Ring Side Report: RPG Review of Strigovia – A Slavic Darkfolk RPG

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Product– Strigovia – A Slavic Darkfolk RPG

System– Strigovia – A Slavic Darkfolk RPG

Producer– Dark Orb

Price–  Free preview here https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dark-orb/strigovia-slavic-dark-fantasy-setting-and-adventure-for-5e/description

TL; DR– Dark European fantasy with a rules-light twist.  96%

Basics- The forest hungers!  Strigovia is a dark RPG where players attempt to survive in the horrors of the forest.  What will you pay to survive another day?

Basics- This is a D10-based RPG.  Players attempt challenges, and doing so reduces their dice pool.  A 7-10 is a success, but lower scores have implications.  A 1 to 2 causing repercussions that might be very bad to annoying.  A 3 means the forest notices you, and a 4 means civilization gains hold in you.  You can attempt anything, but the more you do, the more the game takes from you.

Combat- Combat is again simple.  The players roll initiative and count success, but the monsters have a set score.  Then you gain a number of actions based on your attributes.  Actions range from moving between combat areas or zones, doing damage, or anything else.  Different monsters need a different number of successes to put down.  Simple and fast.

Magic- Magic costs.  Magic is debt magic.  When you cast a spell, you make a deal with the forest.  This might be a bit of your own blood to having to sacrifice your or someone else’s firstborn.  You can get a lot, but it will cost more. This is not the magic missile magic, but something much more powerful and much more dangerous.

Mechanics or Crunch: This is a very rules-light system.  The game isn’t a crunch monster.  Its very rules light.  That’s not bad, but it is very narrative.  This means you and your GM have to have a lot of trust.  There is no rules lawyering in this one.  You and the GM are telling a story, and when you do stuff, it costs you as the dice pool keeps getting smaller.  That ties well to the theme.  4.5/5

Theme or Fluff–  The writers knew absolutely what they wanted out of this game.  This is a dark Eastern European folklore-inspired RPG.  Witches stealing babies, the forest taking whole kingdoms, and men attempting to civilize places that do not want them in there.  This game is exactly what it wants to be.  5/5

Execution: The quickstart is a solid product.  It goes setting first, then rules.  It reads easily, has amazing art, and a complete adventure with pregens.  I’d like character sheets instead of the written-out style, but it’s ok.  They have a full adventure that you can play before you get the book.  It’s a good book that is worth checking out.   5/5

Summary: This is a good product.  It feels like the fate system, but darker.  It might not be my favorite as I want a bit more crunch.  However, I can see the awesome in this one.  It’s dark, gritty, and something I would love to play or run in late October or November around a bonfire in the woods.  This will chill you to the bones in the right way if thats the experience you are looking for.  97%

Ring Side Report: RPG Review of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Mission Kit 

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Product– Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Mission Kit

System– Cyberpunk Red

Producer– R. Talsorian Games Inc.

Price–  $7.50 here https://www.drivethrurpg.com//product/482282/cyberpunk-edgerunners-mission-kit?affiliate_id=658theb 

TL; DR– Now I can play Cyberpunk the way I wanted! 100%

Basics- Have you watched the Netflix show or the game?!  Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Mission kit is the 2077 update to the Cyberpunk Red RPG set in 2020.  This is a quickstart product with an adventure, token, and everything a GM and players need for a game.

Mechanics or Crunch: Cyberpunk is a fun system, but it was missing something.  That something was the video game’s wizard-like powers.  This box set brings those to the game. And I couldn’t be happier.  I LOVE that part of the video game and was disappointed when I couldn’t do that on the tabletop.  Now I can. It’s a smaller list, but It’s also a quickstart for new players.  There are also all the crunch you need for the show’s characters.  So, if you loved the anime and game, you now have the tools you need to play that version of Cyberpunk   5/5

Theme or Fluff–  Cyberpunk Edgerunners is Cyberpunk Red, but it’s got the anime stuff in the box.  If you LOVED the anime,  here is the fluff to Red you need to play.  That’s what I wanted, so this is solid.  And this has enough world-building to show you how the world works as well.  It won’t and can’t be a whole internet of history, but there is enough here to get you deep enough into the world it will be hard to come up for air.  5/5

Execution: This box is amazing.  Honestly, for the price, you get way more than you expect.  Tokens, multiple books.  Lots of inserts.  Maps.  This is the whole 9 yards.  I love what’s here.  The books themselves read easily, are organized into sections to guide and divide, and are hyperlinked because it is 2026.  An awesome product.   5/5

Summary: I love this product.  You get some solid stuff, amazingly executed, and the missing pieces to make the game and anime work on the tabletop.  No notes, solid product.   Just like the video game, a few years after it came out, this is honestly one of my favorite products in a long time.  100%