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Planar Compass Issue 1
Publisher: Planar Compass
by Reese L. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 10/16/2020 15:30:12

I gladly sponsored the Kickstarter camapign for Planar Compass, then known as Dreamhaven, on the strength of it's premise, not to mention that it was written to support Old-School Essentials, the fantastic clone of B/X D&D. Issue #1 lays the foundations for what promises to be a fun setting with elements of older settings such as Planescape or Spelljammer, offering a "home base" island in the midst of the Astral Sea, a set of psionics rules and interesting new classes (appropriately, for both humans and new Race-as-Class demihumans).

I find it to be a strong first effort and very much look forward to seeing the setting grow over the course of future issues. I do have some minor complaints, but those can be attributed to the author's over-reaching to a small degree given the limitations of the shorter zine format. First, the island of Dreamhaven itself is quite small as detailed. While this does leave room for DMs to expand and customize to their own campaigns, it does leave the reader with the sense that it might be a bit too small for some of the hooks and included short adventures to realistically take place. In a place as small as it is, you'd expect the inhabitants to know each other fairly well and there not to be much room for mystery.

Secondly, the psionics rules leave me a bit conflicted, truth be told. They are quite well written and read as if they would play well at the table. They do a wonderful job of capturing the feel of AD&D psionics without nearly as much "crunch" and fussiness as the originals, and are simpler than other similar rules written for BX coughNew Big Dragoncough which while also very well done are even more complex. If anything, my personal feeling is that they are still more complicated than most of the mechanics found in BX. I shall however reserve a final judgement until I've had a chance to see them in play. It may well be that my fears are unfounded. I just have the sense that they could have been further trimmed, which would have left more room to further detail the island and it's inhabitants.

Regardless of these minor complaints, I've recommended this wonderful zine to a number of people looking to add psionics to thier BX games and will certainly be purchasing future issues.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Planar Compass Issue 1
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B/X Essentials: Core Rules
Publisher: Necrotic Gnome
by Reese L. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/08/2018 07:49:40

I've purhased all of the Essentials line and very much look forward to future expansions, both from Necrotic Gnome and the community.

Gavin has done a fantastic job of merging the content of Moldvay Basic and Cook Expert, eliminating discrepancies between the two, and clarifying some of the things that might have been a little tricky for newcomers to understand.

I love the digest-sized booklets, and by splitting the content as he has, it has the advantages of letting a DM to control what info he gives his players and allowing other modular rulebooks to be substituted in.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
B/X Essentials: Core Rules
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White Star Companion [Swords & Wizardry]
Publisher: Gallant Knight Games
by Reese L. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/29/2016 15:13:37

Nice addition to my WS library. There are other third party products available that offer some of what is included here, but it's nice to see more from the publisher himself. Many of the 3PP offerings take the game in other sci-fi directions, but this brings more content that is obviously Star Wars inspired - bounty hunters, Ewoks, AT-ATs and so on. Love it!

I do see some typos and errors here and there, but like WS Core, I expect those to be fixed over time and teh PDF updated. James is a boss like that.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
White Star Companion [Swords & Wizardry]
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Heavy Gear Blitz! Field Manual - Core Rulebook Revised
Publisher: Dream Pod 9
by Reese L. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/30/2013 14:19:09

I picked up DP9's Heavy Gear Blitz Two Player Starter Kit this year at GenCon, which included a black & white, digest-sized copy of this book as well as the older "Locked and Loaded" rulebook. While handy at the table, my old eyes did have some issues with the tiny print in the reduced size prints.

Fortunately, DP9 - much to their credit - offers those same two rulebooks in full color (and full size!) as free PDF downloads here. I was very happy with both these products and recommend them as a must-have for anyone who's picked up the game elsewhere and only has the digest books. In full color, the reference diagrams and fluff artwork shines, and the L&L book also includes color painting guides for the minis!

My one gripe is that these PDFs are not optimized at all. For the page count and graphic content they are far larger in file size than they should be, especially compared to a full color layout, higher page count rulebook (a Pathfinder book from Paizo for example.)

Still, worth the price, and they ARE the full rules for HGB so you can learn to play for free, using these and some of the other free downloads at DP9's homepage, and some minis or tokens you already have on hand. A good idea before you invest in a lot of expensive minis.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Heavy Gear Blitz! Field Manual - Core Rulebook Revised
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