Product: Pathfinder Player Companion Animal Archive

Producer: Paizo

Price: ~$12

System: Pathfinder

TL;DR-If you have pets, then get this book. 91.25%

 

Basics: This book adds options, abilities, and types for any character who has a familiar or a animal companion.  The book starts off right away with the inner cover discussing the magic items that each type of animal can use.  After the standard Player Companion line pages discussing the book’s intent, the next section describes what types of animals each race typically works with.  Next the book introduces new class archetypes for the rogue, cavalier, and barbarian that use animal companions.  Following archetypes, the book add new animal tricks for your companion to learn and new ways to teach tricks to animals.  The book then presents new familiars, equipment, and animals to buy in Golarion.  The centerfold of the book is six new animals that a PC could take as a companion and the parts of the world where these creatures are found.  Following the centerfold, new animal feats and archetypes are discussed for your companions and familiars.  The book then presents a section on what happens after you awaken your animal.  Like all player pathfinder books, the book adds several spells and magic items, before ending by adding new familiars and animal companion statistics.

 

Fluff or Story: This book isn’t very story heavy.  It primary focus is to give you new animal options.  What it does have is interesting, but don’t look for it to carry the book on that alone. 4/5

 

Crunch or Mechanics:  You want animal crunch?  You got animal crunch!  Some of the crunch is interesting like the rogue who uses an animal to do sneak attack, but some is left out like what bonuses you get for using tools to train an animal.  It’s not bad, but some minor things were missing.   4.75/5

 

Art:  This book has a surprising amount of art for primarily being a mechanics book.  It’s new, and looks like it belongs and is well done. 5/5

 

Execution:  The book has a nice flow, reads quick, and isn’t difficult to read.  I didn’t like that the book repeats some of its mechanics as the book is less than 30 pages.  Also, some of the choices of where things were laid out were a bit strange as there are two item sections. 4.5/5

 

Summary:  If you run animals in Pathfinder, you need this book.  That’s it.  It won’t really convince you to take up an animal if you’re the type of player who doesn’t want that complication in his life.  If you want to have some fun with an animal companion/familiar, then this book will give you lots of options and makes sure the ideas you have fit into the larger world.  It’s worth a read for any class that gets an animal pet. 91.25%

Product– Oh Gnome You Don’t!

Producer-Gut Bustin’ Games

Set-up/Play/Clean-up-90 Minutes

Price-$30

TL;DR– A simple, fun, roll-to-move game 87.5%

 

Basics– Time to beat the crap out of other gnomes for gems and profit!  Oh Gnome You Don’t is a simple roll to move based game with some additional decision making aspects.  Players take the roles of gnome as they move across the board trying to sell items at the most opportune times to earn gems.  Each turn a player rolls to move, can play one card, and finally draws one card.  Players can only move in one direction.  Cards are items, cards to attack other players, and cards that have beneficial effects like Oh Gnome You Don’t to prevent an attack.  Item cards have two prices.  The higher price is for a specific location on the board, while the lowers is a general sale location price.  When a player lands on another player, one person can fight the other.  Players have a deck of 10 cards each with an attack value.  Players select a card and play simultaneously.  The difference in the attack value is the number of gems the loser must pay the winner.  Play continues until all players cross the finish line with players who finish earlier gaining more gems.  Highest number of gems wins.

 

Mechanics-This is a roll to move game.  It’s not overly complex, but the cards and fight mechanics do add some fun.  Of the roll to move games I have played, this is one of the better ones.  This game does not rival some of the hard core Eurogames for complexity, but its goal is to be a simple, fun game.  And, it does that well. 4/5

 

Theme-The game has an interesting theme.  It’s not completely a gnome brawl, but it’s also not peaceful forest gnomes hugging either other either.  It’s fun, but I wouldn’t say I felt like I was a gnome while I played this. 4/5

 

Instructions-The instructions are well done.  They are much longer then you would suspect for a roll to move game, but that’s because of the additional mechanics in the game.  They are well but together though. 5/5

 

Execution/Art– The art is well done, but it does make some of the spaces difficult to spot.  It’s not game ending, but some spots are difficult to see if they are one spot or two.  The game is well done for the price with the gems being literal random shaped, plastic pieces.  This game could have easily just used cardboard tokens, but the plastic gems give this game a nice touch. 4.5/5

 

Summary-I liked this game.  It’s not a game that I would set aside just to play and make plans months in advance to play.  But, when the game day is winding down, and we want a simple game to play relatively quickly, this will hit the table.  It’s worth the price at $30 bucks. 87.5%

Product-Dreams of the Red Wizards: Scourge of the Sword Coast

Producer-Wizards of the Coast

Price-~$18 (PDF)

System-DnD Next

TL;DR– Not bad, but the worst of the three Sundering Modules. 80%

Basics-Time to go back to the Sword Coast.  Problems are brewing around Daggerford with goblin attacks, orc raids, and gnolls stalking the country side.  The heroes arrive outside of Daggerford as the Duke has barred all non-citizens from entering the town.  Can the heroes save the town and the people stuck outside from the horrors brewing in the Sword Coast?  A DnD Next adventure for character level two to level four.

Story: This module doesn’t seem to have as involved a story as the other two Sundering modules.  It kind of feels like a holding pattern as the players get to find some interesting information, but the players will have to wait till next module to use it.  You get to be a hero, but not completely the one you want to be. 4/5

Mechanics:  This module uses new DnD Next mechanics, so that is fun and give more insight into the progress of DnD Next as rule system.  I really missed the random encounter tables and other stuff that gave the last DnD encounters season it’s amazing flare though. 4.5/5

Execution:  This adventure come is in one source book, and I think that hurts the adventure.  The players will not see it, but as a GM I felt things were too cluttered with important information being mixed with bits of encounters.  I also miss the custom GM screen.  I know I would have to print one out, since this product is a PDF.  But, I missed those little extra bits.  The random encounters really made the world come alive in the last season.  I can do that as a GM, but now I need to do extra work!  Furthermore, I felt like the story needed a diagram to really help me to organize my thoughts regarding the plot.  I feel the story is a bit mixed up and won’t help all the GMs across the world coordinate their efforts well.  Also for $18, I felt like I didn’t get enough.  For $30 I got a printed option with the GM screen.  What I got was nice, legible, and a fun play experience, but this should have been much cheaper for a PDF product. 3.5/5

Summary:  I don’t hate this adventure.  I’ve been the roughest to this Sundering adventure path, but I don’t hate it.  This adventure has the unfortunate luck of coming out after the previous one, WHICH WAS AMAZING!  This one feel like it’s in a holding pattern for the next adventure.  These facts make all the flaws that much more visible.  I would have liked two books, a PDF of a printable GM screen, and some help keeping pace of the adventures, so all the encounters GMs can coordinate better.  However, this one isn’t bad, but I hope the next one lets the players get past level 4!  80%