The battle for the soul of AD&D continues.
I could not get into this game for the longest time because the 2E books were out of print, and the 3E Kickstarter was going full steam. Now the Kickstarter is over, I can get the PDFs and pre-order the hardcovers.
Now I have the PDFs.
This is a cool pulp-fantasy sword and sorcery, strange science, monsters and barbarians sort of AD&D and Dungeon Crawl Classics adjacent game. This is more Conan, less Tolkien. More King Kong, less Forgotten Realms. More Cthulhu, less Harry Potter.
Magic is one key difference here between Dungeon Crawl Classics and Hyperborea. From what I see, this game is more "standard magic" that you are used to in an AD&D style game, where you have a spell and it works as expected. The spell effects are predictable. You are not subject to corruption. Magic is not dangerous or swingy.
Magic resistance? Check! Here it is called sorcery resistance. Since magic resistance is a major Gygaxian improvement to AD&D, I consider that one of the checklist items that differentiate a B/X game from an AD&D one. Without magic resistance, spellcasters do not need martial classes. With it, their power is checked, party balance is restored, and this affects the world's entire culture and feel.
Spellcasters do not become gods, society does not turn into a magic-as-technology-metaphor paradise, and you cannot ignore the brutalities of war, savagery, and basic survival.
More on this game soon.
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