Basics– Dinner time! Dinner at Lionlodge is a stand alone adventure where the players are invited to meet with a mysterious benefactor. Does he only want to give us money?
Mechanics or Crunch– This adventure has a few too many things that confound the player. There are lots of enemies that either can shake off damage or might be a bit too high a level for it to be fun. It works, but players may not want the hard entry of crunch into this one. 4/5
Theme or Fluff– This adventure works, but it feels a bit too random. The random invitation is too good to be true, but why the heroes? That seems off. Also, there is background in the adventure that is surprising and kind of comes out of left field. It’s not bad, but there is too much randomness that doesn’t involve the player. 3/5
Execution– This book has lots of extras that help, but is missing one key piece. There are maps, pictures, and even character sheets. What it’s missing is ties between the characters and the adventure. Others of these have nice pieces that indicate relationships and messages to tie them to the story. That’s not in here. It’s an absence that is felt. 4.5/5
Summary– I didn’t have as much fun with this one. It’s not bad. But I was hoping for a quick one shot to get some crazy story. That said, it did play, but my players didn’t enjoy it as much, as bad rolls combined with rough resistances led to a bad day. The story was a bit fragmented, and the usual Paizo polish missed a bit here. I don’t hate it, but it’s not the best of the one shots. 77%
Basics– Fight the Scarbown! Sword World is maybe one of the biggest RPGs you’ve never heard of. It hasn’t left Japan in over 30 years, but in 2026, Mugen Gaming will make an English translation of the game. Let’s dig into this one before it comes to the US.
Core Mechanic- This is a 2d6+numbers game. When you do a thing, you get a skill check that looks like [Type of check (skill/class): number]. You roll the 2d6 and then you see if you have the skill and if a class is required. Not all checks will have class requirements, but if it does, then you can’t add the bonus if you don’t have the class. If you equal or beat, you get your desired result. Done!
Weapons, items, and spells- Something novel in the RPG space is how weapons, items, and some spells work. I want to hit you with a long sword. Like above its the same basic idea of [Accuracy check (accuracy): number], but we also look at what you rolled beyond that. On 2d6 two 1s is always a failure, but beyond that each weapon has a chart with different bonus damage based on the roll. This means how well you roll also determines how much damage you do beyond just the crit! Even when you pop a healing potion you roll 2d6 and see how much you heal. Don’t roll two 1s or it’s a dud! But, the trade off for that degree of randomness is you now also get things like the weapon having a range where the numbers are marked in red. These red numbers mean you get that value and roll again. You keep rolling till you don’t roll in the red area. Crits mean exploding dice! Some spells like energy bolt, think magic missile, can crit and just keep going!
Magic- Magic is more like Final Fantasy and less like DnD. Magic characters have magic points and a list of known spells. You keep casting till you run out of magic points, and there are magic potions that restore those points.
Combat- Combat is an interesting change. Each enemy has an initiative score. Characters roll initiative as normal and the results are compared to the score. That determines initiative. Combat is zone based with a frontline and backline for both sides. When you attack, you do the accuracy roll above but must beat the required value. If you hit, you do damage as above, but the attacker has a defense value that you reduce the damage by. When enemies attack, you roll an evasion score vs their accuracy. Players move zones, attack, cast spells,and do whatever they want to until one side is dead or runs.
Ok, that’s the basics. Let’s review this.
Mechanics or Crunch– I love me some DnD, and this feels like someone else’s interpretation. And, that’s fun. I like the novel differences and seeing a different interpretation of how to play with math. Also, I LOVE when dice are not success or failure, but degrees. That makes me happy. There is nothing here I do not love from the crunch. 5/5
Theme or Fluff– So this is where the animes get it huh? What i’ve got so far is simplistic. You got good humanoids and bad ones. You’re gonna go kill the bad ones. Ok, it’s not extremely novel, but it’s something. I’m looking forward to the new material when there is much more than a paragraph explaining the world. That said, it’s interesting and the art tells a pretty story. It’s definitely anime-esk, but considering I’m gonna finish watching Record of the Lodoss War, I’m down. 5/5
Execution– This book has two adventures and a ton of art in a free product. It’s clean, reads fast, and is easy to navigate. It has two adventures, one to teach, and one to play with friends. It even has four characters and gives breakdowns of how to play with two, three, or four players. This is a solid intro to the product. 5/5
Summary– I am a weeb. Been watching anime since the 80s and playing RPGs since the 90s. So, this is an interesting mix of all my hobbies. It isn’t an anime inspired conversion of Pathfinder or DnD, it IS Japanese RPGs. So, not only is it a whole new culture to do games, it’s how different people can see something and make their own version of it. I’m very interested in what this product will bring to the market. 100%
Basics– Welcome employee! Raptor Ruckus has you play different characters in REDACTED Park when things go wrong. Let’s break down the pieces.
Core Mechanic- This is a d20 game where you add -3 to +6 to a roll. Your average DC is a 12. That’s it!
Survival- Survival is a character trait and the leveling up mechanic. You can spend survival to reduce the DC of a check,but you get that back later. You can permanently lower your survival and you level up.
Crits and Chaos Tokens- If you roll five above a DC or 5 below, you critical. Critical successes result in double damage, while critical failure results in the GM using the chaos charts. These charts have RANDOM events happen. Some are honestly good. Some are crazy bad. You can also trigger these with Chaos Tokens. Chaos tokens are tokens everyone starts with; you get more when you critically succeed. It’s fun randomness.
Panic- This game has a sanity mechanic. You roll panic tests when things get crazy. You gain panic and when you get two panic, you fumble on a 1 to 2 instead of always a 1. When you hit five panic or fumble, you then roll on the panic table.
Hit Points and Tenacity- Hit points are the ones we know and love. Do enough damage and things die. Tenacity is like hit points, but for how much you want to keep going. You do tenacity damage, and the target might decide to run away. That human isn’t worth this much trouble or you’ve hidden so well the creature loses interest.
Turns- This game is decidedly old school. You roll a 1d6. Low? Enemies go first. High? Humans. Easy and quick.
Ok, that’s the basics. Let’s review this.
Mechanics or Crunch– This is a very simple game for fast game play. It’s as simple as a simple D20 can be. I also love any game that has degrees of success for criticals. You blow past a roll, you get a critical. I also enjoy the simplicity of combat. The addition of tenacity really helps the game go past “punch till dead” and helps GMs know when an animal would be driven off. You don’t need to kill everything to win. And in a game of giant dinos, that’s even more important! 5/5
Theme or Fluff– This is the book I wish I had as a kid addicted to Jurassic Park. It’s clearly wearing its influences as the book looks like the posters and props from the movie. It’s pretty and really draws you into the theme of the world. 5/5
Execution– Snapback made a fun product, but here is where I’m an old fuddy duddy. They lean HARD into the theme here making a solid product, but that always leads to a bit of style over substance as it might be a bit harder to follow all the pieces to completely understand how to play. That’s a tiny gripe as the book is pretty, reads fast, is well laid out, and even has an adventure with several pre-gen characters. The book was a bit harder to see all the pieces compared to some cleaner, more bland books, but this book is pretty! 4.75/5
Summary– I do love me some simple horror RPGs. I don’t think I’d want to run this long term though. Horror is always a one shot for me, but what’s here is fun. There might be some issues as I love the theme, but it does make seeing all the flow a bit more difficult. I got it, but style vs visibility. That said, I’ve already kickstarted the PDFs, so I think this will be fun. Give this one a look. There is even a whole one shot adventure for you to check out. It’s another free to check out promo, so you honestly can’t lose! 98%
Basics– Don’t call it a comeback! The Cypher System is getting a kind of second edition! Not really, but kind of! Monte Cook games has released a preview of their second edition of the game, so let’s dive into the preview of what’s the same and what’s changing.
Base mechanics– This isn’t changing. Your Game master says a thing is level x. You multiply that x by 3 and need to roll over that on a d20. You have abilities that knock down that level by an amount and you still attempt to roll over that on a d20. Still slick and easy to learn.
Effort – This isn’t changing. You have three pools to draw resources from. You have Effort that reduces the amount you need to spend on a power. You can spend from your pool to use a power or to reduce the difficulty level of a skill challenge. You spend 3 points for the first level, reduced by effort, and 2 points per level after that. Still slick as always.
Damage and armor– Here’s comes the big changes. Armor now acts like an ability, reducing the level you need to go against when you dodge or block. Also, damage now comes in three flavors as you have minor, moderate, and major. You have three minor to a moderate, and three moderate to a major. Once you have three major, you are knocked out. Previously, damage went against your pools.
Cyphers- Cyphers are another big change. Cyphers used to be more object based. Now they are more like spells you can use each day. Furthermore, they will also will focus on more subtle cyphers that are constant powers that provide a change to your character.
And that’s it.
Mechanics or Crunch– I honestly welcome these changes. The cypher system was fun before, but I felt the loss of points from my pools really hampered my character. By changing the damage to go against something else, hit points if you will, it lets those points be used for waht they were meant for. Also, armor reducing the level feels a bit more cypher system than it reducing damage. This also lets heavy armored foes be possibly damaged by lighter weapons as previously heavy armor meant light weapons were useless. I look forward to its full implementation. 5/5
Theme or Fluff– So, you can’t really judge this product based on its theme because it really doesn’t have any. You can’t judge it on a document updating the math of the world. -/5
Execution– This document is pretty slick. I feel like I could honestly start using this stuff in my current cypher games just based on this. It’s easy to read and understand. It’s also pretty, using art from across all the different properties that Monte Cook Games makes. 5/5
Summary– Monte Cook always gets about 100 bucks from me every year. They put out a kickstarter for something, I throw money, and then stuff shows up later. This year will be no exception. I like the update to the system and it shows growth of his original idea in positive ways. This is something you need to check out. It’s free, so why not! 100%
Basics– Apocolypse fantasy! Legnend in the Mist is a rules light RPG that is much more Roleplaying than rollplaying. It’s a fantasy setting of a long forgotten world fallen on hard times as people emerge fromt he primal forests of the world. let’s dig into the mechanics
Base mechanics– This is a 2d6 system mych like Apocolypse engine. When you do anything, you roll 2d6, add numbers, and hope for a 10 or better. A 10 means a solid success. Between a 6-9, you succeed, but there is a drawback. Less than 6 means only drawbacks. Legend in the Mist is more “yes, and “ and less “does a 20 hit the AC” type of system.
Tags and Powers– Your character in this game has a number of tags. Tags are short descriptions of yourself like a DnD ranger would have Wilderness Survivor as a tag. Each tag has three powers tags and a weakness tag. Going back to the ranger, they could have stalker, Nature bonded, and deft with a bow as power tags, but have loaner as a weakness tag. When you do an action, you count the number of power tags that help and subtract from that the number of weakness tags that hurt. That number is what you add to the 2d6 above.
Conditions and ending encounters– For every power tag you have, you add one to any level of success you achieve. If you attacked with that ranger above, rolled a 12 on 2d6, and had four power tags that helped you, you could put the status wounded on an enemy with a rank of five. If you only rolled a 7 total with those four tags, you would still wound that enemy, but you might also gain the headache one condition as you got bashed in the head on the attempt. Conflict either social or combat ends when a condition goes far enough one way or another.
And that’s it.
Mechanics or Crunch– This RPG has fun mechanics, but you have to want it. This is a very fluff heavy mechanics RPG. That’s completely fine, and fun, but is it what you want? I’m fine with this, but it might be a deterrent for some players. 4.5 /5
Theme or Fluff– This is a phenomenal product for story. It’s a comic that teaches you the game. It’s a comic that teaches you the world story. It’s everything I love for an intro product. 5/5
Execution– This is a choose your own adventure comic book. It’s not hyperlinked, but when you do things, you roll dice, and click the move to page box to move to the result. I love it! This is the product I would have wanted back in 3rd grade when I read choose your own adventure books. Good art, solid writing, and ease of reading makes this a near perfect product. 5/5
Summary– The Apocalypse engine is a funny thing. RPG have always been a meeting of the theater kids and the mathletes and the strange creations of those two. This RPG is much more theater kids product with less math and ability to power game. That’s not bad, but make sure this is what the group wants. The product itself is amazing, and it’s fun to go back and play a choose your own adventure book. For the price, you need to check this book out! 97%
Basics– Don’t worry, you are already dead. Dreadnought is a simple RPG of horror and monsters beyond the waves. Players attempt to solve problems, get gold, and serve the gods in this simple RPG.
Base mechanics– This game has VERY simple mechanics. Players roll 2 d8s when they want to do anything. This action is called a move. The Dread maker (DM, nice!) rolls a die: either a d4, d6, or a d8, and you compare. If one of the player’s dice is a larger number, they succeed. If both succeed, it’s even better, and if none beat the DMs dice, the player has a problem!
Characters– Players get four different archetypes that range from pirate, aboriginal fisherman/warrior, fleshwizard, or paladin. You have NO stats. The archetypes give you different moves that other characters don’t have. You also have the same number of hit points called wounds as everyone else. When you get four wounds, bad things start to pile up quickly!
And that’s it. It’s very rules light, but action forward!
Mechanics or Crunch– This is a simple RPG with simple mechanics. I don’t hate what’s here. It almost feels like a GMless system with how few rules there are. It’s got all the elements of a standard RPG, but with almost no rules to it. I’d like a bit more description of things, but it works. Then again, I think the goal is to be as rules light as possible. 4.5 /5
Theme or Fluff– This book feels like Mork Borg had a baby with Scary Stories to tell in the dark and it was raised by Lovecraft. I like the art and tone. It feels dark and dreary. And it’s supposed to. 5/5
Execution– This book choose style over substance, and it might have hurt the overall project. I like what’s here, but I also have been playing RPGs for almost 30 years. I know what to expect. If you are completely new, this might not be the best book for you. The theme is everywhere, but the flow of ideas is a bit off if you don’t know what each section generally is. I can follow, but newer players might need a few read throughs to understand. I also feel some sections are not as clear as they should be. Furthermore, it’s all digital, but there are no hyperlinks. Help me navigate this book! Lastly, I must commend the book as it’s got an adventure that you and your friends can start playing in about 20 minutes. This book is rules light, and the adventure reflects that. Good, but help the newer players see what this is about. 4/5
Summary– Style and execution are a hard mix. I love what’s here. The atmosphere and crazy mechanics are a fun way to approach challenges. It’s random as hell, but that can be fun. However, I feel this book needs some editing to really help newer players get into it. This is more indy rock and less top 40 pop. If you love that kind of thing, you will absolutely love this. Especially if you love horror! However, if you want nice clean tables and combat flow charts, then you will be a bit lost. But, don’t fear the nonstandard. Check this one out even if you’re not sure you’ll like it because it’s free! 90%
Throat Punch Games 