HYPERBOREA / ASE vs OU

**Posted by Scalydemon** 1/12/2017 7:23 pm

So we have come to this....Dr, Scaly has the opportunity to run a live game again for his gaming comrades in a week or so...... A chance to 'begin again in a golden land of opportunity and adventure'.......

We get together fairly rarely these days. I'd rather sort of start something that could be ongoing instead of just a random one shot dungeon, but the future gaming would not be of a regular schedule.

Thus I have decided to either try them on Operation Unfathomable or ASE1 - Anomalous Subsurface Environment which both seem to fit what I am trying to do. Their characters could belong to a 'place' that could be happily returned to the next time for more but is not a super detailed true campaign setting

I love the vibe of OU but the sort of wall of text nature of the way it is written seems like it would be hard to run without taking the time to read it several times. ASE1 I need to read again as it has been awhile. I own them both.

Any thoughts from those that have run either or both of these or at least read them to form an opinion?

Thanks!

**Posted by Chainsaw** 1/12/2017 8:19 pm

I had a super fun time playing in Handy's OU game at Gary Con (so much that I pledged Jason Sholtis' KS), but my impression is that it's better as a one shot than as the basis of a new campaign. Lots of funny, but really, really deadly stuff all over the place that likely results in TPK after TPK (lava god steps on you for 56^2 damage etc). Maybe Handy over-exaggerated that aspect because it was a one shot convention game, I don't know. You might be able to tone it down a bit, but I also think there's an order of magnitude less raw gaming material (like, number of rooms etc) than ASE.

With ASE, based on what I have read (I own it), PatW's put alot of time into making it a genuine megadungeon campaign friendly product. Of course, it *is* a megadungeon, so if your players tire of dungeons quickly, it's maybe not the best choice. He's also not finished yet, though the first three levels are probably more than enough to keep you busy for a year or two.

**Posted by Handy Haversack** 1/13/2017 8:11 am

I have played both. I've run the original OU a couple of times now, though never as part of campaign play. That said, I think it could be an excellent starter to a campaign. Odds are that several PCs will be lost along the way, but those that survive will be all the more precious. But in its original form, it's definitely something you can play through in a day's session. Jason's expanding it into a full setting in the KS.

ASE as a dungeon is great. If you're playing in Hyperborea, there will be more work dropping the (fantastic) setting stuff that it comes with. But if you're happy to play in that world, it works really well. And Gus at Dungeon of Signs has some more modules set in that world that you can slot in around the ASE so your players have more options. The Obelisk of Forgotten Memories is great. We had switched our AD&D game to ASE right before finding AS&SH.

**Posted by Scalydemon** 1/13/2017 10:16 am

Ah, thanks for the info guys. I am leaning towards ASE now and using the mini setting provided with it. I like the Gods and hooks surrounding the main city and the random tables now that I re read it.

I will also check out Gus L's dungeon thanks for that heads up.

**Posted by Handy Haversack** 1/13/2017 10:45 am

Scalydemon wrote:
Ah, thanks for the info guys. I am leaning towards ASE now and using the mini setting provided with it. I like the Gods and hooks surrounding the main city and the random tables now that I re read it.

I will also check out Gus L's dungeon thanks for that heads up.

Cool! Glad you're getting the gang together.

Gus has a lot of really useful posts on ASE and several DLable adventures.

**Posted by Scalydemon** 2/06/2017 11:04 pm

Just read The Font of Glee this eve from Knockspell 3. It is an intro adventure/mini sandbox written by Jason Sholtis in the OU vein. I liked it.

ASE vs OU - opinion wanted

Scalydemon wrote: