Author: fineyoungmisanthrope

Ring Side Report- RPG review of Pathfinder Dark Archive

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Product– Pathfinder Dark Archive

System- Pathfinder 2nd Ed

Producer– Paizo

Price– $41.99 here https://miniature-market.sjv.io/q4marn 

TL; DR-New toys and adventures for things that go bump in the night. 97%

Basics–  What goes bump in the night?  Dark Archive focuses on all the stuff that gets thrown into your average Halloween party.  It covers psychics, occult inquisitors called thaumaturges, archetypes, feats, spells, and a TON of adventures.  Let’s dig in to this book!

Mechanics or Crunch– I love what’s here, but there are small problems that hurt things overall.  The two new classes fit within the world of wizards, warriors,and clerics as now we have a mind wizard and an occult paladin.  There may be a slight bit of power creep as these might be a bit better than the core classes, but it’s nothing absolutely game breaking.  Feat, spell, and archetypes all fit solidly there as well.  Interestingly enough, this book has almost MORE for the GM than the players.  There are adventures and ways to upgrade monsters to add the occult feel like cryptids and secret societies.  Aside from a bit of power creep, the other thing that I feel hurts this is the lack of inclusion into Pathfinder Society.  PFS is the majority of the way I play an while I LOVE that adventures are included, new options that you only get when weird stuff happens to you are not given as options in the PFS documenting materials.  What is here is well done, but balance and lack of inclusion into Paizo’s flagship gaming market hurt the book a bit. 4.75/5

Theme or Fluff– As a lover of ghost stories and campfire monsters, this book calls to me.  I love the flavor here and the fact that crunch is being tied deeper into story.  The new ways to add things like cults and monsters also helps.  What’s here is amazing.  I am slightly sad I didn’t see much Lovecraft lore here.  We can make it, but I still want my crazy horrors from beyond time and space to make more of an appearance in a book where time magic and feats get put into the system.  Couple that with adventures that GMs can drop in instantly, this is a solid book on the Pathfinder occult.   4.9/5

Execution– This is a physical book and a PDF by Paizo, so I’m almost automatically going to love it.  Solid layout, fonts, formats, hyperlinks make this a great book and a breeze to read.  My one minor issue is this is a book with almost as many pages for the GM as the players.  It would be nice to have a PDF of the maps and pictures that I can show to the players like they do with their adventure paths.  But, if my criticism is that I want more, that’s a good place to be in production.   4.9/5

Summary– I love me some crazy stuff, so I love me this book.  I listen to too many podcasts about monsters, skepticism regarding monsters, and ghost stories to pass this book up.  It has great additions to the system that might be a touch overpowered compared to things before.  It has fun adventures with some amazing options that I wish PFS players could get their hands on.  It has solid production, but a lack of web enhancements might hold it back a bit.  What’s here is good, but I just want more ways to get at it. 97%

Daily Punch 9-8-23 Technique over Force positive quality for Shadowrun 6e

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Let’s keep this idea moving into a different system!

Technique over Force
Through practice you’ve learned how to use your technique over muscle.
• Cost: 12 Karma
• Game Effect: You can use your Agility + Close Combat for all grapple checks both as a attacker and defender instead of Strength + Close Combat.

Thoughts?

Daily Punch 9-7-23 Deft Combat Maneuver combat feat for Starfinder

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Don’t just brute force it!

Deft Combat Maneuver (Combat)

You’ve worked out how to use your finesse instead of muscle for a specific combat maneuver.

Prerequisites: Base attack bonus +1.

Benefit: Choose one combat maneuver (bull rush, dirty trick, disarm, grapple, reposition, sunder, or trip). You use dexterity for the attack roll instead of strength to resolve that combat maneuver.

Special: You can take Deft Combat Maneuver multiple times. The effects don’t stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new combat maneuver.

Thoughts?

Daily Punch 9-6-23 Mastery over Muscle skill feat for Pathfinder 2nd ed.

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Pathfinder emphasizes muscles for grappling, but I’ve known small people with solid technique who can hold even the biggest guys.

Mastery over Muscle Feat 7

General Skill
Prerequisites expert in Acrobatics

You don’t need to be strong if your technique is solid. You can use acrobatics instead of athletics when using weapons with the grapple traits or when you use the grapple action.

Thoughts?

Daily Punch 9-5-23 Mother of Mites monster for Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition

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These mites got to come from somewhere!

Mother of Miteschar. STR 110CON 110 SIZ 110 DEX 45 INT 70 POW 90 HP: 30Damage Bonus: 2D6Build: 3Magic Points: 18Move: 8Attacks per round: 2. The Mother of Mites may only use a Trample attack once per round.Fighting attacks: The mother of mites has three feet and a mass of tendrils growing out of the body of the women.  It also crawls with mites and can throw mites or swing tendrils.Grab (mnvr):  The mother of mites can use its tentacles to grab and  capture up to two victims. If a victim is grabbed, he or she is  held to one of the horrible body of the women and can have mites forced onto their body.Trample:  The mother of mites can also trample with its massive hooves, typically  hooting and bellowing as it rears up and  attempts to trample as many opponents  as it can (up to 1D2 humans if they are situated close together).Fighting 50% (25/10), damage bonusTrample 40% (20/8), damage 1D6 + damage bonus Dodge 40% (20/8)Sanity Loss: 1D3/1D10 Sanity points to see the mother of mites

The mother of mites looks like a dark young with three legs leading to a large middle body and several tendrils emerging from the top. However in place of a mouth, there isa the mangled body of a women. She is emaciated, but can still talk in a horse, raspy voice. Also, her body and the larger body are riddled with holes and tunnels from which the star mites emerge. None know from where in the body the mites are produced.

Thoughts? time for a really bad guy to be the end boss!

Ring Side Report- RPG review of Starfinder Beginner Box

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Product– Starfinder Beginner Box

System- Starfinder

Producer– Paizo

Price– $29.99 here https://miniature-market.sjv.io/GmOnOE 

TL; DR– Good with a few issues 90%

Basics–  To the stars!  The Starfinder Beginner Box is the intro box for the Starfinder RPG, walking players through some basic character generation, how to play, and an intro adventure.  It also provides dice, maps, and cardboard standees.

Mechanics or Crunch– What’s here is good, but is is missing a few key things.  The walkthrough of how to play is a solid introduction to the game.  But, and it’s a big but, it does leave out several things like starship combat.  I LOVE Starfinder so that’s something that I think needs to be shown off.  Also, as the GM, some of the skills are mislabeled.  The skills that are used are simplified versions of the main skills to make life a bit easier for new players and GMs, but I feel that kind of handicaps the learning experience.  That all said, it does work well and is a decent introduction to the system. 4.25/5

Theme or Fluff– The box set gives a solid introduction to the world and system, if a bit stifled.  You get enough, but the adventure is a dungeon crawl.  Not bad, but a bit simplified for an adventure.  There are some social interactions, but I’d like more.  The Pathfinder 2nd ed. Beginner box has two whole levels of dungeon, and I feel this was just a bit short.  It works well, but I wanted more. 4.25/5

Execution– What’s here is fantastic.  I love the maps, standees, and books.  Everything that is included is done well.  Solid work!  5/5

Summary-This is a good, if short, introduction to Starfinder.  I like what’s here, but just need more.  I want a short space shootout.  I want more social.  I want full skills,not simplified ones.  But those are small wants compared to my friends who learned the system quickly from the box, and myself who was able to GM a game on the fly with minimal prep using this starter set.  It’s good, but you will learn more when you buy the full book.  90%

Daily Punch 9-1-23 Umbilus Colostrum item for Call of Cthulhu 7th Ed

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Umbilus Colostrum
Milked from the foul broodmothers of the minotaurs, this milk is oddly gray in color and is warm to the touch even if kept in a refrigerator.   The milk energizes the body and extends life all while stripping the soul.  If a person drinks eight ounces of milk, the person’s strength, constitution, and power increases by 50 each and they can not die from natural causes for one week.  However, they lose 1d6 sanity.
This milk also does not spoil so it can be stored near indefinitely if stored in a cool place.  If minute amounts of milk are added to bulk milk supplies, then the milk will appear much higher in quality, nearly doubles the quantity, and fetch a better price.

Thoughts?

Daily Punch 8-31-23 Minotaur monster for Call of Cthulhu

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Time for my final monster for the next book!

Minotaur

char.
STR 160
CON 100
SIZ 160
DEX 40
INT 10
POW 30
HP: 26
Damage Bonus: +3D6
Average Build: 4
Move: 8
ATTACKS
Attacks per round: 2
Fighting attacks: The creature looks roughly like a man so it can punch and kick or even put itself into a charge with its head.
Fighting 40% (20/8), damage 1D6 + damage bonus
Dodge 20% (10/4),
Sanity: 1d2/1d10

The minotaur is a creature made from a man, dead or alive, a star mite, process/created inside a External Umbilus. The creature stands about seven feet tall, on two legs, and is extremally muscular. Its body is wrapped in oddly corded muscles and veins pulse strangely below its skin. Its legs bend backwards like a cows, but the skeleton is bent at odd angles as its misshaped physiology should not support its weight or life. Its hands have four fingers, but they jut from the palm at odd, unfortunate angels. Its breaths are labored as it walks and stands. Its head is that of a cow and older ones, if they survive that long, can grow horns with bulging eyes that are too close together on its cow face. It is covered in fur that follow standard bovine patterns. In the center of its chest is a star mite that’s tendrils burrow deep into the creature joining its nervous system, circulatory, and digestive systems.
These minotaurs must be nursed by an external umbilus’s colostrum to be as strong as they can be. If they do not drink the colostrum, they are much weaker having their STR drop to 80 and their CON drop to 50 and they will not survive past a few, painful days.