Would ACKS be a good fit to capture the BECMI-feel?

[Micah Sweet]

The creator is one of the people who gives the OSR its bad reputation. There are hundreds of better games out there by less problematic creators.

Eye of the beholder. IMO ACKS is one the best games out there that does what it does.

 

[Voadam]

I have a bunch of ACKS 1e stuff but I have not really delved into it. My understanding of it is that it is basically B/X rules going for BECMI style stuff so including running domains and war gaming with Conan style sword and sorcery aesthetics. I would expect the rules elements to fully support high fantasy the way BECMI did.

 

[Gradine]

ACKS is also a game that makes sure to represent, mechanically, the morale effects of sex slaves, to give you a bit of an idea of where and who this game is coming from

You can, and should, do much better.

 

[darjr]

The creator is one of the people who gives the OSR its bad reputation. There are hundreds of better games out there by less problematic creators.

ACKS is also a game that makes sure to represent, mechanically, the morale effects of sex slaves, to give you a bit of an idea of where and who this game is coming from

You can, and should, do much better.

This.

 

[Angus MacDeth]

Well its got one good thing going for it;
you can pirate it with a clear conscience.

Seriously? If you don't like someone or disagree with them, it's okay to steal from them?

I don't care for the guy who lives down the street with the Trump sign in his yard, so I guess I just can steal his car with a clear conscience...

 

[darjr]

Seriously? If you don't like someone or disagree with them, it's okay to steal from them?

I don't care for the guy who lives down the street with the Trump sign in his yard, so I guess I just can steal his car with a clear conscience...

Yea, I def wouldn’t pirate it.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Based on what I have (just now, never heard of this before) read, the creator has threatened forums with legal action and sent in astroturfing teams to squash any criticism of his alt-right views.

He's actually to the right of the alt-right, for the record.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Well its got one good thing going for it;
you can pirate it with a clear conscience.

Mod Note:

We get it- the author is…not a nice human being. Nonetheless, two wrongs don’t make a right. Please don’t advocate piracy, even in jest.

 

[cbwjm]

Some of the things I like about ACKS, which can easily be imported into other games:

• Warriors gain a scaling damage bonus starting at +1 and gaining +1 at levels 3, 6, 9, etc.
• This helps with the next ability, cleave, which allows warriors to make another attack every time they drop a foe (similar to the old heroic fray but no longer restricted to hit die size). They can make a number of cleave attacks equal to their level. Clerics and thieves can also cleave but at only half the rate and they don't have the damage bonus.
• Wizards have a spell repertoire, which is equal to their number of spell slots of each level + their intelligence bonus, essentially casting spells in a similar fashion to 5e.

These are all easily portable and I think are also common options in other OSR games or house rules I've seen online. I think if I was playing BECMI I wouldn't bring in the damage bonus if I was using the weapon mastery rules, but I would replace the heroic fray with the cleave ability. I tend to flip flop between the classic vancian style and the spell repertoire.

 

[Baron Opal II]

ACKS is a solid game with interesting domain play aspects. However, for OSR or BXCMI style play I prefer Old School Essentials by Necrotic Gmome. I prefer it's interpretation of BX.