Unearthed Arcana: un-sell me

[BiggusGeekus]

I'm trying to hold off gaming purchases for this month. I'm trying very, very hard. But there seems like so much great stuff coming out that I just want to buy, buy, buy.

So. Unearthed Arcana. Tell me why it's a terrible purchase so I can at least hold off until May.

 

[francisca]

I'm trying to hold off gaming purchases for this month. I'm trying very, very hard. But there seems like so much great stuff coming out that I just want to buy, buy, buy.

So. Unearthed Arcana. Tell me why it's a terrible purchase so I can at least hold off until May.

Absolutley nothing in the book is essential to your game. You may use at best, 10-20% of it.

 

[thundershot]

It causes me and my wife to fight. I'm SO looking forward to using the Defense Bonus/Damage Reduction/Armor Conversion rules, and she STILL doesn't understand how it works. She thinks her characters are going to be "ripped off" when they'll actually have a BETTER chance of survival.... *sigh* We argued so much about it, I told her I was going to throw the damn book away (which I wouldn't)....

Thing is, the other players DO understand and DO want to use the new rules...

So, yes... it's a great book, but it might cause arguments. Yes...


Chris

 

[BiggusGeekus]

Absolutley nothing in the book is essential to your game. You may use at best, 10-20% of it.

I don't know. Gesalt classes, alternate casting systems, and (in a thread below) an honor system .... *drool*.

Maybe that's why I should hold off. I'd drool all over the book.

-BG

PS and as a footnote: everything is essential to my game! A d30 weather table for Dark Sun could come in VERY useful someday!

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

I use the Weapon Group Proficiencies, Action Point Rules, and the WP/VP Damage system. I like my Defense Bonus and Armor Damage Reduction rules better (modified from Ken Hood's Grim-n-Gritty System). Is it worth 35 bux? No...I paid $22 and feel much better as a result.

 

[Talmun]

I guess the best way to un-sell you is to say that, while I really like it, my players and I have used very little in our game since it came out, although your mileage my vary...

If you're interested, we've used Racial Paragons, and Item Familiars...I think that's about it.

 

[Wombat]

Given that there are variations of almost every single item in UA on the 'Net for free and the only thing really in its favour is its official status, I find it a very poor purchase, indeed.

You are paying for a wide variety of mutually contradictory and exclusive house rules, many of which are not well thought out mechanically.

If you have access to the 'Net, and you obviously do, go fishing for the same material for free on various websites.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Some of it is useless pages of tables - e.g pages of "power components" for various spells.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

The longer you wait, the more likely someone will post the relevant OGC to the web. That would be reason #1 to wait.

On a personal note, I bought it, skimmed it, found very little of it applicable to myself either as a player, GM, or a designer, and had buyer's remorse within an hour or two.

(I sold my copy to Piratecat, who I understand is very happy with it.)


Wulf

 

[BiggusGeekus]

Some of it is useless pages of tables - e.g pages of "power components" for various spells.

... material components that increase spell efficacity? .... but ... but .. but I like that kind of stuff ...

You are paying for a wide variety of mutually contradictory and exclusive house rules, many of which are not well thought out mechanically.

If you have access to the 'Net, and you obviously do, go fishing for the same material for free on various websites.

Well now this is a good point here. The only prolbem with surfing for this kind of stuff on the web is that I read a lot of RPG stuff before I go to sleep and the missus complains when I set up the LAN on her side of the bed.