Wherein I will be posting bits from ACKS 1&2 that I find enjoyable/useful
Post the part where they kickstarted the game without showing the interior art, and then most of the art ended up being AI slop. That always makes me laugh.
>>98254976feel free to do so!The first thing I liked:The "Adventuring" proficiency:What sets adventurers apart from other people, mechanically? Not just a full HD, but this!
Oh boy yet another unnecessary general where "console-wars" esque shitposting isn't curbed in the slightest anyway.
>>982549680/10 ai slop bx knock off
>>98254993im just sharing things I like.>>98254997great, what are you currently playing?next thing I like, stone encumbrance. Nice and chunky, easy to adjust, and a lot less fiddly than coin weight
>>98254976>>98254988This is my favorite one because there was actually a guy who was trying to say the ACKS art didn't look AI-generated to him, which is hilarious on its own merit, but then this six-fingered Paladin showed up.
>>98255025seems a bit ableist, no?next! the explorer: a fighter/ranger/thief combo that is a core class, a great addition to any party.
>>98254988>>98255009>>98255025>>98255035Is this an ironic game?Is there a weapon called weapon?
>>98255025Hexadactyly isn't that uncommon and some ancient cultures attributed supernatural talents to those who possessed a sixth digit.>>98255079>Is there a weapon called weapon?If it's portrayed by Milla Jovovich I am in.
>>98255079>Is this an ironic gameWhat would make you ask that?>Is there a weapon called weapon?Im not sure what youre trying to say. Next! Thief's "Shadowy Senses", finally making them good as dungeon scouts!
>>98255093>echolocation"Torches might reveal my position, so I'll just make loud noises instead. BRILLIANT!"
>>98254988The only reason a proficiency like that would matter is if the players can play PCs that are not adventurers. Which I bet it's something this games allows them to do. Despite being called Adventurer'CKS supposedly from the progression A->C->K. But go ahead. Play a commoner.
>>98255108>>98255108>"Torches might reveal my position, so I'll just make loud noises instead. BRILLIANT!"...are you trolling?Torches DO reveal your position. Shadowy sense relies on night-vision, hearing, smell, *and* echolocation. It doesnt even say that the thief is making noise, just that he is able to locate things in the dark, based on sound. Thanks for the comment!>>98255123>is if the players can play PCs that are not adventurersMost henchmen are "normal men" and not classed. >Which I bet it's something this games allows them to do. Despite being called Adventurer'CKS supposedly from the progression A->C->K. But go ahead. Play a commoner.Making up a fictional scenario to be mad at? Okay!
>>98255093>>98255108It almost feels like the overly wordy and weird text you get from a chatbot where it sounds 95% human but just can't quite stick the landing.
>>98255167That's great, the author was a lawyer, thanks for the comment!Next! Heavy helmets! Having these as an option is nice! I like feeling secure that I'll have a better chance of surviving a deadly blow.
>>98255183>a lawyerThat explains the difficulty sounding human.
>>98255009>1000 coins weight as much as a single shieldWaitwhat?That completely fucks up a major B/X game loopSo much being an OSR game
>>98255025Oh.I don't like this.I don't like this at all.
>>98255288In AD&D a large shield weighs 10#,and in ACKS, one stone is 10#, so thats equivalent.In AD&D coins weigh 1# per 10.In ACKS, coins weigh one stone (10#) per 1000 (equivalent to coins being 1/10th the size as in AD&D). >That completely fucks up a major B/X game loopHowso?Thanks for commenting!>>98255320WellThe imageCan beignoredand filtered!
>>98254968lmao, I see you took my advice on what to name the ACKS thread in Open OSR. I don't like ACKS very much, though I do have an admiration for what it's attempting to accomplish. Credit where it's due, I have stolen some of its ideas for my own 2e games, like making the Knock spell set off an encounter roll, and giving Thieves infravision. Not sure if ACKS came up with these, but they're good rules and my first exposure to them was ACKS.
>>98255366No, ive been using FAG (fantasy adventure game) for ages now. I just hammered the name to fit ACKS.What suggestion?>I have stolen some of its ideasgood idea!>for my own 2e games bad idea!
>>98255220Ha, ha!
>>98255334>AD&D coins weigh 1# per 10.>In ACKS, coins weigh one stone (10#) per 1000You don't see a problem with that?This makes AI-CKS basically unsuitable to run classic modules, because when a player can carry thousands of coins it undermines the design intent of the logistics baked in the old school D&D
>>982556031,000 copper coins is 10 xp, so carrying nothing but coins at quarter speed movement the max non strength modified encumbrance is 200xp.
>>98255680That's 20 000 xp for gold thoughA B/X character can only carry up to 1600 coins. A single acks character can clear entire floor-worths of treasure in one goThat's broken
>>98255807There's the optional encumbrance rules which require each item be specified where it's carried and those I think limit you to a backpack of 4,000 coins and then a large sack in the each hand slung over shoulders can hold another 6,000 each. So that's 16,000 coins. Maybe belt pockets add another few hundred. Seems like it they can hold about 10x as much, and that's even using the restrictive optional rules. For converting hoards I'd make them mostly copper instead of gold and increase the volume accordingly. If generating treasure I'd say at least use the heroic or gritty treasure table rules instead of classic to make the treasure heavier, apparently those tables are around 7x as heavy.
>>98255842It's easily fixable by the GM, sureThe question is why play a game that so grossly misunderstands old-school D&D over any other B/X retroclone?Don't change the rules if you don't understand the implicationsI mean coin weight that's one pretty obvious thing, and it's still fucked, who knows what that amateur will brake next?Introduce feats or something?
>>98254968Learned gentlemen, I want to use HellMarch with ACKS, but it uses side initiative (and in general I prefer side intiative).How upsetting this would be for the whole of ACKS rules?>>98255025>this six-fingered Paladin>>98255320>I don't like this at all.It pains me very much. I would rather it kept the original black & white art style, with some fancy color art here and there.AI art made it look a bit like it was from Temu.
>>98255923>I would rather it kept the original black & white art styleBy This Axe looks like a million bucks.Even if AI was used to help, the art direction is way better than ACKS II.
>>98254976This is what sailed the ACKS ship for me. I liked the idea of ACKS enough to shell out $250 USD for a physical copy of all three books with my name in it, years ago, but they neglected to actually put my name in the book. Which was tedious. The AI art threw me off like an anchor from an airplane, and further, the verisimilitude of the economics was not meaningfully improved over the first. Another part is that the dev was filtered by the ending of the Second Apocalypse series, which was nothing short of phenomenal in its pathos, and actively condemns it, when he praised the series as visionary during the first edition's dev cycle. Honestly, the game strikes me as vastly overambitious bloatware put into action by a slightly above average IQ midwit that had a vague idea of the various medieval systems he wanted to simulate, but none of the skill or knowledge to implement them in a way that resonated. Kevin Crawford's supplement, An Echo Resounding, has served my table much better for domain play. It's smoother, funner, and easier to fiddle with, which is what matters as a GM.All of that said, I still don't regret the $250 I spent. He's consistently annoyed some of my least favourite people for years on-end and that alone is worthy of a reward, whether he was capable of a competent delivery or no. Some people suggest that the AI art was due to being blacklisted by the predominantly left leaning commercial artist sphere, which may well be true, but there are plenty of apolitical or right leaning artists he could've sprung for. He just didn't want to pay craftsmen (and women, I suppose) for their work when he could proompt. Most damningly of all, he didn't even bother to filter for good- i.e., not immediately repulsive- AI art! Just grabbed the first images he got. To the pits of tartarus with Alex and his pseud trad LARP faggotry, man.
>>98255603>You don't see a problem with that?Please, go on and explain how that's a problem? >>98255923Macris hates Side, I prefer it. >>98255963>he pays for game bookslol, lmao even
Fucking hell this game is shit.
>>98257099why's that?
the CAG/FAG people are poorly socialized eurotards and should not be interacted with
>>98255009>1000 coins as 1 stone (14 lbs)>1000 God blessed USA coins weigh about 5 to 11.5 lbsAlright I'm surprisingly more ok with thjs rather the 50 coins thing
>>98255025I dont see why people go ahead with AI art in cases like this, vice having even shifty no talent art. Hobbies like this are considered luxury and artistic, so having AI just seems like it would cost more than what you would save
>>98255132Esl
>>98257271too cheap to spend their kickbuck charity dosh on hiring some person who'll actually make something bespoke for their game.they'd rather just pocket the money and give you ai sloppa
>>98257291I feel like you would lose more money on potential customer loss than you save on ai though. Even cheap shitty bad artists would save face on the hobby though, which is more important than. People realize though
>>98257304>I feel like you would lose more money on potential customer lossMost people don't care. They perhaps poll as caring but it doesn't stop them from actually buying the thing or not noticing the ai. Shadowdark has a bunch in it and no one gave a fuck. Even stock art isn't an impediment if the product has good utility, Stars Without Number and a bunch of Sine Nomine stuff is stock art. High quality art is nice but not required if the game itself is appealing enough.
>>98254976>>98255941Fuck TTRPG art. Good, bad, I don't care--it's just a waste of money better spent on writing and playtesting the ACTUAL RULES.
>>98257304A lot of these games get the majority of their sales through Kickstarter preorders, so most of the people who put money down on the game did so before art was even created for the book. As for pushing away customers, ACKS doesn't include text from the book in its DriveThruRPG preview, just a character sheet. Only way that people will know about the AI art is through word of mouth.
>>98257304>I feel like you would lose more money on potential customer loss than you save on ai thoughif the Elf book is tasteless obvious AI i'll give up foreverit's an ugly age where even the likes of WotC with money to put a Larry Elmore on every single page of a thick rule book will go full AI slop (shit related)
>>98257345ffs but also lol
>>98257324>>98257344>>98257344But that's what I mean though! People talk shit about it now on forums and image boards, politics aside. It just doesn't make sense from a producer standpoint, but maybe thats hindsight
>>98257345Yeah but Wotc is Jewish so fuck em
>>98257344>Only way that people will know about the AI art is through word of mouth.That's fucked up.
>>98257371I think they realized shittalk is just that and irrelevant to their sales.irs like mp3 audio compression when it came out. People complained but no one stopped using it and it became normal.
>>98257371My only guess is they think that the vast majority of people who care about AI use will already be filtered by ACKS' reputation as a chud game anyway.
>>98257447Hating AI art goes across both sides of the political spectrum, especially if there's an attempt to pass if off as non-AI.
>>98257304If it wasn't ACKS I'd agree with you. The people who shill out for this game's physicals are also the audience that gobble this stuff up. Not a lot going on between the ears, despite the system.
>>98257345This predates AI my guy. The funny part about those books is that wotc literally forced the author through lawsuits to put female africans in them.
>>98257457Meh, AI art is the same as when people hated Digi-pen over traditional art. Complaining about Photoshop, or better yet. Big Corpos and small creators will use them, just hide it as much as they can. Though you will have some that will just admit that they do and not care. In 5 years it will be seen the same as Photoshop or a digital camera. As long as you admit, or don't pass it off as non-AI, people won't care too much.
>>98257868>This predates AI my guy.well the spirit is thereAI is just a way to mass produce the skinsuits>>98257868>The funny part about those books is that wotc literally forced the author through lawsuits to put female africans in themyou are shitting me, anonit's sad and funny at the same time
>>98258036
>>98258045very depressing stuff, anonthe library is now a gay discoElmore's art always made me think that D&D is not fantasy Europe, but specifically fantasy America, if that makes sense.
>>98258073>fantasy Americanative american elves must be the best invention ever. they should do more of these.
>>98257226im neither>>98257278thats okay, we forgive you!>>98257291feel free to donate!>>98257304let us know how your KS goes!
>>98257485>the people who pay for this game...like this game???
>>98254988>DC 18 Dungeonbashing proficiency reflex saving throw skill check!!3E TIER SLOP!
>>98257485Ironically, the people who are actually nat socs and you deem chuds would hate AI or people taking the lazy way out
>>98257457True
>>98258846Someone's salty! It still stands that using AI for art would generate too much bad PR for these types of hobbies
>>98259315this is not at all what I was referring to but I suppose on 4chan I can hardly be surprised you leapt to that conclusion.
>>98254976Literally who cares. AI art complainers are fucking subhuman dude. All I care about is the rules, have some sort of art for theme and style is fine but I definitely don't care if a dev decides to use AI to achieve that over paying $10,000 in art.
>>98259652>acks shill desperately trying to defend his shitty scam game>"no one cares the about [literally the biggest debate in the entire world at the moment] guys, let's just ignore [ripping people off with a product that willfully refused to disclose its blatant use of AI, the worst use-case for AI]."Disgusting.And the rules are not even any good either.
>>98259147"NUMBERS, IN MY D&D?? SLOPP!!">>98259393let us know how your campaign goes!>>98259795>"youre not upset at the same thing as me? REEEE!"lol>And the rules are not even any good either.care to make a point, or just vaguepost?
>>98259652>rules are already free online in srd form>ii kickstart is to raise money for nice books specifically with "nice" art>WHO CARES ABOUT ART!!lolAre you the same anon who is claiming SD had ai art by any chance? Also good luck with rules written by an absolute amateur (supposedly, might have been AI as well for all we know) who fucks up simple yet fundamental things like coinage carrying capacity
>>98260861>to raise money for nice books specifically with "nice" artsays who?
>>98261088Says Macris lolAssuming he wrote the Kickstart page for ii himself, not some LLM
>>98255025Oh that's funny. Wasn't the KS fairly successful? They couldn't commission art?
>>98255963>Another part is that the dev was filtered by the ending of the Second Apocalypse series, which was nothing short of phenomenal in its pathos, and actively condemns it, when he praised the series as visionary during the first edition's dev cycle.I thought there was still, at least theoretically, 1 more book to come?
>>98257868>>98258045Holy shit, the pure niggotry
>>98261296would love to see where it says that
there's really a troon that scours the 'log in case an acks thread starts so he can shit on it, that's wild
>>98262494its vendetta due to excluding 2e
