Goodman VS Hackmaster VS Pied Piper • Page 2 • Collecting General

The Acaeum Forums • Collecting General - Non TSR

Goodman VS Hackmaster VS Pied Piper
	Page 2 of 3 • 1, 2, 3

Author

Lance Hawvermale
Active Collector

Posts: 20
Joined: Aug 06, 2006
Last Visit: Dec 27, 2016

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 10:49 am

Mbassoc2003 wrote:Never heard of it. WHat's it like?

Here's the official blurb:

The Bonegarden is a small nation ruled by the dead, a circular cemetery one mile in diameter, surrounded by a magical containment field that keeps its denizens from spilling into the innocent world beyond. Within the gate lies one of the true blights of the land, an immense graveyard that serves as the prison for the doomed spirits of thousands of history's most awful criminals. Those inside are determined to escape, and one of them may have found a way . . .

The cemetery is a self-contained battlefield that abounds with undead of types the heroes have never seen, each with its own special plan for escaping its eternal confinement. The Bonegarden contains dozens of new spells, monsters, and magic items. All the action takes place inside a mile-wide arena where the dead are the majority and the living are hunted like wild game. The heroes have come to the cemetery in search of adventure. The only question is . . . can they get out?

http://www.lancehawvermale.com

Plaag
Long-Winded Collector
Subweb Admin
JG Valuation Board

Posts: 4584
Joined: Nov 08, 2002
Last Visit: Apr 19, 2024
Location: Land of 10,000 ponds

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 4:06 pm

kevin mayle wrote:Is that a true, non-sarcastic statement? Because I have been reading nothing but bad reviews for all the latest Arneson offerings, and since I don't own any of them, I was just wondering if it they are really bad.
Thanks.

He wrote the DCC 3.5, the other stuff I am pretty sure were done by other authors. Actually looking at Dungeons of Blackmoor, he was only lead designer.

First Fantasy Campaign through Judges Guild is great, DA modules from TSR are great (even the last one which he didn't contribute to), Temple of Frog in the Blackmoor Supplement II is just classic, DCC 3.5 was good, so I guess if he would ever write again he could put out some quality stuff - having others derive stuff from his writings hasn't been the best though.

ShaneG.

I reject your reality and substitute my own

mbassoc2003
Grandstanding Collector
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 6994
Joined: Jan 03, 2005
Last Visit: Apr 19, 2024
Location: UK

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2007 3:39 am

IMO most of the new stuff is not by Arneson, but just trades on his name. You just need to look at the quality of the adventure in Haunted Lighthouse and compare it to the Blackmoor stuff, and you'll see that the Blackmoor stuff is shite. Some gimp has been wheeled out to write under DA's name, and DA is so far gone, he's happy to take the money and let his name in the industry be destoyed. I doubt he even read it through. Dave must be getting really desparate in his old age.

This week I've been mostly eating . . . The white ones with the little red flecks in them.

kevin mayle
Prolific Collector

Posts: 159
Joined: Mar 20, 2006
Last Visit: Jan 27, 2014
Location: Cape Coral Florida

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2007 8:59 am

From what I've read, Dave Arneson teaches a gaming class at Full Sail in Florida. Another Full Sail teacher, Dustin Clingman, founded Zeitgeist Games with Arneson and liscenced the use of Blackmoor from Wizards of the Coast. Clingman appoints product managers to get Blackmoor projects done, who in turn hire freelance writers and artists. When a project is complete, they run it by Arneson and send it off to the printer. So I guess Arneson has pretty much nothing to do with the actual writing. Zeitgeist seems to have been having trouble getting products out as well. They have 3 books so far. The first one, The campaign setting, is just a soft cover reprint of the Goodman Games hardcover. The second one, The Dungeons of Castle Blackmoor, came out two years late and had a number of map and text errors. The third one, The Players Guide to Blackmoor, never made it to retailers, and was only available through online order from their website. A completed fourth book, The Temple of the Frog, was to be released November 6th, 2006, and has yet to come out. Questions about the product go unanswered on their forum pages, and when Wizards released their Return to the Temple of the Frog a few weeks ago, Clingman posted a vague response to a question on ENWorld that an announcement of the current status of the Blackmoor liscence may be announced soon. I think it will be Wizards releasing Blackmoor product from now on, but either way, none of it will be written by Arneson.

killjoy32
Grandstanding Collector

Posts: 8241
Joined: Jan 21, 2005
Last Visit: Mar 24, 2024
Location: Wallasey, Merseyside, UK

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2007 10:20 am

well either way....if PPP keeps writing up quality products that have so far been released, its going to take some to beat them imo.

Al

Are we nearly there yet?

kevin mayle
Prolific Collector

Posts: 159
Joined: Mar 20, 2006
Last Visit: Jan 27, 2014
Location: Cape Coral Florida

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2007 10:41 am

PPP Rules!

FormCritic
Grandstanding Collector
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 6720
Joined: Jul 16, 2005
Last Visit: Sep 30, 2022

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2007 10:42 am

I never took AD&D so seriously that it could not be parodied.

I was disappointed by the one Hackmaster item that I own: Sir Robilar's City of Brass.

Kenzer went cheap on the maps, which are the central feature in any fantasy city.

"But I have watched the dragons come, fire-eyed, across the world."

FormCritic
Grandstanding Collector
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 6720
Joined: Jul 16, 2005
Last Visit: Sep 30, 2022

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2007 10:56 am

killjoy32 wrote:well either way....if PPP keeps writing up quality products that have so far been released, its going to take some to beat them imo.

Al

Tough to compare how PPP stacks up.

First, they publish in extremely limited print runs to a highly specialized niche market.

Second, I have not opened the shrink on Cairn of the Skeleton King, so I cannot comment on its quality.

Goodman is one of the top two or three d20 publishers. I rate them highly because I find most of their products to be quite readable and I like their overall style. The other top d20 publishers have to be Green Ronin and Troll Lord Games...although TLG is moving to their own rules system and leaving d20 behind...the True 20 system. (Which I presume is related to Castles and Crusades.)

I have been less happy with Sword and Sorcery Studios products because they are often so heavily geared toward their Scarred Lands setting. Still, there are some good things there.

Malhavoc Press has often been an innovator, but innovation in the rules is not really what I'm looking for. The profusion of prestige classes and rules additions in d20 products is something I dislike about the genre. I have not read Ptolus.

Necromancer Games has generally met my expectations with their products. For instance, the revised City State of the Invincible Overlord could use more artwork, but is otherwise very good. Necromancer has also been innovative in online support for their products.

Bastion Press makes professional products. Their style is a bit wierd for me.

AEG has done some nice things. Their "world's largest" work has been very interesting. I like their "how to" books somewhat less. By "how to" I mean books like Gods or Evil, that detail how to play rather than provide adventure settings.

Mark

"But I have watched the dragons come, fire-eyed, across the world."

bombadil
Long-Winded Collector
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 3807
Joined: Feb 23, 2005
Last Visit: Oct 10, 2023

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2007 11:40 am

FormCritic wrote:
Second, I have not opened the shrink on Cairn of the Skeleton King, so I cannot comment on its quality.

Shrink?

Mark, what sort of copy of CoSK did you get? None of mine were shrink-wrapped.

Let mirth prevail!

Mars
Grandstanding Collector

Posts: 6161
Joined: May 03, 2003
Last Visit: Apr 09, 2024
Location: Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2007 12:57 pm

Neither were mine. No shrink on the ToB or LR either.

jamesmishler
Prolific Collector

Posts: 488
Joined: May 12, 2005
Last Visit: Apr 18, 2024

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2007 2:23 pm

FormCritic wrote:The other top d20 publishers have to be Green Ronin and Troll Lord Games...although TLG is moving to their own rules system and leaving d20 behind...the True 20 system. (Which I presume is related to Castles and Crusades.)

Actually, Green Ronin is using True20, Troll Lord Games will continue with Castles & Crusades. The two systems are unrelated, save that they are both based on the d20 OGL.

I have been less happy with Sword and Sorcery Studios products because they are often so heavily geared toward their Scarred Lands setting. Still, there are some good things there.

SSS is now defunct, as they are only finishing out the last few products they had in the pipe. A subsidiary of White Wolf, SSS was already in steep decline and had cancelled Scarred Lands before WWP was bought out by CCP, and that put an end to the whole SSS line.

Malhavoc Press has often been an innovator, but innovation in the rules is not really what I'm looking for. The profusion of prestige classes and rules additions in d20 products is something I dislike about the genre. I have not read Ptolus.

Malhavoc is gone, too, in that they will no longer be producing new products. Monte has two more game products that he will write, then is out of the gaming industry. His last two products will be a Dungeon Crawl Classics module for Goodman Games and Monte Cook's World of Darkness for WWP. I understand he plans to write fiction, a much better paying market indeed. That said, the Malhavoc products are still available, and will be for some time.

Necromancer Games has generally met my expectations with their products. For instance, the revised City State of the Invincible Overlord could use more artwork, but is otherwise very good. Necromancer has also been innovative in online support for their products.

Necromancer published through SSS, and are in the process of searching for a publisher to take up their projects after the stuff in the pipe at WWP gets done. They are also publishing products through Kenzer & Company; the pipe there is already filled with Necro product, so they need another partner to publish more stuff.

Bastion Press makes professional products. Their style is a bit wierd for me.

Bastion is gone; Steve Creech has formed a new company, Dragonwing Studios (or something like that) to publish most of the d20 stuff, everything except the Outlands products, which reverted to the author.

AEG has done some nice things. Their "world's largest" work has been very interesting. I like their "how to" books somewhat less. By "how to" I mean books like Gods or Evil, that detail how to play rather than provide adventure settings.

Alderac is done publishing d20 products; World's Largest City was their last. Check my interview with John Zinser on Gaming Report for the latest on AEG's plans.

James Mishler
*************
James Mishler Games on DriveThruRPG
James Mishler Games on Blogspot
Personal Blog

mbassoc2003
Grandstanding Collector
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 6994
Joined: Jan 03, 2005
Last Visit: Apr 19, 2024
Location: UK

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2007 3:40 pm

Bombadil wrote:
Shrink?

Mark, what sort of copy of CoSK did you get? None of mine were shrink-wrapped.

Mine were shrinkwrapped.
Only kidding!

ForumCritter wrote:Necromancer has also been innovative in online support for their products.

About the Necromancer Web Enhancement stuff. If you buy Rappan Athuk Reloaded you don't get the passwords for the Web Enhancements. Can anyone PM me the passwords from RA2 and RA3, 'cos I bought RA1 and then I just bought the boxed set.

This week I've been mostly eating . . . The white ones with the little red flecks in them.

FormCritic
Grandstanding Collector
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 6720
Joined: Jul 16, 2005
Last Visit: Sep 30, 2022

Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2007 1:32 pm

Funny how I garbled that paragraph about Troll Lord Games and Green Ronin.

Wierd.

I figure that most companies will be pulling the plug on their D20 publications. Too much slag still out there on the market.

The list above might sound like a death list if it wasn't for the nature of the online world.

Most of these companies' publications will be around for the next few years in hard copy...and in pdf for a couple more decades.

Also, some of the old companies might re-constitute...possibly the way Judges Guild has done from time to time over the past decade.

Also, also...gaming personalities do not tend to die the way that rock stars do. They tend to come back every few years.

"But I have watched the dragons come, fire-eyed, across the world."

grodog
Grandstanding Collector

Posts: 5832
Joined: Nov 16, 2002
Last Visit: Apr 19, 2024
Location: Wichita, KS, USA

Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2007 10:20 pm

Mbassoc2003 wrote:Okay. You get all three of the original RA modules, and additional levels. In 'reloaded' they have put the text of all three modules together into a single volume, and split that volume over two books. One has all the encounters and background in it, the other has all the NPCs, monsters and supplementary data in it. They have also re-done all the maps with a stunning graphic tile set, much clearer and more pritine than the original maps in the original modules. Well worth the money. Ooh, and they only printed 1000 boxed sets.

You guys sold me on this, I ordered it from Amazon, even though I already have the first three modules....

Allan Grohe ([email protected])
Greyhawk, grodog Style

Editor and Project Manager, Black Blade Publishing
https://www.facebook.com/BlackBladePublishing/

grodog
Grandstanding Collector

Posts: 5832
Joined: Nov 16, 2002
Last Visit: Apr 19, 2024
Location: Wichita, KS, USA

Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2007 10:23 pm

Mbassoc2003 wrote:About the Necromancer Web Enhancement stuff. If you buy Rappan Athuk Reloaded you don't get the passwords for the Web Enhancements. Can anyone PM me the passwords from RA2 and RA3, 'cos I bought RA1 and then I just bought the boxed set.

Actually, Clark released the pws on ENWorld some time ago: http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t ... nextnewest

Enjoy

Allan Grohe ([email protected])
Greyhawk, grodog Style

Editor and Project Manager, Black Blade Publishing
https://www.facebook.com/BlackBladePublishing/

grodog
Grandstanding Collector

Posts: 5832
Joined: Nov 16, 2002
Last Visit: Apr 19, 2024
Location: Wichita, KS, USA

Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2007 10:27 pm

FormCritic wrote:Tough to compare how PPP stacks up. First, they publish in extremely limited print runs to a highly specialized niche market.

Hopefully, folks will feel that they still stack up, even if they're quasi-collectibles upon release

FormCritic wrote:Second, I have not opened the shrink on Cairn of the Skeleton King, so I cannot comment on its quality.

Well, I opened up one of my CotSK author copies, which has since gotten rather beat up due to travel and such, and I'm likely to annotate my edits into it for future reprintings (likely necessary soon---it's nearly sold out!). So, I would heartily recommend that you peel back the tape from your copy and give it a read. Then read Tower of Blood, too, of course!

Allan Grohe ([email protected])
Greyhawk, grodog Style

Editor and Project Manager, Black Blade Publishing
https://www.facebook.com/BlackBladePublishing/

FormCritic
Grandstanding Collector
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 6720
Joined: Jul 16, 2005
Last Visit: Sep 30, 2022

Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 1:39 am

The shrinkwrap is a real curse for me.

I would have preferred ziplock bags.

"But I have watched the dragons come, fire-eyed, across the world."

sleepyCO
Prolific Collector

Posts: 339
Joined: Sep 09, 2006
Last Visit: May 17, 2022
Location: 8000 feet below the summit of Pikes Peak, Colorado

Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 12:31 pm

FormCritic wrote:The shrinkwrap is a real curse for me.

I would have preferred ziplock bags.

At least it wasn't everybody's favorite . . . M-Bags!!! :twisted:

The Acaeum Forums • Collecting General - Non TSR

Page 2 of 3 • 1, 2, 3