Ring Side Report-Board Game Unboxing and Review of Nature: Climate!
Tag: Review
Ring Side Report: RPG Review of PIRATE BORG Starter Set
Product– PIRATE BORG Starter Set
System– PIRATE BORG
Producer– Free League
Price– $19.99 here https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/555993/pirate-borg-starter-set?affiliate_id=658618
Basics: Welcome to the Dark Caribbean! This box set has a ton of stuff and enough to help you get playing quickly. Check out our unboxing video here: https://youtu.be/FgXEPdMvink . Let’s dig into this game and box set.
Mechanics or Crunch: How much crunch do you need? This box set has a small rulebook and enough tokens, player sheets, and maps to get you playing in all of 10 minutes. This ruleset is d20+ a number between -3 and +6 to hit a 12. That’s most of the actions. The rules explain that well and get you building characters in about 10 minutes. I love the Borg mechanics and simplicity. And this box set teaches that well and quickly. 5/5
Theme or Fluff– I love all the stuff in the story here, but I the story has a small plot hole. The basics of the story are: you are hired to find a thing, get marooned, find half the map, learn the rest is in a British anti-pirate port, and then go find the thing. It’s fun and teaches the basic rules well, but I think the link to the British is a bit light. That said, I love what’s here. Sure, its a bit of a knockoff of Pirates of the Caribbean, but I DON’T CARE! It’s just fun, especially when you mix in the fact that there is magic dead guy drugs that can make you a god running around. 4.9/5
Execution: I do love me some intro boxes, and honestly I think this might be my favorite. Why? Sure, this, like any other good intro box, has dice, maps, tokens, a small intro book, character sheets, and an adventure, but it’s also got DRY ERASE MARKERS! You build a character in about 10 minutes, and they can die fast. This gives you dry erase markers and laminated character sheets. That right there in this kind of game is a godsend. 5/5
Summary: You want some crazy Pirate fun in the Caribbean? Here you go. The system is fast, fun, and low rules. The story is good. And the box itself is my ABSOLUTE favorite. And the physical box is about 40 bucks. The PDFs are a solid value at 20 bucks too. This is something you need to get and have fun with. 99%
Ring Side Report-Board Game Review of Honeypot!
Ring Side Report: RPG Review of Beyond the Blood Door Player’s Guide
Product– Beyond the Blood Door Player’s Guide
System– Starfinder 2nd Ed
Producer– Paizo
Price– Free here https://downloads.paizo.com/OP-Files/SFS2+Beyond+the+Blood+Door+Players+Guide.pdf
TL; DR– A good start. 99%
Basics: WHY ARE THE BALLS OF BLOOD IN THE SKY!? Absolom station is under attack, maybe? It’s time to gear up and save the station. This book is a guide for new and old players, with information about the Starfinder society, new backgrounds, a new race, religions to consider, and more to help players.
Mechanics or Crunch: This is a free book with lots of crunch. There are whole new character options for players to try. The fact that a whole race with feats is provided is amazing. Solid start to the new season. 5/5
Theme or Fluff– This book is short but gives enough info to get you started. The book can’t solve all the mysteries of the season. But, I’m intrigued. The book also builds out multiple world pieces to give me things to do and explore. I’m interested in what’s here. 5/5
Execution: I like what’s here, but would like a bit more art. The world, layout, text, and new materials are all well done. But, I want single art of the main characters. Give me a way to easily show those characters off to the players. It’s being eliminated from the adventures, so put those in the player guide. 4.75/5
Summary: I love society play. Paizo has started to make player guides for the new season, and it’s a smart, well-done move. The only thing I want is end pages with the pictures separated liek the old adventures. But what’s here is amazing! 99%
Ring Side Report-Board Game Review of Assemble!
Ring Side Report: RPG Review of Starfinder Society Scenario #2-01: The First Cut
Product– Starfinder Society Scenario #2-01: The First Cut
System– Starfinder 2nd Ed
Producer– Paizo
Price– $5.99 here https://store.paizo.com/starfinder-society-scenario-2-01-the-first-cut/ !
TL; DR– A crazy good start to a new season. 97%
Basics: Ah, a nice normal day WHAT IN THE SARENRAE! Balls of blood appear around Absolom station and pop out monsters made out of blood that attack everyone. Can you save them all?
Mechanics or Crunch: This scenario is combat-heavy with a bit of skill-based challenges where you attempt to stop all the violence. It’s combat heavy, so a social character will be a bit out of sorts. So will exploration-based characters. Skill characters will have things to do. It’s not bad, but you can’t do everything in 3 hours. 4.5/5
Theme or Fluff– Bad stuff happens, and you stop it. That’s the theme, and it does that well. It’s a solid year intro adventure. The story is light, but you are rushing between different issues to try to save as many people as possible. That’s a fun ton of problems to solve. 5/5
Execution: There are new monsters and enough pictures in this one. The monsters have pictures for you to include in the adventure, along with stats for them. There is enough new here that you don’t have to consult too many outside sources to play this one. It also reads quickly and requires only two maps to run. Good old Paizo polish. 5/5
Summary: I like what’s here. It can’t be everything to everyone, but it’s fun. You kill bad things, save people, and stop the problems. All in a day’s work for the Starfinders. It’s also well written and well laid out, so you can read this fast and easily. A good start to a new season. 97%
Ring Side Report-Board Game Review of Word Wipe!
Ring Side Report: RPG Review of Chrysalis
Product– Chrysalis
System– ALIEN RPG Evolved Edition
Producer– Free League Publishing
Price– Coming soon!
TL; DR– Good, but pricey 87%
Basics: Time for a fresh start on a new planet. Wait, what did they just load into the hold? Chrysalis is a one- to two-hour demo adventure for Alien RPG Evovled edition. It’s got pregens and maps with some horror-based fun along the way.
Mechanics or Crunch: This adventure has all the pieces for a good intro to the mechanics of Alien. You have a time crunch that illustrates how long actions take. You also have a little combat and a little skill-based checks and a tad bit of panic in there. All the basics are covered to learn this system quickly and well. 5/5
Theme or Fluff– I don’t hate the theme here, but I do think the story needs a bit more direct suggestions. The game has a short intro, but most of the plot takes place aboard a crashed ship. The ship has horror things in it, but you also have to put them where you feel they fit. That’s good, but for a new GM, I’d directly say “put this here” and “do this there”. Also, I like the combat, but I feel it doesn’t belong as much, say, in other events. Honestly, I want more direct Alien corporate evil than the random evil that happens on this adventure. Not bad, but not as Alien as I would have hoped. 4/5
Execution: This is well done, but doesn’t belong as a separate thing. There are maps, pregens, and pieces to help the players really learn this system. But, this honestly belongs at the back of the base book. The base book missed an adventure, and this was it. Also, at GenCon, this was over $ 10. This is a one- to two-hour intro adventure. That is WAY too much for this. It’s good, but that’s too much. 4/5
Summary: This is a great intro adventure. At GenCon, this was being run in the Free League room every other hour. And, this adventure did exactly what it’s supposed to do-it entertains and teaches the basics. I love that. The theme is a bit off, with the Alien being more of a random problem and less about corporate machinations, but that’s ok. The big issue is price. It’s pretty expensive for what you get. It’s good, but it should be a free PDF and given out when you get the main book. 87%
Ring Side Report-Board Game Review of Jumblejack!
Ring Side Report: RPG Review of ALIEN RPG Evolved Edition Starter Set
Product– ALIEN RPG Evolved Edition Starter Set
System– ALIEN RPG Evolved Edition
Producer– Free League Publishing
Price– $19.99 here https://www.drivethrurpg.com//product/521240/alien-rpg-evolved-edition-starter-set?affiliate_id=658618
TL; DR– Everything I wanted and more! 100%
Basics: What happened here? This is the starter set for the Alien RPG Evolved Edition, and it includes the “Hope’s Last Day” adventure. It’s got five pregens with detailed backstories, multiple cards for players to navigate the adventure and see ever-changing motivations, and lots of dice specific to the system. For those of you who remembered the original book, this adventure is in the back of that version.
Mechanics or Crunch: This has all the intro crunch you will need. The box comes with a 20-page book discussing the mechanics of the system. I’ve gotten pushback on my glib remarks about how little crunch this game has (in the best possible way), but this book is honestly about 20 solid pages with enough rules to get you and your players playing FAST. There are item cards that you can hand out to your players so they can see the stats on the different weapons. And everything is just done well. This is a solid intro for the crunch of the system. 5/5
Theme or Fluff– This box gives you the movie world of Alien fast. It’s just a short book with a 3-4-hour adventure and multiple character motivations. Characters don’t like each other and have conflicting motivations, so make sure your players are ok with that, but it’s a simple adventure that explains the world well. Just well done. 5/5
Execution: I love this boxset. Check out my unboxing here: https://youtu.be/uDghTPRaujE. Just amazing production values and great writing and layout all around. I love everything that’s here. There are a few errors like a location on the map being mislabeled, but aside from that, it’s just everything I wanted in a box. 5/5
Summary: I can’t recommend this enough…. To the right people. This adventure has five players try to survive the horror of an Alien invasion. But, the adventurers don’t like each other and might stab one another in the back. If you just want a big damn heroes adventure, maybe don’t get this one. If you want movie-accurate gaming with a good explanation of the rules, and great production with minis, dice, maps, and cards, then this is a great way to get into the Alien RPG! 100%
Throat Punch Games 