How about we help those little alchemists deal with all the things they keep breathing or drinking?
Poison Fueled Feat 12
Alchemist
Prerequisite(s) Poison Resistance
Your blood has become used to having a healthy dose of toxic chemicals to the point you almost need it now. You resistance to poison damage is equal to your level now and when you take persistent poison damage you now heal that much each turn instead. You still roll to end the effect as normal and can not elect to keep the damage going. If the damage is multiple damage types, you still heal as long as the persistent damage contains the poison type.
TL; DR-Three games in one where every roll matters! 88%
Basics– Dragon Age in your modern age? Modern Age Basic Rulebook is a stand alone game, applying the basics of the Fantasy Age system to a modern or near modern setting. Let’s break this up into pieces.
Basic mechanics: Modern Age is Fantasy Age is Dragon Age. All three of these use 3d6 + ability + focus to do anything. Like all RPGs, it’s the basic idea of “roll dice, plus a number, to get a different number to win” idea. Easy enough to pick up and play.
Abilities and focuses: Modern Age has a pretty simple number addition pool where you add an ability. Ability is just like your base statistics in DnD. These range from -2 to +4. You also have focuses, which are basically like skills in DnD except that you get a flat +2 to the roll instead of different values. Later you can specialize so you have a +3 instead of the +2.
Talents and Powers: While abilities and focuses do give you some room to build some fun characters, it’s not enough to really differentiate your characters from the pack. That is where talents come into play. Talents are the feats of the system. Talents provide a bonus that makes your character distinct. Talents range from being rich and getting bonuses in buying things to being a bruiser who hits harder. What makes these distinct from DnD feats is there are three levels of each talent. As you level up you can take higher levels of each talent, making you more powerful in your given area. This is how spells/powers/psychic abilities are handled as well. You choose a magic school and that school functions pretty much like a talent providing you new options like making a light happen to casting fireballs. This isn’t a Vancian magic or powers game as characters have a number of power points they can spend at will to do whatever powers they want as often as they can.
Stunt Points: This is the bread and butter of the system. The Age system itself isn’t completely novel as dice + numbers vs a different number isn’t anything new, but this system uses 3d6 with ONE die being a different color. This different die is your stunt die. If any dice show doubles and you succeed, you get to a number of stunt points equal to your stunt die value. These points range from tripping people to better haggling in the market to adding power to your psychic blasts. All dice rolls have a table of stunt points you can spend to make things interesting. This differentiates the system from other roll + number systems, making it its own thing.
Game version: Modern movies are really three different kinds of movies. You have your ultra modern, gritty movies where one bullet kills someone. You have fun pulp where you punch nazis with a satisfying SMACK. You also have movies where one hero kills hundreds of monsters while only getting a single cut over his eye to make him look even more amazing. Modern Age gives you rule tweaks to play in any of these settings by changing damage from weapons, hit points, and number of bad guys you throw at the hero.
Ok, that’s the basics of the game. Let’s look at my thoughts at the game.
Mechanics or Crunch– You can see the direct line from the Dragon Age video game to the Dragon Age game to Fantasy Age to Modern Age. And that is a good thing! I like the basic idea of powers, magic points, and mechanics of the Dragon Age video game, and Dragon Age the RPG system implemented that well. Those basic ideas go from Dragon Age to Fantasy Age and finally to Modern Age. It’s a solid, simple to play system. Stunt points and the fact that any roll can make them happen really makes this game pop. Every roll matters. Something that happens in one roll might have big changes to the next as the points can change things in ways you might not have expected. It’s a great touch to make this stick out from all the other roll vs numbers games out there. My one minor gripe is I would like more powers in a character. Characters don’t get a whole lot of powers to play with if they go that route. If you are ok with a pretty simple system without an overabundance of options, this is a good one to jump into. 4.5/5
Theme or Fluff-This book is light on fluf, but that is decidedly on purpose. Modern Age is a modern setting. It’s just today. You have today’s guns. The only fantasy bit is magic powers, and that’s honestly optional. The game references a comic setting as an option to play, but mostly it leaves the game up to you. The three different versions of the game do help you set the game how you want to play. Gritty, pulp, or cinematic are good options for a GM and players to decide how the world should be played. It’s setting light, but that’s by design, which doesn’t hurt the goals of the book. 4/5
Execution– PDF? YEP! Hyperlinked? YES! Ok, we start solid. Overall the book is well done. The font and tables are not my favorite, but that’s a print issue as they are a bit cramped for my taste. I also think laying out some items in a table for character advancement would help as opposed to telling me in text. Those small issues annoyed me a bit, because I want to be able to glance over things quickly to get what I need to know quickly. Aside from that, the book is well done. The one thing that stuck out to me is the weapons page. WEAPONS HAVE LABELS IN A PICTURE! I can’t tell you how many RPGs I have read where they mention a weapon, and I have to google what they mean. That’s a small thing that keeps me in this book as I speed read through the thing. Reads quick, easy to navigate, and good art to boot make this a solid product. 4.75/5
Summary-I can’t wait for the next Dragon Age video game. That system was solid. This game is a grand child of that video game, and it’s got all the things I know and love from it. The mechanics are simple and the fact that dice rolls have a chance to make something cool happen besides a critical keep things interesting. The fact I can run three different games from one book makes this pretty versatile for the games I want to play. The book was a quick read that got me playing fast. What I don’t like as much is I would like a bit more about the basic setting, but the basic setting is today. So, I could just look outside and see what it’s like. Characters don’t get a ton of options, but that is something from Dragon Age as well. It’s a solid game that makes every roll count, so give this one a try if you crave some modern day gunfights at your table! 88%
We’ve got quen for 5e and Starfinder, so it’s time for Pathfinder 2e!
Aegis Spell 1
Abjuration Force
Traditions arcane, divine Cast
somatic, verbal Duration 1 minute
You surround yourself in a shimmering light of of protective force. This shield has 10 hit points and these hit points are lost first before any others. When the shield loses all it’s hit points, if the creature that hit you hit with a melee attack and is within five feet, it is blasted with a burst of light. The target must make a Fortitude saving throw or be blinded for one round.
Heightened (+1) The aegis hit points increases by increases by 5.
Let’s build on the ideas from Monday but in Starfinder!
Blinding Breach T1
School evocation
Casting Time 1 standard action
Range touch
Targets 1 creature equipped with a force field
Duration 24 hours
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance no
You overcharge a shield allowing for a explosion of light when it fails. From now on when the shield is reduced to 0 hit points it emits a flash of light. All creatures, except the barer, out to 20 feet must succeed at a Constitution saving throw or become blind for 1 round.
More witcher inspired spells! I like the quen sign. Can I make this in DnD?
Aegis
1st-level abjuration
Casting Time: 1 bonus action Range: Self Components: V, S Duration: concentration, up to 1 minute
A translucent shimmering shield of force envelops you. This shield has 10 hit points, and will take damage first from melee or weapon attacks. When exhausted, it emits a flash of light causing blindness for one round on the attacker if the attacker is with in 10 feet and fails a Constitution saving throw.
At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the hit points of the aegis increase by 5 for each slot level above 1st.
Set-up/Play/Clean-up– 30 to 60 minutes (2-4 players)
Type- Euro
Depth-Light
TL; DR– Strong euro with a good, strange theme. 94%
Basics- Who’s ready to fly? Pan Am is a game all about owning enough of Pan Am to be its leader. The basic flow of the game is worker placement with an outbid mechanic. Each turn an event is revealed, players place and replace workers called engineers, actions happen, and finally Pan Am buys routes and players buy stock. Events change the stock price and set new things in motion from free planes to giving extra actions. The options for placing engineers on the board are: build airports, win location cards, build planes, claim routes, and get directive cards. These all factor into routes. To claim a route you have to have an airport at the start or end of a route, have a location card of a start or end of the route, discard a card in the the same area as the route, or discard two cards from the same area that isn’t where the route you want is. This makes airports and location cards key. There are four types of airplanes with each being able to fly farther and farther. Claiming a route gives you money every turn as income as long as you control the route. Directives are wild cards that give you powers from free end game stock to extra planes and everything in between. The key in this game is bidding. Each airplane airport, or location space has different money amounts. You can choose any location, but if a player is willing to pay more, you are bumped and you get to redeploy that worker. The last part of the turn is Pan Am buying routes from the players. When Pan Am randomly buys a route by following a marked flow on the board from a random die roll, it gives the player money based on the size of the route, but reduces your end-of-round income as you no longer control the route. Lastly you get income based on the routes and airports you control. Income can be saved or spent to buy stock. The game lasts 7 rounds. In rounds 4 and 6 the options to buy bigger planes are revealed as action spaces. Once the game is over, the person with the most stock is the winner!
Mechanics-If you want a euro that you can give a friend to show them that there is more to life than Candyland, this is a great game for that! You place workers, maybe get outbid, but then you gain the actions. The whole game is lightning quick. Reading rules to punching out cardboard to play was 15 minutes for me. And I felt like it was playing a decent game! Now, will I bring my hard core, “twelve hours of thinking for each move” europlayers to this one? No. It’s pretty simple. But simple isn’t bad! 4.75/5
Theme- Huh. Had you told me a year ago that I would go to Target and buy a game about an old airplane company, and I’d feel like I was building a transportation empire in the 60s, I would tell you that sounds horrible. But, it’s honestly a ton of fun. You feel like you are making smart choices. You feel like you are buying stock and making company choices. I felt like I was a good businessman. Art and colors also make this a phenomenal experience. 4.5/5
Instructions– Solid rules in this one. Now, it’s a simple game so I don’t have lots of edge cases to sort out, but I honestly understood what was up and didn’t need to consult the oracle of BGG to find how to play. Well done rules that make reading a snap! 5/5
Execution– I loved this game! Check out all the pieces here: https://youtu.be/Tm3uREbgkc4 The planes are amazing. The art style is the right kind of retro. Color looks old school. Text is nice and easy to read. The one thing that bugs me a bunch is give me extra bags for all the cardboard. Bags prove you love me! 4.5/5
Summary-This is a solid, entry level euro that is well done. The rules don’t scare away new people. The aesthetic all look amazing. Actions feel like they should. I just wish I had a few more bags and maybe make things a tad heaver for the hardcore. But for the intro player, amazing. It’s not bad by any means, but if you want a deeper than an hour experience, you will be disappointed. If you want a solid intro to euro style games, then this will be a phenomenal game in your collection. 94%
Saving Throw Will half (harmless); Spell Resistance yes (harmless)
You speak words of power and twin two willing souls together. Chose a number of willing creature in range as determined below. Those souls now share a total hit point pool. Damage to one deals damage to the whole hit point total. When the total hit point total is reduced to zero, both begin to die. When you heal one of the pair, increase the total hit point total by that much. When the spell ends, divide the remaining hit point total as equally as possible. This spell has no effect on stamina points.
1st: 2 willing creatures
2nd: 3 willing creatures
3rd: 4 willing creatures
4th: 5 willing creatures
5th: 5 willing creatures
6th: 7 willing creatures
Casting this spell doesn’t provoke attacks of opportunity.
Throat Punch Games 