Hiya.
Just wondering what peoples thoughts are on these goodies (you can check some out at Monte Cooks site: www.montecook.com ). I'd like to hear from those who've read it "all", those who have played, those who have DM'ed, etc.
Personally, I've had the core books (in PDF) from the Arcana Unearthed days, up to and including the semi-revised Arcana Evolved. I've read bits and pieces of all the books (Arcana Evolved, Spell Treasury, and Trancendence, iirc), and I really like a lot of how it feels.
To me, I get the feeling of a more "mature" setting, almost a "down to earth, but fantastic" in a weird way. Almost Middle Earth like; with the vast majority of commoners having rather mundane outlooks and expectations, but with the PC's and leaders of the world 'knowing' about all the fantastical stuff (dungeons, dragons, fell beasties inhabiting swamps, souless undead, etc.).
Anyway, any opinions and insights would be welcome, as Arcana Evolved is one on my list of "next campaigns" to do.
^_^
Paul L. Ming
I've only read through Arcana Unearthed/Arcana Evolved. Personally, I didn't find the setting very interesting (the races just didn't grab me), but I liked some of the rules.
Hiya
I've only read through Arcana Unearthed/Arcana
Evolved. Personally, I didn't find the setting very interesting (the races just didn't grab me), but I liked some of the rules.
I like the rules and classes the most. The races are interesting, but I miss Dwarves, Gnomes, Halflings, etc. The world, I haven't really got a lot of reading on it done, but it seems ok so far...although I like what I've read of Pathfinders Golarion setting more so far. If I could easily merge the two...mmmm.
Paul L. Ming
With all the settings that have the generic set of dwarves, haflings, elves, etc on them, I found the absence rather refreshing.
I would have found it more refreshing if he hadn't replaced them with lion-men, dog-men, dragon-men and another kind of dragon-men. The faeries and giants were kind of a neat idea, though.
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I enjoyed it immensely. These are actually the books that led me into RPG writing -- "Thanks Monte!" *said smiling and waving as in "Hi Mom!"*
Heck, the first RPG thing I ever wrote was about these books' takes' on true names.
I thoroughly enjoy the racial dispute between dragons and giants, but I also liked taking the races and giving them pseudo-historical twists. Playing the giants up Roman-style and setting the Sibecai in fantastical Egypt for obvious examples. In general, I would have liked to see the setting expand beyond its variant of classic High Fantasy. Guess that just means wanting to ride the train to a different destination says I still like this train!
I adored the Akashic class.
I thoroughly enjoyed the spell system innovations. Nothing too outside the box, but the ability to weave spell slots, etc. kept my magic user feeling fresh and full of options.
Wish I had a chance to play this more and would love to see Arcana Evolved pathfinderized, then combined with Ptolus. Also the various Malhavoc subsystems pathfinderized and included.
I would also like to see that entire effort accomplished in 1 month -- ok, maybe two at the outside. :p
I've got the pdf of arcana evolved and spell treasury. The conversion of Ptolus was also really good in my opinion. I've never had the chance to actually use the game b/c my gaming circle doesn't have the time or money to invest in nonstandard books.
I've been thinking about trying to do a pbp for a while with the system. The feel of the setting is something that I really love.
My group of hardcore veterans 20+ years of RP love it. We ran AOW and ST in AE. After each campaign I check to see if there is something else that interests them and each time they prefer to stay in the AE rule set.
We ran AOW and ST in AE.
Did you translate everything over to the Diamond Throne setting?
We ran AOW and ST in AE.Did you translate everything over to the Diamond Throne setting?
Yes, as best as I could I translated things into AE (classes, spells, magic items etc). The endless hours I spent with Dragoth and Lashonnas' spell lists still give me nightmares.
ST wasn't as bad, except for the unique demons I didn't need to work as hard. To be honest for the genric demon types (how about that for a 1st edition refernce shout out), I just used my handy 3.5 MM, Players & DM guide.
We ran AOW and ST in AE.Did you translate everything over to the Diamond Throne setting?Yes, as best as I could I translated things into AE (classes, spells, magic items etc). The endless hours I spent with Dragoth and Lashonnas' spell lists still give me nightmares.
ST wasn't as bad, except for the unique demons I didn't need to work as hard. To be honest for the genric demon types (how about that for a 1st edition refernce shout out), I just used my handy 3.5 MM, Players & DM guide.
I don't suppose you would be willing to share your conversion notes?
Folks might want to check out Rite Publishing's Rituals of Choice AP which is set in this world and in particular explores the ramifications of the importance of oaths and, well, making choices. It is written for D&D 3.5 but could no doubt be 'pathfinderised' if so wished.
I've been itching to run it ever since reading the first couple of adventures!
I checked it out and it looked really good and if I'm not mistaken it was written for AE 3.5.
Problem is that the folks at Rite Publishing described it as a 25 part AP (1 adventure per level) and due to the patronage project there were numerous delays. That was in June and at that point they had published the third adventure. Five months later still nothing new.
As much as I would like to see more I wouldn't wait around for this one.
I kinda like D&D 3.0, 3.5 and Pathfinder, and I jump at the chance to play with my friends...but I love Arcana Evolved. So much so that I hesitate to say more than that for fear of gushing out an impenetrable block of text.
Since Arcana Unearthed came out in late summer of 2003, I have played in one campaign from 1st to 20th level in the Diamond Throne setting. This was an adaptation of the Shackled City Adventure Path, with the city of Cauldron placed in the southern Elder Mountains, and set up as an unofficial Free City of the South. While I loved the races and classes, the focus on daily ritual and the implementation of ceremonial feats quickly became a sticky issue as the demands of the adventuring lifestyle required us to keep moving, with little time for rest or training. As such, first the time spent training, and finally the monetary cost of the rituals themselves fell victim to being houseruled out of the game. Ultimately, when it came to a conflict between flavor text and making the game fun for everyone involved, flavor text went by the wayside.
Since then, I have played in three other campaigns which made use of the AU/E system, and ran five campaigns as DM, as well as numerous one-shots and D&D games where bits and pieces of AE were allowed. Yet all of these have been in settings other than the Diamond Throne. While I and most of the 40+ gamers I have had the pleasure of playing AE with enjoy the classes, many of the races, and the magic system, over time we have allowed rituals, ceremonies and oaths to fall by the wayside for the sake of keeping the rip-roaring adventure feel of D&D with the mechanics we enjoy.
If you're curious about the current state of my AE/3.5/PF hybrid, feel free to look through my campaign wiki here
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To expand on my brief last post... I own all of the Malhavoc released AE books and some of the third-party ones (two of my friends contributed to the AEvolutions line originally from Blue Devil Games). I found it a really fun setting, and like I mentioned, it's one of my all-time favorite systems. I played in two shared-world Diamond Throne-like AE games over a few years that were a whole lot of fun.
I'm getting ready to run my first Pathfinder game, and I'm going to be giving players options from AE. It's just that awesome. I haven't quite figured out the conversions yet, but I know I'll be running at least one faen and one dracha.