Working on a project, and this didn’t quite make the cut. How about a rogue that gets down an dirty.
Thug
You don’t work in the dark. You walk right up to somebody, face to face, and get to work. And that work is bloody. You might hate that work, or you might love it. You might be self employed as a bruiser, or you might be the hired muscle that a cartel throws at the mouthy. In either case you are the one who walks up close and hurts people.
Bone Breaker
Starting at level 3, you don’t have to stick to small tools. You can use any weapon to do sneak attack damage. The normal sneak attack rules still apply as the target must be unaware or you and an ally are both engaged with the target.
Right in the Face
At 9th level, you revel in the carnage of a fight. When you are engaged with a target, your sneak attack are now d8s instead d6.
Stunner
At 13th level you’ve mastered getting people attention in a way they definitely don’t want. A number of times per day equal to twice your Strength modifier, when you make a sneak attack, the target must make Constitution saving throw (DC equal to 8 + Strength modifier + proficiency modifier). On a failure, the target is stunned until the end of your next turn.
Working alone
When you reach 17th level, you’ve learned how to break bones all by yourself. A number of times per day equal to your Strength modifier, you may deal your sneak attack on an attack with which you would normally not be able to do so.
Finishing the final words of the spell, you real back and punch the target in the head. Make a melee spell attack against the target. On a hit, the target takes 1d8 psychic damage, and the target has disadvantage on Wisdom(perception) and Intelligence(investigation) checks for one round.
The spell’s damage increases by 1d8 when you reach 5th level (2d8), 11th level (3d8), and 17th level (4d8).
I like starship combat in Starfinder, but I feel that people who have pilot a bit to awesome in space. How about letting a few others take the wheel… or the con.
Mystic Drive
Your engine isn’t a drive of steel and fusion, but an arcane heart pulling at the very strings a magic to bend reality around. By casting spells, saying prayers, or altering the fabric of reality, you can pilot this craft instead of moving a control stick. Increase the BP cost of any engine by 10%, rounded up, and decrease the PCU of the engine by 5%, rounded down. You may use pilot or Mysticism to pilot this starship.
TL; DR– Solid semi-side episode of an awesome campaign. 95%
Basics– Time for Dawn of the Dead in Eberron? You’ve escaped from the Warforged with a magic talking box, but now the dead hunger for you in the Mournland. Can you get out, keep the box, and stop the dead from eating you?
Mechanics or Crunch– The crunch here is strong! It’s a fun adventure. Mechanically it works well. It might be a bit much for some players if they don’t think straight and want to do a smack down outside with an army of undead and don’t keep track of what’s happening with the NPCs. Overall solid, but sometimes the hint stick may be needed to help if the players just can’t keep themselves from killing themselves. 4.5/5
Theme or Fluff-Combine Dawn of the Dead, Evil Dead 2, and From Dusk till Dawn, and you have this adventure. It’s fun. It’s mostly a side adventure, but it doesn have a major plot tie in. Even the filler episodes of this campaign are fun. 5/5
Execution– PDF? YEP! Hyperlinked? No… I like these adventures. They are a blast to run as they read quick and I feel I can tie the player into the story. Reads quick, layout is nice, art makes me feel like it’s the 1920s between the wars period, and the additional newspapers are a great touch. Just give me my hyperlinking to move easily through the materials, and it would be perfect. 4.75/5
Summary-Oricle of War keeps delivering. This isn’t the main plot for the most part, but honestly you won’t care. Solid plot, decent mechanics, and a good execution make this an adventure to play if you want to get deeper into this campaign. 95%
Had an alchemist who heals not be trained in medicine He’s got arcana, so let’s fix this.
Chirgurgeon
Prerequisite(s): Alchemist
When you think about it, people are just really just complex alchemical homunculi, and you know how to tinker with homunculi! You gain the following benefit:
You may use Intelligence(arcana) in place of Wisdom (Medicine).
Add your Intelligence modifier to all hit points healed via any spell you cast.
How about we help those little alchemists deal with all the things they keep breathing or drinking?
Poison Fueled Feat 12
Alchemist
Prerequisite(s) Poison Resistance
Your blood has become used to having a healthy dose of toxic chemicals to the point you almost need it now. You resistance to poison damage is equal to your level now and when you take persistent poison damage you now heal that much each turn instead. You still roll to end the effect as normal and can not elect to keep the damage going. If the damage is multiple damage types, you still heal as long as the persistent damage contains the poison type.
TL; DR-Three games in one where every roll matters! 88%
Basics– Dragon Age in your modern age? Modern Age Basic Rulebook is a stand alone game, applying the basics of the Fantasy Age system to a modern or near modern setting. Let’s break this up into pieces.
Basic mechanics: Modern Age is Fantasy Age is Dragon Age. All three of these use 3d6 + ability + focus to do anything. Like all RPGs, it’s the basic idea of “roll dice, plus a number, to get a different number to win” idea. Easy enough to pick up and play.
Abilities and focuses: Modern Age has a pretty simple number addition pool where you add an ability. Ability is just like your base statistics in DnD. These range from -2 to +4. You also have focuses, which are basically like skills in DnD except that you get a flat +2 to the roll instead of different values. Later you can specialize so you have a +3 instead of the +2.
Talents and Powers: While abilities and focuses do give you some room to build some fun characters, it’s not enough to really differentiate your characters from the pack. That is where talents come into play. Talents are the feats of the system. Talents provide a bonus that makes your character distinct. Talents range from being rich and getting bonuses in buying things to being a bruiser who hits harder. What makes these distinct from DnD feats is there are three levels of each talent. As you level up you can take higher levels of each talent, making you more powerful in your given area. This is how spells/powers/psychic abilities are handled as well. You choose a magic school and that school functions pretty much like a talent providing you new options like making a light happen to casting fireballs. This isn’t a Vancian magic or powers game as characters have a number of power points they can spend at will to do whatever powers they want as often as they can.
Stunt Points: This is the bread and butter of the system. The Age system itself isn’t completely novel as dice + numbers vs a different number isn’t anything new, but this system uses 3d6 with ONE die being a different color. This different die is your stunt die. If any dice show doubles and you succeed, you get to a number of stunt points equal to your stunt die value. These points range from tripping people to better haggling in the market to adding power to your psychic blasts. All dice rolls have a table of stunt points you can spend to make things interesting. This differentiates the system from other roll + number systems, making it its own thing.
Game version: Modern movies are really three different kinds of movies. You have your ultra modern, gritty movies where one bullet kills someone. You have fun pulp where you punch nazis with a satisfying SMACK. You also have movies where one hero kills hundreds of monsters while only getting a single cut over his eye to make him look even more amazing. Modern Age gives you rule tweaks to play in any of these settings by changing damage from weapons, hit points, and number of bad guys you throw at the hero.
Ok, that’s the basics of the game. Let’s look at my thoughts at the game.
Mechanics or Crunch– You can see the direct line from the Dragon Age video game to the Dragon Age game to Fantasy Age to Modern Age. And that is a good thing! I like the basic idea of powers, magic points, and mechanics of the Dragon Age video game, and Dragon Age the RPG system implemented that well. Those basic ideas go from Dragon Age to Fantasy Age and finally to Modern Age. It’s a solid, simple to play system. Stunt points and the fact that any roll can make them happen really makes this game pop. Every roll matters. Something that happens in one roll might have big changes to the next as the points can change things in ways you might not have expected. It’s a great touch to make this stick out from all the other roll vs numbers games out there. My one minor gripe is I would like more powers in a character. Characters don’t get a whole lot of powers to play with if they go that route. If you are ok with a pretty simple system without an overabundance of options, this is a good one to jump into. 4.5/5
Theme or Fluff-This book is light on fluf, but that is decidedly on purpose. Modern Age is a modern setting. It’s just today. You have today’s guns. The only fantasy bit is magic powers, and that’s honestly optional. The game references a comic setting as an option to play, but mostly it leaves the game up to you. The three different versions of the game do help you set the game how you want to play. Gritty, pulp, or cinematic are good options for a GM and players to decide how the world should be played. It’s setting light, but that’s by design, which doesn’t hurt the goals of the book. 4/5
Execution– PDF? YEP! Hyperlinked? YES! Ok, we start solid. Overall the book is well done. The font and tables are not my favorite, but that’s a print issue as they are a bit cramped for my taste. I also think laying out some items in a table for character advancement would help as opposed to telling me in text. Those small issues annoyed me a bit, because I want to be able to glance over things quickly to get what I need to know quickly. Aside from that, the book is well done. The one thing that stuck out to me is the weapons page. WEAPONS HAVE LABELS IN A PICTURE! I can’t tell you how many RPGs I have read where they mention a weapon, and I have to google what they mean. That’s a small thing that keeps me in this book as I speed read through the thing. Reads quick, easy to navigate, and good art to boot make this a solid product. 4.75/5
Summary-I can’t wait for the next Dragon Age video game. That system was solid. This game is a grand child of that video game, and it’s got all the things I know and love from it. The mechanics are simple and the fact that dice rolls have a chance to make something cool happen besides a critical keep things interesting. The fact I can run three different games from one book makes this pretty versatile for the games I want to play. The book was a quick read that got me playing fast. What I don’t like as much is I would like a bit more about the basic setting, but the basic setting is today. So, I could just look outside and see what it’s like. Characters don’t get a ton of options, but that is something from Dragon Age as well. It’s a solid game that makes every roll count, so give this one a try if you crave some modern day gunfights at your table! 88%
Throat Punch Games 