ACKS II Review

tl;dr A giant-sized core ruleset that nonetheless offers the best take on an Advanced version of D&D you are likely to find.

I never really looked at the Adventurer Conqueror King System, though I had heard good things about it, as an elaboration of classic D&D with a proper domain game. When the new Imperial Imprint (II, aka v2) came out, I decided to spin up my drivethrurpg account and plop for the pdf.

Let's start by saying this is not classic D&D. It is evidently based on BX/BE D&D, with its math and level progression advancing only to 14th level. 

But the scope and detail of this game is far more ambitious than anything Classic and those who enjoy the restrained core of Classic D&D will find the wealth of options and systems overwhelming.  It is rather an alternate attempt at making an Advanced D&D, based on Classic D&D. 

And it is epic/monstrous in scope. Let's look at word counts of core rulebooks (not including monster manuals):

• B/X D&D: 113k*

• AD&D 1e PHB: 134k
• AD&D 1e DMG: 243k

• D&D Rules Cyclopedia: 324k*

• D&D 3.5 PHB: 327k

• D&D 3.5 DMG: 348k

• AD&D 1e PHB+DMG: 377k

• D&D 5e PHB+DMG: 409k

• Pathfinder 1e, 425k. 

• D&D 3.5 PHB+DMG: 675k

*Includes a full monster section for the game in those pages.

The core rulebook (essentially the player's handbook) for ACKSII clocks in 446.000 words.

Yep. Nearly 70% more than the AD&D rulebooks combined and more than the combined PHB+DMG for fifth edition. Bigger even than the mammoth that is Pathfinder 1e.

On top, The ACKS II "Judges Journal" clocks in at a additional 354k, taking the total for the core game to a mammoth 800.000 words, and thus exceeds even the two 3.5 rulebooks by nearly one full AD&D 1e PHB.

For comparison, The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings combined is 576.000 words. War & Peace 587.000. No core ruleset should be doing numbers like that.

So let's be clear that this is Macris' self-indulgent and unrestrained attempt at a Magnus Opus. A final completion of the many iterations of the TSR D&D ecosystem. A ruleset to end all rulesets.

It's just too much for me. I would never play a game this heavy. Don't give me 56 pages of equipment in the core rules. I don't want 18 pages of small compact text on seafare, nor 14 such pages on sieges. Or even a list of Conditions 10 pages long. Life is too short. I have read War & Peace. I will not read ACKS II, let alone attempt to play it. As a game, it fails my criteria at the door.

However... That's just me. So I will set that aside for a moment and continue the review for those whose appetite is not diminished by these prospects. And also run the review along a parallel track for those whose appetites are as diminished as mine - by examining its utility as a reference document from which one may pilfer at will, for those who play classic D&D. And finally, I will offer a verdict on the hubristic attempt at a D&D Magnum Opus.

ToC is 3 pages, each with 3 columns. Come on, son.

We'll start with what everyone looks at first anyway - character creation. We have your six attributes (though Wisdom is substituted for Will and Intelligence for Intellect. yawn) and attribute modifiers are essentially the same as classic D&D (+1 for 13-15, +2 for 16-17, +3 for 18) and modifies much the same things, as well as granting XP bonus for your prime requisite key attribute (another yawn). Three alignments.

Then classes. We have the traditional core classes: fighter, thief, magic-user mage, and cleric crusader, to which ACKSII adds Explorer (spell-less rangers) and Venturer (merchants). 

Then an additional 9 Campaign classes. And 6 demi-human classes.

Here, we begin to see the Advanced ambitions of the game. 21 classes is a lot. 5e only has 13. Granted, in B/X style, race here is not a choice separate from class. And I do like the idea of multiple and distinct demi-human classes, ever since I first encountered it in the unabashed heartbreaking Magnum Opus attempt that is Fantastic Heroes & Witchery.

I don't like that the classes take up 3-4 pages of compact small print text, especially when there's so many. It makes the learning curve for character creation too high and chargen too complex and drawn out.

Digging into campaign and demi-human classes, the wheels begin to wobble for me. Some of them are classics (bards, barbarians, assassins [yawn], paladins) and others are interesting attempts at other archetypes (warlock, witch, shaman).

Others are much too specific and embedded in the setting of ACKSII, the Auran empire. 

Bladedancers, we are told, are all female servants of the goddess of war. Priestesses are women who have devoted themselves to a single goddess (basically non-marital healbot priests). Elven nightblades are some kind of sorcerer/assassin (no idea what archetype it is supposed to mirror). Zaharan Ruinguards are chaos paladins (?). And Nobiran Wonderworkers are arcane+divine casters (I don't know what a Nobiran is, or what archetype it is supposed to represent).

For a game of this scope to hold, I feel it must at least attempt to be all things to all people in some form. Fantastic Heroes & Witchery tried, offering different, and perhaps incompatible, classes for different genres of fantasy. 

ACKS II assumes you will play in the Auran empire and if you plan on playing something different, there is a job to be done in extracting these classes from their embedded setting and translating them to something else. Or simply leave them behind (but then, why are you playing ACKSII in the first place?).

For those intending to play in the Auran Empire, it works splendidly. For me, it is disappointing that a game of this scope settles for tying itself so to its own setting. Less magnum opus perhaps, and more setting book with a grandiose rulebook attached?

What gazetteer is complete without a comprehensive paragraph on taxation?

Before I start down the road of further criticism, let me interject a bit with some praise that holds true throughout my perusings of the books - Macris has applied real craftsmanship to this. He understands the game and the game it was built upon. The classes are solidly crafted and in this regard I feel Macris succeeds in his endeavour to provide a better alternate take on AD&D than AD&D is. If you are playing an advanced game, this is simply a better crafted suite of classes than what AD&D itself offers. High praise indeed.

Then there is the proficiency system. Let me start out by saying - I don't like skills for D&D. And this is 20 pages of it. But then, this is a form of Advanced D&D. And if you must use a skill system, this is better than most.

Unlike the troglodyte d20 engine of WotC D&D, ACKS II's proficiency system actually understands that it is embedded in a class system. Feats, skills and lesser class features are all included here and it mostly succeeds in being a system that unlocks new capabilities rather than gatekeeping regular capabilities (no ranks in Use Rope? Well....). It is basically what Non-Weapon-Proficiencies should have been, rather than the awkward thing it was. 

Once again, ACKS II offers the more elegant and polished take on an Advanced D&D than what AD&D managed.

Buy this supplement from the previous edition to use this core rule. Else make some shit up.

Combat is, surprisingly, "only" 30 pages. For an an advanced game, it covers all its bases.  I am missing, as I am missing throughout the book, a modularity, of the kind found in 2e AD&D, allowing one to adjust the complexity of combat to suit the game table with more ease and transparency.

This is where the detailed review ends and I lift my gaze to superfically sweep through the chapters. Dungeon delving and wilderness crawls receive an Old-school treatment, with procedural steps, an the same comprehensive and detailed Advanced approach. The domain rules look very thorough and the large battle system actually good. I will definitely be re-visiting both chapters.

Conclusion I - For Playing as Is:

ACKSII is basically an answer to a certain What if...?

What if.... AD&D had gone over to using a Classic D&D chassis and then lovingly and thoroughly re-worked all the advanced components on top, taking in 30 years of advancement in game theory and playtest, without becoming a wholly different game. 

ACKS II is a take on what AD&D could have become in 2025, if WoTC had gone for an evolutionary, rather than revolutionary, approach to new editions. It is, I dare say, the finest attempt at a polished and modern AD&D I can think of just now.

Of warts, its embedded setting shows itself too much in the rules, giving undue work to DMs wishing to use their own setting to purify the game of this. 

And of course, its sheer size. A beast. A big fat, heavy, sweating, honking, stinking, compact, small-font-using, overweight beast. Perhaps I am not man enough to take on a behemoth of such size and scale. For those paragons amongst us who have the fortitude to grapple with a whale of a system like this, I wish you luck and recommend ACKS II as the best take on an Advanced D&D you can get. 

If i were a player in the hands of a DM who had mastered ACKS II and doesn't mind players with a more superficial understanding of the game, I think I would rather play ACKS II than any version of WotC D&D. And also ahead of AD&D 1e. It would be interesting to try at least, as an alternative to 2e to see how it plays. That's as far a recommendation I can offer for it as a game in its own right. Seen from one angle, this is tremendous praise. From another, quite damning really.

Conclusion II - For Pillaging:

I am glad I didn't buy print copies of this, since I will never play it as-is, it's pricey and frankly it would take up too much space on the shelf given its unplayability for me. 

Even the $45 I paid for the two PDFs is honestly a lot, even when you consider how much content you get for the price. I don't think I would pay it again, knowing what I know of it now. 

That said, having already paid it once, I am glad to have the copies I do. There is a lot for me to digest and I will no doubt return to them for further study. The craftsmanship, precise understanding and sheer thoroughness of it means there is plenty here for me to study, mine or take inspiration from.

Verdict

Did Macris succeed in what he set out to do? I think in terms of his own goals, a resounding yes. This is thorough, really well done and complete. A magnum Opus that will stand the test of time.

As a contribution to the Old-school sphere at large, it's a near miss. Ironically, he set his sights just a tad too low. The Auran Empire is too baked into it, there is not enough modularity. This is a game that, with a bit more thought, could have been all things to all people. It ends up being a great game for those who want to play D&D the advanced way with all the bells and whistles, and like the Auran Empire as a setting. In the end, that's a bit too narrow a category to hit the mark with, for a project of this scope and ambition.