Thursday, June 16, 2011

Wow

I'm a bit busy today with non-gamey responsibilities, but I did want to pop in quickly to say that today I received a copy of Patrick Wetmore's Anomalous Subsurface Environment, the first level of a gonzo megadungeon and it's amazing. I've been reading it in between my other activities and I'm finding it hard to put down.

Since I haven't read the whole thing in any depth, I'll save my hyperbolic comments till I can write a formal review later. I will say, though, based on what I've read so far, that it doesn't just present a very well-done megadungeon level but that, even more impressively, also a very well-done fantasy setting. There are a lot of superb ideas in this module, some of which eerily parallel things I've been doing in my Dwimmermount campaign and that I've never revealed, even to my players. Whether this is a case of great minds thinking alike or fools never differing, I'll leave to others to decide.

Regardless, this is a fun product and well worth your purchase. More on it later.

12 comments:

  1. This post makes me want to take a look at it while the blurb from the site made me say bleh. Future earth, dinosaurs, lasers, nukes, wizards... just writing that makes me say bleh.

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  2. If you're not keen on gonzo "sorcery and super science" style fantasy, you should take a pass on this. I love that stuff, so it's right up my alley, but it may well not be to everyone's taste.

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  3. Yeah. It is a very impressive product. In presentation, it is also what I wanted Yggsburgh/Castle Zagyg to be like. Exemplary idea density, just the right balance between flavour and terseness.

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  4. If Melan recommends it, I'll have to check it out!

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  5. PatW is a manic genius, and I've been a fan of his work for a while now. Just look at the cover: there's bloody morlocks in this thing!

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  6. Thanks for the nice comments everyone!

    @James - any similarities are presumably due to near-identical ages & reading habits. I had just finished reading Gene Wolfe's "Book of the Long Sun" when I started the campaign so that was a big influence, and so was Thundarr the Barbarian.

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  7. Wolfe and Thundarr, two great tastes that go great together! Very much looking forward to the James Report on this...

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  8. As the contributing artist to this project (along with my buddy, Andy ATOM Taylor,) I just wanted to say, "thanks" again to Pat for letting me come aboard his great project. He was great to work with and I think he's hit this module out of the park.

    *And who DOESN'T like Thundarr The Barbarian?!!!

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  9. ASE-1 was just what I needed! What a great read at a time that I was taking my campaign too seriously. I look forward to future modules!

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  10. Cool product. So far, I especially enjoy how the prose is brief, fun and effective, almost as if.. GASP.. it was actually written TO BE USED! I usually don't enjoy reading modules, quite frankly.

    Pat does a good job of communicating a lot of atmosphere and information without putting me to sleep. The art's great too, of course, but Brian knows I love his stuff.

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  11. So far, I especially enjoy how the prose is brief, fun and effective, almost as if.. GASP.. it was actually written TO BE USED!

    That's just crazy talk! ;-)

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