ACKS Feels Epic

AI Art by @nightcafestudio

Even without waiting for version 2, the base ACKS game is worth your time. This is one of the best implementations of B/X with a unified resolution mechanic and sticks to the original level 1 to 14 range. Not many B/X implementations can really say how levels above 14 are meaningful and relevant to any story you can tell beyond 'the bigger numbers stories.'

This is a massive problem with many B/X versions and games like 5E and Pathfinder 2. These games lazily assume you are an adventurer 'all the way up,' and your role in the world never changes. You sleep at the same inns, search for higher-level holes in the ground, and your gold becomes a worthless pile shoved in some bag of holding. If a game can't explain high-level play, high-level characters are meaningless, and the game falls into the MMO trap.

ACKS 1.0 is built from the ground up for domain-level play.

If the high-level game is there, it reflects down to level one. Every decision you make at level one matters. Did you make enemies from levels 1-3? If so, those enemies or their allies will likely come back later during domain-level play to cause significant trouble for the lands you are trying to settle.

In standard B/X games, my low-level adventures don't matter. I can stumble around in various 'theme park ride' dungeons, hit that 'what's next' point at level 5, and then wait for an adventure module to give me something to do. It is all about acquiring personal power, right? Power solves any problem!

That disconnected nature of the traditional B/X and 5E adventurer bugs me, and it is as if you can level in a world and never affect it, nor would it ever know about you. All the powers come 'built in' to your class in 5E, so you don't need anyone or anything - only experience points.

AI Art by @nightcafestudio

ACKS is my 'serious B/X,' whereas a game like Dungeon Crawl Classics is my 'gonzo B/X,' the games have different feelings and experiences.

Every other fantasy game has melted away with this combination. 5E is not on my shelves anymore. Pathfinder 2 is boxed up and getting sold. Old School Essentials is excellent, but it does not have the depth of ACKS. Playing 5E is like eating chicken nuggets; they are tasty but not nutritious or healthy. Ultimately, I feel the same empty feeling after, like I didn't do anything except push a character up a predefined power curve.

5E and Pathfinder 2 share that problem. They are designed like an MMO with no high-level campaign support. In an MMO, level 10 feels like level 30 feels like level 50. Your power feels like it is on a downward curve. Death is impossible. Your character does the same things. It is the same dungeon with a few more zeros on the numbers.

In the 1980s, we played games that made us more intelligent and mature, challenged us to read history, and expanded our worldview. Many of today's tabletop RPGs feel like vapid and empty video games, only existing for a designer-delivered power curve that delivers zero mental challenge and stimulation.

Or the feeling of dramatic importance.