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Post by vladtolenkov on Aug 14, 2014 11:37:54 GMT -6
I also remember the ads in Dragon though which claimed that you got to determine the nature of the apocalypse that destroyed the world. That always sounded pretty cool. Yeah, IIRC there was a section on what the Aftermath! actually came after. Most people I knew just went with the limited nuclear war thing (hey, it was during the Cold War), but we also had fun with a game based on the premise of a Martian invasion. Not the original Wells story, but the version from the Marvel Star Wars comics which also had lots of mutants in it. Don't remember the name of the strip now. Are you talking about Killraven? That's an awesome idea for a post-apocalyptic game! Edit: Sorry--Tog got there first.
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Post by vladtolenkov on Aug 13, 2014 12:09:06 GMT -6
My FLGS had a boxed copy of Aftermath in shrinkwrap sitting on the shelf for like a decade. It was shelved among the boxed wargames and Advanced Squad Leader stuff and not with the RPgs for some reason. I guess this was the section that said: "complex and hardcore"!!
I looked at it a few times, and I think one of the employees once saw me looking at it and said something like" "That's the most complicated rpg ever made." That didn't exactly sell me cause I was in my rules lite Amber DRPG and Castle Falkenstein phase.
I also remember the ads in Dragon though which claimed that you got to determine the nature of the apocalypse that destroyed the world. That always sounded pretty cool.
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Post by vladtolenkov on Aug 11, 2014 12:01:27 GMT -6
Falconer--those claims were largely (I believe) made by Monte Cook who shortly after this left the design team.
The modularity goal remained but the "we all play characters from different editions" thing was de-emphasized quite noticeable. However, you might still see vestiges of this in the way they approached feats. If you want you 3E style fighter who is tricked out with feats you can play that, but the guy who wants to play an old school straight forward fighter still can--you just take the bonuses instead of the feats.
Of course this all should ultimately be up to the DM which is why Monte's idea seemed problematic to me. I don't want 4E Superheroes standing alongside my grimfaced OD&D characters but that's just me.
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Post by vladtolenkov on Jul 31, 2014 16:16:31 GMT -6
It occurs to me that WOTC saw that lots of people preferred older editions over 3.X/Pathfinder and 4E because ultimately they are simpler and quicker to play.
One piece of market research that Mearls mentioned a few months ago was the fact that in terms of people totally unfamiliar with D&D they had a real stumbling block. He told the story of a guy who spent around 90 minutes or so rolling up a 4E character, and he was quite enjoying himself once the game started. His character was killed in the midst of the session, and his response was that he wasn't particularly interested in playing D&D again. Why? Because while he enjoyed the game and didn't mind that his character had died--he wasn't particularly interested in spending another 90 minutes rolling up another character.
I thinks lots of people (maybe even MOST) JUST WANT TO PLAY and are less interested in tinkering with character builds or optimizing a character or whatever. 5E may not be as simple as Holmes, Moldvay,Mentzer or OD&D but it's WAY better than later editions in terms of start up time. Has this been your experience with the game? How long does it take to roll up a character?
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Post by vladtolenkov on Jul 9, 2014 10:08:45 GMT -6
I think this mechanic is particularly useful for things like charging--you gain advantage on you attack (or maybe just the damage roll), but you also grant advantage to your opponents. Or something like that. . .
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Post by vladtolenkov on Jul 5, 2014 22:36:05 GMT -6
I'm in this weird place where I've been following all the 5E stuff, and I'm probably going to buy this edition but if anybody cornered me asked me what game I'm REALLY excited about right now I'd have to say something like: "Runequest (2e and 3e), Chivalry & Sorcery, Talislanta. . ."
Y'know the games everybody talks about. . .Oh wait. . .
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Post by vladtolenkov on Jul 4, 2014 11:00:16 GMT -6
One nice thing in reading Basic D&D is that I have a sense that I could totally hack this into all kinds of stuff (which I didn't have with 4E).
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Post by vladtolenkov on Jul 4, 2014 10:56:34 GMT -6
The XP material seems to be not in the Basic pdf (I suspect the Starter Set has guidelines about advancement). It will undoubtedly be added with the updates. We still need Monsters, XP info, DM advice. Maybe more on outdoor and dungeon exploration, traps etc.
I wonder if they'll put Battlesystem (the mass combat system) into the Basic Rules? They were not sure if they were going to do that last time I heard (although Battlesystem will be in the DMG).
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Post by vladtolenkov on Jul 3, 2014 16:50:29 GMT -6
I was fine nine pages in. Then I hit the page that said you level up at 300 xp and I closed the file. ~Scott "-enkainen" Casper That is one of the big changes here. I wasn't sure how I felt about it either, but I'm less opposed now after thinking about it a bit. The assumption here is that you can get to 20th level in a year or two of regular play. That means leveling is going going to be crazy fast, but after my experience with 4th Ed. where fight after fight didn't see us make much progress forward maybe I'm not so opposed to that. I've been playing D&D since 1982 and the highest level character I've ever had (when we played "properly") was something like 7th level. My groups just don't sustain campaigns longer than a year or so (and most last 6 months or less). I'm pretty sure they've also said the DMG will have rules for altering advancement rates (i.e. you can have AD&D/OD&D style advancement).
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Post by vladtolenkov on May 27, 2014 15:14:04 GMT -6
Ha! I called it last week!
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Post by vladtolenkov on May 22, 2014 14:52:25 GMT -6
According to the ENWorld info from the ACD conference there will be sidebars in the DMG telling you how to customize 5E so that it runs more like previous editions of the game. Thought that was interesting.
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Post by vladtolenkov on May 22, 2014 13:40:54 GMT -6
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Post by vladtolenkov on May 22, 2014 12:56:31 GMT -6
My earlier comment about the content of the Starter Set was me totally forgetting that the 64 page book was supposed to be a module.
Somebody at WOTC (I Think) described it as "The Greatest Intro Adventure Ever"--so what's that supposed to mean?
my guess is that we're getting an adaptation of Keep on the Borderlands! I don't think they would say that about some new thing we're all going to eye suspiciously (even if it WAS good).
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Post by vladtolenkov on May 22, 2014 10:48:41 GMT -6
So you might NEVER have to buy the DMG or the PH. Although if people start playing this way I'm sure they're hoping that folks will at least break down and buy the MM.
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Post by vladtolenkov on May 22, 2014 10:44:21 GMT -6
Also: that might indicate the download would allow you to take those classes all the way to 20th level. Which hopefully means Starter Set + Download= FULL D&D GAME.
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Post by vladtolenkov on May 22, 2014 10:41:19 GMT -6
Okay. . .confirmation.
15% of the Player's Handbook will be available FOR FREE as a download allowing you to make characters of your own. This is seen as a bridge between the Starter Set and the PH.
I'm guessing it's the four core classes.
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Post by vladtolenkov on May 22, 2014 10:28:09 GMT -6
Also: the Starter set has a 32 page book for players and a 64 page book for DMs. So What the hell IS in there if there's no character creation or advancement?
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Post by vladtolenkov on May 21, 2014 16:48:46 GMT -6
Or there's some OTHER unannounced product that we don't know about yet: A Player's Guide? Downloadable PDF? An App? I'm note sure if any of those work. Maybe all of the above?
Somebody pointed out that 3E initially came with a character builder that took you to 20th level. Why not make that available for free online? Especially if it's easy to make a PC.
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Post by vladtolenkov on May 21, 2014 16:40:02 GMT -6
Okay so I was totally wrong about the theorizing about products thing. . . Hey, theorizing about upcoming products is fun! You've started an interesting thread of conversation and that's never a bad thing! Absolutely: I just thought we were finally on solid ground and WOTC threw me back in the pool!
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Post by vladtolenkov on May 21, 2014 16:38:54 GMT -6
I think they wouldn't want to alienate new customers who weren't even sure about playing this D&D game with the commitment of an initial subscription. Whatever it is, hopefully, it's free.
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Post by vladtolenkov on May 21, 2014 16:30:31 GMT -6
Okay so I was totally wrong about the theorizing about products thing. . .
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Post by vladtolenkov on May 19, 2014 12:08:49 GMT -6
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Post by vladtolenkov on Mar 5, 2014 15:48:00 GMT -6
The Monster Manual might come out later and be the "full roster" of the baddies we know and love. It would be useable (of course) by players with either the Starter Set or the Player's Handbook.
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Post by vladtolenkov on Mar 5, 2014 15:32:02 GMT -6
So we now have information of spotty reliability that we're looking at two products initially coming out for D&D Next. This is all total speculation and wish fulfillment on my part, but I have been paying pretty close attention to what WOTC's been saying about their goals for their products.
Sooo. . .here's my thoughts on those two products:
The first item listed is a D&D Starter Set which costs $20.00:
-The Four core classes taking them through to at least 10th level (or even higher). -Basic Rules. -Info on how to design and run Dungeons Adventures for the DM. -A basic monster section. -A solid Village of Hommlet style intro adventure. -Character Sheets??
Next up is The Players Handbook which costs $50.00:
-More classes (adding at least another eight "classic" classes) -Expanded rules. -Information on how to design wilderness adventures & expanding the scope of the campaign. -An expanded beatiary.
Notably there isn't currently a listing for a Dungeon Master's Guide or a Monster Manual. This would seem to indicate that the items being released should let you start playing with just them. Thus I'm hoping that we get something that's actually closer to the Rules Cyclopedia in the "Players Handbook." Ideally you could skip the "Starter Set" and just buy into the Player's Handbook which would have ALL of the info in the starter set but be less noob friendly (and also be lacking a nice intro module). A group of good modules should come out pretty quickly and be useable by folks using any of the above products.
The Dungeon Masters Guide would be about advanced campaign planning, altering the rules to suit a campaign setting, extraplanar adventures etc. It should also be loaded with lost of ideas and advice on running the game.
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Post by vladtolenkov on Jan 15, 2014 20:18:32 GMT -6
Skype sounds like the better option. Thanks for the input. He's a member of my f2f group who's moving out of the area, and we'd like to keep gaming together. I was just wondering how it might work logistically.
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Post by vladtolenkov on Jan 15, 2014 13:03:18 GMT -6
So I'm wondering how feasible is it for a single player to video into a group that is playing face to face? I've absolutely zero experience with sort of thing. Would Google+ be something that might facilitate this kind of thing? How much hassle might this be? Any advice or experiences would be helpful.
Thanks!
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Post by vladtolenkov on Jan 14, 2014 16:22:46 GMT -6
I've got a copy of Smith's poetry and I've read a bit of it, but I missed that one for some reason. Great poem!
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Post by vladtolenkov on Jan 8, 2014 18:20:32 GMT -6
Just noticed that the Lamia in AS&S is very much like the Lamia is Smith's "End of the Story"--the Lamia in the 1e Monster Manual and the Lamia Noble in the FF are pretty close, but they aren't as close to Nycea as the one in AS&S. Was she the model?
Averoigne also seems full of old ruins--lots of places to explore!
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Post by vladtolenkov on Jan 5, 2014 20:04:24 GMT -6
Will do. I've got all Nightshade reprints of Smith's work and I'm thinking of going through and just reading all the Averoigne stories in the order Smith wanted them read. There's an article at Black Gate magazine about the Averoigne cycle that lists the order. I'll post the link when I get a chance if folks are interested.
More thoughts to come.
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Post by vladtolenkov on Jan 5, 2014 13:44:00 GMT -6
Been thinking about how AS&S might be applied to other dark fantasy locales. It occurs to me that with very little tweaking CAS's Averoigne might make a great alternative setting. Castle Amber might be one place to start, but I think digging into the stories themselves might be the best suggestion. The combination of Knights, Romance, Dark Sorceries, and (perhaps) a cult dedicated to Tsathaggua waiting in the wings just works for me. What are your thoughts about how Averoigne might work in AS&S.
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