Ring Side Report-Board Game Review of Diamonds

August 24, 2015 ~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ Leave a comment

Product– Diamonds

Producer-Stronghold games

Price– $ 25 here http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NFSBU9Y/ref=sr_ph_1?m=A7YAR2WDYOPTK&ie=UTF8&qid=1440129851&sr=sr-1&keywords=diamonds

Set-up/Play/Clean-up– 30-45 minutes (2-6players)

Type-Euro

Depth-Light

TL; DR-Best parts of several trick tacking games. 92.5%

Basics-Time to throw Eucker, Hearts, and Spades into a blender! Diamonds is a trick taking game that combines the best of all of the above. Players are dealt 10 cards, and the dealer will decide to trade one to three cards. All players then choose that many cards from their hand and pass them to their neighbor. Next, the player to the left of the dealer will place one card down. These cards have values between one to 15 and have the four suits found on any normal deck of cards: hearts, spades, diamonds, and clubs. Each player then has to place a card of the leaders suit, if they have any, or play any other card, if they don’t have the same suit as this trick’s lead card. Here is where the game becomes more than just a trick taking game. Each suit has a power associated with it. Diamond cards place a diamond behind a small screen called your vault. Hearts place a diamond in front of the vault in your vault. Spades take a diamond from the front and place it behind your vault. Clubs steal a diamond from in front of another player’s vault and places it in front of yours. Whoever played the highest card with the lead’s suit gets to take all the played cards and set them next to his or her screen and then take that suits action. If you couldn’t play a card with the lead’s suit, you just take the action associated with your suit. Playing off won’t get you cards for the round’s end, but it does get you whatever power the card you played has. Whoever won that trick then becomes the next lead player for the next trick. After 10 tricks each round, all players separate their cards into four piles based on the suits. Whoever has the most number of each suit gets to take that suits power again. If you didn’t get any tricks, and thus have no cards, you get two free diamonds placed right into your vault instead. Play then continues with a new dealer. After each player deals one or two times, depending on the player count, each player counts their diamonds with diamonds in your vault worth two points and those in front being worth one. The player with the most points wins!

Mechanics– I’m from Michigan, so I knew this game from another game called Eucker. Eucker is fun, but it lacks depth. This game is amazingly deep for a trick taking card game. Sometimes you do better by playing off than ever winning a single trick. Sometimes, you need to win every trick. That evolving strategy is amazing. Also, the game isn’t hard to play. I do love me some 8-hour, math fueled, Euros where I build cars, but you will learn this game in under 3 minutes, master it in 10, and have a chance of winning in 15. Honestly, this is a well done game. 5/5

Theme-Theme is a hard concept in your average trick taking game. What’s here is ok. There really isn’t a story here. But then again, I’m not really looking for one. I’d like more, as I’ve seen some reskinned trick taking card games with more theme, but I didn’t expect too much going in. The components are nice and do build a bit of a world, but don’t play this game if you need something like Dark Moon’s story. 3.5/5

Instructions-That paragraph above is all you need to play this game. The rulebook is as short as it needs to be. The game is an extremely simple to play game, so the rules don’t have to be too difficult or cover too much territory. The extremely helpful thing included in this game is a cheat card for every player giving some quick iconography on how the different suit powers work. Honestly, this is a slick, simple rulebook that will get you playing in about 5 minutes even if you’ve never played a trick taking game before. 5/5

Execution-This game is a small game, but not a poorly put together one. You can see all the components here: http://youtu.be/dugtHKid-Ko . The game is about a quarter the size and weight of most of my other games, but that doesn’t hurt its delivery. The game comes with cardboard standee vaults, a deck of cards, and plastic diamonds. What is here is well done and beautiful. The art is distinctive, but not distracting. The diamonds are nice plastic pieces that you want to collect. It’s a power-packed box. 5/5

Summary-Diamonds is the game I bring with me when I hang out with my family in Michigan. It’s got the simplicity of Hearts, but the depth I need in a great board game. It has great components and instructions. My only real complaint is the theme, and the only reason I ding this game on theme is I play too many RPGs, and I want theme in everything I play. If a games story isn’t the most important thing to you, then this is an amazing, easy to play trick taking game that’s a great game to add to any collection. 92.5%

Ring Side Report-Board Game Review of Game of Crowns

August 12, 2015 ~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ 1 Comment

Product– Game of Crowns

Producer-AEG

Price– $ 25 here http://www.amazon.com/Game-of-Crowns-Board/dp/B00V8Y2P78/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1439267414&sr=8-2&keywords=game+of+crowns

Set-up/Play/Clean-up– 30-45 minutes (4-9(!) players)

Type-Euro

Depth-Light

TL; DR-Love Letter Evolved. 94%

Basics-In the Game of Crowns, you manipulate, scheme, triumph or you die! Game of Crowns is the next step in the evolution of Love Letter. Players take the role of one of several different noble houses trying to take the top spot in the kingdom. This is done over the course of three turns. Each turn, a player will play one card or attempt to trade cards. Trading is simple. The active player offers one card. Then, all other players have to offer a card in response. The active player can add a second card to his/her offer, and all players have to follow suit. Any player can sweeten their deal by offering crows (the main currency in the game). Finally, the active player chooses one other player, and they exchange cards. Playing cards is equally as simple. On a player’s turn, that player selects one card from his or her hand, and plays it for its action. You start with coinage and knights. Coinage is just choose a player, steal a random card, and then give them coinage. Knights are the main combat power of the game. When you use a knight you choose a player. Then, all players choose secretly if the defender or the attacker is the winner. After all players reveal their chosen side, all players can then spend crows to increase the power of their chosen side. Whoever wins gets to look at the other player’s hand, choose one card, and steal that card or to take a card from a random deck of cards that provides new ways to score points. The knight that started the fight is then discarded, and the losing side gets all the spent crows. After three rounds, players score points based on the cards in their hands. Some cards only give you points such as the trader (coinage), princess (knights), and castilian (crows). Another card, feud, gives you points if you have the most of it compared to all the other players. Who ever has outmaneuvered their opponents the best and has the most points at the end is the winner and the new king!

Mechanics-This game is simple and quick. It’s the the speed of Love Letter’s draw one, play one, and the added depth of microgame Dominion. I like the variety of different ways that players can play this game by focusing on the different paths to victory. It’s not perfect; if your group of friends just won’t see how you losing to your other friend makes them all lose, you won’t enjoy the combat much. Pick your battles well, but keep in mind that the people shape this game to a high degree. 4.5/5

Theme-AEG is a great company for theme. Sure, you could play this game and ignore the theme completely, and some players will. However, AEG builds on this game by having a few pages that must describe the families in the game. They didn’t need to do that, but those touches help draw me in that much more. It’s not perfect as you’re still only do some minor story things in game terms, but I do feel like a noble family maneuvering through intrigue in this game. 4.5/5

Instructions-The game has great instructions with only one fault. I wrote the instructions out in one paragraph above, and that right there is all you really need. The rule book does that well, and give you a bit more. The only real problem is the Feud cards. There is some debate if Feud provides exponential points or just increases as you gain more cards. If you check Boardgamegeek, you find that those cards are just scored according to the most cards, but other sites say the opposite. I’d like a bit of clarification, but overall, if you decide among your friends how that is played, you will easily be able to pick up the game and play this out of the box no problem in under 10 minutes. 4.75/5

Execution-I’m going to complain about something I thought I would never say-the game box is too big! That’s pretty weird to hear me say, but this game almost fits in a Love Letter bag no problem. That said, that’s an awesome problem to have. Too many games don’t fit in the box they came in. This game has great card art, good card stock, and crow meeples! Top notch work, AEG! In fact, if you want I’ve made an unboxing video here (http://youtu.be/5B7hC3svWng) if you want to see all the components of the game. 5/5

Summary– I love AEG. They constantly put out top notch games that don’t require hours to play. Sure I love my 4 hour Euros, but this one is a simple game that plays quick, and can even include non-gamers without spooking them away like a round of some other games. And the player count is amazing! Up to nine people can play this game. That’s a true blessing. I’ve had way too many game days at the local store where they couldn’t handle the fifth player. Now you can run that fifth player and his friends. Good rules, great mechanics, and some well-written, if slightly flawed, rules all make this game a pleasure to play. This game isn’t that expensive and if you want a bit more meat on the bones then Love Letter gives you, Game of Crowns is an excellent addition to your library. 94%

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Fantasy AGE Basic Rulebook

August 10, 2015August 10, 2015 ~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ 2 Comments

Product– Fantasy AGE Basic Rulebook

System– Adventure Game Engine

Producer– Green Ronin Publishing

Price– $16 here http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/153066/Fantasy-AGE-Basic-Rulebook

TL; DR-A strong successor to Dragon AGE. 92%

Basics-The Dragon AGE has ended, but that doesn’t mean all the stories you wanted to tell in the AGE system have. Fantasy AGE is the basic rule book for the previous Adventure Gaming System(AGE) system that came out with Dragon Age RPG providing all the basics any generic Fantasy RPG could need. Let’s break this down piece by piece and see what I think of them individually.

Mechanics or Crunch–

Game Basics- Fantasy AGE uses the same basic mechanics that Dragon AGE did; each player will roll 3d6 for an action, find the sum of the dice with some modifiers, and that will determine the outcome. Contested rolls work exactly the same with the higher sum winning the roll. This is a quick and easy way to have numeric diversity and an average in your dice rolls.

Stunts-One of the more interesting things with this system is stunts. When you roll your dice, two of the dice are one color and the third is a different color. If two of the dice have the same result, you get stunt points equal to the result on the differently colored die. These stunts have point values and will allow you to add extra flare and effects beyond hit a guy, cast the spell, or bluff the guard. Each type of action has it’s own stunt point chart that you can select icons to spend your points on with the more points spent, the stronger the effects. When I first read about this system, I was a bit put off, but then my math geek showed through. It’s easy to think that you won’t roll doubles often, but out of three six-sided dice, you roll doubles a little less than half of the time! Again, this is a fun addition to the standard “roll dice, hit guy, next person in initiative” we’re all used to.

Character Generation-Fantasy age characters make a few important choices and have to let some dice fall. When you make a character, you get to choose your race, background, class, and then you let the dice fall where they may! Lots of this system involves you randomly rolling for effects on your character. This results in your average character of a race having some average abilities and likely traits, but overall, I don’t like that part of character generation. While I’ve played older RPG editions, I prefer to let choice occur when you build your person. This system does downplay the negative aspects of low ability rolls, but I still prefer point buy. It’s an option, but most of the book tends to focus on rolling for your character.

Statistics:This game doesn’t have a ton of bonuses to your basic dice roll and that is great thing. Each person has a number of statistics being: accuracy ( weapon accuracy), communication (talking to people), constitution (body toughness), dexterity (agility and coordination), fighting (heavy weapon accuracy), intelligence (what you know), perception (situation awareness), strength (physical ability), willpower (mental resolve). You can generate these via point buy or just rolling 3d6 and hoping for the best, so your number will be between 3 and 18 white the modifier for your dice rolls roughly equal the modifiers most role players have from D&D. You can further focus in these abilities by getting ability focuses like Accuracy(Blades) where you add 2 to your dice results for all blades attacks. Thus, you will really only add two numbers to the three six-sided dice rolls. I do love any system that squashes power gaming at the start and builds in a mean and standard deviation for its die results!

Classes and Advancement-Much like the Dragon AGE RPG, there are only three core classes: mage, rogue, and warrior. These classes are much like you would expect. Mages cast spells, rogues are nimble and skillful, and warriors are heavy people-at-arms. Each level a character will get new options such as ability focus, talents (abilities in sequence like feat trees in DnD/Pathfinder), or class specific bonuses. The talents provide the bulk of the customization in the game. Every warrior has the same basic class abilities, but the warrior focusing on close combat and social interaction will be like that because of the talents he or she choose. You don’t get that many choices, but you do get a method to differentiate yourself from the press of other individuals out there.

Magic-Magic in this system is a point based system where players have a mana pool that is spent to cast a spell. Spells themselves come from the talents that players choose with each level of the talent providing more spells. It’s a simple system that reminds me of Final Fantasy and the Dragon Age video games. Not bad company to be in, but since you don’t get tons of different talents, you won’t have the abundance of spells you’re used to in different RPGs like Pathfinder.

Combat and Damage-Just like this games D20 cousins, combat flows in a turn based manner following every player rolling initiative. On your turn, you can do either two minor actions like moving or a minor and a major like attacking. Players and monsters have a defense rating that you attack just like any other skill in this game. If your attack roll equals the defense, you hit the enemy. Damage is done in this game based on the type of weapon you’re wielding with armor reduces the damage that a character takes instead of providing a bonus to your chance to dodge the attack. This doesn’t reinvent wheel, but why fix what isn’t broken?

Summary-You can see the Dragon AGE in the Fantasy AGE. That’s not a bad thing as I liked the Dragon AGE RPG and the Dragon Age video games for speed and elegance of the systems. However, my major problem is that the character and players don’t have many options. Sure, it’s fun, but I’d like a bit more crunch to my characters. That said, it is a good, quick, and simple system that you can easily use in any fantasy setting. 4.5/5

Theme or Fluff- It’s always hard to judge generic RPGs for their fluff content. By their nature, there can’t be a significant amount of fluff in this book since any fantasy setting should be able to be played with in this system. But, the book does have nice art, good general fantasy additions, and all the standard fantasy pieces you will need for your toy box. Just don’t go in here expecting Tolkien as this book can’t have that level of detail and still be general enough for everybody. 4.5/5

Execution-This book reads relatively quickly and has a decent layout. I can quickly get through the book, find what I need and make a character in under 10 minutes. I’d like more pictures, and some extra tables to make scanning the book easier like in the talents section. I prefer to see something similar to how Pathfinder does summaries of feats before the full descriptions. The book even has a small bestiary with some monsters to throw at your players. It’s not large, but for the $15 I paid for the book, I’m pretty happy to see a complete system, game mastering guide, and monsters in one book. This book even comes with a small adventure, so you can jump into playing after you buy only this book. Overall, good book with a few minor problems keeping it from perfect. 4.75/5

Summary-Fantasy AGE is going to be an awesome RPG if Green Ronin can bring more out for it. Titansgrave is coming out, and that will provide an awesome series of adventures and a setting for this game. That is what this book really misses-the fluff. The crunch is good. It might not be my all time favorite gaming system, but it’s well-designed, thought-out, and easy to use-all the things a quality RPG needs to be viable long term. I’d like more options, but that’s my old D&D 3.5 gamer heritage showing through. As for the book itself, it might not be my favorite layout, but it is a great way to present a games information. If you joined the Fantasy AGE for Titansgrave, you will not be disappointed! 92%

Dual Review! Ring Side Report-Board Game Review of The Duke AND Jarl!

July 25, 2015 ~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ Leave a comment

TWO reviews in one! First The Duke, then Jarl!

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Product– The Duke

Producer-Catalyst Game Labs

Price– $ 40 here http://www.amazon.com/catalyst-games-CAT13000-The-Duke/dp/B000BU6F5I/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1437752656&sr=8-2&keywords=the+Duke

Set-up/Play/Clean-up– 30-45 minutes (2 players)

Type-Euro

Depth-medium

TL; DR-Chess, now with a touch of random. 94%

Basics- Two meet on the battlefield, but only one can rule! The Duke is a miniature war between two dukes. The main goal of the game is to capture the enemy’s duke. If this sounds like Chess, then you’re on the right track. Two new mechanics separate this from Chess: 1) random piece draw and 2) variable piece movement. On a turn, you can do one of two things: draw a new piece or move/activate a piece. The pieces themselves have a miniature board on them indicating how they move, what squares they move to, and any special powers in each square. Some actions are moving across spaces, some are hopping over spaces, some moves are not moves as they just attack spaces at a distance. What is interesting is after a player does use a tile, that tile flips to another side, thus providing two different tactics for each piece. The other option is to spawn new pieces. Each player has a bag of tiles, and when they spawn a piece, the player randomly draws a new tile and places it adjacent to his/her duke. Play goes back and forth between the players as they capture tiles, move across the the board, and try to outwit one another to capture the opponent’s duke. Last duke standing is the winner.

Mechanics-I’m not a Chess player. Sure, it’s fun, but it’s never been my go to game. The Duke, though, is fresh enough to draw me in. The constant flipping tiles and random tile draw makes this an innovative game as pieces can change from a knight/bishop hybrid to some new version of a jumping rook. However the best part of this whole thing is the new moves are all balanced, as well as easy to use. No one peice will completely break the game, and no piece will leave you scratching your head as to how to play them. 5/5

Theme-Theme is hard to do in a Chess game. This game has some nice wooden pieces as well as some decent board art. The tiles all do actions that their names would imply. Overall, its a well done version of a war between two flat kingdoms. 4/5

Instructions-The rules to this game are a bit long. The Duke has a lot of ground to cover, but does it well. I’d like them to trim down the rules a bit, but they do have some excellent game aids to get you playing quickly. Those extra cardboard sheets will be the thing you most often reference as you plan out your attack. I’d rather have less than more, but sometimes more is not exactly more. 4.75/5

Execution-Chess is a classic game, but this not only improves on that, it adds new game modes. You can fight a dragon, you can add new terrain to the map to challenge both players, and the game is expandable by adding heroes from classic literature. I love what comes in this box. See all the parts in our unboxing here! http://youtu.be/QvLnLKnO360 5/5

Summary– I’m not a Chess player, nor is my wife, but we both liked this game. The simple nature of each tile really makes this game approachable. The random nature of the tiles also means that veteran players will have to adjust strategies on the fly, while new players won’t instantly be squashed. It’s got great components. I’d like to place the rules on a diet, and possibly give it a tad more theme, but overall, this is a game I can play. The true test is that this is a two player, head-to-head game and my wife will ask to bring this one to the table. That right there tell you that this is an excellently balanced, fun, fast game. 94%

The Duke was the base game. Now let’s look at the stand alone expansion-Jarl!

Product– Jarl

Producer-Catalyst Game Labs

Price– $ 40 here http://www.coolstuffinc.com/p/214869?gclid=CjwKEAjwxMetBRDJx6Sz2p7DsQ0SJADJHAqNSkh_fdZr_-s-PcavakfffwNNRmfdKrrIvPH6X2q4lRoC0ejw_wcB

Set-up/Play/Clean-up– 30-45 minutes (2 players)

Type-Euro

Depth-medium

TL; DR-The Duke, now with a touch of Vikings. 93%

Basics- It’s time to go to war! Jarl is a stand alone expansion for The Duke. Just like The Duke, players start with a few pieces on the board, and on a turn can either move a piece which causes the piece to flip at the end of its movement, or randomly draw a new piece and place it on the board. Aside from that simple introduction, this game plays like Chess. Players attempt to maneuver their opponent into a situation where their king or Jarl will be captured. Last man or women standing is the winner

Mechanics-This is chess, but fun. The Duke has awesome, simple mechanics. Instead of remembering how each piece moves, the simple diagrams provide all the explanation a player needs to make smart choices. The flipping of each piece is just amazing as the quick transition is easily pulled off and creates a dynamic play experience. I even love the randomness that comes out of this game. Master players will always have to adapt to new pieces, while novice players won’t get steamrolled like most new chess players might. 5/5

Theme-This game is chess, so there is only so much you can do for theme. I do like the nice touches to the pieces like the lettering and the rune like carving and imperfections on the tiles. those are great additions, but as a standard game, you don’t have much motivation beyond kill the other player. That’s fine as this is alternative chess, not a session of DnD or Shadowrun. 4/5

Instructions– My only significant problem with The Duke was the rules. I felt the rules were a bit too long. Jarl trims down the rules to a few simple pages while still keeping the awesome cheat sheets for moves. That’s what I asked for, and it’s exactly what I got. 5/5

Execution– Here is where I sound like a hypocrite. I love theme in games, but there is a bit here that hurts the game. I can’t read some of the tiles as the runic alphabet is a bit hard to make out. I can still easily play the game, but I can’t read the pieces out loud. Not the worst thing I’ve seen in a game, but it’s a bit of a problem. Also, this game comes with fewer pieces. That’s not horrible, but you don’t get the raw variety of game modes as you do with the Duke. This game doesn’t even come with a mountain tile to make some terrain on the battle field. None of these are game ending or even game changing changes, but it is a slight step back from the awesome parts in The Duke box. See all the pieces here: http://youtu.be/QvLnLKnO360 4.5/5

Summary– Jarl feels like The Duke with Viking Additions. That’s exactly what it should be, so this is a homerun from that standpoint. It does have improvement such as trimmed up rules. It also has some back steps like the smaller tile count. Overall, if you like Vikings more than medieval kings, Jarl is an excellent addition to any two-player gamer collection. 93%

Jarl vs. The Duke!

Let’s say you only have $40 and you step up the the Catalyst booth at GenCon-What are you going to buy? Jarl and The Duke play extremely similarly. Jarl and The Duke both have the exact same mechanic of either activate/move a piece or draw a new piece. And, both do that well. Jarl pieces tend to interact more with shield maidens protecting other pieces and so on. The Duke pieces tend to be much more straightforward, not simpler, actions.

The major difference between the two is execution. Jarl has less in the box but better theme. The Duke comes with more pieces, options to make your own pieces, and even a dragon expansion in the box. Jarl has more theme as the pieces are runes carved from almost bone and a runic alphabet.
So, you have your 40 bucks, what do you buy? Well, I’m more of a fantasy guy, so I vote The Duke. I do like a bit more complexity in my games, but The Duke give me extra pieces, and more game options. But, it’s a tough choice. If you can’t get The Duke, and a copy of Jarl is nearby, that is an excellent alternative.

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Steel and Fury: Combat Maneuvers of the Mighty

July 15, 2015 ~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ Leave a comment

Product– Steel and Fury: Combat Maneuvers of the Mighty

System– Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG

Producer– Purple Duck games

Price– $7 here http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/147952/Steel-and-Fury-DCC

TL; DR-A must have for the Dwarf or Fighter at the crawl! 97%

Basics-Cry havoc and let loose the dogs of war! Steel and Fury is a Fighter and Dwarf supplement for the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG. This book focuses on the Mighty Deeds of Arms for both of those classes by adding several new deeds that are specific for the type of weapon you are using as well as expanding the deeds by adding mighty criticals and mighty fumbles.

Mechanics or Crunch-Hands down a home run. Every mighty deed gets its own page with descriptions of what happening. Also, the addition of mighty criticals and fumbles really adds to the dice rolling crunch of this system. And, the book has an amazing resource- an end of the book table showing which weapons can do which deed (MORE BOOKS SHOULD DO THIS!). As the cherry on the sundae, even the old deeds get a revisit by adding the critical and fumble rules to them as well. This is well done and slick. 5/5

Theme or Fluff- Again, another home run. Every deed has a ton of story to it. Not only does each deed have a description, but also the deed has a quote from an appendix N fantasy story. That right there is awesome. Also awesome is the art. I honestly didn’t expect much art from a small publisher, but it’s here and well done. You will feel every crunch from this one as Steel and Furry builds on to a solid foundation of carnage. 5/5

Execution-We’ve had two home runs, so it’s time for a foul. I love the book. It’s got great spacing, great writing, text, tables, and great art. What I don’t like is the price tag. This book is $7 bucks for about 60 pages. That’s a bit much as much of this book is pages with tables. $7 isn’t enough to keep me away, but I think this should be around $4 to $5 to keep up with other publishers’ prices. 4.5/5

Summary-This is a great book and addition to the DCC rpg. Purple Duck Games really made a top notch product by supplying quite frankly a ton of new content to the system. Every weapon get some love. At the back is an amazing chart detailing what each weapon can do with the new and old mighty deeds. Even old deeds get new additions with mighty criticals and mighty fumbles. The story this book tells is great proving that a straight crunch book can bring some story and panache to the table. I think the book is a bit over priced. But, if you can stomach the price, this is a necessary book for any fighter and dwarf that hits the table. 97%

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Shadowrun: Run Faster

July 13, 2015July 13, 2015 ~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ Leave a comment

Product– Shadowrun: Run Faster

System– Shadowrun

Producer– Catalyst Game Labs

Price– $25 here http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/141788/Shadowrun-Run-Faster?term=Shadowrun%3A+Run+Faster

TL; DR– The Shadowrun edition catch-up book. 87%

Basics-Time to dust off that chrome plated centaur! Run Faster is an edition catch-up book. While the main Shadowrun book had a comprehensive book of characters, Run Faster fills in the smaller gaps by adding all the subtypes for each metahuman race. This book also has a chapter discussing how to make your vampire and all the subtypes for that as well. In addition, Run Faster adds new archetypes, qualities, quick start packages for traits and gear, and rules for how to build up your house.

Mechanics or Crunch-This is the edition catch-up race book with a ton of extra character options as well. When a new edition arises, some people want their old, less represented races back. Here’s the book for that. Want to play a naga? Here you go! Want to play a vampire? We got rules for that! Want to play a centaur? SURE! Don’t like the new priority-based character generation plan for SR5? We’ve got several new ways to make characters from scratch now. It’s got enough chapters to bring some serious new crunch to your SR5 game. Some parts are not a useful. I’m a Shadowrun Missions game master, the entire section on vampires, while interesting, is completely useless to me. It’s well done, but something that might be better served as its own smaller PDF. There are also chapters that I absolutely love like the section on how to kit out your house. It’s amazing mechanics, but most of the Missions players will never be able to use them. What does impress me is the PACK sections. The preset packages will help you make characters quicker by giving you small, preset groups of skills, abilities, or items that you can plug into your forming character instead of slaving over the book for an hour. That, as someone who teaches the game often, will be the most useful thing out of this book. Overall, the book is amazing, but not the most versatile book for all players. 4.5/5

Theme or Fluff- The core book tells some great stories on how the 6th world works. This book fills in gaps describing how individual creatures fit in it. It doesn’t just give how the freaks of the world survive, but it also gives how a basic dwarf is seen and judged. It’s got chapters on how the vampiric-ly gifted survive and try to thrive. It’s full of stories that will give you ideas for your next run. It’s a beautiful book full of great art to give you a picture of the world. This book will help you better understand the world of Shadowrun as a (meta)person who lives there. 5/5

Execution-Oh, Shadowrun, Shadowrun, Shadowrun. You honestly know how to tell a great story, but making that book useful, searchable, and easy to use is not your strong suite. Like all Catalyst properties, don’t expect an index. That right there hurts the book. Also, organization isn’t their strong suit either. Here is the textbook example of this boks problems. In the chapter on vampires and other infected, the book gives a table on the different types of infected on their stats. Thats a good start. However, not listed on that chart are the base creature that changes when infected, the type of HMVV that infects them, or their powers. Now that’s a large chart, so I can excuse the powers not being a part of it. But, I have to look up the specific infected for each type of virus and the creature it mutated from. As someone who hasn’t played a ton of the previous editions where that was a larger part of the game, I’m stuck reading text descriptions of each infected. Those get the point across well, but they don’t get the point across easily. And that’s the problem wit this book. Give me more to your tables and more tables. Give me a table with short descriptions of the qualities and the cost with them. That was done for 3.5 DnD, and it quickly got the ideas across. This book gets its ideas across, but not in a user friendly manner. 3.5/5

Summary-I am not an old gamer. I can not call myself a proud and ancient grognard-one who’s seen the rise and fall of uncounted editions. I’m actually a recent convert to Shadowrun. I joined up late 4e, and I have fallen in love with 5e. That said, I’m way behind my knowledge about the smaller details of the setting. This is a great book to fill in those gaps. I like learning how the individual races are treated. I like learning about the nitty gritty of vampiric life. I do think some mechanics are a bit useless to most of the player base, but that doesn’t hurt the book too much by providing extra information. What does hurt the book is Catalyst’s organization of the information. In the chapters where the book wants to tell a story, it tells amazing stories. In the chapters where it has a ton of crunch information to bring to bare, it does its job but doesn’t get much help from the layout. If you love Shadowrun, this is a fantastic book to learn about the world. If you want to get new players options for your SR5 game, this is a fantastic book. If you want to learn how to produce a book and need a guide as a refer to, this is not the book to look at. 87%

Ring Side Report-Board Game Review of Elder Sign: Gates of Arkham

July 12, 2015 ~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ Leave a comment

Product– Elder Sign: Gates of Arkham

Producer-Fantasy Flight Games

Price– $25 here http://www.amazon.com/Elder-Sign-Gates-Arkham-Expansion/dp/1616619198/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1436731542&sr=8-2&keywords=elder+sign%3A+games+of+arkham

Set-up/Play/Clean-up– 45 minutes per scenario (1-8 players)

Type-American

Depth-medium

TL; DR-Arkham Horror in Elder Sign! 97%

Basics- Time to leave the museum. Games of Arkham is the second expansion to Elder Sign, and now players will explore Arkham trying to stop the spread of the Old Ones. For the most part, the general mechanics are the same. Basically, each round a player draws a mythos card. This mythos card adds new challenges and opportunities for the players. Then, players take their individual turns. First, they move to open locations. These locations have a number of dice symbols in rows on them. A Player rolls the dice and try to match their symbols to all the symbols on a row. If they can complete a row, they place those dice on the card, reducing the number rerolled, but succeeding on part of the task, and rerolls the dice. If not, they remove a die, and rerolls the dice. That player either solves all the rows of dice symbols, or they fail. Each location has a success results and failure results. Then the player advances the clock, and play continues. When the clock advances four times, either from players taking turns or location effects, a new mythos card is drawn. The game continues until either the ancient evil coming to destroy us all arrives… and destroys us all or the players amass a number of elder signs to hold the eternal evil off for a bit longer.

Gates of Arkham adds a few new things. One, a new deck of locations that are all locations in town and not rooms in the museum. Two, new locations enter play upside down with effects on their back! Unlike in the base game, cards now will affect the players before they enter play thus forcing players to go to hard locations because these locations have effects that are worse if they are not dealt with. Three, a new mythos deck dedicated to the town of Arkham instead of the museum. And four, new gate mechanics. Gates are now tied to locations as each gate has little standyies that tie a location and an other world location. You have to enter a gate to to to another world locations cards. Gates are just as hard, but if you can’t place a gate because all the standyies are out, then bad things are about to happen!

Mechanics– This is the ultimate step in the right direction for an expansion. I LOVE Arkham Horror, but it’s 45+ minutes to just set up the game without touching a single die! This game is 15 minutes of set up the first time you use it and less than five after that. The core mechanics of Cthulhu yahtzee haven’t changed, and that’s great as they are still simple and fun. The new ideas of location effects, enter locations semi-blind, and tying Arkham and other world locations together are all amazing and reflect the Arkham Horror mechaincs. My only real problem are the expansion characters. Most you will look over, then decide to not use. This new round seems a bit too topical to be that useful. They are not broken, but not as great as many of the others. The game is still as American style as it can be. You WILL lose because you will roll poorly. You WILL not have enough time. But, it WILL be fun! 4.5/5

Theme-Take Arkham Horror, remove ¾ of its game time, and you have this. If you read the cards, locations, and fluff text, you have an amazing Lovecraftian experience in under an hour. It’s a game the builds its own story organically, and something you will enjoy as it does. 5/5

Instructions– I’m honestly impressed. The game has great instructions. It’s not hard to understand, the rules flow well, and they read fast. 5/5

Execution-First, the complaint-there is too much in this box. The box itself is offset in shipping as there is just too much here. I know that’s a horrible complaint. WIth that soft complaint out of the way, the game is amazing. I like the art. The card iconography is well done. The cards themselves are great quality. I even love the standyies! They don’t destroy the components when they are assembled! This is honestly a well done expansion. You can see all the pieces during our unboxing video here: http://youtu.be/R–M3ZSPZfQ ! 4.95/5

Summary-This is as close to a one hour Arkham Horror game as you’re going to get. Sure it’s got the American Game problem of chance. But, if you and your friends can enjoy a bit of mutual misery as you all die from creatures outside space time, you will absolutely love this game. It’s not perfect. I’d like a slightly larger box and some changes to the new characters in this set. However, those complaints pale in comparison to how much I absolutely love what’s in this game. If you want a quick, fun, and easier version of Arkham Horror or an expanded version of Elder Sign with just the right amount of depth added, this is the game for you. 97 %

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Pathfinder Society Scenario #6–18: From Under Ice

July 11, 2015 ~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ Leave a comment

Product– Pathfinder Society Scenario #6–18: From Under Ice

System– Pathfinder

Producer– Paizo Publishing

Price– $4 here http://paizo.com/products/btpy9ch2?Pathfinder-Society-Scenario-6-18-From-Under-Ice

TL; DR– A THINKING humanoids mod. 97%

Basics-Chase a skykey under the ice of Irrisen! The Pathfinder Society is looking for traces of a Dwarven city that disappeared many years ago. Can you find where the dwarves went or will you anger either the Linnworm Kings or the Witches?

Mechanics or Crunch– This is a many angled mod that can be done in a straight forward way. Like most of the mods, there is a counter mechanics for determining how well the PC’s succeed on their job or secondary tasks. It’s not hard, but the mod isn’t so much about crunch, but how well the players think. It’s well done and fun when you see the players analyze and understand a situation. If the players are smart, canny, and show the proper deference, they will go through almost the entire mod without swinging their swords! That shows the mod is awesomely stretchable, but some players, the kick-in-the-door-and-eat-some-goblins players, will be vary bored if things are going well. 4.5/5

Theme or Fluff- This is where the mod truly shines. Sure, it’s got the necessary fights and counters that all good mods need, but how the players go about this mod really makes the story. Are you simply smash and grab Pathfinders or are you social dilatants? Do you understand your mission or are you simple out there to kill a bunch of people? As a GM, watching that play out is a great roleplaying experience 5/5

Execution– Season six is the absolute best season for how these mods are put together. Need the maps? Here, we have blank maps for you to resize and print. Need monster stats? Here in the back of the mod are all the monster stats, so you don’t have to have 10 books open to run the game. It’s still four bucks, but right now four bucks for ~ 30 pages seems to be the norm for most companies. Well done! 5/5

Summary– First, the elephant in the room-If you play this mod smart, you will not have many combats. And, that’s what the success condition hinges on. That right there will turn some players away. You can’t make everybody happy, but in a mod that’s mostly going across borders and meeting people, combat is a many terrible thing! The story makes world sense. The mechanics work as well as they can. The execution is absolutely fantastic. As a GM, I enjoyed this mod. My players did as well. Just make sure you know what your players want to get. Hack and slash need not apply! 97%

Ring Side Report-Board Game Review of Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Skull & Shackles Adventure Deck 4 – Island of Empty Eyes

July 8, 2015July 8, 2015 ~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ Leave a comment

Product– Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Skull & Shackles Adventure Deck 4 – Island of Empty Eyes

Producer-Paizo Publishing

Price– $18 here http://smile.amazon.com/Pathfinder-Adventure-Card-Game-Shackles/dp/1601256922/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1436362585&sr=8-1&keywords=Pathfinder+Adventure+Card+Game%3A+Skull+%26+Shackles+Adventure+Deck+4+%E2%80%93+Island+of+Empty+Eyes

Set-up/Play/Clean-up– 45 minutes per scenario (5 scenarios in the game)

Type-American

Depth-medium

TL; DR-Great theme in this one. 90%

Basics- You’ve joined the upper ranks of the pirates of the Shackles, and now it’s time to prove you’re the best. You and your friends have been given an island. Can you clear the former inheritance from the island, uncover its secrets, and throw a killer party for the other pirates of the Pirates Council? This game uses the basic Pathfinder Adventure Card game mechanics, so I’ll focus on what’s in this box alone.

Mechanics– Things are as fun as they can be, but the mechanics are not varied as much as I like. Several of the locations on the island are the same, with several of the same locations used repeatedly. Now, it’s an island, so there are only so many locations to use, but it did feel a bit stale. Also, maybe it’s just my impression. This adventure pack gives you a new option for one scenario as you can become possessed to fight the monsters, but only a few of the characters can really use that ability. Overall, it’s fun, but once you have a working strategy going, the island encounters tend to get a little over-repeated. 4/5

Theme– This is an interesting mix. Overall I love what I’m seeing with this expansion as it does add some fresh ideas to the game. You get to have an island clearing adventure, with some piracy, and an awesome final encounter as you throw a party, have to stop a secret bomber, and keep your guests happy. You even can get possessed by a ghost to get extra powers in one of the scenarios. This adventure has the most theme homerun I’ve seen yet for a ship-the Bloodmoon. Across both this set and the previous set of the Adventure Card Game, were-creatures get a bonus when the top card of the timing/blessing deck is a blessing of the gods. As this is a werewolf ship, when you use this ship, you too get a bonus when you use the Bloodmoon when a blessing of the gods is on top. However, I only know that this ship is from the werewolf captain since I played the adventure path in Pathfinder. If I didn’t have that extra information, then I wouldn’t know that and this would just be another ship. So, I love what’s here, and it feels great to be a pirate. But, I still think extra information beyond the cards is needed to really bring me completely into the story. 4.5/5

Instructions– The cards work well at adding new information to the game. Almost everything was clear, except for one location-the teleportation chamber! This room has a thread on the Paizo forums (http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2rsrq?Rules-Question-Teleportation-Chamber#1) that is way too long for a card with less than 100 words! Since you’ll see this car a lot, it makes every time you see it a bit of a headache! If you can get past that one card, then the rules are well done though. 4.5/5

Execution– Overall, I like what’s in this box. Sure, you might want card sleeve for your cards if you plan on repeated use, but overall, the cards are of decent card stock. All the art is well done and evocative. The thing that makes me so happy though is what they did since the first expansion of this season of the Adventure Card Game-SIDE OPENING FLAPS to the boxes. Since I don’t have to destroy the boxes to get the cards, this is hands down an improvement. 5/5

Summary– This was a fun expansion to play through. I like what’s here, but what is here is a bit repeated. That does cost it a bit of fun; however, it’s still got enough action to keep me in the game. For the theme, it’s got a great story, and I do feel like a pirate. But, I still feel like those who haven’t played the Pathfinder adventure path won’t get as much as they should. This is still a great game, but a bit more will make this a grand slam. 90%

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Shadows in Focus: City by Shadow Cheyenne

July 7, 2015 ~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ Leave a comment

Product– Shadows in Focus: City by Shadow Cheyenne

System– Shadowrun 5e

Producer– Catalyst Game Labs

Price– $8 here http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/144658/Shadowrun-Shadows-in-Focus-Cheyenne

TL; DR– Good summary, but needs a map! 88%

Basics– The previous Shadows in Focus focused on the whole Sioux nation. Now it’s time to look at one city, the capital city Cheyenne. This book discusses the people, places, locations, and groups in Cheyenne and how to run a game in the city of the Sioux.

Mechanics or Crunch– There just isn’t any here! It’s basically edition-less which is nice, but at the same time, I would have liked something! However, I’m not going to dock points because a book didn’t do something it isn’t designed to do. -/5

Theme or Fluff- This book is full of fluff from stories of corruption to the different characters who run the dive bar down the street. It’s got an absolute ton of information that is well written. 5/5

Execution– Want to know how to instantly make me mad at your geography text book about a place the doesn’t exist or exists in such a state modern information is out of date? DON’T INCLUDE A MAP! That right there makes me kind of mad. Sure, I can look up the map of modern day Cheyenne, but why should I? Modern maps also won’t include any of the new locations you discuss, so I have the painstakingly find the locations you talk about if I want to use your book. Also, while the information in the book is well written, some of it feels out of place. This book has all the members on the council of chiefs. That’s great information to have, but honestly I think that should go in the Sioux Nation book itself. Sure, they live in Cheyenne but they are much more of a national figure. And that kind of sets the tone for the book-it feels like this and the Sioux Nation book were written as one book, divided along some lines to keep them equal length and send out to layout. That’s not bad, but it is a bit distracting. 3.75/5

Summary– This is a pretty short review of a decent sized book. This source book covers the city of Cheyenne well introducing lots of locations, people, and the town of Cheyenne itself well. I still really want a map, and I also feel that some of this book belongs in the basic Sioux Nation book. None of those sins make this a bad book, but it does take away from the awesome parts of the book. Also, I’d like something mechanical for this book. There isn’t any real mechanics to speak of, but the book’s job is to inform about the world, not the games underlying mechanics or add player options. But honestly, here’s what will determine if you buy this book-do you ever plan to do a run in the Sioux Nation and Cheyenne? If yes, buy this book. It’s a good summary of the town and its people-even without the map. 88%