Category: Ring Side Report

Ring Side Report- RPG review of ION Heart

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Product– ION Heart

System- ION Heart

Producer– Parabel Games

Price– Different price levels here https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/parable-games/ion-heart-a-cozy-solo-mech-ttrpg 

TL; DR-Fun creative solo space adventures 93% 

Basics– MECHS IN SPACE!  ION Heart is a solo RPG where you play a random character exploring a random galaxy with a random mech.  Let’s break this down and look over the basics and system itself.

Base Mechanics- This is a d6 RPG.  It is VERY low crunch.  You have some basic bonuses with a +1 and a -1 being the biggest changes to a roll you see in the quickstart guide.  If you want to do a thing, roll a d6, add any modifiers you have, and see if you hit the target number, usually a 4.  It’s quick and efficient.

Character building- RANDOM!  This book has either 1 to 3 or 1 to 6 options at every choice.  Build a pilot?  There are six races and three backgrounds.  You can choose or roll.  Same for the mechs.

Adventures- When you go on an adventure, you roll to see the type of planet you land on, the type of settlement, and the type of adventure you will go on.  For each adventure, you roll three times to have three different adventures of the five provided, sixth being choose one, and then have a final conclusion adventure.  Each mini adventure mostly has you roll one time and see if you succeed or fail.

That’s the basics, let’s dig into my thoughts.

Mechanics or Crunch– I don’t hate games with small mechanics, and this one does well with what it is.  It’s not very deep, but that’s not the experience of this game.  I LOVE me some Shadowrun shenanigans with crazy levels of crunch, but this is a much more low key, Lo-Fi RPG.  If you want 90 minutes of math for a roll, this isn’t the experience for you.  But I’m interested.   5/5

Theme or Fluff– This, like many other solo RPGs, is almost more about what you bring to the game than what it brings to you.  The mini adventures and places ask you to describe them.  You take the time to write out what you think and see.  This is almost more like a creative writing exercise than just a game.  That’s not bad, but I feel the dependence on randomness for the tables is a bit too much and takes away a bit of the charm.  The game is still full of story and an intriguing universe, but too much randomness spoils the product.  4.5/5

Execution– The product itself looks great and the things you can get are awesome, but it’s a bit pricey.  To get a physical basic book, it’s 30 pounds.  That feels a bit pricey.  To get a book to write your adventures into you need to pledge 80 pounds.  That’s again too much.  The art is nice, and the write up is well done and easy to read.  The layout is fantastic and I enjoy the minimalist art.  Just the price keeps me away a bit.    4.5/5

Summary– This book backerkit leaves me interested.  The game is a creative exercise with some math and fun randomness.  The things I don’t like are too much randomness and too high a price.  The digital only 15 pound option has me most intrigued.  That feels like a fair option to get me into bettering myself as a writer, having space adventures, and seeing the full product.  This is one to check out, but know exactly what you want out of this game.  93%

Ring Side Report- RPG review of ALIEN RPG Colonial Marines Operations Manual

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Product– ALIEN RPG Colonial Marines Operations Manual

System- Alien RPG

Producer– Free League Publishing

Price– $11.99 here  https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/356935/alien-rpg-colonial-marines-operations-manual?affiliate_id=658618   

TL; DR-A few issues don’t keep this from being a fun book.  93% 

Basics– Game over man, GAME OVER!  Colonial Marines Operation Manual expands on the world of Aliens, focusing on the military men and women who will defend the frontier from both men and monsters.  This book features a few new careers, talents, and items for the players and for the GM it has a TON of story and a whole campaign.

Mechanics or Crunch– This is a classic example of what’s here is good, but there needs to be more.  There are a TON of ships and tanks, so if you wanted to have more of that in the game, you are going to love this.  But there is not much new for characters to directly build themselves.  What’s here is good however.  The new military careers are fantastic and will make your character feel more like they are more than just generic soldiers.  I would just like more player specific options.  For the GM, there is an impressive amount here to throw around with a guide on how to make a military campaign and a full military campaign in the book!  4.5/5

Theme or Fluff– Want to learn over 200 years of history and culture in a book?  This is that book!  This book goes deep into the lore of the universe, and it’s well done.  You get small glimpses into individual soldiers’ lives and an overview of nearly two centuries of corporate intrigue and international and planetary politics.  This doesn’t even cover all the multitude of new aliens added to the lore or added to this game.  This is a solid story hit.     5/5

Execution– I like what’s here, but don’t completely love it.  The layout is ok, but it’s lots of green boxes with a black background.  There are pictures, but not many when it comes to the aliens.  Humans and weapons yes, which I like, but not many to show the new xenomorphs.  The book does read easily and has hypertext, so I love that.  The campaign is good, but I don’t like the layout as I feel some of the style hides the lead and makes it a bit hard to run on the fly.  But, I do appreciate it.  I’d like the pregens to be separate, but they do exist in the book.  Not as character sheets, but as blocks that you can print out.  It’s good, but I would like a few improvements.    4.5/5

Summary–  If you want to run a military campaign for the Alien RPG, this is the book you need.  Heck, it comes with a military campaign so you don’t event need to do hard work as a GM for the first 8 sessions!  It’s not perfect; I want more player options and some changes to layout and writing.  But these are small complaints compared to the parts of the book that are well done.  93%

Ring Side Report- RPG review of Death Metal

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Product– Death Metal

System- When the Wolf Comes

Producer– Schwalb Entertainment

Price– $3.99 here  https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/486488/death-metal?affiliate_id=658618    

TL; DR-NORSE NUKES!  98% 

Basics– You know what Vikings need?  NUKES!  Death Metal is less about hard core bass riffs and more about particle physics and Norse scientists inventing nukes to finally deal with those pesky giants.  Death Metal refers to radioactive metals that cause death in those that play with them. This book has class options, story and theme, and weapons for both When the Wolf Comes and standard Shadow of the Demon Lord.

Mechanics or Crunch–  Death Metal has a decent amount of toys for the GM and player.  There are three expert and four master paths.  This is primarily written for When the Wolf Comes, but it crosses into standard Demon Lord, so the mythic paths are not tied to race.  I honestly enjoy that more.  It has a few alternative race options for your characters to take in Wolf as well. There are rules for nukes.  Everyone loves handheld nuke grenades, so that’s new fun for the party.  There is not a ton of new crunch here as this is very much a theme heavy book.  It’s good, but I would like a bit more.  Overall it’s solid work that fits well into the crunch that’s out there already.  4.75 /5

Theme or Fluff– This is where the book shines the most.  There is LOTS of story for both Wolf and Demon Lord here.  Heck, as a chemist, any book that includes what the Norse would have called beta particles makes me irrationally happy.  You have an in-lore explanation of why different Norse races would have made reactors, and in Demon Lord you have a story about how a space man created a space elevator to get home and left nuclear tech with some people stuck in gothic horror.  It’s a ton of fun!    5 /5

Execution– This book is easy to read, fun to read, hyperlinked, and has good art.  That’s honestly all I want in a book.  For the page length, the price is pretty standard, but I need to stress it’s well put together. 5/5

Summary– Nothing like nuclear Vikings and atomic weapons to brighten your day or entire coast line!  This is a solid book adding new fun twists to both Demon Lord and Wolf.  I enjoy how these are added and and something that you can bring in if you want.  The crunch is good, but maybe need more.  The story is amazing, and something I enjoyed reading from multiple angles.  The book itself is a pleasure to read.  This is something you should check out if you play Demon Lord or Wolf! 98%

Ring Side Report- RPG review of The True OSR – Obsolete Shi**y Rules

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Product– The True OSR – Obsolete Shi**y Rules

System- The True OSR – Obsolete Shi**y Rules

Producer– Tin Hat games

Price– $25.00 here   https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/454627/the-true-osr-obsolete-shi-y-rules-eng?affiliate_id=658618   

TL; DR-What the hell just happened? 87% 

Basics– Why don’t we fight about the rules!  OSR is to RPG as metal is to music.  OSR is an EXTREME rules light RPG.  Let’s break this down.

Base Mechanics- This is a d10 based system.  You want to do a thing? Roll a d10 and add a bonus from the associated statistics.  You get a 6, you succeed!  Or not, if the Master(GM) decides the number is higher, or if he or she is just mad that day!  This is a rules based game, but not the kind of game where there are many rules.

Combat- Combat is quick and simple.  All characters roll initiative. Then in initiative order, you get 2 actions.  Actions are moving, attacks, reloading, and anything else you might want to do.  When you do an action, you can make it heroic by spending XP and roll on an epic table where you may be awesome or completely fail!

And honestly that’s it!

Mechanics or Crunch–  This is an interesting one that might be too streamlined!  The game is VERY theme heavy and rules light.  It might be so rules light that new players might not know how to play, much like early DnD needing a friend to bring you into the cult because the rules were so obscure. That said, it aims to be very punk forward and rules light.  And in that it succeeds.  What this book does have that is amazing is over 100 pages of random tables full of crazy things for the players to interact with. However, I feel that the rules-light nature hurts it a bit when new players are learning what the hell is happening!  4/5

Theme or Fluff– You can say many things about OSR, but you cannot say it has no theme.  This book oozes theme.  It’s like hitting a rock concert after hard drugs in a spray painted van.  Every page is full of crazy things, art, and words.  It is an assault on the reader how much is going on on each page-in a fun way!    5 /5

Execution– This is a good book with one unforgivable sin.  This is a fun book, but not a book that honestly reads easily.  I “think” I know how to play by reading, but the layout makes following everything a bit hard.  There is amazing stuff here, but the disorder overshadows the text.  It honestly verges on the distracting sometimes.  Also, there are multiple random characters, but I wonder if those are pregens or NPCs.  Does it matter?  This book also doesn’t have an adventure.  Give me an adventure to play out of the box please!  4/5

Summary– Someone once said, hippies were mean people cosplaying as nice people and metalheads are nice people cosplaying as mean people.  This book feels like that.  The book is a full-on assault on the senses, but it’s fun.  The layout of the rules are kind of all over the place and hard to follow but they are there. Also, they, meaning the author, the rules, or even the community of OSR players, don’t care if you use them or not.  It’s more about crazy gonzo fun.  And that is where the book succeeds.  This is pure grab your buds, hope you played right, but if you had fun you had fun!  It is not balanced in any way, nor is it any sort of guidance in how to run the game.  But that’s not the kind of game this is.  If you want some even-more-crazy-than-DCCRPG old school tabletop fun, then give OSR a try.  If you need even a hint of structure, then this might not be for you.  87%

Ring Side Report- RPG review of When the Wolf Comes: A Vikingverse Roleplaying Game

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Product– When the Wolf Comes: A Vikingverse Roleplaying Game

System- Shadow of the Demon Lord

Producer– Schwalb Entertianment

Price– $19.99 here   https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/443491?affiliate_id=658618 

TL; DR-Solid sci-fantasy Viking Shadows of the Demon Lord fun. 99% 

Basics– Where will you be when the wolf comes?!  When the Wolf Comes is a semi-post-apacalypic, semi-fantasy, semi-futuristic Viking version of Shadow of the Demon Lord.  This book covers everything from basic mechanics to how to run a full campaign.  Let’s break this down.

Mechanics or Crunch–  Do you like Shadow of the Demon Lord?  Do you like Vikings?  Do you like Space Vikings?  Then you will like this.  This is just Shadow of the Demon Lord extended to its next evolution as the game moves forward in a solid way.  My one minor issue that is more a personal view is that the end mythic paths are tied to race.  That’s not even bad, just my personal taste in the issue.  The mechanics work and the new stuff here is fantastic.  One of my complaints in TTRPGs in recent years is that character progression was too linear.  This version adds gifts which are akin to feats.  And I love it!  This version fixes my one issue with this system, so this is a solid improvement on an already excellent game.     5/5

Theme or Fluff– The opening of this book is from Schwalb himself praising the author.  This is a solid introduction to the world the author created and ancient Norse as a whole.  It’s a world like our own, but with a split a thousand years ago.  This also isn’t just a reskin of a Norse god textbook.  One of the races you expect, dwarves, is not here.  Now you have robots.  Robot servants, so if you want to explore the themes of slavery in your game, have at it!  The base classes are different, and the classes that build off it are all different as well.  This is not just a can of paint on an existing Shadows game, it’s a whole new world to play in.    5 /5

Execution– This is a solid book with one semi-unforgivable sin.  The layout is excellent.  The art is amazing.  And, the book reads well, fast, and fluidly.  I can find what I need as the hyperlinks guide me easily.  There is guidance for new GMs and how to play the COMPLETE system.  This is not just a fluff book, but honestly the whole Shadow of the BLANK system.  There is even an adventure in the back to play right away!  The one thing I want that is not here is four to six premade characters. I know Shadow characters are easy to make, but give me them so I can slam them down and have my friends play in exactly 10 minutes.  Aside from that one, minor issue, this is a fantastic book.  4.9/5

Summary– The most unkind thing I can say about this book is it’s simply a splat book for a different version of Shadow of the Demon Lord.  But that does not do this justice.  Any time there are robot dwarves that are not just brass spray painted dwarves with some gears stapled on by another name, but a real, honest to god servitor race with their own issues and even capitalism killing them so you the homeowner have to buy the newest model if you want your floors vacuumed like a roomba with a death sentence, I am hooked.  This takes the simple Shadows gameplay I love and builds it out to a completely new world with new themes and mechanics to explore.  I even get my feats!  It’s not a massive part of the world, but even that small change adds new things mechanically to the system.  I love how the book is put together.  The one thing I want Schwalb Entertainment to do is give me pregens and it will be a near perfect book.  If you even just like the Shadows system and you even just barely like Vikings or you just want to learn more about Norse mythology, then this is the book you need to pick up.  99%