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Ascendant
by David K. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 01/09/2022 22:53:00

Built a talking dog who flies, solves crimes and shoots lasers out of his eyes, A+++



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Ascendant
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Ascendant Preview
by Kendall R. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 01/03/2022 13:39:07

I can't knock the system too much as this is just a preview but in my opinion it seems too complicated for my tastes based on the preview. My main reason for disliking the preview is the layout is not great and feels poorly reviewed/edited. I noticed several mistakes almost immediately with word spacing and just general readability. The red boxes with white text are hard to read. The orange box with black text and graphics behind it is nearly impossible to read. If this little attention went into the look and feel of the preview it doesn't bode well for the full product. Also, I have a serious issue with the artwork in this and what I have seen elsewhere online for this game. The artwork is subpar for most of the drawings and the women are almost always overtly sexualized and objectified. If either of those don't bother you, then maybe this is a game for you. It's definitely a hard pass for me.



Rating:
[1 of 5 Stars!]
Ascendant Preview
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Ascendant
by King U. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 12/31/2021 04:03:21

Ascendant is not for me, simply due to being a superhero game. As an ornery Brit, superheroes just don't tickle me in the way that fantasy does. More of my country is Middle Earth than Metropolis!

However, Ascendant is a fantastic superhero game. It allows for anything from low-level Infamous to full on Superman and it all works off the same rules in the same framework. Want to play Boku no Hero Academia? Here's your system!

The character creation is the most complicated game system. Front loading the complexity means that the game itself, in play, runs really quickly and smoothly.

The system itself is "comic book physics" and it lays all this out in the first few chapters.

I would love to see the rules genericised and applied to other genres, like anime or high fantasy where the scaling nature of the game would work brilliantly.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Ascendant
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Ascendant
by Eoin M. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 12/30/2021 16:09:18

Ascendant is a very interesting beast - a game that offers an awful lot of freedom to the players (both in terms of character building and in terms of how they can use their powers in game). The Supermetric (or SU) system can take a couple of readings to get your head around, but once you do it's a shockingly powerful system, allowing you to easily compare things that normally can't be compared, and figure out how a certain action will resolve (how far can I throw this car, for instance) very quickly. There's some front-loaded complexity, in the sense that character creation can take some time, but from what I've heard things are much slicker and swifter in actual play. While I haven't gotten the chance to muster my group for a proper game yet, I'm really looking forward to giving it a good go in the New Year. If my opinion changes significantly after that, then I'll alter my review, but for what I've experienced so far I can heartily recommend it.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Ascendant
by Alex M. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 12/30/2021 15:14:55

I've been running a ~35 session campaign for my group since the PDF was released to backers ~9 months ago. Ascendant quickly became one of my top 3 RPGs I've ever played or run due to the extremely deep character building system and the simple mechanics that yield realistic outcomes. I kept a 1 page printout of a cheat sheet with the CHART, damage values, and several of the benchmark tables (speed, distance, weight, time) from the front of the book, so that I didn't have to reference the simple things at the table; it was basically a homemade pared down version of what the Gamemaster Screen is. Armed with the cheat sheet, I only had to reference the book during play to double-check certain powers. The game plays fast at the table and even the toughest fights play out quickly compared to 5th ed, PF 1e, or 3.5. Outside of combat, I love how this game makes the players feel awesome in their areas of competency but the characters tend to be narrow enough in their expertise that most or all of the players have something cool to do each session. ("You're questioning the witness with 13 SP of Interrogation? No need to roll; she tells you that...")

Character creation was difficult to 2 of my 5 players, however 2 of the other players ended making multiple characters for fun. I think gamemasters should volunteer to create (or help with creating) the characters based on a theme that the players suggest. Players who enjoy crunchier games or are into superheroes will have a blast building characters. You can stat out pretty much anything in this game, in case you want your characters to confront some 5th edition D&D efreet (we did!), go up against some cyberware-sporting street samurai (alas, not yet), or evacuate civilians while the Power Rangers duke it out with a kaiju above their heads (maybe next campaign, heh).

The mechanical balance of the game is important to get right. In my experience it's easy to come up with scenarios that characters can trivialize: my friend ran a session featuring a booby-trapped cruise ship with hostages, 30 armed pirates (but no enemy Ascendants), and an armed helicopter. My speedster was able to run through the whole ship and knock out all 30 pirates as his turn, after some hacking had given our team the complete deck plans and another character was able to interrogate one of the pirates to determine exactly what we were up against. This was, however, predictable since 30 pirates have a Challenge Rating of 30 and our team had a Challenge Rating of 180. The gamemastering chapter lays out exactly how to build a challenging, but possible, Issues for the players to overcome, but making a just-right session is something that the GM has to get a handle on. It's no different than encounter balancing in the d20 games, when you get down to it, but it's important to get right or either some of the players won't have enough to do ("oh we already won?") or, on the other extreme, they'll find themselves in a situation where the best outcome is escaping with their lives.

I'd recommend this to anyone who likes superheroes or "who would win" hypotheticals. Anyone who is a simulationist gamer will also be delighted by the system (that's me). I suspect that the game could work well for groups who are more into stories and less into crunch too, as long as the GM can help build characters and isn't afraid of figuring out the difficulty balance I wrote about in the last section. As far as the players are concerned the game is simple: look up your AV (very few conditional modifiers to futz with!), GM gives you the DV, decide how many of your Hero Points to spend, roll a d100 and look at the CHART.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Ascendant
by Joshua P. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 12/30/2021 15:10:42

The Supermetric system is nothing short of brilliant. It's a little frontloaded at first, and the reader is inclined to ask where the author is going with this. At its most obvious, it becomes clear that the system readily scales from the microscopic to the interstellar. As one reads through the descriptions of various superpowers, a plethora of examples cover situations such as a bat finding a moth, the relative difficulty of seeing a dust mite as opposed to bacteria, a bloodhound's ability to track prey, right down to questions as esoteric as the bandwidth of telepathy - all boiled down to extremely simple addition and subtraction (and multiplication).

While most rules systems range in flexibility from an IKEA kit to a fully-stocked workbench, the Supermetric system is an entire makerspace, just daring you to present a question it can't answer with ease. And when you're talking comic book heroes, the extreme and the strange are the exact sorts of questions you'll be asking.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Ascendant
by Andrew S. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 12/30/2021 01:06:36

The system seems usable, but requires constant consultation of charts to use. Now due to color coding these charts are realtively quick and easy to read but you still always need to check a chart. I'll take Champions for crunch-heavy systems or Fate for crunch-light. This sits in an unhappy middle ground. Also the art is the most over-sexualized I have seen in a decade. I hope everyone in your gaming group is comfortable with every female character having two barely-covered beach balls strapped to their chest, yikes. Seriously, this is approaching pornographic in nature. After trying it some more the rules are overly complex. I like champions, I like that complexity, but that has a complex character building system, that then plays fairly simply, meaning it is front-loaded. This is the opposite. The character building is pretty easy but the gameplay is far more complicated and complex than it needs to be this makes character generation easier but leads to slowdown in play. I cannot recomend this at all, the gameplay is distinctly sub-par and I cannot emphasize enough how over-sexulaized almost every art contianing a female is. I get that skimpy costumes is a bit of a tradition in supers games, but this is taken to such and extreem that is REALLY uncomfortable.



Rating:
[1 of 5 Stars!]
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Ascendant
by Nathan H. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 12/29/2021 13:27:17

I am posting this review solely to touch on the criticisms raised in one of the negative reviews posted. I have absolutely no issue with someone who does not like this game - any given game may be a poor fit for a customer. But some things to point out:

  • the author is crystal clear in the product description, the free preview, and in the introduction that this game is all about applying a mathmatical, real-world physics approach to the super hero genre. It seems disengenous to me to purchase something so obviously not for you and then criticize the product for doing exactly what it says. If I hate Chinese food, why would I go to a Chinese restaurant to eat, then post on Yelp about how bad I think Chinese food is?
  • "no one has heard of Villains and Vigilantes". Really? I don't know how to even respond to such a statement. It was a influential and popular superhero game for it's time. Perhaps the reviewer is unfamiliar with superhero games in general?
  • Prowlers and Paragons is an excellent game. I highly recommend it; I recommend Ascendant as well. The games are VASTLY different from one another, approaching the genre from completely different directions. Ascendant is a crunchy game, strongly reminiscent of DC Heroes & Champions with a bit of TSR Marvel thrown in. P&P is a simpler, more narative-style game, with more in common with Icons or Supers RED. They can both do Supers well but in completely different ways. Comparing the two is as pointless as comparing Amber to D&D - yes, they both do a type of fantasy but really aren't trying for the same gameplay at all.

My suggestion for anyone interested in the game is to download the free sample. Reading that should make it clear if this is the type of game for you. IMHO if you like MEGS or Hero System, this would be a excellent fit.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Adventurer Conqueror King System
by Matthew M. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 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.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Adventurer Conqueror King System
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Lairs & Encounters
by Matthew M. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 12/27/2021 00:02:06

This is going to be a short review.

If you buy RPG books to read, to inspire you, to marvel at, to put on your shelf and feel satisfied that you are displaying System X, then don't buy this book.

If you play ANY version of D&D, and want material that you will get actual use out of in actual sessions of actual play, then stop reading this and buy the book. Now. 5 stars, no contest. You don't even need to read it. Just buy it and skim the contents to see what it offers, then keep it by your side while you run your sessions. You will end up USING it, and you will end up LOVING it.

Play value vs monetary investment, this is the best RPG purchase I've ever made.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Lairs & Encounters
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Ascendant
by Zach A. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 12/14/2021 20:28:53

Fast playing, heart pounding actions and great art. Great system for anyone new to a Superhero RPG system.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Ascendant
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Ascendant
by Abraham F. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 12/14/2021 12:13:34

This is a well thought out excellent product, that merges the best of the Mayfair Games DC Heroes system and the TSR Marvel FASERIP system to create it's own unique system that is recognizable. I participated in the kickstarter and don't regret it for a second. For those into superhero RPG's it is well worth a look.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Ascendant
by JOAO M. D. C P. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 12/14/2021 09:26:47

Ascendant is the son of Mayfair's DC Heroes and TSR Marvel, tempered by Autarch's usual attention to detail and rigorous back-end mathematics.

It is an intimidating rules set at first glance, but most of the complexity happens at character creation (and it still is a lot simpler than something like Champions) and GM prep. Once the rules hit the table, this thing flies like a spandex-clad demigod. It plays fast and furious, the way a comic book inspired game should.

Ascendant has dethroned TSR Marvel as my go to choice for superhero gaming, which is not a small feat. If you are in any way interested in superheroic gaming, take a look at it!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Ascendant
by Murray T. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 12/14/2021 02:23:48

ASCENDANT is an excellent supers RPG. The rules are deep and innovative, yet play is streamlined and simple. The layout and art are very high quality as well. I especially appreciate the fully hyperlinked table of contents and the bold red, white and blue color scheme.

ASCENDANT is reminiscent to me of several older supers RPG's but with a much more rigorous application of math and playability. ASCENDANT uses exponential scales to compress game values and real-world measurements to usable numbers across many levels of play, such as when Superman and Batman (or Hulk and Hawkeye) might be in play at the same table. It also uses color bands to denote different degrees of success based on the percentage die roll and the comparison of competitors' abilities. These degrees of success are based on the exponential scale and the doubling (or halving) of ability each point of difference represents in the game's skills, attributes, and powers, with each color band also representing a doubling of effect. It all ties together beautifully and you can see the effort that was put into making a playable and elegant resolution system that allows competition across vastly disparate opponents while still honoring the premise of each +1 being twice as good.

Character creation is point based and has many options. You can make interesting and varied characters, even emulating existing ones from most comics. ASCENDANT powers are neither effect- nor descriptor-based, but instead are (comic book) physics-based. Fire powers will do what fire does and super strength will do what it does in comics. The rules for invention are satisfying as well—powerful, but balanced.

The rules for combat and encounter resolution are tight, with terms well-defined and consistent throughout. In keeping with its rules-as-physics, ASCENDANT's environmental hazards give useful and real-feeling results, such as when the heroes have to deal with fires, earthquakes, tornadoes, and other comic book events. An important part of play in many supers games is investigation and perception, and the rules are solid here, as well.

Gamemasters get a comprehensive section on building missions and campaigns as well as organizations for the players to encounter. There are also dials that the GM can set to tone-down (or up!) the expected lethality of their game, with suggested settings for many comic book eras. Included are useful write-ups of vehicles, NPC's, and other supers of varying power. Each NPC gets a clever two-word descriptor for their name, most of which are recognizable stand-ins for many supporting characters from books, movies, and other media.

ASCENDANT is obviously a labor of love and it shows in the quality of presentation and contents. Even if you are running a different supers RPG, I think the addition of this book to your collection is well worth it if just as an excellent reference source for measurements and bench-marks and how they relate.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Dwimmermount (ACKS version)
by Alan H. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 11/15/2021 15:28:13

Dwimmermount is one of the few complete megadungeons, and I think it is unique in it's consistent ecology and lore. One of the risks when players face a megadungeon is that they eventually grow bored of the 'crawl' and will look elsewhere. But with dwimmermount, my players have been so curious about finding out the secrets of the dungeon and of history of the campaign world itself. Instead of simply fighting bigger monsters as you go deeper, the low levels of Dwimmermount set up all sorts of opportunites for higher level play with some campaign-changing threats that can be unleashed by unwitting or unwise players. It's not perfect, and althought it's completely ready to run, I think that DM's will want to read through and make changes and tweaks to make it their own. But that is true of any module, and I think that dwimmermount comes more "oven ready" than Stonehell, Barrowmaze or Temple of Elemental Evil. Strongly recommend!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Dwimmermount (ACKS version)
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