Tag: Review

Ring Side Report: RPG Review of DEVOUR

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Product– DEVOUR

System– DEVOUR

Producer– Duck and Crow Press

Price– $6.13 here https://www.drivethrurpg.com//product/567794/devour?affiliate_id=658618 

TL; DR– Push your luck to save everyone. 98%

Basics: Can you learn enough to stop the end? This is an RPG, but is a solo one.  You play a researcher attempting to build a group to learn enough about the coming god to end his reign before he ends us all.  Each round you roll a number of d6s equal to your group size and consult a chart to determine if you gain or lose followers, research, or if the god gains enough power. You can push your luck far enough to gain enough before the god gains power and save the world!

Mechanics or Crunch: The mechanics are pretty simple.  It’s d6s all the way, but there are additional advanced rules to add more.  It works, and it works well.  But if you expect multiple levels of interaction, then you will be sad.  But, if you want a more meditative experience, you will have a good time.  5/5

Theme or Fluff–  Solo RPGs are like meditation and the gym-you will get exactly out of them what you put in.  If you can’t build off a story prompt to build your own world and experience, then pass this one.  If, as a kid, you were given a random pile of dolls or action figures and could build a mythos greater than Game of Thrones, this will be a blast for you.  5/5

Execution:  I like what’s here, but some of the information is a bit harder for me to understand quickly.  This is a d6 game where rolls mean consult a chart and determine what happens.  Those tables are piles of letters.  The letters are explained, but it’s not my favorite way of explaining information.  I get it after a pass, but it took a roll or two to become easy.  The more advanced options also have the same issue.  Again, it’s a two-turn problem as you will understand what’s going on after that, but it started a bit rough for me.  I don’t have a better option than the one the authors did, however.  The example turns help with this problem.  But it’s all here and reads easily.  4.75/5

Summary: I do love me some solo RPGs on a free day.  It’s even more choose-your-own-adventure than the choose-your-own-adventure books.  This one has you build your own world and gods to fight, learn about, and hopefully defeat.  Small layout annoyances are the only problem I had.  But I must warn you, like all other solo RPGs, this one is a you problem-if you want spam-in-a-can adventures like Gloomhaven, then turn away.  You are building your story from dice rolls.  I love spam and Gloomhaven, but you have to be in the right mood to have a taste for either, just like this one.  If you can build the story from your dice, you will really enjoy this.  98%

Ring Side Report: RPG Review of Time Without Tide: Mirth & Misery in a World of Fog

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Product– Time Without Tide: Mirth & Misery in a World of Fog

System– Time Without Tide: Mirth & Misery in a World of Fog

Producer– Chaosium

Price– FREE preview here https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/chaosium/time-without-tide-mirth-misery-in-a-world-of-fog/pre-launch?ref=bk-discover-homepage 

TL; DR– Shadowrun mechanics meet Cypher System in Call of Cthulhu with a somewhat jovial tone! 100%

Basics: Welp, time to face the horrors of the fog again!  The moon exploded, fog is everywhere, mutating people, and you hold a magic lantern that keeps the fog at bay as you explore.  Let’s jump into the mechanics.

Basic Mechanics: This is a d6 pool system.  You have three attributes and six statistics.  When you do a thing, you combine an attribute and a skill and roll that many dice, counting fives and sixes.  If you get enough successes, you get a success.  If you get more, you get bonuses for the event.

Features and Adaptations: Characters become special through features they choose and adaptations they don’t choose.  Both act as link feats for a character, but adaptations can be positive or negative.

Combat: This is very simple. When you get into a fight, every group and character rolls a d6 for initiative.  From highest to lowest, characters get major and minor action.  Minor is moving, and the like, while major is things that require tests like combat.  Attacking is the base mechanic as above.  Characters have armor that reduces their damage, but damage is applied to an attribute.  When it drops to zero, life gets harder.  You can keep acting, but if you fail a check while you are damaged again, you are dead!

Ok, now my thoughts.

Mechanics or Crunch: I love the simplicity of the Cyphter system, and the fun d6 dice pools of Shadowrun.  This is both.  It’s simple combat with crazy feats to help you.  It’s also a simple mechanics that just provide just enough complexity for things to develop.  I love this.  5/5

Theme or Fluff–  Steampunk Cthulhu is with comedy is just The Amazing Screw-On Head.  If you haven’t seen that, go check it out.  But this is basically how every one of my Call of Cthulhu games runs, honestly.  Players are goofballs, and I love it.  This system is built for goofballs, and as one, I enjoy this so much.  5/5

Execution:  This is an intro book, but it’s got a lot for free.  The book explains the world and has enough to get running in a solid 5 minutes.  Sure, you can read deep, but if it’s game day and the friends are done with pizza, you can get this to the table in five minutes flat.  My discussion of the mechanics is honestly enough to get players playing.  It’s solid layout, solid art, and a whole adventure with SIX PCs.  That would be fine, but this has MAPS, HANDOUTS, AND EVEN PAPER MINIS.  This is what I want out of a demo product, and well more than I could have honestly expected.  5/5

Summary:  Serious time discussion of this product.  If the RPG table is more sacred than church, and you want a horror experience where true depths of terror are evoked, then this is not for you.  I have never had that EVER in a horror game.  It’s always fart jokes and memes.  And I LOVE IT!  This game embraces the funny of Cthulhu and brings in steampunk to make a fun world for players to explore and enjoy.  I am down for this game, and you need to check this one out.  IT’S FREE SO DO IT!  100%

Ring Side Report: RPG Review of Cthulhu Dreamt

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Product– Cthulhu Dreamt

System– Cthulhu Dreamt

Producer– QuasiReal Publishing

Price–  $40.00 here https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/quasireal-publishing/cthulhu-dreamt 

TL; DR– Maybe not great Cthulhu himself, but still great.  95%

Basics: How far would you go for grief?  Cthulhu Dreamt is a horror-based RPG where you join a military campaign to confront the horrors of a woman who went to the edge to end her sadness.  Let’s break it down.

Basic Mechanics: This is a d10 system where you roll dice and attempt to hit a specific value on the dice called a TN. You can spend ability points from an ability pool to add to the roll.  But if you spend more than two, you overexert yourself.

Specializations:  When you build a character, you get a specialization.  These function as feats and allow you to build your character in specific directions.  These modify your rolls and function like feats in other systems.

Combat: Combat in this system is pretty simple.  Combat is divided into three groups based on your current agility stat.  Then, in each group, players go first, then monsters.  Each turn, you get a major action like attacking, a minor action like moving, and free actions like opening a simple door without a lock.  Players roll the dice in this one; the GM decides actions, but they roll to dodge or attack based on the monsters.  Each weapon causes a specific amount of damage, and you have armor to reduce that amount of damage.

Damage: Damage is against your mental or physical pools.  When you take damage, you reduce your pool by the amount of overexertion or damage.  When a pool runs out, you start taking conditions.  You get minor, serious, and severe wounds.  These work like reverse specializations, causing you major issues as you attempt to survive.

Ok, now my thoughts.

Mechanics or Crunch: This is a rules-light horror game.  I love what’s here.  It’s quick and has some good ties to the theme.  This is not Shadowrun Levels of crunch, but if you want a good horror game, this is even more rules-light than Call of Cthulhu.  That’s not bad if you know what you are getting into.  5/5

Theme or Fluff–  I like this one, but this feels more like “The Mist” and less like Call of Cthulhu.  A major plot point is that a researcher opened up a hole to another universe, and bad came out.  That is not bad; in fact, it’s awesome.  There are Cthulhu ties in “The Mist”, but the overall theme feels a bit off.  It’s not bad, but the Cthulhu feels lighter on this one.  4.75/5

Execution: I love what’s here but miss what’s not.  This book has some solid stuff, and in all the best ways, it feels like an Alternative Rock Band ran away from home to start a horror Publishing company with song tracks made for the background of the built-in adventure.  This book has a complete built-in adventure.  Honestly, all the mechanics are here to serve that adventure.  It’s got tons of built-in handouts for that adventure.  All that is amazing.  But you know what I can’t find?  Character sheets.  And to get really nitpicky, there is solid art in this book that is reused multiple times.  I honestly like all the stuff here, but just give me a separate character sheet, use less reused art, and maybe have your pregens in a separate doc, as you do with the handouts, and this would be amazing.     4.5/5

Summary: I like this one.  It is fun, and the music is a solid addition to the game.  BUT, it doesn’t feel Cthulhu.  It’s Lovecraftian, but that’s not as much fun.  But I do want you to know I love what’s here.  I think you should check this one out.  But know that I have a few small issues.  95%

Ring Side Report: RPG Review of Pathfinder Society Scenario #7-20: The Strings of Hell

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Product– Pathfinder Society Scenario #7-20: The Strings of Hell

System– Pathfinder 2nd Ed

Producer– Paizo 

Price–  $5.99 here https://store.paizo.com/pathfinder-society-scenario-7-20-the-strings-of-hell/ 

TL; DR-Short, very short adventure. 87%

Basics- Where are the boys?!  Many Minotaur young have gone missing.  Can you find them in time?  A VERY short adventure for levels 1-2.

Mechanics or Crunch: This adventure is short, but the crunch is ok.  The basics are two fights and a haunt.  It’s not bad, but its designed for the new streamlined adventures.  It could use a bit more skill challenges, but overall it works. 4.5/5

Theme or Fluff–  The theme is good, but abridged again.  They introduce the four missing kids and even give them a handout.  But beyond that, there really isn’t a reason to dig too deeply into their individuality.  The story is good but not as developed as it could be.  Even the minotaur village is a short stop in what could have been a longer interlude. 4/5

Execution: It’s short, but decently polished.  The maps are all from one map.  The stats are ok, even if they assume I am using the stats from online.  There are pictures of most of the NPCs.  It’s good, but still misses some of the old Paizo polish. 4.5/5

Summary: I don’t hate this, but this feels like a quest.  It plays in under two hours.  That was the goal, so that worked.  But I expect more from the society adventures.  It’s not bad.  It works well with this new format.  But I want more.  Good, but held back by society’s new goals.  87%

Ring Side Report: RPG Review of Strigovia – A Slavic Darkfolk RPG

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Product– Strigovia – A Slavic Darkfolk RPG

System– Strigovia – A Slavic Darkfolk RPG

Producer– Dark Orb

Price–  Free preview here https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dark-orb/strigovia-slavic-dark-fantasy-setting-and-adventure-for-5e/description

TL; DR– Dark European fantasy with a rules-light twist.  96%

Basics- The forest hungers!  Strigovia is a dark RPG where players attempt to survive in the horrors of the forest.  What will you pay to survive another day?

Basics- This is a D10-based RPG.  Players attempt challenges, and doing so reduces their dice pool.  A 7-10 is a success, but lower scores have implications.  A 1 to 2 causing repercussions that might be very bad to annoying.  A 3 means the forest notices you, and a 4 means civilization gains hold in you.  You can attempt anything, but the more you do, the more the game takes from you.

Combat- Combat is again simple.  The players roll initiative and count success, but the monsters have a set score.  Then you gain a number of actions based on your attributes.  Actions range from moving between combat areas or zones, doing damage, or anything else.  Different monsters need a different number of successes to put down.  Simple and fast.

Magic- Magic costs.  Magic is debt magic.  When you cast a spell, you make a deal with the forest.  This might be a bit of your own blood to having to sacrifice your or someone else’s firstborn.  You can get a lot, but it will cost more. This is not the magic missile magic, but something much more powerful and much more dangerous.

Mechanics or Crunch: This is a very rules-light system.  The game isn’t a crunch monster.  Its very rules light.  That’s not bad, but it is very narrative.  This means you and your GM have to have a lot of trust.  There is no rules lawyering in this one.  You and the GM are telling a story, and when you do stuff, it costs you as the dice pool keeps getting smaller.  That ties well to the theme.  4.5/5

Theme or Fluff–  The writers knew absolutely what they wanted out of this game.  This is a dark Eastern European folklore-inspired RPG.  Witches stealing babies, the forest taking whole kingdoms, and men attempting to civilize places that do not want them in there.  This game is exactly what it wants to be.  5/5

Execution: The quickstart is a solid product.  It goes setting first, then rules.  It reads easily, has amazing art, and a complete adventure with pregens.  I’d like character sheets instead of the written-out style, but it’s ok.  They have a full adventure that you can play before you get the book.  It’s a good book that is worth checking out.   5/5

Summary: This is a good product.  It feels like the fate system, but darker.  It might not be my favorite as I want a bit more crunch.  However, I can see the awesome in this one.  It’s dark, gritty, and something I would love to play or run in late October or November around a bonfire in the woods.  This will chill you to the bones in the right way if thats the experience you are looking for.  97%

Ring Side Report: RPG Review of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Mission Kit 

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Product– Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Mission Kit

System– Cyberpunk Red

Producer– R. Talsorian Games Inc.

Price–  $7.50 here https://www.drivethrurpg.com//product/482282/cyberpunk-edgerunners-mission-kit?affiliate_id=658theb 

TL; DR– Now I can play Cyberpunk the way I wanted! 100%

Basics- Have you watched the Netflix show or the game?!  Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Mission kit is the 2077 update to the Cyberpunk Red RPG set in 2020.  This is a quickstart product with an adventure, token, and everything a GM and players need for a game.

Mechanics or Crunch: Cyberpunk is a fun system, but it was missing something.  That something was the video game’s wizard-like powers.  This box set brings those to the game. And I couldn’t be happier.  I LOVE that part of the video game and was disappointed when I couldn’t do that on the tabletop.  Now I can. It’s a smaller list, but It’s also a quickstart for new players.  There are also all the crunch you need for the show’s characters.  So, if you loved the anime and game, you now have the tools you need to play that version of Cyberpunk   5/5

Theme or Fluff–  Cyberpunk Edgerunners is Cyberpunk Red, but it’s got the anime stuff in the box.  If you LOVED the anime,  here is the fluff to Red you need to play.  That’s what I wanted, so this is solid.  And this has enough world-building to show you how the world works as well.  It won’t and can’t be a whole internet of history, but there is enough here to get you deep enough into the world it will be hard to come up for air.  5/5

Execution: This box is amazing.  Honestly, for the price, you get way more than you expect.  Tokens, multiple books.  Lots of inserts.  Maps.  This is the whole 9 yards.  I love what’s here.  The books themselves read easily, are organized into sections to guide and divide, and are hyperlinked because it is 2026.  An awesome product.   5/5

Summary: I love this product.  You get some solid stuff, amazingly executed, and the missing pieces to make the game and anime work on the tabletop.  No notes, solid product.   Just like the video game, a few years after it came out, this is honestly one of my favorite products in a long time.  100%

Ring Side Report: RPG Review of Dungeon Crawl Classics #109: Beneath the Isle of Serpents 

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Product– Dungeon Crawl Classics #109: Beneath the Isle of Serpents

System– DCC RPG

Producer– Goodman Games

Price–  $7.99 here https://www.drivethrurpg.com//product/539156/dungeon-crawl-classics-109-beneath-the-isle-of-serpents?affiliate_id=658618  

TL; DR– A solid picture of an adventure but the framing is muddy.  93%

Basics- Time to stop a war!  Beneath the Isle of Serpents features a mysterious island off the coast where people disappear, and fights not only among the humans lead to horrors no one expected.  This is an adventure for 2nd-level characters.

Mechanics or Crunch: This has classic Goodman Game polish for the crunch.  It’s low crunch but fun with fights, social encounters, tables galore, and exploration across both dungeons and a mysterious island.  The math is solid and fun.  5/5

Theme or Fluff– When we are on the island, stuff works, but getting there is a bit harder.  The hooks of a war don’t really matter.  Also, there is a bit of stuff happening between the intelligent monsters.  Those things I feel are not as well developed.  But the other parts and random things in the dungeon are all fun.  The pieces on this island are fun, but the framing doesn’t quite line up.  4.5/5

Execution: This adventure has all the awesome parts of a classic Goodman Games adventure, but it also has the faults of one.  Goodman Games harkens back to the old school adventures of ol’.  But modern audiences might not like that layout and setup.  I do, and I want more.  But I respect the opinion that the layout is not user-friendly.   4.5/5

Summary: This is another solid Goodman Games adventure.  The crunch is solid with fun fights, good social, and tables of such random materials that it’s a crazy fun time.  The story in the crawl is fun, but getting there is a bit off.  Not horrible, but a bit hard to fit into a perfect story.  The execution is good, but it’s Goodman Games OGL style.  If you love that, you will love this.  I think this is a fun side crawl in The Caverns of Thracia campaign.  93%

Ring Side Report: RPG Review of Abaddon: The Angel in the Void

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Product– Abaddon: The Angel in the Void

System– Demon Lord Engine

Producer– Schwalb Entertainment

Price–  $4.99 here https://www.drivethrurpg.com//product/545187/abaddon-the-angel-in-the-void?affiliate_id=658618  

TL; DR– I’m intrigued by this level of hell.  97%

Basics- Who are you among the saved?  Abaddon is a new setting for the Demon Lord Engine.  It’s a far-flung future post-apocalyptic setting.  Let’s break it down.

Base Mechanics- Like Demon Lord?  Then you know this.  The big difference is the d666 system.  What this means is roll 3d6 and use the numbers to pick from a random table.  Not bad, but you can’t have a Schwalb system without a little bit of satanism!

This is an intro book, so it’s helpful, but it’s just the intro to the world.

Mechanics or Crunch: The big question for mechanics is Do you want Future Demon Lord?  If you want guns in your fantasy, then you will enjoy this.  The mechanics don’t really change, but that’s not bad, as Demon Lord is a tight system that’s fast.  5/5

Theme or Fluff– This setting focuses on a city where angels keep humans safe, but they are unknown.  The angels look like H. R. Geiger decorated the Sistine Chapel, but I expected nothing less from Schwalb.  The town where the angels make food, but the food doesn’t have flavor.  Humans are allowed to do anything, but not mess with the angels’ business.  And, the angels are letting a select few humans exit the town to explore the wastes after the demon destroyed things a long time ago.  You get to play the explorers in this world.  That’s solid stuff right there.  5/5

Execution: This is a good intro, but it’s missing pieces.  Its got a good layout, but it needs more art.  There is one angel picture, and that’s enough to keep you up at night.  The world is described, but needs more.  There is a solid intro adventure that will kill a few players.  Then again, I also have my one major gripe- no pregens!  I know Demon Lord makes characters in about 3 minutes, but give me six to hand to my friends with no prep.  It’s small things, but it would help.   4.5/5
Summary: This intro has solid information, but misses a few things.  I like the world that is built.  The history is good, but vague enough to be filled in later.  The locations will be similar, but warped by time and hell itself. The system is one I like and one that will always be fun and fast to play.  The book is good, but here it misses a few pieces.  Give me pregens and a bit more art.  That said, if my issue is the pieces that are not here, you’ve done the job of intriguing me enough to get more.  97%