I need to play more Shadowrun!
Luck Charm (1-3)
It’s always luck to have you around.
• Cost: 15 Karma per level
• Game Effect: For each level of this quality, when an edge is spend within 10 yards of you an additional die is rolled on the edge ability or a die is rerolled a second time for each level you have in this quality. This affects friends and foes alike as you have no control over who gets the benefit of this.
Thoughts?
Product-Guns and Gears
Originally posted at www.throatpunchgames.com, a new idea every day!
Product-Guns and Gears
System- Pathfinder 2nd Ed
Producer– Paizo
Price– $14.99 here https://paizo.com/products/btq029xk?Pathfinder-Guns-Gears
TL; DR– Solid new Pathfinder toys and toy based characters! 95%
Basics– BRING THE BOOM! Guns and Gears brings solid steampunk and introductory industrialization to the Pathfinder setting with new technology and themes, two new classes, a new race, and countless new character options and items.
Mechanics or Crunch– Paizo knows their system the best and they bring the best new materials for their toys. The new classes are fun parts of an ever expanding world. The Inventor is the steampunk inventor you may be searching for, with no magical background or ties like the alchemist. The Gunslinger brings pure boom to any encounter. The new race the Automaton is an interesting, but well supported addition to the world of Golarion. There is just a TON of materials with all kinds of new toys such as new guns, tools, and magic items that can help turn the tide of battle. My only complaints are that the Gunslinger feels a bit under-powered. It is an absolute crit machine, but guns can fall flat if a character spends a day hitting but not critting. That said, what Paizo has here is a FANTASTIC addition to the crunch of Pathfinder. 4.75/5
Theme or Fluff– Guns and Gears is not a small book and there is just an absolute TON of new stuff here. Now in a tool book you would think its just item lists, and there is that, but there is also a bunch of fluff to bring the new stuff into the old game. Pathfinder 1st ed is about 10 years ago in the world of Golarion, so this helps advance the world as the fantasy world gets a bit more pre-industrial. All that said, one thing sticks out and this may just be a me-problem: automatons. I always hate new races in old parts of the world as if we just magically found them in the same places we were. That and they feel out of place and honestly more like a warforged in PF2. Not a game breaker, but something I don’t think I would have wanted in my game. Another nitpick is there are no new spells here, and I feel that’s a reasonable, but somewhat annoying choice. If you want some gun spells, look elsewhere. The writers wanted to focus more on mechanics and less on magic, so while I might want some spells, it’s ok they are not here. 4.5/5
Execution– It’s Paizo- they know solid book production. Good layout, art, font, hyperlinking, and all the pieces I expect from a AAA RPG company. It’s a 50 buck book, but as an evil millennial, I mostly like PDFs, so the 14 bucks for a digital file is extremely worth it. 5/5
Summary-I honestly love Pathfinder 2nd Ed. It’s all the pieces of 4th, 3rd, and 5th Edition DnD I want. And differentiating itself from DnD by moving to a more steampunk and pre-industrial culture will help it grow by further making its own path. Guns and Gears is a solid step in that direction with amazing classes, items, and class options. The missteps I see are maybe more opinion; even if they are not my favorite things, they are done well. If you want less magic and more mechanics mayhem in your Pathfinder 2nd Ed, you need this book now! 95%
Ever fire a round to clear the way?
Flourish Gunslinger
Trigger Your attack with a firearm misfires.
Sometimes you just need to clear the barrel of all the smoke to make it fire. When you misfire, you can spend a round and fire to clear the chamber. This removes the jam as an interact action and cant be used on the same gun until you take an hour to fully clean the gun fully.
Thoughts?
How about some love for 5e?
Take 5
Use your talents to the most of your ability. Gain the following benefits:
Thoughts?
Turns out a reroll is equivalent to adding five to a roll. Sometimes let’s just exclude the randomness.
General
Focus on the goal! When you use a hero point, you can elect to either reroll the die or add +5 to the dice value. If the new value would instead cause a critical either as a natural 20 result or the total result being 10 over the DC, treat it as if it was a critical . Dice values over 20 do not cause a critical result unless the total is 10 over the DC as normal.
Thoughts?
Originally posted at www.throatpunchgames.com, a new idea every day!
Product-Doors to Darkness
System- Call of Cthulhu, 7th Ed.
Producer– Chaosium
Price– $17.48 here https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/199593/Doors-to-Darkness
TL; DR-Decent intro with some basic Call of Cthulhu adventures. 90%
Basics– What’s in the basement? Doors to Darkness is a collection of five simple adventures that beginner keepers can bring to the table to introduce Call of Cthulhu to their friends and get new players involved on both sides of the GM screen.
Mechanics or Crunch– What’s here is good, but I would like a bit more. The crunch of the adventures (monsters, skill checks, basics of play) are all done well. My one major criticism is there is not a lot of extra information to help newer keepers/game masters learn the ropes. I would like a bit more GM box text to help a new game master run the game. Since the players and the GM are most likely new, that would really help everyone learn exactly what they are doing. Solid work but this book needs a bit more basics explained to the GM. 4/5
Theme or Fluff– This book has some solid stories that may be a bit disjointed. There are five stories that range from snake cults to undead horrors. Nothing is bad and these are excellent introduction stories, but none of these are really connected. It leads to a bit of a random experience that can end up being kind of a monster of the week. Not bad, but do not expect a long running campaign, but a more introductory experience. 4.5/5
Execution– Here is where Chaosium excels. Chaosium makes amazing digital props and electronic resources for their adventure. Solid layout, digital links, and good text make for an easy to read experience. The book of notes is also an amazing piece that really helps me as a keeper draw in my players. And there are several premade characters that any player could pick up and start playing right away. Fantastic execution Chaosium! 5/5
Summary– Overall, this is a solid effort to help new players get into Call of Cthulhu. For about 18 bucks you get five adventures with decent plot, solid tools and great handouts to draw new and old players in. New keepers will have a bit of trouble as this could use a bit more tools to help newer ones with the rules. But if you want to start Call of Cthulhu and need a good starting point, this is a great place to begin. 90%
Let’s go make friends!
Making friends anywhere you go!
Prerequisites: Diplomacy 5 ranks
Benefit: If you do not share a language with a creature, you can still make a diplomacy check with no penalty. You can not communicate complex ideas but ideas of friendly and general help can be communicated with ease.
Thoughts?
I saw a different version of this, but I feel we can do better!
You’ll be watching, always watching
Benefit: When you ready an action in combat, you gain +2 circumstance bonus when the readied action is triggered. If readied action causes damage, deal an additional damage equal to 1 per 4 levels, rounded down, .
thoughts?
Product– Pathfinder Society Intro: Year of Shattered Sanctuaries
System- Pathfinder 2nd Ed
Producer– Paizo
Price– $5.99 here https://paizo.com/products/btq027s9/reviews&page=2?Pathfinder-Society-Intro-Year-of-Shattered-Sanctuaries#tabs
TL; DR-A simple and solid adventure 86%
Basics– YOU ARE NEEDED PATHFINDERS! This is an intro scenario for new pathfinders and players of all ages. From a mushroom man trying to sort letters to uncovering a simple mystery can you, a new agent, help the Society in a time of need?
Mechanics or Crunch– This is a simple adventure that gets players rolling dice fairly quickly, but has a slightly slow start. It’s not a super risk taking adventure like the 2-01 intro, but it does introduce many society elements and grander plots. After learning about different adventures around the world, the game is a series of battles. Good for intro fun with some basic elements. It’s not crazy-advanced crunch, but it’s solid fun for new players. 4.5/5
Theme or Fluff– Much like the crunch, the adventure doesn’t take risks, has a slow start, but is a decent intro to the world of Pathfinder society. Reading letters at the start is a bit slow, but it does introduce the wider world quickly. The fights are fun if a little standard for 1st level. This isn’t an adventure to push the envelope, but it also doesn’t aim to be. 4/5
Execution– Paizo knows adventures, but they are also the most pricey. I like this one. It has a solid layout, pictures, and design, but it’s also an adventure that will only take about three hours, even with an uninitiated adventuring party. It’s a bit expensive considering what other comparably priced adventures do. Not bad, but short. 4.5/5
Summary– The first adventure of a season is always a contentious adventure. Push the envelope too much and people get a bit lost as new players. Don’t do enough and you end up with just four smaller adventures showing off factions. This strikes a decent balance, but in doing so it doesn’t take risks in terms of scope or being adventurous. It’s also a Paizo product and they put out well done, if expensive adventures. It works well, though it is a bit simple. 86%
Something I LOVE from Call of Cthulhu is if a target has to dodge multiple times in a turn, it gets harder and harder until its impossible. Let’s make this happen in Starfinder!
You tell your allies to give it all they got at one weak point in the enemies defenses.
Prerequisites: Base attack bonus +5.
Benefit: As a swift action, choose an enemy and either KAC, EAC, reflex saves, fortitude saves, or will save. From the start of your turn to the end of your next turn, each time an attack is made against that defense past the first the attack gains a cumulative +1 circumstance bonus to that attack, or if a save is chosen, the enemy has a gains a cumulative -1 penalty past the first save.
Thoughts?
Throat Punch Games 