ACKS II

Some huge news, the "Rules Cyclopedia" for ACKS is Kickstartering this summer as a 496-page compilation. This will be called the Adventurer Conqueror King System: Imperial Imprint, or ACKS II.

From the Facebook page:

I’m delighted to officially announce our next book for ACKS. Adventurer Conqueror King System: Imperial Imprint, or ACKS II, will be a 496-page compendium that updates and revises the rules for character creation, classes, equipment, proficiencies, adventures, campaigns, and warfare into one epic volume. It’s more than Like By This Axe, it will be available in our standard hardcover format as well as an exclusive leatherbound edition. There will be other books in the Imperial Imprint series as well, including a Judge’s handbook and creature compendium.

ACKS II is not just a new compilation of existing material published previously. It has many new features and improvements, both to the design and the layout. It corrects many longstanding complaints about the presentation of the rules, and subtly improves the game in ways that build on my 12 years of experience since first drafting it. However, ACKS II is not a “new edition” of ACKS, not in the sense that Wizards of the Coast has made new editions of D&D. It is almost entirely backwards-compatible with everything that has already been published. Lairs & Encounters, Heroic Fantasy Handbook, and all of our other amazing sourcebooks will be usable with, at most, a few pages of updates - less than the typical GM’s house rules. If ACKS was similar to Moldvay/Cook Basic/Expert, ACKS II is most similar to D&D Rules Cyclopedia. You will not be playing a different game, just a better version of the game you already love.

ACKS II has been quietly playtested by an able group of ACKS experts for the last two years and already stands at 426 pages of text. It will Kickstart in summer 2023, probably around Independence Day. There’ll be more updates on ACKS II in the days and weeks ahead, with examples of the new class formats, proficiencies, and more.

I like this game, it is a fun OSR alternative focused on a Middle Ages world and plays like a B/X combined with a 4X generational kingdom management game. Not everything has to be "one B/X game to rule them all" and seeing the community creating new games and editions is always a great thing.