I was lucky enough to find a kickstarter signed and numbered edition of this at a used book store for less than $30. I nearly went doody in my pants. Great video!
I love this game and am happy to see it hit your channel and do so well. I rank it among my favorite game books alongside such luminaries as the 1st Ed DMG and the DCC Core rules.
Even though this game stands alone as amazing, it very useful as well for filling gaps in B/X rules, when added complexity or nuance are desired. With this and one of Kevin Crawford's excellent games I can find a useful rule for any lacking circumstance.
Love this game; we just mash it up with Labyrinth Lord & Swords & Wizardry. The new spellcasters and spells, along with stats for all those Lovecraftian monsters, are real highlights. The treasure & magic items lists are the best I've seen in any OSR game by far. In fact I'm currently using this as the base system for converting Modiphius Conan since their 2d20 system is a convoluted mess.
This looks so cool to me. That is to say, the setting does. I don't feel like I need a new set of rules to run it, though. I wonder if it could be made available as a standalone world book someday?
No. All the spells, character classes and races are specific and integrated to the setting. You'd be missing 80 percent of the flavor of the setting if you didn't use the integrated character options. I know that conventional wisdom is that the setting and rules are better to keep separate, but with every rule there is an exception, and this is one of those.
Keep in mind its a DM's Guide, a player's handbook, a monster manual, a SETTING BOOK, AND it has an introductory adventure and fully developed town, all in one book.
I wonder how it compares to other Conan themed games. Pre-medieval settings like the interglacial Hyperborea or bronze age Glorantha are amazing settings.
Hey Capt., because of the thumbnail, i thought you where going to cover the old school comics by Robert E. Howard. Never heard of the game before. But definitely would give it a try with friends. Do you remember in the early or mid 80's. A Conan AD&D type game came out. I think it was its own world like mystara or forgotten reamls. It was its own game but based on ad&d rules (mostly). Thanks Capt. & have a great day.
And once again, your review convinced me to buy the pdf! The physical book might require an extraordinary strength check to read in bed. And aldo got around to buying more Conan books.
Been playing in a weekly campaign of this since March through Roll20 and it's been great! A little different but as you noted that is part of the charm. If you know 2E D&D it's super quick to pick up too.
Crom, I have never prayed to you before. I have no tongue for it. No one, not even you, will remember if we were good men or bad. Why we fought, or why we died. All that matters is that two stood against many. That's what's important! Valor pleases you, Crom... so grant me one request. Grant me revenge! And if you do not listen, then the HELL with you!
So, in my working to get physical copies of the companion books for The Hero's Journey, 2nd Edition, I was sent an incorrect book, which launched my getting my second OSR game, Into the Unknown. Was curious if you were familiar with the game, as a quick search of your videos doesn't show a review of it. Would love to hear your thoughts on the game.
@@captcorajus It's showing my initial comment didn't take, so I'll remove one after I post this if needed, but ItU is apparently an OSR that is 5E compatible. Recently started re-reading 5E since WOTC announced they are "polishing up" 5E to make it One D&D (whatever that means) so I'll guess this will be compatible with that based on what I've heard. So, I guess if you are into 5E at any level you may like it since it combines both apparently.
I agree. The setting in this book is Amazing, but the rules, in my opinion, do little to accommodate a Sword & Sorcery. The game is essentially a clone of AD&D with no demi-humans and some reskinned classes. Magic works more or less the same way, and so do most other things. And yes, the lack of an index is almost a deal-breaker for me. Unfortunately, I bought the physical copy without being aware of that information.
The classes are tweeked, as are the spells in certain areas. I don't really think the Vancian magic system needs that much changing as ...well... that's already a pulp fantasy magic system. :)
@@captcorajus I'd say it depends on what exactly you are looking for. "Pulp fantasy" is a somewhat generic characterization, whereas this game is specifically advertised as "Sword & Sorcery." I personally don't think vanilla AD&D (and Vancian magic) accommodates that genre very well. And while it's true that AS&SH tweaks a few things here and there, it make no substantial changes to the AD&D system to better suit the genre. It essentially remains a lightly houseruled AD&D (in my opinion). I think better examples of Sword & Sorcery games are "Crypts and Things" and "Low Fantasy Gaming", both based on versions of D&D but modified to appropriately fit the S&S genre. To reiterate, I have nothing against AS&SH in itself. I just don't think the underlying AD&D system fits the genre of S&S very well, which is ironically what the game is advertised for. The setting, on the other hand, is fully S&S.
Nothing says you have to run it as its own game. The AD&D clone aspect just lends it better to conversion to 5e. It can be run alongside a _Primeval Thule_ campaign, or any Conan-esque game. It just gives more places to explore, and more bad guys to fight!
@Grumpy Olde Gamer - To me, the elves and dwarves aren't even the issue. It's getting people to give up playing their robots, elephant people, and pan-sexual furries. _"But why can't I play my Thri-kreen/vampire/cyborg artificer, in a low magic, antediluvian seting?? Quit stifling my creativity!!!"_ Everybody wants to be special; nobody wants to do it through RP and character development.
@@AspectOfVeles - Totally understandable. But on a budget, nothing beats free. When the next mass-extinction of RPGs hits the game world, I plan to be sitting on about 100G of history! Plus, without an index, a search feature helps out a LOT!
@@fleetcenturion yeah but a book doesn't run out of electricity, and the fail rate of the medium is a lot lower (and takes a LOT longer) thsn a glash drive
Or not; that thing has way too many changes and exceptions. We're just using AS&SH to convert Modiphius Conan. It's been amazingly smooth so far and I've managed to keep a few of the Modiphius elements for flavor.
i am looking for a needle in a haystack. i am looking for an older module of a rpg . I do not know the title, or system .It originally appeared in either a comic or magazine. It is for 0 or 1st level players easily adoptable to d and d. it was a single level cavern that had been a home to some high level adventures whom have been missing for a long time. Not much in the way of encounters.It had a room that contained several pools one of which was filled with healing potion. you had to figure out the pools magical defenses to get the treasure in the other pools, Recently i found a group playing it on you tube but i cannot seem to locate it now. can anyone help me locate it
@@doctorlolchicken7478 Lol... possibly. Actually the secret is finding a music composer that produces good tracks and then looking for those, and noting the poor composers. Then searching by style and genre to get what you want. That's probably my advantage right there is I know how to search for styles and genres of music. :)
With 'rules light' it gives the DM more freedom to adjudicate player actions, AND players tend to not 'head down' to the character sheet to find the 'game approved' and 'codified' solution to in game problems.
Seeing as I play this game on a weekly basis, this is hardly clunky. Its smooth, fast, and resolves quickly. Having played a lot of 5E in the last few years, this is a breath of fresh air.
I really like ASaSoH. The class system is very similar to one I had come up with in my homebrews. It's very intuititve. I don't actually like the world though (!!) - for me it's better to just set it on Earth and not the 'other world' that they give. Great book though
This game is my to go Pulp Fantasy rpg. People that complain it being too much ad&d forget that the venerable system was more close to pulps than tolkien
@@captcorajus Then it might be the first kickstarter I back! I wonder how it compares to other Conan themed games. Pre-medieval settings like the interglacial Hyperborea or bronze age Glorantha are amazing settings.
The combat rules make me want to ditch 5E combat and use these. As it is, I have a list-maker player to mark party initiative; I loosely determine initiative for my various monsters and she helps me keep track but 5e still requires some quick thinking to prevent successful combat from turning into a tiresome slog of beating somebody to death.
Not a copyright strike, no. However, I would have been demonetized. I initially tried to just use the Luke Skywalker Noooooo.. and 'That's Impossible' but TH-cam demonetized me when I uploaded the video the first time. So i deleted the upload, and had to reedit the video with that part out and then reupload. TH-cam is a real bitch about that.
The lack of an index in a volume of this size, regardless of content, is unforgivable. Lower that rating. The average GM has stuff to do, a family, a job, etc. Speeding up what little time we have is essential. The lack of an index is a writing and editing failure in a setting of this size.
I would have made it lower were it not for the fact that the table of contents ARE very good, and he was very diligent about giving page numbers whenever another rule was referenced. Having spent a week deep in the rules I can tell you its not horrific. However, having the searchable PDF on hand is very helpful.
GOOD GREIF!!! 600 pages? I can't even justify the attached setting for that number. Tbh this seems absurdly excessive for anything truly necessary. Seems like a game ppl will own for the novelty and never play. Great job on the overview, tho, Cap. I'll stick with Basic Fantasy lol
Its not really when you consider that its actually a Player's handbook, a full monster manual, a DM's guide, a Setting book, AND and adventure module all in one book. Make more sense now?
@@captcorajus a little late but I'd like to provide a counter argument. There are a lot of games being kick-started and put out that unfortunately go nowhere before they fold, or there is a tremendous gap between product releases. My shelves are littered with a pretty wide variety of such products. So to see that for their initial release, they go above and beyond to make sure that even if they put out nothing else, you have a complete enough product to where you won't complain about a lack of other information oh, that's really nice. There may be a valid point that many people will purchase it for the uniqueness and never play it but that's quite frankly common for all gamers. About the only knock I could give to a singular product of this size is that people are left with two options when confronted with a game setting that doesn't use the most common mechanics, which in my mind would be Dungeons & Dragons, white wolf, and Catalyst games. The knock would be if you want to pull people into playing the product, you either have to have one copy that gets passed around which can cause a crunch whenever people need to validate the rules or whomever owns it, or everybody needs to invest in something. You don't mention it in the video unless I missed it, but they might be served if they offered a players book that offers a condensed amount of information most commonly referenced by players
I was lucky enough to find a kickstarter signed and numbered edition of this at a used book store for less than $30. I nearly went doody in my pants. Great video!
Lucky bastard (congratulations nonetheless!)
I must join YOU LUCKY BUGGER!! I hope you enjoy it =D
Welcome back, Captain! Always glad to see new content, and some ofvthe OSR material is really quality stuff.
"A land of high adventure."
[ass screenshot]
600 pages, no index. My head hurts just thinking about it no matter how awesome it sounds.
In all fairness, the book is well organized, but an index would be helpful. Still, the book is awesome.
Yeah, it's the only downside, it is pretty intuitive on where you can find the info though
I have watched two other reviews. Yours was the only one that went into the setting. Very informative review. Thanks!
I never heard of this before, but thank you for pointing it out. I just got everything on PDF.
You're welcome! Enjoy!!
I love this game and am happy to see it hit your channel and do so well. I rank it among my favorite game books alongside such luminaries as the 1st Ed DMG and the DCC Core rules.
For my money, AS&SH and DCC RPG are the one-two knockouts in today's FRP game market. Folks, it just doesn't get any better than this. 😘
Agreed
@Warren Higgins fantasy role playing
Makes my evening to watch a new video!
That intro was really cool, great use of the music
Excellent review of a great game system. I loved the intro man!
If anyone's interested the Kickstarter for the 3rd edition is going on right now.
Even though this game stands alone as amazing, it very useful as well for filling gaps in B/X rules, when added complexity or nuance are desired. With this and one of Kevin Crawford's excellent games I can find a useful rule for any lacking circumstance.
Wow Capt, you outdone yourself! Thanks for this!
You are the best of all the gentlemen that have d&d programs I love old school the most it is easyer to play than the newer editions and more fun.
Love this game; we just mash it up with Labyrinth Lord & Swords & Wizardry. The new spellcasters and spells, along with stats for all those Lovecraftian monsters, are real highlights. The treasure & magic items lists are the best I've seen in any OSR game by far. In fact I'm currently using this as the base system for converting Modiphius Conan since their 2d20 system is a convoluted mess.
Yeah, I've not heard good things about the 2d20 system
Wow thanks for letting us know. I was looking at Modiphius Conan. Seems like this is the ticket then.
@@captcorajus I like the 2d20 system, as with The Dark Eye and other European rpg systems, looks bulky at first, but it's just giving it a chance.
I've got a friend who loves the 2D20 system. I tried it once had fun. I'd play it again without hesitation.
I think I might run this setting with the cypher system
This looks so cool to me. That is to say, the setting does. I don't feel like I need a new set of rules to run it, though. I wonder if it could be made available as a standalone world book someday?
No. All the spells, character classes and races are specific and integrated to the setting. You'd be missing 80 percent of the flavor of the setting if you didn't use the integrated character options.
I know that conventional wisdom is that the setting and rules are better to keep separate, but with every rule there is an exception, and this is one of those.
Great review! I want this game!! I hope it gets Kickstarted, or I hope I didn't miss this KS...
Sold out in their webstore as of typing, but this game is high on my "To Buy" list
There's a kickstarter for a reprint coming up!
captcorajus when is it upcoming?
@@captcorajus Really looking forward to this Kickstarter! :D
Thanks for the great review!
I think I will spark up some black lotus and chill while reading it at some point.
600 pages? Crom! 😱😁
Keep in mind its a DM's Guide, a player's handbook, a monster manual, a SETTING BOOK, AND it has an introductory adventure and fully developed town, all in one book.
The Dark eye was also big in the Netherlands. It still is in Germany I think
Subscribed, excellent stuff
Those Saving Throw names are actually really cool. I think I may run this game for a solo campaign with the Mythic GM Emulator.
I really thought so too!
Love the intro voiceover!
I wonder how it compares to other Conan themed games.
Pre-medieval settings like the interglacial Hyperborea or bronze age Glorantha are amazing settings.
Hey Capt., because of the thumbnail, i thought you where going to cover the old school comics by Robert E. Howard. Never heard of the game before. But definitely would give it a try with friends. Do you remember in the early or mid 80's. A Conan AD&D type game came out. I think it was its own world like mystara or forgotten reamls. It was its own game but based on ad&d rules (mostly).
Thanks Capt. & have a great day.
And once again, your review convinced me to buy the pdf! The physical book might require an extraordinary strength check to read in bed. And aldo got around to buying more Conan books.
Hope you enjoy it!
3e pdfs of the ASSH Kickstarter just appeared in my Drive Thru rpg library. Spoiler alert: they have good indexes! 😁
You should review Barbarians of Lemuria. It's a great little swords and sorcery fantasy that's rules light and has some clever rules.
The universal rpg using the same system, named "Everywhen", is quite good too. It adds optional bits for any setting.
It is the best sword & sorcery game.
Been playing in a weekly campaign of this since March through Roll20 and it's been great! A little different but as you noted that is part of the charm. If you know 2E D&D it's super quick to pick up too.
Crom, I have never prayed to you before. I have no tongue for it. No one, not even you, will remember if we were good men or bad. Why we fought, or why we died. All that matters is that two stood against many. That's what's important! Valor pleases you, Crom... so grant me one request. Grant me revenge! And if you do not listen, then the HELL with you!
BEST PRAYER EVER!
I got my AS&SH 1e and 2e just by chance in a "garage sale" in my country back in 2018.
Great review. I’ve heard good things about this setting. I was disappointed to hear it is not available in print. I don’t like reading PDFs.
Mako would be proud of your introduction 😎
Thanks! I appreciate that!
@@captcorajus He's a wizard mind you!
So, in my working to get physical copies of the companion books for The Hero's Journey, 2nd Edition, I was sent an incorrect book, which launched my getting my second OSR game, Into the Unknown. Was curious if you were familiar with the game, as a quick search of your videos doesn't show a review of it. Would love to hear your thoughts on the game.
Sorry, never heard of it.
@@captcorajus It's showing my initial comment didn't take, so I'll remove one after I post this if needed, but ItU is apparently an OSR that is 5E compatible. Recently started re-reading 5E since WOTC announced they are "polishing up" 5E to make it One D&D (whatever that means) so I'll guess this will be compatible with that based on what I've heard. So, I guess if you are into 5E at any level you may like it since it combines both apparently.
I agree. The setting in this book is Amazing, but the rules, in my opinion, do little to accommodate a Sword & Sorcery. The game is essentially a clone of AD&D with no demi-humans and some reskinned classes. Magic works more or less the same way, and so do most other things. And yes, the lack of an index is almost a deal-breaker for me. Unfortunately, I bought the physical copy without being aware of that information.
The classes are tweeked, as are the spells in certain areas. I don't really think the Vancian magic system needs that much changing as ...well... that's already a pulp fantasy magic system. :)
@@captcorajus I'd say it depends on what exactly you are looking for. "Pulp fantasy" is a somewhat generic characterization, whereas this game is specifically advertised as "Sword & Sorcery." I personally don't think vanilla AD&D (and Vancian magic) accommodates that genre very well. And while it's true that AS&SH tweaks a few things here and there, it make no substantial changes to the AD&D system to better suit the genre. It essentially remains a lightly houseruled AD&D (in my opinion). I think better examples of Sword & Sorcery games are "Crypts and Things" and "Low Fantasy Gaming", both based on versions of D&D but modified to appropriately fit the S&S genre.
To reiterate, I have nothing against AS&SH in itself. I just don't think the underlying AD&D system fits the genre of S&S very well, which is ironically what the game is advertised for. The setting, on the other hand, is fully S&S.
They lost me at AD&D as well. That and having to read 600 pages.
Nothing says you have to run it as its own game. The AD&D clone aspect just lends it better to conversion to 5e.
It can be run alongside a _Primeval Thule_ campaign, or any Conan-esque game. It just gives more places to explore, and more bad guys to fight!
@Grumpy Olde Gamer - To me, the elves and dwarves aren't even the issue. It's getting people to give up playing their robots, elephant people, and pan-sexual furries.
_"But why can't I play my Thri-kreen/vampire/cyborg artificer, in a low magic, antediluvian seting?? Quit stifling my creativity!!!"_
Everybody wants to be special; nobody wants to do it through RP and character development.
I love ASSH. Good to see you reviewing this system. Appendix N greatness with that AD&D vibe.
Yes, definitely an appendix N game to be sure.
I think there should be an ascending armor class option but other than that this is real cool
Shouldn't Vikings be the Aesir or Vanir in this era before recorded time ?
@@DemetrisAthanasopoulos yes add all those pantheons
Their last copy sold out literally a couple hours before I went to buy one, lamentably. I've been hunting for a copy since.
One word: TROVE
I will say no more
I do own a PDF, but I am a very tactile gamer and have a harder time learning and playing from non-physical books.
@@AspectOfVeles - Totally understandable. But on a budget, nothing beats free. When the next mass-extinction of RPGs hits the game world, I plan to be sitting on about 100G of history!
Plus, without an index, a search feature helps out a LOT!
@@fleetcenturion yeah but a book doesn't run out of electricity, and the fail rate of the medium is a lot lower (and takes a LOT longer) thsn a glash drive
Completely agree overall though. It's an incredible book.
There is a FREE OD&D Conan Game by Jason Vey that is just a thing of epicness.
I like it it a lot, but I'm not keen on using the chainmail rules.
Or not; that thing has way too many changes and exceptions. We're just using AS&SH to convert Modiphius Conan. It's been amazingly smooth so far and I've managed to keep a few of the Modiphius elements for flavor.
Great intro!
I'm glad you like it
Hey captain. Why don't you put us up a list of you 17, 18, and 19 rated products?
I want to play this!
i am looking for a needle in a haystack. i am looking for an older module of a rpg . I do not know the title, or system .It originally appeared in either a comic or magazine. It is for 0 or 1st level players easily adoptable to d and d. it was a single level cavern that had been a home to some high level adventures whom have been missing for a long time. Not much in the way of encounters.It had a room that contained several pools one of which was filled with healing potion. you had to figure out the pools magical defenses to get the treasure in the other pools, Recently i found a group playing it on you tube but i cannot seem to locate it now. can anyone help me locate it
Cat3r Grl that's B2 In search of the Unknown for Basic Dungeons & Dragons.
Man, I loved the music where did you get that from??
TH-cam Creator Library.
Other creators are always saying, "I can't find good music there." and I'm like, "You're just not looking hard enough."
Mr DJ probably has a high tolerance for wading through a sea of terrible tracks to find a pearl.
@@doctorlolchicken7478 Lol... possibly. Actually the secret is finding a music composer that produces good tracks and then looking for those, and noting the poor composers. Then searching by style and genre to get what you want.
That's probably my advantage right there is I know how to search for styles and genres of music. :)
It's too bad that such a large book had such a limited print run. I'm late to the party and now can't find a copy. Oh well.
Great review of a great game
What's the big difference in play or dm'ing rules light rpg,s like "advanced fighting fantasy" vs more detailed ones like dnd?
With 'rules light' it gives the DM more freedom to adjudicate player actions, AND players tend to not 'head down' to the character sheet to find the 'game approved' and 'codified' solution to in game problems.
Would you ever consider reviewing the most popular rules light rpgs? Or a link to one who has?
CROM !!!
Improvement of a clunky combat system = a slightly less clunky combat system.
Seeing as I play this game on a weekly basis, this is hardly clunky. Its smooth, fast, and resolves quickly. Having played a lot of 5E in the last few years, this is a breath of fresh air.
I really like ASaSoH. The class system is very similar to one I had come up with in my homebrews. It's very intuititve.
I don't actually like the world though (!!) - for me it's better to just set it on Earth and not the 'other world' that they give.
Great book though
This game is my to go Pulp Fantasy rpg. People that complain it being too much ad&d forget that the venerable system was more close to pulps than tolkien
My thoughts exactly. :)
It's currently sold out :(
Kickstarter coming out soon!
@@captcorajus Then it might be the first kickstarter I back! I wonder how it compares to other Conan themed games.
Pre-medieval settings like the interglacial Hyperborea or bronze age Glorantha are amazing settings.
The combat rules make me want to ditch 5E combat and use these. As it is, I have a list-maker player to mark party initiative; I loosely determine initiative for my various monsters and she helps me keep track but 5e still requires some quick thinking to prevent successful combat from turning into a tiresome slog of beating somebody to death.
Do you get a copyright strike if you use narration? Just wondering why you didn't use the Mako narration from Conan thr Barbarian?
He was doing a parody of it. I don't remember the Olson Twins being in the original haha
Not a copyright strike, no. However, I would have been demonetized. I initially tried to just use the Luke Skywalker Noooooo.. and 'That's Impossible' but TH-cam demonetized me when I uploaded the video the first time. So i deleted the upload, and had to reedit the video with that part out and then reupload.
TH-cam is a real bitch about that.
Olson Twins? lol
@@captcorajus How does the algorithm know? Could you not adjust it somehow to get past the software?
Don't know. That's beyond my pay grade. lol. It automatically dinged me for the Luke Skywalker clip, so i had to remove it.
Hahahahaha, best and worst intro ever lol - nice one, made me laugh.
The lack of an index in a volume of this size, regardless of content, is unforgivable. Lower that rating.
The average GM has stuff to do, a family, a job, etc. Speeding up what little time we have is essential.
The lack of an index is a writing and editing failure in a setting of this size.
I would have made it lower were it not for the fact that the table of contents ARE very good, and he was very diligent about giving page numbers whenever another rule was referenced.
Having spent a week deep in the rules I can tell you its not horrific. However, having the searchable PDF on hand is very helpful.
I'll take a separate pdf of an index to make it easier
GOOD GREIF!!! 600 pages? I can't even justify the attached setting for that number. Tbh this seems absurdly excessive for anything truly necessary. Seems like a game ppl will own for the novelty and never play.
Great job on the overview, tho, Cap. I'll stick with Basic Fantasy lol
Its not really when you consider that its actually a Player's handbook, a full monster manual, a DM's guide, a Setting book, AND and adventure module all in one book.
Make more sense now?
@@captcorajus a little late but I'd like to provide a counter argument. There are a lot of games being kick-started and put out that unfortunately go nowhere before they fold, or there is a tremendous gap between product releases. My shelves are littered with a pretty wide variety of such products.
So to see that for their initial release, they go above and beyond to make sure that even if they put out nothing else, you have a complete enough product to where you won't complain about a lack of other information oh, that's really nice.
There may be a valid point that many people will purchase it for the uniqueness and never play it but that's quite frankly common for all gamers.
About the only knock I could give to a singular product of this size is that people are left with two options when confronted with a game setting that doesn't use the most common mechanics, which in my mind would be Dungeons & Dragons, white wolf, and Catalyst games. The knock would be if you want to pull people into playing the product, you either have to have one copy that gets passed around which can cause a crunch whenever people need to validate the rules or whomever owns it, or everybody needs to invest in something. You don't mention it in the video unless I missed it, but they might be served if they offered a players book that offers a condensed amount of information most commonly referenced by players
Imposible to find a copy under $300, freaking ridiculous.
Yeah, it sucks. However, you can purchase a pdf version. and 3E is coming out soon!