Post originally by Zak Arntson at 2004-07-12 10:18:02
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When I first read the title, I thought it was a future tech Franz Kafka game. I suppose I can still be a giant mecha cockroach that transforms into a depressed salesman.
As for the actual Mechamorphosis book, are there PC/NPC/"Monsters" provided? I'd hate to be the poor GM statting up every single friend and foe for the game!
Also, when you say "Like the other Horizon games, the skill list has been compressed, ...", how many are there? 10? 20? I find skills to be the most frustrating part of the d20 system.
Post originally by Tanuki at 2004-07-12 14:41:12
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This is the author of the review.
>>> As for the actual Mechamorphosis book, are there PC/NPC/"Monsters" provided? I'd hate to be the poor GM statting up every single friend and foe for the game! <<<
There are no prefigured statistic blocks in the entire book. This is one of the only lamentable parts of the book - something like this really benefits from having known reference points in the form of pre-statted NPCs.
>>> Also, when you say "Like the other Horizon games, the skill list has been compressed, ...", how many are there? <<<
There are 14 skills in the book, considering "Knowledge" to be only one skill. They have compressed the skill list. For example, the skill Acrobatics takes the place of Balance, Escape Artist and Tumble; the skill Senses is used in place of Listen, Search and Spot.
Post originally by Tanuki at 2004-07-12 14:47:55
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That page needs to be updated. Poly is no longer a part of Dungeon. Please reference http://www.paizopublishing.com/news/pressreleases/20040514_OpenLetter.shtml
QUOTE
In order to provide this in-depth offering, Dungeon will now focus exclusively on Dungeons & Dragons—delivering even more high-quality D&D coverage. We listened to your feedback, and it was clear that by trying to serve D&D fans, the d20 market, Star Wars fans, and the RPGA, our magazine wasn’t completely succeeding at delivering the highest quality experience for any of those groups. We know that many of you subscribed to Dungeon for the complete mini-games and articles about Star Wars d20 and D&D Modern. Unfortunately, there weren't enough of you to offset those who left the magazine due to the decrease in the D&D content each issue. The D&D players felt we weren't giving them enough D&D content, and the Polyhedron readers felt that we shorted the d20 stuff. For this reason, after careful thought and some soul searching, we’ve decided to end the long run of Polyhedron Magazine and focus on being the best resource for Dungeon Masters. Regular RPGA updates will transfer to Dragon magazine to reach the largest number of D&D gamers around the world, and we’ll continue to include RPGA Player Reward adventure codes for each Dungeon adventure. With Network material in both magazines, Dragon and Dungeon will support the RPGA like never before.
END QUOTE
As a final check of my facts, I have here Dungeon issue #112, the July 2004 issue. Polyhedron is not inside. Sorry.
Post originally by John DeHope 3 at 2004-07-12 15:13:45
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"I find skills to be the most frustrating part of the d20 system."
Really? I find the endless lists of feats which break the game's mechanics frustrating. If the game had 100 skills, at least they'd all work about the same. Nothing to memorize, just look at the big long list of skills and decide which one works best. With feats, just about each one breaks the game somehow, so you have to memorize each one. It's kewl though.
Post originally by Whollyrandom at 2004-07-13 05:37:27
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That saves me a little money; I only ever bought Dungeon for Polyhedron since prepackaged D20 adventures have never held much interest for me. Provided that FFG continue to come out with their own high-quality mini-games at low prices, I can simply buy those instead.
Post originally by Rev. Pee Kitty at 2004-07-13 11:39:38
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While I recoil in horror at my wonderful Transformers being thrust into the awful d20 rules*, I was very impressed with your review. You summarized the chapters well without being too wordy, and gave us a very good idea of what this book contains and is useful for. Good job!
PK
* Yeah, go ahead and flame away if you want; it's not like I'll read any of it.
Post originally by Zak Arntson at 2004-07-13 15:31:59
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Tanuki wrote:
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>>> There are no prefigured statistic blocks in the entire book. This is one of the only lamentable parts of the book - something like this really benefits from having known reference points in the form of pre-statted NPCs.
Stinky! Oh well, with the lessened number of skills, maybe statting out the baddies wouldn't be so bad. In fact, I wonder if a group would have fun making all the stats together.
>>> There are 14 skills in the book, considering "Knowledge" to be only one skill. They have compressed the skill list. For example, the skill Acrobatics takes the place of Balance, Escape Artist and Tumble; the skill Senses is used in place of Listen, Search and Spot.
Post originally by Zak Arntson at 2004-07-13 15:41:32
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John DeHope 3 wrote:
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>>> Really? I find the endless lists of feats which break the game's mechanics frustrating. If the game had 100 skills, at least they'd all work about the same. Nothing to memorize, just look at the big long list of skills and decide which one works best. With feats, just about each one breaks the game somehow, so you have to memorize each one. It's kewl though.
In my experience, skills have slowed character creation and led to me producing ineffective characters (i.e., not taking needed cross-class skills because they were just that ... not my class skills). That, and I like simpler character sheets.
With feats, you just need to memorize (or write down) a few at first level. And keep picking them with an eye towards a feat tree.
I'm also a fan of what feats try to do. It's like a basic game (old D&D) with little meta-rules (feats). It's definitely a preference.
Skills take a basic game centered on dungeon crawling (old D&D) and tack on a "simulated realism" approach in the skill system.
With the combination of skills & feats, I feel like I have to know not only my character's feats, but nearly every single skill on the damn sheet. Blech.
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