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Post by Scott on Jul 9, 2005 12:13:09 GMT -5
I plan on picking up a copy at the end of next week. Anybody have a copy yet? Any opinions?
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Post by geneweigel on Jul 11, 2005 13:23:21 GMT -5
At this point, my interest in the company producing "Panes" has waned so much that I'm really considering not even picking up "Zagyg".
It would have to be really outstanding.
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Post by Scott on Jul 11, 2005 18:03:39 GMT -5
Gene, I don't get that at all. If it was some unknown product, then making a decision not to buy because the company has a history of putting out duds is one thing, but not buying EGG's CZ adventure just because your interest in TLG has waned doesn't make sense. I have to smite you for that.
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Post by geneweigel on Jul 11, 2005 20:03:39 GMT -5
Ahh, you're right. I really shouldn't be making comments like that.
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Post by Scott on Jul 11, 2005 20:15:32 GMT -5
I've never had an interest in TLG. The only material that they've released that I've been interested in so far has been the Gygax and Kuntz material. It pained me to buy that stuff because the product was so consistently bad due to the editing/production, but the bones were still there. I haven't bought any TLG stuff for a long time, so I don't know if the quality has improved, but I'll be ordering HoMP within a day or so. Have you, or anybody else, bought any other TLG products you'd care to share some opinions of?
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Post by geneweigel on Jul 11, 2005 20:43:50 GMT -5
C&C PHB
SHHHHH!!!!
Harumph!
Harumph!
HARUMPH!
Seriously, I can't even review that without sounding completely unfair.
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Post by geneweigel on Jul 12, 2005 8:09:35 GMT -5
There!
I ordered it!
ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?!?
Just kidding!
It says it can arrive by the 19th so I'll give a review then.
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Post by Scott on Jul 12, 2005 17:43:21 GMT -5
I am planning on ordering a copy on Friday.
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Post by geneweigel on Jul 12, 2005 21:05:15 GMT -5
The arrival date changed to the 23rd. Damn free shipping!
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Post by geneweigel on Jul 14, 2005 21:14:31 GMT -5
Well dang! Can you believe that I got it today? Well, since the premise revolves around a certain hero-bard named McGregtimm, I figured I'd scan ahead for more namedroppings. I'm not sure but there is a villain named Etok-The-Seeker. Could be... Anyway, its definitely plugged into Greyhawk ala Zagyg and its layout is good. The artwork is mostly loose handouts which can be ignored but even the "controversial guy's" art is tolerable. The premise seems to be a what if Gygax wrote the Demonweb Pit all by himself in Lejendary Adventure and was converted to D20 by someone (Creffield) not aware of the contrasting style of standardized OGL 3e (tieflings, etc.) in comparison to Gygax's classic D&D. So overall a good adventure with lots of Gygax style in a variety of different adventure venues although there is a notable absence of the "dungeon crawl" style with the exception of of a few areas. Seems like its "ploppable" into any joker's campaign. At a glance, I'd say 4 out of 5.
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Post by geneweigel on Jul 14, 2005 21:23:02 GMT -5
Oops I just reread what I wrote, for clarification, I meant "anybody's campaign" when I said "any joker's campaign".
I'm not implying that there is humor at all in this thing.
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foster1941
Warlock
Duke of California, Earl of Los Angeles, Knight Bachelor
Posts: 476
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Post by foster1941 on Jul 15, 2005 13:17:14 GMT -5
Since I got paid today I'm probably going to go ahead and order this. I've got a question though -- it was written for LA, which doesn't really work the same way as D&D in a lot of ways. So, do you think this would be usable in a D&D game with characters having to study spellbooks to regain spells and possibly getting enough XP to level-up mid-adventure and other D&Disms that I don't believe are present in LA? Are characters, for instance, allowed to leave the Hall and return to it, or are they stuck there for the length of the entire adventure? (From what I'd heard previously makes it sound like the latter). In other words, assuming I'm not going to play it using LA, would I be able to play this using D&D (assuming I'm willing to create my own monster stats and such) or will I be buying it solely as 'inspirational reading' material (which is okay too -- it's not like I've actually run most of the modules I've bought over the years)?
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Post by geneweigel on Jul 18, 2005 18:58:06 GMT -5
Since I got paid today I'm probably going to go ahead and order this. I've got a question though -- it was written for LA, which doesn't really work the same way as D&D in a lot of ways. So, do you think this would be usable in a D&D game with characters having to study spellbooks to regain spells and possibly getting enough XP to level-up mid-adventure and other D&Disms that I don't believe are present in LA? Are characters, for instance, allowed to leave the Hall and return to it, or are they stuck there for the length of the entire adventure? (From what I'd heard previously makes it sound like the latter). In other words, assuming I'm not going to play it using LA, would I be able to play this using D&D (assuming I'm willing to create my own monster stats and such) or will I be buying it solely as 'inspirational reading' material (which is okay too -- it's not like I've actually run most of the modules I've bought over the years)? Its the latter (the long haul in an interdimensional prison). In regards to conversion, it is D20 for the most part which keeps it in "The Hawk" with rules minutiae at least somewhat. What may be of support for the real rules niggler is that there is a bunch of suggestions for "bailing and scaling" (as I call it) if your group is good but has been having repetitive bad luck. I'd rather not say anything to spoil it but its definitely an interesting fantasy adventure in 3 almost totally artless, thick and small-texted (but not fine texted) books with supplementary art in handout format.
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Post by grodog on Jul 21, 2005 0:24:04 GMT -5
Well, I've seen the last several NG books that TLG published, and they've turned out OK (but they also weren't laid out or edited by TLG, who just printed and published them; all of the real work was by NG folks).
I have also seen the C&C PHB, and it's a nightmare, just like the boxed set was last year at GenCon. I just keep hoping that Yggsburgh and Dark Chateau aren't castrated due to production issues (bad layout, editing, etc.). If so, I still fear that we may never see Castle Zagyg....
I haven't picked up HOMP yet, but hope to check it out in a FLGS before I consider buying it. Like Gene, in general I touch anything from TL with a 10' pole first....
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Post by geneweigel on Jul 21, 2005 6:45:22 GMT -5
Its in a box though.
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foster1941
Warlock
Duke of California, Earl of Los Angeles, Knight Bachelor
Posts: 476
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Post by foster1941 on Jul 21, 2005 9:40:56 GMT -5
I went looking around area game stores last weekend hoping to find a copy of this set to 'preview' before dropping actual money on it, but nobody had it. Of the 5 or so area game-stores I know about, only one of them carries any TLG stuff -- a bunch of old modules in the discount bin and a couple copies of the C&C PHB that have been gathering dust (literally!) on their shelf for a few months now. So I suppose I'll have to just take the plunge and buy it blind off amazon. Even if its layout and editing are a mess and it's unplayable, since it's Gygax it should at least make for some decent reading, and I've paid more for less...
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Post by geneweigel on Jul 21, 2005 10:33:26 GMT -5
I'll try and give you a bit more without spoiling it:
Layout is good. Much better than anything produced in the last ten years by anyone in the FRPG field (even Gygax) that I can recall. Fonts vary and are italicized appropriately for a much faster read than previous outings. The "panes" have a big variety of areas. There are quite a few "Lejendary" creatures that I'm familiar with that appeared in "Gary Gygax's Beasts of Lejend Cyclopedia of Creatures" and there is a variant race from "The Hermit" adventure. Everything is "workable" in AD&D because its fully converted to D20.
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foster1941
Warlock
Duke of California, Earl of Los Angeles, Knight Bachelor
Posts: 476
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Post by foster1941 on Jul 21, 2005 11:16:29 GMT -5
I'm sold. Ordered from amazon. More comments (perhaps) when it arrives (which, since I chose free shipping, will be sometime between tomorrow and never...).
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dcas
Warlock
Duke of Pennsylvania, Knight Commander
Posts: 481
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Post by dcas on Jul 26, 2005 10:20:01 GMT -5
I have also seen the C&C PHB, and it's a nightmare, just like the boxed set was last year at GenCon. I just keep hoping that Yggsburgh and Dark Chateau aren't castrated due to production issues (bad layout, editing, etc.). If so, I still fear that we may never see Castle Zagyg.... Word on the street is that M&T is very well done and not afflicted by the editorial mistakes of the PHB. I haven't seen it myself so I can't really comment. However, this does give me hope for Yggsburgh and DC (by the way, the former has been at the printer since 7/12 and the latter is supposed to go to print the end of the month).
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foster1941
Warlock
Duke of California, Earl of Los Angeles, Knight Bachelor
Posts: 476
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Post by foster1941 on Jul 26, 2005 11:41:58 GMT -5
(by the way, the former has been at the printer since 7/12 and the latter is supposed to go to print the end of the month). Has that actually been verified (that Yggsburgh is at the printer)? The last news I saw was that it was planned to be at the printer on July 11th. Call me a cynic but no news since then leads me to believe not that it was delivered as scheduled but rather that it has not yet been delivered, and I'll only believe it's actually at the printer when I see an announcement from TLG saying "it's at the printer!" (which may well have happened and I just missed it -- I don't follow TLG comings and goings all that closely anymore).
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