What is Arcana Evolved/Unearthed Arcana like?

[Krypter]

Monte Cook has garnered a lot of respect in the industry for his rule variants (and setting books like Beyond Countless Doorways), so I was wondering if it's worth buying his new Arcana Unearthed v2 compilation Arcana Evolved. Apart from the cool-looking cover art, is this simply a rehash?

Could someone who has played using Arcana Unearthed tell me if these variants are worthwhile and exciting or just minor rules tweaks? The price tag for AE looks pretty steep, so I'd like to know if this is worth picking up. I know it's not out yet, but based on news and people playing UA is this going to be a Big Thing or Ho-Hum?

Just curious. Thanks.


(PS: this topic may have been covered already but I looked through five pages and didn't see anything on it. Strange, considering it looks like a big deal in the works.)

 

[Klaus]

The answers you seek can be found at www.montecook.com .

What changes from AU to AE? Very little.

What gets added? A whole lotta things: a new PC race (dracha), a new PC class (Ritual Warrior), evolved levels for ALL races, more spells, rules covering play from levels 1-25.

Plus the new art is nothing short of utterly amazing!

 

[Crothian]

Imagine a campaign world in which the classes and races are built to support things in the world. They are not just added on or gerneic representitives, they are there to support the story. The classes are all very interesting and while the races are a bit odder then I personally like they are very creative.

My biggest compainjgt is the lack of setting material., There is some good advice for running the game and getting the feel of the world but not so much in specifics as I like and am used to from other settings.

 

[Turjan]

Apart from the cool-looking cover art, is this simply a rehash?

As Klaus said, Arcana Evolved is mainly a compilation of the Arcana Unearthed rulebook and Diamond Throne setting book with corrected errata, a few new things and colour art.

This said, I think that Arcana Unearthed was definitely worth its money. The rules address many of the more frequent complaints about 3.x, like the arcane/divine split and the magic system in a relatively unobtrusive way. I quite like the book. Even if I don't care for the races in AU, I like some of the interesting concepts behind them . Although I don't care for the Diamond Throne setting, I can recommend the rulebook if you are interested in some d20 ruleset that is relatively close to standard d20 with a distinctly different feel .

Whether it's worth exchanging the good "old" AU book against the brand new AE - who knows yet ?

 

[Turjan]

My biggest compainjgt is the lack of setting material., There is some good advice for running the game and getting the feel of the world but not so much in specifics as I like and am used to from other settings.

Funny ! I see this as advantage . I've stripped the setting from the rules and use them for my homebrew. I kept cool race concepts, but not (most of) the races .

 

[Crothian]

Whether it's worth exchanging the good "old" AU book against the brand new AE - who knows yet ?

As it is going top be an update and it sounds like it is not going to make the old book obsolete, I'm looking forward to getting it. It is a good excuse to basically pick up a second although expanded copy and extra main books are great to have around the table.

 

[Crothian]

Funny ! I see this as advantage . I've stripped the setting from the rules and use them for my homebrew. I kept cool race concepts, but not (most of) the races .

It is an advantage for what you are doing, it is a disadvantage for trying to run the Diamond Throne setting.

 

[Nifft]

I want to play in an AE setting. Even an AU setting, but really really really in an AE setting.

-- N

 

[Turjan]

I want to play in an AE setting. Even an AU setting, but really really really in an AE setting.

You mean with dragons?

 

[Nifft]

You mean with dragons?

And some dungeons. You know, for that "D&D" feel.

-- N