Been reading about Nethys recently, and I thought of this trait.
Nethys’ Chosen
You are born under the two way sign. You have choices to make, but the God of Magic has chosen to call you his.
Benefit: Gain a +1 to Use Magic Device and Knowledge(arcana) and both are class skills for you.
Thoughts?
How about a feat for Pathfinder? Who doesn’t love playing Mario with their enemies…
Death From Above
When you strike from above, you hit with devastating results
When you jump down on an enemy from a height of equal to or greater than twice the enemy’s height, increase your critical attack range by two. You can do this effect by jumping at the opponent instead of falling, but you must succeed on a jump check that results in you at least being twice as high as your opponent.
Thoughts?
RPG-The Strange
Producer-Monte Cook Games
Price-$41 here http://www.amazon.com/The-Strange-RPG/dp/1939979161/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407796403&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Strange
System– Cypher
TL;FR-It’s the next RPG from Monte Cook Games, so It’s going to be good. 100%
Basics– Ready for some Strange? The Strange is a semi-sequel RPG to the previous hit Numenera. In this RPG, the concept of the Strange is first and foremost. The Strange itself is a chaotic mix of ideas where different versions of reality can be generated. In these different pocket “dimensions”, steampunk, video game, popular fiction, fantasy, literature worlds/universes can be created and existed in . However, monsters that eat whole worlds prowl out in the chaos. In this game, your job is to keep that from happening.
Mechanics or Crunch-There is a lot here, so let’s go topic by topic.
Mechanics Basics- Remember Numenera? This is pretty much the same. GM never rolls the dice. Players say a task or activity, the GM sets a level, multiply that level by three, and player rolls a d20. Hit the number-succeed. Don’t-fail. Your differnt powers and skills may make the number on the d20 lower. The system is quick, easy, and keeps the focus on the story.
I’m a blanking blank who blanks– Character generation is select one of descriptor that give you a general power, a class from one of three options, and an additional power that grows as you gain “levels” or tiers. Character generation is again quick, easy, and keeps the focus on the story instead of min/maxing.
Worlds of “who blanks”-In my day job (thing that keeps me in the RPG books), I am a research scientist. That’s great in a place where “science” works, but what about a place with magic? Well, since a major part of this game is about changing worlds, the last part of each characters blanking blank who blanks changes depending on the world! So, when Ed the crazy paradox who researches leave Earth and moves to a world of magic, I get a chance to choose what kind of character I change into based on the new world. Now Ed is a crazy paradox who practices soul sorcery and looks like Anubis as I enter the magic world of Ardeyn. This is the BIGGEST change in The Strange. Your character is a near infinite number of characters as you can go to a near infinite number of worlds. And that is awesome! The book comes with a bunch of different descriptors that give all kinds of different options based on the different types of worlds presented.
Infinite Worlds-The Strange is infinite (as far as we know…). The base book comes with some basic worlds to play in, but the game comes with rules to make any type of world you want. The book even gives rules for the players to create their own worlds. You can tell the Bruce Cordell was a major writer as the Lovecraft world is presented, and that makes me happy. Want to play some Oz? Done. Wonderland? Done. Again, awesome!
Translation-the newest mechanic that is presented is translation. This is the process of moving from one world/universe/reality to another. It’s fairly simple, but the rules give a good introduction on how to do it as well as different way to move between worlds/universes/realities (portals, cyphers etc).
Mechanics Summary-This game is basically a bigger version of Numenera. Heck, since The Strange is all inclusive, Numenera CAN exist within this game! That’s not a bad thing! This game feels like Monte Cook Games learned from Numenera, and Numenera was an excellent system to start with! Small new additions make this an even better systems in terms of mechanics. This game isn’t for the min/maxers out there, as it’s set up to be a super easy to use system that focuses on the story. The mechanics of this one really do focus on the story first, giving just enough math to make things happen, but enough options to keep anyone happy. 5/5
Theme or Fluff- The theme is strange (pun intended) and fun. You play a combination of MIB/RIPD/Delta Green/Stargate/Warehouse 13 Agents. It’s a fun theme with an infinite number of places to play. Heck, the book introduces fiction leakage-ideas leaking from one place to another and creating worlds/universes in the Strange. So, you if you want to start a game where every single work of fiction comes from a different place in the Strange and cultists from Lovecraft are summoning Kaiju/Transformer monsters from beyond reality and the ritual must take place in a world based on 50 Shades of Gray with the end goal of destroying Earth, the game give you the tools to make that happen. The theme covers all the themes you could want while adding its own touch to everything. And again, that is awesome. 5/5
Execution-This book has a lot of ground to cover. From introducing the cypher system to the multiple different descriptors needed to play this game in different realities to describing the setting, this book does a good job explaining how the game works. Things are as close to perfect as you can with this size book. The book does have the occasional sections where things get a bit textbook dense, but the number of pictures keeps that to a minimum. The font, layout, pictures, and breaks make this fun to read and will keep you digging deeper and reading. And this book is over 400 pages! That number of pages for the price when considering the quality of the RPG is insane! 5/5
Summary-Monte Cook Games knows how to make an RPG for their target audience. You CAN’T min/max in this system. If you want to power game, look elsewhere! This game is designed to tell a story, move it along quickly, and draw you in as quickly as possible. The mechanics are amazing. If you like the cypher system, you will like this. Heck, the best part of this game is EVERYTHING from Numenera has a place in The Strange. Each power, descriptor, and idea can be SOMEWHERE in the strange. I suspect that within a few weeks a handy list giving which types of worlds/universes the Numenera powers/descriptors would work in will be out there (or I will make one!). The idea that you change, but don’t, as you enter different worlds is a phenomenal addition to the system and RPGs as a whole. I love what I see, and if you get a chance, you will too. However, here is a word to the wise. Since your characters change settings and powers fairly quickly, the player’s handbook is a good addition as it will really help you know how your powers work in each world, and the game won’t stall as the players have to pass the book around to understand each world they enter and how their characters fit in. Give this one a look as soon as you can! 100%
I saw a thread on ENWorlds discussing how much you would pay at a hobby shop vs. how much you pay online. I thought about that for a quite a while and I think I’d pay a lot. Let’s give some examples and thoughts that go with that.
I don’t expect my store to just be a store. The store is a place I hang out. I’ve mentioned a few times that I want to make gaming happen. Gaming is a major part of my life. I spend lots of money buying games, lots of my time reading/learning games, and lots of my life running games at stores and cons. My store is a part of my home. I expect a friendly place where people know who I am, who care that I’m doing well gaming and in my life, and a place that wants me to be there running games. I know that the store manager/owner is there because on some level he/she has to make money to eat and pay rent, but I also want him/her to be there because they love comics and gaming. I want that person to want to make games happen too.
I need that store person to need gaming in their life too. If you are just in the comics/gaming world to make a buck, leave. That’s not insulting, it’s an economic reality! There are much better ways to make a buck in this world that requires much less energy. Franchising out McDonald’s are a much better investment. Game stores die within the first year all the time, and you can’t just run that store 9 to 5. I don’t know about you, but 9 to 5 is when I’m working. So, any place that will give me time to play has to have their store open from 6 to 10. So the shop keep is looking at a 13 hour day to deal with my crap!
I realize all of this. I realize that these men and women are working their asses off. Sure, running a store isn’t as physically exhausting as, say, 13 hours of manual labor like heavy construction of houses. But it’s at least mentally draining since these people have to dance a hard dance to make all the bills happen while keeping the lights on and dealing with entitled gamers/comic fans all day.
Online shopping is great, but I have NO loyalty to anyone out there. Sure, I’ll sign up for your discount program. Yeah, give me your newsletter. Fine, I’ll friend you on Facebook. But I do not care about you. You are a means to an end. If my only interaction with you is to check a few boxes and have PayPal hand my money to you, then you are no better than any other http place to me. I don’t feel you care. You’re just a means to an end. Amazon, you, any other of the dozens of sites I know, you’re all the same. You may be much more, but if I’m not helping someone I know needs help in the gaming industry, it’s hard to know if you do or don’t care.
Cons are no better. I’ll see some con vendors two times a year. I’ll make some small talk, but I don’t owe any loyalty to you either. You’re at this con to make some money. Cons are high profile places where lots of geeks gather. And you can make a ton of money fast if you know what you’re doing, and you brought the right stuff. However, I will haggle with you. Honestly, I will walk up to vendors with my cell phone in one hand and my debit card in the other. If my local guy/gal can’t get an item, then any con seller is as good as Amazon. So, if you, the con vendor, can’t meet Amazon’s price, that item can be at my house in two days (prime shipping is awesome!). Same goes for some companies. If you are big enough to have a giant booth at GenCon, I have no problems haggling with you. The smaller companies get a pass, generally, but I have no problems haggling with the semi-large ones unless you’ve earned my loyalty. If a company has proven time and time again that they are great to their customers, like Fantasy Flight with its rock solid customer support or Wizards of the Coast with its FREE open play programs, then I will not try to fight them on price. In either case, I expect a deal at a con. At a con you’re cutting out all the middle men. If you want to get more money from cutting out those people, then I expect to get a break too. If you sell for 80% at a con, your still ~40% more then you normally get. I know this, you know this, now let’s make a deal!
But, when I find a local store that gives me its time/play space, friendship, and a passion for gaming, they get my money. If you treat me with respect, I’ll put quite a number of hours into making your store the best store I can find. I’ll run my games there, post about it on Facebook, tweet upon my Twitter, and overall make you a part of my life. And, for the feelings I get from your store, I’ll pay full price. I won’t screw around asking for discounts (but giving them to me does help keep me loyal!). I won’t be an ass and haggle over small things. I’ll show up every week, pay for my orders, even though I know I’m losing money vs. online shopping, and I will do that with a smile on my face. That is the price of admission to these places and the feelings and support we gamers get there.
I’ve been thinking about the heroes I love to read about, mostly the sneaky bastards…this one goes out to them!
From the Hip
Wen you draw down for a fight, you move so fast you strike with the weapons hilt before then with your blade before you opponents know what hit them.
Prerequisite: Quick Draw
Benefit: When you draw a weapon for the first time in a combat and use the quick draw feat, you gain an extra attack that uses your highest attack bonus and the weapons normal damage dice with the exception that this attack deals bludgeoning damage.
Thoughts?
How about being able to specialize in more then one thing in Shadowrun 5e?
Extra Specialization
Cost: 10 + 5 karma per specialization beyond the first.
You focus on one area and really spend your time working on that to the point all facets of that task are almost second nature to you. When you take this quality, you may spend additional karma to specialize in a skill that you are already specialized in. You must specialize in a second area.
Thoughts?
I’ve been reading some Shadowrun lately, how about a quality for that?
Superior Specilization
Cost: 10 karma
You are good, damn good, at what you focus on. When you add dice to a dice pool because you specialized in an skill, you add three dice instead of two.
Thoughts?
Product– Emergence Roleplaying Game
Producer-3mergent Games
System– Emergence RPG
Price-~$16 here http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/131828/Emergence-Roleplaying-Game-Core-Rulebook
TL;DR– A bit of Hero, Eberron, and Shadowrun all together. 85%
Basics-Man is not alone in the universe, but he’s still the worst thing out there. In Emergence, mankind has discovered a stone allowing us to travel to another world, Stargate style. There we meet elves, dwarves, and orcs and begin to treat them poorly leading to a war cumulating in the other races destroying our gate home. Now a portion of mankind lives on this world in relative peace over 100 years later. Players take the role of one of the people in this brave new world which features a combination of magic, technology, and a fusion of the two.
Mechanics or Crunch-HOLY COW THIS IS A CRUNCHY SYSTEM! That is by no means bad. But, if you were looking for Fate or Fiasco levels of rule complexity, then look elsewhere. The book clocks in at over 300 pages, so this system has some serious meat on its bones. Let’s go over the highlights:
Races-First thing I noticed about this system’s mechanics is the way you build your character. It’s a standard build point system, but the races are much different. When you create your character, you get four race build points. Each race has abilities that cost between one to three build points, so if you wanted to play a quarter human, quarter dwarf (on my mother’s side), quarter elf ( on my father’s side), and quarter orc (don’t ask), then you can! I think that’s pretty cool.
Character Generation-Characters start by selecting a background that will give them default stats, building your race, and then spending 100 build points to make whatever kind of character they want. I always love any system that allows for that much customization, but it does slow down character generation. Also, the BEST part of these build points is build points are the generic points used for experience points. And, post character generation build point spending is exactly equal to during character generation build point spending. I HATE systems that change the rules for that after character generation!
Talents and Combat-Another option that characters have are talents. Talents are like feats that give the character better abilities. You have to meet requirements to buy a talent, but they do give the character that little bit more. Also, the talents are designed like trees with multiple levels for your character to take and specialize in. Talents handle several different aspects of this game ranging from a multiple shots with a bow to magic spells. And, these talents and some action in combat burn stamina. Stamina represents your character being more winded and worn down. You only have so much stamina, so you have to be smart when you use these points. And since your spells use stamina, you have a system that includes “cast till you pass out” mechanics which always makes me happy!
Base Mechanic-This system uses a fairly simple mechanic of 3d6 + ability + skill ranks vs. a static number for most rolls and tests. I love systems that use multiple dice as it makes a nice bell curve, so all numbers have a meaning! I’ve written about how much I love this before, so I’m pretty happy to see this appear again.
Health and Damage-Something I really love in a RPG is conditions tracks. This game has four different health ranges. As your character is damaged, you lose hit points from the left most track. When on track is empty, you lost some abilities or now have penalties to some actions. This neatly solves the “more than none, ready to run” problem I see all too often in games like Pathfinder and DnD.
Tools, Armor, spells, items, weapons, cybernetic body parts-This game has a lot of toys for the average player to look over. The rules give you options for running just a crazy spell tattooed shaman to being a mostly robotic cyber-knight with a shotgun. The book has a ton of player options ground to cover, but it does it well.
Monsters-Something that kind of annoyed me was the lack of monsters in this book. The back of the book does introduce a few monsters of a few different types as well as comprehensive rules on how to make more. The rules to make your own monsters are well done, but I, as the GM, have to put that much more time into this game ahead of the game. Adding in more monsters would really help this book.
Mechanics Summary-The rules might be thick, but the base idea is a quick one that you can learn in 10 minutes. This book is crunchier then a box of broken glass, but that doesn’t make the system bad. Don’t get his one if you want Fate levels of rules, but if you want a very solid rules system that give you a lot of room to build and play, get this game. 4.5/5
Theme or Fluff-This book has a lot of stories in it. A world where man has only existed for less than 150 years and where he’s the bad guy from the start is an interesting place to start a setting. Each race and their cities get a bit of a section in the opening chapter of the book. This system is most definitely a mix between the dragonpunk of Eberron and the cyberpunk of Shadowrun. I would have liked a few more story ideas as the world and its different environs are well described, but not as many ideas are given to the GM to start the game. It’s not hard to make up your own ideas, but giving a jump start to the GM is always appreciated. 4.25/5
Execution-I liked this book, but it does shave its flaws with the two main ones being recycled art and “textbook problem”. The book does recycle a lot of its art. I know the company is a smaller one, but the same few art assets are reused several times throughout the book. Again, it’s not the worst thing, but it always annoys me a little. The much bigger problem is the “text book problem.” This book has a LOT of ground to cover providing rules ranging from spells to shotguns powered by magic as well as introducing a whole new setting. The opening chapter reads just like an atlas/guide book giving all kinds of important stats and short introductions to each section of the world. The rules sections are dominated by two column pages of black text on a blue/white background. Those pages tend to drag on a bit as there are several of them in a row. The pages do introduce several important things, but page after page of the same layout does get a bet daunting to read. More tables for rules and color art would really help this book be that much better. It’s just that dense! 4/5
Summary-This is a good book if you like crunch. The world itself is nothing to sneeze at, but I would like some more example problems to face to help me design adventures for my players to go on. However, the mechanics of the rules are amazingly well done, and I think the mechanics are the star of this book. It has a lot of the things that really make me happy when I read a rules set. To really make this game a grand slam, I’d like a small book on threats to the world, a GM screen to keep all the mechanics straight, and a monster book to give me some foes to throw at the PCs in a hurry. But even without those tools, this is a great game that reminds me of other great systems like Shadowrun, 3.5e Eberron, and the Hero System. 85%
Discloser- I was provided a review copy of this game. I have not been paid or compensated in any other way.
I just did one like this for Shadowrun, how about one for Pathfinder.
Spell Guarantee
Why gamble on a spell, when its hard for you to miss their mark.
Benefit:When you target a creature with a spell that allows for a saving throw, the target must beat the DC save of your spell rather than match the DC to save against the effect.
Thoughts?
Game– CO2
Producer– Stronghold Games
Price-~$55 here http://www.amazon.com/Stronghold-Games-8007SG-CO2-Board/dp/B00AKVLMY2/ref=sr_1_1?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1407249487&sr=1-1&keywords=CO2
Set-Up/Play/Clean-Up-35 min per player (2-5 players)
TL; DR-A few problems mar an otherwise good game. 83%
Basics-The world is in trouble, and you have to fix it through capitalism! In CO2 you play a company specializing in green/renewable power starting in the 1970s. Each round starts with players gaining money, coins or both based on how much research their companies have in each type of green energy. Then, each of the six areas of Earth gains more CO2 producing power plants if they do not have enough power plant in that region for each decade( 2 in 1980, 3 in 1990 and so on). Each CO2 producing power plant increases the global CO2 parts per million rating and can lead to ecological disasters on a continent. After that, in each decade you are given a number of turns based on the number of players. On a turn you can do one of three actions: propose, implement, or build a green power plant. When you propose a power plant, you place a project token in one of three sections that either gives you money, technology cubes, or scientist meeples. When you implement a proposed plant you spend a carbon credit to gain resources depending on the type of plant with resources ranging from technology cubes to money or both. If your company has enough research in a particular type of plant and enough money, you can build an implemented plant gaining more research in that plants type as well as victory points. Also on your turn, you have several free actions where you can move a scientist meeples, buy/sell carbon credits, and play cards. Scientist meeples can be moved to an implement or proposed project, from one project to another, or from a project to a research convention with the same energy type as a project the meeple was on. If all the spaces on a convention are covered, all companies gain research in each type of energy the scientists were on as well as one research in any type of energy from that meeting. If you implement or build a project with another player’s meeple, that player gains one research in that type of energy, get to move that meeple for free, and you must pay them an extra dollar for the privilege. In the center of the board are the carbon credits. On your turn you can buy or sell credits, but not both. The cards are UN mandates give you bonus points if you build specified types of power plants. The cards in your hand give you bonus money, credits, tech cubes, or scientists if you do an action specified on the card. You may only perform one free card action each turn. At the end of your turn, you gain one research in one type of energy based on a project one of your scientist meeples is on. And the game continues like this. After each player has taken a turn, and the first player advances the action counter. When there are no more action spaces left for this decade, the decade advances, and research points/money are given out, disasters happen, and then the turn counter is reset based on the number of players. The game continues like this until a few events happen: 1) the CO2 level gets high enough that mankind dies/everybody loses 2) the decade is 2030 or 3) the CO2 level drops below 350. At the end, players who controls the different areas of the board based on number of power plants in each area gain carbon credits based on the region, the players spend those for money, get research money/points one last time, sell money for points, and the player with the most points wins.
Mechanics- When you get past the instructions (see below), this game is really fun! The game makes you think on your feet a lot while having to make smart choices based on what the other players are doing. You CAN’T build stuff alone. You need to work with the other players to get the power plants built and experience to do it, but if you let the other build everything, you will lose. This game does semi-cooperative really well, maybe almost the best I’ve seen for a while. 5/5
Theme- The game does do some justice to the theme of different green energy companies working together/against one another. The mechanics do enforce the theme of needing other to help you and the theme of environmentalism. An example is the ecological disasters. When an area of the world has a problem, each company WITHOUT power plants in the area has to pay a cube to the region or be seen as callous. These cubes can be used by other players who build in the region because now grants are available to help fix the damage. I do have some problems with the theme as the components could use a bit more to make things a bit more thematic. Yes, this is a euro game, but that doesn’t mean it has to have cubes. Give me some other kinds of meeples like little computers or something. 4.5/5
Instructions- This game was written by a lawyer. The rules are divided into sections and subsections that make this game not fun to read. The rules are several pages of three columns of words with few pictures. The pictures that are in there are awesome and really help to explain the rules. But, there are not many! The rules reference sections like 2.2.1. DON’T DO THAT! Have a nice flow that invites me to read! I’ve been sitting on this game for a long time (six months) because I couldn’t make it through the rules. When you do read the rules, you see the game is pretty standard euro-game fare, so it’s not too complicated. But even after the several subsections in the rules, I and my gaming group were still left with questions regarding scientist movement and other important aspects. Overall, it’s not the worst set of rules I’ve read as I was still able to play the game without a visit to Board Game Geek, but only just. 3/5
Execution- The game components are not bad, but I would have liked a bit more. The game uses small, half standard cards for all the cards in the game. That’s not bad, but there are less than 60 cards in the game. So, the cards are more of a pain. Adding to the pain, the cards don’t have any words and unless you know what cards you’re looking for, it’s really a pain as you need to constantly look at the rules to find which cards are separated into which piles. Bigger cards with different colors would have really helped distinguish the types of cards. Also, the box is kind of flimsy. The board is well done and the iconography is good, except where the rules fail it. Overall, it’s the product is ok, but some minor problems hamper the whole. 4/5
Summary-This is a fun game. The game itself is a great Euro game. The theme is fun as it’s a controversial subject-global warming-while being executed well. This game is semi-cooperative worker placement on two different levels-projects and scientists- which I haven’t seen for a while. If you love worker placement/development/resource management euro games and can get past the dry, boring instructions, you will have a blast trying to outwit your opponents on a global scale. 83%
Throat Punch Games 