Tell me about / Sell me on Amazing Adventures

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3rik

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As a collector and afficionado of RPGs of pulp adventure I've been eyeballing Troll Lord Games' Amazing Adventures for a long time, not quite sure what to make of it. Anyone here familiar enough with it toTell Me About It and perhaps even Sell Me On It? System (the so-called Siege Engine), char gen, setting, tone, style, approach to the "genre", etc. etc.

pulp adventure games I own:
Airship Daedalus
Broken Compass
Dicey Tales
Hollow Earth Expedition
Mercenaries, Spies & Private Eyes - arguably, this one uses a rather lethal and "un-cinematic" system for what goes as a pulp game nowadays
Pulp Adventure
Pulp Cthulhu
Pulp Fantastic (Vortex version)
Two-Fisted Tales Revised & 2E

"pulpy" Victorians:
Leagues of Adventure
Space: 1889 (Ubiquity version)
Terra Incognita
 
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Unfortunately I have no experience with it. I do like the Ubiquity based Hollow Earth Expeditions and Pulp Cthulhu a lot though.
 
Is that the Castles and Crusaders based game?
 
As a collector and afficionado of RPGs of pulp adventure I've been eyeballing this one for a long time, not quite sure what to make of it. Anyone here familiar enough with it toTell Me About It and perhaps even Sell Me On It? System, char gen, setting, tone, style, approach to the "genre", etc. etc.

pulp adventure games I own:
Airship Daedalus
Broken Compass
Dicey Tales
Hollow Earth Expedition
Mercenaries, Spies & Private Eyes - arguably, this one uses a rather lethal and "un-cinematic" system for what goes as a pulp game nowadays
Pulp Adventure
Pulp Cthulhu
Pulp Fantastic (Vortex version)
Two-Fisted Tales Revised & 2E

"pulpy" Victorians:
Leagues of Adventure
Space: 1889 (Ubiquity version)
Terra Incognita
I haven't played it, either. Is that the one from Troll Lord? If so, I think it's based on their SIEGE Engine, so descended from 3.5, and with a very similar feel, at least in its fantasy iteration, Castles & Crusades.

I noticed FGU's Daredevils isn't on your list. Last I checked, FGU was still selling new box sets for 18 bucks, which includes US shipping.
 
I own it, but haven't ever played it. I like Castles & Crusades. The SIEGE Engine works pretty well for a quick and easy to use skill/task resolution system. You can play it pretty pulpy and the mechanics are adapted for firearms, vehicle chases, weird occultism and such. AA has pretty good archetype and class templates to cover a lot of pulp heroes. There's a nice section of different styles of pulp games and tailoring the game to fit what you're going for, from swashbuckling to lost world to science fantasy. But the 1-12 level power curve just put me off actually running the game. I don't think that works well for this sort of game
 
I haven't played it, either. Is that the one from Troll Lord? If so, I think it's based on their SIEGE Engine, so descended from 3.5, and with a very similar feel, at least in its fantasy iteration, Castles & Crusades.

I noticed FGU's Daredevils isn't on your list. Last I checked, FGU was still selling new box sets for 18 bucks, which includes US shipping.
Yes, it runs on their SIEGE Engine, which I thought was some kind of OSR-ish rules set but is apparently 3.5-based (?), that's also used in Castles & Crusades.

I've looked at FGU's Daredevils and didn't find it particularly appealing. Some of the scenario's might be worth checking out, but I'm put off a bit by the archaic layout, fonts, etc. However, this is not a request for suggestions on other pulp games to purchase, just hoping for some opinions/experiences concerning Amazing Adventures.
 
I own it, but haven't ever played it. I like Castles & Crusades. The SIEGE Engine works pretty well for a quick and easy to use skill/task resolution system. You can play it pretty pulpy and the mechanics are adapted for firearms, vehicle chases, weird occultism and such. AA has pretty good archetype and class templates to cover a lot of pulp heroes. There's a nice section of different styles of pulp games and tailoring the game to fit what you're going for, from swashbuckling to lost world to science fantasy. But the 1-12 level power curve just put me off actually running the game. I don't think that works well for this sort of game
Do you own just the core book or is this also about the Companion book?
 
Do you own just the core book or is this also about the Companion book?
I had to look back, the tailoring the game to different sub-genres stuff is in the Companion. The Companion is pretty good. It's basically more of everything that's in the core. The Core, Companion, and Monster Manual are sold by TLG for only $30 as a bundle, so if you're into collecting pulp adventure games, it's a low investment. There's a lot of good material to mine out of it.
 
Is that the Castles and Crusaders based game?
It is, and I kickstarted it way back in 2015 (or something like that) when it was first being created. Amazing Adventures is marketed as a pulp genre RPG. As has been noted already, AA is based on C&C framework, so if you like D&D style games it's easy to learn. It does use C&C's SIEGE mechanics, but for those who don't like SIEGE a simple substitution of 5E's Advantage mechanic does pretty much the same thing. The classes are mostly C&C reskinned to a modern setting, the spells are pretty much what you'd expect in a 3E clone (since C&C is based on the 3E SRD) and the game is compatible enough with C&C that you can import monsters and rules and such with zero conversion. There is a MANUAL OF MONSTERS which is pretty much what you'd expect, with a mix of monsters that would fit into a modern campaign. The COMPANION is one of my favorite D&D-style rulebooks because it has tons of ideas for swashbuckling campaigns, steam campaigns, sci fi campaigns and other ways to branch off from pulp.

The newest edition of Amazing Adventures (a recent KS, now a regular product sale, I think) is 5E compatible and advertises itself as a rules set for all genres, not specifically pulp.

Basically, if you like C&C (or 5E) you'd probably like Amazing Adventures. The rules are (I think) well written and highly compatible with any older-edition D&D or clone products, so you can use them with stuff you already own. That's a bonus, in my mind.
 
The Core, Companion, and Monster Manual are sold by TLG for only $30 as a bundle, so if you're into collecting pulp adventure games, it's a low investment.
Yeah, I saw that and was thinking the same, until I checked the shipping costs (roughly 85 dollars*)... And so far, I haven't seen this bundle deal anywhere else.

* I went back and checked again: $88.70 to be precise... :weep:
 
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Yeah, I saw that and was thinking the same, until I checked the shipping costs (roughly 85 dollars*)... And so far, I haven't seen this bundle deal anywhere else.

* I went back and checked again: $88.70 to be precise... :weep:
Shipping to wherever you are sucks mightily, man! (Which you probably know already if you're Australian, of course:grin:!)
Well, either that, or Troll Lords really need some better shipping options.


To be honest, that's the main reason I avoid visiting Studio2Publishing...they're shipping from the US, which isn't really acceptable for me unless I really want something and can't find it elsewhere. If they get an EU printer, I'd be far more interested in some of their offers!
But shipping on most books from the US can be beyond doubling the price of the book. Compare that to the 10$ or so I need to get my Drivethru/Lulu books shipped to an address in France or Germany (from which I get them cheaply, for something like 2$ extra per book) and you see why I prefer their offers lately:shade:.
 
Shipping to wherever you are sucks mightily, man! (Which you probably know already if you're Australian, of course:grin:!)
Well, either that, or Troll Lords really need some better shipping options.


To be honest, that's the main reason I avoid visiting Studio2Publishing...they're shipping from the US, which isn't really acceptable for me unless I really want something and can't find it elsewhere. If they get an EU printer, I'd be far more interested in some of their offers!
But shipping on most books from the US can be beyond doubling the price of the book. Compare that to the 10$ or so I need to get my Drivethru/Lulu books shipped to an address in France or Germany (from which I get them cheaply, for something like 2$ extra per book) and you see why I prefer their offers lately:shade:.
I'm in Europe, not Australia. Australia must be worse.
 
I'm in Europe, not Australia. Australia must be worse.
The reason I stopped buying from Noble Knight. Great store, great people, great prices, and then the total doubles even with the cheapest, “it'll be delivered shortly after Tibb's Eve to a place within a thousand miles of your location and you can use any dowsing rod for tracking” shipping option. I know USPS is young and needs the money, but still….
 
My current C&C game I run is genre hopping (kinda), so I use Amazing Adventures for all kinds of extra rules C&C doesn’t have.

For instance, I needed gun rules because the Viking PCs raided a Walmart and looted some guns.
 
My current C&C game I run is genre hopping (kinda), so I use Amazing Adventures for all kinds of extra rules C&C doesn’t have.

For instance, I needed gun rules because the Viking PCs raided a Walmart and looted some guns.
Ah, so you must be very familiar with the SIEGE Engine. What can you tell me about it? I'm not a 3.5 guy so I have no idea. I'm only familiar with some OSR, including DCC, from leafing through a bunch of books. Is it particularly crunchy or fiddly?
 
The SIEGE engine is really a lot simpler than everyone would have you believe. Each class has specific skills and abilities listed. Essentially there are two target numbers for skill checks, 12 and 18. If you are proficient with the skill it's the 12 number, if not then it's 18. There are a few more details, but that's the gist of how the system works and that's why I suggested that using a rule that says, "give Advantage to the roll if the person is proficient" because the math works pretty much the same.
 
Let me just quote myself from a different thread:
Recently I've been reading through the Amazing Adventures PDFs from the Dungeon Extravaganza 5E Humble Bundle, and man - if the point was to get me pumped up for the rest of the line, they sure succeeded. The setting they're developing across the different books fits nicely with some ideas I've been having lately, such as using an altered Venus to cross over semi-historical with fantasy adventures. I'm also tickled that the goal of one of the main villain organizations is to kick off Ragnarok by summoning the World Serpent, which slots nicely into The Day After Ragnarok.

Hmm, that gives me an idea. In the AA Solar Burn science fiction book, the Solar System is split between a post-apocalyptic, cyberpunk Earth and the more space operatic colonial groups. Wouldn't it be cool to have that, but Earth is the Day After Ragnarok Earth instead of the near-future slow-motion governmental-environmental collapse Earth of Slow Burn? Of course, I'll have to figure out some way of getting pre-WWII humanity into space, first . . .
A few clarifications/expansions: The main Castles & Crusades campaign world, Aihrde, does turn out to be Venus in the distant past, though this doesn't have to impact any Amazing Adventures games. Concerning the Sci-Fi book, Solar Burn, in retrospect "post apocalyptic" might not have been the most accurate term (near-future slow-motion governmental-environmental collapse is much closer). Overall I'd say the setting is tilted a bit towards investigative/mystery solving activities, but it's very inspirational and I think it would be a good base for any pulp-inspired game.
My current C&C game I run is genre hopping (kinda), so I use Amazing Adventures for all kinds of extra rules C&C doesn’t have.

For instance, I needed gun rules because the Viking PCs raided a Walmart and looted some guns.
Ah, an Agents of D.O.D.O. campaign, I presume? :wink:
 
Ah, an Agents of D.O.D.O. campaign, I presume? :wink:
[/QUOTE]

No, but special thanks to Neal Stephenson for the adventure idea was given at the end of the session, lol.

It’s more like quantum leap or sliders, where the lost not-Vikings (they’re from Yrth, GURPS Banestorm) ride magical mists from world to world and have almost no control over where they go. It’s been pretty rad.
 
Ah, so you must be very familiar with the SIEGE Engine. What can you tell me about it? I'm not a 3.5 guy so I have no idea. I'm only familiar with some OSR, including DCC, from leafing through a bunch of books. Is it particularly crunchy or fiddly?

It’s the only system I use for “D&D” games. I’ve been running it for close to 20 years pretty consistently (about one game of multiple sessions a year or so). It’s D&D 1e with unified mechanics, basically. No feats or skills, defined character growth for classes with no customization or building outside of choosing which attributes get a bonus on some rolls.

Neither I nor may usual players are mechanics nerds, so we just want something straightforward, and C&C has always fit the bill. It is way way less complicated than d20 or the old 3.5, I repeat myself, but it’s more like AD&D: you always try to roll high and it has ascending AC.

I have lots of favorite games, but I play this one more than anything else.
 
Yes, it runs on their SIEGE Engine, which I thought was some kind of OSR-ish rules set but is apparently 3.5-based (?), that's also used in Castles & Crusades.

I've looked at FGU's Daredevils and didn't find it particularly appealing. Some of the scenario's might be worth checking out, but I'm put off a bit by the archaic layout, fonts, etc. However, this is not a request for suggestions on other pulp games to purchase, just hoping for some opinions/experiences concerning Amazing Adventures.

Bear in mind before desktop publishing technology became widely available in the latter part of the 1980s, the start of the art was photoset galleys, bromides and manual paste up - I've seen folks claim that Traveller was done on Linotype. 'Archaic' layouts were as much a function of the technology available as they were of aesthetic choices. Flashing Blades is still a great system for cape-and-sword adventures despite being an 'archaic' system, and Daredevils isn't wildly different from that (or Bushido, for that matter).
 
Update: I have not found a place where I can purchase this without paying through the nose for shipping. My usual go-to online gamestores (Games Lore, Leisure Games, Sphärenmeisters Spiele) don't seem to have it in stock. Some sites mention the 5E version but I have no interest in that. The search continues...
 
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Some sites mention the 5E version but I have no interest in that.

if you ever want to hear someone complain about that version let me know and I’ll pencil some time in.
 
As a collector and afficionado of RPGs of pulp adventure I've been eyeballing Troll Lord Games' Amazing Adventures for a long time, not quite sure what to make of it. Anyone here familiar enough with it toTell Me About It and perhaps even Sell Me On It? System (the so-called Siege Engine), char gen, setting, tone, style, approach to the "genre", etc. etc.

pulp adventure games I own:
Airship Daedalus
Broken Compass
Dicey Tales
Hollow Earth Expedition
Mercenaries, Spies & Private Eyes - arguably, this one uses a rather lethal and "un-cinematic" system for what goes as a pulp game nowadays
Pulp Adventure
Pulp Cthulhu
Pulp Fantastic (Vortex version)
Two-Fisted Tales Revised & 2E

"pulpy" Victorians:
Leagues of Adventure
Space: 1889 (Ubiquity version)
Terra Incognita

I'm surprised that Adventure! from White Wolf isn't on the list. I really like that game.
 
I'm surprised that Adventure! from White Wolf isn't on the list. I really like that game.
Not a fan (anymore) of the Storyteller system and the game fiction.

I did forget to mention that I also own All Flesh Must Be Eaten: Pulp Zombies.
 
I never thought that the Storyteller system suited World of Darkness, however it did feel real pulpy when used with Adventure! and was much more suited to that game and genre than anything else White Wolf used the system for.
That's part of the reason I'll be happy to use the more recent version called Storypath for the upcoming pulpy B-movie rpg series called "They Came From...!"
 
I have both editions of Amazing Adventures. :grin: I haven't played/run either of them :sad:

Regardless, I think both are solid games at least from a reading/white room standpoint. From my read thru, they both seem to have a good scope. The mechanics are just standard SIEGE Engine (D&D) or 5e (D&D), so what they lack in modernity they make up for in familiarity. I think if you're going to run anything within earshot of the 20th century with a D&Dish system, then it's definitely an upper tier choice.

One of the things I liked was the idea of your character's "costume" as armor. It's basically that your AC is defined by what clothes your character wears and the suitability of those clothes to genre and situation. So Indy's fedora? It's totally giving him an AC bonus. That femme fatale in the satin evening gown and long gloves? She's totally maxed out AC in the dance hall.

The SIEGE version is a bit better with art and flavor. The 5e version skimps on the art and feels a bit dry. I like both, though.

I liked Amazing Adventures 5e better than The Spy Game, but I think I like Stargate SG-1 a bit more than AE 5e. But AE 5e is much more multipurpose than either The Spy Game or Stargate SG-1 are out of the box.
 
Well, now that y'all have begun elaborating on Amazing Adventures 5E Ralph Dula Ralph Dula might as well chime in.

OK. I’ll dig out my copy and give my thoughts tomorrow. I think I still have some of the 5E adventures and supplements for it, so I’ll see about finding them and commenting on them as they relate to the rulebook.
 
I notice that Joseph Wolz Joseph Wolz used Amazing Adventures a lot; Ralph Dula Ralph Dula was so enraged by the 5E version that he seems to have left the Pub. So how are the published adventures (as opposed to the rules systems)? From what I can tell from samples there seems to be a lot of New Orleans and blocks of text but very few maps or floor plans.
 
And the Troll Lords are about to launch the crowdfunding for a reprint/restructuring into the standard 'core 3' on November 10th.
 
And the Troll Lords are about to launch the crowdfunding for a reprint/restructuring into the standard 'core 3' on November 10th.
I see it's going to be Indiegogo rather than Kickstarter. Any idea why?


Snipped a quote from the conversation on Indiegogo about changes in this new edition:

Jason Vey on Indiegogo said:
In case you’re wondering what this is all about…The next printing of AA is going to shift its presentation in several ways. I’m still moving, tweaking, editing, and adjusting, but here’s the gist of what’s planned:

1. It will be full-color all round wih a brand new layout and new art

2. It’s being re-branded from specifically “pulp” to “multi-genre” to better reflect the original intent.

3. We will now have a traditional 3-book paradigm: a Player’s Handbook, Chronicle Keeper’s Guide, and a Codex Monstorum (monster manual).

4. The Companion is going away, but EVERYTHING from it will be folded into the player’s and GM’s guides. This means that yes, the AA Player’s Handbook will have a lot more character classes in it as well as more spells and psionic powers.

5. The GM is being renamed the Chronicle Keeper (CK) to fit better with C&C.

6. The rules themselves will NOT be significantly changng; you WILL still be able to use your first and second prints just fine. Errata will be incorporated and things will be cleaned up but the game will not be a heavily revised “second edition.” The magic system is getting a cleanup; the psionics system will also likely get a minor cleanup. The gadgeteering system will be clarified and will also cover powered heroes (supers). The changes overall will be along the lines of what we’ve seen with C&C over the years.

Again, this is a cleanup and reorganization, NOT a full second edition. First and second print books will still work just fine, just as with C&C. For distribution purposes it’s going in as a new game, but we don’t see this as a violation of our “no new editions” policy, because it is NOT making your prior books obsolete.

7. Some new and expanded bits may be added – Cinematic unarmed combat, more genre advice, and things like that. Mostly this will be in the CK’s Guide to fill out the page count.

8. The monster book is still in development but expect to see a lot of Lovecraftian creatures, creatures of mythology, cryptozoological creatures (like Sasquatch and Nessie), Gothic horror monsters, sci-fi creatures, things like that.

9. The Book of Powers and StarSIEGE ARE NOT GOING INTO THE CORE BOOK. Both of these are slated for eventual updates and expansions, so they’re also not going away. The CURRENT plan (which is subject to change) is for StarSIEGE to get an expansion to 128 pages, and become a hardcover. I hope that the Book of Powers will also see an expansion to 128 pages along with a rename, and a hardcover treatment as a proper Supers genre book. We’re planning on many genre books to tie into Amazing Adventures and Castles & Crusades moving forward.
 
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So the upcoming crowd-funded version will be using SIEGE D20, or will it be using 5E?

(I also wonder which one would people prefer)
 
So the upcoming crowd-funded version will be using SIEGE D20, or will it be using 5E?

(I also wonder which one would people prefer)
From what I read in the conversation, this will be for the SIEGE Engine. Full compatibility with C&C is expressly mentioned. I'd think Troll Lord fans probably prefer this to a 5E version.
 
There’s enough difficulty pinning down “pulp”. What is “multi-genre” when it’s at home, I wonder?
 
I notice that Joseph Wolz Joseph Wolz used Amazing Adventures a lot; Ralph Dula Ralph Dula was so enraged by the 5E version that he seems to have left the Pub. So how are the published adventures (as opposed to the rules systems)? From what I can tell from samples there seems to be a lot of New Orleans and blocks of text but very few maps or floor plans.
I still use it a lot, because my Psychonaut Vikings game bends a lot of genres. When your Pictish clan’s android recruit wields a .357 magnum…it’s better to use existing rules than to make some up.

I don’t really use the adventures, although I’ve read them. Honestly, I don’t recall the contents.

I LOVE the Starship Warden book they did (it’s 800pages of pure awesome) and especially the Amazing Adventures StarSIEGE book that came out around the same time. It has incredibly useful (to me) Kaiju and Giant Mecha rules.

I’m backing it, even though IndieGoGo kinda sucks. I feel like Kickstarter will raise more funds, but they are restricted to X number of kickstarters in a year…I think.
 
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