From: awr0@aberystwyth.ac.uk
Date: Sat 17 Apr 1993 - 15:05:10 EEST
Looks like I've stirred up a few hornet nests. Oh well.
Rather than reply to everyone individually, I think a general reply is probably better.
I have never seen RQ1 so cannot comment on it's quality of production, but I have just about seen all the RQ2 stuff available. Mike Dawson said that the graphics for RQ2 was poor and maybe some of it was, but then how come AH used the illustrations for Pavis from the old pack in the Cradles pack. Have a look at Elder Secrets, now that is what I consider useless illustration. (I don't want to carry on with this cos the quality of illustration has improved tremendously recently.)
Carrying on with presentation in general. The people writing for RQ should have a look at Call of Cthulhu material. The Horror on the Orient Express pack which cost I believe around 20 pounds over here is amazing and worth every single penny. Boxed scenarios with handouts, specific layouts, and loads of red herrings, clues etc etc are worth buying because the enjoyment factor is so much more hightened. Have a look at the Dungeon Master series of generic adventures. (I paid 5 pound for one of the boxes and I don't think I'll ever get value for money like that again.)
Ok, so I'm beginning to ramble. AH should look at the old Pavis pack and the way that was presented. You had 3 books.
1 : City Guide , containing encounter tables, politics, number of temples, numbr of priests/lords. Taverns, militia, political situation, cult write ups for Pavis, Flintnail and Lanbril (Included special equipment and poisons only available through the Cult), and the History of pavis. (I might of missed something) 2 : General Information : Hand it to the players and let them sort out what was true, false and just plain inconceivable. 3 : The Episodes : Basically the adventures for the party. The cradle adventure is not "forgettable". It is you against the whole lunar empire defending a Giant Cradle. Garath Sharpsword puts in an appearance. It contains phrases like "When enough of the party have died...".
Pavis is an impressive supplement. That's why if anything it should be released (Converted to RQ3 etc..) but one thing I would suggest is supply floor plans for the Cradle. The point is, the work has already been done, now all that is needed is a little converting etc. A quick buck and some very happy customers.
Ok on to AH:
AH should in someways provide a way of getting hold of the errata from them. They should not rely on people to find magazines that support RQ. One thing that may help is the inclusion of RQ supporting magazines/digests list with the RQ product with addresses to write to to subscribe. That would be my main criticism with AH. The lack of customer care or after sales support. Using this digest as a errata distribution point is ludicrous. How big is this list? Errata distribution should either be done with the pack or should be available from AH directly. That is called customer support. One thing that might be considered is for AH to have a European office (They probably do, so ignore this comment if they do.).
AH should try to support RQ in general not just their products. By pure chance I was in a Virgin Games Store in London at christmas and discovered Tales of the Reaching Moon, oh and Hereos. It would of been nice of AH to tell me about various RQ specific sources of information. The average RQist does not have access to internet and relies heavily on the product they buy to provide information.
On Thief Cults :
A thief cult is a bit more than just a cult with a number of specific spells. It also relies heavily on tools and non magical equipment. Refering back to Lanbril in the Pavis pack (Yup I'm a fan of the old Pavis pack) you had flash powder, thunder dust, garrote and other specific skills (I don't have GoG to hand so can't confirm if GoG had specific skills for thief cults.). That was what I was getting at. The availability of unusual items useful to your cult. Should be done for all cults really.
On Cults in general :
GoG is ok for quick reference, but it needed to be written in the
format that is represented in the back of Cradles. This gives you a
feel as to how your character should behave. Not just lists of spells
I like what is happening with the cults being written up in the various packs comming out, but there is just ONE small problem. Is AH expecting us to buy all the various packs just to get a reasonably complete DETAILED picture of the cults we could expect to play and come up against. Now eventually AH and the writers for RQ may come to the conclusion that a single reference will be required, so go on, somebody tell me when they will stop this faffing about and print Cults of Terror and of course Cults of Prax for RQ3.
And to Finish :
AH : Don't whatever you do, destroy a product by changing it. Take for an example Griffin mountain. Is that why it's been discontinued? Cos it was ruined?
Ok that'll do for now,
Adam
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