Category: Ring Side Report

Ring Side Report- RPG review of Dreadnought RPG

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Product– Dreadnought RPG

System- Dreadnought RPG

Producer– Liminal Artifact

Price– FREE here https://liminalartifact.com/  

TL; DR– Rules light horror. 90%

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%

Ring Side Report- RPG review of The Electric State

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Product– The Electric State

System– The Electric State

Producer– Free League Publishing

Price- $24.99 here https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/467022/the-electric-state-roleplaying-game?affiliate_id=658618 

TL; DR- Missing some crunch, but full of story 93%

Basics– Ready for a road trip?  The Electric State RPG is a rules light, alternative 90s setting. A decaying America where AI, political intrigue, and the basic fight for real survival all combine to make either the worst or best road trip in history.  Let’s look at the game

Base mechanics– The Electric State follows many of the same principles of Free Leagues’ other games, with players rolling six sided dice and aiming for a 6.  The 6 is a success.  The player typically rolls between 2 and 6 dice.  A character has only four attributes, making up the bulk of a character’s dice.

Pushing/rerolls– Players can push rolls when they fail.  Pushing means rerolling the dice and taking the new result.  However, any ones rolled result in either damage or mental trauma to the character.

Combat-Combat is very simple.  One side, determined by the GM or an opposed dice roll, goes first.  Each character on that side gets an action and a move.  If you want to defend or dodge, you can, but that will remove you next turn.    

Neurocasters– A big part of the setting are neurocasters.  These are helmits you can wear and enter their version of the matrix/internet. You can use this to hack, learn, and pilot drones.  If you push rolls in the internet, you gain bliss.  And when your bliss gets too high, you are too addicted to leave.  Many people die on this internet!

And that’s really it.  It’s VERY rules light.

Mechanics or Crunch– This is the most pure of Free Leagues’ products for mechanics.  It’s very rules light, and maybe even too rules light. What’s here is good, but I would like more.  I think I need a bit more crunch to my RPGs to really get the most out of this game.  Then again, this game focuses much more on the journey and not the destination even for its mechanics, meaning it’s more hand-wavey about how things happen.  If you want the dice to tell a story like a critical success, then this is not for you.  If you play RPGs and just roll dice, then you could speed through most of The Electric State missing its pieces.  But, I still need a bit more crunch to my game.  4/5

Theme or Fluff–  This is where the game shines.  If you want a travel RPG, then this would be it.  The characters are literally called travelers.  You go on an adventure in The Electric State where anything from a cult, to a serial killer, to a robot with hundreds of neurocaster- wearing human zombies on strings follow it around.  There is politics, a world falling apart, drug/internet addiction, human misery, and a whole host of other themes in this game.  The authors have many things to say about the human condition, and this RPG reflects the world well and says volumes at the same time.  5/5

Execution– Free League knows books.  This book has solid production, art, and layout.  It reads easily and fast.  The rules are laid out well enough that I could just pick them up and start reading right away with no confusion.  It’s a good story mixed with solid math, making it an easy read.  It’s also got four pre-gens and several adventures, so if you and your buddies want to play, you don’t have to guess how to run, prep, and plan this adventure or what the designers thought characters should look like. 5/5

Summary– The Electric State is an interesting one for me.  I don’t hate it, but I don’t know how often I’ll travel in it.  I need a bit more crunch in my usual games.  But, the crunch that’s here is pure Free League with pushed rolls and consequences.  The story of the world is interesting and poignant.  I can’t tell how much the designers are luddites against tech or people embracing the tools needed to keep the modern world alive, and maybe that’s a solid trick to pull on me.  The book itself looks good and reads well.  I know I might not visit this world often, but if you offered, I don’t think I would turn down an afternoon in The Electric State.  93%

Ring Side Report- RPG review of Pathfinder Bounty #15: Treasure off the Coast

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Product– Pathfinder Bounty #15: Treasure off the Coast

System- Pathfinder 2nd Ed

Producer– Paizo

Price– $24.99 here https://paizo.com/products/btq02akz?Pathfinder-Bounty-15-Treasure-off-the-Coast 

TL; DR– A solid intro. 100%

Basics– Why not make money!  It’s time to speed run an adventure!  You meet a quest giver in a bar, and she offers you money to get some treasure.  How could this go wrong?  

Mechanics or Crunch– This is a basic paint by number adventure, and that’s not a bad thing.  You have some social interaction, then some skill challenges, and lastly some fighting.  It’s not the deepest interaction, but if you want a quick con demo, this is my go-to.   5/5

Theme or Fluff–  We got devil worshipers, boats, and water goblins.  There is enough story and fluff here to draw you in for the hour.  Again, don’t expect crazy levels of detail, but there is enough to have fun for an hour-long game.  5/5

Execution– It’s a Paizo one-hour, one-shot.  Decent story, decent pictures, and a simple map.  I get out of this exactly what I expected.  5/5

Summary– I do a lot of evangelizing for PFS, and when I’m at cons where people just don’t know what RPGs are, this is the adventure I’ve landed on bringing with me.  Bar, quest giver, boat, skill test, fight, wrap up.  This is exactly what I expect from a bounty, and I love this one.  100%

Ring Side Report- RPG review of Pathfinder Adventure: Rusthenge

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Product– Pathfinder Adventure: Rusthenge

System- Pathfinder 2nd Ed

Producer– Paizo

Price– $24.99 here https://paizo.com/products/btq02epv?Pathfinder-Adventure-Rusthenge 

TL; DR– A solid single town dungeon crawl 98%

Basics– Where is the dead guy from from?  A man walks to the village and dies.  You join a village elder to find where he came from, why he died, and how to stop the death toll from rising!  Why is everything rusting and falling apart along the way?  

Mechanics or Crunch– I love solid low-level, one-town adventures.  You end up in a town, and within a short bit are delving the dungeon.  The fights are fun, but balanced.  There are not just fights but also enough things happening to give the bard and the rogue something to do.  There is not a ton happening outside of town, so the exploration based ranger will be a bit bored, but it’s balanced in enough ways to make this a solid play.   5/5

Theme or Fluff–  We’ve got cults, traps, undead, and the friends we make along the way.  There is a story the players can unravel and build upon to have a blast.  It’s not one note, but it is a dungeon crawl for most of the adventure.  That is always a blast.  5/5

Execution– This is Paizo!  They know what they are doing.  BUT!  I feel one thing was left a bit loose. There is a way the players can mess with a major end event, but they won’t know about it till they get there.  I feel the GM is in the same boat.  I’d like that emphasized a bit more.  Aside from that, this is a fantastic adventure. 4.75/5

Summary– This adventure honestly feels like the first Diablo to me.  You have a town where bad stuff happened, and you have to delve a dungeon under it to solve the problem.  AND I LOVE IT!  I had a blast, the players had a blast, and the story came through.  It’s got a slight problem, but overall, I’d suggest this to any GM who wants the One town, one dungeon experience.  98%

Ring Side Report- RPG review of Savvy & Swagger

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Product– Savvy & Swagger

System- Savvy & Swagger

Producer– Beyond the Horizon

Price– Free or more if you want here https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/525596/savvy-swagger?affiliate_id=658618 

TL; DR– The more you stab, the more you succeed!  97%

Basics–  YARRR WE ARE THE PIRATES WHO DON’T DO ANYTHING!  Savvy and Swagger is an EXTREME rules light RPG about being a pirate.  Do crazy stuff, pirate around, and play children’s games to drink rum in game while you drink rum in real life and have a blast.

Base rules- You have exactly two stats: Savvy or Swagger.  When you want to do anything, you subtract that number from a difficulty.  You then insert that many daggers into a Pop-Up Pirate toy ( https://www.amazon.com/TOMY-T7028A1-Pop-Up-Pirate/dp/B00000JICB ) Pirate pops?  You fail. He doesn’t, you succeed!

Thus concludes the entirety of the rules!  

Mechanics or Crunch– Do you like Dread?  Do you like rules lite?  Do you want a one session game?  This is somehow Lasers and Feelings with fewer rules.  But, I’m down for this.  Stupid, fun is still stupid fun, so embrace the simple rules!  5/5

Theme or Fluff–  This is simple, but it has heart.  You build characters via selecting descriptors and then do that.  The GM can make a game in three d6 rolls.  Then you do stuff.  You can not expect 900 page dissertations on the nature of socioeconomic status of Pirates and local cultures in here.  This is Pirates of the Caribbean levels of reality.  It’s Saturday morning cartoon fun.  Considering how many Saturdays I spent as a kid watching those, this is just pure fun.    5/5

Execution– I LOVE this product and the layout, BUT I have one major issue.  Good layout, easy to read, fun background.  All solid product.  My big BUT is the product description on Drive Thru RPG talks about needing a pop-up pirate toy.  The one page rules does not mention that.  That’s an issue because I bought this, threw it into my google drive and read it a week later COMPLETELY confused on how to roll stabbing on a d6!  I’ve got a lot of D6, but I don’t know what you mean by that. Once I checked the product description again, it completely worked. Add the mention of the toy, and this is a 5/5, but now it’s 4.5/5

Summary– Sometimes you need a Kobolds ate my Baby or a Lasers and Feelings.  I love me a solid 40+ session RPG with rules so thick they absorb light due to their gravitational pull.  But, sometimes, you just want to roll dice, be silly, and do something even sillier.  That is this game.  Go be a pirate.  Heck, you can get this for FREE if you want to try before you pay.  So, there is LITERALLY no reason not to go get this now.  Honestly, now I’ve got a pop up pirate coming to my house from Amazon because of it. 97%