Category: Ring Side Report

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%

Ring Side Report- RPG review of Grave Robbers of Thracia

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Product– Grave Robbers of Thracia

System- DCC RPG

Producer– Goodman Games

Price– OUT SOON!

TL; DR-A great intro to an adventure series!  100%

Basics–  Where are they going?  The dead walk and towns disappear.  Where did they go and can you save your town?

Mechanics or Crunch– God I love a good funnel.  I also want to get a good quick intro to Thracia.  This gives me the mechanical intro to DCC and whittles down the players.  This is a solid, basic funnel.  5/5

Theme or Fluff–  I don’t know much about Thracia, and this gives you the basics of the world.  The world can’t be fully explained, but you get some monsters, some gods, and a fun intro to the world.  It’s enough to hook you for more.  5/5

Execution–  This is Goodman Games.  They know how to write adventures and their audiences.  I love everything here.  5/5

Summary–  This is a good funnel by a good company.  I also love fighting undead, so this is a match made in heaven.  After this adventure, I can’t wait to hop into the larger Caverns of Thracia adventure!  100%

Ring Side Report- RPG review of Pathfinder Society Scenario #5-17: Stranded on Yesterday’s Tide

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Originally posted at www.throatpunchgames.com, a new idea every day! 

Product- Pathfinder Society Scenario #5-17: Stranded on Yesterday’s Tide

System- Pathfinder 2nd Ed

Producer- Paizo

Price- $8.99 here  https://paizo.com/products/btq03tyu?Pathfinder-Society-Scenario-517-Stranded-on-Yesterdays-Tide 

TL; DR- Solid story with a divisive 1st act.  93%

Basics-  TIME LOOP!  When the god died, time ran in a circle.  What happens to those stuck in it?  Can you get them out?

Mechanics or Crunch- The adventure is a good one, but influence is a dividing factor.  Influence encounters are something that divides players.  It’s a mechanical way to make social encounters work, but some players absolutely hate them.  This starts with one.  That will either make you love this adventure or start off weak.  From there it gets better and enters surprising levels of Cthulhu mythos.  And that’s always fun. 4/5

Theme or Fluff-  Mystery, into combat, and then Cthulhu.  That’s the ingredients of a solid four hours of fun. I love the story and enjoy everything it has to offer.5/5

Execution-  It’s Paizo.  They know this.  they know how to lay out an adventure.  5/5

Summary-  I enjoyed this one but not everyone will.  The influence-focused encounters will make some players mad, but others will find their stride. Then it’s combat and skills to win the day.  Those are always fun, so all players will enjoy everything after the first act.  Fun, but something to keep in mind.  93%

Ring Side Report- RPG review of Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-14: Twice in Steel

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Product-Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-14: Twice in Steel

System- Pathfinder 2nd Ed

Producer– Paizo

Price– $8.99 here  https://paizo.com/products/btq09hnx?Pathfinder-Society-Scenario-614-Twice-in-Steel 

TL; DR– Good but LONG!  87%

Basics– The demons are gone, but very much not forgotten.  The Pathfinder Society hunts for a lost cultist who might restart the Worldwound.  Will you stop her in time?  

Mechanics or Crunch– I love a good hex crawl.  You have some crazy side events, some social, some skill, and a few combats.  The math all works out.  Also, this has probably my favorite event in a PFS scenario: IF YOU STEALTH, YOU AVOID A COMBAT!  It’s not an “it happens later” thing, it’s “you bypass a combat.”  Everyone has something to do in this adventure and the math is solid.   5/5

Theme or Fluff–  This is a hex crawl, so there are lots of things that can happen.  The issue is there are LOTS of things the players might miss or can happen.  As a GM, you have a lot to run in a higher level PFS adventure.  And as a GM you have keep the players on task to get this done within four hours of a con!  It’s REALLY easy for this one to run off the rails if the players go in the wrong direction, miss hints, or even just don’t get all the pieces.  More direction would be nice and even a bit more variety of things to encounter for fights. I love the story and the idea, but this one you have to keep a solid watch on for time. 3/5

Execution–  It’s Paizo.  The adventure reads fast has its own map for the players and the GM, and is organized well.  This is the stuff I want in an adventure for an organized play.  5/5

Summary–  The main issue I and a lot of people will have here is the length of the adventure.  It’s solid, and I WANT more hex crawls in PFS.  But, direction and time are lacking in this one.  Players can easily go off on crazy chases, and that eats precious time off the four hour PFS adventure clock.  But, the other pieces are fantastic.  Maps, monsters, things to do, and even new friends to meet make this a fun adventure for higher level characters.  Make more hex crawls, but maybe provide more directions in the future ones.  87%