tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post6498750119231819883..comments2024-03-28T06:20:47.668-04:00Comments on GROGNARDIA: REVIEW: OSRIC UnearthedJames Maliszewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-20715893131636240392009-05-04T16:41:00.000-04:002009-05-04T16:41:00.000-04:00Ryan, I tried really, really hard to make the new ...Ryan, I tried really, really hard to make the new classes balanced with those in OSRIC core, which is why I think James paid me the singular compliment of calling the book "Arcana Unearthed done right". <br /><br />Hopefully you'll agree!Chuckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05334071256551332865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-25848310475249646362009-05-04T16:26:00.000-04:002009-05-04T16:26:00.000-04:00I always interpreted the barbarian's loss of restr...I always interpreted the barbarian's loss of restrictions as him "getting over" the superstitions of his native culture. Thrond of the Northlands sees that his civilized buddy Dirk von Pembrek fights with a magical sword and it does not, in fact, steal his soul... or perhaps after many nasty wounds, the strange healing ways of the foreign cleric no longer seem so objectionable to him. Not so much selling out, but embracing belief systems out side of his magic-hating culture. <br /><br />That being said, I personally find the UA Barbarian and the OA Barbarian to be damn near unplayable as written. Maybe OSRIC Unearthed will give me some good ideas for editing the class to suit my tastes.DMWieghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03682249561077936507noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-70673217710569780132009-05-04T11:08:00.000-04:002009-05-04T11:08:00.000-04:00You forget that the magic-prohibition is only for ...<I>You forget that the magic-prohibition is only for low-level AD&D barbarians. UA-style AD&D barbarians can use any magic weapons at 4th level and higher.</I> <br />That's all right, then. Do they finally man up and get over their superstition, or sell out? Or is it just that a blanket prohibition on magic powerups would break the class at higher levels?richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13517340075234811323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-57332740973257080942009-05-04T11:02:00.000-04:002009-05-04T11:02:00.000-04:00"Also, Conan seems perfectly and pragmaticall..."Also, Conan seems perfectly and pragmatically willing to use the magic blade to confront the demon... Again, this doesn't seem to hold with the class as presented in Unearthed Arcana."<br /><br />You forget that the magic-prohibition is only for low-level AD&D barbarians. UA-style AD&D barbarians can use any magic weapons at 4th level and higher.Deltahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00705402326320853684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-82766137775699404862009-05-04T05:53:00.000-04:002009-05-04T05:53:00.000-04:00It looks like something to mark for future referen...It looks like something to mark for future reference - if you gave it 10 for creativity - even if it is not put in use, it would most certainly come in handy as a reference bookUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15067376934226559383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-2008518131026986572009-05-04T04:43:00.000-04:002009-05-04T04:43:00.000-04:00If the AD&D Barbarian is meant to be EGG's...If the AD&D Barbarian is meant to be EGG's take on Conan, then I must humbly disagree with his take. <br /><br />In Pheonix on the Sword, the first Conan story published, King Conan meets Epemitreus the Sage in a dream, even though he's been dead for millennia.<br /><br />The Sage warns him of an impending coup, then gives him a magic sword (the Phoenix Sword) which he will NEED (according to Epemitreus) to defeat a mystical demon. <br /><br />Basically, Conan needs this magic weapon to hit the demon.<br /><br />The AD&D Barbarian would not. <br /><br />Also, Conan seems perfectly and pragmatically willing to use the magic blade to confront the demon.<br /><br />Again, this doesn't seem to hold with the class as presented in Unearthed Arcana.Chuckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05334071256551332865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-37165843416612727882009-05-04T00:21:00.000-04:002009-05-04T00:21:00.000-04:00"On the subject of the Barbarian, as a RE How..."On the subject of the Barbarian, as a RE Howard fan, I used Conan as my polestar, not any incarnation of barbarian from *any* edition of the game."<br /><br />Eh... look in some old Dragon issues. In one, EGG gave stats for Conan, along with several unique abilities. A few issues later, a he presents the "barbarian" class -- with the exact same list of enumerated abilities. <br /><br />EGG's barbarian class was very specifically his reading for Conan in AD&D terms.Deltahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00705402326320853684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-1276725089324882009-05-03T22:36:00.000-04:002009-05-03T22:36:00.000-04:00For myself, I must say I bought this book (hard-co...For myself, I must say I bought this book (hard-copy) when it came out, and while I don't use it in my own campaign, I'm happy to have it, for nothing if not inspiration. <br /><br />It's the modern equivalent of an issue of Dungeoneer, Judges Guild Journal, Alarums and Excursions, or The Dragon. I don't need to use it as written to be able to appreciate its value. <br /><br />The mere fact that it exists speaks to the fact that there is a vibrant community of people poking about in all sorts of different directions in the bowels of the earliest incarnations of our favorite game, and I want to see where said poking goes. I might use it. I might not. But I would like to see one of these every month, and would gladly pay the price for a hard-copy through Lulu. Gods know I spent enough on Judge's Guild stuff I never ran as-written...<br /><br />My word verification: ingful. "Ing" from the Norse god of fertility and prosperity and the generative energy (as in Ingve FreyR), and "ful" from the OE word meaning "full of". Strangely apropos...Josephhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01355324231111953098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-74630804264699847832009-05-03T14:28:00.000-04:002009-05-03T14:28:00.000-04:00I think Chuck's doing a splendid job of justifying...I think Chuck's doing a splendid job of justifying his ideas.<br /><br />Either way, I am all about this book, and would love to get a copy if I can ever afford it (I'll have to get my hands on OSRIC first, though).<br /><br />And I would totally play the Noble class, for novelty's sake if nothing else.Rachel Ghoulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04765944479141792643noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-69069741486176566662009-05-03T13:23:00.000-04:002009-05-03T13:23:00.000-04:00There are a fair number of differences between the...There are a fair number of differences between the two.<br /><br />However, when distilled into the relatively simple mechanics of OSRIC, the two classes wound up looking rather similar.<br /><br />They're both fighter sub-types, both immune to fear and both gain sword as a weapon of choice. <br /><br />Both live by strict code of honor and are required to be lawful.<br /><br />Those are the similarities in this book.<br /><br />The differences are in the nature of their respective codes- I actually spell out the Code of Chivalry and the Code of Bushido in the book.<br /><br />Also the knight gains bonuses while fighting mounted, while the samurai gains additional weapons of choice in the spear (yari) and bow (daikyu) for the three traditional weapons every samurai was supposed to master. <br /><br />And yes, I realize that not every knight was the same, nor was every samurai.<br /><br />But when distilling the Arthurian Knight and the "classical" Samurai into OSRIC classes, they ended up with some similarities and some differences.Chuckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05334071256551332865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-38976032054488746702009-05-03T10:47:00.000-04:002009-05-03T10:47:00.000-04:00European knights and Japaneses Samurai are two tot...<I>European knights and Japaneses Samurai are two totally different things.</I> <br /><br />I realise this is OT, but could anyone provide a description of the European knight and the Japanese samurai that really lays out the differences? I see some commonalities between them, especially in the relationship between knight and lord on one hand and samurai and daimyo on the other, but maybe that involves an understanding of the knight that's far removed from popular ideas based loosely on Malory.<br />...also, I guess "European knight" is a pretty broad category.richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13517340075234811323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-83665483191800369712009-05-02T23:33:00.000-04:002009-05-02T23:33:00.000-04:00European knights and Japaneses Samurai are two tot...European knights and Japaneses Samurai are two totally different things. Neither is a variation of the other.<br />I find it funny that few RPGs that aren't specific to the Samurai genre (read Bushido) never get a samurai class right.Olschoolgamerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01950604286211188411noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-34841110597698504872009-05-02T17:31:00.000-04:002009-05-02T17:31:00.000-04:00Hi James, thanks for the review!
A few comments i...Hi James, thanks for the review!<br /><br />A few comments if I may, which are not intended as any sort of quibbling with the review by me but to explain why some choices were made.<br /><br />On the subject of the Barbarian, as a RE Howard fan, I used Conan as my polestar, not any incarnation of barbarian from *any* edition of the game. <br /><br />Conan was fearful of magic and prone to blood rages, so both were included.<br /><br />On the subject of including the Oriental Classes one issue I always had with the classic Oriental Adventures was that they were designed to NOT be included, and were balanced differently, which caused a host of problems. <br /><br />I also have found that if the game master allows an oriental character as a rarity, someone will step up and play a Ronin or a martial artist as a fish out of water.<br /><br />And finally of course, there's the Scarlet Brotherhood, which would definitely use many of the Oriental-themed classes in the book, at least in my opinion. <br /><br />So since I'd want the Yamabushi for a Greyhawk campaign, separating them out seemed like a bad idea. <br /><br />I realize it's not the sort of book where 100% of it will see use in every campaign. <br /><br />But I felt (hoped at least) that folks who bought the book would always want it around either for the "next campaign" or to represent a mysterious wanderer or for rules for that unexplored island their players would be stuck on for the next 4 weeks of gameplay.Chuckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05334071256551332865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-75873592422037795132009-05-02T15:22:00.000-04:002009-05-02T15:22:00.000-04:00For some reason it's become fashionable to suggest...<I>For some reason it's become fashionable to suggest that the two were separate in the early days of the hobby but it's just not how it was, unless you limit your field of inquiry to official TSR products.</I><BR><BR>Since this product is a supplement for OSRIC, the <I>AD&D</I> retro-clone, I limited my comparisons to its direct predecessors. The Gygaxian barbarian was not a berserker.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-14193318266920285312009-05-02T15:18:00.000-04:002009-05-02T15:18:00.000-04:00This class is a nice marriage of the ideas behind ...<I> This class is a nice marriage of the ideas behind the AD&D barbarian (fear/hatred of magic, commanding a horde, etc.) with those of more recent vintage (berserker rage), without all the infelicities of either one.</I>Recent vintage? There were berserker rage barbarians in Alarums & Excursions and Arduin Grimoire that were printed before the Players Handbook. For some reason it's become fashionable to suggest that the two were separate in the early days of the hobby but it's just not how it was, unless you limit your field of inquiry to official TSR products. Barbarians going berserk has been around almost as long as the hobby.Wayne Rossihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11347401495298367324noreply@blogger.com