Jump to content

'A masterpiece" (RPGNet review of 'The Armies and Enemies of Dragon Pass')


MOB

Recommended Posts

"A MASTERPIECE" says RPGNet reviewer Paul St John MacIntosh of Martin Helsdon's magnum opus THE ARMIES AND ENEMIES OF DRAGON PASS. "It's the kind of sourcebook you can dip into only to get lost for hours and re-emerge with glazed eyes. If any other Jonstown Compendium product ever equals it in quality and comprehensiveness, I'll be impressed and incredibly surprised*."

https://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/18/18427.phtml

*challenge issued to Jonstown Compendium creators!

  • Like 12
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/28/2019 at 2:04 PM, MOB said:

*challenge issued to Jonstown Compendium creators!

I challenge Chaosium to pick it up and release as an official product with a higher production budget. ; ) I know there are things which might not be solvable, like huge page count, general public interest contra sales etc. But one can dream.

Anyway, I really appreciate what all Jonstown Compendium authors are doing, no matter how big or small.

Edited by Dragonsnail
  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Dragonsnail said:

 

Anyway, I really appreciate what all Jonstown Compendium authors are doing, no matter how big or small.

Yes, and in my opinion the review is unfair regarding the other JC contributions.

The Armies-book is something I rather would expect as an official product.

To compare it with the little, nice JC PDFs and to put pressure on JC authors is unfair.

Imho The Throat of Winter and Yozarian's Bandit Ducks are great and on par with the scenarios from the ADVENTURE BOOK.

Edited by prinz.slasar
  • Like 7
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Videopete said:

Just got to the section on the actual list of units on the Forces available... no idea what the Magic Factor, Melee or Missile Factor means. That said I know that Jareel could just destroy the Red Emperor according to the book.

Those stats refer to the old White Bear & Red Moon / Dragon pass board games. My horse for a republication, btw!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Videopete said:

Just got to the section on the actual list of units on the Forces available... no idea what the Magic Factor, Melee or Missile Factor means. That said I know that Jareel could just destroy the Red Emperor according to the book.

Those numbers are the game values of the units in the old Dragon Pass boardgame. The revised rules for the game add the combat values of the first three full units (without brackets around the combat factor) and all the bracketed combat values above the fouth full units of a stack, the leadership bonus if any of the stack (the exclamation mark) for all other units in the stack, and then you roll a D6 to determine which fraction of this value is taken from the top of the enemy stack(s) as casualties. A roll of 1 causes one sixth of that total to be taken away, a roll of six causes the entire sum to be taken away. Only units who are fully covered by that damage are eliminated. Then the surviving defenders strike back, doubling their sum of the combat factor.

Magic factor is similar, only the defenders against attacking spirits usually cannot strike back, and those that can don't receive defensive doubling. Chaotic magic is brutal - the negative number in the magic factor is the number of enemy units eliminated upon contact. Then there is exotic magic, each with its own rules.

But yes, the super-heroes are unbalanced as hell, and the best way to take an enemy superhero is with Chaos magic or with two superheroes of your own. (The game has three of them in total). Exotic magic allows the superhero to eliminate it, but then the superhero can make her return roll. Spirit magic (using the magic factor of units who have a range factor) doesn't work on superheroes.

 

  • Like 1

Telling how it is excessive verbis

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, Videopete said:

Just got to the section on the actual list of units on the Forces available... no idea what the Magic Factor, Melee or Missile Factor means. That said I know that Jareel could just destroy the Red Emperor according to the book.

The factors are briefly described on page 282, and mostly reflect the values in the WB&RM/Dragon Pass board game, with other units extrapolated.

It seemed desirable to provide some quantification of the strengths of the units and entities, and the board game stats seemed ideal for this purpose. RQ stats for various regiments will, I believe, be provided in a future official publication, so I did not want to preempt or second guess that. 

Jar-eel is indeed extremely tough, though remember these don't just reflect the demigod or hero on their own, but their band of companions as well. The Red Emperor may not be as potent, but he would usually be accompanied by several units of the Imperial Bodyguard and Field School of Magic as well as other troops.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...