Thursday, August 16, 2007

Mini-Gaming Reviews

[These titles were purchased and reviewed in Oct. 2004]

The least of the lot, sadly, was Strength and Honor: the Mighty Hobgoblins of Tellene. As I mentioned at our last session, it’s got to be hard writing about a race like this AND not make them sound like Klingons. Don [the author] tried to combat that with thoroughness, making the pages I read a bit dry and textbookish. At the other end of the book is a bunch of 3E drivel. Between those pages might be some useful material, but I don’t see mining too much of it for South Province [my AD&D campaign], despite the prominence of hogboblins in the military. Grade: B-

Godlike: Superhero Roleplaying in a World on Fire, 1936-1946 would not have worked for Superland [a rpg campaign I once ran], but it remains an intriguing rule system. The authors knew the game mechanics are the main stars too, as they’re up front and center instead of character creation — an unusual approach. I did not mind reading through the first 20 pages, even though I doubt any of the mechanics will ever find their way into one of my campaigns. Grade: B-

Day of the Beast is familiar to most of us as “Fungi from Yuggoth” and one of Tom’s [a friend] classic campaigns. It’s great nostalgia looking back through this stuff and dreaming of running it myself someday. Grade: A-

Best of the lot, though, was Munchkin Monster Manual. My favorite new monster is the pyscho squirrel that attacks men only — right in the walnuts. I couldn’t stop laughing. Tyler [my then-4-year old son] wanted to know what I was laughing about and I couldn’t tell him. Grade: A

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