The Hero System's latest incarnation of its fantasy genre book makes what was good about it's predecessor even better, but despite its girth, loses a few features in the process.
Post originally by xagen at 2003-11-10 21:32:34
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Alan,
I liked your review. Not only very detailed and through, but honest and forthcoming as well. Other than being a little wordy at times for no particular reason, and bragging a bit much ("I used FH...to masterfully handcraft fantasy genre games using the Hero System" - at least you don't have self esteem issues!) your review was well written. Once more, I agreed with your take on the book. A great book, and yet, with 400 pages, you figure they could have given you a little more - spells, magical items, heck, a setting, something. But they did give plenty of ideas and rules for GMs to do their own work.
Good job.
P.S. - 92 reviews?? Are you insane or unemployed?? Pick. ;-)
Post originally by Sang at 2003-11-11 06:13:36
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xagen wrote:
<i><b>bragging a bit much ("I used FH...to masterfully handcraft fantasy genre games using the Hero System" - at least you don't have self esteem issues!)</b></i>
Heh... I meant it as a compliment to what I could do with the book, not my own capabilities.
(As awesome as they may be )
<i><b>P.S. - 92 reviews?? Are you insane or unemployed?? Pick. ;-) </b></i>
Actually, it has been a while since I wrote a review here. Most of those reviews are from a while ago.
Post originally by Lxndr at 2003-11-11 09:01:58
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My "solution" to Package Deals and kickbacks is simple, but controversial. A lot of people seem to think I'm daft for doing this in my games, but it's worked totally fine for me. In short:
Any disadvantages one gets in a Package Deal do not count against the Disadvantage Limit of the game. So a person with a package deal would be able to effectively be a higher-point-value character.
Post originally by Yamo at 2003-11-11 13:02:38
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Doesn't that just arbitrarily reward certain character concepts over others? Why should a player with a character concept of "generic dwarf warrior #412" get a point kickback when a player with an oddball (but INTERESTING) concept that doesn't fit any of the Package Deals gets nothing?
Post originally by Lxndr at 2003-11-12 09:23:09
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Well, generally I only had package deals for races, not "classes" per se. Plus, disadvantages are DISADVANTAGES. Sure, a 75+100 character has 25 more points than a 75+75 character, but he also have 25 more points disadvantages that can up and bite him in the ass.
And in terms of Actual Play, despite the fact that all the other races got the kickbacks, four out of six people still chose to play humans. I think that says a lot right there.
Post originally by Peter Knutsen at 2003-11-12 18:22:47
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Anyone who claims that D&D belongs to the same genre as "Lord of the Rings" or "Earthsea" has a severe perceptual bias.
And anyone who does not balk when faced with such an absurd claim is lacking in genre sensitivity.
D&D is a genre all of its own. It does not reproduce the "feel" or the "mood" of any works of written fantasy, except those which are very directly influenced by D&D, e.g. the Dragonlance novels.
Post originally by Sang at 2003-11-12 19:26:15
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Peter Knutsen wrote:
<i><b>Anyone who claims that D&D belongs to the same genre as "Lord of the Rings" or "Earthsea" has a severe perceptual bias.</b></i>
Because you say it's so?
This is ad hominem. If you really think it is so, then make your case by telling us why it is so, not merely by denigrating those who beleive it.
FYI, FH does not lump in LotR and D&D; I explicitly point out this in the review, so you are, in part, refuting a claim that was not made. It calls LotR Epic Fantasy and Earthsea, Dying Earth and D&D High Fantasy. The characteristics of high fantasy as the book defines it is potent and/or common magic... which is true of all the aforementioned sources. Now no one is claiming those sources are identical, but in citing the common elements, it is perfectly accurate. To deny this seems to me emotive, or as you say, biased.
That said, even though the book doesn't make the claim that LotR and D&D are the same genre, I will, to the extent it is true, defend it. As the book defines epic fantasy, it states that the quest is an everpresent edifice in Epic Fantasy tales. Quiz my players sometime on whether or not D&D has quests (not an unusual edifice at all in D&D, mind you.) That said, the "personal journey" aspect of Epic Fantasy is often absent in D&D (as much of a symptom of the RPG medium as anything else), so I can understand why the author would have reasonable reservations claiming this is D&D's most identifiable genre.
You accuse bias, but I think you are the one betraying it.
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