Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Shadowrun: London Falling

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Product– Shadowrun: London Falling

System– Shadowrun 5e, Shadowrun 4e

Producer– Catalyst

Price– $12 here http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/140722/Shadowrun-London-Falling

TL; DR– Fun adventures, not by favorite execution. 83%

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Basics– Let’s run in jolly future England!  London Falling is a series of Shadowrun convention specials that have been updated and formatted for public play.  Players get to take part in slightly harder than normal runs that decide the fate of 2070’s England in adventures that are part of the Shadowrun Missions living game.  Can you handle the pressure of these runs and get home for tea time?

Mechanics or Crunch-Get ready for hard mode!  The con Shadowrun Missions are all made with a “big risk, big rewards” mentality, and it shows.  What’s here is hard core Shadowrun.  It’s fun and done well, but you might have to keep this in mind when you run the adventure as newer players might not stand a chance. 5/5

Theme or Fluff- Overall, the adventures are well done.  Seattle is fine, but it’s fun to run in a completely different location for once.  However, I think since this is a different place, I’d like more background for my players and myself as a GM.  Sure, I can hand wave some stuff, but I’d like a small section to help me better understand the world as I present it in game.  One mission has this, but why not the others? Also, some of the descriptions of locations and layouts are not done as well as I’d like.  It leaves a ton up to the GM to decide.  I can work with that, but I’d like there to be a bit more to help me set the scene.  4/5

 

Execution– While I’m overall happy with the crunch and fluff of this product, the execution is semi-lacking.  A major flaw is the lack of contact sheets and adventure summary sheets in the back of the book!  These are already Shadowrun missions adventures, so those sheets exist, so why are they not here?  That knocks of some of the score.  What is interesting is some of the mix between 4e and 5e as the contacts get the full treatment of how each type of contact will give you some information.  But, some of the contacts are all mixed up.  Art, your default Mr. Johnson for several of the missions, isn’t given a full rundown until the second mission.  That’s kind of strange as he’d be really helpful if presented in the first one.  That kind of summarizes the execution as a whole.  What is here isn’t bad, but I’d just need a bit more and a bit better organized.  3.5/5

Summary– If you want some Shadowrun Missions, then you’re going to get this.  If you know your Shadowrun, this is a great resource for more easy to run, quick to prep missions.  However, if you don’t have all the Shadowrun world lore or an encyclopedic knowledge of 2070’s England and London, you’re going to have a tougher time running these adventures.  I did enjoy them, but I need more.  I need my mission sheets.  I need more information as I love Shadowrun, but don’t have the near 30 years of real world background to run these missions as well as a Seattle run.  These are fun missions that are hard core with some hard traps but also some great rewards, so new players may need a bit of extra help to survive and win those rewards.  New GMs may need a bit more background to know all that is going on in the world.  Overall, it’s an ok book that provides some fun missions, but requires lots of extra work from your GM. 83 %

Daily Punch 4-30-15 Friends with Benefits quality for Shadowrun 5e

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I’m reading tons of Shadowrun lately.  Let’s put in a positive quaility that I thought of when I read about ally spirits…

Friends with Benefits

Cost: 10 Karma

You’re slick, and anybody who knows you just wants to help you.  This even goes for the spirits you keep around you.  When you spend karma to improve an ally spirit, decrease the cost of each individual improvement by one karma.

Thoughts?

Daily Punch 4-29-15 Astrally Insensitive quality for Shadowrun 5e

~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ 1 Comment

Bug City Chicago is full of all kinds of horrible magic backgrounds.  Let’s see if we can work with that.

Astrally Insensitive

Cost: 7 karma per level (1-3 levels)

You’re attuned to the ways of mana, but other people’s mojo doesn’t throw you like it throws others.  For every level you have in this quality, decrease the background penalties you receive from a background count by one.

Thoughts?

Ring Side Report-Board Game Review of Harbour

~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ 1 Comment

Product– Harbour

Producer-Tasty Minstrel Games

Price– $20 here http://www.amazon.com/Tasty-Minstrel-Games-TTT3002-Harbour/dp/1938146786

Set-up/Play/Clean-up– 30 minutes (2-4 players)

Type-Euro

Depth-Light

TL; DR– This game feels like a pocket Lords of Waterdeep.  90%

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Basics-Let’s do worker placement with only one worker!  Harbor is a worker placement game where you only have one worker while you manipulate the market for fish, meat, stone, and wood to buy property and build your economic empire.  Each player gets a different role from a penny pincher to a pirate.  These cards give each of you a power, a start location, as well as a marker to keep track of your different good.  Between all the players sits the market board as well as a number of location cards.  These building each have a cost, a victory point value, possibly extra ability markers, and a power.  Each turn, players move their one meeple to a new building and do the action on the card.  These actions range from buy a building, gain some of one resource, or lose X of one resource and gain Y of another.  And that’s the entire game!  I’m not being condescending here; I’m impressed by the elegance.  What really cranks this game up to 11 is the market.  On a separate board is a market of good with the current value of meat, fish, wood, and stone.  You must have at minimum the same number of a good as the dollar value of the good.  When you move to a building that allows you to buy a property, you move the good to the sold location on the card, which is below the normal location.  You will most likely sell multiple goods at once, so multiple goods will be on the sold locations at the end of your turn if you buy.  But, the market shifts now.  Goods you didn’t sell move higher in the market, increasing their price.  The sold goods have saturated the market.  They move on the sold track to the last spots.  Since goods you sold a lot of have moved into the last spot in the sold row, good you sold more of enter the market on the lowest value as the market is now flooded.  Play continues until someone has bought their fifth building, then all players get one more turn, and the player with the most points in the harbor master!

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Mechanics– I wasn’t being glib above.  The rules are that simple, and that’s fantastic.  Also, this game has a semi-realistic economy.  If you sell a ton of something, then the market has a lot of those goods and won’t pay much for it.  I love any game with slick rules and easy grasp concept that plays quickly.  This feels like a pocket Lords of Waterdeep! 5/5

Theme– The theme isn’t bad, but it does need a bit of work.  I like the world this game is in.  It’s in the same world as Belford, and I like the way that place looks and feels.  It’s almost like the Discworld.  Also, the unique player cards do bring some story the game with all the cards have flavor text on them. That’s a good addition to a card game that adds a bit more theme to a semi dry concept of buying property and market manipulation.  Overall, it does feel like I’m a real-estate mogul in a fantasy world, but some of the simplifications does take away a bit from the theme.  This game is good, but it’s not Arkham Horror levels of immersion. 4.25/5

Instructions– The rules are simple, and they read quickly.  However they are a bit cramped and a few of the leads get buried.  On my first game, we made two fatal flaws: we multiplied the goods sold by the price and we didn’t use the center, uncontrolled buildings.  If you dig deeper into the rules, those are central to the game.  I’d like the rules to be a bit expanded and to provide a few more examples.  As it stands the rules are ok if you take the time to really read them, but you can’t just bust this game out and play in four minutes. 4.25/5

Execution– I like what comes in this box.  However, I have to whine about two things.  1-Stickers!  Tasty Minstrel Games loves to add stickers to wood.  It’s not as bad as say Village or Belford, but I hate having to put that on my stuff.  2-The card sleeves are nice, but I can’t fit my game into the game box now.  I’d like the box to be a bit bigger to accommodate the sleeved cards.  Normally, card sleeves wouldn’t be a problem as there something extra I’m adding to the game, but Tasty Minstrel Games gave out card sleeves as part of the kickstarter.  So, these are company provided.  Those things said, I do like how this game is done overall.  I like the art, the iconography, and even the wooden components.  Just give me some premade components as well as a bigger box, and I’d be thrilled! 4.5/5

Summary– This is a great game if you need something between heaver games.  It’s good in its own right, but you won’t get the two hour experience of a deep fantasy world.  That doesn’t make this game bad in any way, but it’s something to consider.  However, if you want to play a game that has about 1 minute of set-up and you’re then you’re in the middle of things, this is an awesome game.  The “realist” economy makes this game a fun puzzle, and the different races and fluff on the cards does bring you into the world of the game.  Even with having to put some stickers on wood, this is a great, quick game. 90%

Daily Punch 4-28-15 Quick Adapter / Slow Adapter qualities for Shadowrun 5e

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How about being able to deal with some background in a hurry?  How about NOT being able to adjust well?

Quick Adapter

Cost: 5 Karma

You’ve always been an early adapter.  You have the best commlinks and the newest grimoires.  You also are the quickest on the uptake.  Decrease the time it takes you to adapt to a background count by half.

And the flipside…

Slow Adapter

Bonus: 5 Karma

Honestly, you’ve never been “with it.”  Your style is at least 10 years out of date.  You can barely program your commlink, and don’t even get you on the AR as you can’t find your own PAN.  This is just like how you deal with magic.  Double the time it takes you to adjust to a background count.

Thoughts?

Daily Punch 4-27-15 Liquid Encouragement Positive Quality for Shadowrun 5e

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I have a player who’s a face who wants to get bonuses when he’s tippsy.  Let’s make that happen.

Liquid Encouragement

Cost: 5 Karma per rank( 1 to 3 ranks)

Requirement: Addition(alcohol) quality

Sometimes you need a little bit of encouragement.  You get yours from a bottle.  When you’ve a bit bit to drink ( or a bit more), you get a little looser, and its gets everybody a little more money when you meet with the Johnson.  For every rank you have in this quality, you may take a -1 dice pool penalty in all logic checks and gain an equal bonus to all Social skills, a bonus to Social Limit, and High Pain tolerance equal to the total bonus gained by this quality.

Thoughts?

Daily Punch 4-20-15 Barrister background for DnD 5e

~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ 1 Comment

If we’re making Daredevil in DnD 5e, we need somewhere who knows the law.  Let’s make an old timey lawyer- a barrister!

Barrister

You know the law.  You’ve trained under smart men and women who taught you how to speak and how to convince.  You’re smart, driven, and convinced that the law is the only way to get true justice.

Skill Proficiencies: Persuasion, Nobility

Languages: Two of your choice

Equipment:A set of fine clothing, four books of local law from your home region, and a belt pouch containing 15 gp

Feature: Ability to Defend

As a barrister, you know the local law of most locations.  This provides you with the ability to defend those who run afoul of it, including yourself.  When you or an ally are accused of a crime by a lawful entity, you may speak in the defense of those individuals.  You are not guaranteed success, but you know how to ask for a trial instead of swift, brutal justice.  Also, any non lawful group such a mob may not listen to any defense you mount for you or your clients.

d8 Personality

1 I follow a barrister from the past as an example of how to live and how to interact with the law.

2 I use the law to my own ends twisting phrases as I see fit.

3 I see the law is merely a guideline that can be rigid or flexible as it needs to be.  This is how I see most of life.

4 The law as written is infallible and must be defended as such!

5 The fringes of the world need the gift of law to truly become great places.

6 I strive to constantly change the law to generate a more just society.

7 I will only serve the just and the law guides me to them.

8 Those who break the law often have deep pockets and thus must be defended from the law.

d6 Ideal

1 Greed. Only the finest in life will do! (Chaotic)

2 Order.  Without law we are no better than beasts. (Lawful)

3 Generosity. The weak must be defend by and from the law. (Good)

4 Authority. From the law, I demand control. (Evil)

5 Community. The law bring people together through common goals and hopes. (Good)

6 Aspiration. The law allows me a chance to better improve myself through a trade. (Any)

d6 Bond

1 Being a barrister doesn’t start cheep, and I’m indebted to someone.

2 I was on the wrong side of the law, and someone saved me from that fate.  Now I’m working to help others in the same boat.

3 I saved one of my companions from some repercussions of their actions.  Now I’m waiting for them to pay up.

4 I will make the world a better place one argument at a time.

5 I come from a place of chaos and now have seen a place ruled by order.  I will spread that order.

6 My family was poor, but found me this trade.  I will never let them be poor again!

d6 Bond

1 I can’t turn down those in trouble, no matter what the cause.

2 I can’t stand the poor.

3 If you don’t have coin then you are most likely guilty.

4 I can see guilt from a mile away.

5 I think everyone is innocent even when the evidence says otherwise.

6 I’m not proud of what I’ve done or said, and any who remind me get my full wrath.

Thoughts?

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Dungeon Crawl Classics #84: Perils of the Purple Planet

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photo-original

Product– Dungeon Crawl Classics #84: Perils of the Purple Planet

System– DCC RPG

Producer– Goodman Games

Price– $50 here for the boxed set http://www.goodman-games.com/5085preview.html

TL; DR– A good hex crawl, but I’d like a bit more guidance as a GM.  97%

Basics– Can you survive a blender of Appendix N other world science fantasy?  On the Purple planets a race of ape men fight under the guidance of strange alien powers for control of a desert world full of timeless technology as well as giant worms.  It’s every single awesome old school fantasy book, movie, and song rolled into one-the way any DCC RPG product should be made. Will you solve the secret of how to survive the world and find a way home or will you die in the dust?

Mechanics or Crunch– This is a great expansion for the DCC RPG.  The kickstarter added a ton of extra content to the adventure box set.  Among the different add-ons are a ton of adventure locals, race and class write ups for the kith (the ape men), new technology, an entire world to play in, and much more.  Overall, it’s all well done.  There are a few issues such as how often encounters happen and other small details I don’t think were as well explained as they could be.  Also, I think encounters happen far too often to keep move the story along.  It’s not going to end the game by any means, but there are some small issues that did keep me from fully enjoying the product.  4.75/5

Theme or Fluff- What is in this box set is very much amazing.  The set comes with a ton of world building.  Honestly, there is more world building than in the base book!  From a full right-up on kith cultures and a kith class, to the different kind of alien masters, this set is full of stories.  My one issue in this book is the players and the GM doesn’t really get an introduction to how to run this thing.  Unlike the other DCCRPG adventures, this is really a free form adventure.  Players can literally go anywhere, but the boxed set didn’t give me enough directions to keep the story moving in a good direction.  It does give a simple base idea of the adventure, but GMs are really on their own to determine what happens on the purple planet and to build a cohesive story there.  4.75/5

 

Execution– This is a gorgeous boxed set full of tons of amazing books.  There are books on crypts from space warriors past, a setting book, the adventure, a player book, a handout book, and even a GM screen.  The base DCC RPG doesn’t even have a GM screen!    I’d like a bit more spacing and art in the adventure, but honestly, that’s the same thing I complain about with the other DCC RPG adventures.  This one makes up for it by sheer volume of well done material.  You will learn an impressive amount about this world from the awesome books in this set. 5/5

Summary– I do love me some hex crawling.  It’s a great experience to just let the players go and explore the world.  This has even more than normal as the players get to explore a completely alien world.  This whole adventure box set has not only the named adventure but a ton of extra stuff to get players into this world.  It’s all amazingly well done.  If this adventure were just the adventure itself, it would not have rated is as high as I did.  The extra care put into this set really drives this over the top.  My only problems with this set were the lack of guidance as a GM and some minor issues with the mechanics of the set.  However, none of that takes away from how impressive this box is.  If you want to play in a world where Frank Herbert, Robert Howard, and Jack Vance all mixed their ideas in a blender and poured that over a base of old school D&D, then this is the product for you. 97%

Daily Punch 4-16-15 Way of the Chair and Table

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Let’s continue building on the monk with a chair theme from yesterday.

Way of the Chair and Table (Combat)

You’ve trained, and you’ve drank.  At this point, your fists are good, but the chair is better.

Prerequisite: Catch Off-Guard, Monk unarmed damage, Way of Your Surroundings

Benefit: When you use an improvised weapon the size of a chair or larger, your unarmed damage with improvised weapons increases by one step up the monk dice chain.  When you use something like a table, you gain the benefits and penalties of a tower shield while not losing your monk bonuses due to using a shield.

Thoughts?