Tag: Review

Ring Side Report: RPG Review of Dungeon Crawl Classics #101: The Veiled Vaults of the Onyx Queen

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Product– Dungeon Crawl Classics #101: The Veiled Vaults of the Onyx Queen 

System– DCC RPG

Producer– Goodman Games

Price–  $9.99 here  https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/390356/dungeon-crawl-classics-101-the-veiled-vaults-of-the-onyx-queen?affiliate_id=658618 

TL; DR– Old school in the best and wartiest ways!  93%

Basics- WAKE AND STAB!  You awake as sacrifices to a demon lord!  Will you gather enough power to end those who sought to end you?

Mechanics or Crunch: This adventure is a crawl and a funnel all in one.  You have lots of bad guys who can die from your fists.  You have a few puzzles to solve and some socializing.  Those are the things that make the crunch of an adventure.  The adventure’s crunch is solid! 5/5

Theme or Fluff– The pure awesome of DCC is on display with some of its warts.  DCC doesn’t really have a default setting.  The setting is built book by book, and that’s awesome.  This one adds in a whole demon lord and a cult based on it.  And that is awesome.  If the GM runs this well, you can build characters and really get involved in the world.  BUT, the world is missing a bit of a setting, so that lack can kind of spring stuff on players.  Are you a devotee of a particular god?  Awesome!  Do you even know that god exists?  Less awesome.  It’s a minor problem, but the adventure has a solid enough flow that this might be the adventure where you finally learn about the bits making this world work. 4.5/5

Execution:   DCC is its own beast.  I love it, but it’s like the beat-up dog you know and love.  It’s not the prettiest.  It works, but it’s your ugly dog!  DCC has some criticism for being a bit too old-school in its design and layout, with extra art, layout, and design work to make DCC adventures a bit more approachable.  And those are valid criticisms, but I like the old school feel of DCC.  But this commitment to old-school adventure is not the most beginner-friendly.  This one is pretty easy to run and understand, even if you are newer, so while some other adventures may have smaller mechanics that are not quite understandable, this one is a fun, straightforward funnel.   4.5/5
Summary: I love me some DCC.  This game is crazy fun with strange things happening around every corner.  That said, I also see some faults.  Those are on display here.  The lack of a world hurts the game just a tiny bit.  You don’t know who you are when you start.  That’s good, as funnels are fun, but it’s bad when you want to really hook a player and character into the world.  The book is fun, but it’s got minor issues that might dissuade the new.  But the issues are only small compared to the fun and craft of this adventure.  This is worth a look if you want a fun funnel to draw people into DCC RPG! 93%

Ring Side Report: RPG Review of Flail

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Product– Flail

System– Flail

Producer– Games Omnivorous

Price–  FREE here https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/games-omnivorous/flail-an-old-school-fantasy-brawler  

TL; DR– The author’s love letter to old school hex crawls.  93%

Basics– Let’s do old school!  Flail is a love letter to old school RPGs and gambling.  How much are you willing to push?  Let’s break this one down.

Core mechanic– This is a bit of a mix.  For skills, these are called saves.  You roll a d20 and roll under your ability score.  For attacks, it’s roll a number of d6s and attempt to get at least one 1.  More ones mean more successes.

Advantage and disadvantage– If you are good or have some kind of bonus, you have an advantage.  Advantage on saves is to roll twice and take the better.  Advantage on attacks means roll an additional d6.  If you have a penalty or are not great at an action, you have disadvantage.  Disadvantage on saves is roll twice, and take the worse.  Disadvantage on an attack is roll one less d6.

Combat– Combat is pretty simple.  Initiative is determined by rolling a dexterity save.  If you succeed, you go before the enemies.  Fail, and you go after.  Then, on your turn, you get to do an action and move.  When you roll an attack, a single 1 gives you a success, and you deal damage equal to the weapon.  When you roll two 1s, it does double damage.  Roll 3 s and it instantly kills the enemy! Enemies do not have armor, but do reduce damage by a set amount.  If you are hit, you can use one of the usages of an armor, and it negates the damage.  Things like heavy armor have more usages.

Magic–  There are multiple classes that use magic.  All of them have a basic idea of choosing how much of a resource to spend, and you get to roll that many d6s.  If you succeed, different spells have different effects.  Some magic classes need just one success to make the spell happen.  Some have you add the dice together, and that determines an effect.  It varies by the caster and the spell.

Ok, let’s review this!

Mechanics or Crunch– This is a love letter to someone’s choices, but they might not be my favorite.  The splitting of the base mechanic makes this game offer interesting choices, but also breaks the flow of play.  I can absolutely respect the mashup between Call of Cthulhu skills and Shadowrun damage rolls, but it’s less elegant than either of them.  But it’s not bad.  It’s just not my cup of tea.  4/5

Theme or Fluff– This game feels like a solid 80s style.  It’s committed to old school, and it’s got art and aesthetics to match.  The game is pretty and horrific in a metal cover sort of way.  The authors wanted to publish a game of their own, and they absolutely did.  And I love it.  5/5

Execution– The book is everything I expect from a modern PDF and a system intro book.  The book is hyperlinked, easy to read, and quick to navigate.  The book includes multiple pre-generated characters so you can start playing instantly.  There are several places to play and hexes to crawl right out of the box.  Again, the authors wanted something, and they did it well.   5/5

Summary– This is someone’s pet project, and they poured their whole soul into it.  The mechanics are not my favorite, but they are done well.  The story and feeling of the world are on display.  The book is everything I expect from an intro product.  I might not love this one completely, but if you want an old-school hexcrawl with your buds on a Friday night, with some cold beer and hot pizza, then this is absolutely the product you need to pick up.  93%

Ring Side Report: RPG Review of Pathfinder Society Scenario #7-16: A Star’s Journey

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Product– Starfinder Society Scenario #1-02: Mystery of the Frozen Moon

System– Starfinder 2nd Ed

Producer– Paizo

Price–  $5.99 here https://store.paizo.com/pathfinder-society-scenario-7-16/ 

TL; DR– Most of the map wasn’t used.  73%

Basics- Where’s Star?  An ally of the society has gone missing.  Can you find him?  What took them?

Mechanics or Crunch: The adventure is balanced, but there just isn’t much.  The players have a fight with some intro monsters, a small puzzle, and then a final skill challenge.  Those are all balanced, but it needs more.  Give the players and GM more to do. 4/5

Theme or Fluff– The story here is light.  The story shows something new, but even that is small. The characters meet something new, but then that’s about it.  Even the reason why Star is missing really isn’t explained, just solved.  That’s all due to the time constraints of the new adventures.  What’s here is good, but it needs more.  4/5

Execution: What’s here is good, but it needs more.  The standard Paizo polish is on display, but It needs more.  This adventure used the exact same map as the last published level 1-4 adventure.   That’s not great as almost ALL the level 1-4 use that, but then again, most of that map didn’t have stuff to do in it. No descriptions of anything.  Couple that with a small gripe about names, and this was five bucks for less than two hours of game.   3/5

Summary-Everything here is ok.  The encounters are ok. Social is ok. Puzzles are ok.  It just too short.  The goal is 2-3 hours.  This is maybe 1 hour if you don’t mess around.  I do online gaming and even with tech issues, a biobreak, folding sourdough, and wrapping up after, this was two hours.  The fact that most of the map lacked descriptions is also a major issue.  I can get past the map being reused again, but the fact that it’s not even covered makes this a problem.  Add more to these adventures.  Nothing is bad here, but it just needs more.73%

Ring Side Report: RPG Review of Starfinder Society Scenario #1-02: Mystery of the Frozen Moon

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Product– Starfinder Society Scenario #1-02: Mystery of the Frozen Moon

System– Starfinder 2nd Ed

Producer– Paizo

Price–  $5.99 here https://store.paizo.com/starfinder-society-scenario-1-02-mystery-of-the-frozen-moon/ 

TL; DR– Good, but length hurts product and story.  83%

Basics- What’s on the moon?  A new moon has been discovered, and there are ruins there.  What else could be stirring on the frozen moon?

Mechanics or Crunch: This adventure has a decent mix of combat, skills, and some social.  There are multiple NPCs that you get to know.  They don’t do much, but they help set the scenes for future adventures.  The combats are simple. There really are only two.  There is one major skill challenge as well.  I don’t hate this, given the design philosophy of the Starfinder society now.  It’s short, but there are the key pieces I want.  5/5

Theme or Fluff– There is a lot of story in a small package.  The story is light, but the adventure sets the stage for the future.  You meet multiple characters.  Those characters are there to help you learn the next pieces in the next adventures.  That’s again, not bad, but aside from some social, two combats, and a skill challenge, the story is light.  It does end on something big, so it works well enough.  4.5/5

Execution: Paizo is losing the Paizo polish to the internet.  The adventure features new creatures, as in any good Star Trek adventure, as they explore a new planet.  But it’s missing pieces, like pictures of the major NPCs.  I can’t find pictures of somethings anywhere.  Also, this adventure is 6 bucks for about 2 hours of RPG.  That’s kind of a lot for missing pictures of one of the two things you fight.  4/5
Summary– This adventure is good, but the changes in Paizo’s organized play are hurting the product.  The short adventures are ok, but it means there is less here.  I also have fewer physical products to look at or show the players.  Those changes hurt the product.  I enjoy the story and adventure, but the constraints hurt the product.   83%

Ring Side Report: RPG Review of DCC Day #3: Chanters in the Dark

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Product– DCC Day #3: Chanters in the Dark

System– DCC RPG

Producer– Goodman Games

Price–  $6.00 here https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/395901/dcc-day-3-chanters-in-the-dark?affiliate_id=658618 

TL; DR– Good DCC up till the end. 90%

Basics- Who calls from below?!  Chanters in the Dark is a one-shot adventure where the characters are drawn into a world of intrigue and subterranean threats.  Will they be able to save everyone, or will the things from below eat them all?

Mechanics or Crunch: This adventure covers a lot of places, but fumbles a bit at the end.  The bulk of the adventure is urban, as the players meet new people, possibly kill them, and then have to escape.  The escape is the least fun.  Basically, the characters have to run away.  It’s not as exciting as a final fight, but it does make thematic sense. 4.5/5

Theme or Fluff– This is a good mix of exploration, combat, and skills, but the end is less fun.  The town the players explore and the religion they may attack are both fleshed out.  It’s a very meaty adventure for a book this size.  The one issue is the end, as the players just run.  Nothing else, but climb quickly.  That diminishes the other parts.  Not enough to not make it fun, but I saw some players lose some interest.  4.5/5

Execution: DCC polarizes some with its layout, and here it’s a bit less troubling but still old-school.  There are multiple pages of two columns.  It reads more easily than the real old-school, but if you are annoyed by the basic layout, this will not win you over.  I would like more art, but what’s here is solid.  4.5/5

Summary– This is a good adventure that fumbles in the last minutes.  The bulk is lots of fun , but I’d like the end to be a bit more active than a few rolls.  It works as a story, but a bit more would be fun.  That said, I enjoyed it and suggest everyone check this one out.  90%