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I saw the ad on the Paizo Store Blog, and like a good gamer (lemming?) with highly developed case of system ADHD I checked it out. I found a positive review over on RPGNet that mde me want to learn more, but haven't found much of anything else. So I'm turning to you guys.
Has anyone played MML, and if so what were your thoughts on the game?
I saw the ad on the Paizo Store Blog, and like a good gamer (lemming?) with highly developed case of system ADHD I checked it out. I found a positive review over on RPGNet that mde me want to learn more, but haven't found much of anything else. So I'm turning to you guys.
Has anyone played MML, and if so what were your thoughts on the game?
I, too, would love to hear from anyone who has seen the books -- too bad there isn't a free glance at the inside anywhere.
Hi Folks. My name is Andrew Kozak, and I am one of the Metal Magic and Lore’s co-authors. I’m happy to chat with you in this forum and answer all of your questions about the game. Sorry for the slow response, but I didn’t spot this thread until I read Khairn’s email to our info account.
You’ve read some reviews already so I think you know the basics about the system: skills based, percentile, no character classes, realistic immersive feel, etc.
Are there any specific questions I could answer?
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i have had the pleasure to play this game, and found it great. you can delve into the roleplaying, but the fight sequences are what hooked me. this is definitely not a hack and slash game, you should choose your fights carefully. unlike dnd where you don't fall until all your hp's are exhausted, here each body part has thier own hp's and if you reach or exceed them that particular part is rendered useless. in real combat if you get a bad sword thrust in the arm chances are you won't be able to use it, mml uses the same concept. you will feel the affects of a good hit, but you give them too.
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Hi Folks. My name is Andrew Kozak, and I am one of the Metal Magic and Lore’s co-authors. I’m happy to chat with you in this forum and answer all of your questions about the game. Sorry for the slow response, but I didn’t spot this thread until I read Khairn’s email to our info account.
You’ve read some reviews already so I think you know the basics about the system: skills based, percentile, no character classes, realistic immersive feel, etc.
Are there any specific questions I could answer?
Hey Andy, thanks for the reply.
Based on the reviews I bought the MML Basic Players pdf and am going through it now. Being a fan of some rather detailed systems (RM, TRoS, Aftermath, Harnmaster etc) I found the MML character generation and combat system to be relatively easy to follow.
I appreciate the extensive list of skills, weapons and armor, and like its overall feel. The "universal" formula for skills is solid, the flexibility is easy to see, and I'm already brainstorming the creation of different races, cultures and a setting for a game. The font is easy on the eyes, the pictures are well done and appropriate for where they are placed, and I really didn't have a problem with the alternating page format. So far so good.
I know that this is the "Players" book, but after reading it for a few hours I do have a couple of questions and comments.
-As a GM, the book made me scratch my head a few times. As an example even though the time and cost for learning new magic spells is listed, I haven't been able to find how (or even if) you can improve existing skills (including weapons). Am I missing something? Never mind, I found it in the GM Starter Kit. Is there a reason it wasn't included in the Playerbook?
-Despite a good Index in the back (and errata) I found the lack of bookmarks, pages #'s in the Table of Contents and the overall numbering system to be a challenge at times. I had flashbacks to my days playing Advanced Squad Leader.
-The generic fantasy setting included in the book is skeletal to an extreme, and the map was less than inspiring. Even though I'm a setting junkie, I'd rather see the system devoid of any details about the continent. By the way, does the world have a name? I couldn't find it if it does.
-I've read the information regarding the upcoming releases, but I'm still a bit confused. What product would I need to buy to get information regarding such things as traps, poisons, falling damage, magic items etc etc. I see that a couple of monster pdf's are available, but at a cost of $5 for 5 monsters, the price seems kind of steep.
-Are there any pre-gen characters or monsters that I can use to show my players how combat and the game would play? I know I can (and am )slowly creating different characters as practice, but having something fast and easy for newbies to try might be worthwhile.
That's all I have right now. I'm sure there will be more as I dig into it.
Khairn, you’re most welocome.
Its clear you’re a gamer who has some experience with the systems we at 5th Epoch grew up on – Aftermath is an old favorite. We also loved Squad Leader.
We’re glad you’re satisfied with your purchase overall. The entire game is written to be flexible and scalable. We find that a lot of GMs write us and say similar things about creating their own races and cultures. I think that’s why most people find the amount of setting information appropriate. However, we appreciate your opinion – can you tell us the top two or three details that you thought were missing, that if they were present would make the setting more complete for you?
The honest answer on the Experience and Skill Acquisition rules is that we originally envisioned two hardcover books to start the product line – one being for more Players and the other more for GMs. This did not happen the way we thought it did, so we immediately released the “experience” information in the GMs Starter Kit, which has a very modest price tag ($1.95).
We apologize if the product information was unclear to you. I think it can be best summarized as follows:
- The Heavy Armor packages contain a little more lore on the races (a total of 12 additional pages if you consider all 6 PDFs). As you might guess these armor packages provide more protection than those listed in the Player’s Rulebook (in some cases a lot more). These packages save a lot of time as assembling armors can take serious effort if you’re not familiar with the armor system.
- There are currently two Bestiaries with one more to be released imminently and another later this year. Bestiary I contains five undead and Bestiary II contains five bipedal beasts, which depending on your campaign setting, might or might not be considered minor races. Again, we appreciate your opinion on the price of these PDFs. However, we think its fair to point out that the material is not only stats for the Beasts. Every entry contains a full page illustration by Ryan Pancoast who is a dynamite artist. Every entry also has a good bit of lore. The front of the booklet also contains some expanded rules for working with beasts and a complete explanation of the Beast stats and ratings.
- We have GM’s Quick Reference sheets which are designed to stand alone or work with a number of generic GM’s screen products.
- The Deeping Vale adventure starter is a great way for GMs to get the feel for how to put together an MML scenario. It’s a great adventure and there’s plenty of room for GMs to customize and really make it their own. This product also has some nice new maps.
- The MML Player’s Quickstart Kit helps get the game going in a few minutes with a step by step process to explain melee combat, missile and magic. There are pregenerated characters included in this kit for the ease of the GM.
We don’t have any information on tricks and traps. It seemed to us that there we so many products out there on these subjects that we’d just be flooding the market. Magic Items will be covered in one of our upcoming product releases entitled “The GMs Guide to Heroic Adventuring”, which is slated for release in the latter portion of this year.
We appreciate your purchase and your support. The fact is that as an independent published it is an uphill battle sometimes. We need the support from people like you, in the gaming community, to purchase our products. I’d love to be able to say otherwise, but we aren’t getting rich selling these games. We do it because we love gaming. We bring the absolute highest quality products we can to the market. We know they play well, because we test them ourselves.
So we’re hoping a lot more folks decide to jump in on this promotion and see what Metal, Magic and Lore is all about!
Andy.
Co-Author of Metal, Magic and Lore
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Thanks Andy, both from the response here and the email.
I can certainly understand how plans can change, and I do appreciate that some of the critical rules that would be needed to run the game (character advancement) were made available as an inexpensive pdf.
The more I'm delving into the Playersbook, the more I'm understanding just how modular it is. Its really an outstanding toolkit for gamers who are looking for a detailed system that can be customized without "breaking" the game.
As I mentioned above, I've already started to create a new homebrew setting for MML that I hope to run later this summer. I'm lucky in that my players are pretty open to trying new games.
If anyone is interested, I can let you know how things work out.
I saw this back when I went to [strike]neutral ground[/strike] Compleat strategist, in NYC a few years ago, and honestly, seemed a little complex to me. based on just kinda the information and product description I was given (I believe one of the reps was there?) It's not quite heroic enough for my tastes. I do say that if you're into semi-realistic Medieval rpgs it might be right up your alley.
Thanks Andy, both from the response here and the email.
I can certainly understand how plans can change, and I do appreciate that some of the critical rules that would be needed to run the game (character advancement) were made available as an inexpensive pdf.
The more I'm delving into the Playersbook, the more I'm understanding just how modular it is. Its really an outstanding toolkit for gamers who are looking for a detailed system that can be customized without "breaking" the game.
As I mentioned above, I've already started to create a new homebrew setting for MML that I hope to run later this summer. I'm lucky in that my players are pretty open to trying new games.
If anyone is interested, I can let you know how things work out.
Kharin -
Absolutely, we'd love to hear from you.
Please do update us on how your campaign develops and how the player's like the MML system.
We're always available to answer questions, or just to bounce ideas of off.
Andy.
I saw this back when I went to [strike]neutral ground[/strike] Compleat strategist, in NYC a few years ago, and honestly, seemed a little complex to me. based on just kinda the information and product description I was given (I believe one of the reps was there?) It's not quite heroic enough for my tastes. I do say that if you're into semi-realistic Medieval rpgs it might be right up your alley.
Shanwolf -
Thanks for dropping by and telling us about your experience.
I can see how just from a verbal description MML might seem a little complicated to a person who has never played the game. Not to mention that the hardcover rulebook does have a rather hefty feel to it.
I remember the time period you're talking about, during which both myself and my co-author hosted a number of demos and a small tournament at several of the gaming stores around NYC.
I can tell you that people who do sit down and play the game report that it is easy to learn and easy to use. Since those demo's a few years ago, we've added a great "Quickstart" kit to the product line that will actually walk you through melee, missiles and magic in a gladiatorial setting. A number of pregenerated characters included in the kit means that you're ready to roll dice as you're reading the first page. We've had great success with this kit and gamers tell us that they were able to get up and running in minutes by using the Quickstart materials.
If you're interested, maybe its worth taking another look at MML.
Andy.
Thank you to everyone who purchased the electronic version of MML over the past several weeks. Also, thanks to the folks here at Paizo for their gracious help in putting this promotion together.
We appreciate all of the inquiries on the messageboards, as well as the emails and visits to our website. And mentioning the website, we heard your comments regarding what everyone would like to see changed. We’re working now on some long overdue updates and upgrades – check back with us over the coming weeks this summer to see some of the changes we are going to implement.
Thanks again for all of the support. We’ve decided to extend this promotion another couple of weeks – so the PDF version of the rulebook will remain on sale here at Pazio until June 13th.
Thank you to everyone who purchased the electronic version of MML over the past several weeks. Also, thanks to the folks here at Paizo for their gracious help in putting this promotion together.
We appreciate all of the inquiries on the messageboards, as well as the emails and visits to our website. And mentioning the website, we heard your comments regarding what everyone would like to see changed. We’re working now on some long overdue updates and upgrades – check back with us over the coming weeks this summer to see some of the changes we are going to implement.
Thanks again for all of the support. We’ve decided to extend this promotion another couple of weeks – so the PDF version of the rulebook will remain on sale here at Pazio until June 20th.
Sorry for the confusion, the promotional sale of our PDF Player's Rulebook and electronic bundles will be extended to June 20th.