tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post7713743586056886176..comments2024-03-29T07:58:31.156-04:00Comments on GROGNARDIA: REVIEW: B/X CompanionJames Maliszewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-20773989065382894572010-10-17T05:20:25.623-04:002010-10-17T05:20:25.623-04:00Justin, thanks for that! How ironic that it was he...<b>Justin</b>, thanks for that! How ironic that it was here where I saw it in the first place!thekelvingreenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01928260185408072124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-81556319407852725822010-10-16T20:18:32.455-04:002010-10-16T20:18:32.455-04:00@Kelvin: You can see the image right here on Grogn...@Kelvin: You can see the image <a href="http://grognardia.blogspot.com/2009/04/mighty-marvel-method.html" rel="nofollow">right here on Grognardia</a>, including an analysis of its pose-swipeyness from Doctor Strange.Justin Alexanderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02227895898395353754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-59251262111390431452010-10-10T20:15:17.771-04:002010-10-10T20:15:17.771-04:00I doubt that you'll still answer my comment on...I doubt that you'll still answer my comment on this post, but I wanted to thank you for advising me against getting it. I need to save my money and anything above level 10 is usually too high level for me anyway.Mirandahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10745062840676790649noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-13096106621172965692010-10-08T12:58:36.681-04:002010-10-08T12:58:36.681-04:00I associate it strongly with the kind of gamers wh...<i>I associate it strongly with the kind of gamers who used the DDG as a kind of uber-Monster Manual and boasted of their characters having slain Thor and taken possession of Mjolnir and whatnot. It's a sore spot with me. </i><br /><br />The problem with this statement is that you confuse examples of poor play with a campaign style. High level gaming and quests for Immortality can be played well and poorly, just as dungeon crawls can. <br /><br />In many Internet discussions, I see statements about what D&D should be like and what kind of games are not D&D. The great thing about D&D is that it can be <i>anything you want.</i> This is one of the reasons why I prefer RPGs to Boardgames. One of the great things about the BECMI expansions was that it introduced new possibilities to what D&D could be.Havard:https://www.blogger.com/profile/03672640381532559035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-242182066815513132010-10-06T17:22:05.231-04:002010-10-06T17:22:05.231-04:00The astral projection image is one of my favourite...The astral projection image is one of my favourites. There's a definite influence from Ditko's <i>Doctor Strange</i> comics, and from what I do know of the original <i>D&D</i> books, there is some, er, repurposed Marvel art in them, so I'm not surprised if there is a level of similarity.<br /><br />I shall have to ask around the local gaming community to see if anyone has the original books so I can do a comparison.thekelvingreenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01928260185408072124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-11311249089952864492010-10-06T16:14:42.192-04:002010-10-06T16:14:42.192-04:00Am I wrong in how the lawsuit played out?
No one k...<i>Am I wrong in how the lawsuit played out?</i><br /><br>No one knows precisely how the lawsuits played out, so it's hard to say. My suspicion has always been that TSR ponied up some money in order to get Arneson's acquiescence to their claims, but that's based on nothing but a gut feeling. I'd love to know the exact details of the suits and how they were resolved.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-15364121634342398432010-10-06T16:12:07.989-04:002010-10-06T16:12:07.989-04:00I think that Mentzer's rules are arcane, devio...<i>I think that Mentzer's rules are arcane, devious, and difficult to understand- as they should be!</i><br /><br>The Immortals rules? To be totally honest, those rules were so far removed from anything resembling <i>D&D</i> that I never bothered to learn them. I bought that boxed set out of curiosity and was struck almost immediately by how bizarre they were. They're effectively a different game entirely.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-7389111270640022112010-10-06T16:10:41.643-04:002010-10-06T16:10:41.643-04:00I would like more details on what "alternate ...<i>I would like more details on what "alternate take on what high-level play" means. No needs to cut a paste the whole dang book, but I'm curious: If it's not the Mentzer approach or "same as before, just with bigger numbers" like WotC, what is it?</i><br /><br>When I said an "alternate take," I didn't mean alternate to what we've seen in <i>D&D</i> before. Some of what's here we've seen versions of in <i>AD&D</i> and other iterations of OD&D. My point was that it was alternate to what WotC has been pushing for the last decade or so and what Mentzer did in his later boxed sets. <br /><br />The <i>B/X Companion</i> assumes a typically "Conan-esque" future for the PCs -- ruling a dominion and adventuring against higher stakes but the scale remains "human," which is to say, there's no talk of world-shattering evils or apotheosis or any of that sort of thing. I wouldn't say this book offers anything you haven't seen before by any means, but it is something I haven't seen associated with <i>D&D</i> in a long time, so I thought it worth mentioning.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-8746785755615588122010-10-06T16:05:52.200-04:002010-10-06T16:05:52.200-04:00I would consider it an honour to provide art for o...<i>I would consider it an honour to provide art for one of your projects.</i><br /><br>That'd be terrific. I should drop you a line sometime soon and check on your availability.<br /><br /><i>However, I do have to confess my ignorance. I have never seen the original D&D books, so any homage was purely accidental.</i><br /><br>The piece on page C64, with the swami sending his spirit into the planes beyond reminded me a lot of a piece from Volume 3 of the LBBs that showed a djinni. Looking back at both pieces now, the resemblance is more passing than I'd originally imagined, but it's still a terrific illustration.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-38697444747099471322010-10-06T16:03:37.084-04:002010-10-06T16:03:37.084-04:00The domain management rules sound interesting. I m...<i>The domain management rules sound interesting. I might have to pick it up just for those</i><br /><br>Like everything in this book, the rules themselves are quite small (only 2 pages) and expect a lot of referee adjudication to work well. I like what Jonathan did here, but I'm not sure I'd recommend you get the book solely for those rules.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-48557585622303110192010-10-06T16:01:27.326-04:002010-10-06T16:01:27.326-04:00Sadly, no. I mentioned this in my vlog review. The...<i>Sadly, no. I mentioned this in my vlog review. The interior margin is a little tight. You could TRY it, but I think you'd end up catching some text.</i><br /><br>Yeah, it's one of the few small flaws in the physical presentation of this book, which is otherwise a beautiful evocation of the B/X books.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-87075042347095979842010-10-06T16:00:33.746-04:002010-10-06T16:00:33.746-04:00I do not see why Frank Mentzer's method is abs...<i>I do not see why Frank Mentzer's method is absurd. It is clearly different from JB's and it is not something that interests me either but to each his own.</i><br /><br>You're right; "absurd" was probably too strong a word. The "quest for immortality" theme is simply one that I find tedious and dull and that holds zero interest for me. I associate it strongly with the kind of gamers who used the DDG as a kind of uber-<i>Monster Manual</i> and boasted of their characters having slain Thor and taken possession of Mjolnir and whatnot. It's a sore spot with me.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-85191192081822352242010-10-05T16:58:22.705-04:002010-10-05T16:58:22.705-04:00@ JM: Thank you for the kind review...I'm glad...@ JM: Thank you for the kind review...I'm glad you finally got a chance to read it! <br /><br />A couple-three notes:<br /><br />All the artists were great. I'd recommend them to anyone looking for illustrations for their own projects. I couldn't have been happier with Brian's cover (truly), and the interior pieces really make the book worth a read.<br /><br />There IS quite a bit of new material in the book. I wanted it to be more than just a "curiosity on the shelf" even for those folks who insist they'd rather play a different game than B/X. Plus, I'm a creative person, dammit! I think all of it is readily adaptable to any pre-2000 version of the "original fantasy adventure game."<br /><br />Finally, this book isn't a "retro-clone" of anything...certainly not Frank Mentzer's Companion rules. I consider it to be its own book, one that "might have been, but never was." As such (and as I don't infringe on WotC's intellectual property), I didn't see the need to invoke the OGL. <br /><br />Did you like that leprechauns grant wishes? That was one of my favorite parts.<br />: )JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08532311924539491087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-91436309054982756142010-10-05T14:08:31.490-04:002010-10-05T14:08:31.490-04:00Put me down as one vote for a PDF. The price is a ...Put me down as one vote for a PDF. The price is a bit steep for 64pp. paperback, especially as I'm not currently running a game.Anthonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01254215329246851683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-57275582491030420632010-10-05T13:58:59.167-04:002010-10-05T13:58:59.167-04:00outlander78, no pdf at the moment, but I believe t...<b>outlander78</b>, no pdf at the moment, but I believe that JB has said we will consider it.thekelvingreenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01928260185408072124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-85503320567413469752010-10-05T11:03:17.109-04:002010-10-05T11:03:17.109-04:00Is there a PDF option? I am interested in checkin...Is there a PDF option? I am interested in checking this out, but the price for a 64-page booklet is pretty steep - I think I understand why, but that doesn't lower the price.outlander78https://www.blogger.com/profile/06167927077871758494noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-25032612234886523242010-10-05T03:01:11.388-04:002010-10-05T03:01:11.388-04:00N.Wright, like the basic and Expert books upon whi...<b>N.Wright</b>, like the basic and Expert books upon which it's modelled, the <i>Companion</i> is a softcover volume.thekelvingreenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01928260185408072124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-80493992270328927132010-10-05T02:01:43.591-04:002010-10-05T02:01:43.591-04:00If a judge thought Ad&d was different enough f...If a judge thought Ad&d was different enough from 0d&d so that Dave Arneson no longer shared the copyright with Gary Gygax, I don't see how anyone at all needs to even pay lip service to the OGL when making their own game.<br /><br />Am I wrong in how the lawsuit played out?UWS guyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01277557128674527225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-51486079312582084562010-10-04T22:24:20.740-04:002010-10-04T22:24:20.740-04:00For what it's worth, I like Mentzer's Immo...For what it's worth, I like Mentzer's Immortals rules. I'm not knocking the B/X Companions' rules, as I haven't read them yet, but I think that Mentzer's rules are arcane, devious, and difficult to understand- as they should be!<br /><br />Just as a quick question, is the book hardcover or soft?Nickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08596442998967851832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-4118770394171171632010-10-04T21:23:01.743-04:002010-10-04T21:23:01.743-04:00Thanks for the insightful review. Certainly a pur...Thanks for the insightful review. Certainly a purchase for a variety of reasons.Digital Orchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00276516390269689741noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-58178055433844302032010-10-04T20:08:16.961-04:002010-10-04T20:08:16.961-04:00I would like more details on what "alternate ...I would like more details on what "alternate take on what high-level play" means. No needs to cut a paste the whole dang book, but I'm curious: If it's not the Mentzer approach or "same as before, just with bigger numbers" like WotC, what is it? <br /><br />You mentioned domain rules, but that's hardly new, as both AD&D and Mentzer had those.<br /><br />Thanks.Will Mistrettahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18403399118961902073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-91886494182951153042010-10-04T18:24:30.967-04:002010-10-04T18:24:30.967-04:00Great review. I already wanted it, now moreso. :)...Great review. I already wanted it, now moreso. :) Problem is I don't buy physical gaming books anymore, and a PDF isn't available. I hear he intends to eventually, so I'll have to wait until then. I know I'm probably the odd duck there, but PDFs take up way less shelf space considering I'm not an active gamer, just a nerd who likes to read rules.Colin Theriothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03195958645464540510noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-1314621231420222312010-10-04T18:19:35.608-04:002010-10-04T18:19:35.608-04:00Thank you James for the kind words. I would consid...Thank you James for the kind words. I would consider it an honour to provide art for one of your projects.<br /><br />However, I do have to confess my ignorance. I have never seen the original <i>D&D</i> books, so any homage was purely accidental.thekelvingreenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01928260185408072124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-32976886055965663232010-10-04T17:00:21.703-04:002010-10-04T17:00:21.703-04:00The domain management rules sound interesting. I ...The domain management rules sound interesting. I might have to pick it up just for those, but since I don't actually own B/X D&D (I have LL and a copy of Mentzer Basic), I wonder how much conversion I'll have to do.<br /><br />Normally its pretty minimal for anything other than characters though, and not even that much for characters.Mirandahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10745062840676790649noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-55864396751106561152010-10-04T16:13:12.340-04:002010-10-04T16:13:12.340-04:00Thanks for the review. I've been going back an...Thanks for the review. I've been going back and forth on ordering the B/X Companion, and just read some other reviews over the weekend while trying to make up my mind. This one just pushed me over the line, and it's now been ordered. :-)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06915410231396312718noreply@blogger.com