You temporarily merge your body with that of an adjacent willing creature, hiding within the target where they will shield you from harm. This transformation lasts for 10 minutes. You can dismiss this effect. When you do, you emerge in a space adjacent to the target you merged with. While combined, you and your target each take your own turns as normal, except you can not take any action that requires you to physically act on your own. Additionally, you and your target gain the following benefits.
You occupy the target’s space and can’t take actions with the move trait. If the target moves, you move with them.
The target blocks you from harm. You can not be targeted by any attack that does not deal psychic damage or require a Will save.
You can not take any action that requires physical action. You can manipulate your host, but you can not make the target move if it moved on it’s own turn.
Mmmmm….. Your pure indecisiveness helps when it comes to others trying to hurt you. When you take mental damage or have to attempt a will save, you gain hit points equal to half your level.
Sometimes you can yell someone into friendship. When you succeed at an intimidation check, the target becomes friendly if you succeed on a second demoralize check . The target remains friendly until you take a hostile action against the target or its ally’s
TL; DR– Want to run a coffee shop in a wholesome Shadowrun world? 100%
Basics– It will be ok. Pumpkin Spice isn’t the normal RPG I play. The world is not on fire. The galaxy is at peace, and the only thing that really needs doing is prepping tomorrow’s donuts. Maybe a coffee machine is on the fritz, but you can fix that. Pumpkin Spice is about working at a magic coffee shop that preserves the magic font at its center. It’s not high stakes action. It’s not about stress. It’s Animal Crossing meets Shadowrun. There is magic. There is a mystery, and there is a light noon rush. Let’s break it down.
Base mechanics- This is a d6 system, but not how you think. Each face of the d6 is a different type of magic ranging from authority to imagination. When an action requires it, you roll dice equal to the type of magic you want, and hope to get that result. If you get one of those you hope for, like needing authority, a 1 on a d6, to deal with an angry customer, you hope to get at least one 1. You get it, you get what you want. You don’t, it might work out, but it’s less favorable.
Magic types and abilities- when you make a check, you have a trait you are tied to. If you roll the trait you are tied to, you can spend one magic to change it to any result. You can also work in reverse. Change any face into one you are tied to. But, there is only so much magic in the shop. The shop has 10 magic. When it gets to zero, it might dry up! As your goal is to preserve the magic of the shop, that’s bad!
Ok, let’s discuss it.
Mechanics or Crunch– This is not crunch heavy. It’s very much a simple RPG dealing with small problems. The mechanic of just rolling a few dice and seeing what happens is an interesting one. Not bad, but not the monster of crunch that I’ve seen. And that’s ok. It fits with the laid back nature of the game. This isn’t fighting devils in the off hours of Charmed. This is Animal Crossing, and that’s fun for a laid back day. 5/5
Theme or Fluff– Again, it’s a simple day. This isn’t life ending. The worst thing happening is maybe the souffle doesn’t rise. Maybe it’s still edible, but just not as pretty. That’s the scale here. If you need to relax and not save the world today, and just craft some puff pastry and give them out to friends, then this is the game to play. 5/5
Execution– This is a quickstart, so I can’t comment on the whole book. But, what’s here is well done. It’s laid back. There are simple descriptions, simple symbols, and a day of just relaxing in a book. The book reads easily and is pretty to look at. It’s intriguing for a quickstart, so im looking forward to the full book. 5/5
Summary– This isn’t my typical choice for an RPG, but that doesn’t mean I won’t play or join the crowdfunding. It’s VERY different from my usual games of sadness and monsters. But, that’s not bad. This seems cozy, and that’s the goal. You and your friends run a coffee shop where you save magic in a fantasy world with all the fantasy tropes. It really is Animal Crossing mixed with Shadowrun. 100%
Frequency once per hour Trigger You must attempt a will save or are dealt mental damage
You can’t even attempt predict your own thoughts. When you attempt a will save or a save against mental damage, you can roll twice and take the better roll.
GeneralSkill Prerequisites expert in Crafting Frequency: once per day Trigger: You break something
You know how to handle stuff. When something you are using gains the broken condition, you can negate that condition. If the item gained the broken condition from damage, it is instead reduced to 1 HP.
You keep changing and reinventing yourself. Choose a lore skill you are at least trained in. You can change that lore skill to a different skil,l and you learn ideas from around yourself. Until you use this skill again, the previous lore skill is lost ,and the new one remains.
Vesk Prerequisite: Plated Deflection Frequency: once per day
Trigger: You’re struck by an attack
Biology, psychology, and racial hegemony combine to create an unstoppable beast. Once per day when you are struck by an attack, you can say no and the attack does not hit and you are not affected by this attack or effect in any way. This can negate an attack or a save. Environmental effects like falling to your death can not be negated in this way.