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Adventurer Conqueror King System
 
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Adventurer Conqueror King System
Verlag: Autarch
von Zachary [Verifizierter Käufer]
Hinzugefügt am: 09/07/2023 13:12:54

Friend showed me it, I enjoyed as a player so much I bought it and ran it myself. Great common-sense system for both the players and GM



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Adventurer Conqueror King System
Verlag: Autarch
von Nathan H. [Verifizierter Käufer]
Hinzugefügt am: 06/28/2023 04:09:41

Very good updating of the BECMI/Basic engine, with superb integrated domain and economic management, that's also excellently scaling. No quadratic wizard, linear fighter issues - it's not "magic superheroes" but all classes get to shine all the way through in various different and interesting ways. Assumed setting is a "pseudo fall of magic Rome" as the various factors behind the collapse start rolling, and will suck players in. Also exceptionally reskinnable and easy to port, with good GM support (and seemingly infinite expansion via Axioms articles etc) which can be used or not used as desired.



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Adventurer Conqueror King System
Verlag: Autarch
von Sam H. [Verifizierter Käufer]
Hinzugefügt am: 06/28/2023 03:14:47

A MONSTER of a system that still plays fast, crisp and light at the table. Combat, injury, grand campaigns, you can go from a ground level adventurer to a crusader King and play balanced, working rules the whole way.



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Adventurer Conqueror King System
Verlag: Autarch
von Matthew M. [Verifizierter Käufer]
Hinzugefügt am: 12/27/2021 00:39:06

Best BX-engine system on the market, infinitely expandable and modular, been running campaigns with it for over 4 years and will continue to do so. This system belongs on every serious DM's shelf, even if only to grab subsystems from while running another game. Must have.



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Adventurer Conqueror King System
Verlag: Autarch
von jim m. [Verifizierter Käufer]
Hinzugefügt am: 09/25/2021 10:43:22

The more I read the more I like this system. Flexible and easy to grasp rules that make for fast and furious play.



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Adventurer Conqueror King System
Verlag: Autarch
von Birch A. [Verifizierter Käufer]
Hinzugefügt am: 06/29/2021 18:41:57

When I first introduced my players to ACKS, they complained it was too complicated and didn’t want to learn a new system. Now, even the one guy who doesn’t really enjoy the genre acknowledges it is an objectively better game than anything comparable we’ve tried. When they first got the memo about henchmen, they were like, “eh, sounds like a lot of work for less XP, we’ll be fine.” Now they love their henches and struggle from having too many if anything. When we first ran D@W, they definitely thought it was too complicated and fairly uninteresting (obviously, they're new to wargames). Now, after we just finished our third large Battles engagement, we’re scheduling extra sessions for it and they seem very intent on acquiring more soldiers to go pillage and conquer. More than any other system I’ve seen, ACKS has been able to persuade people and win them over. Modular rules expansions are a great help in that regard, but just in general, the game as a whole fits together very elegantly in a way that people really come to appreciate.



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Adventurer Conqueror King System
Verlag: Autarch
von David Y. [Verifizierter Käufer]
Hinzugefügt am: 06/26/2021 16:48:40

I consider this 2 things at once. It's a stand-alone rules system that's heavily inspired by B/X rules, and it's also a giant pile of rules for downtime, high level adventuring (you're a king with a keep now, etc), running campaigns, extra proficiencies, henchmen/hireling/experts hiring, etc. So I'll write two separate reviews here:

High level play, campaigns, stronghelds, NPCs, etc SOLID 5 stars. One of the best sourcebooks I've ever seen. Straightforward and useful. Many products say "here's the price of a tower for your keep" but this gives you entire frameworks for actually gaming as somebody who has a stronghold. Many products have some simple stuff about hiring experts, this one goes into lots of excellent detail. Tons of proficiencies, getting lost, foraging, wilderness rules, special maneuvers, sea combat, drowning, crimes and punishment, trading, plant toxins, etc. This section is absolutely worth the price of admission and I recommend the book for this. I see this book as all these wonderful things to drop into my campaign with my rules system.

Stand-alone B/X-inspired rules system 2 stars. Basically trash. It's as if people took OD&D and make a couple completely arbitrary changes that make it less compatible and more mathy without any actual gain. Don't buy the book for this, buy the book for the stuff in the previous section which is fantastic.



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Kommentar des Verlages:
Thanks for the review. Glad you found the high-level play sections to be of such value! Sad to hear you found the system to be trash. You mentioned that a lot of changes from BX seemed completely arbitrary. I wanted to respond quickly to note that virtually all of the changes I made were pursuant to the focus on domain-level play. I didn't do a good job of explaining that in the rules (it's on the ACKS blog). Here are some examples: - In BX, high-level fighters never gain any bonus to damage or additional attacks. In ACKS, fighter get a damage bonus by level and can cleave anytime they kill an enemy, up to their level. This combo make fighters exponentially more powerful in melee combat as they level. That becomes very important in Domains at War (the mass combat supplement), where it enables solo fighters to be threats to massed formations of troops. In BX, high level fighters are irrelevant on the battlefield. - In BX, fireball has a 20' radius. In ACKS, fireball has a 20' diameter (10' radius). In Domains at War, troops organize into 60' x 40' formations of 120 troops (2400 square feet). The change to the radius of fireball (from 20' radius to 10' radius) reduces the area of effect from 1,256 square feet to 314 square feet, which is the difference between 1/2 and 1/8 of a company being destroyed by a fireball. On first read, it seems like an arbitrary change, but that one small change is the difference between pitched battles feeling like modern warfare or classical warfare. - In BX, various actions are resolved with d20, d6, or d100. In ACKS, all actions are resolved with d20. My thought was that because I was adding so many extra sub-systems for war, politics, thieves, magic research, etc., I needed to have a unified resolution mechanic or it would become mind-boggingly confusing. I ran BX for years with d% thieves and d6 listen/door/secret door checks, so I didn't make the change arbitrarily. Thanks again for the review.
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Adventurer Conqueror King System
Verlag: Autarch
von Robert M. [Verifizierter Käufer]
Hinzugefügt am: 12/21/2020 12:28:42

This book is a master's seminar on how to present a game system with coherent rules, easy to access indices in the back topically arranged to allow rapid review. It is a well constructed tome with engaging and relevant art which helps the material presented appear engaging and entertaining. The game system itself is very playable and an improvement on other d20 based systems. Well worth the money!



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Adventurer Conqueror King System
Verlag: Autarch
von David D. [Verifizierter Käufer]
Hinzugefügt am: 11/29/2019 06:58:48

Excellent OSR system with a strong focus on 'high level play' meaning political play where you become kings, archmages, high priests, merchant princes, and crime lords.

If you want to be able to constantly play the 'game of thrones' with many factions and types of faction this game is for you. Huge variety, and many tables to help randomly generate or simulate political and economic changes in your world.



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Adventurer Conqueror King System
Verlag: Autarch
von christopher b. [Verifizierter Käufer]
Hinzugefügt am: 08/04/2018 16:40:55

The reviewer is writing this review using his own personally bought copy of the product

Adventurer Conqueror King System (or ACKS) came into existence back in 2011. It was right at the height of the OSR's first big boom, where most of the products went from PDF only affairs to offering more traditional dead tree format. While there have been literally well over a hundred different variations of old D&D rules, you would be deceiving yourself to think once you have seen one you have seen them all.

ACKS did not come on to my radar until much later through a Bundle of Holding offer. At the time I was playing 5E and Swords and Wizardry. Swords and Wizardry will always be near and dear to my heart, but I found myself wanting something with a little more teeth. Something that really took the old idea of character progression into something other than just more advanced murder hobo adventures. Sure as a DM I have control over the world my players are in and all the intricacies available therein. But having a mechanics system in place to handle the heavy lifting sure is nice.

I was looking through my DrivethruRPG library and what pops up but this package from Bundle of Holding I purchased a year and a half ago. I began skimming the product and was kind of shocked at what I was seeing. I had assumed (boy never a good thing to do) that it was another B/X clone. Not a bad thing mind you, but not exactly what I was looking for. What I found was something else.

Becoming an Adventurer

First of all, let's discuss or define what a B/X game looks like in comparison to more modern renditions of Dungeons and Dragons. B/X typically only took you to level 14. Levels 1-3 were the basic level of the game chiefly revolving around dungeon crawls. Levels 4-14 were focused on the exploration of wilderness environments, and once characters reached level 9, the idea of ruling a small domain with many servants or followers to assist you. Race and class were one in the same with only humans actually selecting a class type and the others being relegated to racially stereotypical pursuits.

Humans

ACKS keeps the same level scheme of 1-14 but changes several other aspects up quite a bit. First of all, ACKS provides many classes in the core book beyond the standard affair. Humans have the options of being Fighters, Mages, Clerics, Thieves, Assasins, Bards, Bladedancers (clerics that are slightly more functional at fighting and mobility at the cost of wearing certain armor types), and Explorers (rangers of a sort more focused on actual outdoor survival without the spell component).

Non-Humans

Nonhumans instead of being one singular class are divided up into different aspects of their society. Elves can choose from Elven Nightblades (think sorcerer/assassin) or Elven Spellsword (fighter/mage combo). Dwarves have Dwarven Vault guards (typical iconic dwarf), and Dwarven Craft priest (combine cleric and fighter together without the hefty restrictions of a paladin).

No halflings appear in this rulebook (though do not worry they do appear later in another product) and nonhumans do still get restricted on level gain, though this is less of an issue with ACKS leveling system ending at 14 for human classes.

Optimization in droves

ACKS utilizes a proficiency system. While this is not a new idea, the way it is utilized is both efficient and really changes ACKS from being just another retroclone restating the same tired ideas. Within ACKS, Proficiencies fall somewhere in between feats and skills. Couple this with the use of templates and you can really make a customized version of whatever class you decide on that further individualizes without having to make yet another class.

Proficiencies are unique to certain class types. There are of course shared proficiencies, but by and large, this is more within a template (something I will go into more detail about on the Players Companion review). This makes a sword and board fighter operate differently from say a 2 handed fighter. The Mercenary template for instance: you throw in 2 proficiencies, Combat reflexes and Manual of Arms and a customized equipment package flavored to the more iconic mercenary role and voila your fighter is instead a professional soldier for hire.

Magic by the numbers

Magic in ACKS will be both familiar and unique compared to other OSR systems. I realize that is a fairly vague statement. So in most d20 systems wizards have a pool of spells in their spellbook. ACKS is no different in this. Where the differences come in is how those spells are utilized. Normally arcane spellcasters are restricted to only using those spells they have memorized unless we are talking about 3.X era Sorcerers. The problem with Sorcerers is that not everyone wants a spellcaster that does not have to "pay" in the traditional sense for their power. What this did is set what some looked at as an unfair imbalance to the more traditional mindset of spellcasting based around Vancian rules.

ACKS, however, says any spell in your repertoire can be used provided you have the spell slot left to cast it. This might seem like a minor change but in effect what it does is make the magic-user more flexible. Now the spellcaster can safely go into dungeons knowing that not only do they have offensive magic usable but also all those oft unused utility spells that could potentially make or break an encounter. I was skeptical at first until I saw this in practice. It worked very well and was in no way overpowering. The limitation of so many spells cast per day keeps it railed in while giving the benefit of far more utility.

ACKS has little touches inserted all over the place to individualize itself. The author encourages folks playing spellcasters to add little signatures that are aesthetic in name but really help to flavor their caster individually. The example that is given in the book is of a necromancer character that whenever he casts magic missile the magic manifests as a shard of a bone. It is a simple nonmechanical storytelling the device that still helps to further the idea of not relying on a hard mechanic to define your character.

Fantasy economy done right

One of the surprises and delights of Adventurer Conqueror King System is the extensive study of 4th-8th-century history that the authors have done. A great deal of analysis has gone on to properly represent from a socioeconomic point of view the very real financial and labor challenges living in that era would have produced. Your first introduction to this is the equipment section, in which equipment availability by market size, as well as pricing conventions based upon supply and demand. This is not done in a time-consuming fashion. Everything is lined up in easy to follow tables that very quickly let the Judge scan for the market type based on domain size. In a clear manner, this tells the Judge how to price objects, if they are available, and if not if it is possible to get the product in and how long it will take.

A lot of folks hear the word tables, and that turns them off thinking this is going to be a game where they have to nonstop consult table after table. I am here to tell you, the information is oriented in a fashion in which it's easy to find in a time of need without disrupting gameplay for long periods of time. Later when the rulebook begins discussing domain management and creation, the game offers meticulous detail about acreage, production of resources based on peasant morale, population, and natural sustainability. A desert offers different financial and logistical differences than an overgrown forested region. All of this is presented in a fashion that a Judge can find and use with ease.

This land is my land

It was always the intent of Dungeons and Dragons B/X era gaming to guide players from lowly dungeon delver to wilderness explorer, to notable and important heroic figure and eventually to ruler. While a system to do this has been included in just about every iteration of D&D since B/X days, only in the BECMI rendition is the concept actually given real depth in the core rules. Yes, supplements have been offered in one fashion or another, but a supplement makes it more of an optional thing than an actual feature or focus of the game.

ACKS chooses to instead really dial in this oft-neglected aspect of gaming. Sure your adventurers will dive into pits of despair. But around 3rd to 4th level they spread their wings and begin to focus on exploring the wilderness surrounding them. As tales of their heroics spread, so does their notoriety. The movers and shakers of the land begin to take notice, and with this also comes those who will seek the players out.

However, this is just where the fun begins. In order to create a stronghold or a domain, the players must first clear or "conquer" the surrounding hexes from their chosen build site. This is the only way they can hope to attract not just followers, but peasants and commerce to come to their domain. The costs in labor, time, pedigree of hireling required (engineers for instance) is laid out in digestible bits that neither overwhelm nor undersell the reader.

Once the project is complete and the domain established now the mechanics of actually running a realm come into play. With such an eye for historical accuracy and logical population disbursement (you won't find a town of 50,000 people in a medieval desert setting where it would have been impossible to sustain it) you can easily weight the requirements of maintaining and growing your kingdom.

Creation defined

A lot of products shy away from the idea of letting players construct or build things. Specifically, most of this kind of detail did not become available until the 3.x era of gaming, and even then as an afterthought or option without the true details needed to fully convey this process. ACKS however does not shy from tackling this topic.

Complete rules are given for creating magic items, researching and creating new spells, building magical constructs, and necromantic minions and more. What is more interesting is that it also gives rules on how to infuse this into the domain aspect. A mage might have a few apprentices, which instead of just being fluff actually serve the purpose of advancing the mages personal goals and acquisition of power. This is done through harvesting ingredients, researching spells, writing scrolls or a myriad of other various functions. Your retainers, hirelings, and followers are more than mere torch wielders and trap finders.

This idea that a player can create items worthy of the magic item index is not new, but rarely has it been portrayed in the common sense fashion that it is in ACKS. Once again all of this is presented in an easy to follow fashion that is modular, use it or don't use it at your leisure. If you want the total ACKS experience use it, but if you just want it to be basic, the game runs fine without it.

Summary of my thoughts on ACKS

ACKS is not a retroclone as much as it is a reinforcement of the B/X foundation, then a layered approach of adding complexity to this style of gameplay. All this is presented in a very modular format. Meaning you can easily remove this aspect if you dislike it as a gamemaster without breaking anything. I think that is important to folks who look for flexibility in a system. It can be as complex or as clean a B/X inspired game as you want it to be. The foundation has been refined to perfection so that other aspects of ACKS can sit comfortably atop it.

The core rulebook follows a very predictable pattern in how it presents information. Chapters roll into one another in a common sense placement. You can tell time and understanding of gaming has clearly helped the author to conceive a functional layout. Every chapter progresses on the groundwork of the chapter before it in a clear and concise pattern.

The author has constantly worked towards individualizing the product. Attack Throws or To hit numbers are neither the Thac0 system nor the ascending system as it is used in 3.x products. It falls right in the middle still following an ascending pattern and more common sense approach of simply needing to add the respective armor class to a base roll to figure out the number needed. Unarmored foes start as Armor Class 0, and armor increases positively from there.

The artwork is superb with gorgeous color cover art and amazing interior Black & White illustrations. The author's tone is easy to follow and even subject matter that would have put me to sleep in other games is presented in a fashion to keep the reader interested. Most of this is done by using constant examples to make the idea shown click.



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Adventurer Conqueror King System
Verlag: Autarch
von Jarrod M. [Verifizierter Käufer]
Hinzugefügt am: 12/23/2016 10:56:39

This game was my introduction to the OSR, but it's much more than that.

Adventurer Conqueror King not only gives you an updated and clever reconfiguring of the original B/X Dungeons & Dragons rules, it delivers on the promise of high level play.

So many D&D games make reference to "gaining a stronghold and followers" at level 9, but they offer no interpretation of what that means, what that would be like. It's often relegated to story dressing, and doesn't get the attention that, say, combat does. ACKs fills in this sorely needed gap in a way that is largely compatible with most fantasy medieval games.

They say that what you give experience for in an RPG determines the kind of play you encourage. In this way, ACKs encourages ruling kingdoms, engaging in magical research, founding religions, running a thieves guild, or embarking on mercantile ventures as well as it does things like killing foes and stealing their treasure. Not only this, but it encourages doing these things boldly: timid rulers satisfied with their holds won't gain XP, but ambitious conquerors who expand their realm will.

Of course, these rules alone are worth the price of entry, and are easily ported to your game of choice, as the economic ideas underpinning the XP rewards are consistent enough to survive translation as long as you properly anchor to common worths. But the actual rules for playing adventurers are good too. You get a servicable expansion of available classes that simultaneously preserves the feel of "race as class" while giving people playing demihumans more options than usual.

And as if that wasn't enough: this system is well supported. If you find that you like this, you will be amazed at the supplements available that can further expand your games into anything you've ever wanted to run.



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Adventurer Conqueror King System
Verlag: Autarch
von William M. [Verifizierter Käufer]
Hinzugefügt am: 09/01/2013 18:48:03

Anyone familiar with original D&D or any of its more recent clones will naturally know the gist of the system from the start, there are a few surprises within this tome however. It uses an ascending AC system that is a little different than usual. Proficiencies offer a grab bag of skill and feat like abilities that don't weight the game down (plus they are optional). There is a hard cap on character level at 14. Demi-human classes may have a lower cap, but it is less of a handicap when its only a handful of levels at most. High level play is VERY much meant to be about lords and their domains, of which every class has its own unique take.

If I were to ask for more out of ACKS it would be that it included an example domain to get you playing as soon as possible. That and maybe a little dungeon module.

All in all, if you enjoy OSR style gaming there isn't any reason not to give ACKS a look over for ten bucks. If you like enjoy it, the pdf has a coupon for those ten bucks off of the hard back if you just have to have it in good old dead tree. I'm definitely considering it myself.



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Adventurer Conqueror King System
Verlag: Autarch
von Victor J. [Verifizierter Käufer]
Hinzugefügt am: 08/18/2013 03:47:31

Captures the feeling of earlier games and presents it well for a modern audience. Well-written, nicely laid out, and with artwork perfect for the tone. Highly recommended.



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Adventurer Conqueror King System
Verlag: Autarch
von Roger R. [Verifizierter Käufer]
Hinzugefügt am: 07/05/2013 16:34:50

Really well thought out, internally consistent. Brings an element of realism and verisimilitude that's lacking in some of the other more fantastical settings. I like it.



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Adventurer Conqueror King System
Verlag: Autarch
von john h. [Verifizierter Käufer]
Hinzugefügt am: 02/03/2013 07:55:06

I really loved this game, He's part of the reason i turned an OSR game now. Maybe the system is not revolutionnary but it's easy to grasp with few interesting things, like the way the proficiencies are working, that add a lot to the game. It's really oriented to the later part of the game, with high level character being lords of a domain and a really good economic building system. I think it's a very good retroclone game that worth the try



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