Im seeing 5th ed dropping online prices and some older books at low low prices on sales. The new versions of core books are cheaper than the old ones now.
Oldschool Esentials Advanced Fantasy Players Book 💖💖💖💖
I've been trying to get this or the other darling retroclone and had interesting paywalls and dramas. So to buy this from the publisher, it would be 40 usd + 40 more postage, making about 130 in AU dollaroos. But amazingly, it came up with local retailers who I ordered from. Several returned my money as out of stock. Web searches are cluttered by ppl without stock. I got a copy for $65 +2 for the post from uk. They refunded 2 dollars post due to being slow. Was a company with Australia in the title but turned out to be based in UK and payment to a UK bank. It was probably over 4 weeks to arrive. So I'm looking for a DM book now. I wanted it as it seemed like the best of the two big right now clones, and I'm in an online game. I sold a large pile of one of my past systems of choice over ethical issues - I didn't get the best price, but I was happy to be finally rid of them.
The book is great. This will probably be my go-to version for many purposes if im not using my homebrew or d&d5. There are fidly tables still to say no to you dirty non-humans like your 80s games but they are neater and better laid out. Its simpler than BECMI/Cyclopaedia and easier to access.
Dragonlance Shadow of the Dragon Queen😢😢
The book is great. This will probably be my go-to version for many purposes if im not using my homebrew or d&d5. There are fidly tables still to say no to you dirty non-humans like your 80s games but they are neater and better laid out. Its simpler than BECMI/Cyclopaedia and easier to access.
Dragonlance Shadow of the Dragon Queen😢😢
My main beef with this reboot would be not using Elmore and other 80s TSR artworks, going for a more generic late Middle Ages vibe. Art was 50% of Dragonlance and some of the wonderful maps helped. Of course, mentions of potatoes and raccoons in a fantasy world based on Europe bugs me, but it's pretty normal to have USA forest animals in game books. It does feel like an American fantasy in many ways. Maybe a touch of "christian" sects mythology about America before colonisation. Maybe some of Elmore's fashion stylings remind me of Indigenous American tourist stuff. Things my players and I disliked about DL: Railroading adventures. No cleric spells, but a player needs to play one. Interesting locations, but only details where players need to be for the adventure. I did like some of the characters but couldn't get how the level-ups between modules worked. Some characters were far weaker than others, and no explanation was given. If you know, comment below. I preferred many events described in the modules to the novels. I never got my players to play. I played a 2nd ed campaign and broke some scenarios with my ogre wizard-druid so DM packed up early quite a few times.
Most people thought there would be more setting information, like all the Waterdeep content in various books. Talking about clerics returning for players would have been good. Some deep into lore are not too keen on the book or how this book fits into the novel events. Maybe they thought all the fan wikis of lore would do the heavy lifting. Many newcomers without this lens seemed to enjoy it and the adventure. I never intended to get this but I saw under half price on sale. So it is better than I thought. The art is good, but doesn't feel like it has the folksy retro art it needed to sell it. I'd like a brief world gazeteer, and twice as much stuff for characters. I like the lunar sorcerer, but it has not much to do with the setting. Id have thought setting subclasses would have been better. I guess they assumed they would do more books when they should have put their best foot forward. I got excited by a ruined city location, but they have continued the tradition of using such locations to imply a good treasure hunt, but still, it's just a scenic railroad. Id rather have had a setting book than an adventure. The idea of using it with a board game (like the original modules sort of did) was great, but I can't say I've seen it in practice. The map is good.
Quests from the Infinite Staircase 💪💪💪
Most people thought there would be more setting information, like all the Waterdeep content in various books. Talking about clerics returning for players would have been good. Some deep into lore are not too keen on the book or how this book fits into the novel events. Maybe they thought all the fan wikis of lore would do the heavy lifting. Many newcomers without this lens seemed to enjoy it and the adventure. I never intended to get this but I saw under half price on sale. So it is better than I thought. The art is good, but doesn't feel like it has the folksy retro art it needed to sell it. I'd like a brief world gazeteer, and twice as much stuff for characters. I like the lunar sorcerer, but it has not much to do with the setting. Id have thought setting subclasses would have been better. I guess they assumed they would do more books when they should have put their best foot forward. I got excited by a ruined city location, but they have continued the tradition of using such locations to imply a good treasure hunt, but still, it's just a scenic railroad. Id rather have had a setting book than an adventure. The idea of using it with a board game (like the original modules sort of did) was great, but I can't say I've seen it in practice. The map is good.
Quests from the Infinite Staircase 💪💪💪
Another sale item under half price i was planning to avoid. When i heard the content for this 50th anniversary (to more textured varnish on the back) book i was intrigued. When I first saw it and price, i said nope. Was from a vid game store marked $86 and i got for 35 AUD. So here is my chapter-by-chapter take and comparison to the Goodman games volumes.
The staircase sounds cool but just part of the company's push for plane and setting hopping to cross-promote IP. Plus people can buy every setting and settings dont matter. Ive played games like this with portals like computer games but its not really done well. Some of these worlds keep visiting the same places on the same continent while theyt have unexplored areas. This book feels like a 50 year reboot to keep IP longer. Based on one of Ed Greenwoods worst early modules. The Djinn NPC and D&D Djinn dont thrill me too much.
The Lost City. I like the art here but in this case, Id run the Goodman's game versions with the various fan-made supplementary additions. And I'd use lots of art in Infinite Stairs. I prefer old versions of factions and the simple encounter tables in the original that made them more interesting. They were also very drugged out, insane and bigoted, which the new version lacks. The origional is the exact weird-fantasy-psuedo history that oldschool gaming is full of and nerfed here. This adventure could have nbeen a whole book.
When a star falls was one of the old UK series which influenced me lots and still does. The gnomes in this fit in very well with my game and the UK books had own art and map style. So this is a beautifully illustrated version of origional but a bit streamlined. The origional gave me my first steampunk gnome tech ideas but in this they are downplayed. Id run this 5th ed version or the origional. Its pretty faithfull.
Beyond the Crystal cave fits in with the vibe of The Wild in the Witchlight for d&d fey weirdness. I think this adaption is great and for once the full colour seems very well suited. Its a bit of Romeo & Juliette and Midsummer Night's Dream. Originally you could try and murder hobo your way through and suffer or chat lots. The original probably has more random old-school death from magic hazards. The original could be slanted to forlk horror fey and had a pagan green man character vs the nice person in this who is pretty cool. The old version would fit in Dolemwood better.
Pharaoh. As a fan of the original, this upset me most. We needed a whole book of the desert of desolation campaign with Egyptian and Middle Eastern character stuff and sand spells. Al'Quadim+Egyptian ruins setting would work well. This book favours the video game map look that basically kept me out of 5th ed until Dyson got involved. The maps here are among the best in the book, but I liked the old B&W feature illustrations. I'm seeing lots of Khemetism in RPG books from the USA and a hint perhaps here, but I won't go too deep into that, but I don't like the ghost or his crown. It ends abruptly vs the being part1 of a 3 part campagn. Its ok, flawed, still a bit better than I expected.
The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth
One of my favourite modules I really wanted a goodman games version of and could have had a book. The art is great and maps fine. Drelnza the vampire is wonderful and I love both versions. In the origional the wilderness was a big part of adventure and made my party friends with all kinds of factions they used for help vs giant campagn later. The map merged with the WG4 The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun and is best presented as linked. Also they tap into weird fantasy by exploring ancient evil wizards and cults of the setting. One plus on the briefer wilderness crawl is it emphasises talking more and more roleplaying over stat blocks to slaughter through. The dungeon is pretty faithful. The original had a book of new high-level monsters that made most of the planar section of MM2. Also there was information on the Demonomicon and summoning and binding planar being spells that let high-level wizards keep demons. So yeah, a book with this adventure, WG4 and demonology rules seems unlikely, but what we should have got. One of the better adaptations.
Expedition to the Barrier Peaks was originally interesting but deeply flawed to play. A stronger reason to go and time limits would work better. The Goodman Games version is the poorest of the series, with whole scenarios of alien creatures added but no art for a family of monsters for a campaign. They did fix some maps, but the original, despite interesting space stuff, was deeply flawed and a meatgrinder. We spent one session fighting a vegepygmie horde, then we met the second tribe. Awful. The froghemoth was killed in a round. The Intelect devourer was the biggest threat. The SF element is gold and classic weird incongruity to make a good adventure. The robots and androids in S3 if they were in MM2 instead of the one-use joke monsters that made it from this book D&D would be a very different game. Seeing those stat blocks here in this book was very pleasing. The tech pages and the maps here are the best versions, period. This adaptation, I think, is probably better overall, and I'd rather run this version. Like the art lots, a great gateway t,o and I hope we see more.
The monsters section is good, but Gibbelings have gone in some strange direction since i last saw them in FF in 1983. I'm glad I got it, and it reads better than it looked.
Stonehell Dungeon: Into the Heart of Hell 😛😛😛
The staircase sounds cool but just part of the company's push for plane and setting hopping to cross-promote IP. Plus people can buy every setting and settings dont matter. Ive played games like this with portals like computer games but its not really done well. Some of these worlds keep visiting the same places on the same continent while theyt have unexplored areas. This book feels like a 50 year reboot to keep IP longer. Based on one of Ed Greenwoods worst early modules. The Djinn NPC and D&D Djinn dont thrill me too much.
The Lost City. I like the art here but in this case, Id run the Goodman's game versions with the various fan-made supplementary additions. And I'd use lots of art in Infinite Stairs. I prefer old versions of factions and the simple encounter tables in the original that made them more interesting. They were also very drugged out, insane and bigoted, which the new version lacks. The origional is the exact weird-fantasy-psuedo history that oldschool gaming is full of and nerfed here. This adventure could have nbeen a whole book.
When a star falls was one of the old UK series which influenced me lots and still does. The gnomes in this fit in very well with my game and the UK books had own art and map style. So this is a beautifully illustrated version of origional but a bit streamlined. The origional gave me my first steampunk gnome tech ideas but in this they are downplayed. Id run this 5th ed version or the origional. Its pretty faithfull.
Beyond the Crystal cave fits in with the vibe of The Wild in the Witchlight for d&d fey weirdness. I think this adaption is great and for once the full colour seems very well suited. Its a bit of Romeo & Juliette and Midsummer Night's Dream. Originally you could try and murder hobo your way through and suffer or chat lots. The original probably has more random old-school death from magic hazards. The original could be slanted to forlk horror fey and had a pagan green man character vs the nice person in this who is pretty cool. The old version would fit in Dolemwood better.
Pharaoh. As a fan of the original, this upset me most. We needed a whole book of the desert of desolation campaign with Egyptian and Middle Eastern character stuff and sand spells. Al'Quadim+Egyptian ruins setting would work well. This book favours the video game map look that basically kept me out of 5th ed until Dyson got involved. The maps here are among the best in the book, but I liked the old B&W feature illustrations. I'm seeing lots of Khemetism in RPG books from the USA and a hint perhaps here, but I won't go too deep into that, but I don't like the ghost or his crown. It ends abruptly vs the being part1 of a 3 part campagn. Its ok, flawed, still a bit better than I expected.
The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth
One of my favourite modules I really wanted a goodman games version of and could have had a book. The art is great and maps fine. Drelnza the vampire is wonderful and I love both versions. In the origional the wilderness was a big part of adventure and made my party friends with all kinds of factions they used for help vs giant campagn later. The map merged with the WG4 The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun and is best presented as linked. Also they tap into weird fantasy by exploring ancient evil wizards and cults of the setting. One plus on the briefer wilderness crawl is it emphasises talking more and more roleplaying over stat blocks to slaughter through. The dungeon is pretty faithful. The original had a book of new high-level monsters that made most of the planar section of MM2. Also there was information on the Demonomicon and summoning and binding planar being spells that let high-level wizards keep demons. So yeah, a book with this adventure, WG4 and demonology rules seems unlikely, but what we should have got. One of the better adaptations.
Expedition to the Barrier Peaks was originally interesting but deeply flawed to play. A stronger reason to go and time limits would work better. The Goodman Games version is the poorest of the series, with whole scenarios of alien creatures added but no art for a family of monsters for a campaign. They did fix some maps, but the original, despite interesting space stuff, was deeply flawed and a meatgrinder. We spent one session fighting a vegepygmie horde, then we met the second tribe. Awful. The froghemoth was killed in a round. The Intelect devourer was the biggest threat. The SF element is gold and classic weird incongruity to make a good adventure. The robots and androids in S3 if they were in MM2 instead of the one-use joke monsters that made it from this book D&D would be a very different game. Seeing those stat blocks here in this book was very pleasing. The tech pages and the maps here are the best versions, period. This adaptation, I think, is probably better overall, and I'd rather run this version. Like the art lots, a great gateway t,o and I hope we see more.
The monsters section is good, but Gibbelings have gone in some strange direction since i last saw them in FF in 1983. I'm glad I got it, and it reads better than it looked.
Stonehell Dungeon: Into the Heart of Hell 😛😛😛
A second huge volume of Stonehell. I might hijack bits and appreciate some of design and brevity, and formatting. It extends the original fine and has good continuity. If you liked vol1 you should get it. This and others came from LuLu, very well packaged, printed locally and in 7 days.
The Basic Fantasy Field Guide vol 1&2😚😚
Nice simple monster books plus some other strangeness and new undead to misdirect and amaze. Both work together and good budget oldschool stuff. Some familiar, some variants and some "what the" things. Many strange bears. LuLu and Amazon carry them.
Morgansfort😚😚
Morgansfort😚😚
A simple campaign world with a detailed frontier fort and some local dungeons one 3 levels. It is in the vein of keep on the borderlands vibe fort, which is well detailed with a rumour table. Some monsters look a bit cute, and I don't want to kill them. Good for solo play or as bare bones dungeons to gonzo up with some tables. The first scenario dungeon has 3 optional endings, which more people should do. You could recycle others into some tombs.
Demonspore💗💗💗💗
A classic oldschool weird dungeon with spores and a toad king.
Also a big shout to Gods of the Forbidden North
As the biggest oldschool adventure ever ill say it is very readable and laid out vs some other megadungeons around. Having read most of vol 2 now its made my top 10.
Demonspore💗💗💗💗
A classic oldschool weird dungeon with spores and a toad king.
Also a big shout to Gods of the Forbidden North
As the biggest oldschool adventure ever ill say it is very readable and laid out vs some other megadungeons around. Having read most of vol 2 now its made my top 10.
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