ACK or Die!

For the last three weeks I’ve been part of a group playing in a campaign using the Adventurer Conqueror King System, being run by Erik Tenkar, in a Google Hangout and using Tabletop Forge.

This is proving to be a lot of fun.  The group is formed of several other RPG bloggers (Charles Jaimet, Greg Christopher, and JoeTheLawer).  Three of the four of us were part of a group run by Greg a few months ago and decided to stick together when Erik started his ACKS game.  This is proving to be a good decision, I don’t remember being part of a group that was this good… and playing via Google Hangouts works remarkably well.

I’m still waiting for the ACKS Player’s Companion, but it’s not due until July.  I can be patient.  I can.  I’m sure I’ll be fine.

Who would have thought that adventuring on eight hit points, as one of the party tanks (and at Dex 10, I’m slow like a tank too) could be that much fun?  Big boss fight and I’m down to two hit points, and Erik’s already got the ‘cheating death’ tables handy because two other PCs have used them, and we’re out of known healing potions (turns out we had another one that we didn’t know was healing)… edge of the seat, man.  AC 19 (we very early flipped the ACKS resolution system — ‘roll this or higher, but modify for difficulty’ — for a d20-style roll+bonus vs DC; or roll+bonus vs AC+10) is really handy when you’re facing things that have +0 to hit, but when it only takes two hits, or one from one of the big bads, that 10% is still a little bigger than I like.  The non-tanks in the party, having lower AC and lower hit points (which is to say, much easier to hit and could die from a single hit) did the sensible thing and stayed out of the way, lobbing military fire and shooting arrows, having used all the spells earlier dealing with other problems.

Even at two goblins a round each — a longsword +1 never felt so good, and I was finally rolling well, and the +5 damage from Strength, magic, and just plain awesomeness (i.e. ‘being a fighter’) certainly helped — it takes time for two tanks to roll over sixteen goblins before reaching the bosses.

We’re taking next week off, playing on a roughly three out of four week schedule… and I’m already regretting that we’re not playing next weekend.  I want to know what happens next!

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2 Comments

  1. I’ve been following the campaign posts form each of you and it certainly sounds like a lot of fun. When everyone is having a good time, the good times seem to go exponential. Wanting the next session bodes well.

  2. I’m enjoying playing ACKS with my group too, and the death mechanic (i.e. Mortal Wounds table) is great. Had three PCs go down, two lost their teeth, one his hand, all needed a week’s rest afterwards. I’m loving it.

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