Animals have always been my friends!
General Skill
Prerequisites Master in nature
Here kitty! When you attempt an action to command an animal, you can reattempt the roll, but you must take the second result.
Product– Discworld RPG Kickstarter
System- Discworld RPG
Producer– Modiphius
Price– FREE here https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/modiphius/terry-pratchetts-discworld-rpg?ref=4ogp2x
TL; DR-Solid, narrative game. 99%
Basics– Only the turtle knows what’s coming next. A new edition of the Discworld RPG is coming! Let’s look at the breakdown and see how its played.
Base Mechanics and stats- There are no stats, but your character is a write up with a few sentences. When you want to do anything, you tell the GM what you want to do and explain why you’re good at the action. The GM then tells you to roll any die from a d4 to a d12. Bigger dice means you are better at the action. The GM then rolls a d8. Whoever has a higher roll gets their desired result. Ties succeed, but a mix of results happen. Negative results cause conditions such as a wound, damage, or something else happening for the characters.
And that’s it!
Mechanics or Crunch– So, there are dice and things happen, but the mechanics are VERY light. This game uses a much more narrative system. It also relies on a LOT of trust between the GM and the players. If you enjoy that, it works. If you need the +1 from this and the +4 from that, you will absolutely HATE this system. I don’t mind it, but your experience will be determined by your personal preferences. 5/5
Theme or Fluff– Do you like Terry Pratchett? That’s honestly what will determine if this game’s theme is good for you. This a lot more theater and a lot less crunch than most systems, so be aware of this. Again, if you need dark fantasy or more logic like Lord of the Rings, maybe give this a pass. I LOVE Pratchett, so I love the idea of this game. 5/5
Execution– This is a near perfect demo for the game. You have a decent rundown of the game, fun worldbuilding, and a FULL four hour adventure with multiple premade characters. It reads fast and easily, but no hyperlinks! That is the lone issue with this book’s construction. This is almost a copy of my last review, but it still holds true! 4.95/5
Summary– This game is a litmus test for you and your gaming group. If you need the crunch, you will not like this game even if you like Pratchett. If you can’t stand satirical fantasy regardless of the narrative gameplay, you will not like this. I am ok with both, depending on the group. The book reads like Pratchett and has the right flavor of the world. That honestly makes me profoundly happy. I don’t think Pratchett lends itself well to DnD-style kill-goblin games. Discworld is more funny stories with a purpose. And for the price, go check this one out regardless. 99%
You’ve learned about how people work
Android
You live among them, and you’ve learned about them. Remove emotionally unaware, and instead gain a +1 circumstance bonus to deception checks and a +1 circumstance bonus to perception checks to determine motivations, both against any living, organic lifeforms.
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Thoughts?
More nature, and times for the one for level 16!
General Skill
Prerequisites legendary in nature
Even elder druids begin to bow to your power. Once per day, you can choose an primal 2nd level spell that is not uncommmon and attempt a DC30 nature check. If you succeed, you cast the spell using as many actions as that spell normally takes. You use either your Charisma or Wisdom as the spell casting ability and are considered legendary proficiency to determine spell casting attack or save DC.
Thoughts?
Hard to hurt the dead!
Borai
The dead don’t feel. You gain resistance to all damage equal to one-third your level (minimum 1).
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Thoughts?
More nature, and times for the one for more spells!
General Skill
Prerequisites master in nature
You’ve picked to continue to learn even more! Once per day, you can choose an primal 1st level spell that is not uncommmon and attempt a DC25 arcana check. If you succeed, you cast the spell using as many actions as that spell normally takes. You use either your Charisma or Wisdom as the spell casting ability and are considered an expert to determine spell casting attack or save DC.
Thoughts?
Product– High School Cthulhu Demo
System- High School Cthulhu
Producer– Gear Games
Price– FREE here https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/gear-games/high-school-cthulhu-roleplaying-game
TL; DR– 90s teen Cthulhu. 99%
Basics– Homework and the end of days? Bummer…. High School Cthulhu is about that turbulent time in any young man’s life where the elder gods are trying to end life as we know it and you have to figure out the school dance. High School Cthulhu is a teen drama RPG set in the 90s where all of Lovercraft is happening just below the surface. Let’s go Innsmith tentacles! Here is the breakdown.
Base Mechanics and stats- Every character has base attributes that can’t go below 1 and base skills for each stat that can’t go below one. Each time you want to do anything, the GM will tell you the skill and attribute to roll. You take that many d6s and roll them. You are not aiming for any particular number, just a group of one number. The number of same results you get determines the level of your success. More successes is better than less.
Rerolls-You can choose to take any number of unsuccessful dice and reroll them. If you do, you MUST roll one more of the number you saved. If you do, great! Take the new result or reroll again. If you fail to get another number like the ones you saved, then you fail!
Grit-Grit is your hit points. You gain and lose these as things happen. They are not the same as your DnD hit points, but they serve the same function. Lose too many and bad things happen, like getting knocked out.
Miracles and Guts- If you succeed at anything really well you gain Guts. Guts give you special bonuses to rolls or help a bit in a situation. Miracles are like guts but WAY bigger. You’re still a teen and mortal. You can absolutely get wrecked by some monster or a crazy person with a shovel. Miracles are your dad stepping in punching the guy or talking the cops out of arresting you for breaking into the school.
Madness– Wouldn’t be Cthulhu without madness. Each character has a spiral of madness. As you see things and fail rolls you gain madness. Along the spiral you hit bad points and you get a bit crazy. These are not realistic mental illnesses, but it does give the Lovecraft flavor we know and love. Lose too much and you lose yourself.
Drama- And it wouldn’t be teen-centered storytelling without drama! As you fight other characters and fail rolls, you gain drama. Too much drama and everyone has to have a montage where you all separate and have a sad moment to reconcile, but friendships are hurt and bonds broken. Standard teen stuff.
Allright, let’s review the game
Mechanics or Crunch– This is an interesting take on a d6 system. You roll a bunch of dice and see what happens. You don’t need specific dice results, so it’s different. I do love rolling 40 dice in Shadowrun, but while this is different it is fun still. SImple and clean make a good system. 5/5
Theme or Fluff– I WAS a teen in the 90s! I remember most of the movie and show references this game parodies, and I love it. It might not be for the younger kids, but if you remember “I know what you did last summer” and read “The shadow over Innsmouth” in the 90s, then this is the game for you. So many references in this book! I like what’s here, and if you need to take aspirin for your knees in the morning, you will too. 5/5
Execution– This is a near perfect demo for the game. You have a decent rundown of the game, fun worldbuilding, and a FULL four hour adventure with multiple premade characters. It reads fast and easily, but no hyperlinks! That is the lone issue with this book’s construction. 4.95/5
Summary– This is free and hits near Halloween. Just go get this one from the backerkit. I love what I see, and the price is right for free! I love the game, and I hope you do as well. Solid 90s vibes with solid Cthulhu energy. 99%
How about some love for basic nature spell casting
General Skill
Prerequisites expert in nature
You’ve learned from the forest. Once per day, you can choose an primal cantrip and attempt a DC20 nature check. If you succeed, you cast the spell using as many actions as that spell normally takes. You use either your Charisma or Wisdom as the spell casting ability and are considered an expert to determine spell casting attack or save DC.
Thoughts?
That boy can take a punch!
Vesk
You are built tough. Gain 2 additional hit points per level.
Thoughts?
Throat Punch Games 