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%

Game– Ticket to Ride

Producer-Days of Wonder

Price– $35-45

TL;DR– Theme doesn’t stop this train! 92.5%

 

Basics– Around America in seven days!  In Ticket to Ride, you play one of five different friends who are obsessed with  Phileas Fogg, the man who went around the world in 80 days.  Based on Fogg’s story, the players make a one million dollar bet to see who can make it to the most cities in seven days.  In the game, players can do one of three different things on their turn to travel across America:  collect tickets, collect routes, or spend tickets to travel.  When a player collects tickets, they draw one or two tickets.  These tickets can be one of five revealed tickets or from the draw pile.  If a player draws a wild card from the revealed tickets that is the only ticket they can draw that turn.  When a player collects routes, they draw three routes and must keep one.  Routes are worth positive points if a player has connected the cities on the card at the end of the game, but, the card could be worth negative points if the player does not complete the route.  The last action a player can do is spending tickets to place trains on the board.  To place trains on a path on the board, a player must spend enough tickets of the same color as the path.  Some paths are gray and allow the player to spend any color ticket as long as they spend the same color tickets.  Each time a player places trains on the board, they earn points based on how long the path is.  Play continues until one player has two or less trains in reserve.  Then all players get one last turn, and then the game is over.  After counting points from route cards the player with the most points wins!

 

Theme-I’ll be honest.  I’ve played this game a lot, but, I didn’t read the story until I finally bought the game.  The story reinforces the theme decently and helps makes the title “Ticket to Ride” make sense.  Some of the mechanics don’t quite reinforce the theme as once you have a route it doesn’t leave the board.  Do you get to keep the tickets you have for that route in the game?  Do you get to keep riding the trains for free?  Why can’t other players ride the same train as me?  It’s not perfect, but I do feel like I’m busy trying to make it across America as fast as I can. 3.5/5

 

Mechanics-Ticket to Ride has some of the slickest mechanics out there.  My simple summary above is almost all the rules you need to play the game.  The game is quick, fun, and family friendly for almost all ages.  Even though the game doesn’t have the insane depth of some other games, a surprising amount of strategy emerges in this game.  Since goals are secrete, you never know when your best laid plans will go up in smoke.  That tension is amazing for a simple game. 5/5

 

Instructions-The instructions are four pages.  Not four pages front and back, two pages front and back.  Since the rules are not complex, the rules don’t need an epic to teach the players.  I do like the art and pictures that help to teach how to play.  Brevity is the height of wit with these rules. 5/5

 

Execution-The box is nice and hardy.  The path indicators are cute plastic trains that are a nice addition to the game.  The board has a nice layout and is easy to read.  AND, I know the Days of Wonder LOVES me since the game comes with plastic bags for each player’s components.  I absolutely love when a company does that! 5/5

 

Summary-I love this game.  It’s quick, family friendly, and always good to see making it to the table.  The theme is slightly off, but the mechanics, instructions, and execution of the game make up for that hands down.  Really worth trying if you get the chance. 92.5%

Product-Pathfinder Campaign Setting-Inner Sea Combat

Producer– Paizo

Price– $20

TL; DR– A little long to keep me entertained. 77%

 

Basics– MORTAL COMBAT!  Inner Sea Combat focuses on marital characters and how to build these characters and their world into your Pathfinder Game.  The book starts by discussing nations and their interactions with martial characters.  Next, the book adds feats and a discussion on how specialized martial characters function within the rules of Pathfinder.  After specialization, the book moves to schools/guilds and rules to operate these in Pathfinder.  From schools, the books present new prestige classes and archetypes for classes from barbarian to the rogue.  The last section of the book focuses on magic items that specialized characters from this book might need.

 

Mechanics or Crunch-This books adds a bunch of ideas for a GM to add to his/her game, but the ideas are not ground breaking awesome that you would expect for hidden techniques grown on the mountain top monasteries of the world.  The book adds lost arts that are the talk of many a hushed conversation, but when you look over the options, they might fit will in just a player line book.  Also, the book adds schools and guilds.  I don’t hate the mechanics behind these, but I think the numbers are off.  I think the DCs are too high and will likely make life very hard for anyone who wants to go after a school and not get kicked out.  Some of the options are well done, but it’s more diamonds in the rough then a constant flow.  I did like the items that were added to this book. 3/5

 

Fluff or Story- I liked this the most in this book.  The story provides lots of ideas for a GM to add to his/her game.  I didn’t like the distribution of focus in the world, though.  There isn’t much love for the pirates of the Shackles in terms of schools or options as well as a few other key areas.  But, what is there are options it’s well done. 4.5/5

 

Execution-I think this book suffers from a “textbook problem.”  This book has a few too many sections of just text that make the book less fun to read.  It’s not hard to read, but it does tend to drag on a bit.  The book does have some nice new art to help make reading a bit easier, but the format makes things feel long.  The text is not bad, just a bit of a drag. 4/5

 

Summary-I didn’t hate this book, but it’s not one of my favorites.  The mechanics and the textbook nature of the 64 page format are just a little bit off making this book slightly drag on a bit.  I would have preferred this to be a few shorter 32 page books focusing on monks, fighters, or some other class.  I did like the story that this book adds to the world.  Also, knowing who the best of the best fighters are can give the characters goals for whom to fight later.  It’s not a bad book, but just a bit long to keep me completely interested all the way through. 77%