nikolokolus

Roll it up. Preferably 3d6 in order, but I tend to like Swords & Wizardry (Complete) and DCC RPG as my systems of choice. However, because I am such a magnanimous and generous GM, I do allow players to exchange a score with another on a 1 for 2 basis. In my not-so-humble opinion, I think point-buy tends to create game play that is more about "build testing" than it is about clever play and overcoming whatever sub-optimal statistics your character possesses.

Can we please get back to arguing about guns and immershun?

I'm upset about the wheel lock pistols and guns too ... I was really hoping they'd go for something a little more "immersive" like ancient Hyperborean laser pistols. #clarkashtonsmithforthewin, #iffantantasyisworthdoingitsworthdoingitweird

I don't have any special affinity for D&D style attributes, so whatever PoE uses is fine with me so long as the mechanics are transparent enough that I get a good idea of what kind of character I'm getting if he has high score in X and low score in Y.

This is best. There's nothing quite so drab and boring as an attempt to make "fungeon" ecologies sensible and logical like its some architect or modern engineer who designed the thing -the thing I hated most about second edition advanced dungeons and dragon's design sensibilities.

For an ARPG where the goal of the game's primary mechanic revolves around loot drops and clicking that mouse is almost akin to pulling the lever on a slot machine in the hopes of getting a rare item (like in Diablo II or Borderlands). I just don't think randomized loot is going to do much for me in a game that relies on a lot of scripted story elements and doesn't even directly award experience for killing characters. That's not to say that some people won't find enjoyment in this game primarily for the shiny loot, but I suspect its replay appeal will not be loot driven for the majority of players.

Oh yes. This is what made Troika's Temple of Elemental Evil's dungeons (the Moat House and the Temple) so wonderfully dynamic, so engaging, and so... ominous. There were multiple entrance points, multiple ways up and down, and even more: Entrance points that didn't even begin at level one. For example, The Temple had a secret outdoor well that took you directly to level 3! So basically you could begin the dungeon experience at the center of the dungeon complex. So right at the outset you were presented with an utterly non linear situation. This is a lost art in dungeon design. Developers simply do not do this kind of thing anymore. But the good news is that Josh Sawyer has said a few times that he's a big fan of multiple dungeon entrance points. The Megadungeon probably won't offer quite the level of open-endedness as the Temple in TOEE, But it will probably be more open-ended and non linear than the standard dungeons we see in today's RPGs. This is a plus. I suppose it's worth a mention for the new kids that Troika sort of nicked their design from Gary Gygax's Pen and Paper module of the same name. But your point stands that developers (for vidya games or tabletop) have gotten much more "rail roadie" as the years have gone on when it comes to dungeon design. When I look at the Durlag's Tower in Baldur's Gate and compare it to the so-called dungeons Bioware created for Dragon Age II it's startling to think that the same company made both of those games. As you say, Mr. Sawyer seems to get the non-linearity aspect of dungeon design, hopefully they nail the atmospheric bit too.

Well good thing I gave up reading GameSpot years ago. Which is to say I have no idea what other game is called PoE and I don't really care enough to go look it up

DCC RPG is indeed awesome. My players are mostly newbies, so we're doing a mashup of Swords and Wizardry with some bits and pieces borrowed from other systems (AS&SH, DCC, Lametations of the Flame Princess). DCC RPG might be worth the price just for the amazing artwork inside.

I'm sure it won't be like this at all, but I'm hoping for a subterranean environment that borrows ideas and flavor from the Annwn (the Otherworld) from Welsh and Irish myth. A place of dark fey and weird Lovecraftian horrors, where the deeper one delves, the less the rules of the mortal world hold sway - a thing that's as much a living, sentient malevolence as it is a "place." In short, a place that creeps you the hell out and haunts you.

Dunno, is it any different from the literally countless other free retroclones (New 52, LotFP, Tales of the Grotesque and the Dungeonesque, etc etc)? I think Swords and Wizardy Complete is probably the best organized and most professional of the retroclones I've read. As for AS&SH, The rules and classes are pretty standard fare, but there are no elves and dwarves and demihumans, instead each "race" of humanity is somewhat distinct (Atlanteans, Keltic, Hyperboreans, Ixian, etc.) it's main selling point is the way it has integrated that setting material (Based on the fiction of Clark Ashton Smith, Robert Howard, Lovecraft et. al.) into its rules system. If you're not into it or don't care about OSR style games then skip it and move on. I just posted about it because somebody was asking if anybody was still into the "old stuff" and this seemed to fit.

“Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandaled feet.” -REH. Boom.

Maturity in fiction for me has always meant gray areas and flawed characters

The answer you're looking for is Clark Ashton Smith. You're welcome.

If anybody is into retro-clones and the like, Swords and Wizardry Complete is free from Frog God Games now (the pdf) and I just picked up the boxed set of Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea during North Wind Games winter sale. Great stuff if you want to run a good old-fashioned, bare knuckles hex crawl or a weird fantasy campaign. Both hew closer to OD&D or Holmes/Moldvay than AD&D, but the presentation and organization is top notch in either system.

... Sure ...

I remember following the development of Arcanum with great interest before it was released and If I had ever been able to get the damned thing to run without crashing to the desktop every 10 minutes I probably would have loved it, but instead I shelved it, lost my copy and picked it up ten years later in a GOG.com sale. I've tried playing it a couple of times and while I can see some of the charm and I want to like it, it's never really grabbed me and MCA is right when he bemoans the UI - it's bloody awful. Maybe when I get tired of all of the other games on my computer I'll give it a spin, but I find replaying the Infinity Engine game, the first two fallouts and Temple of Elemental Evil far more compelling. I have a hard time faulting Avellone's halfhearted playthrough.

"Mod companions into the game." What, with custom dialogue and quests and such? Who knows, maybe ... I guess. We already know that you'll be able to recruit characters without dialogue from the "Adventurer's Guild" (or whatever its name is). Isn't that enough?

I feel like I waited for this interview like a little kid waits for Christmas morning and unwraps his first gift and finds a pair of argyle socks and a half-eaten cookie. Love ya' Feargus baby, but what in the blue hell are you talking about?

I used it the day the pledge management site went live and got a response about 8 hours later. YMMV I guess? But the site hasn't been live for a week has it? In any case, chances are that the people who answer those support requests are home for the weekend and unlikely to respond until Monday.

I'm sorely disappointed there was no option for "smedium"

You really should contact support. This isn't going to be the best way to get help.

One of my favorite tabletop "modules" is Rappan Athuk and currently I'm replaying Temple of Elemental Evil again for the 10th time ... so no, I don't want the megadungeon cut and as mentioned before, it's a done deal. Move on.

Correct me if i'm wrong but didn't Temple of Elemental Evil do just this. Also you might wish to investigate the Ultima series, their use of reagents was quite well implemented, though a lot of work. Yup. ToEE does it for certain spells with a cost component, and item creation costs experience and gold as well. It works well too.

I recommend something like Lastpass with mutli-factor authentication. Get a yubikey for hardware authentication too.