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Old 04-02-2021, 04:23 PM   #1
larsdangly
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Default Hexagram #6 pdf release

I'm stoked about the release of the pdfs for Hexagram #6, Old School Monsters and Adventures v.2, and if you've seen them I'll bet you are too. Here's a thread to kibitz over the details. Here's an unprioritized list of some immediate things I'm vibing on:

- The wide range of deeply weird and dangerous things we normally might categorize as nuisance creatures (plants, bugs, slimes, molds, etc.). I love those sorts of things, as they pose threats and puzzles that are so different from the standard beast with an axe, so a bunch of new ones is going to make for a bunch of fun events in my upcoming games.

- Lester Smith's fencing rules are great - honestly, quite a bit better than I expected, given the mixed bag you often get from house rules in zines. Lester clearly is a fencer, and clearly understands how you play test new rules to make them work as a game, as opposed to just a granular white-room exercise. This looks like it will actually be exciting at the table. What it most reminds me of are the fencing rules from Flashing Blades. I'll be play testing a bit this weekend, but already have some thoughts about little bits of chrome to bolt on to make them even more dynamic and applicable to some other weapons (quarterstaff, longsword, etc.).

- I haven't fully processed the adventures yet, but on a first glance they look like a perfect complement to the stack of GB adventures we have - where our existing suite of modules are relatively narrative, these are kind of weird, stand alone things with freaky settings. What they most remind me of are the adventure-like episodes from the Elric of Melnibone stories, which frequently take place in micro-settings that are other worldly and quickly leap from start to violent crescendo without a lot of intermediate gears.
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Old 04-03-2021, 12:45 AM   #2
Steve Plambeck
 
Join Date: Jun 2019
Default Re: Hexagram #6 pdf release

Yep, it feels more like Christmas than Christmas :>

Can only agree Lester Smith's fencing rules are outstanding -- that was the first thing I had to read. I thought my home fencing rules were pretty decent, but compared to this they're garbage!

The looping repetition of parry and riposte until someone makes a mistake to end the turn is a breathtaking idea I look forward to seeing in play. But on a practical side, just how many parry/ripostes can you really have in a melee turn??? It's cool though to picture two fighters exchanging a dozen attacks on each other while everyone else is just standing their in a frozen stasis. There's a way to account for that! It's called Temporal Fugue, a fighting tactic created by Roger Zelazny in his wonderful novel Creatures of Light and Darkness. I always wanted some way to fit that idea into the game, and here it is.
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Old 04-03-2021, 08:07 AM   #3
larsdangly
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Default Re: Hexagram #6 pdf release

Agreed! The best thing about Lester's thing is that the action builds in a way that obviously favors better fencers but hinges on competing die rolls and so carries some sense of risk and dramatic tension. Even more so when you fold in aimed shots and the legacy edition Fencer rules for the disarm and shrewd thrust.

I started goofing with it last night and found it really fun, and also easily to use as a sort of base on which you can tack closely similar ideas that spice it up even more. E.g., I tried out an option to maneuver a bit as you go, the idea of a bind/disengage loop that offers another option on the parry/riposte loop, an option for going into HTH after binding, and some other stuff.

As for the other books, another thing I'm digging is the approach taken to monster entries, with a really serious fraction of each entry focusing on creative encounter ideas. I love the idea that you sort of figure out for yourself what different monsters are all about by playing with them at the table as opposed to a more 'meta' backstory in a book.
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