It's Greg Christopher's Birthday Week, and he's put Ambition & Avarice: 2nd Edition on sale for 5 bucks in PDF (regularly $15). A&A 2e is one of the best OSR games on the market (and I'm not just saying this because Greg is a good friend, which he is). A&A 2e should be on every Grognard's game shelf, as the equipment charts Greg has included would be an asset to any OSR campaign, regardless of the ruleset.
Ambition and Avarice is an action-adventure roleplaying game with an easy-to-understand OSR chassis. The 2nd edition maintains focus on character classes and races that walk the line of respectability.
2nd Edition at a Glance:
- Simple OSR-style resolution mechanics
- 10 Races: Dark Elf, Dwarf, Elf, Gnome, Goblin, Halfling, Hobgoblin, Human, Lizardfolk, and Orc.
- 12 Classes: Brigand, Conjurer, Cultist, Elementalist, Enchanter, Knave, Ranger, Savage, Shaman, Witch, Veteran, and Zealot.
- More powerful low-level magic users + more powerful high-level mundane characters.
- Pre-built backpacks to grab off the shelf for quick character creation.
- The most comprehensive medieval fantasy equipment chapter in the RPG industry (I checked).
- Monster trophies to take after the battle and use as magic items; Cyclops eyes, Giant frog tongue, Nymph hair, and more.
- Catalysts: A spell component system that is actually fun to use.
- Clear and useful rules for hex crawling, managing retainers, and building your own barony.
- A complete customizable cosmology system with major/minor gods and demigods of your own creation.
- 596 spells: a mix of old favorites and reimagined wonders divided across six traditions: conjuration, elementalism, enchantment, primeval, salvation, and vexation.
- NPC design system mixing reaction rolls and attitude to determine exactly how far each NPC will go to help or harm you.
- A dungeon familiarity mechanic to allow the players to gather information BEFORE going down the steps into darkness.
- Full Bestiary of 182 monsters with a simplified combat stat block system for easy management.
- Monster entries include formulae for creating your own twisted undead.... if you don't mind dabbling in necromancy.
- Treasure chapter with rules on magic item creation and numerous treasure tables to stock your dungeons.
Each class features;
- Expertise in a class-specific task; like the Conjuror's binding circle ability or a Cultist's ability to sacrifice humanoids to curry favor with their god.
- Identification of something in the world; like the Witch's ability to identify sickness/disease or the Savage's ability to recognize familiar scents and follow them.
- Recruit followers to serve as henchmen; like the Knave's ability to recruit spies or the Conjurer's ability to create imps to serve them.
Six flexible magic-using classes have a varied selection of new and exciting spells. There are easy methods to create your own enchantments, raise unique undead to serve you, or craft cursed items to give to your enemies. The non-magical classes have their own rich choices and don't fade away in importance as the magical characters advance in level.
These classes can then be combined with 10 classic fantasy races; from elves and dwarves to orcs and lizardfolk. You can combine them however you wish, creating everything from goblin rangers to dwarven brigands. Your race is no longer central to your destiny, playing a marginal role in restricting your actions in the game world.
The entire package is designed to allow quick character generation and presented in a format that is clear and easy to read. The text is packed with explanations of not just the rules, but the reasons behind the rules. It is an ideal choice to hand to a new player who is looking to get into the great game, but turned away by dense technical rulebooks with byzantine organization. The adventuring mechanics are also OSR compatible and allow easy integration with a variety of old school campaign material. You can pick up this game, grab an old module, and get playing in a very short amount of time.
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