ASE 2-3 might be just a little too gonzo for me to use it out of the box. That doesn't mean that I won't steal from it liberally, though.
I think my favorite thing is the Scientist character class. I think the class is really more of a Cyborg than a Scientist, but some of the lore-type abilities might combine nicely with the Techno-Rat class from Sword+1's "Resistance" B/X hack. It also gives me an idea on how I might revise the Headhunter and implement the Combat Cyborg in my RIFTS-to-AD&D conversion that sits mostly finished on my hard drive.
If there's one thing that I truly take away from ASE, though, it's the variety of stuff in the rooms. There really is never a dull moment in ASE. I would totally play in an ASE game, but I'm not sure if I would ever run one.
....well, except at a convention, maybe... or a "we want to play but don't have enough people" type of thing.
I still think it's money well spent, though. There's a lot to observe about dungeon design and making rooms memorable.
I wondered about the high gonzo level for this. That's actually kept me from ordering it so far. Mind you I'm fine with some gonzo in my games, but...
ReplyDeleteI guess here's a quick litmus test for you:
ReplyDeleteIf you find either of these concepts abhorrent:
-The party encountering a mutant clown named Dr. Giggles who fancies himself a surgeon, or
-A magical heavy metal guitar that functions as both crowd-influencing magical item and a battle axe,
you are probably going to find ASE2-3 too gonzo for your liking. As I said, I would not implement this into a regular campaign, but there are elements worth stealing in part or in whole.
Hmmmm. That's a bit more gonzo than I prefer for a regular campaign. But for oneshots I'd be ok with that. Thanks
ReplyDelete