Tag: Review

Ring Side Report-Book Review-Pathfinder: Godsrain

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Author– Liane Merciel

Book- ~$24.99 here https://paizo.com/products/btq06j6k?Pathfinder-Godsrain 

TL; DR– Solidly for the fans, maybe too much. 87%

Basics-Gods can’t die…except when they do!  The god of war is murdered and it kicks off a series of events that might result in the death of them all!  Can iconic Pathfinder characters stop the death of every god? 

Characters– This book uses iconic pathfinder characters and follows them on a typical, world shattering adventure.  This is the first book I’ve read featuring these characters.  The iconics all feel like they should and are well written.  The one issue I have is the book feels like it was written with only diehard Pathfinder fans as the audience.  Readers who don’t know these characters from playing Pathfinder Society might be a bit lost.  I enjoyed it, but some newer fans might be lost.  4.5/5

 Setting– This book features a number of iconic Pathfinder Society locations, but has the same issues as the characters.  This book is pretty world spanning as characters run from desert, to Pirate Cove, to Lost Island in an eternal hurricane.  The places are well described, but are not as linked to a larger world or history as newer readers might need.  It’s good but some readers might get lost if they don’t know these locations from the Pathfinder game.  4.5/5

 Story-The story is good, but feels disjointed.  The main event of the title is the death of a god, but then that is just kind of abandoned.  I felt like that was important and might be the main threat in multiple novels after this one.  The main story is more about the threat that a different god might have to all other gods.  That’s intriguing, but a major event in the world happens, and then is just kind of abandoned.  It’s a plot point, but not a major one. I felt like there was lost potential and that that main event was just abandoned. 4/5

 Summary-This is a good book and a fun step back into the Pathfinder Tales.  I want more books, so I’m glad this book exists.  It’s not perfect; the novel might not have enough inroads for new readers to Pathfinder.  Also, the title feels abandoned about a quarter of the way into the book.  I want to know more about the Godsrain, but this book won’t tell you about it.  If more novels focus on that and these characters, I’ll keep reading!   87%.

Ring Side Report- RPG review of Starfinder Society Scenario #7-06: Archives of Eternity

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Product– Starfinder Society Scenario #7-06: Archives of Eternity

System- Starfinder 1st Ed

Producer– Paizo

Price– $5.99 here https://paizo.com/products/btq03kpf?Starfinder-Society-Scenario-706-Archives-of-Eternity 

TL; DR-Good worldbuilding, but a bit short.  98% 

Basics-Time to keep exploring!  Archives of Eternity continues the main metaplot as the Starfinders continue to explore Aballon.  This time an old archive is found.  Who was there, why where they there, and what secrets are hidden in the archive?

Mechanics or Crunch– This is a very story forward adventure.  If you are a combat monkey, then you might not enjoy this adventure as much as some others.  The combats that are here are good, but they tend to be kind of short.  That’s not bad as the math that’s here works well.  But, if you wanted four hours of just crunch, you will be slightly disappointed. 4.75/5

Theme or Fluff– The story is the main focus of this scenario.  I’m saying this because the whole point of this adventure is to explore a long lost archive of materials.  And with that, it succeeds well. Several questions are answered, but many more are presented.  That’s fun world building for the Starfinder society. 5/5

Execution– This is the Paizo I know and love.  We have solid layout with solid text, with solid pictures, and an overall ease of reading.  This is the Paizo quality I love.  5/5

Summary– Starfinder society for 1st ed is almost done.  I love what’s here, and Paizo is giving this world a fun sendoff.  These adventures are key to helping with that send off.  It’s not perfect, as its maybe a bit too story focused.  I like the story, but some of my more combat oriented players were a bit disappointed.  It won’t take four hours, but it will build out your Starfinder experience.  98%  

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%