ACKS Heroic Fantasy Companion - 10
Auran Empire Campaign Setting - 3
Guns of War - 8 ("I sort of agree with Yukiomo; I think, if you’re going to publish firearms rules, you should probably publish rules that at least accommodate, or even actively support, pulp SF guns (ray guns, Barsoomian rifles & revolvers, etc.).) ← What Rhynn said. Sometimes I look to emulate alt tech weapons
Lairs & Encounters - 0
Secrets of the Undercity - 8
Sinister Secrets of Sakkara - 8
What an invaluable thread this has been! Thank you everyone for your votes and your qualitative comments and substantive suggestions.
Here are the totals of the Autarch community’s interest:
Based on this data, when I finish Dwimmermount*, my first project will be to finish Lairs and Encounters. An enormous amount of work has already gone into it, so that should get to Kickstarter quickly.
We are obligated to create Guns of War due to a D@W Kickstarter bonus goal. Auran Empire, meanwhile, is a lot of work. So I suspect the order of publication for us is going to be:
Domains at War (very shortly)
Dwimmermount
Lairs & Encounters
Sinister Stone of Sakkara (basically finished)
Guns of War
Heroic Fantasy
Secrets of the Undercity
Auran Empire
(Mr. Burns Voice)
Exxxccccellent!
Narrows Eyes, Steeples Fingers
Random: Some time back (can’t find the thread) you’d talked about a “D@W:Campaigns” style fast/abstract dungeon/hex clearing system - is that something that might appear in Lairs & Encounters, or is that not something that ever came out of a nascent stage?
ACKS Heroic Fantasy Companion - 5
Auran Empire Campaign Setting - 9
Guns of War - 0
Lairs & Encounters - 5
Secrets of the Undercity - 4
Sinister Secrets of Sakkara - 4
An abstract hex-clearing system might be very handy indeed, especially at King tier.
So that project came about as a result of a miscommunication between Tavis and I.
I was thinking about creating a board game, similar to the Ravenloft board game that Wizards published a couple years ago. Tavis was thinking about a King-tier hijink style dungeon clearing system. We were both talking about a “fast play dungeon system” but didn’t mean the same thing at all.
So, uh, it’s been shelved for now, at least.
I’d like to throw my vote in for rules to accommodate the “cowboy-ish” guns I usually use in my post-apocalyptic science fantasy games: cartridge-based weapons with small internal magazines (single shot, double-barrel, or 6 round tubes or cylinders). Looks like I missed the vote, but here are my numbers anyway:
ACKS Heroic Fantasy Companion: 8-9 (Kickstarter support dependent on finances)
Auran Empire Campaign Setting: 4
Guns of War: 8-9
Lairs & Encounters: 8-9
Secrets of the Undercity: 0 (the last thing I need is another megadungeon)
Sinister Secrets of Sakkara: 0
I would have backed both!
Though the Hijink-style system would be VERY useful.
ACKS Heroic Fantasy Companion - 7
Auran Empire Campaign Setting - 4
Guns of War - 3
Lairs & Encounters - 9
Secrets of the Undercity - 7
Sinister Secrets of Sakkara - 5
ACKS Heroic Fantasy Companion - 10
Auran Empire Campaign Setting - 8
Guns of War - 10
Lairs & Encounters - 7
Secrets of the Undercity - 6
Sinister Secrets of Sakkara - 8
I realize I’m late to the party, but here is my feedback.
Full disclosure: I own ACKS and the ACKS Player’s Companion. I was a contributor to the ACKS PC kickstarter. I missed the ACKS kickstarter because the game just wasn’t on my radar until after the kickstarter closed. I did not participate in the ACKS Domains at War kickstarter because the budget wasn’t there for me by the time I realized the kickstarter was open (I would purchase it now if it were available, however). I would probably kickstart in some fashion anything you personally intend to release Alex - your stuff is just that good.
Since everything is a nine or ten, here is my feedback in the order I would prefer to see it released:
Auran Empire Campaign Setting - 10
I love campaign settings. I own so many across so many games that I will never be able to run through them all before the reaper comes calling but I will not let that limit my purchase if the setting is compelling. What has me so interested in the Auran Empire Campaign Setting is to see the ACKS rules translated into a living, breathing setting - the campaign rules in particular, because they’re new and don’t have the years of use and familiarity that the ACKS core rules have (interpreted as they are from D&D B/X).
There is a great opportunity for a lot of setting detail but what would make this a home-run product would be the use of sidebars or offset text explaining in ACKS rules important moments and features of the setting. For instance, the collapse of the Auran Empire may have hinged on a critical moment in a key battle in history, the details of which can be described with a few rounds of DaW combat. The domain actions at the apogee of a great kingdom of history can be outlined. A merchant house’s rise to power can be illustrated using the arbitrage rules. Stuff like that.
Lairs & Encounters - 10
This was the one thing I really like about D&D 3E - that monsters had the same rules as the PCs; everything was on the same foundation. Unfortunately, the 3E rules were just too much for my casual gaming and there were no constraints on PC power. It just shot through the stratosphere eventually.
I have come to realize over the past few years that I have been on a grail-like quest for The Perfect Gaming System. I don’t think Lairs & Encounters makes ACKS that system. The grail is unobtainable. But it does push it that much closer to perfection for me.
ACKS Heroic Fantasy Companion - 10
There just isn’t enough of this out there as far as I’m concerned and these rules would be a welcome variant to the game.
Sinister Secrets of Sakkara - 9
Secrets of the Undercity - 9
Like the Auran Empire Campaign Setting, both of these could provide not just a setting but an opportunity to see the ACKS rules applied to that setting.
I don’t have much of a campaign going myself, so a starter city would be more valuable to me at this point than a higher level dungeon.
Guns of War - 9
Like the ACKS Heroic Fantasy Companion, there just isn’t enough of this stuff out there in my opinion. This would be another great way to experiment with expanding the ACKS brand.
I have been really impressed with all of Autarch’s products released to date. Thanks for soliciting our feedback Alex. I’m sure whatever we see next will be awesome.
I hope my own opinion below comes across this succinctly.
I personally think the Auran Empire Campaign Setting can also do this for the campaign rules that are relatively unique to ACKS and could benefit from additional exposition.
A Barsoomian setting would be so cool.
Thanks for all the additional comments and kind words!
The high level of expectation for Auran Empire is, frankly, terrifying. I think I understand why Gary never released Castle Greyhawk. Man.
ACKS Heroic Fantasy Companion - 7
Auran Empire Campaign Setting - 8 (I really want to see a campaign map with the correct ratios and market expectations…plus new monsters and classed!)
Guns of War - 3
Lairs & Encounters - 10
Secrets of the Undercity - 7
Sinister Secrets of Sakkara - 10 (since I wrote it can I go to 11?)
Hmm, here are my ratings and reasons:
ACKS Heroic Fantasy Companion - 10
This one is an easy choice. I love more options and dials for campaign creation and this sounds like a nice general toolbox. This would be an auto-buy.
Lairs & Encounters - 10
Again, this sounds like a great resource for hex-crawls and I would snap it up in an instance.
Auran Empire Campaign Setting - 8
Though not as high on the list as the other two, anything adding in more races, monsters and stuff is always handy. It would also be great for people looking to see a world created using ACKS built-in system. This would be a definite buy, but I’d love to see the other two first.
Guns of War - 6
As I said, I love new widgets and options, but firearms rules are low priority for me at the moment. If the pot were sweetened with extras like doing higher-tech settings (such as a fantasy industrial revolution ala Warmachine) then I would bump this up much higher. But just guns and how to attach it to D@W isn’t high priority.
Sinister Secrets of Sakkara - 5
This is a maybe for me. A good intro adventure is great and this might be something I grab down the line. It would depend on the specifics and how easy it is to slot in to my own campaign setting.
Secrets of the Undercity - 2?
I’m going to be honest here, I am kind of burnt out on thinking about mega-dungeons. We have so many out and on the horizon at this point that it feels flooded. I don’t think I really need yet another dungeon with years of potential play in it at this point. I might pick it up way down the line (especially if it shows up in a Bundle of Holding deal), but it is pretty low priority for me.
ACKS Heroic Fantasy Companion 10
Auran Empire Campaign Setting 9
Lairs & Encounters 5
Secrets of the Undercity 3
Sinister Secrets of Sakkara 4
Guns of War 1
ACKS Heroic Fantasy Companion - 9
Auran Empire Campaign Setting -10
Guns of War -5
Lairs & Encounters - 10
Secrets of the Undercity - 8
Sinister Secrets of Sakkara -10
ACKS Heroic Fantasy Companion - 10
Auran Empire Campaign Setting -8
Guns of War -8
Lairs & Encounters - 8
Secrets of the Undercity - 5
Sinister Secrets of Sakkara -0