Ring Side Report-Board Game Unboxing and Review of Nature: Jurassic
Tag: Review
Ring Side Report- RPG review of Pathfinder Adventure Path #184: The Ghouls Hunger (Blood Lords 4 of 6)
Product– Pathfinder Adventure Path #184: The Ghouls Hunger (Blood Lords 4 of 6)
System- Pathfinder 2nd Ed
Producer– Paizo
Price– $26.99 here https://store.paizo.com/pathfinder-adventure-path-184-the-ghouls-hunger-blood-lords-4-of-6-p2/
TL; DR– Another good step in the Blood Lord’s Path! 97%
Basics– YOU’RE A BLOOD LORD HARRY! You finally become blood lords, and now the plot is really heating up. Someone is attempting to poison the food supply and you… you get to play honor guard to the ghouls from the underdark. All in a day’s work for the lowest ranked, most powerful people in the kingdom.
Mechanics or Crunch– The mechanics of this adventure are solid, but there is one thing that bothers me. The crunch works here. There is investigation, combat, exploration, and event influence all baked in. Multiple different skills are used, so no one feels left out. The last dungeon is a bit of a big jump in terms of difficulty, but overall the mechanics are solid. My one major issue is the groups. You earn points with each group that runs the country, but I still don’t have a solid grasp of why. You earn points, but there is not a direct explanation of what to do with those groups. And this adventure has you get more downtime abilities to use those factions and build up more intrigue. Why should I do that? I need a bit more, and then I would feel like that’s a good use of my gaming time. 4.5/5
Theme or Fluff– This story is fun here. Usually just having necromancers is enough to make a problem. But in this one, the story is that someone is messing with the money. It’s destabilizing the country and making the nearby ghoul kingdom angry. Your job is to fix relations and stop that little problem. It’s a solid story that draws the players into the world. It’s not only “kill the bad people”, but stop the geopolitical problems before they begin! Also this book introduces a whole new religion, so if you want a ghoul character who’s extra special, this is the book for them as well. 5/5
Execution– Paizo makes good books. I love what’s here. I love layout, the sections, and the worldbuilding. It’s another solid book from Paizo. 5/5
Summary– I liked this adventure. It’s got a fun story, and the difficulty builds up to challenge the players. The story builds. The small start and low levels are paying off as big powers are coming to play and the players are becoming big power houses too! The book is solidly constructed, and full of the Paizo polish I come to expect. The one issue I have is the factions. I still don’t honestly know why my players and I should care. Beyond that, this is a fun next step in the Blood Lords adventure. 97%
Ring Side Report- RPG review of Adventuring Family: A Family Therapy Role Playing Game
Product– Adventuring Family: A Family Therapy Role Playing Game
System- Adventuring Familyr
Producer– Adventuring Family Books
Price– $29.99 here https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DWMLDX1V
TL; DR-A solid experience to help people communicate 98%
Basics– Hey, kids, are you ready for an adventure?! Adventuring Family is a simple role playing game to help a family talk. Let’s look at the system.
Basics- This is a d6 system. Want to do a thing? Roll a d6 and add your attributes. Hit the number? Success! Don’t? Failure. This is everything from magic, to combat, to asking for a discount at the bar.
Combat- Combat is simple too. Every turn you can move and do an action. Actions include things from spells to swinging a sword. Again, it’s all d6 plus an attribute. If you hit the target’s AC, damage! The weapons do different amounts of damage, but the creature being hit reduces damage by their armor class.
And, that’s it…. This isn’t the world’s most complicated game, but that may not be the point…
Mechanics or Crunch– This game is simple in the best way. If you wanted the next RPG to sweep the world, then this won’t be it. The mechanics will be too simple for most adults if they spend hours each week reading RPG books. But the mechanics are solid enough to allow a pre-teen to hop in and explore the world and have fun. It’s streamlined and effective. Characters have classes and levels that, again, are too simple for a 60 year old who played DnD before it was hard cover, but it would be the way for that 60 year old to get a grandkid into the hobby and to open up. And that right there makes the mechanics solid. 4.5/5
Theme or Fluff– Theme and approach are where this game will shine. This is very important-this is a way to get serious topics into a conversation. It’s like a movie where something crazy happens and then kids can talk to adults during or after. It opens doors. Now, just like the crunch, if you expect George RR Martin levels of intrigue, don’t get this one. The plot is very simple with a built-in campaign built around exploring different mental health issues like chemical dependence and eating disorders. Yes, some morals are baked in because the goal is to help kids talk. Also, the book spends time discussing common mental health issues in children and how to address them at the table and to get them involved. The goal isn’t to be the one book you buy to help you work with your own kid with ADHD, but this is a way that you can hang out with them and be a team. Solid! I am not knocking the writing; the simple nature of the game and the basic world and ideas make this approachable. This isn’t the Tomb of Horrors, but it’s a way to get people to open up and bring them together. 5/5
Execution– This is a solid book, but has a few minor errors. Something I really hate is when books don’t have pregenerated characters. This isn’t a killer, as the process is to choose a background, choose a class, and maybe choose a subclass. But, I’d like ready-made characters, so I or the kids I’m watching don’t have to think too much before jumping in. Next, I feel the book is a bit too simplistic on the description of a few of the skills and abilities. I would compare this to a hybrid of DnD 5e and Dungeon Crawl Classics. DnD has built-in background, and DCC has simplicity. The book just goes a bit too simple and doesn’t completely explain what skills go with what attribute and a few minor things. This is not a killer, but it’s something the more hyperfocused might be mad about. Also, the book is solid, but the monsters are not as fleshed out as I’d like. The bad guys you can fight are Melee Bad Guy, Ranged Bad Guy, and the literal EVIL GODS OF THE WORLD! It reminds me of the standard JRPG plot of Level One, Mission One: kill rats in your uncle’s bar’s basement; Level 50: fight GOD! Again, not horrible as the bad guys have a sliding scale for their difficulty. The book reads easily, is fun, and has good pictures to help the littles among us get into the hobby a parent or guardian loves too much. 4.5/5
Summary– This game is a fun one. If this was just a simple RPG, it’s just that, a simple RPG. It doesn’t push any envelopes or revamp the entire industry. But, it does help people talk. I’d honestly compare this game to a beer. You can absolutely drink beer all by yourself at a bar with no friends. That’s ok, but the rest of us wonder if you’re ok. A beer is best shared with friends. A beer with the buds after work is there to let you socialize. A way to get everyone together and talk. That is exactly what this game does. It helps kids find shared experiences with an adult and a way to open up and talk about it. It’s also got digestible sections for adults to read through to help those adults understand a bit more about those kids. Again, this can’t be the only book or source you get all the information regarding mental health from, but if this is the first place you start, that’s not bad! If you have little ones and want a way to connect or build a connection into a few difficult topics, you need to check out Adventuring Family. 97%
Ring Side Report- RPG review of Starfinder Society Scenario 1-08: Compliance Protocol
Product– Starfinder Society Scenario 1-08: Compliance Protocol
System- Starfinder 2nd Ed
Producer– Paizo
Price– $8.99 here https://store.paizo.com/starfinder-society-scenario-1-08-compliance-protocol/
TL; DR– Man this is short! 73%
Basics– You hear that? A mysterious sound is emerging from the Wreck of the Returned, and you’re going to go keep the friends of the Starfinder society safe! Can you stop whoever might want to cause the robots to go crazy?
Mechanics or Crunch– Holy cow this is short. There is a chase scene and a fight. That’s it. The mechanics are ok, but they are just too short. A team that doesn’t roleplay will complete this in an hour. If the team is min/maxed, I’d say 45 minutes. There just isn’t much meat on the bones here. 3/5
Theme or Fluff– The story works. You meet fun new characters, you find new lore, and you see parts of the world that normally characters wouldn’t enter. The story expands on the wreck of the returned, and that’s always welcome. 5/5
Execution– This is too short. I don’t hate the layout choices, but I miss having pictures of creatures to show, even if they are one shot bad guys. If you have them, put them in a box without words around them. Make it easier for me to show them off. But the major issue is the same here. It’s an 8 buck adventure for 1 hour of play. That’s too short. 3/5
Summary– Paizo is changing the organized play adventures, and short is the goal. This adventure hits the short goal maybe a bit too well. Honestly, I want more to this. The goal is 3 hours. Most groups will complete it in an hour and a half, and that’s if you mess around. A dedicated professional group who doesn’t want that will be done in under an hour. That’s not bad, but this is a quest. Those are being phased out, but this needs more. Add a combat before the players enter the area with some random monsters in the desert. Add another social after the big fight to learn more about the robots. Add those and you get a solid experience. As it stands this isn’t bad, but it’s too little for the price. 73%
Ring Side Report-Board Game Unboxing and Review of Fliptoons!
Ring Side Report- RPG review of Wares Blade
Product– Wares Blade
System- Wares Blade
Producer– Lion Wing
Price– FREE! here https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/basementgameboutique/wares-blade
TL; DR-Blast from the Past! 90%
Basics– WELCOME TO THE 80S! Wares Blade is a very popular anime inspired table top RPG from Japan in the 80s. It’s got swords, sorcery, and GIANT ROBOTS! Let’s look at how you play
Basics- This is a d10 based system. You add your ability score + skill modifiers +d10 roll and attempt to hit a DC. You do and you succeed. You don’t and you fail. Simple as that.
Luc- Luc is the control the players have over the game. Luc is a stat that you spend across a game session. Each Luc you spend gives you an additional d10 on the roll.
Perfect success and total failures- If all dice come up 10, you score a perfect success. If all dice are 1s, you get a total failure. That’s the critical success and failure mechanic of this game.
Combat- Combat is like most other d20 systems. You roll a d10+ your initiative score + a penalty from your armor. Armor makes you move slower! Characters with low initiative declare their actions first, then higher initiative declare after. Going fast means you observe your opponents. After that, you do what you said with high going first. Combat is just like the basic actions above for the weapon or magic you are using. If you strike your opponent’s Battle Number (this is exactly like AC), you hit! Armor subtracts damage dealt instead of increasing target Battle Number, and heavier armor actually DECREASES your BN! So you determine damage by rolling the weapons value and then subtract the value of the armor. Each weapon has a different critical number and when you roll dice equal to or higher than the critical number you add one to the number of dice and multiply it by the weapon damage roll.
Damage- Damage in this game is different. Characters don’t have hit points, but they do have limits to the punishment they can take. Characters can take damage up to their constitution ability score. Then when damage is more than that, they must make a WIL roll (think a wisdom saving throw in DnD) equal to the damage taken or pass out. When more actions are taken, more WIL rolls must be made or the character passes out. When damage gets to double CON, the character passes out regardless.
Magic- This is a cast-till-you-pass-out system. Magic comes in a few flavors with it mostly being monks with magic going into their bodies giving them ninja powers or clerics with magic going out into the world. In both major traditions, it’s very much do anything you can with a skill check as above to see if you can and then a WIL check after to see if you take damage.
Mecha!- It wouldn’t be an 80s anime inspired RPG without giant magic robots. The magic robots function just like everything above but they don’t pass out as easily. They have fewer skills, but more skill checks to operate them. This system works similar enough to everything else above.
Ok, now my thoughts.
Mechanics or Crunch– This RPG is an interesting view of the past and the past of another country, at that. I love cast-till-you-pass-out systems, and I love skill based systems that don’t need other subsystems like Attack Bonus being separate from skills. That said, there are some things we left in the past for a reason. Leveling up involves a lot more math than most characters are used to. And it depends on what you did with gold stolen and damage taken being ways to get xp. That math makes games drag. So does reverse action declaration. But, it’s a time capsule that I would open for a bit, maybe not for long though. 4/5
Theme or Fluff– Man this game brings me back. 80s RPGs and 80s anime were something else. I like the pictures and the game feel. I can see the Vampire Hunter D in this, and I love it! 5/5
Execution– This is a good intro to the system, but I’m missing some basic things. I don’t know if I can do a move and an action on each turn. It’s a good intro to the game, but it’s missing pieces I need. But it reads fast, has good art, and good layout. 4.5/5
Summary– There is some solid here, and there are some things left behind here. It’s an interesting mix of old systems and anime. Since it was the biggest RPG in Japan in the 80s, I expect all those things. There are also some things I just don’t want to have in my games here too. But there are things from 2nd Ed DnD I don’t want at the table either. That said, I am looking forward to this. It might not be a game I play forever, but it will be one I’m glad to get a chance to try. 90%
Ring Side Report- RPG review of Pathfinder Society Scenario #7-02: Shipyard Sabotage
Product– Pathfinder Society Scenario #7-02: Shipyard Sabotage
System- Pathfinder 2nd Ed
Producer– Paizo
Price– $ 8.99 here https://paizo.com/products/btq0cn3c?Pathfinder-Society-Scenario-702-Shipyard-Sabotage
TL; DR-Good but skill check heavy 90%
Basics– Let’s buy a boat! Hellknights are raiding, so the Pathfinders need boats to fight back! Let’s go get some from a quick-talking halfling. What could go wrong?
Mechanics or Crunch– This is an interesting adventure, but it has a lot of skills and skill scenes. That’s not bad, but those can lose people and some unlucky rolls can just tank a day. Not bad, but it can lead to less fun. There are fights, so the combat people will have fun. If you keep in mind the skill check scenes and give enough ways to mitigate it, it will be a fun day. 4.5/5
Theme or Fluff– This is an interesting adventure, but one where the players don’t drive as much. The basic flow is look at boats, an attack, a skill check to find the bad guy, fight, skill check end. It’s not bad, but it’s very reactionary, and a bad skill check scene can tank a story. Those hurt flow in some cases, but it works if you can tangle enough threads to make the story happen. 4.5/5
Execution– This is a good adventure, but I need a bit more to work. As above, the combat works and the boat buying works, but the skill obstacle checks need more fluff built in to make the adventure flow. Give the GM things to say that the characters do to help. The rest is good, with adventure set up with pictures and maps for the combat people and to set up the major characters. It’s good, but I need more story to help GMs who can’t work on the fly. 4.5/5
Summary– I like this one, but obstacle scenes are not my favorite. I like them, but they need help when Paizo writes them. Also, that’s the bulk of this adventure. That’s not bad, but it’s something that must be built out. The combats are fun and the players will affect the world at the end. This is a fun adventure, but make sure you know what you are getting into. 90%
Ring Side Report- RPG review of Starfinder Society Scenario #1-01: Invasion’s Edge
Product– Starfinder Society Scenario #1-01: Invasion’s Edge
System- Starfinder 2nd Ed
Producer– Paizo
Price– $5.99 here https://paizo.com/products/btq0cn3f?Starfinder-Society-Scenario-101-Invasions-Edge
TL; DR– A change I can belive in. 100%
Basics– What did they do? Starfinders! The society calls, and so did those who call! And SOMEONE answered! Your job is to help set up the base, explore around it, and then explore an unknown starship. Who did the crazy robots call last season?
Mechanics or Crunch– FIRST THINGS FIRST! This is a level 1 adventure and an intro adventure for a season. The formula is pretty simple. You do a skill check, a second skill check that turns into combat, and then this one does a short dungeon exploration. And that’s a lot. It covers lots of things in three hours, and it does it well. 5/5
Theme or Fluff– This one has a lot going on, but it balances it well. The story is fun. I enjoyed it a bunch. My players and I enjoyed the world building in this one. Now we can get onto the next steps of what else is happening this season with a bit more information. 5/5
Execution– I don’t like what Paizo has done, but they have made it up in a few ways. The monsters are inline or just referred to somewhere else. Not my favorite, but now there is only exactly one level band. Players can elect to play up or play down for a challenge. I love that. I prefer the players saying I want more or less challenge today. Some days I want crunchy DnD and other days I want a story. Paizo is now doing both in the same adventure, so I’m happy there. Monsters have pictures I have to clean up, so I don’t love that. But, the kicker is the price. This adventure is three hours long. That’s a change. But the price is much lower. I like that. You want less play time and more, shorter adventures. Ok, but you adjusted the price to reflect that. You are not greedy. Good job paizo. 5/5
Summary– I wasn’t sure I would like the changes that Paizo said they would do. But I am a bit of a believer now. I like the choice of challenge. I like short play times. I’m old. I LOVE 12 hour multitable battle interactives. But I spend my Saturdays mowing the lawn now and working on my hunny do list (I’ve worked on it now to the point where my wife schedules dates because if it’s not on the list I forgot!). The point is, I’m older. And I think the target audience is too. A solid three hours of games is a great way to spend an afternoon. And if you get an hour every four to go to the bathroom and grab a snack at Gencon, then it’s even better. I would prefer if pictures were provided clean, but I can work with that. It’s a change, but not a bad one. 100%
Ring Side Report-Board Game Unboxing and Review of Beasts!
Ring Side Report- RPG review of Pathfinder Society Intro to the Year of Battle’s Spark—Enough is Enough
Product– Pathfinder Society Intro to the Year of Battle’s Spark—Enough is Enough
System- Pathfinder 2nd Ed
Producer– Paizo
Price– $8.99 here https://paizo.com/products/btq0cn39?Pathfinder-Society-Intro-to-the-Year-of-Battle-s-Spark-Enough-is-Enough
TL; DR– A time of change. 97%
Basics– WAR! Breachill is under attack. Your job is to save who you can. Search the no man’s land to save civilians and maybe even learn secrets of more attacks!
Mechanics or Crunch– Paizo knows the math of their system. This adventure has a strong mix of social and combat. There isn’t much exploration, but that’s not the goal of the adventure. The math that’s on display is solid and makes this a pretty balanced adventure. 5/5
Theme or Fluff– This is a fun story. The adventure starts with the players choosing three of five different locations and finding people there to save. After enough saving people, the adventure switches to running from the ravages of war. Finally, some the people you save tell the players about goblins being sacrificed and the players are off to save them. It’s a solid story that is fun to run and play. 5/5
Execution– This adventure worries me. We are seeing more of the mix of the old and new styles of book. Some of the monsters were given pictures, but not all. Some of the stat blocks are in the adventure, but not all. I don’t like the reliance on external resources. I know this is more of an indication of what is to come. 4.5/5
Summary– The adventure is solid, but Paizo adventures are at a time of change. The story and crunch is fun. The execution is changing, and it’s into something I don’t love. The price is not changing, but there will be less in the book. However, if you want to jump into the fray and save who you can, this is a fun adventure! 97%
Throat Punch Games 