Basics- What’s up with the forest? In this PFS adventure, the players enter a forest that normally isn’t a problem, but no one can leave now. Why is that?
Mechanics or Crunch: This is an extremely random adventure. The major events are the same, but the pieces move around a lot. Heck, there are two different maps for the final dungeon crawl. And that’s impressive! The mechanics are as balanced as they can be, but most players will need multiple players to see all the monsters, all the traps, and all the places that are in this one. But that is not bad! I really enjoyed the crunch of this one. 5/5
Theme or Fluff– The major story beats don’t change, but the pieces move well. There are two completely different end maps and three different end bosses. All of these have their own completely novel stories to play with and through. That’s a ton of effort that most won’t see. I love the pieces the writer added to this story to keep it fresh. 5/5
Execution: It’s a PFS adventure, and it’s one of the older ones. It’s solid. Good pictures, good layout, good execution. 5/5
Summary– As an oldtaku, old anime geek, I love the steps into the Lantern Lodge. This adventure is no different. You have an evil corrupting a village, and the forest itself steps up to stop it. You got lots of new evils, lots of places, and lots of traps, as well as an overarching story that ties those all together. This scenario is a solid few hours of PFS fun. 100%
Basics- Let bygons be bygons! The lodge, once destroyed by the elves, is being rebuilt with their blessing. Your job is to clear it out. What could be left in that old lodge?
Mechanics or Crunch: This is a straight-up dungeon crawl. There are places to explore, things to find, and people to kill along the way. There are social interactions, but it’s a bit simple. Not bad, but this will fill more time than some of the simple adventures we’ve seen before. 4.75/5
Theme or Fluff– I love some dungeon. No dragons in this one! But it’s still got a lot to explore. There are THREE different maps for players to get through. That’s honestly impressive, as I’ve played similar adventures where you only get through one. It’s jam-packed! 5/5
Execution: I love everything here, but I want them to include more. Paizo does this well, but they reference things not in the adventure. Those are online. It’s easy to find, but I’d still prefer to have it all in one place. 4.75/5
Summary– I love a dungeon crawl. It’s a fun way to run through combats, find things, and see ancient history. It’s a good time, and your players will enjoy it. I’d like a bit more in-depth social interactions, but dungeon crawls don’t have much social interaction. I’d like all the stuff in the book, but it’s easy to reference. It’s a simple adventure for players to explore, report, and work through together. 97%
TL; DR– The game is interesting, but ensure you acquire all the supplementary books for full understanding! Rating: 78%
Basics- Let’s ride dragons! Drakonym is a long-awaited release from Crossed Paths Press. The core rules are relatively deep, so let’s break them down.
Base Mechanic– This game uses a d6-based mechanic. When you attempt a test, you gather dice equal to your relevant attributes, roll, and count the fives and sixes. A five counts as one success, while a six counts as two. You can have boons, where each boon allows a four to count as a success, and banes, which subtract a five for each bane. Boons and banes cancel each other out.
Shadow Dice and Hero Points- Both heroes and the GM (referred to as the Herald) can influence the rolls. Heroes accumulate hero points, which can be spent to add to a roll, reroll, or even change the narrative. The shadow die is a d12 that the Herald may ask a player to roll. This die can have various effects, such as doing nothing, ensuring a complete failure, or making success inevitable.
Combat– Combat in this game is straightforward. Heroes act first, followed by monsters, unless the heroes are surprised. Each hero has three action points per turn, with different actions costing varying amounts of action points. For example, a quick attack costs none, but subsequent quick attacks will cost more. Any unused action points accumulate. When you attack, you roll the appropriate dice based on the action and count successes as described above. Your level of success determines damage according to a tier system, where each tier has three points. Defense points can be spent to reduce damage to a lower tier or avoid an attack entirely.
Magic and Might– This system features two subsystems to facilitate player actions. Players can cast spells, each with varying mana costs, and can supercharge a spell with additional mana for extra effects. Players regain 2 mana each turn. Additionally, some classes use grit, which functions similarly to mana for physical actions. Both allow players to perform impressive feats of arcane skill or mighty deeds of strength.
Dragons- The game is called Drakonym because players get to command a dragon! You can direct your dragon to perform various actions, sharing both actions and hit points. You also have the opportunity to customize your dragon as you grow within the system.
Ok, now onto my thoughts.
Mechanics or Crunch: This system is simple but adds complexity that can be cumbersome. I enjoy d6 systems, and this game offers a fun approach to using six-sided dice for both combat and tests. However, I find that even the most common monsters have high hit points, such as 9 HP, which can drag out initial combat encounters. I appreciate the unified roll system, where all rolls—whether for skills or combat—use the same mechanic. However, having to reference different charts for damage calculations is somewhat inconvenient. Overall, it’s solid but raises some concerns regarding larger monsters. Rating: 4.25/5
Theme or Fluff– While I like the concepts presented, I think there’s a need for more depth. The world-building is limited to a few pages, and much of the context is provided in other books. If this is the only book you acquire, you may feel somewhat lost. Questions arise, like why you get a dragon and when you access some of the cool subclasses. The world story is present but covered too quickly, making the mechanics the primary focus and undermining the overall world-building. Rating: 4/5
Execution: This book performs well technically, but I feel some pieces are missing. While actions are listed, they aren’t described thoroughly enough for clarity. I lack details on how character leveling works and why I receive a dragon. It feels reminiscent of many games where the character is presented as “the chosen one” with a flashy reward from the start. I would appreciate a bit more guidance on the rationale behind the game mechanics. There are additional books that may clarify these points, but on its own, I feel a bit muddled. Rating: 3.5/5
Summary– The core book for Drakonym serves as a decent player handbook, but relying solely on it may lead to confusion. You need more context to understand how to run and play the game effectively. The supplementary books provide important information, so it’s advisable to obtain those as well. While what is included is decent, it requires further development to offer a complete game experience. Overall Rating: 78%
TL; DR– Numenera and Final Fantasy had a 5e baby! 97%
Basics– Off to adventure! Scalemail is a new RPG on kickstarter. Let’s break it down and look at the pieces.
Base mechanic- Scalemail plays like most of your D20 spinoffs with one big difference. You roll a d20 and try to hit a number called a DC. But, instead of adding a static bonus, you roll a different die and either add or subtract from the d20. The D20 is called a chance die and your other dice range from a d4 to a to d12. These are your mod dice. Each attribute you use has a modifier die which range from no dice to a d4, d6, d8, then a d12. If the attribute is negative, you subtract the die instead of adding it.
Combat- Combat in Scalemail is very much in the vein of all D20 systems. You roll the chance and mod dice with steps for surprise. And then from high to low you go! Each turn you get a major and a minor action. Major is attacking and casting spells. Minor is moving or opening doors. Simple! Where the hard Numenera comparison begins is with how contests are decided. You attack? Roll the dice. You defend? Roll the dice. Both are against a static DC on the monster you are attacking or defending against. Damage is equally as fast. You beat the DC? Do a heart of damage. You beat by five? Do two hearts of damage. A goblin has 1 heart, and an orc might have two. Most heroes have three. Simple and fast. You have more armor? You get higher value dice to roll defence. Simple and fast.
Magic-Magic works like Final Fantasy and 5e cantrips. You have some spells where you can that you can keep casting forever. These are simple spells that don’t do impressive things, but might ping a goblin off the rocks above you. The more impressive spells might need mana. Most spells don’t require more than one mana, and you might start with three. You cast the spell, and if it succeeds, you spend mana when the effect happens. Again, its a chance(d20) and modifier(attribute die) roll.
Ok, off to my thoughts.
Mechanics or Crunch– This game feels like a lot of the other games I’ve played. But, I enjoyed those too. This is a blending of the characters doing things of Numenera, the simple addition of 5e, and the mana based magic of Final Fantasy. I love all those things, so I like what’s here! 5/5
Theme or Fluff– The quickstart comes with a story, maps, and even multiple characters. The Scalemail book doesn’t have massive lore drops in the main book. It’s more focused on mechanics. But the story has an interesting world to play in. It’s not the most comprehensive world that can exist, but Its got some fluff to draw the characters into a story. It’s characters are also interesting enough to make me want to know how those people came into existence. Scalemail might not have a ton of worldbuilding in the quickstart guide, but I’m intrigued by what’s here. 4.5/5
Execution– It’s free. That right there is enough reason to download. But, it’s free with maps, multiple characters, and a book that gets you playing in about 10 minutes. is enough to make this a solid project. Check this out! And the kickstarter for the PDF alone is $15. You might not get out of McDonald’s for that much. 5/5
Summary– This is a fun product. It’s got simple mechanics that play fast. It’s got interesting, if generic, fantasy appeal. It’s got amazing production for a free product, and the real product is much less than I’ve spent on takeout. I want a bit more of the world, but this is a taste of what will be in final. So, I think this is something you need to check out quick! 97%
Basics– Let’s explore…. no wait, OFF TO SAVE THE GNOMES! This adventure takes place on the border of Cheliax, and your job is to enter, get the gnomes, and get out! Can you do it without opening up the mouth of hell itself?
Mechanics or Crunch– This adventure has some solid skill challenges, combat, and social, but there isn’t much exploration for an outdoor adventure. The skill challenges are fun and are a fun part of running in the woods. The social is another solid addition that helps the players learn about the world around them. Combat is good, but maybe a bit too easy. The nature navigation is pretty low key here. I’d almost like a map and a bit of a hex crawl for outdoor fun in this one. But, what’s here is a solid. 4.5/5
Theme or Fluff– The adventure moves the world forward in fun ways. The story of the war with Cheliax gets an interesting point of view as gnomes take center stage. Halflings and slavery are a common enough staple of Cheliax adventures, but I haven’t seen as much about the gnomes. If the players want to dig in, they can get some insights and have a fun time along side killing a bunch of hellknights and woodland monsters. Solid fun! 5/5
Execution– This adventure is a bit of a mix of the old adventure style and the new. There are pictures in the back of most of the monsters and pictures in the back giving their stats. Most of the time. Some monsters get the treatment of “see another book”. That’s annoying. Print it here and just be done with it. Don’t make GMs hunt down other things online. But the rest reads fast and is easy to understand. It’s good, but bring more into the book itself. 4.75/5
Summary– This is a fun, light adventure. You get to be good guys with no real moral quandaries aside from deciding what happens to something at the end. And even that’s not a major bad choice. Go save those gnomes, and have a blast doing it. 95 %
Throat Punch Games 