tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post9030919570419071038..comments2024-03-28T09:41:39.187-04:00Comments on GROGNARDIA: REVIEW: Hammers of the GodJames Maliszewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-89216396168336828532010-09-21T14:01:23.643-04:002010-09-21T14:01:23.643-04:00I never expected that anyone would read any of tha...I never expected that anyone would read any of that while in the dungeon. It's an intentional break in the "beat" of the dungeoncrawl. You don't go back to town to rest, you go back to town to research.<br /><br />(wait until I release the adventure that requires a massive excavation expedition just to get in the front door. ;))<br /><br />As for the *Save or Die* traps, only Location #16 strikes me as being particularly nasty... well, that and #27 but the deal at 27 is almost the entire point of the whole thing.JimLotFPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02992397707040836366noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-18197886779202949072010-09-21T12:26:11.450-04:002010-09-21T12:26:11.450-04:00My copy of Hammers turned up... And I'm a tad ...My copy of Hammers turned up... And I'm a tad disappointed. It may be a nice piece of writing but DFD is a much better scenario. DFD simply drips with equal quantities of dread and excitement; HotG on the other hand details the contents of 101 dwarf tomes that each take 2d4 hours to read (if your PC happens to read 'ancient dwarf').<br /><br />HotG may well have a nice dwarf secret to reveal but I suspect it's for the Referee's eyes only as it's unlikely the characters will have brought their reading glasses. If they did bring their specs and fancied a right good read, they'd most likely be upset to find themselves completely dead from any number of 'save or die' situations.<br /><br />I don't mind save of die traps but used too often they drive player behaviour... <br /><br />"Shall we open this door?" <br />"Don't be daft, Ulfric turned his toes up at the last seemingly harmless door..."<br />"Okay, how about this casket..?" <br />"Perhaps we'd better just thumb through book 25; hasn't that got the cookie recipe in it?"<br /><br />Oh I know, I'm probably being a little unfair (after all I haven't played it yet) but I do think the author is taking himself a little bit too seriously in this one. At least DFD had Grover Cincinnati... Come back Grover, all is forgiven!<br /><br />I wouldn't normally trouble you all with a negative comment - just that I've read plenty of Mr. Raggi's, enjoyed them all greatly but found this to be the least of them - a stark contrast to the Grognardian who felt it was the best. Takes all sorts of course.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-53808288590797381852010-09-19T07:52:44.222-04:002010-09-19T07:52:44.222-04:00Just wanted to thank you for the review James, but...Just wanted to thank you for the review James, but not because of the scenario. Turns out I used to work with Dean Clayton, the artist, many years ago. We hadn't been in contact for a very long time, and thanks to your link throroughness, I found his contact details.<br />So thanks for hooking up two old friends, cheers!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-87572506512591700762010-09-15T11:02:26.548-04:002010-09-15T11:02:26.548-04:00FWIW, it's completely playable with any D&...FWIW, it's completely playable with any D&D, up to and including 4e. As is usual for Raggi's adventures, the theme and mood is way more important than the stats.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-28329481600964018322010-09-14T14:59:54.138-04:002010-09-14T14:59:54.138-04:00Intriguing. I really liked DFD and I have a specia...Intriguing. I really liked DFD and I have a special fondness for Dwarves (get your minds out of the gutter! :P ), so I may have to get this. I suspect it might work well with WFRP 1E, since I toss out most of the background material introduced starting with WFB 4, which leaves the origins of the Dwarves largely undefined in that setting.Anthonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01254215329246851683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-67007006040136584362010-09-14T14:12:23.835-04:002010-09-14T14:12:23.835-04:00The dwarves in my campaign also have a secret, but...<i>The dwarves in my campaign also have a secret, but the difference is, they don't even know what it is.</i><br /><br />This would work well with <i>Hammers of the God</i>. The secret is such that it is entirely possible that the dwarves have gone to such lengths to hide it that no one remembers it, or even that it has been hidden.<br /><br />Indeed, there's a strong implication in the scenario that this is the case, and that the dungeon is the only place where this information can now be found.<br /><br />I'm inclined to agree that this is a better scenario than <i>Death Frost Doom</i>. Like the former adventure, this contains a "bomb", but unlike <i>DFD</i> it's not a physical one, and I appreciate the idea of a piece of information that can have as powerful and wide-ranging an effect as the events of <i>DFD</i>.thekelvingreenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01928260185408072124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-61553003274871247852010-09-14T05:57:14.870-04:002010-09-14T05:57:14.870-04:00Actually, now that I think about it, a retro-clone...Actually, now that I think about it, a retro-cloned Stormbringer would be ideal for what Raggi likes to do.Will Mistrettahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18403399118961902073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-12998066009792640912010-09-14T05:46:53.459-04:002010-09-14T05:46:53.459-04:00Ordered.Ordered.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-80184602507173103002010-09-14T00:40:16.538-04:002010-09-14T00:40:16.538-04:00"Hammers of the God is, like all James Raggi ..."Hammers of the God is, like all James Raggi adventures, light on monsters to fight and heavy on mystery and mood."<br /><br />Now that I think about it, it's interesting that he would even make his game a D&D variant instead of using the rules of, perhaps, Call of Cthulhu, as a basis.<br /><br />Then again, even if he is pounding nails with a screwdriver, he sure seems to be successful at it. :)Will Mistrettahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18403399118961902073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-70814461348971439802010-09-14T00:20:46.594-04:002010-09-14T00:20:46.594-04:00C'mon, what happened with Freya and the dwarve...C'mon, what happened with Freya and the dwarves is no secret - much to her chagrin.Kevin Machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14122665488285424578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-44507355516627949632010-09-13T23:15:51.415-04:002010-09-13T23:15:51.415-04:00Ja...looks pretty darn good.
: )Ja...looks pretty darn good.<br />: )JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08532311924539491087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-26916589236840814662010-09-13T22:18:25.463-04:002010-09-13T22:18:25.463-04:00Holy crap I have to get this.Holy crap I have to get this.Alexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05078173255668986590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-32400452307376480112010-09-13T20:19:44.517-04:002010-09-13T20:19:44.517-04:00James, your comments about the "secrets of th...James, your comments about the "secrets of the Dwarves" are really intriguing. I'm very tempted to buy this even though I'm not currently playing any old-school D&D type games (we're still finishing up a 10+ year 3.5 edition game). <br /><br />But, the way you wrote the review... I might just have to snap this up. The dwarves in my campaign also have a secret, but the difference is, <i>they</i> don't even know what it is. I'm not sure I have it quite figured out, either. I'm kind of hoping my players figure something out before I wrap up this campaign. <br /><br />Thanks again for doing these reviews - my local game store doesn't carry old OSR type products, so this is the only place I learn about them.Martin R. Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11854760943630230553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-42953842222096141072010-09-13T19:13:51.677-04:002010-09-13T19:13:51.677-04:00You just made another customer for Mr. Raggi. I...You just made another customer for Mr. Raggi. I've not bought any of his material yet; but, this looks like a great place to start.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12508594597349248576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-51096698293314927392010-09-13T18:36:06.895-04:002010-09-13T18:36:06.895-04:00Like all of Raggi's adventures, this is a &quo...Like all of Raggi's adventures, this is a "generic" module that includes very few game stats at all, most of them being easily usable with any old school <i>D&D</i> game or one of its clones.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-67650282872643613162010-09-13T18:32:02.717-04:002010-09-13T18:32:02.717-04:00Ooh! Drat! I almost ordered this over the weekend ...Ooh! Drat! I almost ordered this over the weekend and opted for an oop ebay score instead! Now I want it even more, of course. Next payday.Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08192212467523179768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-19237919261199930212010-09-13T18:31:12.361-04:002010-09-13T18:31:12.361-04:00"[Raggi] creates a surprising secret, one tha..."[Raggi] creates a surprising secret, one that is simultaneously true to the default portrayal of dwarves in most fantasy RPG settings and yet recasts them in a way that makes it hard ever to view them in the same light again."<br /><br />Awesome.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-10201112918872021322010-09-13T18:30:45.163-04:002010-09-13T18:30:45.163-04:00Is this playable with clones?Is this playable with clones?Kiltedyaksmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03462341093016199620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-6607208513622312632010-09-13T17:33:07.892-04:002010-09-13T17:33:07.892-04:00Thanks for the review James. It has made me aware...Thanks for the review James. It has made me aware of yet another great product (that I wouldn't have otherwise seen) and allowed me to add it to my collection.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com