Author: fineyoungmisanthrope

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Dues for the Dead

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Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Dues for the Dead

Product– DDEX 1-04 Dues for the Dead

System– Dungeons and Dragons 5e

Producer– Wizards of the Coast

Price– FREE

TL; DR-An amazingly long dungeon crawl! 93 %

 

Basics– The dead walk, and that’s a problem for the priests of the dead.  Adventures are called to the Valhingen Graveyard to find the cause of these undead.  Will you answer the call?

 

Mechanics or Crunch– Mechanically, this game pretty much a by the book dungeon crawl.  It’s a fun romp that does have a lot of undead in it.  As a low level adventure, it’s got all the greatest hits you can expect.  Don’t expect a ton of new content, but get ready for a fun catacomb crawl.  4.5/5

 

Theme or Fluff-  You know what I want out of a four hour experience?  I want a crazy long dungeon crawl!  This adventure covers an extreme amount of ground.  Honestly, go big or go home!  There is also a ton of encounters and a ton of roleplay.  The players work with an acolyte who is a reluctant addition to the party.  She doesn’t steal the show, but she provides an awesome counterpoint to just having to kill wave after wave of monsters.  No one will be bored during this adventure.  5/5

 

Execution-Hay, it’s free!  That gives this some slack.  Usually I expect more pictures from a RPG product to break up the text, but for these free productions I’m ok.  The layout is ok, but I would like a bit more content spotlighted such as items, gold, and room highlights with either bold text or subsection on room descriptions.  That is a constant complaint I have for the current Adventure League adventure format, but again for free content, I’m pretty happy with what’s here.  Also, the adventure comes with two different maps: an awesome one of the whole catacombs and another of just the final encounter.  That helps groups that want to play up-close and tactile and for groups that want to play theater of the mind.  It’s got my constant complaints for layout, but all and all, it’s a good product.  4.5/5

 

Summary-I’m kind of biased on this one.  My favorite characters to play are clerics, and my favorite enemies to fight are undead.  Let’s write an adventure to me specifically!  Sure there are a few problems with layout like no art to break up text and honestly this is a by the book dungeon crawl, but this is a GOOD by the book dungeon crawl.  It’s large, has great roleplaying moments with your constant acolyte companion and “other” things that pop up over time, and build on the current story arc well.  I had a blast running it.  My players have always had a blast playing in it.  And now none of us can wait to see what’s next!  93%

Daily Punch 1-9-15 Alternate The Fiend ability for the Warlock in DnD 5e

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How about some love for Tiefling Warlocks out there?  This ability replaces Dark One’s Own Luck

 

Power In the Blood

prerequisite: Tiefling

You’ve give yourself over to your fiendish ancestry.  You don’t use charisma for spellcasting or Charisma based skills and saves, but instead use Constitution for all spell casting depending effects, skills, and saves.  All spells you cast using your Infernal Legacy trait now use Constitution for their effects as well.  In addition, you gain one additional use of all spells gained from your Infernal Legacy trait.

 

Thoughts?

Blurbs from the Booth-Top 10 Reviewed Games of the 2014

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Everybody else gets to put out there top 10’s, well, so do I!  Qualifications are I had to review your game in 2014.  Only 52 (wow, I play a lot of games!) were selected, and I narrowed it down to 10.  Let’s see if your favorites on the list.

 

10- Shadows of Malice-$50- Review here –https://throatpunchgames.com/2014/11/30/ring-side-report-board-game-review-of-shadows-of-malice/  It’s not the prettiest one on the list, but it makes up for that in sheer effort.  This game covers a ton of ground from world building to theme.  It’s completely random, but if you don’t mind lots of dice rolling, it’s a blast for a co-op game.

 

9-Terra Mystica-$80- Reviewed here- https://throatpunchgames.com/2014/04/09/ring-side-report-board-game-review-of-terra-mystica/  The first euro on the list.  This is a fun game, but man is it deep.  Think Mariana Trench deep.  It’s a fantasy game about terraforming, but worker placement and action selection blend together into a beautiful game.  Also, you could beat someone to death with the components in the box-lots of wood pieces in this one for a great value.

 

8- Viva Java: The Coffee Game: The Dice Game- $30- https://throatpunchgames.com/2014/06/24/ring-side-report-board-game-review-of-viva-java-the-coffee-game-the-dice-game/  And now the first family game on the list.  This one is an extremely light game, but it’s got a few sneaky elements of depth that will surprise you.  It’s quick, teaches in less than five minutes, and you can master this in 10 minutes.  Quick fun.

 

7-Eminent Domain- $40- https://throatpunchgames.com/2014/05/05/ring-side-report-board-game-review-of-eminent-domain/  An awesome 4X game that is also a deck builder with a twist.  Every action you take also gives your opponents the same action.  That’s a fun twist that blows Dominion out of the water for me.

 

6-Tiny Epic Kingdoms- $20- https://throatpunchgames.com/2014/10/22/ring-side-report-board-game-review-of-tiny-epic-kingdom/ How about a 4X game the fits in your pocket, plays in 45, and has more depth than most games out there?  How about if that game costs about as much as a quarter of the other games out there?  SOLD!

 

5-Firefly the Board Game- $60- https://throatpunchgames.com/2014/02/27/ring-side-report-board-game-review-of-firefly-the-board-game/  Take Shadows of Malice and wrap it in an IP I love.  Give it awesome components, and you get this amazing game.  Randomness can bite you in the butt hard core, but all American-style games like this have that problem.

 

4-Panamax- $50- https://throatpunchgames.com/2014/12/23/ring-side-report-board-game-review-of-panamax/ Ya, I know, it’s a game about moving ships.  That might seem boring, but honestly its one of the more impressive semi-cooperative games out there.  You can’t win unless you invest in the others.  You can ship if you don’t work together.  Lots of tough choices have to be made to make this game work and for you to win.  And that a fun brain buster of a game.

 

3-Sushi Go!- $13- https://throatpunchgames.com/2014/12/23/ring-side-report-board-game-review-of-sushi-go/ It’s a drafting game about making the best sushi choices you can.  It’s quick, it’s fun, and you don’t need to be able to read to play.  Family fun at its best!

 

2-Skull and Shackles Adventure Deck 2- Raiders of the Fever Sea- $20- https://throatpunchgames.com/2015/01/02/ring-side-report-board-game-review-of-skull-shackles-adventure-deck-2-raiders-of-the-fever-sea/  I love the Pathfinder Adventure card game, but I also think this is the best version of it out there.  Simply put, you will feel like a pirate and an adventurer as you play this adventure deck.

 

And finally, NUMBER ONE…

 

1-Rococo- $60-https://throatpunchgames.com/2014/06/30/ring-side-report-board-review-of-rococo/  Yes, my favorite game of the year is a game about making frilly dresses.  No, I don’t have a problem with that.  Take anything I said about any of the above Euro-style games out there and multiply it.  This game has action selection, worker placement, multi-part economies, area control, deck building, multiple paths to victory, and the King of France!  If you want a game where you can build the best strategy you can completely different every time, this is your game.  I played this game by accident at Origins, but honestly, it’s one of the best choices I’ve made all year.

Daily Punch 1-8-15 Essence Healing for Shadowrun 5e

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How about being able to fix that whole in your soul?

 

Essence Healing

For every point of essence you have lost, you can spend a cumulative 20 karma to regain a single point of essence.  For the first point you heal, it costs 20 karam.  The second costs an additional 20 karma for a total of 40 karam in addition to the 20 for the first point or 60 total.  The third would cost 60 karam and so on.

Daily Punch 1-7-15 Draconic Focus feat for DnD 5e

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Saw a player who really wanted more dragon breaths.  Let’s work on that…

 

Draconic Focus

Prerequisite: dragonborn

Some dragonborn avoid their draconic parentage.  You’ve embraced your and trained it.  Gain the following benefits:

  • Gain one extra use of your dragon breath power per rest.
  • Increase the DC of your dragon breath by 1
  • If you use your dragon breath to attack a creature that is resistant to your dragon breath damage type, that resistance only reduce the damage to 3/4, not 1/2.

 

Thoughts?

 

Ring Side Report-Board Game Review Nightmare

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nightmareblogfull

Picture from magisterrex.wordpress.com

 

Product– Nightmare

Producer(s)– A Couple of Cowboys and many others

Price– ~$10 at http://www.ebay.com

Set-up/Play/Clean-up– 60 minutes exactly! (2 to 6 players)

TL; DR-90’s-riffic horror game on a VCR! 90%

 

Basics-Ready to play MY game?  Nightmare is a big bowl of the early 90’s in a VHS cassette.  Yes, I said a VHS cassette.  Go dig in your garage and find a VCR.  In Nightmare, each player takes the role of some poor damned soul ranging from a werewolf to a vampire.  This is chosen by the tombstone you randomly draw from a bag.  Also from this bag, you draw a number that you slot into your tombstone.  You then place your character on the board on your gravestone.  Next, each player then writes down their worst fear with china markers on the nightmare cards.  These cards are shuffled, placed on the center space of the board, and then the game begins.  Players start the VHS tape, and the Gatekeeper gives you the rules.  When he’s on the TV, all play stops.  When he’s not on the TV, you roll a six sided die and move.  The Gatekeeper will randomly appear during the game, given random orders or outright be a pain to just one player!  Players try to go around the board as fast as they can collecting chance cards, time cards, and fate cards.  Chance cards are random events that might give you keys.  Time cards give you specific times and an action that range from taking extra turns to yelling out loud to scare everyone to get them put in the black hole (basically jail from Monopoly).  Fate cards are random cards that give you extra powers and opportunities to win keys.  The goal of the game is to earn all six of your keys that grand you extra powers, move to the center of the game board exactly, and reveal to top nightmare card.  If it’s yours, you instantly lose.  If it’s not, you win!  If the game goes sixty minutes, then the Gatekeeper wins, all the players lose, and the nightmare is just beginning!

 

How about a picture of the Gatekeeper?

images (1)

From www.kotaku.com.au

 

Mechanics– This is roll to move madness.  You will roll the dice as fast as you can to move your characters as quickly around the board as possible.  Let’s face it, this is not modern (or good) game design.  The cards that you get are completely random and might not be helpful at all.  And, if you really want to remove all the fun from the game, you could easily memorize what times the Gatekeeper pops on screen and work out the math of how to win.  But, that’s not fun.  This game is an experience, not a Spiel des Jahres candidate. 3/5

 

Theme- This game is theme.  From the instruction that tell you to dim the lights, to the Gatekeeper constantly messing with the players, you WILL experience some scares from this game.  It’s like a haunted house in a board game. 5/5

 

Instructions– For as much crap as I give this game, the instructions are not bad!  They leave a few holes, but overall, they teach the rules pretty well.  Also, if you compulsively have to debate the rules of a franticly moving game, then this game is not for you! 4.5/5

 

Execution– The box looks like a coffin.  That right there should set the tone.  The pieces are all nice plastic.  The board looks creepy.  The game even comes with a felt bag to randomize the pieces.  The designers went an extra mile to really put out a quality game.  5/5

 

Summary– This is pure, uncut nostalgia for me.  I got this game for Christmas when I was 11.  When I moved, it was destroyed by some flooding.  I picked this game up for 8 bucks at a con, and that was the smartest move I’ve made in a while!  I love this game!  It’s become a tradition with my family that we now play this as the last game I play when I visit home for Christmas. Not even close to the right season for ghouls, but I don’t care.  Honestly, for 10 bucks on ebay, you can’t beat this retro game!  It’s the most theme you’ll get all year.  And, you get awesome early 90’s special effects!  Now you just have to find a VCR.  90%

Daily Punch 1-5-15 Kleptomania disorder for Shadow, Sword & Spell

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How about a new disorder for your sanity drain for Shadow, Sword & Spell?

 

Kleptomania

Your character has to have everything that isn’t nailed down.  Maybe it’s from a secret greed.  Maybe it’s because you now have a compulsion to get things to keep that evil things away.  Only you know.  Now, when in the presence of objects that are clearly not your, the GM may ask for a Will test, with a -1 TN for the number of times per day you have succeeded at the roll.  If you fail the test, you must take the item the GM asks you to take as you now have a secret compulsion to get the item.  You have one day to get the item.  If you do not get the item in that day you suffer -1 to all tests until you get that item.  Taking whatever item may result in extra problems for you and your companions.

 

Thoughts?

Daily Punch 1-2-15 Necromancy Master feat for Pathfinder

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One last feat to catch up on the blog.  Something I think is a long time coming for Pathfinder.

 

Necromancy Master

You are a master of the dark arts.  Those who you summon are much stronger than average.

Prerequisite: Spell Focus(necromancy)

For purposes of determine hit points of any undead that are created by you, increase the charisma modifier by the attribute modifier of your spell casting attribute.  As an example, a wizard with intelligence 18, would add +4 hp per HD to any undead created.

Silver Screen Smackdown- Movie Review of The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies

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Movie– The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies

TL;DR-What the heck is this crap? 67%

 

Basics- Remember the last chapter or two of that book you could read from cover to cover in six hours.  Here is three hours about those two chapters.  As you can tell, I’m not going to sugar coat this one.

 

Story– If you’re a big Tolkien person like my wife is, you won’t want to see this.  In the book, Bilbo’s awake for about an hour and then he’s completely knocked out.  This movie adds in all kinds of crap that wasn’t in the books.  That would be ok, but some of it is completely crazy like orc tacticians, giant worm monsters that never get mentioned again, and armies of troll enforcers.  This is just one long fight scene that is way too long and make war boring. 2/5

 

Acting– Let’s start with NO back story at all!  Just throw some people in, then have them run around a bit.  About half way through, you might catch some names, figure out some of the background plot, and finally understand who is who.  I know a ton of things happen, but if you don’t remember people from movies you saw two years ago, you’ll be pretty lost.  Heck, some of the heavy hitters for the Lord of the Rings movies only get a name drop once. 3/5

 

Cinematography– There is a crap ton of CGI in this one.  It looks really cool.  This is the one saving grace of the whole movie. 5/5

 

Summary– Save your money and read the book.  Honestly, this is a mess.  From key parts of the book being left out or altered for no good reason at all, to a fabrication of two hours of movie that had nothing to do with Tolkien, this will only piss you off if you’re a fan of the Lord of the Rings.  If you just want to watch people die for two hours, then this won’t be a bad one.  But that comes with the caveat that you have to watch the previous two movies.  This movie doesn’t give enough background to really fill you in on what the heck happened before.  Ok, there’s a dragon, now here are people in some ruins, now there’s elves, hay here come some more dwarves, and then there is orcs!  Unless you have a vested interest, this starts a little to en media rez for the casual viewer.  Honestly despite the number of explosions in this one, this is by far the low point of the series.  Save you money.  Eventually this will be on cable some Saturday afternoon when some TV filler time is needed and you can tape/DVR it then.  This is a sad conclusion to the LotR movies as a whole.  67%