HYPERBOREA / AS&SH Reviews

**Posted by Breschau of Livonia** 6/28/2017 10:16 am

I think I've enough posts to now include links... Way back in 2013 I put a review on my blog - it's one of the more higher viewed posts I've made as it turns out -
https://19thlevel.blogspot.com/2013/03/rpg-review-astonishing-swordsmen.html

**Posted by foxroe** 6/28/2017 8:07 pm

Nice review!

**Posted by mabon5127** 6/29/2017 7:48 am

Breschau of Livonia wrote:
I think I've enough posts to now include links... Way back in 2013 I put a review on my blog - it's one of the more higher viewed posts I've made as it turns out -
https://19thlevel.blogspot.com/2013/03/rpg-review-astonishing-swordsmen.html

Very thorough!! Welcome!

**Posted by Ghul** 12/04/2017 8:08 pm

Ole' Man Grognard's video review of AS&SH 2E:

**Posted by Ghul** 12/04/2017 8:09 pm

And nice, text-based review of AS&SH 2E:
https://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/17/17343.phtml

Last edited by Ghul (12/04/2017 8:09 pm)

**Posted by SmokestackJones** 12/05/2017 12:49 am

Ghul wrote:
And nice, text-based review of AS&SH 2E:
https://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/17/17343.phtml

Ascending AC? Did he and I read the same book?

-SJ

Last edited by SmokestackJones (12/05/2017 12:50 am)

**Posted by rhialto** 12/05/2017 5:10 am

SmokestackJones wrote:
Ghul wrote:
And nice, text-based review of AS&SH 2E:
https://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/17/17343.phtml
Ascending AC? Did he and I read the same book?

-SJ

I put it down to his self-admitted lack of experience: still a fine review overall.

**Posted by Ghul** 12/05/2017 8:52 am

I noticed that too, but I'm not in the business of correcting the authors of reviews.

**Posted by SmokestackJones** 12/05/2017 9:55 am

In hindsight I regret I was a bit harsh on my part but yes, fine review.

-SJ

**Posted by under_score** 12/31/2017 10:51 pm

Of all places, I forgot to post it here, but here's my review. Although, does anyone here need convincing? If you want to skip reading my master's thesis: it's great.

**Posted by bat** 12/31/2017 11:06 pm

I like your review, under_score, I just wonder how you and ghul figure dragons are relegated to high fantasy. One of the grittiest fantasy settings, Glen Cook's Black Company series, has a dragon in it.

However, in the spirit of AS&SH I am omitting dragons as well and introducing a more savage and brutal menace.

**Posted by under_score** 12/31/2017 11:17 pm

Bat, Black Company is definitely on my to-read list. I keep hearing it referenced in the best ways.

I do think that dragons are an interesting point for discerning high/low fantasy. I'm not sure that dragons have to be considered high fantasy. The Hobbit was pretty low fantasy, although more whimsical than usually mined for swords & sorcery fiction, and it had a singular dragon, who might as well be the only dragon in Middle Earth. On the other hand, the closest thing to a dragon I can recall Conan facing was the great lizard in Red Nails, but that was very different from the image usually conjured by the name "dragon".
Still, I don't think dragons cannot be in a swords & sorcery/low fantasy game. But it's easier to think of examples that are decidedly not low fantasy (Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms) than the alternative.

**Posted by foxroe** 1/01/2018 11:55 pm

The speaking, gold-hoarding, spell-casting dragon trope is definitely a "high fantasy" element. I picture dragons in a AS&SH setting as being a wingless, subterranean species (sans magic and speech). There are already wyverns in the game if you're looking for winged lizards...

**Posted by Ghul** 1/02/2018 10:23 am

foxroe cuts to the heart of my thinking on this. If we're talking about Smaug and the like, then I'm going to shy away from it, because it feels like the antagonist of dwarves, elves, and hobbits. Of course, you've got St. George and his dragon, but this kind of Romanticism doesn't fit my personal conception of Hyperborea, either.

Let's take a look at what we do have for critters referred to as "dragons" in AS&SH: behirs, class vii lesser daemons, class xii lesser daemons, giant komodo dragons, and wyverns.

When I think of the "dragon" that Conan fights in "Red Nails," I am imagining something more akin to what we have with our giant komodo dragon.

**Posted by bat** 1/02/2018 11:32 am

As I get more organized for a few miniatures and game report posts I will reveal my alternative to dragons in Hyperborea.

**Posted by Ghul** 1/02/2018 12:05 pm

bat wrote:
As I get more organized for a few miniatures and game report posts I will reveal my alternative to dragons in Hyperborea.

Excellent. I look forward to reading what you come up with.

**Posted by SavageGM** 7/08/2020 2:55 pm

Sorry for the delay but here is my video on Forgotten Fane of the Coiled Goddess.
https://youtu.be/GkYhEHTapDI

Last edited by SavageGM (7/08/2020 2:58 pm)

**Posted by Jimm.Iblis** 7/09/2020 5:59 am

There is a precedent for dragons coming from the Cthulhu mythos: lloigor. These are normally creatures of energy but they occasionally form physical draconian bodies. I'm using gem dragons to represent their physical forms.

**Posted by Ghul** 7/17/2020 10:47 am

SavageGM wrote:
Sorry for the delay but here is my video on Forgotten Fane of the Coiled Goddess.
https://youtu.be/GkYhEHTapDI

Thank you for putting together another great review -- insightful, informative, and such a great delivery. I just plugged this review at Facebook, Twitter, and MeWe. I've encouraged folks to subscribe, too. You have excellent content! Thanks again, Brandon. Cheers! ~Jeff T.

**Posted by SavageGM** 7/17/2020 11:07 am

Ghul wrote:
SavageGM wrote:
Sorry for the delay but here is my video on Forgotten Fane of the Coiled Goddess.
https://youtu.be/GkYhEHTapDI
Thank you for putting together another great review -- insightful, informative, and such a great delivery. I just plugged this review at Facebook, Twitter, and MeWe. I've encouraged folks to subscribe, too. You have excellent content! Thanks again, Brandon. Cheers! ~Jeff T.

Thanks a bunch Jeff for getting the word out and sharing the video. Hope it convinces people to pick up the game and adventures!