Product– Basic Rules for Dungeons and Dragons (5e)

Producer– Wizards of the Coast

Price– FREE at http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/basicrules

TL; DR-DnD IS BACK! 97%

 

Basics– DnD is BACK!  This rule packet is the free, public rules for DnD next/5th edition.  The rules have a complete level track for wizard, cleric, rogue, and fighter.  It’s broken down into three major areas: character creation, game rules, and magic for the two spell casting classes (wizard and cleric).  Since it’s FREE (!), go download this RIGHT NOW!

 

Mechanics or Crunch– Quick summary on mechanics: This game is basically 1st, 3rd, and 4th editions rolled into one.  Let’s give these rules a rundown, section by section, to explain what that means.

 

Base concepts: If you need to roll, you still roll a d20 and add a number.  This is classic, 1st edition DnD goodness.  However, Wizards of the Coast (WotC) has MASSIVELY flattened the power/number curve for this edition.   The highest you get for a bonus is +11 (+5 from a stat and +6 from something called proficiency-more later).  At 20th level in, say, DnD 3.5 or Pathfinder you are rocking at least a +30 for any skill or attack.  My wife is playing in the Encounters game and was quite shocked that she only had a +7 at level 7 wondering if her character is underpowered.  Its takes a bit getting used to but your character is now about 50/50 ability and training.  I do wish your character’s training would matter more, but that’s a small personal preference.

 

Where the numbers come from: As level one, a character chooses a background (what you did before you were an adventurer), a race, what your stats are, and a class.  You have your standard strength, dexterity, constitution, wisdom, intelligence, and charisma abilities that DnD/Pathfinder players know and love.  Character background and race give you skills (typically four) that you are “proficient” in.  To any skill you are proficient with, you add your proficiency bonus.  This bonus starts at +2 and gradually moves up to +6.  You can see the fingerprints of fourth edition here, but not in a bad way.  Find a sword you don’t know how to use?  Don’t add proficiency to your strength and roll to attack!  Find an upgraded sword you can use?  Add proficiency and attack away!  Trying to remember some religious information your background as a guild thief didn’t prepare you for?  Roll a check without your proficiency bonus.  It’s honestly quick, easy, and keeps the game moving.  Skills and attack rolls have about the same math, and that really helps as a GM and a player to keep things going smoothly.  I like this a lot.

 

Classes: You have the core four: Wizard, Cleric, Fighter, and Rogue.  This is a document designed to do a few principal things.  First, get players interested to play (Done!).  Two, explain the basics of play.  If you read above, you’re pretty clear so far.  Three, show off the base classes to give players an idea of where the design went.  For that you have your base four.  These classes do give a really good idea of what’s coming next.  Now, keep in mind, you don’t get everything!  You don’t get feats or a lot of options.  It’s broad, rather than in-depth, coverage of the game’s classes.

 

Magic: The magic in this game is a mix of 3rd and 4th edition’s magic systems.  Spell casters have at-will spells that do something and so many per day castings of others.  Casters get to prepare about 1+ level spells per day, regardless of level, and can cast spells at each level they know so many times per day.  In addition, each character typically gets a few 0 level spells that they can cast a bunch of times.  This means a low level intro character doesn’t get overwhelmed with options, but a high level character with lots of experience has lots of options.  Spell effects are also no longer dependent on character level, but the level at which the spell is cast. As an  example, a character casting cure wounds, a first level spell healing 1d8 HP, could cast that spell in a fourth level spot to heal 4d8 HP.  Also, all spell casting characters kind of function like 3rd edition clerics:  they prepare spells, but can cast any spell they’ve prepared at any spot.  Prep a fourth level spell but want to cast a super heal?  Just use the fourth level spell slot for your cure wounds and move on with your day.  You don’t get to cast the fourth level spell you prepared, however.

 

Hit Points and healing:  This is always a sticky point between RPG players.  HP is still the number that represents how beaten your character is.  You don’t take any penalties as you become more beaten (“More than none?  Ready to run!”).  I would like some rules to reflect a character being more beaten down, but I honestly think that will come with the Dungeon Master Guide as an extra rule.  Healing is typically done by divine characters as in any edition of DnD; however, 5th edition does add a bit here.  Each level you earn gets you a hit die.  So, a seventh level fighter has 7d10 hit dice.  When you rest for an hour (a short rest), you can spend hit dice daily to heal without a cleric.  You can spend as many or a few as you want adding your constitution modifier to each die rolled.  This represents a nice middle ground between the healing surge of fourth edition and the clerics-only healing of 1st/3rd edition.

 

Free Form Mechanics: This game takes a pretty strong stand in favor of giving the GM more power compared to fourth edition.  The game encourages the “theater of the mind” game style with the GM telling the players what’s in the room and letting the players decide how to deal with that situation.  Map free games tend to move the game much faster than 3.5/Pathfinder and extremely faster than fourth edition!  I like this as the players are much more engaged, because the turns move much faster.

 

Summary: The new DnD isn’t so much new as it is revamped.  It’s still the d20 game we know and love, but now its updated using what worked across forty years, four editions, and numerous play tests.  Also, these are not the complete mechanics of the game as the total player rules won’t be out for another month.  In general I like what I see, but some things bother me slightly (why does proficiency start at +2?).  But, I’m happy to see Dungeons and Dragons back.  When I play this game, I do feel like I’m playing my favorite game again, just much quicker and sleeker.  4.75/5

 

Fluff or Story- Again this is a whole system so I’ll review this across several subsections.

 

Setting: The game is assumed to be in the Forgotten Realms.  That’s where the Sundering has taken place and where the living game will also take place.  There are parts that discuss converting the game, but the document primarily assumes you will play in the Forgotten Realms.  I like the realms, so I don’t have a problem with this.

 

Races: Each race gets a sizable portion on how they view one another, and how to be a member of that race.  Each race also provides options for customizing your character (for example, you can be a Hill dwarf or a Mountain dwarf, with each giving a different bonus and feature). It’s well done and gets you into character quickly.

 

Backgrounds: This is new.  Your character is mechanically half background and half class for its mechanics.  I’ve already talked about your skills, but your background also has parts that discuss how you are bonded to the rest of the group, character flaws, and other little role-playing bits that will draw you into a session quickly.  I REALLY like this.  A major criticism of fourth edition was there was not enough role-playing.  This game front loads the role-playing into character generation!  Very awesome!  And as an extra benefit, the system introduces something called inspiration.  If you act in character, you gain inspiration.  You can spend inspirateion to roll two d20 and take the better, possible extra actions, reroll, or whatever your GM will let you do.  Think of inspiration as fate points from Fate.  Inspiration represents a clear link between role-playing an mechanics, and I love it!

 

Classes: It’s the classes we know and love.  You don’t get all the options, but you do get enough to have a lot of fun, both mechanically and story wise.

 

Summary: This “feels” like DnD to me.  I don’t feel like I’m playing a completely different game, a complaint often heard about fourth edition.  You’re playing DnD in the Forgotten Realms if you play by this document. 5/5

 

Execution- This is well done.  The book has the 3rd edition feel that I loved with something going on in the background of each page as opposed to fourth editions sterile, white backgrounds.  The book does need pictures to break up the monotonous look of all the words.  However, this gets more of a pass than most products because it’s a free document meant to introduce the system, not the final, purchasable product. 4.75/5

 

Summary- DnD is back!  I like what I see.  This document is meant to be a short introduction to the system, and I can tell you based on this; I plan to buy the system.  I can also tell you that you won’t get the full system with this.  Honestly, you can’t even play until WotC releases the free bestiary which will come out later this year.  Also, I can tell you that this does make more than a few plugs for the full player’s handbook.  But, if you want to go play Dungeons and Dragons again, then use the guide and find a local DnD encounters game to join in and have some fun.  97%

Product– Rococo

Producer-Eagle games

Set-up/Play/Clean-Up-30-40/player (2-5 players)

Price-~$60 at http://smile.amazon.com/Rococo-Rokoko/dp/B00GYB6R7O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404149257&sr=8-1&keywords=Rococo

TL; DR-A crazy mix of mechanics that work well! 90%

 

Basics– Let’s get ready to roc(k)! In Rococo, you play a business that makes clothing for the nobles of Louis XV court as you vie for the most prestige during one of the numerous balls.  I’m going to do a simple summary, but this game has LOTS of different game mechanics.  Each turn you select three different workers from your worker deck.  These workers come in three different types: master, journeyman, and apprentice.  The remaining cards from your deck are set aside, and you have to choose next turn’s cards/actions from those.  The different workers can do different things.  Masters can do everything, while journeymen can’t hire new people and apprentices can’t make dresses, hire people, or take the first player marker.  Then, with your hand of three cards you go around the board selecting different actions with no limit to the number of times the same action can be performed.  These actions are: become the first player, buy silk/thread/linen, make a dress, hire a new employee, send employees to the king for a monetary reward, and fund decoration at the ball for points.  After taking an action, most worker cards have a second action that they get to perform as a free action like shopping again or making dresses without a type of silk.  When you make a dress, you have to spend the type of silk it requires as well as thread and/or lace.  After, you can place the dress in one of five rooms in the ball or sell the dress for money.  Each round, new workers, resources, and dresses come out and you receive a few coins to fund more dresses.  After the seventh round, you score points.  Points are scored based on each dress, decorating the hall, having the most and second most dresses in each of the five halls, having dresses in all the halls, and other card effects.  The person with the most points is the best dress maker at this ball.

 

Theme– The theme is pretty strong in this one and it ties pretty well with what the mechanics are.  Yes, you make dresses, but all the steps in making that dress come across pretty well.  And the fact that your lowliest workers can’t make the fancy dresses makes this seem more real than you would originally think.  I won’t lie, as this game doesn’t have a perfectly integrated theme as I don’t feel like I’m sewing a dress when I make a dress.  But, I do feel like I’m making something.  The board makes this feel like a ball and you can feel the fight develop between the players as they out maneuver one another to get the dresses to the right places for the most prestige. 4/5

 

Mechanics– There is WAY too much going on in this game, but MAN does it work.  This game is like if you took all your favorite games from the last few years, put them in a blender, and it the heavy grind button.  This game could have failed so badly on the launch pad, but the people who put this together know what they were doing.  All the different mechanics work so well together.  There is a lot going on, but it’s all moving in the right direction.  And, it’s easy to quickly get a grasp of! 5/5

 

Instructions- The instructions have a lot of ground to cover trying to explain the full concepts I briefly explained before.  That said, the instructions do it well.  For such a complicated game the rule book is only FOUR double sided pages!  Well done!  5/5

 

Execution– I like the parts of this game, with a few minor reservations.  The components are nice.  I love thick cardboard.  The dresses come with a nice bag to randomize them, but why wasn’t there a nice bad for the cloth?  It’s hard to shuffle cardboard stacks, so give me a different bag!  Also the box comes with some plastic bags, but not quite enough to separate all the parts.  And, the box is a lighter grade cardboard then the tokens, so it’s kind of flimsy.  Those are minor concerns as the game in general is well put together.   4/5

 

Summary– I played this game at Origins because I had an extra ticket and I wanted to get my fifth card for a discount on a different game by this company.  Man, am I glad I sat down and played this game even though the theme put me off at first.  It is an amazing game that just “works”.  It’s like bees-scientifically they shouldn’t have been able to fly until we found out recently how they did.   This game features lots of differing mechanics that should clutter up a game and render it an unplayable mess, but the game mechanics all work so well together.  That, to me, is one of the more amazing things I’ve seen in a while.  This is a really smart game.  If you love hard thinking board game, then give this one a try. 90 %

Product– Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea Gods

Producer-Paizo

System-Pathfinder

Price-~$30 at http://smile.amazon.com/Pathfinder-Campaign-Setting-Inner-Gods/dp/1601255977/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404137191&sr=8-1&keywords=Pathfinder+Campaign+Setting+Inner+Sea+gods

TL; DR-If you want to know about the main Golarion gods, get this book. 90%

 

Basics– Inner Sea Gods is the first hard cover book discussing Golarion in a long time from Paizo, and as the name suggests, it focuses on the gods of the inner sea region.  Chapter one discusses the big 20-the top gods of the setting.  Each god gets a few pages discussing important stats for this god and prestige classes for characters of this god, the gods beliefs, the priesthood, the church, temples and shrines, a priest’s role in the world, how adventures see the god, clothing of worshipers, holy texts, holidays, aphorisms, relations between religions, the gods realm, planar allies, and a sidebar for characters of this god for different items, archetypes and character options.  Each god also gets a picture of a worshiper and the god itself.  After the main deities’ chapter, the second string of deities gets a chapter with each deity getting half a page followed by a section on race specific pantheons.  Next is a chapter on character options including three new prestige classes, feats, traits, domains spells, and items.  The book finishes with new monsters and quick stat tables on the gods.

 

Theme or fluff– I liked and didn’t like this one.  What was here was great, but what wasn’t was what really made this disappointing.  The first chapter of the book is amazing!  The write up on each god is an excellent resource for anyone who wants to learn about the gods of this world.  However, I would have gladly traded any items and spells in this book for more page space on the second string deities.  That was what I really wanted from this book.  Gods like Besmara already have a deity write up that could have been copy/pasted from the Adventure Paths (AP) right in this book!  And that’s the assumed default god of the second highest selling AP! Heck, some gods don’t even get the half page as some race deities get less than a paragraph in the pantheons.  Now, I know this is kind of nit-picking as +90% of players will pick a main god and use that, but those minor god details are important to me. 4/5

 

Mechanics or Crunch-This was done well even if I wanted more fluff in the book.  Instead of making an ungodly (ha puns!) number of different prestige classes, Paizo made three, BUT each god gives different powers depending on the god the character serves.  That right there, along with CMB/CMD, is the smartest thing Paizo has added to the 3.X system!  I don’t need a book with three classes per god (basically the standard Paizo three: skill monkey, fighter, and caster); I can have two pages explaining each class and 1/2 a page per god giving each god’s specific powers for those three. That frees up page space that was much better used and solved a problem in a smart way.  The feats, items, monsters, and powers provided by the book are also well done too.  Like any large book, there are winners and losers for all the options provided, but overall it’s not bad.  I think the alters and item are far overpriced for the bonus you get though.  As above, since the non-core gods don’t get much more than half a page, you can’t out of the box play the new prestige classes with the obscured gods.  But, those are minor problems. 4.5/5

 

Execution– It’s not a bad book.  I might have problems with content, but Paizo knows how to really put a bunch in each book.  The art helps keep the reader from getting bored since you are in essence reading at least 150 pages of fake theology textbook.  Item, spell, power, class layout is as great as ever.  I find nothing to complain about here. 5/5

 

Summary– If you play Pathfinder and are a cleric, then this book is a no brainer.  If you run a Pathfinder game and will use ANY gods at all, then this book is a no brainer.  I have my problems with what didn’t make the cut for this book as opposed to what did.  However, if you are the vast majority of people out there who pretend to worship some fantasy god in this system, then this book is for you.  If you want to worship some obscure god, you have a bit of work on your hands.  Since I love clerics in my 3.5 games, this a well done book I’m glad is part of my collection but not completely what I wanted. 90%

Board Game– Viva Java: The Coffee Game: The Dice Game

Producer-Dice Hate Me Games

Price– ~$30 through kickstarter later at http://dicehatemegames.com/games/vivajava-dice/

Set-up/Play/Clean-up– 10 min/player (1-4 players)

TL;DR– You won’t hate this dice game by Dice Hate Me Game. 88%

 

Basics– Want a cup a Joe?  Viva Java: The Coffee Game: The Dice Game is a reimagined version of the popular eurostyle coffee game that came out from Dice Hate Me Games a few years ago.  In this game, you roll dice and try to get multiple same colored beans in a simple poker mechanic.  Each turn, if you have a brew in front of you, you score points.  If not, you roll five dice.  From these dice, you decide to either make a brew or research.  Making a brew and over taking the current brew is determined by how many of one bean type you have with more being better and then the type of bean ranked one to six.  It’s simple poker with just flushes ie. four rank three beans beating three rank six beans.  You can also get a rainbow brew if you have five beans of different colors.  If you can’t beat the current coffee brews out there, you research.  When you research you choose which beans you want to research, and mark them on a score sheet.  You can only research one bean type each turn.  When you research to certain level for each bean type, you gain some powers like reroll, upgrade one bean, downgrade one bean, or extra dice.  You can also complete a research track, lose the ability the track gave you, and gain points.  There are five different powers each game with the sixth being flavor dice.  Flavor dice are extra dice for your turn, but each time a player rolls, you can roll too.  If the other player uses your flavor dice in their brew, you gain one point hence the semi-coop nature of the game.  If you still have flavor dice on your turn, you must roll them, and those dice leave at the end of your turn.  What keeps a player from winning easily is that the current winning brew degrades over time.  Each turn, the person who scores points for that brew must remove one dice from that brew ie. six rank four bean brew becomes a five rank four bean brew.  That player then chooses to either press their luck by hoping no other player beats their brew or roll the remaining dice.  Since you have to have five dice to make a brew, it’s almost impossible for a player to go from a winning brew to a new brew.  Player continues around the table like this until the first person to get 21 points wins.

 

Mechanics– This is an interesting mix of your standard American style and euro style games.  I won’t call this a eurogame, but there are elements of a eurogame in it.  The games randomness from the dice really do hamper full, hard core thinking potential of any eurogame, but that’s also part of this game’s charm.  Yes, playing this game you will be amazingly screwed by the dice since they are random.  But, that’s part of the fun, chance nature of this game.  As for the upgrades, they provide a lot of replay value as you now get random new boards that keep the game fresh as well as adding that eurogame element.  There is even a solo version if you just want to have some fun and roll some dice quick.  I also wanted to say any game that can fix the runaway winner problem is an elegantly designed game!  I wouldn’t necessarily call this semi-coop eurogame, but that doesn’t mean I won’t call this fun, well designed game. 4/5

 

Theme– Quick dice games are hard to have an immersive theme.  Since the game has a short run time, it’s hard to get deep into anything.  I like this game a lot, and I feel like I’m building “something”.  But, that “something” is nebulous.  I don’t necessarily feel like I am a coffee shop owner against all the odds tinkering to find the best flavored brew out there.  I feel the coffee theme is a bit added on.  You get some theme, but this game is one of those that you have to drag yourself in deeper to really be in the theme of the game.  The game’s theme is not bad by any means, but don’t expect to forget who you are for several hours as you carefully plan your coffee empire.  But then again, in several hours, you could play this game at least 10 times.  I thing a bit more flavor text would have made this game on part with other dice games in the same vain ie. Elder Sign. 3.5/5

 

Instructions– Well done through and through.  I was able to get going really fast and felt like I didn’t screw up anything.  I didn’t even have to run off to Board Game Geek and plead with random strangers to understand what the heck is going on.  So, top marks for that!  I don’t know how I feel about having the research powers on cards as opposed to being the rule book or a printout sheet.  But, that is just me.  The cards are well done and explain the rules really well.  Best part of all this is that one cards is a QR code that links to the Dice Hate Me Games website that will have FAQs and new rules.  That is phenomenal and ALL game need to start doing that NOW! 5/5

 

Execution– Overall, I liked how this game came out.  It’s got some great, little additions like how all the play boards look like coasters and the burlap coffee bag the come with the game.  The dice are good quality along with all the cards and art.  One point that annoyed me was that I felt like I never had enough tokens.  5/5

 

Summary– I love this game.  It’s quick, easy, and fun.  My wife and I learned this is 15 minutes, and I spend a weekend playing this while camping.  It was a blast and even non-gamers picked it up with ease.  Like any quick dice game, it’s got some problems with theme.  Also, I don’t really think this should have been billed as a semi-co-op eurogame.  It’s got elements of those two game styles, but not enough to completely bill the game as those things in my opinion.  But, the game itself is rock solid fun.  Lots of different ways to play (and win!) keep this game very fresh.  The game even comes with three cards that can be added to the base Viva Java: the Coffee Game, so now, based on this game, I have to go buy a new game!  If you get a chance, give this one a buy if you want some quick, fun, dice rolling with some deep thinking.  88%

Product– Bullets & Bandages

System– Shadowrun 4 and Shadowrun 5

Producer– Catalyst Game Labs

Cost–  ~$5 at http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/130605/Shadowrun-Bullets–Bandages

TL; DR– One of the best products I can’t use! 93%

 

Basics– DON’T DIE ON ME!  Bullets and Bandages is a new product in the Shadowrun Options line.  These products will not be Shadowrun Missions legal, but they will provide extra character options and background on the world of 2075.  This book focuses on how to be and build a healer in the shadows.  The book starts with a story and moves to describing high threat response medical care.  After the fluff, the book moves to all the different skills, attributes, abilities, and tools a doctor will need if he’s/she’s going to be an effective member of a Shadowrun team.  The book also introduces a few qualities as well as a few optional advanced rules for treating injuries, care under fire, medical equipment, spells, drugs, armor modifications, and drones.

 

Fluff or Story– This book has a lot of fluff for a short book.  The book even starts with a short story of a runner needs some care on the fly and the standard opening page looking like the reader is logging onto the net.  I liked the depth that this book went to to add new aspects of medical care for a character.  If you want to know how medical care operates in the future, this is a book you need. 5/5

 

Crunch or Mechanics– This book goes into almost nauseating detail on how to make a real medical character.  All the stats you need, the gear you want, and the rules your patients will need to live by are covered here.  There is a lot in this short book, and if you want to add optional rules and make an amazing field medic, this is the book you and your GM need to both read. 5/5

 

Execution– This book was good, but here is where it shows a few flaws.  There is a lot there, but I think a few more pictures to break up the text would have really helped.  Also, a lot of the pages are two columns next to each other with the table you need to see a few pages ahead or back.  That is slightly annoying, but not a deal breaker by any means.  In general, it’s a great book, but a few layout problems and lack of art hurt the book slightly. 4/5

 

Summary– I loved this book.  I learned the scoop on DocWagon, and how medical care in the 2070’s works.  I love what I’ve read, but this book is firmly in the options line.  Since I mostly run con games or Mission games at my local store, this book is almost useless to me.  The fluff is amazing, so that part was great and informative.  But, I can’t use a single piece of crunch out of this book.  That’s a tragedy!  However, if you want to be the medic in the Shadowrunner squad, this is the book you need to start reading and give to your GM.  If you want to go down the rabbit hole of proper medical skill use, this is your one stop shop.  93%

Game– Tokaido Crossroads: The First Expansion

Producer– Passport Games

Price– ~$20

Set-up/Play/Clean-up– 45 minutes

TL; DR– Additional choice for a great game 95%

 

Basics– Greetings traveler, what can I get you?  The Crossroads expansion for Tokaido adds more characters and location options to the Tokaido base game.  Now, each space has two options instead of the standard one.  Players can take the option from the original game or take new options such as gambling instead of working at the farm, getting blessed items at the temple instead of donations, and buying legendary items at the shops.  The game still has the same goals, and the person with the most points wins at the end of the game as usual.

 

Mechanics– This expansion adds an interesting mix to the game.  It’s fun, but some of the new mechanics are almost too different than the previous game.  The gambling mechanic doesn’t have the same euro feel as the base game as it’s a straight dice roll.  I do like what I see with this game though.  The new options add some much needed choices.  You still get a random draw for most of the locations, but now you have two decks to draw from.  Adding those new decks brings some new life to this game.  I liked it before, and I still like it now.  4.5/5

 

Theme– For theme, this is better than the original.  You’re on a journey, and this expansion really adds some new options to your adventure.  The option like buying a blessing instead of a donation does add to the feeling of being on the open road.  I don’t feel a railroaded as I did before.  I feel more like a tourist in feudal Japan now more than ever. 5/5

 

Instructions– Well done.  The new rules are explained well, and some points are really well clarified BEFORE I have to run to BGG to find some answers.  This expansion isn’t a brain buster, but the rules do tell you how to play well. 5/5

 

Execution– This expansion has the same minimalistic style of the original game.  Its sleek, white packaging is well done.  The cards are the same small, good cardstock as before.  The characters are the same hard cardboard as before.  It also adds a nice new board for the new cards which is a nice touch.  I liked what I saw before, and I like what I see now.  It is a little expensive for the amount you get in the expansion though. 4.5/5

 

Summary– I liked this one a lot.  Tokaido needed a bit of fresh life as the game can get a little stale if you play with the same players.  The base game is a good, light euro game, but this game adds a bit more randomness and some more choice.  That choice really adds a lot to the replay of this game.  The expansion isn’t more of the same, and that my affect some player’s views.  But, I liked it.  Well done instructions and components compliment the great theme and additional mechanics of the game.  A great expansion for when you want a bit more choice in a lighter game. 95%

Product-Darkwood Adventure Arc #1- The Deft and the Deadly

Producer-Saga RPG

Price-~$13 available here

System-Pathfinder

TL; DR– A well done 1st product from a new company-90%

 

Basics– Welcome to Darkwood, Mudder.  Seeking either revenge, glory, or money, you and your friends stumble into Darkwood.  This is a town on the fringe where several powerful people (and not people) battle for dominance in a new world.  Can you make your name out here, or, will you end up face down in the mud you’re covered in?  This is the first adventure in a five part series.  Besides the adventure, the book provides large appendices on Darkwood, new items and diseases, example start characters, rules for coalition affiliations, NPCs, and a whole new world!

 

Fluff or Story– The people at Saga RPG put together a heck of a product for story.  Every part of the town gets a bit of writing.  All the shops have stories and a menu.  The main story is more sandbox and with linier sections.  This is to be expected as the characters are entering the world and have to be giving some quests to move them along, but eventually, the players are just told to have some fun and make some money in town.  It’s a lot of fun.  Aside from the main quest, the book covers a whole new world and its kingdoms.  That’s pretty ambitious for a new RPG company’s first product.  For less than a Paizo adventure product, you’re getting a higher page count of stories. I’m pretty intrigued on what going to happen over the course of this story. 5/5

 

Crunch or Mechanics-You don’t expect much mechanics from your standard adventure or a third party, but, these guys went above and beyond on this.  There are a new mechanics ranging from measuring faction relationships to a new god with two new domains.  Of course, there are new items and all the other standard things expected for a Pathfinder adventure, but, this comes from a third party.  It’s well done, thought out, and an excellent addition to the systems library. 5/5

 

Execution– Here is the ONLY place I have negative things to save about this product, and at WORST these guys are above average.  One thing I hate is recycled art.  These guys reuse the same art a few times across their first book.  The second thing I don’t like is there are some layout problems.  It opens a little slow on my iPad, but that’s ok.  However, there are some layout choices I would not have made for spacing.  That leads to the third problem I have-“text book problem”.  This book has A LOT to say.  The book moves from AMAZING depth in a town to a whole new WORLD.  That’s a lot of ground for one book to cover.  That said the book covers it in depth, but does so with more than just a few pages of just text.  That’s not the worst sin out there, but it makes this read a little like a text book in places.  I would have liked a bit more art to interrupt the text, grab your attention, and guide the reader’s eye.  But, I’d like to put that in perspective.  I am complaining about there being too much in this book.  3.5/5

 

Summary-This is a well done product.  If you’re tired of the Paizo product scene, this product is done well enough that is up there with a standard Paizo project with a compelling story and interesting additions to the system.  I would like a player handbook like the other Pathfinder products I’ve read, but, this product is already full enough.  My complains are in how this thing looks, not what it contains.  This is one of the best Pathfinder products I’ve seen in a while. 90%

 

Disclosure– I was provided a review copy of this product.

Game– Castles of Burgundy

Producer– Alee

Cost– ~$40

Set-up/Play/Clean-up-30 min per player (2-4 players)

TL;DR-Theme, instructions, and execution hurt excellent mechanics. 78%

 

Basics– Time to prove who the best duke is!  In Castles of Burgundy, players take the roles of different dukes trying to develop their land better than their rivals.  The game is divided into rounds and turns.  A round is five turns.  At the start of each round, new tiles are set out.  Tiles represent new places to build onto your kingdom.  At the start of each turn, new goods are delivered by ship to different locations on the main board, and, each player rolls two six sided dice.  Each turn players get to do up to three actions.  Two of these actions are controlled by dice, and, one is controlled by money.  With the dice, a player can get tiles from the main board, place tiles on their own board, sell goods, or get workers.  The main board has six spots for tiles representing different types of locations to develop.  By spending a die you can take a good from the main board in a section on the main board that matches your number and put it in your reserve. You can also spend a die and place a location on a section of your board that matches your die AND the type of location (town, field, castle, shipping, etc).  Thus placing tiles must match color and number.  When locations are placed you get extra effects that range from getting free tiles, placing tiles, points, or getting good from the main board.  The goods also have numbers ranging from one to six, so as an action, you can sell as many goods of the same number as the number you have on a die.  Each good is worth points and money.  The last action you can do with dice is spending them for workers.  Workers can be spent to change the number on a die by one, increasing or decreasing the number as desired.  The dice in this game are looped, so, a increasing a six by one makes the value a 1.  And, decreasing a 2 by two makes the value a 6.  Aside from the dice actions, a player can once per turn, spend two money to get a tile from the center board and place it in his/her supply.  The player can’t place the tile in his/her own board with money though.  After the 5 turns, the land tiles are removed, new tiles put out, and more goods added.  After 25 turns or 5 rounds, the game is over, and the player with the most points wins!

 

Mechanics– This is a really strange one, but it’s really awesome.  The game is a mix of complex and simple mechanics and ideas.  The game is also a mix of strategy and randomness.  Here’s the really strange thing:  it all “works!”  The workers make the randomness work.  Nothing to do with the dice you have?  Get workers and next time that happens you have options! You can create combos if you plan your tile placements well.  I never felt cheated by options I had or didn’t have because of the randomness or strategy.  Honestly, this game plays well and is a blast to sit down and play. 5/5

 

Theme-Here things fall a bit flat.  You’re royalty, but I never felt like I was royalty.  I enjoyed the game, but, that was more for the mechanics and less for the theme.  I did feel like I was developing a town and land, but it was a bit divorced from the royalty theme.  Theme is here, but, it’s not that amazingly strong. 3.5/5

 

Instructions-These instructions are not the best instructions I’ve ever read.  The get the point across, but I don’t think they do it well.  The first game we played, we only played 5 turns, not rounds, because we were all confused.  Some parts of the game the rules don’t do a good job of addressing important issues like how turn order works with shipping and who goes where on the board.  It’s not bad, but it’s not great. 3.5/5

 

Execution– The execution is fine, but not great.  The player boards are nice and well constructed.  The main board is well laid out.  The box comes with nice sections to divide the different types of tiles.  However, the box doesn’t really help you separate the different types of tiles that need to be separated since they are randomly drawn.  Maybe I think different then the creator, but, I ended up using Ziploc bags to keep that stuff separated.  Also, the tiles are small and somewhat hard to read.  And the iconography is hard to keep track of too.  Making this game a bit larger would have helped make this game that much better. 3.5/5

 

Summary– I liked this game.  It was fun and made me think in a bunch of different ways.  I played this game a few times with people ranging from 10 to 50 years old, so, the game is easy to play for a variety of ages.  It scales well for different amounts of players.  The major flaws come from a lacking theme, instructions needing a bit of work, and the some problems with execution.  None of those are exceptionally bad, but they are not good either.  But if you can look past those problems, then this will be a fun mix of randomness and strategy. 78%

 

Product- BareBones Fantasy

Producer- DwD Studios

Price- $10 Here as PDF

TL;DR- Rules lite, press your luck fun. 93%

 

Mechanics– BareBones Fantasy is a d100 extremely rules light RPG.  Let’s give this system a full run down.

 

Character Creation– Each player has four stats: strength, dexterity, wisdom, and logic that range from 35 to 100.  Players also choose a primary and a secondary class that ranges from clerics, fighters, scouts, wizards, thief or others.  Each class has an associated stat that is equal to the base stat divided by two.  You add extra to your primary class and a little less to your secondary classes as this represents some additional training of your character.  In addition, each player adds extra to one class that is chosen as their first rank or level.  Even if a player doesn’t choose fighter, scout, or thief, you calculate the scores for those classes as they serve as the default for several skills like attacking, perception, or stealth, respectively.  Spell casters also get to choose spells.  The system also has some built in role-playing mechanics with descriptors that provide opportunities for role-playing with experience benefits and moral code to help a player consider how their character would react in each different situation.

 

Dice Mechanics and Skills- This games dice mechanics is a mixture of push your luck and running a race by yourself.  Each turn a player gets two free actions: a move and an action.  The action ranges from looking for traps to attacking.  To do any action, a player tries to roll under either the class skill or ability stat with a d100.  While a character may get some penalties from attacking some enemies, the roll is largely dependent on the characters stats hence running a race against yourself.  To move further than their normal movement, the character tried to roll under their dexterity score.  To attack with a sword, a player rolls under their warrior-melee score.  To defend against this attack, a character or monster would roll under their strength or dexterity score.  The push your luck aspect comes from how many actions you want to perform each turn.  After the first free action each turn, a character may perform as many actions as they want, but each action adds a -20% modifier to the characters score.  Thus if a character had a warrior score of 70%, for first attack in the round, the player would need under a 70% to hit, the second, 50%, third, 30%, and fourth, 10%.  This presents and interesting press your luck aspect of this RPG.  Also, a factor to keep in mind, dodging is an action you talk off turn, so, if you want to dodge after that third attack from above, you would have a -60% to your skill since it would be your fourth action that turn!  Does your character think they can kill that dragon this turn with that fourth attack, or, should that character just save up some actions to dodge?  I love how this makes players think and choose!  Additional, some other aspects cause penalties like cover or disadvantage conditions that halves the score you must roll under.

 

Damage and Armor- The system only uses D10’s.  Weapon damage is all d10 based.  Short bow?  2d10 +1.  Longbow?  2d10 +3.   The interesting aspect of this game is all weapons are useable by all classes, but if your strength is too low, you lose one of the d10’s with that weapon.  For a longbow, if your strength is less than a 65, the longbow only does d10+3.   On the other side of damage, armor doesn’t add to your defense value, it subtracts from damage.  Also, since the system is largely classless, every character can wear all the armor types.  An elf wizard can wear full plate armor, however, if a character does not have a high enough strength score, then that character can’t move as far and can’t cast spells.  Man do I love more choice and freedom!

 

Spells-It wouldn’t be fantasy without spells.  Clerics, wizards, and enchanters all get access to spells.  A character gets to cast as many spells as they choose following the rules for attacks with increasing penalties for each spell cast after the first.  Each rank in the spell casting class provides gives increasing penalties to defend against the spell.

 

My thoughts- I really like this system.  It reminds me of old school DnD and Numenera.  It’s more rules heavy then Numenera but extremely rules light.  It takes 10 minutes to build a character even for four completely new players who have never even heard of the system before.  The push your luck aspect of the game is something new in an RPG.  I really enjoy the breath of fresh air that brings even at low levels.  It’s not perfect as the class that does negotiations isn’t a base classes so technically no one can do diplomacy until they have at least one rank in that class.  But the system is easy to play and easy to DM, perfect for a rules light RPG. 4.5/5

 

Theme- Its fantasy.  The base book is pretty easy to read, and has a bit of story and world.  I wouldn’t call it an epic setup for a world as its less than 10 pages, but I would put it above the Pathfinder base book.  It gives you ideas how to play and set up your worlds.  It does describe its own world, but that is a few pages. It’s an interesting world that gets fully fleshed out in the setting book for the system. 4.5/5

 

Execution-Let’s be honest, I bought this RPG for one reason-Its shaped like a comic book graphic novel.  There, I said it.  If you picked up the Rat Queens graphic novel and this book, you would be hard pressed to tell the difference.  This system was designed to be rules light and weight light.  Each book for this system is a quick, easy read that fits in standard comic book bag.  I LOVE this.  The outside of the book give this system an attraction that your standard Paizo/WotC books don’t have any more.  Paizo/DnD hardcovers are not bad, but, they are something that every system copies.  DwD Studios went a completely different direction and that really drew me in.  Inside the book is well written, easy to skim, and well designed.  If you get the PDF’s you get AWESOME character generation pages.  You honestly DON’T need the book to make a standard character with the quick rules summaries you get.  For a group starting out with one copy of the book, that’s wonderful and will encourage the group to play a lot and get more books. 5/5

 

Summary-If you want a really simple, rules light RPG that comes out of left field, you can’t go wrong with this one.  As a GM, I loved running this.  This system has few if any fiddly bits for an old school RPG.  My players loved the quick nature of this game as well as pushing their luck to the very limit.  In one game, I had a wizard try to cast a spell when she could only succeed on 9 or less.  That is pure fun.  The whole system’s cheap, and I met with the people who created the game.  They are great, local guys who are making an excellent product.  If you are looking for a quick game this weekend and want a new product to fill a void, give this a whirl.  I’ve liked what I’ve seen and I can’t wait to see what’s next. 93%