Author: fineyoungmisanthrope

Daily Punch 3-14-15 Snuff cantrip for DnD 5e

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How about a reaction or bonus action cantrip?

 

Snuff

Abjuration cantrip

Casting Time: bonus action or reaction

Range: 30 feet

Components: S

Duration: Instantaneous

 

You snuff out a fire no bigger than 5 feet square.  If the fire is non-magical, then the fire instantly goes out.  If the fire is magical and from a spell higher then level zero, then this spell has no effect.  If a character is on fire and a saving throw can end the effect, then the character gets another saving throw regardless of the spell level causing the fire effect.

 

 

Thoughts?

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Pathfinder Society Scenario #7–14—Faithless and Forgotten, Part 1: Let Bygones Be

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Product-Pathfinder Society Scenario #7–14—Faithless and Forgotten, Part 1: Let Bygones Be

System-Pathfinder

Producer– Paizo

Price– $4.00 here

TL; DR-Instantly one of my favorites! 97%

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Basics-Cheliax is back!  This Pathfinder scenario is the start of renewed relations with Cheliax as the Pathfinders move from the shadows and are asked to investigate a few choice locations in the country.  However, along the way you find that not is all it seems as you have to deal with an oppressive dictator, unfriendly towns people, and horrors from days gone by that have subsisted on the most foul of meats.  Will you survive the horrors of town and the horror long forgotten?

Mechanics or Crunch-This adventure hits all their right marks for a PFS adventure-exploration, social challenges, problem solving(non-fighting),and problem solving(fighting!).  Every character gets a chance to be awesome in this one as you can simple fight everything everywhere as a way to win, but if you think your way through the problems, you can find some awesome solutions that are rewarded.  The fights that are here are all balanced and felt fun with enough threats to keep the players interested but not enough challenge to destroy the level 1 party.  The social still has the Pathfinder problem of “fail by 1, no help” that all Pathfinder adventures will always have, but overall it’s a blast to play that is well balanced for any party. 5/5

Theme or Fluff-This adventure has the feel of a Cheliax adventure, but does have a slight problem with the end.  Overall the part of the scenario that takes place in town feels like a town adventure where you must help the townspeople survive in their dictatorship.  The rural exploration is fun, as you get to interact with some often unused monsters.  The end boss is a bit strange.  It makes sense for the DM who gets to read the behind the scenes bit of the adventure, but most adventurers might not see that and will be a bit confused.  Overall it’s fun as the left hand turn parts don’t distract from the great story. 4.75/5

Execution– I like how Paizo prepares their modules, but I’ve also become a little estranged from theme as well.  I like that they now place stat blocks at the back of the adventure, so I don’t have to have almost 10 books open to run the game.  However, I’d like a little more consistency with that.  The main NPCs get stat blocks in the text, while the rest of the monsters are at the end of the adventure.  That’s a pain to flip through, so I would prefer to just have all the encounters together in a clump at the end or put them together throughout.  That’s my only real complaint about these adventures though.  I love how Paizo puts together their stories, so this one is no different. 4.75/5

Summary-Everybody loves to hate on Cheliax, but it’s always fun to play there.  Throwing the halfling bard to the Order of the Rack wolves is always a great way to start some roleplaying as well as draw the player’s interest deeper into the game.  I love what I’m seeing here, and I think I most players will as well.  This isn’t a perfect adventure as the ending is a bit strange, and I’d like some minor format changes.  But taken together, this is one of my favorite adventures from this year. 97%

Ring Side Report-Board Game Review of Fidelitas

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Product-Fidelitas

Producer–Green Couch Games

Price– $ 20 here http://www.amazon.com/Green-Couch-Games-Fidelitas/dp/B00RZNJ6KK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1456088649&sr=8-1&keywords=fidelitas

Set-up/Play/Clean-up– 20 minutes (2-4 players)

Type-European

Depth-Light

TL; DR-A simple, small town hides the depth underneath. 95%

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Basics-The Revolution will not be televised, but it will be gamified!  In Fidelitas, players take the roles of different revolutionaries fighting for support of the guilds of a town to overthrow the cruel king!  This is done in an extremely simple card placement game where you move various guild members all around the town’s buildings.  Set up is placing the town cards out and then each player drawing two Missio(objective) cards and two Virtus (guild member) cards.  Each turn player then does three things in order: play one Virtus card, score as many Missio as they can, and possibly draw one or more Virtus cards.  The main part of the game are the Virtus cards.  These cards are the different guild members and the powers the each have.  A Virtus card is placed into its guild location if possible and then the cards power occurs.  These powers vary from moving cards to different locations, drawing cards to a location, and even removing cards from the location totaly.  Or the player can play the card to the tavern and then discard Missio cards and draw new ones. Next, the active player checks his or her Missio cards to see if they have occurred.  Missio cards have objectives that could be having three members of a guild on both sides of a location card, have so many of each guild at a location, and even only have members of a specific guild at a location.  Finally, the player draws up Missio and VIrtus cards, and the next player takes his or her turn.  Play continues until one player has 10 points and all players have had an equal number of turns.  Then the player with the most points wins and leads the guilds to overthrow the crown!

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Mechanics-I love games that are simple and complex at the same time.  The best comparison to this game is Connect Four if players had to complete different patterns.  Players move cards around trying to create patterns of different guilds according to their Missio cards.  As they are hidden, no one has a good idea of what your goal is and that makes this even more fun.  You may accidently score due to the actions of your opponents!  The games simple to play and learn but complex to master nature makes this a blast.  The icing on this cake is that this experience also happens in under half an hour! 5/5

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Theme– The game has a theme, but it’s not as strong as some other games.  I feel the theme of earning influence, but I don’t feel as much as a conquering hero to the revolution.  It’s fun, but might not hit the original story’s goal. 4/5

Instructions-The instructions are short and sweet.  If you can read the rules in the introduction of this article, you know how to play!  Also extremely useful is the fact the the rules describe corner cases to make playing the game that much easier. 5/5

Execution-The game comes in a small box, but packs enough punch to be awesome.  The card art is fun, the minimal writing is enough to give you the rules without being overbearing, and the cardstock is great quality.  It’s all the things I want in a simple, elegant card came.  Also for about $20, it’s priced right for what it is. 5/5

Summary-I love games that have you mastering the game’s mechanics in under five minutes but have enough depth to keep your playing.  This is a pocket game.  If you’re ever bored, then pulling this game from your pocket is a great way to spend half an hour.  Even better your average bar table will hold this game along with an order of fries and some drinks.  It’s compact, yet well put together.  It’s simple, but deep.  The only problem I have is the game’s story.  It’s not a bad story by any means, but I didn’t necessarily feel the story when I played the game.  If you can get past that one point, you will have a blast sitting down to play this game.  95%

Daily Punch 2-29-16 Power Attack Melee attack option for Shadow of the Demon Lord

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I’m running Shadow of the Demon Lord online, but I finally got to sit down and run a game at my local store.  I was inspired by these events.  Let’s see what I can come up with….
Power Attack: You make the attack roll with 1 bane. On a success, increase the damage equal to the amount rolled on the bane die.  If you do not have to roll a bane die, then add a d6 to the damage.
Thoughts?

Daily Punch 2-22-16 Big for Your Size feat for DnD 5e

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The smaller races don’t get much love in this edition, but I think we can change that and build something that everyone can enjoy!

Big for Your Size

You stand as a Titan among your peers.  You’re a biggun’ and you know how to use that to your advantage.  gain the following:

  • Increase your Constitution or Stregnth by 1 to a maximum of 20.
  • You can wield weapons up to two size categories bigger than normal with no penalty 
  • Your base fist or unarmed attack increase by one size.  As an example a human would increase from a 1 to a 1d4.

Thoughts?

Daily Punch 2-16-16 Martial Monk Monastic Tradition for DnD 5e

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How about expanding maneuvers to other classes?  Let’s make a fighter monk!

 

Way of the Fist

This path is taken by those who emphasize the physical over the mental for martial combat while still honing your body over any weapon.  You’ve learned how to master your body and master the bodies of your foes by emphasizing physical technique over utilizing ki.

Hard-Drilled Skills

Starting when you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you gain three maneuvers as if you were a fighter.  You have a number of superiority dice equal to your Wisdom modifier, and your superiority dice are equal to your unarmed attack dice.

Second Wind

Gain the Second Wind class feature of a 1st level fighter using your monk level as if it were your fighter level.  Also, gain one additional maneuver from the fighters list.

Personal Conditioning

At 11th level, you an an ability score improvement.  Gain one additional maneuver from the fighters list.

Sifu of the Temple

At 17th level, when you use a maneuver as part of an attack, you can spend superiority dice and perform two different maneuvers as long as both maneuvers target the same creature and cast the same number of superiority dice.

 

 

Thoughts?