Category: Ring Side Report

Ring Side Report: RPG Review of DCC RPG: Aereth Reborn #1: Dread Dawning

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Product–  DCC RPG: Aereth Reborn #1: Dread Dawning

System– DCC RPG

Producer– Goodman Games

Price– $2.99 here https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/577450/dcc-rpg-aereth-reborn-1-dread-dawning?affiliate_id=658618  

TL; DR– A good intro to the DCC RPG Organized play. 100%

Basics:  Off to be heroes!  But why are there wolves now?!  The heroes run from a faceless horde and right into an abandoned tower.  What horrors are in the tower?

Mechanics or Crunch: This is a short adventure with traps, exploration, and combat.  It’s fun, but I will say it’s not a killer.  I prefer more epic heroes and less killer game style, so this is a welcome change of pace.  But if you want smashmouth killer gaming, you will be a bit disappointed.    5/5

Theme or Fluff–  This is an intro adventure for a campaign.  You get pieces of information that will be followed up later.  You make friends, learn pieces, and get ready for the next puzzle piece to drop.  I like it because it uses lots of environmental storytelling to make the game work.  5/5

Execution: Hands down my favorite map in DCC RPG!  Why? DIFFERENT MAPS FOR PLAYERS AND GM!  I love the old-school DCC RPG artwork, but most adventures have ONE map with all the secrets labeled.  I can’t show that to the players!  That’s a map with stuff for me and a map with stuff for them.  DONE!  Perfect. The rest is good too.  It reads easily, the layout is good, and the price is right. 5/5

Summary: Time to be a hero!  This book sets up an adventure path I look forward to running, and my players look forward to playing.  It’s got con potential that will be fun, and I hope it follows all the other organized play I’ve seen and builds on it.  I can’t wait for what’s next based on what’s here. 100%

Ring Side Report: RPG Review of PIRATE BORG Starter Set

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Product–  PIRATE BORG Starter Set

System– PIRATE BORG

Producer– Free League

Price– $19.99 here https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/555993/pirate-borg-starter-set?affiliate_id=658618  

Basics:  Welcome to the Dark Caribbean! This box set has a ton of stuff and enough to help you get playing quickly.  Check out our unboxing video here: https://youtu.be/FgXEPdMvink .  Let’s dig into this game and box set.

Mechanics or Crunch: How much crunch do you need?  This box set has a small rulebook and enough tokens, player sheets, and maps to get you playing in all of 10 minutes.  This ruleset is d20+ a number between -3 and +6 to hit a 12.  That’s most of the actions.  The rules explain that well and get you building characters in about 10 minutes.  I love the Borg mechanics and simplicity.  And this box set teaches that well and quickly.  5/5

Theme or Fluff–  I love all the stuff in the story here, but I the story has a small plot hole.  The basics of the story are: you are hired to find a thing, get marooned, find half the map, learn the rest is in a British anti-pirate port, and then go find the thing.  It’s fun and teaches the basic rules well, but I think the link to the British is a bit light.  That said, I love what’s here.  Sure, its a bit of a knockoff of Pirates of the Caribbean, but I DON’T CARE!  It’s just fun, especially when you mix in the fact that there is magic dead guy drugs that can make you a god running around. 4.9/5

Execution: I do love me some intro boxes, and honestly I think this might be my favorite.  Why?  Sure, this, like any other good intro box, has dice, maps, tokens, a small intro book, character sheets, and an adventure, but it’s also got DRY ERASE MARKERS!  You build a character in about 10 minutes, and they can die fast.  This gives you dry erase markers and laminated character sheets.  That right there in this kind of game is a godsend. 5/5

Summary: You want some crazy Pirate fun in the Caribbean?  Here you go.  The system is fast, fun, and low rules.  The story is good.  And the box itself is my ABSOLUTE favorite.  And the physical box is about 40 bucks.  The PDFs are a solid value at 20 bucks too.  This is something you need to get and have fun with.  99%

Ring Side Report: RPG Review of Beyond the Blood Door Player’s Guide

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Product–  Beyond the Blood Door Player’s Guide

System– Starfinder 2nd Ed 

Producer– Paizo

Price– Free here https://downloads.paizo.com/OP-Files/SFS2+Beyond+the+Blood+Door+Players+Guide.pdf 

TL; DR– A good start. 99%

Basics:  WHY ARE THE BALLS OF BLOOD IN THE SKY!?  Absolom station is under attack, maybe?  It’s time to gear up and save the station.  This book is a guide for new and old players, with information about the Starfinder society, new backgrounds, a new race, religions to consider, and more to help players.

Mechanics or Crunch: This is a free book with lots of crunch.  There are whole new character options for players to try.  The fact that a whole race with feats is provided is amazing.  Solid start to the new season.  5/5

Theme or Fluff–  This book is short but gives enough info to get you started. The book can’t solve all the mysteries of the season.  But, I’m intrigued.  The book also builds out multiple world pieces to give me things to do and explore.  I’m interested in what’s here. 5/5

Execution: I like what’s here, but would like a bit more art.  The world, layout, text, and new materials are all well done.  But, I want single art of the main characters. Give me a way to easily show those characters off to the players.  It’s being eliminated from the adventures, so put those in the player guide.  4.75/5

Summary: I love society play.  Paizo has started to make player guides for the new season, and it’s a smart, well-done move.  The only thing I want is end pages with the pictures separated liek the old adventures.  But what’s here is amazing!  99%

Ring Side Report: RPG Review of Chrysalis

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Product– Chrysalis

System– ALIEN RPG Evolved Edition 

Producer– Free League Publishing

Price– Coming soon! 

TL; DR– Good, but pricey 87%

Basics: Time for a fresh start on a new planet.  Wait, what did they just load into the hold?  Chrysalis is a one- to two-hour demo adventure for Alien RPG Evovled edition.  It’s got pregens and maps with some horror-based fun along the way.

Mechanics or Crunch: This adventure has all the pieces for a good intro to the mechanics of Alien.  You have a time crunch that illustrates how long actions take. You also have a little combat and a little skill-based checks and a tad bit of panic in there.  All the basics are covered to learn this system quickly and well.  5/5

Theme or Fluff– I don’t hate the theme here, but I do think the story needs a bit more direct suggestions.  The game has a short intro, but most of the plot takes place aboard a crashed ship.  The ship has horror things in it, but you also have to put them where you feel they fit.  That’s good, but for a new GM, I’d directly say “put this here” and “do this there”.  Also, I like the combat, but I feel it doesn’t belong as much, say, in other events.  Honestly, I want more direct Alien corporate evil than the random evil that happens on this adventure.  Not bad, but not as Alien as I would have hoped. 4/5

Execution: This is well done, but doesn’t belong as a separate thing.  There are maps, pregens, and pieces to help the players really learn this system.  But, this honestly belongs at the back of the base book.  The base book missed an adventure, and this was it.  Also, at GenCon, this was over $ 10.  This is a one- to two-hour intro adventure.  That is WAY too much for this.  It’s good, but that’s too much.  4/5

Summary: This is a great intro adventure.  At GenCon, this was being run in the Free League room every other hour.  And, this adventure did exactly what it’s supposed to do-it entertains and teaches the basics.  I love that.  The theme is a bit off, with the Alien being more of a random problem and less about corporate machinations, but that’s ok. The big issue is price.  It’s pretty expensive for what you get.  It’s good, but it should be a free PDF and given out when you get the main book.  87%