Review continued with part 5
Other things that did not work for me personally, but they may work for you and your players.
The deities of the Majestic Wilderlands is an informative but not overwhelming set of deities for fascinating roleplaying opportunities. Not all players are going to be up for a game where religion plays such as large role (mine would not be). But for those that are into that, this is the place for them to be.
Regarding the Character Classes and Ability Bonuses, there is a fair bit of bookkeeping and a good up to date character sheet is a must. The stuff provided is good, but you may not want the extra detail depending on your players.
Overall view of the Supplement. Well done, straightforward and well written. I may not be a good judge, but in my opinion it is well edited too. Nothing jumped out at me the way bad editing usually does and so it is a very clean document. I think most people would get a lot of benefit out of this supplement, just for a good example of how it is done if nothing else and while I might not use it directly, if I had the opportunity I would certainly play in it.
Disclaimer: 😉 I realize this is nine years old so I am not trying to break new ground with this review. Mr Conley was kind enough to provide me with the copies and I felt I should make some small effort to let him know what I thought of it. I was to say the least, favorably impressed.
Showing posts with label Robert S Conley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Robert S Conley. Show all posts
Sunday, March 25, 2018
Review of Supplement VI "The Majestic Wilderlands" By Robert S Conley part 4
Review continued with part 4.
Other things that worked for me.
I found the section on Races and their origins to be entertaining and they provide a very workable framework for a campaign, I thought this was quite well done. You may notice that I am trying not to give away too many spoilers in this review by giving much in the way of details, mostly just my impressions.
The section on character abilities and how they work and how they are adjudicated is clear, straight forward and well written. The examples given through this section are quite informative, although one must remember that this is just a small part of what can be done and using the examples you can expand this to all types of activities.
There are a couple of pages of Optional Combat Rules and I like it when things are marked optional as it allows me/reminds me that I can decide how much I want to include. I would probably edit this document with notes to mark more of it as optional.
There is a good discussion of how magic works and if you have players that are really into the magical classes, then this will provide them a lot of fun and expand their thinking about the whole realm of magical things.
I really enjoyed the part about Enchant many different things and found a lot there that I intend to use.
The sections on Monsters and Treasures while brief add a lot of flavor and gives you a good idea of what play in this world setting would be like.
The setting information is detailed from many, many locations without being tool detailed. It does provide hundreds of adventure hooks. This setting would be fun to play with if you wanted to run it and did not have time to make your own. On the other hand if you are minded to make your own setting, this is a good example and ideally will point you towards doing something quite different because you can see the design decisions that were made and the way is clear to go many different directions.
This is followed with a section on Cultures & Religions and gives you more information about how to put it all together and run it. This setting is ripe for many different types of conflict and you could easily run with this in many different directions and I would expect each table to have a completely different game going in the same setting.
Other things that worked for me.
I found the section on Races and their origins to be entertaining and they provide a very workable framework for a campaign, I thought this was quite well done. You may notice that I am trying not to give away too many spoilers in this review by giving much in the way of details, mostly just my impressions.
The section on character abilities and how they work and how they are adjudicated is clear, straight forward and well written. The examples given through this section are quite informative, although one must remember that this is just a small part of what can be done and using the examples you can expand this to all types of activities.
There are a couple of pages of Optional Combat Rules and I like it when things are marked optional as it allows me/reminds me that I can decide how much I want to include. I would probably edit this document with notes to mark more of it as optional.
There is a good discussion of how magic works and if you have players that are really into the magical classes, then this will provide them a lot of fun and expand their thinking about the whole realm of magical things.
I really enjoyed the part about Enchant many different things and found a lot there that I intend to use.
The sections on Monsters and Treasures while brief add a lot of flavor and gives you a good idea of what play in this world setting would be like.
The setting information is detailed from many, many locations without being tool detailed. It does provide hundreds of adventure hooks. This setting would be fun to play with if you wanted to run it and did not have time to make your own. On the other hand if you are minded to make your own setting, this is a good example and ideally will point you towards doing something quite different because you can see the design decisions that were made and the way is clear to go many different directions.
This is followed with a section on Cultures & Religions and gives you more information about how to put it all together and run it. This setting is ripe for many different types of conflict and you could easily run with this in many different directions and I would expect each table to have a completely different game going in the same setting.
Review of Supplement VI "The Majestic Wilderlands" By Robert S Conley part 3
Review continued with part 3.
What does not work for me for the Character Classes?
I don't care for Barbarians as a class and would not want to use them.
The rules don't even hint at the disadvantages of swearing fealty to a liege and the problems that could result. Especially if you swear fealty to the "wrong" liege and there are many ways it could be the "wrong" liege.
I don't really care of the way he increased the odds of becoming a Paladin by reducing the minimum Charisma to 15. I might be wrong, but it also looks like the power level of Paladins is increased over OD&D.
I find it odd that Myrmidons of Set while presented as enemies of the Paladins of Mitra, they are not presented as evil given that Set is normally considered to be not only evil but vile as well. The Myrmidons are clearling alternate Paladins and are in some ways more powerful than Paladins and significant advantages in the battle between the two.
Rogues for the most part, I can do without or at least limit them to NPCS with the one exception I noted previously.
What does not work for me for the Character Classes?
I don't care for Barbarians as a class and would not want to use them.
The rules don't even hint at the disadvantages of swearing fealty to a liege and the problems that could result. Especially if you swear fealty to the "wrong" liege and there are many ways it could be the "wrong" liege.
I don't really care of the way he increased the odds of becoming a Paladin by reducing the minimum Charisma to 15. I might be wrong, but it also looks like the power level of Paladins is increased over OD&D.
I find it odd that Myrmidons of Set while presented as enemies of the Paladins of Mitra, they are not presented as evil given that Set is normally considered to be not only evil but vile as well. The Myrmidons are clearling alternate Paladins and are in some ways more powerful than Paladins and significant advantages in the battle between the two.
Rogues for the most part, I can do without or at least limit them to NPCS with the one exception I noted previously.
Review of Supplement VI "The Majestic Wilderlands" By Robert S Conley part 2
Review continued with part 2.
So what works for me for the Character Classes?
As I read through the character class description for Barbarians I liked the "Mark of Loki" and that a Lawful Cleric might refuse to cast Remove Curse. What fun!
The benfits of swearing fealty to a liege for Knights leaves room for all kinds of DM fun.
Easy way provided for a soldier to get free from a regular schedule of certain duties long enough to go adventuring, if indeed that is an option.
The test of the Paladin using one of the tenets of the Fivefold Code looks like a lot of fun for the DM.
Your basic Magic-Users are renegages that strive to keep a low profile and remain hidden from the great magical orders. Magic has spells and rituals. There are a number of orders and it would be easy to add several more. This also looks like a lot of fun for the DM to run.
Clerics and Priests are presented as the most powerful character classes and there is a great emphasis on religion and this also looks like a source of a lot of fun for the DM.
The Rogues that start as Mountebanks lend themselves to a common trope could easily be worked into most campaigns and is a better fit that the ubitqitous Thief Character Class.
The non-Adventuring Classes tease the topic of NPCS and give examples from which one might easily expand to cover all the needed NPC classes.
So what works for me for the Character Classes?
As I read through the character class description for Barbarians I liked the "Mark of Loki" and that a Lawful Cleric might refuse to cast Remove Curse. What fun!
The benfits of swearing fealty to a liege for Knights leaves room for all kinds of DM fun.
Easy way provided for a soldier to get free from a regular schedule of certain duties long enough to go adventuring, if indeed that is an option.
The test of the Paladin using one of the tenets of the Fivefold Code looks like a lot of fun for the DM.
Your basic Magic-Users are renegages that strive to keep a low profile and remain hidden from the great magical orders. Magic has spells and rituals. There are a number of orders and it would be easy to add several more. This also looks like a lot of fun for the DM to run.
Clerics and Priests are presented as the most powerful character classes and there is a great emphasis on religion and this also looks like a source of a lot of fun for the DM.
The Rogues that start as Mountebanks lend themselves to a common trope could easily be worked into most campaigns and is a better fit that the ubitqitous Thief Character Class.
The non-Adventuring Classes tease the topic of NPCS and give examples from which one might easily expand to cover all the needed NPC classes.
Review of Supplement VI "The Majestic Wilderlands" By Robert S Conley part 1
Mr Conley, asked to me to let him know if I liked this (and other documents) and so I started out to do a light review of his supplement, I may get to the other documents later.
First Impression, I love the cover - three hexes - three images, A ruined tower, two mounted warriors and a maiden reaching out to touch a knight leaving for war.
A SUPPLEMENT COMPATIBLE WITH THE Swords & Wizardry RULES AND ALL EDITIONS BASED ON THE ORIGINAL 1974 ROLEPLAYING GAME. In essence it is compatible with OD&D and games derived from OD&D. The parts of Swords & Wizardry that I object to do not come into play in this supplement and so can be ignored.
On the inside it references the JUDGES GUILD with a tiny map of the Majestic Wilderlands and it is based on an original setting by Robert Bledsaw Sr. Further it says there are over two dozen classes and races. New races, magic variants, creatures and magic items.
Now I realize this is released under the OGL which accounts for the TSR/WotC material, but I spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out how he used the Judges Guild material. I did not find a used with permission statement anywhere and as far as I know Judges Guild is not covered by the OGL.
Written in 2009 it claims to have been 30 years in the making and not knowing Mr Conley personally, I don't know if that means he started playing his campaign in the Wilderlands of High Fantasy in 1979, but I will assume that is what he meant.
First Impression, I love the cover - three hexes - three images, A ruined tower, two mounted warriors and a maiden reaching out to touch a knight leaving for war.
A SUPPLEMENT COMPATIBLE WITH THE Swords & Wizardry RULES AND ALL EDITIONS BASED ON THE ORIGINAL 1974 ROLEPLAYING GAME. In essence it is compatible with OD&D and games derived from OD&D. The parts of Swords & Wizardry that I object to do not come into play in this supplement and so can be ignored.
On the inside it references the JUDGES GUILD with a tiny map of the Majestic Wilderlands and it is based on an original setting by Robert Bledsaw Sr. Further it says there are over two dozen classes and races. New races, magic variants, creatures and magic items.
Now I realize this is released under the OGL which accounts for the TSR/WotC material, but I spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out how he used the Judges Guild material. I did not find a used with permission statement anywhere and as far as I know Judges Guild is not covered by the OGL.
Written in 2009 it claims to have been 30 years in the making and not knowing Mr Conley personally, I don't know if that means he started playing his campaign in the Wilderlands of High Fantasy in 1979, but I will assume that is what he meant.
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