Category: Ring Side Report

Ring Side Report- RPG review of Quest Calendar Preview Cartographer’s Quest

~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ Leave a comment

Product-Cartographer’s Quest

System- Quest Calendars

Producer– Sundial Games

Price– Free here  https://www.sundialgames.com/_files/ugd/9d9f18_658bd9e568f84bf595372bca39822de9.pdf 

TL; DR– Daily fun! 97%

Basics– What day is it again?  Sundial Games is back with their 2026 calendar.  This year we’ll be bad guys!  But, they are giving away a trial of their last one.  

Base Mechanics-This is a VERY simple RPG that each day has you choose actions and then roll a d20.  You have stats like in any other RPG, but they are  straight bonuses to dice rolls with the most common die used being a D20.

Combat-Combat is simple.  You roll a d20 and attempt to hit an enemy.  If you do with your bonuses, then you can roll damage based on the weapon or spell you used.  If you do enough damage you stun or kill the enemy.  Fail and the enemy does damage based on your armor.  There is death, but it’s more likely you gain penalties for the next day.

Classes and abilities-  There are multiple characters you can choose to be.  Each character has their own abilities.  Some are static bonuses to some abilities and others are limited abilities.

Now the review!

Mechanics or Crunch– This is simple, but that’s not bad!  The base mechanics of “roll dice, add number” is an award winning idea all the way back to DnD 1st ed in 1974.  The calendar is about 5 minutes per day, so the mechanics can’t be extremely deep.  But it is fun to use abilities and see simple plans work out.   5/5

Theme or Fluff–  This is not a choose your own adventure.  This is a railroad.  You are signing up for a story you play through, so its much more JRPG and less western RPG.  I love it, but you are more along for the ride and less changing the story.  That’s ok if you want that.  I do.  You also can’t expect 900 page epics in this.  There are about two paragraphs on a long day of words for the story.  It’s not bad, but it is a more simple narrative.  4.5/5

Execution–  Sundial is learning.  They fixed multiple production issues in the physical calendar and the PDF you get to play is solid.  You get multiple characters and art.  The physical product also has dry erase characters sheets with good markers.  This is a solid product.  5/5

Summary–  Do you want a little bit of RPGs every day?  That’s the only real question here.  You can’t expect 12 hour games, nor can you expect deep, interacting mechanics to exploit.  You get a simple game that you can spend a few minutes exploring and enjoying a fun fantasy world.  I love it.  I am backing the new adventure where you will be the villain.  I don’t even like evil, but I trust Sundial to deliver something fun.  Check this one out!  97%

Ring Side Report- RPG review of Pathfinder Society Scenario #2-23: An Agent’s Obligation

~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ Leave a comment

Product-Pathfinder Society Scenario #2-23: An Agent’s Obligation

System- Pathfinder 2nd Ed

Producer– Paizo

Price– $8.99 here  https://paizo.com/products/btq027rn?Pathfinder-Society-Scenario-223-An-Agents-Obligation  

TL; DR– Short but fun! 98%

Basics– Where are the agents?  Cheliax is not a welcoming place, but when you find friends, you take them!  But what happens when agents go missing?  Who’s killing Pathfinders?

Mechanics or Crunch– This adventure is fun, but we are starting to get up there in power!  There are some harder fights here, so Pathfinders need to be prepared.  There are also changes where combat is not the only way forward.  What the players decide to do is all up to them, and that also allows for interesting flexibility in the adventure. 5/5

Theme or Fluff–  The story to this one is good, but failure can break the immersion.  This is a “follow the trail” adventure.  That’s good, but the issue is if the players fail.  If they fail, they can talk to the host who invited the Pathfiners and she will save them.  That’s ok, but it breaks the immersion a bit.  Also, this adventure is good, but a little short depending on the players’ actions.  Make sure they know that if they play smart, then they play quick!  4.75/5

Execution–  This is classic Paizo.  Solid execution, easy to read, fast to set up, and good to run.  5/5

Summary–  This advances the Pathfinder Story, allows for player choice, and if things go well, the players feel smart.  But, if it’s a bad day, then it will be a lot of asking.  I like the choice.  The combats can be hard, but not too bad if the players prepare.  If not, it will be a hard day!  98%  

Ring Side Report- RPG review of Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-13: All That Glitters

~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ Leave a comment

Product– Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-13: All That Glitters

System- Pathfinder 2nd Ed

Producer– Paizo

Price– $ 8.99 here  https://paizo.com/products/btq08c00?Pathfinder-Society-Scenario-613-All-That-Glitters 

TL; DR– Solid, but too short 91% 

Basics– Ready for maybe a wild goose chase?  A lost vault has been discovered that may have a lost key to a pocket dimension.  If you check the cache, the Pathfinders get to keep everything but that key.

Mechanics or Crunch– This adventure is a good old dungeon crawl.  Not much diplomacy, not much outside exploration, but good old enter the room, explore, kill the bad guys.  You can’t beat the classics.  There might be some encounter balance issues, but overall its crunch is well balanced.  4.75/5

Theme or Fluff–  The biggest issue for this adventure is the length.  This is a VERY short adventure with a bit of story, but not much beyond the basics.  This adventure uses a map that was used in a quest, but this is a full sized adventure.  It’s fun as you explore the vault-like museum, but it needs to be longer.  I’m pretty quick as a GM, but this took me less than 2 hours to run at a con.  And something important, I dont think they describe what the key is.  You find it, but they don’t describe what it looks like.  4/5

Execution– It’s Paizo.  Solid layout, production, art, and even text makes this something to be studied.  5/5

Summary– This is a fun adventure.  I like the crawl.  Crawls in dungeons are always fun, but this is just not long enough.  Throw me more encounters here.  Some are even marked as optional.  More things to do would spice up this adventure.  But, what’s here is good.  91%

Ring Side Report- RPG review of Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-12: The Burning of Greensteeples

~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ Leave a comment

Product– Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-12: The Burning of Greensteeples

System- Pathfinder 2nd Ed

Producer– Paizo

Price– $ 8.99 here  https://paizo.com/products/btq08bzx?Pathfinder-Society-Scenario-612-The-Burning-of-Greensteeples 

TL; DR-Fun events, but little big pictures.  90% 

Basics–  Greensteeples burns!  Thrune attacks the Pathfinders at Greensteeples, and it’s your job to help.  Can you get in, get your friends, and get out?

Mechanics or Crunch– This adventure covers a lot of bases. It has an infiltration round and several combats.  Infiltration could be better described in the core books, but what’s here functions ok within the rules themselves.  There is a smattering of social encounters, but overall, it’s several small events as the players attempt to sneak in, kill bad guys, get friends, and sneak out.  It’s good overall, with only a few small issues.  4.75/5

Theme or Fluff–  I know Thrune doesn’t like the Pathfinders, but there seems like there is more going on, but I don’t know it.  I feel like this is setting up something big, but I don’t have enough to tell my players about it.  There is moving and shaking, but I don’t understand it.  I’d like to know more than what’s here.  The base plot is fine, but the bigger plot is something I think isn’t well explained.  3.75/5

Execution– It’s Paizo.  I keep saying they do this well, and they did this well again. 5/5Summary– I liked this one, but I wish I could love this one.  I need more big story beats.  I felt like I missed it here, so my players may miss it as well.  The major events went well, and the players and I had fun with the crunch.  The execution is on point as always.  I just want to know more of what is going on.  90%