shadowcat1313 Posted March 26, 2004 Report Share Posted March 26, 2004 the World of Khaas sourcebook was shipped monday, and its a monster it makes Fantasy Hero look like a short story sizewise, its on the order of 865 pages... just from the samples off the website, it looks great http://www.arduin.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killer Shrike Posted March 26, 2004 Report Share Posted March 26, 2004 Re: just a note for the arduin fans the World of Khaas sourcebook was shipped monday, and its a monster it makes Fantasy Hero look like a short story sizewise, its on the order of 865 pages... just from the samples off the website, it looks great http://www.arduin.com What is Arduin exactly? The website kind of assumes you know already.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowcat1313 Posted March 26, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2004 Re: just a note for the arduin fans The Arduin Grimoire started off as a 3 volume parchment bound set that dates back to about the same time as the white boxed set of D&D. we always used it more as a supplement for D&D instead of as a system in its wn right. it used a similar enough system to make adapting really easy... and it had a lot things D&D didnt have... along with a wide variety of monsters and spells, a lot more demons and dragons especially eventually there would be a total of 8 books in tbe small size format, 3 by Grimoire Games, 5 by Dragon Tree, and the latest by Emperors Choice... the newer books are ok... I have the first 8, but I like the original 3 the best Arduin had the first critical hit system for D&D, which we used til we found Arms Law and adopted its system... which we still use even. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killer Shrike Posted March 26, 2004 Report Share Posted March 26, 2004 Re: just a note for the arduin fans "Grunts" -- I think I recall the old school Arduin now. Wasnt Arduin pretty thoroughly disliked and even mocked? Or am I thinking of a different vintage AD&D spin off system? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemming Posted March 26, 2004 Report Share Posted March 26, 2004 Re: just a note for the arduin fans "Grunts" -- I think I recall the old school Arduin now. Wasnt Arduin pretty thoroughly disliked and even mocked? Or am I thinking of a different vintage AD&D spin off system? I remember Arduin was liked. I did pick up the two book collection that came out semi-recently. $5 apiece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowcat1313 Posted March 26, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2004 Re: just a note for the arduin fans I think it all depended on who you ask, it was definately a love or hate thing but it still had a lot of interesting ideas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted March 26, 2004 Report Share Posted March 26, 2004 Re: just a note for the arduin fans Arduin was for those people who felt a 16th level wizard was "kinda wimpy" and that an invisible two handed dancing vorpal sword was keen - in other words, it extended, the um, "bleeding edge" of DandD (so to speak). So whether you liked it or mocked it depended on your style of play. I kind of liked the "nuclear bomb" spell though...(it wasn't called that, but that's what it was) cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pattern Ghost Posted March 27, 2004 Report Share Posted March 27, 2004 Re: just a note for the arduin fans We used to use it for the crit table, of course, and adapted a few of the other conventions, like base HP being based on your CON score so you could survive lower levels. (HP would be CON +/- stat adjustment + the normal HD roll). I liked some of the flavor stuff in the Grimoires, and when I dumped a lot of unused gaming stuff, years back, I kept them. The world did tend to be over the top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grymlocke Posted March 27, 2004 Report Share Posted March 27, 2004 Re: just a note for the arduin fans I met Daivid Hargrave (the Author) once, he had a game shop in the bay area called 'the Phraint' (one of the insect races of arduin).....if I remember right, the guy was an ex-vietnam vet and didn't he have a heart attack back in the late 70's?... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemming Posted March 27, 2004 Report Share Posted March 27, 2004 Re: just a note for the arduin fans I met Daivid Hargrave (the Author) once' date=' he had a game shop in the bay area called 'the Phraint' (one of the insect races of arduin).....if I remember right, the guy was an ex-vietnam vet and didn't he have a heart attack back in the late 70's?...[/quote'] David A Hargrave 1946-1988 He hadn't quite finished the Revised Arduin project by that point, but Jim Mathis finished it off and got it published in 1992. That was taken from the foreword of the Revised Arduin. Apparently there's a World of Arduin that just got published from http://www.empcho.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowcat1313 Posted March 27, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2004 Re: just a note for the arduin fans A lot of the world was over the top, I will agree with that, but it was also great for throwing curveballs at munchkins and such who thought they knew all the monsters and such.... and Arduin did have quite a variety of different monsters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gewing Posted March 28, 2004 Report Share Posted March 28, 2004 Re: just a note for the arduin fans I thought it made a VERY useful and fun addition to old AD&D. Some of the stuff was awefully silly(bust size roll for female characters, random skin colors, etc) but the idea of a chart where you would roll to give your character something just a little(or sometimes a lot) different from others of his class was nice. I still remember the first two magic weapons my Phraint got. a +3/+3 spear and a halbred that was +1 to hit, but +7!!! to damage. other fun magic items I remember: Shark bolts, Mighty magical mistical sling stones of slaying, hobbit stones, a shield that ATE opponents on a shield bash, if crit rolled iirc, I had a two ended pole arm that was fun... Then there were some of the monsters. SHock bones... Biggles, Black scorpions, the list goes on and on. A lot of the world was over the top' date=' I will agree with that, but it was also great for throwing curveballs at munchkins and such who thought they knew all the monsters and such.... and Arduin did have quite a variety of different monsters.[/quote'] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowcat1313 Posted March 28, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2004 Re: just a note for the arduin fans and some of the classes, the Techno, The Saint, the Highwayman, the Slaver and some of the other monsters Valpyr, Moondog, Night Demon, Shadow Dragon Sun Dragon Star Spider Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killer Shrike Posted March 28, 2004 Report Share Posted March 28, 2004 Re: just a note for the arduin fans Yes, Im starting to recall elements of this more clearly. As Markdoc says, I would not be the target audience of this type of material. I remember a group of players in the game club I was in my Freshman year of HS that probably were using this material; I remember one of them had a character portrait that looked vaguely like an insect if you werent an art critic and were being kind to the artist (and this was before Thri-kreen to the best of my knowledge), and as a group from overhearing their table talk they did seem to place great importance in women's bust size ratings for characters and other such minutia -- I remember that bit because the teacher that hosted the game club was a woman and she made a few comments about it. Somehow, fate or mutual determinism perhaps, I never played a game with any of those players and thus was never fully introduced to Arduin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Posted March 29, 2004 Report Share Posted March 29, 2004 Re: just a note for the arduin fans My very first introduction to RPGs (1978) was playing in a D&D game where the GM made extensive use of Arduin. My very first D&D characters had an "Agility" stat. When I finally bought the three D&D books, I searched in vain for the Agility stat. I almost always played with the Arduin books; playing without them seemed weird and stunted. Oddly enough, this DM was by far the most non-MontyHaul DM I EVER played under. It was not unusual to play a dozen sessions without anybody getting a SINGLE magic item. Not so much as a +1 sword. And then, the magic items were usually cursed. On the plus side, this guy was a good storyteller. However, IMO, that's taking it too far the other way (even non-munchkins usually want a halfway decently powerful PC). It was frustrating as hell, and when some of us finally started taking turns as DM, a period of serious Munchkinism ensued. Since we all had the Arduin books, it got pretty crazy. We had to get it out of our systems. Some of the things I remember/liked about The Arduin Grimoire: The Critical Hit / Fumble tables. The table where each character would roll for some sort of modification. I remember a few of them (Mountain Man: +2 to CON; You are an obese glutton of foul and unsanitary habits: +6 saves vs. poison; You are half-demon and regenerate like a troll; You are an experienced sailor and will not drown even if full armor (you shed it); Undead friend - they recognize your aura and will not attack you.). The character classes: Barbarian (4d for STR); Techno (almost unplayable); etc. Then there were the Star Powered Mages. They were very munchkin, but I liked playing them back then. I made up GURPS and Hero conversions, quite depowered. The monsters. Back then, I went for the big ones. The Maggoth and the Ibathene were 30 Hit Dice each. Others: Kill Kittens; Undead Dragon; a large selection of Demons (Sea; Earth; Fire; Air; Storm; Night); a selection of new golems (Steel; Mithril; Orichalcum; Adamantine; Gold; Silver); new Dragons (new colors); etc. The spells: They went up to 20th level. The Hounds of Tindalos (summons the Lovecraftian creatures to stalk and kill the victim); Davalon's Death Star (half lightning; half cold); etc. I don't recall many spells. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Gillen Posted March 29, 2004 Report Share Posted March 29, 2004 Re: just a note for the arduin fans Ah yes. Who could forget Kill Kitties? JG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemming Posted March 29, 2004 Report Share Posted March 29, 2004 Re: just a note for the arduin fans I really need to get Sam Bell's Arduin Hero in a more ready state. Stupid frame maker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlHazred Posted March 29, 2004 Report Share Posted March 29, 2004 Re: just a note for the arduin fans Arduin was one of those incredibly creative fan projects that I didn't get back in the day, but that seem like incredibly interesting now. In college, I had a D&D GM who made extensive changes to the system; he used quite a lot of the Arduin mechanics. Looking at it now, a lot of Dave's ideas are extremely creative. I probably wouldn't use any of them as written, but I love to pull out the books and page through them, and let the ideas percolate in my GM-brain... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starric Posted April 6, 2004 Report Share Posted April 6, 2004 Re: just a note for the arduin fans The book shadowcat1313 is referring is a tribute to the gaming world of Arduin and a lot less to its rule system. The early rules system were quite a love/hate thing. The world, however, is a different matter. That's why it was made it system neutral. The 865 page book has zero system mechanics and a ton of maps, cultural, racial and world information. Its massive, and in my opinion well worth what they are asking. A good review of the book is on enworld.org for those interested. You can check it out at this link to the en world review. While I am thinking about it, the world of khaas website has tons more info on this book and previews as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowcat1313 Posted April 6, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2004 Re: just a note for the arduin fans my apologies for not giving a better or clearer message on it I am now reading my copy of the book though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hopcroft Posted April 6, 2004 Report Share Posted April 6, 2004 Re: just a note for the arduin fans The book shadowcat1313 is referring is a tribute to the gaming world of Arduin and a lot less to its rule system. The early rules system were quite a love/hate thing. The world, however, is a different matter. That's why it was made it system neutral. The 865 page book has zero system mechanics and a ton of maps, cultural, racial and world information. Its massive, and in my opinion well worth what they are asking. A good review of the book is on enworld.org for those interested. You can check it out at this link to the en world review. While I am thinking about it, the world of khaas website has tons more info on this book and previews as well. How much does it cost, can it be ordered from major distributors, and will copies be available on the web? I'm kind of afraid of an 800+ page book, but if I can read FH I can read this. And it sounds like if nothing else it will be a wonderful piece of hisotry, not to mention a great tribute to one of this business's pioneering figures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowcat1313 Posted April 6, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2004 Re: just a note for the arduin fans its 59.99+ shipping and I think its weborder/mailorder only but heres a link to the ordering page for better information http://empcho.bizhosting.com/worldguide.html It makes for great reading... and I love the simple cover almost hearkens back to little black traveller in a way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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