. In fact, the Hackmaster (4E) Gamemaster's Guide caused me to pause for thought the other week when I found the section on torture. It immediately made me think of the ramifications regarding the tone of the campaign that features such as a given (i.e. that it's AD&D as directed by Terry Gilliam). And the book makes no bones about it, starting with words to the effect of "The use of torture is ubiquitous..." This brings home how the adult elements of the game have really been dialled down since AD&D 1E, and I had that familiar feeling of dread and reminder of how nasty the world and the people in it really can be at times settle in. Although I wouldn't dwell on it, no light without the dark, and the richest veins of heroics and humour rely upon such darkness and borderline horror being around the place. Coincidentally, I read a blogger recently who was talking about how the really memorable combats for him weren't in AD&D, but rather in systems involving gratuitous critical hits (i.e. Rolemaster). I'll give him this: I've only played Rolemaster once but I still remember those encounters. (The game design theory side of me knows that such systems lead to crippled PCs, because they sustain many more hits than the monsters, but there are ways around that.) This has further renewed my interest in Hackmaster 4E, because it borrows this from Rolemaster and puts it in a D&D chassis. (Although they may need monkeying with to alleviate some of the "cripples by 4th level" factor...) This made me think of my own memories. One of the most prominent involves a Spear +2, Cursed Backbiter, some unlucky peasants, and one of our PCs starting a "Spear Throwing Competition". Purging the game of cursed and silly spells, rules and items destroys a lot of the ability to create such memories. It is, for me, the height of irony that things like the Rust Monster are purged for being "unfun", because the memories such a creature creates can be the very essence of fun. I think Hackmaster 4E is on the right track, funwise, by not just keeping the monster, but making it [i]magnetic[/i]. [/QUOTE]

Verification