Ring Side Report-Board Game Unboxing and Review of Rules of the Sacred Realm!
Category: Ring Side Report
Ring Side Report: RPG Review of Dungeon Crawl Classics #109: Beneath the Isle of Serpents
Product– Dungeon Crawl Classics #109: Beneath the Isle of Serpents
System– DCC RPG
Producer– Goodman Games
Price– $7.99 here https://www.drivethrurpg.com//product/539156/dungeon-crawl-classics-109-beneath-the-isle-of-serpents?affiliate_id=658618
TL; DR– A solid picture of an adventure but the framing is muddy. 93%
Basics- Time to stop a war! Beneath the Isle of Serpents features a mysterious island off the coast where people disappear, and fights not only among the humans lead to horrors no one expected. This is an adventure for 2nd-level characters.
Mechanics or Crunch: This has classic Goodman Game polish for the crunch. It’s low crunch but fun with fights, social encounters, tables galore, and exploration across both dungeons and a mysterious island. The math is solid and fun. 5/5
Theme or Fluff– When we are on the island, stuff works, but getting there is a bit harder. The hooks of a war don’t really matter. Also, there is a bit of stuff happening between the intelligent monsters. Those things I feel are not as well developed. But the other parts and random things in the dungeon are all fun. The pieces on this island are fun, but the framing doesn’t quite line up. 4.5/5
Execution: This adventure has all the awesome parts of a classic Goodman Games adventure, but it also has the faults of one. Goodman Games harkens back to the old school adventures of ol’. But modern audiences might not like that layout and setup. I do, and I want more. But I respect the opinion that the layout is not user-friendly. 4.5/5
Summary: This is another solid Goodman Games adventure. The crunch is solid with fun fights, good social, and tables of such random materials that it’s a crazy fun time. The story in the crawl is fun, but getting there is a bit off. Not horrible, but a bit hard to fit into a perfect story. The execution is good, but it’s Goodman Games OGL style. If you love that, you will love this. I think this is a fun side crawl in The Caverns of Thracia campaign. 93%
Ring Side Report-Board Game Unboxing and Review of Sea Salt and Paper!
Ring Side Report: RPG Review of Pathfinder Society Scenario #5-07: Sewer Dragon Crisis
Product– Pathfinder Society Scenario #5-07: Sewer Dragon Crisis
System– Pathfinder 2nd Ed
Producer– Paizo
Price– $5.99 here https://store.paizo.com/pfs-scenario-5-07-sewer-dragon-crisis/
TL; DR– A handshake or a slaughter, your choice. 100%
Basics- Ok, we screwed up. What do we do to fix this? The Sewer Dragons backed the Pathfinders, and they paid a HEAVY price. Now, your job is to help the friends we left along the way.
Mechanics or Crunch: This is a fun adventure, and it changes based on what the players do. This adventure has one mandatory combat. If you are a combat monkey, you can choose violence. If you are social, you can also get your way. It also has a skills section, so the skills person gets a chance to shine as well. It’s a good mix. 5/5
Theme or Fluff– This adventure will take two hours or five hours. There is little in the middle. The story is solid, but a combat team will struggle and end up killing lots of things. That’s fun. If you are a social butterfly, this is much shorter, as you convince enemies to back down and corrupt people to do their jobs. It’s fun, but if you have a mixed team, some people will not get exactly what they want. 5/5
Execution: Ah, classic Paizo layout. I love the older style. Pictures for the monsters. Stat blocks and an easy-to-read adventure all make this a solid adventure. 5/5
Summary: This can be a feel-good adventure or a slaughter. Either can be fun if you want it. I loved running this one, and my players had a blast too. Choose your team well, and you will too. 100%
Ring Side Report: RPG Review of Starfinder Society Scenario #1-03: Disaster at Dreamlink Labs
Product– Starfinder Society Scenario #1-03: Disaster at Dreamlink Labs
System– Starfinder 2nd Ed
Producer– Paizo
Price– $5.99 here store.paizo.com/starfinder-society-scenario-1-03-disaster-at-dreamlink-labs/
TL; DR– Space Horror Story! 95%
Basics- What was that?! Dreamlink Labs found …something. And someone else wants it. Where are the scientists? Are they alive?
Mechanics or Crunch: This is a pretty simple one for crunch. It’s only a few fights. There is some craziness in the second fight, but you can tell this was designed to fit in two hours. The fights are fun, but short. 4.5/5
Theme or Fluff– This is a short one, but a good one. It’s space horror. We have some Aliens mixed with Lovecraft, and some Predator thrown in. I love all those, so it’s a solid fun experience. 5/5
Execution: I like this one a lot, but I have a few minor issues. It’s got great layout, fun extra bits to add tension, and pictures of most of the parts. I don’t like that the pictures are in the middle of the book, not in the end, but I can deal with that. It’s short, but there’s enough to get at least two hours of stuff done! 4.75/5
Summary: I love cosmic horror and good space-station horror. This is that. It’s that, but short. But, its still those things. I would like it a bit longer, but I am ok with what’s here. I can’t see where they go with the new god and the remains of a planet it broke out of. 95%
Ring Side Report-Board Game Unboxing and Review of Shinobi Spy and Supply!
Ring Side Report-Board Game Unboxing and Review of Arkham Horror: The Card Game!
Ring Side Report: RPG Review of Dungeon Crawl Classics #110: The Sacrificial Pyre of Thracia
Product– Dungeon Crawl Classics #110: The Sacrificial Pyre of Thracia
System– DCC RPG
Producer– Goodman Games
Price– $5.99 here https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/539158/dungeon-crawl-classics-110-the-sacrificial-pyre-of-thracia?affiliate_id=658618
TL; DR– Either add more or remove to help with this one. 93%
Basics- Where are they!? Cultists are attacking your lands. Find where they are, make friends along the way, and route them out from their caves!
Mechanics or Crunch: Standard fun for DCC in this one. Lots of low-level enemies to fight and kill. There is a bit of socializing, a bit of exploration, and lots of combat. All as balanced as random can be! 5/5
Theme or Fluff– I love the pieces, but I either want more or less of them. This adventure has a hex crawl. This goes without saying-THERE IS NOT ENOUGH HEX CRAWLS IN THE WORLD! But the hexes are kind of empty. There are random encounters, but I’d like more storytelling with finding specific things along the way. Give me more staged stuff to do. You wonder and find things, but you don’t get much of a story till you find a village. Events and findings outside the village will help a bit. This might also save on the other problem of the adventure-time. Hex crawls with random encounters are either the most amazing thing ever, a snooze, or a slog. It’s random, so you don’t get the sweet spot of the number of encounters the creators hoped for often. I’d either add more to the hexes or just cut that and have a combat and a social outside the volcano to save time. The volcano lair is fine. Nothing beats a fight with bad guys in a dead volcano. 4.5/5
Execution: This is DCC. It’s got the best part of old school, but it’s got a few warts of old school with the layout. If you know how to read these, then it’s completely fine. If you are new, this might be a bit harder. Not bad, but less clean than your WotC-produced adventures. But I go to tons of less pretty places with amazing menus, so for a bit of atmosphere and disarray, you will be fine here. 4.5/5
Summary: This is a solid, fun adventure that randomness can completely mess up. I love a good strange hex crawl, but those hex crawls can be a pain if the dice roll weird. I’d like a bit more story in some hexes to really amp up the overall story, but what’s here is solid enough. Good fun for you and your friends as they enter Thracia! 93%
Ring Side Report-Board Game Unboxing and Review of Sky Team!
Ring Side Report: RPG Review of Dungeon Crawl Classics #101: The Veiled Vaults of the Onyx Queen
Product– Dungeon Crawl Classics #101: The Veiled Vaults of the Onyx Queen
System– DCC RPG
Producer– Goodman Games
Price– $9.99 here https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/390356/dungeon-crawl-classics-101-the-veiled-vaults-of-the-onyx-queen?affiliate_id=658618
TL; DR– Old school in the best and wartiest ways! 93%
Basics- WAKE AND STAB! You awake as sacrifices to a demon lord! Will you gather enough power to end those who sought to end you?
Mechanics or Crunch: This adventure is a crawl and a funnel all in one. You have lots of bad guys who can die from your fists. You have a few puzzles to solve and some socializing. Those are the things that make the crunch of an adventure. The adventure’s crunch is solid! 5/5
Theme or Fluff– The pure awesome of DCC is on display with some of its warts. DCC doesn’t really have a default setting. The setting is built book by book, and that’s awesome. This one adds in a whole demon lord and a cult based on it. And that is awesome. If the GM runs this well, you can build characters and really get involved in the world. BUT, the world is missing a bit of a setting, so that lack can kind of spring stuff on players. Are you a devotee of a particular god? Awesome! Do you even know that god exists? Less awesome. It’s a minor problem, but the adventure has a solid enough flow that this might be the adventure where you finally learn about the bits making this world work. 4.5/5
Execution: DCC is its own beast. I love it, but it’s like the beat-up dog you know and love. It’s not the prettiest. It works, but it’s your ugly dog! DCC has some criticism for being a bit too old-school in its design and layout, with extra art, layout, and design work to make DCC adventures a bit more approachable. And those are valid criticisms, but I like the old school feel of DCC. But this commitment to old-school adventure is not the most beginner-friendly. This one is pretty easy to run and understand, even if you are newer, so while some other adventures may have smaller mechanics that are not quite understandable, this one is a fun, straightforward funnel. 4.5/5
Summary: I love me some DCC. This game is crazy fun with strange things happening around every corner. That said, I also see some faults. Those are on display here. The lack of a world hurts the game just a tiny bit. You don’t know who you are when you start. That’s good, as funnels are fun, but it’s bad when you want to really hook a player and character into the world. The book is fun, but it’s got minor issues that might dissuade the new. But the issues are only small compared to the fun and craft of this adventure. This is worth a look if you want a fun funnel to draw people into DCC RPG! 93%
Throat Punch Games 