This is so cool and long awaited! Looking forward to seeing the Kickstarter!

I just want to say there is a lot of great links and advice in this thread! Thanks guys!

I've only considered Xathoqqua worship in one of the Brigand Bay towns of my campaign. In this town the high priest was the local strongman manipulating other factions in the town. He was however challenged from within by another Xathoqquan sub-sect or religious fraction that used his unwillingness to root out a rival cult (followers of Kthulhu) as an excuse to depose him (the PC's at that point had allied themselves with the rival cult and the power shift required them to leave the town in a hurry )

To me the chaotic nature of Xathoqqua is not always apparent in his worshippers. They can build power (for good or bad) within the mundane world (as long as they pay their dues to the Toad himself). Perhaps his chaotic nature is best described in the multitude of ways his worshippers behave.

I see the lack of overarching political and cultural structures in Hyperbora as conducive to local variations and syncretisism with many local deities and dæmons posing as, or being fronts for, the gods who (mostly) remain hidden. To me this take brings together the Lovecraftian (i suppose) notion of the gods as distinct, yet powerful and unintelligible, beings (and not some vague force with a portfolio) and the sword-and-sorcery trope of having a plentitude of mad priests/sorcerers who serves some kind of "god" at almost every turn.

This looks really amazing. I'm hoping AFS 1-4 will be back in print soon as i'm looking to order all of them.

I'm sure Jeff will give a more definitive answer, but i've generally not allowed Figthers with more than one attack to do anything else between their attacks (except maybe switch targets in certain situations). Two-weapon fighting not been an issue so far, but i think i would go the same way.

The combat sequence has taken some getting used to by my players but now they've adapted fairly well and have began adapting their tactics as well. As a DM i love the system as it makes fights a much less monotonous affair, the secuence around the table adapting to the situation and the tactics used. It is also easier for me to make ad-hoc rulings if the situation or just the drama and fun of a situation demands it.

That was amazing. I might have to use your pictures to challenge one of my own players ;). 

Nice! I'm sure this will see much use Thanks Blackadder and Ghul!

Very sweet indeed! You just convinced me to find my Savage Sword of Conan books and do some bedside reading tonight.

Blackadder23 wrote:

Gold in D&D obviously represents a proxy for all the activities undertaken to gain it.

I find the use of treasure XP-rewards as a proxy quite elegant as well. It took me many years to realize and ASSH was intrumental in making me see that particular light. Now, i'm not anti-story in any sense, though i would say i'm anti-railroad (but that is a different discussion).

I basically use awards for defeating (i.e not neccessarily fighting) monsters, treasure and attendance awards as a base (probably around 3/4 of total XP) combined with ad hoc rewards for campaign goals, roleplaying, problem solving and so on. My players seem quite satisfied with this. I think they view the XP-awards as more "objective" than they really are and that the story itself is its own reward.

As for sucking up to the DM... i give them XP awards for helping me move aswell... Because the game isn't that serious.  

Venvig pulls her dagger and tries to cut and pry the plank further apart to open the gap some more before attempting to squeeze through.