Fourth edition has been highly debated since it came out, in the grand tradition of DnD fanboys and girls everywhere. Every edition isn't as good as the one which came before-especially for the first year or two.
hespeakstome
What fourth edition is best at is random encounters. It's a system that's MADE for one shots and minis-style battles, whatever it lacks in the rest of it's gameplay. If you're looking for good fighting fun, 4th edition might be just the system for you. If not, I'd give it a pass.
Showing posts with label Reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reviews. Show all posts
Friday, June 24, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
DnD week!: ADnD/2.0
Think back to the old cliches of unwashed teenaged boys playing DnD in their basement with vague costumes. This was back in the days where DnD was still complicated and confusing enough to feel like an exclusive club.
Back when THACO was the order of the day and you couldn't play monsters.
This, ladies and gents, is exactly what they would have been playing. ADnD has survived to this day as a game people play, despite three editions afterward-an honor which First ed and third ed never achieved. It's got a different feel to it,
Back when THACO was the order of the day and you couldn't play monsters.
This, ladies and gents, is exactly what they would have been playing. ADnD has survived to this day as a game people play, despite three editions afterward-an honor which First ed and third ed never achieved. It's got a different feel to it,
Friday, June 17, 2011
Custom Systems
Today I'm going to talk to you about something a little bit special. No specific system is being reviewed today. Instead, we're going to deal with some of the high and low points of designing your own. It's a hobby of mine, and as it's currently what I'm completely preoccupied with, instead of missing a post I thought I'd share some thoughts.
People are generally kind of scared of making new systems-it seems like there's so much a system requires, making rules and figuring out if and what kinds of classes and skills and everything you're going to use. It gets complicated fast.
But it doesn't have to.
Figure out what the system needs. Figure out what you want it to do and move from there-you're not selling books you don't NEED several hundred pages of stuff. One of the best homebrew systems I've ever had the good fortune of seeing is Risus, which has a book that's less than fifty pages and that's ALL you'll EVER need to run the game(Though to make a profit and do a couple cool side things there is an extra book you can buy).
Don't get fancy unless your game needs it. Your players will thank you
People are generally kind of scared of making new systems-it seems like there's so much a system requires, making rules and figuring out if and what kinds of classes and skills and everything you're going to use. It gets complicated fast.
But it doesn't have to.
Figure out what the system needs. Figure out what you want it to do and move from there-you're not selling books you don't NEED several hundred pages of stuff. One of the best homebrew systems I've ever had the good fortune of seeing is Risus, which has a book that's less than fifty pages and that's ALL you'll EVER need to run the game(Though to make a profit and do a couple cool side things there is an extra book you can buy).
Don't get fancy unless your game needs it. Your players will thank you
Friday, June 10, 2011
Scion
Continuing my reviews with another White Wolf system, Scion. Mechanically it has a decent bit in common with WoD, it is also a d10 system, with many of the same stats and a similar looking character sheet. In Scion, however, you're playing the children of various gods. The main book includes the Loa, the Egyptians, the Norse, the Greek, the Japanese and an invented Atlantaen pantheon, where expansions add China, the South Pacific, the Celts, and an invented 'American' pantheon.
It has rules for artifacts and for powers, as well as more passive supernatural effects you'd get from being super smart or fast or charismatic or whatever that are called 'knacks'. Mechanically, you have Hero, which is the lowest powered, then Demigod, and then God.
It's a system I've played in extensively and ran once, and I'm remarkably fond of it.
On the positive end, Scion, like all White Wolf games is very story-centric, designed to make the storytelling flow and non-combat activities feel just as important as combat. It does this very well, the Skills/Knacks/Boons system makes it easy to choose things that are useful on and off the battlefield, and to use them in either place effectively. There is a wide assortment of power trees to choose from and the system doesn't penalize you for mixing and matching.
The system of Birthrights-gifts given to you by your divine parent, is an interesting and mostly well made one. You have the choice of artifacts, followers, creatures, or mentors, and all have distinct advantages and disadvantages that are pretty well balanced.
Combat in Scion is a little more polished than in WoD, possibly because in Scion it is expected that combat will happen, whereas WoD is in a large part designed to eliminate the need for it.
On the negative end, the actual treatment of the deities in the books are pretty bad. Some are oversimplified, some are flat out changed for convenience, some are even alignment shifted for fuck's sake. The God/Titan breakdown means that in some pantheons beings that were considered forces for good are now firmly relegated to the villain side(though this is easy to ignore for one's own story).
In addition, the creature rankings are TERRIBLE and badly balanced with each other-though they still balance alright with everything else.
The Atlantaen pantheon is just weird and unnecessary. Again, easily ignored and as a supplement I would've had no problem, but they put it in the main book. There's a lot of perfectly good pantheons in the world that people actually care about, use one of them?
Overall, though, I am quite fond of Scion-though I do have a system of house rules my group plays with to make it a little more manageable. I would still very much recommend it to anyone who loves mythology in any form.
It has rules for artifacts and for powers, as well as more passive supernatural effects you'd get from being super smart or fast or charismatic or whatever that are called 'knacks'. Mechanically, you have Hero, which is the lowest powered, then Demigod, and then God.
It's a system I've played in extensively and ran once, and I'm remarkably fond of it.
On the positive end, Scion, like all White Wolf games is very story-centric, designed to make the storytelling flow and non-combat activities feel just as important as combat. It does this very well, the Skills/Knacks/Boons system makes it easy to choose things that are useful on and off the battlefield, and to use them in either place effectively. There is a wide assortment of power trees to choose from and the system doesn't penalize you for mixing and matching.
The system of Birthrights-gifts given to you by your divine parent, is an interesting and mostly well made one. You have the choice of artifacts, followers, creatures, or mentors, and all have distinct advantages and disadvantages that are pretty well balanced.
Combat in Scion is a little more polished than in WoD, possibly because in Scion it is expected that combat will happen, whereas WoD is in a large part designed to eliminate the need for it.
On the negative end, the actual treatment of the deities in the books are pretty bad. Some are oversimplified, some are flat out changed for convenience, some are even alignment shifted for fuck's sake. The God/Titan breakdown means that in some pantheons beings that were considered forces for good are now firmly relegated to the villain side(though this is easy to ignore for one's own story).
In addition, the creature rankings are TERRIBLE and badly balanced with each other-though they still balance alright with everything else.
The Atlantaen pantheon is just weird and unnecessary. Again, easily ignored and as a supplement I would've had no problem, but they put it in the main book. There's a lot of perfectly good pantheons in the world that people actually care about, use one of them?
Overall, though, I am quite fond of Scion-though I do have a system of house rules my group plays with to make it a little more manageable. I would still very much recommend it to anyone who loves mythology in any form.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
New World of Darkness
World of Darkness was the first setting I ever played, so it's got a bit of a special place in my heart, it always has. It only seemed fitting that it should be the first system I review on here. Never fear though, I refuse to let nostalgia get in the way of a fair review.
First off, a bit of background about the system. World of Darkness is kind of an oversystem/setting for a group of supernatural type systems. You have Vampire the Requiem, Mage the Awakening, Changeling the Lost, Werewolf the Forsaken, Promethean the Created, Hunter the Vigil, and Mortals. All of these coexist in the same setting, and all of them, even mortals, can be deadly dangerous.
In theory, parties can mix and match character types to have a party comprised of all different types-though mostly races keep to themselves unless given a good reason to do otherwise. In practice, an unwary DM can find mixed parties an absolute clusterfuck that interferes with each other and/or actively tries to kill each other.
The good news
The setting is beautifully done and immensely detailed, each race has enough options for the diversity a true race needs. Each individual race's system is big enough to easily run in without bringing in other races or indeed needing to know anything about their rules or setting. The storytelling focus of the system means that character interactions are brought to the forefront and are just as smooth to play out as combat.
Character creation is quick and easy, a player familiar with the system can easily make a detailed character sheet in five-ten minutes
The books themselves are the most fun of any of the manuals I've ever read to just sit down and read-the story seeds scattered throughout are thought provoking and entertaining. Even the published adventures are open ended, offering a specific setting, NPCs and a hook without railroading you or your players into taking a certain path. If you are a creative GM, this system is exactly what you need to get going.
The Bad News
A side effect of the storytelling focus is a preoccupation with the politics of each group . It's good that there's a detailed society for everyone, it's bad when following it to the letter means spending a lot of your players' time dealing with racial politics instead of getting on with the story.
The systems do not fit together as well as they are supposed to, and without watching very carefully you may find that some party members are way overpowering others and have to be balanced for. In addition, all of the races are built to more or less hate each other on sight-which isn't unrealistic, but is somewhat of a pain to deal with.
The books are beautifully written but White Wolf is NOTORIOUSLY BAD at indexing, which makes finding anything specific in the books a huge headache.
The open endedness of the system is great if you're a creative DM who likes doing everything by hand. If you're not as creatively inclined, running WoD is a headache and a half. In addition, without mad improv skills running last minute one shots or having to run with something unexpected your characters have just done is a nightmare.
Really, though, NWoD has it's problems, but it's a great system for roleplay lovers. This is my go to system for new campaigns or convention games.
First off, a bit of background about the system. World of Darkness is kind of an oversystem/setting for a group of supernatural type systems. You have Vampire the Requiem, Mage the Awakening, Changeling the Lost, Werewolf the Forsaken, Promethean the Created, Hunter the Vigil, and Mortals. All of these coexist in the same setting, and all of them, even mortals, can be deadly dangerous.
In theory, parties can mix and match character types to have a party comprised of all different types-though mostly races keep to themselves unless given a good reason to do otherwise. In practice, an unwary DM can find mixed parties an absolute clusterfuck that interferes with each other and/or actively tries to kill each other.
The good news
The setting is beautifully done and immensely detailed, each race has enough options for the diversity a true race needs. Each individual race's system is big enough to easily run in without bringing in other races or indeed needing to know anything about their rules or setting. The storytelling focus of the system means that character interactions are brought to the forefront and are just as smooth to play out as combat.
Character creation is quick and easy, a player familiar with the system can easily make a detailed character sheet in five-ten minutes
The books themselves are the most fun of any of the manuals I've ever read to just sit down and read-the story seeds scattered throughout are thought provoking and entertaining. Even the published adventures are open ended, offering a specific setting, NPCs and a hook without railroading you or your players into taking a certain path. If you are a creative GM, this system is exactly what you need to get going.
The Bad News
A side effect of the storytelling focus is a preoccupation with the politics of each group . It's good that there's a detailed society for everyone, it's bad when following it to the letter means spending a lot of your players' time dealing with racial politics instead of getting on with the story.
The systems do not fit together as well as they are supposed to, and without watching very carefully you may find that some party members are way overpowering others and have to be balanced for. In addition, all of the races are built to more or less hate each other on sight-which isn't unrealistic, but is somewhat of a pain to deal with.
The books are beautifully written but White Wolf is NOTORIOUSLY BAD at indexing, which makes finding anything specific in the books a huge headache.
The open endedness of the system is great if you're a creative DM who likes doing everything by hand. If you're not as creatively inclined, running WoD is a headache and a half. In addition, without mad improv skills running last minute one shots or having to run with something unexpected your characters have just done is a nightmare.
Really, though, NWoD has it's problems, but it's a great system for roleplay lovers. This is my go to system for new campaigns or convention games.
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