Tag: Review

Ring Side Report- RPG review of Discworld RPG Kickstarter

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Product– Discworld RPG Kickstarter

System- Discworld RPG

Producer– Modiphius

Price– FREE here https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/modiphius/terry-pratchetts-discworld-rpg?ref=4ogp2x 

TL; DR-Solid, narrative game.  99% 

Basics– Only the turtle knows what’s coming next.  A new edition of the Discworld RPG is coming!  Let’s look at the breakdown and see how its played.

Base Mechanics and stats-  There are no stats, but your character is a write up with a few sentences.  When you want to do anything, you tell the GM what you want to do and explain why you’re good at the action. The GM then tells you to roll any die from a d4 to a d12.  Bigger dice means you are better at the action.  The GM then rolls a d8.  Whoever has a higher roll gets their desired result.  Ties succeed, but a mix of results happen.  Negative results cause conditions such as a wound, damage, or something else happening for the characters.

And that’s it!

Mechanics or Crunch–   So, there are dice and things happen, but the mechanics are VERY light.  This game uses a much more narrative system.  It also relies on a LOT of trust between the GM and the players.  If you enjoy that, it works.  If you need the +1 from this and the +4 from that, you will absolutely HATE this system.  I don’t mind it, but your experience will be determined by your personal preferences.  5/5

Theme or Fluff–  Do you like Terry Pratchett?  That’s honestly what will determine if this game’s theme is good for you.  This a lot more theater and a lot less crunch than most systems, so be aware of this.  Again, if you need dark fantasy or more logic like Lord of the Rings, maybe give this a pass.  I LOVE Pratchett, so I love the idea of this game.  5/5

Execution– This is a near perfect demo for the game.  You have a decent rundown of the game, fun worldbuilding, and a FULL four hour adventure with  multiple premade characters.  It reads fast and easily, but no hyperlinks!  That is the lone issue with this book’s construction.  This is almost a copy of my last review, but it still holds true!  4.95/5

Summary– This game is a litmus test for you and your gaming group.  If you need the crunch, you will not like this game even if you like Pratchett.  If you can’t stand satirical fantasy regardless of the narrative gameplay, you will not like this.  I am ok with both, depending on the group.  The book reads like Pratchett and has the right flavor of the world.  That honestly makes me profoundly happy.  I don’t think Pratchett lends itself well to DnD-style kill-goblin games. Discworld is more funny stories with a purpose.  And for the price, go check this one out regardless.  99%  

Ring Side Report- RPG review of High School Cthulhu

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Product– High School Cthulhu Demo

System- High School Cthulhu

Producer– Gear Games

Price– FREE here https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/gear-games/high-school-cthulhu-roleplaying-game

TL; DR– 90s teen Cthulhu.  99% 

Basics– Homework and the end of days?  Bummer…. High School Cthulhu is about that turbulent time in any young man’s life where the elder gods are trying to end life as we know it and you have to figure out the school dance.  High School Cthulhu is a teen drama RPG set in the 90s where all of Lovercraft is happening just below the surface.  Let’s go Innsmith tentacles!  Here is the breakdown.

Base Mechanics and stats-  Every character has base attributes that can’t go below 1 and base skills for each stat that can’t go below one.  Each time you want to do anything, the GM will tell you the skill and attribute to roll.  You take that many d6s and roll them.  You are not aiming for any particular number, just a group of one number.  The number of same results you get determines the level of your success.  More successes is better than less.

Rerolls-You can choose to take any number of unsuccessful dice and reroll them.  If you do, you MUST roll one more of the number you saved.  If you do, great!  Take the new result or reroll again.  If you fail to get another number like the ones you saved, then you fail!

Grit-Grit is your hit points.  You gain and lose these as things happen.  They are not the same as your DnD hit points, but they serve the same function.  Lose too many and bad things happen, like getting knocked out.

Miracles and Guts-  If you succeed at anything really well you gain Guts.  Guts give you special bonuses to rolls or help a bit in a situation.  Miracles are like guts but WAY bigger.  You’re still a teen and mortal.  You can absolutely get wrecked by some monster or a crazy person with a shovel. Miracles are your dad stepping in punching the guy or talking the cops out of arresting you for breaking into the school.

Madness–  Wouldn’t be Cthulhu without madness.  Each character has a spiral of madness.  As you see things and fail rolls you gain madness.  Along the spiral you hit bad points and you get a bit crazy.  These are not realistic mental illnesses, but it does give the Lovecraft flavor we know and love.  Lose too much and you lose yourself.

Drama- And it wouldn’t be teen-centered storytelling without drama!  As you fight other characters and fail rolls, you gain drama.  Too much drama and everyone has to have a montage where you all separate and have a sad moment to reconcile, but friendships are hurt and bonds broken.  Standard teen stuff.

Allright, let’s review the game

Mechanics or Crunch–   This is an interesting take on a d6 system.  You roll a bunch of dice and see what happens.  You don’t need specific dice results, so it’s different.  I do love rolling 40 dice in Shadowrun, but while this is different it is fun still.  SImple and clean make a good system. 5/5

Theme or Fluff–  I WAS a teen in the 90s!  I remember most of the movie and show references this game parodies, and I love it.  It might not be for the younger kids, but if you remember “I know what you did last summer” and read “The shadow over Innsmouth” in the 90s, then this is the game for you.  So many references in this book!   I like what’s here, and if you need to take aspirin for your knees in the morning, you will too.  5/5

Execution– This is a near perfect demo for the game.  You have a decent rundown of the game, fun worldbuilding, and a FULL four hour adventure with  multiple premade characters.  It reads fast and easily, but no hyperlinks!  That is the lone issue with this book’s construction.  4.95/5

Summary– This is free and hits near Halloween. Just go get this one from the backerkit.  I love what I see, and the price is right for free!  I love the game, and I hope you do as well.  Solid 90s vibes with solid Cthulhu energy.  99% 

Ring Side Report- RPG review of DCC Day 2023 Adventure Pack

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Product– DCC Day 2023 Adventure Pack

System- DCC RPG

Producer– Goodman Games

Price– FREE here https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/434178/dcc-day-2023-adventure-pack?affiliate_id=658618 

TL; DR– HERE IS FREE GOOD STUFF! 100% 

Basics– Hey, kid, you want to try some DCC?  Here are the DCC RPG game day free RPG adventures.  There are two separate adventures for both level 1 and level 2.

Mechanics or Crunch–   Goodman games wrote these adventures, so expect the standard level of death and dismemberment as with any low level DCC adventure.  It’s hard with sudden deaths, but not overly so.  Your first and second level characters will probably survive!  It’s standard crunch, but it’s fun!  5/5

Theme or Fluff–  Ah DCC, you crazy monster.  These adventures are all over the place.  If you need Lord of the Rings level of understanding of life, then this is not for you.  DCC is more gonzo and these are no exceptions.  They are fun, and tell a story, but it’s still crazy!  If you,  like me, enjoy a crazy story, you will enjoy this.  5/5

Execution– Like Goodman Games adventures and layout?  Then you will like this.  There are nice pictures, fun maps, and good descriptions of rooms.  The overall book is exactly what to expect in terms of layout, writing, and basic construction.  And I love that.  5/5

Summary– Go get this.  It’s FREE!  Use this with the free DCC materials to go play some games.  This is just pure fun, pure crazy, and something that you can easily use to get the family and friends in the game.  For the price of nothings, this will well worth checking out.  100%

Ring Side Report- RPG review of Starfinder Playtest Scenario #2: It Came from the Vast!

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Product– Starfinder Playtest Scenario #2: It Came from the Vast!

System- Starfinder 2nd Ed Playtest

Producer– Paizo

Price– 5.99 here https://paizo.com/products/btq067lz?Starfinder-Playtest-Scenario-2-It-Came-from-the-Vast 

TL; DR– Almost perfect space horror. 97% 

Basics– In space, no one can hear how good this is. It Came from the Vast! is the second Starfinder playtest scenario.  In it, space truckers find an abandoned ship, decide to make money on it, and find it is much more than they originally thought.  This time for level five characters!

Mechanics or Crunch– So far so solid! The mechanics on display for the 5th level pregens and the five level adventure all work well.  There is a variety of things here that the characters encounter, from monsters to haunts to skill checks.  It’s just a solid experience for two hours.  5/5

Theme or Fluff– You’ve heard the beats before, but this song is still different enough to be fun.  I too love me some Alien, but this one gets elements of The Thing involved as well.  Solid fun all around, and different enough that my players and I all had a blast, even though we knew what was going to happen after we read the adventure description.  5/5

Execution– I liked this adventure, but it’s missing a few pieces.  The standard layout of the PFS adventures with pictures at the end are not here.  It has a good layout and is easy to read, but the pictures help me show players the monsters and other creatures involved.  Also, I like the stat blocks to be separate.  These are small things, but it hurts the presentation a bit.  This is exactly the same as what I said for scenario one, and I still stand by that. 4.5/5

Summary– This is exactly what I want to see in a Science-Fantasy space horror.  You got monsters, you got areas dripping with goo, you got space horrors and discovery, you got magic plant ships, you got ghosts of the dead.  This is a fantastic short adventure that is easy to run, and fun for all.  Give me back some of the older layout and this would be perfect.  97%

Ring Side Report- RPG review of Starfinder Playtest Scenario #1: Shards of the Glass Planet

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Product– Starfinder Playtest Scenario #1: Shards of the Glass Planet

System- Starfinder 2nd Ed Playtest

Producer– Paizo

Price– 5.99 here https://paizo.com/products/btq067m5?Starfinder-Playtest-Scenario-1-Shards-of-the-Glass-Planet 

TL; DR-Dry but good intro. 90% 

Basics– Go to new places, meet new people, and… make friends?! The drift crisis has opened up a world held in a glass bubble.  This adventure gives a bit of world lore, a bit of mechanics, and a good chance to see how Starfinder 2nd Ed will work.

Mechanics or Crunch– This adventure works well mechanically.  It has the basic breakdown of being a few skill checks to learn about the world that has been opened up, then some stuff happens, combat, trap, and final combat.  It’s short, but all the DCs are within line of what to expect, and the combat is resonbably what I expected.  You can not do anything too crazy in a level 1, so while short, it is expected and fun. 5/5

Theme or Fluff– This is a fun adventure, but not the most involved.  As I said before, it’s skill checks, combat, trap, and final combat.  Short, but not that complex.  Then again, it’s level 1, so you can’t throw the PCs into too crazy an adventure. My players and I had fun, but be prepared to ham up roleplay. 4/5

Execution– I liked this adventure, but it’s missing a few pieces.  The standard layout of the PFS adventures with pictures at the end are not here.  It has a good layout and is easy to read, but the pictures help me show players the monsters and other creatures involved.  Also, I like the stat blocks to be separate.  These are small things, but it hurts the presentation a bit. 4.5/5Summary–  This is a fun adventure, but maybe not the best Paizo has put out.  It’s also a bit hard since it’s a level 1 adventure that is the same as a quest.  Don’t expect multiple hours of crazy adventure, but do expect a short, fun intro to Starfinder 2nd Ed.  It has a few faults, but that doesn’t make it any less entertaining.  90%

Ring Side Report- RPG review of Pathfinder Adventure Path #182: Graveclaw (Blood Lords 2 of 6)

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Product– Pathfinder Adventure Path #182: Graveclaw (Blood Lords 2 of 6)

System- Pathfinder 2nd Ed

Producer– Paizo

Price– 26.99 here https://paizo.com/products/btq02asf?Pathfinder-Adventure-Path-182-Graveclaw 

TL; DR-Why fight undead when you can fight the fey?  95% 

Basics– Go to new places, meet new fey, and kill them!  Graveclaw continues the Blood Lords adventure path as our heroes begin to track down the people who are involved in the poisoning plot and THEY ARE ALL FEY!  Find the hags, kill them, and travel all around the land of Geb

Mechanics or Crunch– This adventure is a bit tougher for the players than most of what I’ve seen.  The players had fun, but they took some beating compared to most of my Pathfinder experience.  That’s not bad, but it can get discouraging as they have to keep fighting again and again to stay alive.  It’s a fun adventure, but something that might turn away some players with some slight balance issues.  Also, the faction system is broken.  I like the general idea, but right now I and my players still don’t know what the points do.  More guidance is needed to really bring this out for everyone.  4.75/5

Theme or Fluff– The story here is good, but disjointed.  The major plot of finding who is responsible for killing everything is fully on display.  That said, this adventure is more vignettes as the players learn where a hag is, go there, meet locals who hate her, go to her home, and kill her.  Repeat till four hags die.  It’s not bad, but a bit too disconnected for a full flowing story.  But when hanging out with a magic drugged up Vampire lord on a bender is on the itinerary, who cares? 4.5/5

Execution– Overall solid work from Paizo with one problem that I will dock because I am petty.  Solid lay out, eat to read, and good art all make this a great product.  Things that would make me happy are maps that fit into Roll20, but Paizo backed Foundry instead.  That’s understandable.  It’s hyperlinked, so it’s nice for my tablet.  The ONE thing that drove me up a wall was the last fight.  The final boss is listed in one place, when you go there, it then references a second area.  That annoyed me as the other creatures in the fight are listed in the first area.  So, I end up bouncing between three places in a book. DON’T DO THAT!  Aside from that one annoyance, Paizo makes a solid book. 4.95/5

Summary– Blood Lords continues to be some of the most fun I have had in Pathfinder that Paizo doesn’t like to admit too.  It’s most definitely not a a standard hero story as the players often are not great heroes but aspiring evil lords.  This particular part is good, but misses a few too many things to be amazing.  The adventure is brutal, but not bad. The story is a bit disjointed, but still flows.  The execution as always is good.  I will definitely be returning for the third part of this path!  95%