I was worried that this was going to basically be the same as the old cure _ wounds cantrip from 3e ... which would have really been prone to abuse in 5e (cure 600hp/hour, eliminating the need for a short rest's healing properties).

Instead, you've kept it largely within the scope of 5e. It basically speeds up your short rest by letting you spend those hit dice during combat time... but for less effect that if you actually waited for the short rest. And you can't do it all day long (it runs out when the target is out of healing/resting HD).

I like it!

"you get an entire airship for a dollar" (another reviewer). No, you get everything except the airship for a dollar. What's there isn't bad (thus a 3), but what's missing is the only reason I bought the product, so, a bit disappointed.

The plusses: great detail, great artwork, high quality

The minuses: they mention it being great for viewing on an iPad -- it's not. The 4 panel PDF nature makes it so that it's impossible to view as 1 large map. It would be better if they distributed 2 versions: a 4 panel PDF and a single large jpg. Also, if ever there was a product that needs a "printed" version, this is it -- why isn't there a folded or rolled map version of this?

FATE meets d20, adding FATE-isms to d20 structure. Though, it also goes a ways toward lightening the load of d20. It's a good alpha document (not even beta, in my opinion -- not due to quality, but more due to quantity). It's very bare-bones in that even the material that's covered isn't very fleshed out... and then there's all of the things that aren't covered (creatures, conversion from d20, etc.).

A good start. I look forward to another draft in the future.

The bundle has a few games I already own, but it also has several games I already had in my wish-list ... totalling way more than $20. So, just on the practical level, the bundle paid for itself.

Add to that that the money spent is actually a donation to Doctors without Borders, and to be used to help efforts with the Haitian disaster relief? It's a no brainer.

Do something good. Get a bunch of stuff I already wanted (and already planned to buy). Where's the downside?

I do want to thank RPGnow, DriveThruRPG, and OneBookShelf for putting this all together, and thank whichever people are giving up their income from these products, to go toward the Haitian relief effort. Those are the people who did the really great thing here. This was an excellent idea on how to motivate the gaming community to make something great happen. And, judging from the way it has overwhelmed the download servers, it sounds like it was an amazing success.

Great job!

The underlying mechanics seem an AWFUL lot like WEG's d6. Only, they avoid presenting it that way, which seems sort of awkward.

Still, after a brief read, it seems like it might be well organized and flexible. Definitely worth a free download (some things aren't).

Kind of disappointing.

The blurb says:

"As a character conversion system MADS is designed to convert characters from any RPG into a common system so they can adventure together"

Yet, it doesn't actually offer any rules for converting characters/etc. from other games. Just the same generic guidelines that anyone with a basic understanding of math can glean from reading the rule books for two different game systems.

I purchased this hoping to maybe find a "Rosetta Stone" of RPGs, based upon the blurb. Luckily, I didn't waste that much money on it, as no such Rosetta Stone is present.

My advice to the author: Either remove that language from your advert blurb, or make free downloadable conversion guidelines for some common game systems (d20 3rd ed, d20 3.5 ed, d20 4th ed, HERO, Storyteller (the Whitewolf system), WEG's d6, FUZION, and maybe a few others ... consider the following candidates: True20, FUDGE, Fate, Basic RPG (Rune Quest, Call of Cthulhu, Elric!/Stormbringer, etc), BASH!, TriStat, Shadowrun (any edition), Traveller (non-d20), Warhammer Fantasy Role Play (esp. the later editions from FFG), etc.).

Otherwise, I don't have much to say about the product. Once I was disappointed by the conversion rules, I didn't have a reason to read any further. The rest might be pure gold, but the only reason I had to buy the game in the first place has proven to be a total disappointment.