Tag: Review

Ring Side Report- RPG review of Starfinder Playtest Scenario #4: Rescue at Shimmerstone Mine

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Product– Starfinder Playtest Scenario #4: Rescue at Shimmerstone Mine

System- Starfinder 2nd Ed

Producer– Paizo

Price– $5.99 here https://paizo.com/products/btq04v06?Starfinder-Playtest-Scenario-4-Rescue-at-Shimmerstone-Mine 

TL; DR-Good, but outside flaws hurt the adventure.  95% 

Basics– Hey Kid, want to find some miners for us?  Rescue at Shimmerstone Mine is a quick adventure for level 15 Starfinder 2nd Ed characters.  Players are contracted to find some missing miner after communications went dark.  What happened in the mines?

Mechanics or Crunch– It’s high level Pathfinder/Starfinder 2nd Ed content by Paizo-it’s good.  The math works well here as it’s more of the classic formula with players attempting to find all the missing miners.  There are fights, traps, and puzzles for them to solve.  Mathematically it works well. 5/5

Theme or Fluff– For what it is, it’s a solid adventure.  This is a three hour adventure, so if you want more story, you will be a bit out of luck.  It is an engaging story of a mine that went crazy and understanding why the mine exploded into crazy riots is part of the Starfinder RPG system and Starfinder universe update, but the adventure’s story works well enough all on its own.  For a short adventure, it’s a fun one. 5/5

Execution– Paizo did a good job here, but dropped the ball in some very serious ways.  It’s hyperlinked, well laid out, yadda yadda and the standard good things that Paizo does.  But, there are serious issues as well as some minor issues.  The minor:  the adventure says there are x number of miners and you will not find that number.  That’s minor, but it drove a player of mine mad!  The majors are Paizo didn’t put in a separate picture page for the NPCs.  They do that in the Pathfinder and Starfinder adventures, but why not here?  It’s even more of an issue because they literally put pictures of the NPCs in the text.  Give me a page with them alone to show the players.  But the biggest sin here is the lack of pregens.  Paizo wants players to make level 15 characters.  No, give me some you think my players would build. You did it for level 1 and 5, but why not 10 and 15?  You can find them online as people are making them, but that’s a big issue here.  This is a good adventure with some serious outside execution issues.  4.25/5

Summary–  I like this one, but the flaws are here.  In terms of pure math and crunch, it’s solid workmanship showing off the system.  For the story itself, it’s fun and expands the world.  For the execution, there are a few faults.  No pregens is a big red flag.  GIVE ME THOSE PREGENS!  Make this plug n’ play for tables!  Beyond those issues, it’s a good adventure that will play in 2-3 hours while expanding a bit on the world.  95%  

Ring Side Report- RPG review of The Painted Wastelands

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Product– The Painted Wastelands

System- Old School Essentials

Producer– Agamemnon Press

Price– $35 here https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/498797/the-painted-wastelands?affiliate_id=658618 

TL; DR– Makes me think I have not done enough hard drugs for this awesome adventure! 99% 

Basics– Fungal wine-not even once!  The Painted Wastelands is a hex crawl adventure.  And that sells it WAY too short.  This book has maps, dungeons, encounters, tons of art, new classes, new spells, and loads of resources for any gonzo Old School Essentials game.  Let’s break this down.

Mechanics or Crunch–   Old School Essentials is a rules-light game, but this doesn’t skimp on content here.  The basic content of some monster and dungeons with traps is here, and it’s done well.  The extra is what sells this book.  Want to play a cat?  You get a pet human!  That’s the level of this book.  And that right there might sell a ton of you on this book.  Beyond that are just tons of random tables with random events and tons of background characters that you can interact with and kill.  This is a sandbox, and the book gives you all the toys you need to play in it. 5/5

Theme or Fluff–  This is a fever dream of content.  Two guys making a book that’s a hex crawl would be fantastic for just 35 hexes of content with a few dungeons.  This has art on almost every page and it’s not standard fantasy art.  It’s stuff that makes most hallucinations look tame, but not in a bad way.  It’s crazy, it’s otherworldly, and it’s gorgeous. It’s a world that is completely alien but oddly inviting.  The story is light.  You don’t get the standard spoon feeding for a story, but there is a random chart with story hooks.  But the star of the book is the world itself.  Again, this is a fever dream of bizarre, alluring content, and a place I want to throw my players into.   5/5

Execution– This is a near perfect setting and hex crawl.  First my angry one comment-no player map!  Give me a map that I can give my players with stuff they might know and blankish hexes that I can use to let them play on.  Too many hex crawls don’t do that!  But, that’s the last bad thing I have to say.  This is a hyperlinked book that is laid out well, reads fast, and has glorious art.  I can quickly hop around this book and get to where I want to and read fast enough that I don’t need to spend hours prepping an adventure.  There are also dungeons and maps of places they can explore and lots of pictures of NPCs they can interact with.  It’s a fantastic world that I am honestly drawn into.    4.95/5

Summary– So if you are looking for a standard “save the princess from the dragon”, medieval europe fantasy adventure, keep looking.  This is not that book.  If you want an LSD fever dream that will make Alice in Wonderland seem normal while you kill both Mad Max monsters and undead wizards, then this is the book.  AND YOU CAN BE A CAT!  There’s a bunch more from spells, to more realistic classes, to whole political things, but bla bla bla CAT! Not a Cat -person race, a straight up CAT! That’s gonna get so many people who don’t care about RPGs to hang with their friends in this world. I can’t stress how much this book is crazy, and I love it. It won’t be what everyone wants.  I love sushi and even if you go to the top sushi in the world, some people will turn their noses up.  This is near perfect sushi, and I can’t get enough.    99%  

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%