Ring Side Report-Board Game Review of Space Cadets: Away Missions

October 29, 2015October 29, 2015 ~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ Leave a comment

Product-Space Cadets: Away Missions

Producer-Stronghold Games

Price– $ 100 here http://www.amazon.com/Space-Cadets-Away-Missions-Board/dp/B01068EDBW/ref=sr_1_1?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1446045035&sr=1-1&keywords=space+cadets+away+missions

Set-up/Play/Clean-up– 60 minutes per scenario (1-6 players)

Type-American

Depth-Light

TL; DR-Simple, Sci-Fi Fun! 96%

Basics-And now another thrilling tale of the ROCKET PATROL! Enter the worlds of 60’s Golden Age Sci-Fi with Space Cadets: Away Missions. In this game, the players take the role of different members of the Rocket Patrol as they undergo some of their most famous missions. At the start of each game, a scenario guide instructs the players how to set up the game, what parts to use, what aliens will be necessary for this adventure, and an intro paragraph to set the mood of the game. After set-up, turns are pretty simple. First, players decide the player order, and then they take the tokens to signify that order. Next, players perform actions based on their available actions on their player board. Once all players have acted, the monsters all act in order of intelligence typically attacking the closest player and then attacking close players in reverse turn order. Each player has a different member of the Rocket Patrol who has a number of health and oxygen, action tokens, a IQ score, and a special ability. If ANY Patrol person runs out of health or oxygen, that player dies and all players lose the game. A player’s action are: move, attack, subdue thrall/brain-in-a-jar, heal, open/close/lock hatch, and some scenario specific actions. When you attack, subdue, heal, or do scenario specific actions, a player rolls a number of dice equal to the weapon strength at that range of the enemy (attack) or IQ (subdue, heal, som scenario actions) and counts the 1s, 2s, and 3s. Monsters attack in the exact same way. The key mechanic of the dice is overkill. For any action to succeed, you only need one success. However, if you roll more successes, you can spend these overkill successes to activate extra abilities such as one patrol person being able to take a free move action and another can attack another adjacent enemy. The enemies even have some overkill options that can be activated based on who the player hit. But, when the enemies score overkill, the also have options they can take to hamper the heroes. Play continues in these rounds until the heroes achieve the scenario goal or one player dies!

Mechanics– As you saw above, the rules are not complicated. They might even be a bit too simple, but that also means a much larger audience can play the game. I’ve already seen a six year old play this game and have a blast. In terms of difficulty, I would place this game solidly in the company of Mice and Mystics. That’s a good place to be! However, I do have one semi-serious complaint-this game doesn’t really do a campaign mode. There are some connected scenarios as they tell the story of the Rocket Patrol, but no real character progression and building. The items you get at scenario start are dictated to you (with some wiggle room), and you won’t really get a chance to keep anything cool you find. That does enhance a story a bit as you don’t have the crazy random events in some other boardgames, but you won’t find awesome stuff to carry with you or have a way to better your character over time. But without that, each scenario feels a bit like an old school Star Trek episode-you can jump in at any point, play, and not have to know an absolute ton of background to be involved. It is a double edged sword to not build character progression as the easy of jump in play and play, but hampers the hard core set as they lose a bit of their involvement. I’m a hard core RPG player, so I need my character improvement over time. That said, it’s a more minor thing. What is here is phenomenal and a blast to play through 4.5/5

Theme– This game oozes theme. You have awesome cards, sculpted figures, great tile art, and just enough rules to make things work. You feel like some old timey announcer will read out the intro paragraph to each adventure. Everything looks amazing, and that really puts you on board a old school rocket driving through the galaxy. The game itself feels like it should. Everything works together well making you feel like you’ve been sent out on an away missions to save the universe or destroy an alien menace. It feels like I’m riding shotgun with either Buck Rogers or Flash Gordon! 5/5

Instructions– This game has some great instruction with lots of explanation, but the length will intimidate a few people. What’s here is great, but then again, the rules don’t really need to be the complicated. The game has an absolute ton here, but it’s mostly compartmentalized. The rules explain it all, and that depth might put a few people off. However, don’t let it! The rules are honestly covered by two amazing inserts that the players use as a reference. If you can get past the fact that there is a ton of rules, you will see that it’s mostly clarifications of the fine points. There are enough pictures to help you understand how to play as well. I like what I see here. 4.75/5

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Execution– 100 bucks for 100 minies is a price Reaper can’t match. Now throw in an entire game beside that. Add on top of that the art is great, the materials well constructed, and sparkly dice(!), and you have an amazing product. Heck, FOR THE MINIS ALONE YOU’RE MONEY AHEAD! The one minor criticism I have is I’d like a few more colors than green. Maybe a blue for thralls? That’s such a minor point, it’s barely a whisper. Even the brains-in-a-jars are green, but they come with some awesome plastic around them so they look like a brain-in-a-jar! Furthermore, this game put so much thought into the game that you don’t even realise when you start to play. Overkill is the big, cool mechanic for this game, so you need to know what dice came from whose attack. Normally you’d have to roll all the dice pairs separately, but in this game you get five pairs of differently colored dice. So, you can roll your dice pool and look to see if red hit you twice, once, or not at all. It speeds up the game in such a smart way, you won’t even notice it if you’re not careful! If you’d like to see all the part of this game, I did a unboxing of the game here:https://youtu.be/J4igYLjvVzU 5/5

Summary-I’ve never been a miniature gamer. Sure, I do like the co-op games out there, but I don’t like getting bogged down in a ton of random rules (I’m looking right at you Warhammer 40K!). This game has just enough rules to make it fun. You don’t need to break out some string to find range or if your shot is blocked. You get to take quick, fun turns to attack the alien menace as a team. This game doesn’t need a GM so everyone can play and be on the same side, and that right there sold me on this game. Everyone get’s to play, try to win, and have an awesome time. It has an amazing theme and a beautiful execution. My only real problem is a bit with the rules and no real progression. I’d like to build my character like in a RPG, but that would take away from the plug-and-play nature of the game. The problem I have with the rules is that some players will get frustrated before they begin, but if you crack the cover of the rule book, you clearly see that 70% of the rules clarify sticking points about otherwise simple rules. Overall, if you’re in the mood for an awesome, simple, and retro sci-fi game, Space Cadets: Away Missions is a great game to bring to the table. 96%

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of The Served Brandolyn Red

October 16, 2015 ~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ 2 Comments

Product-They Served Brandolyn Red

System– DCC

Producer– Goodman Games

Price– $7 here http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/159410/Dungeon-Crawl-Classics-2015-Halloween-Module-They-Served-Brandolyn-Red&affiliate_id=658618

TL; DR– An awesome starter adventure! 95%

Basics-It’s a good day for a white wedding! Until the groom’s head is chopped off and the bride is poisoned. Then, players and the guests of the wedding have to find out all the twists and turns in this adventure and recover the groom’s head to properly bury the man. Why did this happen? Only you can find out!

Mechanics or Crunch-Ah, the DCC RPG funnel! Hit the players hard and see what falls down. It’s a time honored tradition. This adventure has all the great pieces of one, and the mechanics match enough to challenge first and zero level players as well as bringing enough weird to the party. 5/5

Theme or Fluff-This adventure is one that you as a GM have to bring to life. There is a lot going on here, and it kind of goes in two directions. Only one direction gets the PC’s paid, so they won’t care about family struggles as longs gold happens. If you can bring that part to life, it’s a fun side of the adventure. But, most parties and games won’t even care about some below the surface details that the adventure has due to the second part being a bit off base. It’s fun, but a bit too unwieldy with the second story not bringing as much to the party as the first. 4.25/5

Execution– This is a DCC RPG book put out by Goodman Games themselves, so it’s going to be good! The art is great, the pictures are phenomenal, and the layout is simple enough to help every GM run a fun adventure. The book even has detailed family trees that you can use to enhance the substory that I complained about in the theme section. Even the hex crawl simple map is a great addition to the game! This simple adventure has the tools and talent needed to really help you make a great time for the players. Also, it’s out in time for Halloween, so get this now! 5/5

Summary-I love this one so much it might become my new favorite funnel. My players get a place to explore. I get some story to build off with a subplot that is fun, if a bit of a strange addition. The mechanics of the adventure are built well enough that it’s got enough challenge to keep things interesting, but not a killer curve to destroy a party. From the art to the layout, this is a phenomenal adventure and an excellent introduction to DCCRPG, and if a group was looking for a place to start, this is probably the best adventure to throw your friends and yourself as the GM into. 95%

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Pathfinder Player Companion: Melee Tactics Toolbox

October 14, 2015 ~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ Leave a comment

Product-Pathfinder Player Companion: Melee Tactics Toolbox

System– Pathfinder

Producer– Paizo

Price– $12 here http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1601257325?keywords=melee%20tactics%20toolbox&qid=1444860587&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1

TL; DR– a one-feat-book 77%

Basics-Why do it from afar when you can hurt them up close! Melee Tactics Toolbox provides every up close and personal character with several new options ranging from spells, items, feats, class options, and even new archetypes much live every other player companion product.

Mechanics or Crunch-This is a major crunch book for players, but I wasn’t amazed. There are several new options, but nothing here immediately made me want to build a character based around that theme. Some of the new options seem like new expectations just for expansion sake as the archetypes underwhelmed me like the rogue archetype that strips out all the rogue powers that make a rogue a rogue. Nothing here is objectively bad, but it’s not as amazing as I expected. 4/5

Theme or Fluff-This book has a bit of theme, but not as much as I wanted. You get a few bits and pieces but not near as much as the world books the Paizo puts out. It feels light. 3.5/5

Execution– This book has a ton it it, but it feels a bit overstuffed. There are many things in the book, but it feels a bit like things were thrown in because of the melee thing and that was the sole reason that they made the cut. So, things didn’t flow as well as other books. Also, much of the execution was a bit off as there were a few too many walls of text to really draw me into and through the book. But, as a counterpoint, the book does have a nice font, decent layout aside from a few too many text walls, and some nice art. However, as a counterpoint to that, the book still has the standard Paizo price for its splatbooks which is a little high anyway. 4/5

Summary-This is my least favorite Paizo Pathfinder book to date. Overall, it’s not a horrible book, but compared to Paizo’s other products, I wouldn’t suggest you start with this one. Honestly, this is a one-feat-book meaning that you will find exactly one thing from this book that might, sometimes, help you PFS character. And, you will buy it so you can show your PFS GM the feat/spell/item, so you can legally use it in your game. But, truth be told, you can pass this book by and be ok even if you are a greatsword only fighter. Too many options that are not worth the price, little world and character story, and a less than stellar execution make this a book that won’t find its way into many Pathfinder collections. 77%

Ring Side Report-Board Game Review of Pathfinder Adventure Card Game—Skull & Shackles Adventure Deck 6: From Hell’s Heart

October 7, 2015 ~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ Leave a comment

Product-Pathfinder Adventure Card Game—Skull & Shackles Adventure Deck 6: From Hell’s Heart

Producer-Paizo

Price– $ 20 here http://www.amazon.com/Pathfinder-Adventure-Card-Game-Shackles/dp/1601256949/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1444228580&sr=8-1&keywords=From+hell%27s+heart

Set-up/Play/Clean-up– 60 minutes per scenario (1-6 players, 5 scenarios)

Type-American

Depth-medium

TL; DR-The ships paid off! 98%

Basics-Do you have what it takes to take the crown? From Hell’s Heart is the conclusion of the Skull and Shackles Adventure Card Game, and it’s a doozy. Players have to contend with an invasion from the devil worshipers from the north, then fight it out to become rulers of the Shackles. To play, you will need the base Pathfinder Adventure Card Game as well as the first five adventure decks.

Mechanics-SHIPS! If you’ve played the first five adventure decks, you keep getting ships. From the outside, they just look like another way your character can level up as you become increasingly awesome. However, when you get to second scenario in this pack, you get to fight all the ships you DIDN’T take as they are invading the Shackles! That right there makes everything completely forgiven. This adventure pack has many of the same mechanics you’ve come to expect, but the crazy sea battle is just phenomenal. It’s quickly done, easy to pull off, and an absolute blast. This pack isn’t a slouch by the way. No monsters will pull their punches here. You have to earn the crown, and it feel glorious when you do! 5/5

Theme– I keep complaining that this isn’t the most theme orientated American style game out there. However, the mechanics really drive home some of the more awesome points. Sure you don’t get a full introduction of all the people, but the varied encounters and the setup of each scenario really provide the atmosphere that will keep you in the game as a pirate. It’s not perfect, but it’s as good as you’re going to get without a guide. 4.5/5

Instructions– The game has set itself up well, and at this point is just taking a victory lap. All the previous adventure packs and base game set up the pieces and instructions, and this one just knocks it out of the park. All the rules are easy to follow, and the scenarios fall into piece from there. 5/5

Execution-I like the art to this game, the cards are in good shape, and I don’t have to destroy the packaging to get at the components. That’s all I can ask for in a card game! 5/5

Summary-Paizo had me hooked a long time ago when I bought this adventure path’s starter set. Once you’re in for $60, unless something is completely horrible, you’re going to pay the additional $100 across five other packs to get the whole game. Since I was $80 in before the last pack, this one could have been absolute crap and I’d most likely still have bought it to complete my set. However, this one is the best part of the whole path. You have ship battles, you have mass naval combat ( something I didn’t think i’d see!), secret missions into the heart of the fortress, a stalking dragon (that makes the blessing deck a terrible, mind numbing, scary ordeal!), and an epic final battle with the pirate king. This is everything I wanted this AP to be, and I got more. If you were not sure about playing the Pathfinder adventure card game before, this is the reason you play this game. I promise you will enjoy it! 98%

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Data Trails

October 4, 2015 ~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ Leave a comment

Product-Data Trails

System– Shadowrun 5e

Producer– Catalyst Game Labs

Price– $25 here http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/150001/Shadowrun-Data-Trails?affiliate_id=658618

TL; DR– Great flavor, but almost no crunch! 82%

Basics-Want to ride the matrix? Want to be a digital cowboy? This is the new book for you covering how the matrix of 2076 works and the new toys to play on this matrix. It also provides a brief history of AI. The book adds new cyberdecks, add-ons to all the matrix toys out there, new qualities, and even has a section on how to play an AI character.

Theme or Fluff-Let’s start things a bit different than most of the reviews I write. Let’s focus on the theme first. Of all the things Catalyst does, covering the story of their world is the absolute best thing they do. This book has tons of world building elements: all the fiddly bits of the 6th World’s wide web, covering how the matrix works, how it’s made, how to interact with it, its history, and providing me with extra story bits for any games I run. Every aspect of the world gets a bit built on it. For the SR vets out there, this book might be a little overkill. However, for anyone who hopped on in Shadowrun 5th edition, this is an absolute essential to provide some much needed history and context to how people use the internet of the future. 4.75/5

Mechanics or Crunch-I started with theme, but theme shows how much this book is missing from its crunch. The book adds an impressive amount of story but doesn’t really have the mechanics to back it up. For your average decker, what’s here is good. You get new toys and add-ons to all the old toys to keep you fairly happy. However, even there you don’t get near as much as the other gear books. Technomancers get even less. For the rest of the 6th world, it’s not entirely worth it aside from a good reference on how the basics of the matrix work. But the best example of how mechanics don’t back up fluff is in how different matrix hosts work and defend themselves. A good chunk of one chapter is spent on how different companies defend their hosts. But, no real mechanics are given either identifying what type of ICE is used or how they attack. Furthermore, I’m glad I got a good briefing on how AI altered the matrix, but including a section on how to play them is pretty much useless for the majority of GM and players. If they included that as its own small book, I’d buy it in an instant. As a section in a core book, it’s just not a great use of space. 4/5

Execution– The thing Catalyst doesn’t do well is format their books. First and foremost, a book by Catalyst is only useful if you’ve completely read the book before and memorized the general locations of things in the book. As a quick reference to thumb through, you will be lost. The chapters are not named in a way that helps the reader, the book doesn’t have an index, and none of the new additions have a quick reference area to speed use later on. Catalyst knows how to write fiction, but their fiction bleeds a bit too much into their mechanics. In sections discussing how to create an AI or a host, the first part of the chapter will be the world story of it, and the second part will be the mechanics of it. But, nowhere in the middle will it give the firm shift of when one section ends and the other begins. All of those things are hard negatives, but what is here does read quickly and is enjoyable. The back and forth of the characters is fun while drawing the reader in deeper. This isn’t the best book I’ve read, but it’s a decent overall book. 3.5/5

Summary-Here is the quick question to help you decide if you need this book: do you spend most of your Shadowrun time in the matrix? If yes, then you buy this book. If no, maybe you’re good with what’s in the base book. As someone who’s deeply invested in the 6th world, I loved learning about the new wireless net. I just wasn’t overwhelmed by some significant parts of the book. I’m glad I know how to run an AI now, but odds are good I never will, especially as someone who almost exclusively focuses on Shadowrun Missions. I’d also like Catalyst Game Labs to overhaul their books a bit and really change some aspects of production to help the readers find what they need more quickly. Making those changes will really make me love their books. With that said, as someone who loves Shadowrun and the matrix in particular, I’m glad I got this book, even if I can’t use chunks of it. 82%

Ring Side Report-Board Game Review of Pathfinder Adventure Card Game—Skull & Shackles Adventure Deck 5: The Price of Infamy

October 2, 2015October 2, 2015 ~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ Leave a comment

Product-Pathfinder Adventure Card Game—Skull & Shackles Adventure Deck 5: The Price of Infamy

Producer-Paizo

Price– $ 20 here http://www.amazon.com/Pathfinder-Adventure-Card-Game-Shackles/dp/1601256930/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1443666157&sr=8-3-fkmr0&keywords=Pathfinder+Adventure+Card+Game%E2%80%94Skull+%26+Shackles+Adventure+Deck+5%3A+The+Price+of+Infamy

Set-up/Play/Clean-up– 60 minutes per scenario (1-6 players, 5 scenarios)

Type-American

Depth-medium

TL; DR-Fun, but a bit more of the same. 94%

Basics-It’s time to end this! In the Price of Infamy, your constant enemy Harrigan is bringing the fight to you. Now, you’re going to end this once and for all. Can you gather enough friends to destroy his armada and go to his base to wipe him out in time? This expansion uses the base rules from the pathfinder adventure card game-Skull and Shackles.

Mechanics-Much of this game will play out like the other scenarios. You have scenarios where you have to beat bosses in an order, you have scenarios where you have fewer locations than normal, and scenarios where you have more than normal . Overall, it’s not the most novel of the quests, but it is fun. The major addition to this pack is the final fight where you replace every ally at any location with more monsters. That is fun and new. It’s good, but not much more than you’ve seen before.. 4.5/5

Theme-Theme is something the Adventure card game struggles with. It’s hard to tell a story on less than 30 cards. This one does add some interesting twists, but if you don’t have the cliffsnotes version of the plot, you won’t get as much as you might otherwise. This back does have some good locations like Dagon’s Teeth. In this location, you divide the location deck into two smaller decks-just like the islands themselves from the adventure path. It’s the little touches that really make this a fun game. 4.25/5

Instructions– The rules for this pack are great. I wasn’t confused at all, and I was able to assemble my location decks quickly and easily.. 5/5

Execution-Ever since Paizo produced side opening backs, I have been in absolute love with this game. The cards are good stock, the art is great, and the price is right. 5/5

Summary-Here is the thing with a mid-path pack-unless I tell you that this pack sets your cats on fire, you are most likely going to buy it if you’ve come this far. If you like the Skull and Shackles path, you will like this part of it. It’s a bit samey as the mechanics can only go so far, and I want a bit more story for the game. But, overall it’s done well and was a blast to play. It’s five good scenarios that play quickly and are great to run though. It’s produced excellently, and the instruction do their job well to teach me how to play. My only complaint is I’d like more, and of the complaints there are, that’s the best kind to have.94%

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of the Advanced Class Guide

September 22, 2015 ~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ 5 Comments

Product– Advanced Class Guide

System– Pathfinder

Producer– Paizo Publishing

Price– $ 40 here http://www.amazon.com/Pathfinder-RPG-Advanced-Class-Adventure/dp/160125671X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1442939514&sr=8-1&keywords=advanced+class+guide

TL; DR– This books walks the balance, mostly. 90%

Basics-Why not a wizard/sorcerer? Why not a ranger/rogue? The Advanced Class Guide is the book to make that happen. This book has 10 new classes, archetypes for almost every class, feats, and new spells. This book is a giant resource of new ideas and abilities for the Pathfinder RPG focusing on hybrids of the other classes. Here are the new 10 classes and the classes they come from:

Arcanist (wizard/sorcerer)

Bloodrager (barbarian/sorcerer)

Brawler (fighter/monk)

Hunter (druid/ranger)

Investigator (alchemist/rogue)

Shaman(oracle/witch)

Skald(barbarian/bard)

Slayer(ranger/rogue)

Swashbuckler(fighter/gunslinger)

Warpriest(cleric/fighter)

Mechanics or Crunch-This book has a hard job here, but it does it pretty well. Every one of the new classes feels balanced if a little more powerful than the original classes. It’s a fine line to walk, but overall it did it well. Sometimes a few concepts are thrown in that muddy the water, without adding as much as you would expect. A key example is panache, grit, and luck. All three of these subsystems are almost exactly the same with characters gaining any combination of the three are able to combine the three into one giant pool. That’s good for theme, but bad and confusing when players have to build characters. The other extra additions like feats to splash new half classes into the original classes are done well, and the new archetypes and spells all feel fresh and new. 4.5/5

Theme or Fluff-This isn’t a book full of stores for the world of Golarion, but it does have some fluff. Each class has a bit of story to it that helps introduce and mold the class and its use. However, the stories are in a bit of a vacuum. What’s there is great, but this book is designed to be plugged into any world. It works well in that respect, but it’s a bit sterile. Other books from Paizo focus on the story of each class in Paizo’s world, but this book doesn’t really do that. 4/5

Execution– It’s Paizo-they know how to make a book. Maybe a few more pictures, but for the amount of information, it reads quick and is entertaining. Paizo-they make good books! 5/5

Summary-I liked this book, but as the system grows, it get’s a little heavy and unwieldy. This book adds an astounding amount to the system and keeps it all in balance relatively well. This is not a book to build stories off of though as what’s here is ok, but think of the addition in this book more like Legos-no real ideas by themselves, but together and with your own imagination they become awesome creations. As for the book itself, it’s a Paizo book, so it’s done well. If you want more character options in your pathfinder game, this is most definitely an awesome addition to your game but something that might upset the power level a bit. 90%

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Pathfinder Player Companion: Familiar Folio

September 10, 2015 ~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ Leave a comment

Product– Familiar Folio

System– Pathfinder

Producer– Paizo Publishing

Price– $12.99 here http://paizo.com/products/btpy9au2?Pathfinder-Player-Companion-Familiar-Folio

TL; DR– Useful if you already like familiars. 88%

Basics-Every great wizard has a familiar, why can’t you! Familiar Folio is a Pathfinder Player Companion book discussing familiars, how to add them to new characters, and how to improve them. Like every other book in the companion line, it adds new feats, archetypes, items, spells, and other options for players and their familiar’s alike.

Mechanics or Crunch-This book is amazing, if you already like familiars. This book won’t really win you over if you didn’t already have a character concept for familiars. Every option added in this book is great, but familiars tend to work just like alchemy in Pathfinder, great if you love them, bad if you don’t. After seeing what’s here, I can say that if I played a character who wanted a familiar, I’d absolutely want what’s here. However, if I played someone who had the options of not having one vs having one, I don’t think this book would win me over to the familiar side, even with a mascot (familiar). 4.25/5

Theme or Fluff- This book discusses some of the story aspects of familiars, but it doesn’t really go out of its way to add them in deeper. The book covers topics like how to roleplay with them, and it does have a bit of how different locations in Golarion would use familiars and the types in those locations. But, it’s not much beyond that. This is primarily a crunch heavy book. 4/5

Execution-This was put out by Paizo. For anything you can say about Paizo, the unarguable truth is they know how to make a book well. It’s got great art, great layout, and was a pleasure to read. 5/5

Summary-The simple question to this book is, “Will you use or want a familiar?” If you said yes, then you get this book. If not, then don’t. Like I said with alchemy, familiars are extremely divisive. You love your familiar, then you will love this book. If you couldn’t care less about your wizard friend’s odd toad in his pocket, then you don’t want this book. What this book is is well written, a bit light on story, but overall well put together. Just decide if you want a tag along before you begin. 88%

Ring Side Report-Board Game Review of Nefarious

September 5, 2015September 5, 2015 ~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ Leave a comment

Product-Nefarious

Producer-USAopoly

Price– $ 30 here

Set-up/Play/Clean-up– 20-40 minutes (2-6 players)

Type-Euro

Depth-Light

TL; DR-Production issues hurt a decent game. 86%

Basics-What are we going to do tonight? TRY TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD! In Nefarious, players each take the roles of different mad scientists trying to each take over the world. The game starts simply enough with each player getting some starting gold and invention cards. Each turn, players secretly selected one of four actions, reveal them at the same time, and all actions of the same type happen simultaneously. The actions are: espionage, invent, research, and work. Work simply earns you more money. Research earns you a bit less money, and you get to draw a new invention card. Invent is the meat of the game. When you invent, you pay money and reveal one of your invention cards. These cards have a cost that you pay, a victory point total, and possibly some effects like gain money, cost your opponents money, or gain more invention cards. Espionage is an investing mechanic. When you do espionage, you select an action and place a meeple on that action on the main board. When a player on your right or left takes that action, you gain money equal to the number of meeples you have on that action. Once all four actions are resolved, players then select new actions, and play continues the same way. What makes this game a little deeper than it seems are the twist cards. Each game two twist cards are secretly drawn from a deck of cards. These cards provide new twists on the game like giving you strange new abilities, taking away some actions, or just removing some money from some of the actions. When a round ends, a player has at least 20 points, and that player has more points than any other player, the game is over and that player wins and conquerors the word!

Mechanics– This is not a complicated Euro, and that works for and against this game. The simplicity of the mechanics works as a great introduction to the gaming hobby. You will know the rules of the game in under five minutes. The simplicity works against the mechanics as I didn’t feel as challenged as I could be if this game had multiple resources to track. However, the multiple resources would have made this game that much harder to teach, learn and play. Overall, it’s a good, simple Euro. Think of this as an excellent sushi appetizer to the gaming industry-it tastes great, but you might want something a little more filling as you learn to love this acquired taste more. 4.5/5

Theme– This game has some good theme, but something gets lost along the way. The theme of inventing new items to conquer the world comes through. And the fact that most items have some side effects also keep going with this theme as you’re battling it out with other mad scientists. However, some of the theme get’s lost along the way. I’m fine with most of the actions but some things don’t translate well. The work actions seems like a misplaced opportunity in that vain. All of my other actions are downright nefarious, but work feels like I clock in at Amazon to fill packages; even the work action looks like a shipping company. Why not something like Extort with the action picture being a man/woman in profile with some sort of atomic raygun getting money from a generic civil leader. It’s those little touches that cause this game to lose some of its theme. You will still feel like a mad scientist inventing crazy machines, but maybe one who moonlights as a DHL driver. 4.25/5

Instructions– The rules a simple, sleek, and short-all great descriptors for a board game’s rules. This game isn’t as hard as Twilight Imperium, but the rule book does explain the game in simple terms that gets the point across quickly and well. 5/5

Execution– Here is where I think things need a bit of work. Overall, everything is serviceable. That said, there are some issues. The cards for the game are printed on very thin cardstock. It’s not bad, but it will tear easily. The art in the game is awesome and has that retro-science feel to it. The worst part of the game is the coins. The coins are printed on sheets of several cardboard pieces pressed together, but the cardboard didn’t adhere to itself properly, so the cardboard is spongy and bows. The coloring of the cardboard is a single sheet of sticker. That’s not horrible, but the cutter for the cardboard didn’t cut the cardboard and stickers well, so when you punch out your money it will have all these random bits of extra sticker attacked like flaking paint. USAopoly has acknowledged the problem, and future print runs will be better. But, for right now my copy gets a C overall. If you want to see the components, I’ve made an unboxing video where you can see all the components here http://youtu.be/Qdtz9YQDKHA 3.5/5

Summary-This is a good quick Euro. It’s a great game with lots of replay. I like the mechanics as I can teach random people how to play quickly, and they get autonomy in a short game. Also, this game has some meat on its bones as it’s a Euro with some decent thinking power behind it. You can’t go into this game hoping for Kanban or another four hour Euro though. This is excellent at what it wants to be, and you have to know that going in. I think the rules are great, but I’d like some minor, cosmetic changes to help the theme a bit. The production quality is ok. It will be better, but if you get a first print run, expect a few, minor problems. But, if you’d like a good game that will have you thinking for 20 minutes with your friends, then this a great game of world domination to pick up! 86%

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Titansgrave: The Ashes of Valkana

August 31, 2015August 31, 2015 ~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ Leave a comment

Product– Titansgrave: The Ashes of Valkana

System– AGE System

Producer– Green Ronin

Price– $13.99 here http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/153950/Titansgrave-The-Ashes-of-Valkana?src=hottest_filtered

TL; DR– I only wish this had more. 88%

Basics-Cyberpunk, fantasy, and Wheaton-oh my! Titansgrave: The Ashes of Valkana is the much hyped book using the AGE System and a setting designed by several RPG powerhouses and Wil Wheaton himself. On the Tabletop YouTube page, Wheaton played several adventures of this game with his celebrity friends, and now you can play this game at home with your friends. What will happen when you disturbed the ashes of a long dead war?

Mechanics or Crunch-Titansgrave demonstrates some amazing uses for the AGE system, but doesn’t quite hit the mark I was expected. The book has some phenomenal new additions to the system like a completely new chart to spend stunt points for one creature type in combat. Those kind of add-ons to a system show how robust and buildable the AGE system can be. The book doesn’t quite keep up that new energy throughout however. The basic Fantasy Age book introduces the system quite well, but Titansgrave doesn’t do enough to expand the system for this universe. I wanted several new additions, spells, and mechanics, however, I really only got a new race, some new items, and a few character options in the first chapter. They all work well, but it doesn’t do enough to really drastically enhance the system. AGE is great itself, but I want more to really make the AGE system Titansgrave own thing. 4/5

Theme or Fluff- Titansgrave tells an interesting story, but sadly one you’ve kind of “heard” before. The Titansgrave story is the fun romp from TableTop. Which if you saw TableTop is awesome. But, if you saw TableTop, then you have a general idea of what’s going to happen. I was hoping for a bit more original stuff like added adventures, side quests, and a continuing adventure in the world, but there is some things here to keep your players guessing. Also, the story is a bit linear. You can’t go too far off rails on this as the story is written ahead of time. 4.75/5

Execution-If you like the layout from Fantasy AGE, you will do fine here. This book is basically a giant version of the adventure at the back of the Fantasy AGE book with some serious additions. I’d like a bit more here as the art is good, but I need a few more maps to throw to my players and some more breaks in the text to help me better read the story. Overall, its well done and something that you can get through with general ease. 4.5/5

Summary-Titansgrave is the first big launch of the AGE system after it got its own push post-Dragon Age. This book isn’t my favorite RPG book of all time, but I think it does a good job of introducing the system and setting in a big way. The book provides a completely new world to play in. I’d like a bit more mechanics specific to the world, but what’s here is well done. The story is good, but depending on how much your players watch Titansgrave, they may have seen some of the high points. The book is well executed, and overall a fun read. After reading this book, I’m hungry for more in the Titansgrave setting. 88%