1) Koje su knjige zapravo nepotrebne?
By AcIdI\/IaI\I
Well, let's begin: I have been playing AD&D for some time now and have started DM-ing just recently. At first I didn't like it very much 'cause I was in Magic: the Gathering back then so I didn't really want to play AD&D. But then I realized how much money I was spending on Magic and tried to find something less costly and more fun. One of my best friends (Roberto aka GLJIVA) was playing at Hrizip's and told me to come and try. Veni, Vidi, Likee it. And there was the financial side: I needed only ONE rulebook to play! No numerous cards that I didn't need, no numerous hours of work to make the money for it. I WAS IN LOVE! That day I became AD&D freak and from then 'till this moment there was not a minute of playing that I didn't like. A few years later I bought some other AD&D rulebooks only to find that they were even better. Of course, every herd has its black sheep: there are some books that aren't useful. Of course, I have bought some of them so I will tell you of those, so you, my dear websurfer/AD&D player, wouldn't make the same mistake:
1.CHRONOMANCER
- players will love it, but DMs will hate it. CHRONOMANCER is a new wizard class that has ability to travel trough time. Well, it's a bit more complicated: chronomancers travel to Temporal Prime (Timeslip 2nd spell-level)... PLANAR TRAVEL AT 2nd SPELL-LEVEL?!! I wonder who's nuts here? The guy that wrote the rulebook, or the DM that allows it in his campaign? Anyway, when they get to Temporal Prime, there they must travel to a certain point in time (that's Prime Material time). You see, physical travel in Temporal Prime equals time travel in Prime Material, but in Temporal Prime (from now TP) movement is modified by character's Wisdom score, but when you walk long enough your muscles get tired. Don't get me wrong but I don't get this! Either I'm stupid or somebody here isn't playing with a full deck. Chronomancers are totaly overpowerful people: by time travel they can alter past (though not the past that has transpired during their lifetimes), by altering past they can alter present, and by altering present they can alter future, and that gives them immense power! And do you know what does that give to DM?!! IT GIVES HIM THE BIGGEST DAMN HEADACHE HE HAS EVER HAD!!! What do you think how does the DM feel when a 3rd level character can make Napoleon a simple farmer, and Atila the Hun a babysitter?!! Anyhow, the work on the CHRONOMANCER book is thoroughly done, there are new kits&proficiencies, and if anybody wants to run a chronomancing campaign he will find there all the material he needs.
2.ENCYCLOPEDIA MAGICA vol I-IV
There's a big one! Have you ever wanted a BLUEBERRY PIE OF INSTANT PERSON CHARMING? Of course you have! That and many more USEFUL magical items will be found in fabulous ENCYCLOPEDIA MAGICA series! Need I say anything more? I guess I have said enough, but I want to say more: Have you ever needed a bunch of weird magical items that you will never want to use? Have you used every magical item listed in the DMG? I guess that you haven't (and I'm not telling this to some Ed Greenwood, or any other AD&D player with more than 15 years of gaming). So why did you buy it? Well, it looks kinda nice... Have you ever used any of the magical items listed inside? You see, my players are still low level, so I haven't given them that SWORD OF INSTANT MONSTER DESTRUCTION yet, but as soon as they reach 4th level... I don't have to say anything more.
I don't want to bury this one, but I have a few remarks: the work on the book is fantastic (no kidding), all the important stuff from various PHB and DMG supplements is summarized in three books, plus the new magic using system, plus the new combat system, plus the new character generation system, plus the rules for new PC races (everything from aarakocra to half-ogre), plus the psionic powers and rules for psionic combat. Only it's not the good old 2nd EDITION AD&D game. If you know how to use the PLAYER'S OPTION rules you can make your character really, really powerful: I made a 3rd level elven fighter swashbuckler (S12, D18, C15, I13, W10, Cha14) combining rules from PLAYER'S OPTION: Skills&Abilities and The Complete Fighters Handbook. His AC (no armor) was 0, he rolled 1d12 for hit points, he had a double specialization on rapier, and allure ability. Weird, eh? What I wan't to say is that everything, including AD&D, needs BALANCE. If you grant your players using PLAYER'S OPTIONs be ready to use them yourselves: like the Critical Hits rule, you wouldn't like your players to start killing red wyrms by shooting an arrow trough their eye, so to countermeasure that kind of behavior start using Critical Hits rule yourselves. Make a kobold kill 9th level fighter by throwing a dart in his neck (heart, eye). You will see that your players will stop using Critical Hits, and start creating more balanced PCs as well. My suggestion is that you don't use the PLAYER'S OPTIONs, just use the good old PHB and DMG. Those two will give you much more room to improvise, because that's what AD&D is all about: GOOD IMPROVISATION!!!!!! With PLAYER'S OPTIONs game will be full of dice rolling and looking up in various rulebooks (PLAYER'S OPTIONs).
