AKCS II Kickstarter

[Two orcs]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/autarch/adventurer-conqueror-king-system-imperial-imprint-acks-ii

It's a proper second edition of the best and most complete version of D&D. Early backers get a better deal for the physical books. As a patreon (well, really locals) supporter I've been reading and using the new rules for nearly a year and they are very solid, both compiling the most useful stuff from Axioms (expanded rules) and adding completely new stuff (like naval battles). It's three 500 page books in the classic split.

 

[squeen]

I'll admit it sounds pretty good. 1st revisions are always the best ones.

 

[Johnny F. Normal]

I give Alex a lot of credit, game design for him is an ever-flowing stream.
He does not rest on his laurels. I may not explicitly play ACKs but geez it is always an immediate go to when I have an adjudication thought in my head.
Also, I saw a picture of the trio of volumes in a wood slipcase. That oozes top shelf.

 

[Two orcs]

The Kickstarter is live! The early bird special goes on for another 30 hours or so ($25 discount when getting all the printed books). The backers will also be beta readers for the Conan supplement (Archon signed a licensing deal with Chuck Dixon who wrote some of the latter Conan books and comics).

 

[The1True]

God damn that looks good! Wish I had $175 just lying around...

 

[squeen]

Incredible full color art by the "modern day Frank Frazetta," Michael Syrigos.

I want to support other artists struggling to make a name for themselves, but it was actually the art that turned me off. It has a very airbrushed look, with implausible lighting that just rubs me the wrong way and looks 2D/flat/composited. Sorry, I know I'm being a downer.

I own the original ACKS Domains at War, and always loved this cover which feels like the real deal:


In contrast, this has a knock-off, hackneyed, aesthetic...despite being one of the better ones in the video.


Is it just me? Or does it seem like something is missing to y'all as well?

Heck, I'm probably focusing on the least important aspect of the new system and gotten obsessively visual. I'll shut my yap now.

 

[Two orcs]

Yeah I'm not a fan of Syrigos' style either (though the cover for Sepulchre of the Sorceress-Queen is cool, wierd foot notwithstanding).

 

[Two orcs]

If you want to get the rules without sponsoring the art you can back Autarch's patreon to download the latest drafts (rules are basically complete but editing not, monster manual and GM book are mostly complete but even further back in editing).

 

[squeen]

Yeah I'm not a fan of Syrigos' style either (though the cover for Sepulchre of the Sorceress-Queen is cool, wierd foot notwithstanding).

I agree that while the figure work is poor (man or woman?), I liked the more adventurous lighting/colors on this one the most. He's trying a bit too hard to do Frazetta and it comes off as pastiche. I do think he's pretty good with scenery, but suspect he has a really loose grasp of light-transport.

I may grab the rules. DOM had that 1e DMG many-layers-to-the-onion detail that I like when I'm hunting for clues on running obscure content.

 

[squeen]

Yeah I'm not a fan of Syrigos' style either (though the cover for Sepulchre of the Sorceress-Queen is cool, wierd foot notwithstanding).

I agree that while the figure work is poor (man or woman? sitting or standing?), I liked the more adventurous lighting/colors on this one the most. He's trying a bit too hard to do Frazetta and it comes off as pastiche. I do think he's pretty good with scenery, but suspect he has a really dodgy grasp of light-transport.

Thanks for the tip. I may grab the rules. DOM had that 1e DMG many-layers-to-the-onion detail that I like when I'm hunting for clues on running obscure content.

Of course, the bottom line for me is that I'm not shopping for a new system---just wishing for some time to tinker with what I've already got (1e).

Also, I just saw this post by Macris

I am running out of superlatives. ACKS II just broke $200,000 in the first 13 hours. I am now drinking Johnny Walker Gold Reserve to celebrate. This is what is best in life.

This is worrisome in my worldview. Material success is most definitely not what's best in life, and that sort of thinking usually gets you into a heap of trouble. I like what he produces, so I hope he navigates the next phase with care and humility. Rock stardom comes to mind.

 

[Beoric]

This is worrisome in my worldview. Material success is most definitely not what's best in life, and that sort of thinking usually gets you into a heap of trouble. I like what he produces, so I hope he navigates the next phase with care and humility. Rock stardom comes to mind.

I wouldn't assume he isn't just excited about the stretch goals. Making a VTT Foundry module is a big deal. Getting to the "integrated token" stage would be huge, and may reach DMs and players who wouldn't ordinarily be interested in a new system.

If you want to introduce old school gaming to new players, and don't want to just feel superior in your elitist grognardia, this is a really good way to do it.

 

[squeen]

I wouldn't assume he isn't just excited about the stretch goals.

Fair enough. I do wish him luck. It's a huge effort and I'm happy to see it getting done.

 

[Two orcs]

This is worrisome in my worldview. Material success is most definitely not what's best in life, and that sort of thinking usually gets you into a heap of trouble. I like what he produces, so I hope he navigates the next phase with care and humility. Rock stardom comes to mind.

He's happy that he can continue working as a game designer, if the Kickstarter did poorly he couldn't justify the work he puts it. To quote the man directly:

Regarding success --
We succeed if we hit $110,000 on ACKS II
It's not a life-changing success but it's a "I can keep the business going another year" success
If it's less than $60,000 it's a "well, gg, gnight"
In between is "I need to seriously evaluate whether or not I can continue to do this work"

 

[Hemlock]

I want to support other artists struggling to make a name for themselves, but it was actually the art that turned me off. It has a very airbrushed look, with implausible lighting that just rubs me the wrong way and looks 2D/flat/composited. Sorry, I know I'm being a downer.

I own the original ACKS Domains at War, and always loved this cover which feels like the real deal:
View attachment 1355

In contrast, this has a knock-off, hackneyed, aesthetic...despite being one of the better ones in the video.
View attachment 1356

Is it just me? Or does it seem like something is missing to y'all as well?

Heck, I'm probably focusing on the least important aspect of the new system and gotten obsessively visual. I'll shut my yap now.

For what it's worth, I agree with you about the first cover in your post having better art than the second. Like, 10x better!

But art isn't really a priority for me when it comes to game systems. If I like it, great, but if not, the ideas are what I am most interested in anyway.

This is worrisome in my worldview. Material success is most definitely not what's best in life, and that sort of thinking usually gets you into a heap of trouble. I like what he produces, so I hope he navigates the next phase with care and humility. Rock stardom comes to mind.

Based on other things he's said, I think he's just expressing gratitude for the support. Realistically he's probably not going to make more than $200K of profit on this thing, and it's 8 years' worth of work AFAICT. Those aren't rock star profit margins, except by the standards of the RPG industry. If he were money-oriented he'd be using his Harvard Law degree to make an order of magnitude more money as a lawyer...

Anyway, I didn't know ACKS II existed 48 hours ago, but now I'm in for $200 and 1400 pages. Still on the fence about whether to run it occasionally or just steal rule systems from it wholesale (economic systems, monster spoils, so much good stuff).

 

[The1True]

wierd foot notwithstanding

Weird foot? What about the weird boob?!

I think it's the 'bubblegum' colours that are bothering you, @squeen . I like 'em bright (note my appreciation of Wayne Reynolds and Larry Elmore), but these colours are too fake-bright and clashing. It looks like the cover of a low-budget splat book.

But yeah, I'm undeterred by the art. If I had the cash (and a way to get the resulting 20 lbs of books back to Africa), I'd be throwing money at this guy right now. I'm not shopping for a system either, but comprehensive rules for all these things that bother mature gamers (domain play, mass combat, macro-economics etc.), would be a hell of a reference to have handy.

I guess I'm glad the creator is getting out from under the specter of ugly web politics? Hate the artist, not the art?

 

[squeen]

Weird foot? What about the weird boob?!

I think it's the 'bubblegum' colours that are bothering you, @squeen . I like 'em bright (note my appreciation of Wayne Reynolds and Larry Elmore), but these colours are too fake-bright and clashing. It looks like the cover of a low-budget splat book.

You may have hit the nail on the head about color. Good eye.

As for the distorted anatomy --- that really smacks of AI. Perhaps he was having trouble hitting deadlines (or is just plain bad at figures) so reached for some instant and easy art-relief.

"Sword & Sorcery in the style of Frank Frazetta" (he types into Mid-journey...)

Very suspicious, and (just like with Auto-tune with modern singers) more and more accepted. In this case, the AI result was pretty much shite.

Now the question is: Did he lacked the skill to fix it, or perhaps figures that this is just a rough-in he'll paint over for the final product? TBD.

Either way, if he's leveraging AI, it would not make him a "modern day Frank Frazetta" by a long shot---just a dime-a-dozen huckster (to me).