Ring Side Report-Board Game Review of Call To Adventure: The Name of the Wind
Category: Ring Side Report
Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Dungeon Crawl Classics Dying Earth #1: The Laughing Idol of Lar-Shann
Product– Dungeon Crawl Classics Dying Earth #1: The Laughing Idol of Lar-Shann
System- DCC RPG
Producer– Goodman Games
Price– $7 here https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/393055/Dungeon-Crawl-Classics-Dying-Earth-1-The-Laughing-Idol-of-LarShan?affiliate_id=658618
TL; DR-Solid adventure with a bit of crazy ending. 97%
Basics– Who wants a drink? Drawn to a small town where a particularly special liquor is made, you find a massive idol barking orders. Can you find the liquor before the idol counts down to… something?
Mechanics or Crunch– Ah first level Goodman Game scenarios! These guys know their mechanics, so everything is solidly done with the right amount of random and fun monsters to fight. My players and I all had a blast killing monsters, searching, and finding the secrets of the idol. 5/5
Theme or Fluff– Overall this is fun, but I feel the ending gets a bit off. There are a ton of fun in this adventure and has some crazy turns that are just perfect for the Dying Earth. There is one problem with the adventure. I won’t spoil anything, but I feel like one enemy would not attack the players at the end. That said, if you run it how you want, it won’t be a problem!. 4.5/5
Execution– PDF? Yep. Hyperlinked? Yep. Solid Art? Yep. Good layout? Yep! This is what I expect from a Goodman Games adventure. Solid work Goodman games! 5/5
Summary– Ah crazy Dying Earth fun. This with all the other adventures makes me want to read more Vance. I love the crunch and the design, but I have a few issues with the ending. That said, you write your own story as the Judge, so fix it on the fly! This is a solid adventure that I loved, and I think you will too! 97%
Ring Side Report-Board Game Review of Call To Adventure: The Stormlight Archive
Ring Side Report-Board Game Review of Call To Adventure: Epic Origins
Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Dungeon Crawl Classics Dying Earth #0: The Black Obelisk
Product– Dungeon Crawl Classics Dying Earth #0: The Black Obelisk
System- DCC RPG
Producer– Goodman Games
Price– $7 here https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/393054/Dungeon-Crawl-Classics-Dying-Earth-0-The-Black-Obelisk?affiliate_id=658618
TL; DR-Short and Sweet! 97%
Basics– Time for the trip! You are all traveling for a possibly once in a lifetime religious trip across the dying earth. Will you survive and thrive or will you die along the way? What will your god have to say about the things you do along the way?
Mechanics or Crunch– This is a fun multichoice adventure, but it’s short. There are three paths the players can take, but the paths might need a bit more. I like what’s here, but if your players don’t roleplay a ton, you will get this done in about two hours. That’s pretty short! 4.5/5
Theme or Fluff– This does feel like DCC, and now I want to read some Vance. I didn’t read a ton of Jack Vance before this. I know its where DnD magic comes from, but that was the extent of my knowledge. After reading this, I feel its themed enough to feel like a DCC funnel as I kill loads of PCs, but I also feel like I want to learn more about the world this comes from. 5/5
Execution– PDF? Yep. Funnel? Yep. Hyperlinked? Yep. Solid Art? Yep. Good layout? This is what I expect from Goodman Games and a funnel. Solid work Goodman games! 5/5
Summary– This was a fun adventure to get my players into the world of the Dying Earth. Heck it got ME into the world of the Dying Earth! I want to read more of this to get deeper in, so mission accomplished there adventure! The crunch is good with the only real problem being the length of the adventure. It’s not bad by any stretch, but it is short. At a con on the last day, that might be a godsend for BOTH the GM and the players as you want to keep having fun, but you need a rest. But, as a start, it’s a few points off. That said, if my only real complaint about this product is I want more, then this is a solid product! 97%
Ring Side Report- Escape Room Review of Haunted Halloween Online Escape Room-The Haunting of Emmie Jenkins
Product– The Haunting of Emmie Henkins
Producer– Masters Of Mystery
Price– $20 here https://mastersofmystery.com/collections/escape-rooms/products/online-escape-room-game-the-haunting-of-emmie-jenkins
TL; DR– Why are we here? 76%
Basics– They all died but why? Three bodies found and one ransom note for a fourth, but no murder weapon… why and how? What happened? Who did this? Solve the mystery in under an hour!
Mechanics or Crunch-This escape room had decent puzzles, but a few were completely off and the hints didn’t help. The first one was one we honestly just brute force solved and we still have NO idea how it happened. The other ones worked well with a few limited hiccups. Overall, it was fun, but be prepared to just force a solution. 4/5
Theme or Fluff– So lots of people died and the story to why really doesn’t make sense. I will not spoil the story, but honestly, it’s just off. You have scary things, but the “why?” of the plot just didn’t jive with anyone in our group. We got creeped out in our living room on a Sunday at 4PM in the summer, so that worked, but why we did was more jump scare and less dread. 3/5
Execution-This room worked well, but there are some technical issues. The mouse is hard to use in a few cases as scrolling and moving are hard to see when the mouse is a different shape, like a large investigating lens. There were also quite a few editing mistakes that irritated one of my players. What did work well was the Sticky Note function. Honestly that was a lovely addition. Another cool thing is some outside game stuff. That was a fun treat to use. Overall, a decent execution of the game. 4.5/5
Summary– I love escape rooms and this is my third fully online escape room. This isn’t a bad escape room and honestly it was a fun experience. It just has some issues with the story and one of the puzzles. Those are some significant issues, but not something that can’t be overcome. Will I do another by this company? Yes. The price is fair and you do get to keep going past the house. We barely solved it in time, so I have that feeling of accomplishment. I also would suggest this to others, but this might not be my first suggestion. 76%
Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Outgunned Quickstart
Product– Outgunned Quickstart
System- Outgunned
Producer– Two Little Mice
Price– $0 here https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/433185/Outgunned–Quickstart?affiliate_id=658618
TL; DR– Shadowrun lite action movie?? 98%
Basics– Getting too old for this! Welcome to the world of 80s action movies! Outgunned is a light weight RPG focused on action movies from the 80s. Let’s break this down and see what’s up!
Actions and dice rolls- This game has attributes and skills. When you do anything, you pick an attribute and an associated skill, count the number you have in each, and then roll that many d6s. This number can never go below 2 and can never go above 9. Your goal is to get sets of the same number or symbol on the shared dice. Two is a basic success and three of a kind is a critical. Most actions you want to do require critical success.
Feats and rerolls- You further customize your character by getting feats. These abilities often get you rerolls for specific actions. You can also reroll dice if you get a basic success to try to get a better success. BUT, you lose that success if you fail.
Adrenaline- As story candy! Adrenaline is the story candy of this game that you earn by acting like your characters. You can spend one to get an extra die on a roll, one to activate some feats, and you can spend six to get the spotlight. Spotlight is when you are a god among men doing crazy things, saving lives, ignoring pain, or whatever the heck you want!
Combat rounds- Combat is very free form in this game. The heroes take a turn doing anything, and the bad guys respond. If the heroes succeed on their actions they can do whatever game plan they had or just injure the bad guys. For the response players need to tell the director/GM how they avoid damage and make a roll. Failure means losing grit/HP. There is not a number of bad guys, but instead a giant pool of grit that the bad guys share, so you don’t get one shot kills on bad guys too easily, but you do get an action movie vibe where heroes kill a wave of thugs.
Ok, on to my thoughts.
Mechanics or Crunch– This is a prelaunch for the kickstarter, so you can’t see everything. But I am intrigued. The basics of add two numbers, roll that many dice, and count sets is an interesting one. The bad guy hit point pool is fun and an easy way to keep the action movie feel. I do have some rules questions on how to do all that, but the full rules will hopefully explain more. 4.75/5
Theme or Fluff– Ya, this feels like an action movie. I’m honestly surprised there are not that many puns in the book, but it feels like an action movie in terms of the rules, art, and characters. 5/5
Execution– PDF? Yep. Cheap intro? Yep. Hyperlinked? Yep. Free adventure? Yep. Pregens with nice art? Yep. SOLD! That’s all the things I need out of an intro to get me and my friends to the table. I read it in about 15 minutes and now I think I could run the provided adventure. 5/5
Summary– As I get older, rules light and fast is more and more fun. I also like brainless action movies where bullets and popcorn flow in equal, reckless abandon. This feels like that. I have the basic system of Shadowrun (add number and roll d6s) with the simplicity of an indie game. I have some questions on mechanics, but its a FREE intro. Those will hopefully be fixed in the full game. I’m in for the kickstarter, and you reader should at least check out the free PDF. Solid intro to this game. 98%
Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Treasure Vault
Product– Treasure Vault
System- Pathfinder 2nd Ed.
Producer– Paizo
Price– $56 here https://paizo.com/products/btq02eav?Pathfinder-Treasure-Vault
TL; DR-Make or buy something fun! 95%
Basics– IT HAS POCKETS! Treasure Vault is the TTRPG equivalent of a Toys r Us Christmas catalog. Lots of new toys for everyone to play with, from alchemists with new materials, to spell additions that give some extra umph to the fireball, or the fighter with the ability to add pockets to armor.
Mechanics or Crunch– Overall, this book has a solid crunch to the system. There are lots of new toys that everyone can use and enjoy. It’s an item book and the items fit with the rest of the toys in the rest of the system. My one major issue is that some things are left out because they are covered in other books. Tell me where those are from so I can check the rules out in those books. It’s not a major thing but it’s enough so I was a bit confused on some new additions in this book and lead me to check out others books for the rules. Also, the newer rules on crafting are good, but they reference things without giving enough background so I was a bit confused there on first read. More links to the other materials and books would help. Good stuff but enough confusion that I was a bit lost as I read through some of the sections. 4.25/5
Theme or Fluff– I was surprised by the amount of theme present in here! There is a framing device where a dragon and a kobold discuss the new items and materials. It’s enjoyable! In addition, all the new toys the book presents are honestly fun and more fitting to the world. 5/5
Execution– This is a slam dunk. Solid layout, easy to read font, hyperlinks, and solid art all make this an easy and enjoyable book for anyone to use. Well done book craftsmanship. 5/5
Summary-This book is another solid addition to Pathfinder 2nd Ed. The book is crafted well from a technical standing. The new toys for players all feel fresh enough that players will enjoy them and they feel like they fit in the world. Even the new things all fit well within the mechanics of the world. My main issue is I would like more rules to help me understand how some things are used or how some things are done. If you or your players want more items to spend that sweet, sweet GP on, or or more things to make, this is the book you need for Pathfinder! 95%
Ring Side Report-Board Game Review of Trek 12
Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Dragonbane Quickstart
Product– Dragonbane Quickstart
System- Dragonbane
Producer– Free League Publishing
Price– FREE here https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/409397/Dragonbane-Quickstart?cPath=27806_43182?affiliate_id=658618
TL; DR– DnD 5e, The Dark Eye, Call of Cthulhu, and for some reason Savage Words had an awesome baby! 91%
Basics– Time for something different! Dragonbane is a new edition of an older Scandinavian RPG. Let’s look at this new yet old RPG!
Base mechanics- This is the mix of 5e and The Dark Eye. Everything is a d20 roll where you try to roll under a skill. More skill ranks mean more likely to succeed. The solid 5e parts are the notions of advantage/boon and disadvantage/bane. It functions just like in 5e! But even more fun is pushing the roll. That’s exactly like Call of Cthulhu. You failed a roll? You can reroll, but things get worse if you fail.
Combat, turns, and reactions- Time for Savage Worlds to stride in! Combat initiative is a deck of cards numbered 1 to 10, so not a perfect copy, but high card goes first instead of high roll goes first. Players on their turn take an action and move like DnD, BUT you can instead interrupt another action to dodge or parry an attack. You roll a d20 vs a skill level to attack or dodge and if you succeed, you deal damage or jump out of the way. Damage is rolled like DnD, but armor reduces damage instead of adding to an AC. When you act, you turn your card over until the next round starts. When anything hits zero HP it’s down.
Willpower and magic- In addition to hit points, you also have will power. Will power is kind of like MP in any other RPG. You spend will power to cast spells and to do special abilities. Some abilities and spells have levels where you spend more power you hit even harder. And just like above, you roll vs your own skill to do the ability.
Ok, thats the basics! Time for the review.
Mechanics or Crunch– The mechanics here are all the things I love. Roll under is an amazing mechanic! Advantage and disadvantage and d20 dice for fantasy are always a solid addition. Cards are a fun way to do init that is not crazy hard to do, but different enough to be novel. I love Final Fantasy and adding magic points in is a fun way for me to do something just a bit different. I love what’s here for mechanics! 5/5
Theme or Fluff– This is the hard part for me about this book. The pictures are good, the book has a simple adventure AND sample characters. The worlds looks interesting, BUT there isnt any real discussion of the world and environment. I like what I see, but I just wish I knew what it was about more. 3.75/5
Execution– This is a free, hypertext, PDF with an adventure, MAPS, characters, character art, and solid layout. THIS IS WHAT I LOVE! 5/5
Summary-Just go get this. It’s free and it’s well done. This is all the toys I love in an RPG oneshot. It’s got all the things I want in a solid book. My one major issue is I want more worldbuilding. That’s a problem I hope is solved in the complete book, so I can’t suggest this enough! 92%
Throat Punch Games 