I did some serious reading of the new Ambition & Avarice release last night, which is a much different experience than reading different sections as stand alone pieces while trying to proofread. It struck me that in addition to being an excellent OSR ruleset on it's own, it makes for an extremely useful DM's tool or supplement for other OSR rules.
Case in point. I'm looking to kick off a DCC RPG campaign this summer, with the plan to use both published adventures and my own scenarios mixed together. The PCs classes (and "savage" or humanoid) races would make for some excellent NPCs or adversaries for use in DCC.
I can just see using a goblin cultist and his minions in an adventure, using the A&A spells with minor alterations. No one says that NPCs and monsters have to be created using the same rules as the game you are running.
It's a great tool to keep your players on their toes and keep everything fresh.
Well, except for the fact that +Greg Christopher is one of the players in my gaming group, as is +Craig Brasco , the cover artist. Or the fact that our group playtested the rules. But that's okay, as they will get a chance to playtest the mish mash of rules I'm talking about above this summer ;)
Anyhow, here's a bit on the Cultist in A&A. I think it's a perfect fit as an adversary in DCC:
Cultists are able to perform sacrifices to capture the life force of their victims. The sacrifice must be a humanoid. The subject must be bound in a ritualistic manner on an altar or in an open area of at least 10 square feet. They must also be healthy (no toxins, no diseases, etc.) and possess over 50% of their maximum hit points.
The sacrifice kills the subject and transfers their life energy into the escaping blood, which can be stored for future use. For every hit die possessed by the subject, a pint of infused blood (16 ounces) can be captured. Consuming a pint will recover 1d6 hit points or heal 1 points of attribute damage. It remains potent for up to a week.
Hi which are the main differences with the previous free betarelease?
ReplyDeleteThanks :)
Loads. The size more than doubled and added solid GM guidelines, more rules, a bit clearer content, larger spell list and more art. If the beta release was awesome for you, the pay version is easily 10 times that, IMO.
ReplyDeleteIt looks good, very good. I know that I can convert modules to the system, but do you know if there are actual A&A scenarios planned?
ReplyDeleteWill they make a print version? I just hate to have only the pdf :)
ReplyDeleteThere will be a POD version in about a week. Anyone who buys the PDF will get a discount code on the POD version when it becomes available.
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DeleteGreat!
Deletethat's the way to do it!
http://d20d12.blogspot.it/2013/07/print-on-demand-and-osr.html
Rob, I have a generic OSR module that is currently in editing. It is A&A compatible and written from the game's point of view.
ReplyDeleteSweet, Greg. I will definitely demo that at my local store!
DeleteI can probably add that Erik Tenkar has GMd it while I watched from the back as the party member who never has any ideas about what should be done. :)
DeleteHi I want to add that I bought the Ambitions and Avarice 1st edition pdf and I am very happy with it (when I come back from the holiday I'll do some review on my blog). It's a big improvement over the beta release.
ReplyDeleteThe spell list is very very original and also usual spell have some nice twist. Each class has its "thing" and there is a nice discussion on tropes of fantasy in the end.
All in all an egregious release :)