Was visiting a new game store to play 5th ed. My dragon born got stuck behind party for three combats because we had 8 players. One fight i stood waiting by a staircase because someone else blocked it. Sometimes minis are a drama. I had fun though my 4th game of 5th ed.
The above book was in. I cant afford it but i had a good look. It is a improvement. Contrast of the eras of design is greater. Less repitition. New content looked good, even new monsters and lairs. The best thing is the William McAustland art and maps. I love his stuff and his mutant epoch books and his work on goodman games stuff. There is lots of it and im prepared to get this book largely on the strength of his work in it. His revisions of the maps are supreme. It is a big improvement over the previous book and makes me hope for more. Id love a saltmarsh trilogy or the lost city or cult of the reptile god done like this..
In response to a comment on this added 16th
i agree new books over written. But the point of this series is to reprint all original versions. Book one reprints both versions of two modules, presents a 5th ed version, stats monsters in 5th ed that are not in current edition and fleshes out area with additional encounters. It has thick paper and large text.
I was interested in the project and when i saw results i was a bit iffy about it but got it. I did want both modules and i did run one of them promptly. I was still iffy and didnt like the new art but the new content was usable.
The new book has both modules and does a better job of everything. The contrast from early 80s TSR and mid 80s designer TSR. They have obviously listened to the criticisms of vol1. Im a big McAustland fan and will get it mostly because of him and he improves any book he works on. I hope series continues and gets better.
How come it is so much thicker than the original? My prejudice is that new (as in, probably, the past 20 years!) modules tend use many more words to achieve to communicate the same material as older modules - which makes them less usable at the table - but better 'value' on the penny to word ratio.
ReplyDeletei agree new books over written. But the point of this series is to reprint all original versions. Book one reprints both versions of two modules, presents a 5th ed version, stats monsters in 5th ed that are not in current edition and fleshes out area with additional encounters. It has thick paper and large text.
DeleteI was interested in the project and when i saw results i was a bit iffy about it but got it. I did want both modules and i did run one of them promptly. I was still iffy and didnt like the new art but the new content was usable.
The new book has both modules and does a better job of everything. The contrast from early 80s TSR and mid 80s designer TSR. They have obviously listened to the criticisms of vol1. Im a big McAustland fan and will get it mostly because of him and he improves any book he works on. I hope series continues and gets better.
I think their cover price isn't unreasonable for a book with so much obvious effort and respect put into it's craft, but that doesn't mean it's affordable for many of us right out of the gate. It does indeed look very cool and worthwhile; but the $ is a bit daunting. However; I felt the same way about the KEEP ON THE BORDERLANDS 5th edition hardcover and so I waited a bit til I could find it for a much more doable price on the second-hand market. I've no doubt the same thing will happen with THE ISLE OF DREAD.
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