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Ring Side Report- Unboxing, How to Play and Review of Cottage Garden
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Ring Side Report- Savage Worlds Deluxe Core Rules
Product– Savage Worlds Deluxe Core Rules
System-Savage Worlds
Producer– Pinnacle Entertainment
Price– $9.99 here http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/92743/Savage-Worlds-Deluxe?term=savage+worlds+delu&test_epoch=0?affiliate_id=658618
TL; DR-Super Swingy, but super fun! 97%
Basics-Wanna do…. Anything? Savage Worlds is a generic RPG that isn’t tethered to any one world or system. It’s so untethered to any setting that the first few pages of the book are all the different worlds the Pinnacle Entertainment and others offer. Let’s dive into this game and see what’s there.
Base Mechanics- Here is where the fun begins. Savage Worlds uses a dice chain. When you want to do a thing that needs a roll, you roll your skill die and aim for a 4 after modifier. That’s pretty much it. Hit 4 and the thing happens. Every 4 above 4 is a raise and does something awesome. Sometimes damage, sometimes extra effects, but it’s always something good. If you hit the max number on a die, then got an ace, and you roll the dice again adding to the total. Ace again? Keep going! Like I said above, this system is super swingy, but fun.
Stats-Your skills and attribute dice are decided at character generation. Your attribute are Agility, Smarts, Strength, Spirit, Vigor. These are dice ranging from a d4 to a d12. Most humans have a d6 in every attribute. When you build a character you get dice for a skill, but the skill advancement is tied to each attribute and advancing past an attribute dice cost a lot more than normal. If you ever don’t have the skill that you want to use, you roll a d4-2 still trying to hit the 4, so hope for the ace!
Wild cards and Extras-Extras are random background people from the mook attacking the bar to the faceless ninjas that you mow down in wave after wave. Wild cards are special character ranging from your player character to the big bad evil guy. Wild cards get an extra die to all rolls called the wild die that is a d6. You roll this for attacks and skills, even if you are untrained!
Edges and Hindrances-Something I miss from light systems are feats. Savage Worlds has edges and hindrances. At character generation you get hindrances that flesh out your character as well as bonuses called edges that give you extra little abilities from being able to hit harder bare handed or bonuses on some skill rolls.
Combat and Initiative-Savage Worlds has roots in some crazy RPGs and none comes out more that initiative. Players don’t roll, but get cards from a deck of playing cards with the Jokers left in. High card and suit (Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, and finally Clubs). Jokers do crazy things to the person who draws them and then after the round the initiative deck is reshuffled. Each round you get to move a bit and do one action. Actions range from shooting people to doing a skill. Melee attacks means you have to hit the opponents parry value. Ranged attacks have to hit a 4. In either case rases add an additional 1d6 of damage to the target. If you hit you then roll damage equal to your weapon value. If the damage value equals an enemies toughness (2 + half the opponents vigor die), then the opponent is shaken. Shaken means your do nothing next turn except try to shake off the hit via a Spirit roll (4 to shake it off, 8 to act normally). If you get a raise on the toughness, than the enemy takes a wound. Wild Cards have three wounds before a fourth kills them, but extras only have one before they are down!
Bennies-Oh story candy! I love you! Bennies are chips you get to reroll dice, immediately shake of being shaken, and whatever you convince your GM that you can do. The GM gets a pile as well! Act like your character would? Story Candy. Do something cool? Story Candy. Buy the GM a coke? STORY CANDY!
Character Generation- A big theme in savage worlds is rules light, and Savage Worlds is really light when it comes to character generation. Characters are made by doing a number of small steps. When you build a character you start by choosing a race, which may give you additional starting abilities with humans getting one extra edge, then you get point to buy new attribute dice, going up one level on the dice chain for each point, points to get and advance skills , one for one as before, move to selecting edges, then you can select to get extra hiderence to get more points for skills and edges, and finally you get gear based on the campaign you’re playing. DONE. The hardest part is selecting what gear and edges you will chose.
Leveling up or Advancement-Every good game needs XP, and this one give xp at the end of each session. For every five xp, a character can get a new edge, advance attribute dice, raise one skill above an attribute, raise two skills with values under a linked attribute, or get a d4 in a new skill. For every 20 XP a character enters a new rank that give access to new edges.
Magic, machines, and maham- Savage Words is system agnostic, so magic and powers a built in but not essential. Characters can get powers via different routes from the gods, reading books, or simply building a crazy lightning boxes from technology. All power work the same as they start with getting an edge. The powers have a rank you can get them at, a cost in power point (think magic points from Final Fantasy), and some skills you have to roll to make them happen, if needed for things like attacks. It feels like old schoo video game!
Ok, enough background, what are my thoughts.
Theme or Fluff-No fluff for this one. Each world needs its own fruff. There is awesome stuff here from the Rippers universe where people fight monsters in a Victorian setting with magic, monstrous power of their own, and machines to Solomon Kain fighting monsters across the world. It’s all fun, but Savage Worlds is anything you want it to be. You give the biggest thing in the world to d12+2 for his or her thing, and then you set the smallest or weakest thing at d4-2 for their thing, and scale accordingly. You can do Savage Hacks for literally anything from Shadowrun to DnD. If you like the math above, see if your favorite system or setting has a Savage Hack out there, or go make one! -/5
Mechanics or Crunch– Holy cow is this thing swingy! That’s not a bad thing, but it is a thing. If you need careful balance where expected results always happen, WALK AWAY NOW! But if you love you some pulp craziness, then get into this game. Its light and fast. I play with no miniatures, but many people love miniatures. I just love the math here. It goes fast and plays quick. The one thing I don’t like is how little the attributes matter. They are important for some things like Spirit rolls and determining toughness, but overall they feel slightly left aside. As this is mostly a skills game, its ok, but I always hate when games have attributes, but don’t really use them as much as say Dungeons and Dragons. It’s not bad, but it’s something that sticks in my craw. If you can ignore that one complaint I have, then Savage Worlds is a swingy, amazing system! 4.9/5
Execution– Is this available in PDF since its past 2015? Check. Hyperlinked to make my life easy? Check. Overall, I love how the book looks. I’d like a bit more walkthrough on a few things, but once you work through the rules it’s easy enough. Also, I’d like a bit more tables to break up some of the text for things like spells. It’s a well done book that you can skim through in an afternoon without an advanced degree or major eye strain. 4.8/5
Summary-I am a convert! I love lots of different systems, but Savage Worlds is one that always seemed off in the corner where the weird kids hang out. It’s a smaller system, but its got a big cult following, almost like The Evil Dead. And I think that that’s a good way to look at this system. If you want your standard fantasy where predictable thing happen at predictable time scales, then this isn’t for you. It’s not bad, but it’s not for you. If you want a faster pace with some crazy stuff happening like a player who is the town poopscooper getting five aces in a row and triple critting the big bad evil guy on the first turn, then this is the game for you. The system is slick, fast, and low crunch. The book is well put together and reads quickly and enjoyably. That’s everything I want in an RPG, and a system I can’t wait to get back into. 97%
Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Close Encounters: Hyperspace Fiends
Originally posted at www.throatpunchgames.com, a new idea everyday!
Product– Close Encounters: Hyperspace Fiends
System-Starfinder
Producer– Fat Goblin Games
Price– $6.95 here http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/222888/Close-Encounters-Hyperspace-Fiends?affiliate_id=658618
TL; DR-Horrors from the low planes in the upper skies! 98%
Basics-Where we’re going, you don’t need eyes to see! Close Encounters: Hypersapce Fiends is a new book in a series bringing old fiendish monsters and things from Pathfinder into space with Starfinder. This book bring demons and devils into space, TOGETHER! Turns out hell and the abyss collapsed into one horrible thing and now they’ve joined a tag team battle against the universe, if they can stop knifing themselves in the back!
Theme or Fluff– The base Starfinder game is devil and demon poor, but this book brings all your classics back, and their stats feel like they should. There are even some crazy fiendish effects on magic, some ships that are stated out, and some environments traps that can affect your players should they enter the lower plane. There is also story to backup why these two age old enemies are working together to kill everyone. Overall, I like what I’m seeing here as it’s a great way to bring back some fun Pathfinder elements to your Starfinder game. 5/5
Mechanics or Crunch– All the crunch is right. The CR are good and the monsters hit the places they did in Pathfinder with basic updates of the mechanics to fit the slight changes between the systems. I love what’s here, and it’s going to fit mechanically well into any game where the GM would like to put a Technomancer in Hell. 5/5
Execution– Is this available in PDF since its past 2015? Check. Is it hyperlinked even though its less than 40 pages? Check. Ok we’ve hit all the basics to make me happy. Now the extras! This book has lots a art with the creatures looking like the demons you’re used to but with a Starfinder art twist. There are demon/devil ships, but I would like a few more and some close up art of them. The art for the ships isn’t bad but its only one picture of the two new ships. The book even includes the rough seeds on an adventure from levels 1 to 20. Also, my favorite devils the low level lemure isn’t in the book, so that makes me a little sad. Finally the price is a tad high as its about $7 for a 30 page PDF. These are by no means going to keep me away, but it’s something to note. 4.75/5
Summary-Fat Goblin was one of the first on the scene making Starfinder Compatible products and they have really demonstrated what you can do as a third party publisher. Its some fantastic material. I love putting demons and devils in my game and now I can easily do so. This is only GM book. It’s fun, but honestly players need not apply as there are no player specific material here. GMs get fun new toys and things to inflict on their players. It’s not perfect with a few minor things like price and some minor monsters being left out, but in total, this is a great resources if you want to put some horrible demons and devils into your game. 98%
Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Alien Evolution: Cosmic Race Guide
Product– Alien Evolution: Cosmic Race Guide
System-Starfinder
Producer– Fat Goblin Games
Price– $3.95 here http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/223749/Alien-Evolution-Cosmic-Race-Guidebook?affiliate_id=658618
TL; DR-Jack Kirby does Starfinder! 96%
Basics-Tired of just the core races already? Need some more classic 70’s ancient aliens artwork? Then I’ve got a book for you! The Cosmic Race Guide has an impressive amount of new species to plop into any Starfinder game.
Mechanics or Crunch-Starfinder, when it launched, didn’t have a lot of races. None of what was there was bad, but it was a limited picking. This book opens up the floodgates. Nothing here is all that crazy. The races do follow a pretty predictable formula, but its not a bad formula as everything is balanced. I would have liked a few racial feats for each race. But, there are over 10 new races here, so It’s a great place to look for an impressive assortment of new races for any space game. 4.75/5
Theme or Fluff– Here is where the book shines. Every page of this book feels like Jack Kirby wrote it as the art is completely New Gods or crazy space Thor 3 on every page. Everything feels right. You get a full color art picture of each race and its homeworld. The art mixed with the flavor of the races just belongs. Starfinder is already a mix of magic, machine, and the future, so adding the proper amount of crazy Kirby makes me extremely happy. 5/5
Execution– I am really pleased with this book. First and foremost, it’s a hyperlinked PDF. Next, the art is great. I would have liked more, but it’s enough to break up any monotony. The layout isn’t cluttered. My one grip is the price. It’s a tad high, but if you want a ton of new races, this is the book you need. It’s a well put together book that’s fun to thumb through till you find your favorite race and dig in. 4.5/5
Summary-I really like this product. I read this book the week after seeing Thor 3 in theaters, and it feels like an honest extension of the movie. You get Kirby, you get aliens, and you get your magic. Starfinder feels like the 70’s comic vibe will fit better than any serious game play as you have the elements of more space opera than space drama built right in, and this book takes that banner and runs hard with that idea. I wouldn’t consider this the most serious book. This isn’t Lord of the Rings, but it is an amazing romp in the galaxy showing you all the crazy kids at the cantina while giving you the rules to play each of them in turn. Get this book, crank your Flash Gordon soundtrack, and find your next favorite character to play in the galaxy. 96%
Ring Side Report-Board Game Review of Mansions of Madness, 2nd ed.
Product-Mansions of Madness, 2nd ed.
Producer– Fantasy Flight Games
Price– $100 here https://www.amazon.com/Mansions-Madness-2nd-Board-Game/dp/B01J4NB6CO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1477872904&sr=8-1&keywords=mansions+of+madness
Set-up/Play/Clean-up– 60-360 minutes (1-5 players)
Type- American
Depth-Medium
TL; DR-Great, but the price is a bit too steep! 89%
Basics- Can you survive the Mansions of Madness? Step into this fully co-op board game as different investigators trying to uncover secrets best forgotten and lore never found! The game is very easy to learn and basically teaches you how to play as you go. First, the players choose a scenario that they want to play from a computer, iPad, or android device. That is the first thing to note here- you MUST have a device to play this game. These scenarios range in difficulty from one to five with the intro scenario being a two. After scenario selection, players then choose different character to be with different powers. With that done, the game will then give the players different starting items and the players divide these up as they see fit. Then the computer will layout the story and world telling the players where to put icons on the map, what map to build, and what other actions they can take.
Turns are fast and easy to do. Each investigator takes their turn in whatever order they choose. On a player’s turn, they do two actions. These action range from moving two spaces, interaction with different icons on the map/computer, interacting with puzzles, casting spells, and attacking creatures. Interaction with some icons expands the map and story. Sometimes when you interact with an icon on the map, you have to roll a number of dice equal to one of your skills to discover something. The dice are eight sided with blanks, clue icons (magnifying glasses), and elder signs. Elder signs are always successes, but clue icons indicate you could succeed if you spend a clue token. You only get clue tokens when you explore or uncover something which makes the clue economy extremely important! Also, some skill checks will require multiple successes to to succeed.
Attacking is interesting as when you attack a creature, you must tell the game how you attack. Then the computer randomly assigns you an attack method that depends on a skill roll. Sometimes the skill is obvious like strength for a punch, but other times you might end up doing agility when you swing a hammer. Again, sometimes you only need one success and other times you might need multiple. If you succeed, the computer tells you how much damage you do to the target.
Spells vary from attacks and player buffs. Each spell is a deck of cards where you draw one card and keep it face up in front of you. When you cast the spell, the computer or the spell will tell you how to cast it, what skills to roll, and then it tells you to check the reverse side. Some spells cause you to have to make another skill check to avoid damage or insanity and some just go off without a hitch. After you cast your spell, you then shuffle the spell back into its deck and draw a new, random version of the spell.
Puzzles are one of the most intriguing additions to this game. Unlike other games where players have to just roll a die to uncover the family mystery, in this game, the players have to do sliding tile puzzles, math puzzles, and even picture puzzles to uncover secrets. All are done on the computer, so there’s no fuss or muss on setup and clean up.
After all players have taken their turns, you tell the app or computer you are done, and the computer takes control, possibly spawning monsters, doing horrible events against some of the players, and advancing the story. Monsters are the biggest threat as they move around the map directed by the app. The app will tell you to move monsters and then attack players in their spaces. Monsters’ attacks are resolved like player attacks. The target of the attack rolls a skill. Unlike player attacks, each success on this roll only removes one damage, not ALL damage. After attacks are done, the app directs the players to make horror checks against the monster with the highest horror stat within three spaces. This is another skill roll that only removes one insanity for each success the player achieves.
Damage is interesting in this game. This game builds on Fantasy Flight’s other games with damage cards being both normal damage and special damage. When you take damage or insanity, you get a card face down of the type. Some cards and events will direct you to randomly flip one or more cards face up. Now, you get special effects like being lame or agoraphobic. When your damage equals your health, you discard all face down cards and gain a wounded condition card. You can’t do the move action twice in a turn, and if you gain the wounded condition again, you are dead and out of the game! If you gain insanity equal to your mental stat, you go crazy and gain a secret goal. Now, you might not win by helping the other players but might only win if you start enough fires! It’s a fun, fresh twist on the game.
Once all the monsters are done, then the players take over again the the cycle continues until the players win or horror descends across the land!
Mechanics-Overall, I like what I see here, but the computer part is a bit of a pain sometimes. The hardest part is that the app is slow and there’s limited options on it. If I attack with a 2×4, odds are I will see the same attack roll five times in a game. That wasn’t bad in the first edition when I as the bag guy shuffled four cards for an attack, but now with the computer app, I’d like more options and descriptions. The computer tends to slow down game play a bit. However, I do like the general speed of human play. A turn is quick as a human, and it is not overly complicated. All the fun different things I want to do are easy to do, and I enjoy that immensely. 4.5/5
Theme-My wife and I can’t stop playing this. It’s fun, and I feel like I’m in a Lovecraft story. It’s even got a modified version of my favorite short story “The Shadow Over Innsmouth”! Things feel right, the toys are nice, and the look is great. 5/5
Instructions-Fantasy Flight Games has been doing this new version of game instructions where the simple instructions get a short book with pictures and the nitty gritty get their own book with an index. That’s ok, but I end up needing to cross reference things, and it feels clunky. Also, I feel some things were not explained as well as they could be, like how horror and monster attacks are not blocked with one success, but they need multiple. Those details are pretty important, and I think it wasn’t emphasized enough. I got the feeling of missing key instructions until later a few times playing this game. 4.25/5
Execution-Ok, here is the bitter pill to swallow-this game is not worth $100. I like what’s here, but I feel I got more from the first edition than the second. Sure the app is nice, but I got more cards in the first edition, more books, and just more stuff. Now, I get more generic cardboard, monsters, and the app. What makes me give this a “4” is the backwards compatibility of the starter box. Fantasy Flight was a class act by giving me a conversion kit to get my old stuff into the new. I think what I get here is fair for $80, but for the $100 it went for, maybe that’s a bit much. Everything is great, but maybe not that good. If you want to to make that choice for yourselves, check out our unboxing here https://youtu.be/HK3Mb369xoA 4/5
Summary-I like this game, but it’s a game that you have to invest in. What’s here is good, but too expensive. If you NEED your Cthulhu fix, then this is a great continuation of the Arkham Horror games from Fantasy Flight Games. It’s a solid set with nice monsters, good cardboard, great stories, and easy mechanics. But, if you can’t drop the equivalent of a small car payment on this box, you might want to wait till this thing goes on sale. It’s a great game, but at this price, I’d like a bit more in the app, the box, and the game overall. That said, I’m still glad bought it, and I plan to buy the expansions. So, it’s gotta be good. 89%
Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Torment: Tides of Numenera-The Explorer’s Guide
Product– Torment: Tides of Numenera-The Explorer’s Guide
System-Numenera
Producer-Monte Cook Games
TL; DR-What I want in a video game tie in book. 97%
Basics– Are you excited about Torment, the computer game? Do you want to run your Torment Numenera tabletop game? Torment:Tides of Numenera-The Explorer’s Guide would best be described as the “companion” book based on the video game for the Numenera tabletop RPG. It’s DEFINITELY NOT a strategy guide, but it does have new mechanics and world building so you can play the compute game at your table.
Mechanics or Crunch-This might be the weakest part of the book, but that’s like finding a single spelling error in a classic book. What’s here is good. It’s new, it’s fun, and it’s well done. There are the expected things to help build out the blanking blank who blanks as well as cyphers and artifacts, but there is also a whole new social interaction system built on how the characters act. It’s a small thing as it doesn’t need to be added, but it’s something GMs can make as big or as small as they like. My one complaint is there isn’t more blanking blank who blanks options. It’s minor though. The system doesn’t need a book of feats as much as it needs flavor. 4.5/5
Theme or Fluff-There might be more in this book about one small section of the world than there was in the core book. I am absolutely serious. I love the depth put in this book. The small piece of the world that the game covers get’s a massive world building. Here is the rub-as a GM for the game, you will have all the information you need. As a players, there might be almost too much as it could spoil the game or even the video game. That…is the proper amount of information for me to run an RPG. I kickstarted the video game, but my wife and I are more excited to get this to the table with our Cypher group. 5/5
Execution-Cypher system has the best use of space of any RPG I’ve read. You describe a fearsome adversary in the text, and the stats are less than a tweet in a sidebar. Describe the use of a little used rule in the text, and a sidebar lists where the rule is in the core book. MORE COMPANIES NEED TO DO THIS! As for the layout, its great. Few pages have too much text, but there is enough art, either hand drawn or game images, to balance out the reading. I loved reading this book. 5/5
Summary– I was asked to review this book, but give the direct warning that “this is not a strategy guide.” that is absolutely true, but what this book is amazing. It’s full of crunch, fluff, and is well made. I get new mechanics to play in a new part of the world. I love everything about this book. My one problem is I want more. If there were a bit more character options, I’d be in heaven. If you’re getting the video game, if you love the cypher system, or if you just want a well done splat book for Numenera, don’t pass this up. 97%
Ring Side Report- RPG Review of The Served Brandolyn Red
Product-They Served Brandolyn Red
System– DCC
Producer– Goodman Games
Price– $7 here http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/159410/Dungeon-Crawl-Classics-2015-Halloween-Module-They-Served-Brandolyn-Red&affiliate_id=658618
TL; DR– An awesome starter adventure! 95%
Basics-It’s a good day for a white wedding! Until the groom’s head is chopped off and the bride is poisoned. Then, players and the guests of the wedding have to find out all the twists and turns in this adventure and recover the groom’s head to properly bury the man. Why did this happen? Only you can find out!
Mechanics or Crunch-Ah, the DCC RPG funnel! Hit the players hard and see what falls down. It’s a time honored tradition. This adventure has all the great pieces of one, and the mechanics match enough to challenge first and zero level players as well as bringing enough weird to the party. 5/5
Theme or Fluff-This adventure is one that you as a GM have to bring to life. There is a lot going on here, and it kind of goes in two directions. Only one direction gets the PC’s paid, so they won’t care about family struggles as longs gold happens. If you can bring that part to life, it’s a fun side of the adventure. But, most parties and games won’t even care about some below the surface details that the adventure has due to the second part being a bit off base. It’s fun, but a bit too unwieldy with the second story not bringing as much to the party as the first. 4.25/5
Execution– This is a DCC RPG book put out by Goodman Games themselves, so it’s going to be good! The art is great, the pictures are phenomenal, and the layout is simple enough to help every GM run a fun adventure. The book even has detailed family trees that you can use to enhance the substory that I complained about in the theme section. Even the hex crawl simple map is a great addition to the game! This simple adventure has the tools and talent needed to really help you make a great time for the players. Also, it’s out in time for Halloween, so get this now! 5/5
Summary-I love this one so much it might become my new favorite funnel. My players get a place to explore. I get some story to build off with a subplot that is fun, if a bit of a strange addition. The mechanics of the adventure are built well enough that it’s got enough challenge to keep things interesting, but not a killer curve to destroy a party. From the art to the layout, this is a phenomenal adventure and an excellent introduction to DCCRPG, and if a group was looking for a place to start, this is probably the best adventure to throw your friends and yourself as the GM into. 95%
Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Pathfinder Player Companion: Melee Tactics Toolbox
Product-Pathfinder Player Companion: Melee Tactics Toolbox
System– Pathfinder
Producer– Paizo
Price– $12 here http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1601257325?keywords=melee%20tactics%20toolbox&qid=1444860587&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1
TL; DR– a one-feat-book 77%
Basics-Why do it from afar when you can hurt them up close! Melee Tactics Toolbox provides every up close and personal character with several new options ranging from spells, items, feats, class options, and even new archetypes much live every other player companion product.
Mechanics or Crunch-This is a major crunch book for players, but I wasn’t amazed. There are several new options, but nothing here immediately made me want to build a character based around that theme. Some of the new options seem like new expectations just for expansion sake as the archetypes underwhelmed me like the rogue archetype that strips out all the rogue powers that make a rogue a rogue. Nothing here is objectively bad, but it’s not as amazing as I expected. 4/5
Theme or Fluff-This book has a bit of theme, but not as much as I wanted. You get a few bits and pieces but not near as much as the world books the Paizo puts out. It feels light. 3.5/5
Execution– This book has a ton it it, but it feels a bit overstuffed. There are many things in the book, but it feels a bit like things were thrown in because of the melee thing and that was the sole reason that they made the cut. So, things didn’t flow as well as other books. Also, much of the execution was a bit off as there were a few too many walls of text to really draw me into and through the book. But, as a counterpoint, the book does have a nice font, decent layout aside from a few too many text walls, and some nice art. However, as a counterpoint to that, the book still has the standard Paizo price for its splatbooks which is a little high anyway. 4/5
Summary-This is my least favorite Paizo Pathfinder book to date. Overall, it’s not a horrible book, but compared to Paizo’s other products, I wouldn’t suggest you start with this one. Honestly, this is a one-feat-book meaning that you will find exactly one thing from this book that might, sometimes, help you PFS character. And, you will buy it so you can show your PFS GM the feat/spell/item, so you can legally use it in your game. But, truth be told, you can pass this book by and be ok even if you are a greatsword only fighter. Too many options that are not worth the price, little world and character story, and a less than stellar execution make this a book that won’t find its way into many Pathfinder collections. 77%
Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Data Trails
Product-Data Trails
System– Shadowrun 5e
Producer– Catalyst Game Labs
Price– $25 here http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/150001/Shadowrun-Data-Trails?affiliate_id=658618
TL; DR– Great flavor, but almost no crunch! 82%
Basics-Want to ride the matrix? Want to be a digital cowboy? This is the new book for you covering how the matrix of 2076 works and the new toys to play on this matrix. It also provides a brief history of AI. The book adds new cyberdecks, add-ons to all the matrix toys out there, new qualities, and even has a section on how to play an AI character.
Theme or Fluff-Let’s start things a bit different than most of the reviews I write. Let’s focus on the theme first. Of all the things Catalyst does, covering the story of their world is the absolute best thing they do. This book has tons of world building elements: all the fiddly bits of the 6th World’s wide web, covering how the matrix works, how it’s made, how to interact with it, its history, and providing me with extra story bits for any games I run. Every aspect of the world gets a bit built on it. For the SR vets out there, this book might be a little overkill. However, for anyone who hopped on in Shadowrun 5th edition, this is an absolute essential to provide some much needed history and context to how people use the internet of the future. 4.75/5
Mechanics or Crunch-I started with theme, but theme shows how much this book is missing from its crunch. The book adds an impressive amount of story but doesn’t really have the mechanics to back it up. For your average decker, what’s here is good. You get new toys and add-ons to all the old toys to keep you fairly happy. However, even there you don’t get near as much as the other gear books. Technomancers get even less. For the rest of the 6th world, it’s not entirely worth it aside from a good reference on how the basics of the matrix work. But the best example of how mechanics don’t back up fluff is in how different matrix hosts work and defend themselves. A good chunk of one chapter is spent on how different companies defend their hosts. But, no real mechanics are given either identifying what type of ICE is used or how they attack. Furthermore, I’m glad I got a good briefing on how AI altered the matrix, but including a section on how to play them is pretty much useless for the majority of GM and players. If they included that as its own small book, I’d buy it in an instant. As a section in a core book, it’s just not a great use of space. 4/5
Execution– The thing Catalyst doesn’t do well is format their books. First and foremost, a book by Catalyst is only useful if you’ve completely read the book before and memorized the general locations of things in the book. As a quick reference to thumb through, you will be lost. The chapters are not named in a way that helps the reader, the book doesn’t have an index, and none of the new additions have a quick reference area to speed use later on. Catalyst knows how to write fiction, but their fiction bleeds a bit too much into their mechanics. In sections discussing how to create an AI or a host, the first part of the chapter will be the world story of it, and the second part will be the mechanics of it. But, nowhere in the middle will it give the firm shift of when one section ends and the other begins. All of those things are hard negatives, but what is here does read quickly and is enjoyable. The back and forth of the characters is fun while drawing the reader in deeper. This isn’t the best book I’ve read, but it’s a decent overall book. 3.5/5
Summary-Here is the quick question to help you decide if you need this book: do you spend most of your Shadowrun time in the matrix? If yes, then you buy this book. If no, maybe you’re good with what’s in the base book. As someone who’s deeply invested in the 6th world, I loved learning about the new wireless net. I just wasn’t overwhelmed by some significant parts of the book. I’m glad I know how to run an AI now, but odds are good I never will, especially as someone who almost exclusively focuses on Shadowrun Missions. I’d also like Catalyst Game Labs to overhaul their books a bit and really change some aspects of production to help the readers find what they need more quickly. Making those changes will really make me love their books. With that said, as someone who loves Shadowrun and the matrix in particular, I’m glad I got this book, even if I can’t use chunks of it. 82%
Ring Side Report-Board Game Review of Nefarious
Product-Nefarious
Producer-USAopoly
Price– $ 30 here
Set-up/Play/Clean-up– 20-40 minutes (2-6 players)
Type-Euro
Depth-Light
TL; DR-Production issues hurt a decent game. 86%
Basics-What are we going to do tonight? TRY TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD! In Nefarious, players each take the roles of different mad scientists trying to each take over the world. The game starts simply enough with each player getting some starting gold and invention cards. Each turn, players secretly selected one of four actions, reveal them at the same time, and all actions of the same type happen simultaneously. The actions are: espionage, invent, research, and work. Work simply earns you more money. Research earns you a bit less money, and you get to draw a new invention card. Invent is the meat of the game. When you invent, you pay money and reveal one of your invention cards. These cards have a cost that you pay, a victory point total, and possibly some effects like gain money, cost your opponents money, or gain more invention cards. Espionage is an investing mechanic. When you do espionage, you select an action and place a meeple on that action on the main board. When a player on your right or left takes that action, you gain money equal to the number of meeples you have on that action. Once all four actions are resolved, players then select new actions, and play continues the same way. What makes this game a little deeper than it seems are the twist cards. Each game two twist cards are secretly drawn from a deck of cards. These cards provide new twists on the game like giving you strange new abilities, taking away some actions, or just removing some money from some of the actions. When a round ends, a player has at least 20 points, and that player has more points than any other player, the game is over and that player wins and conquerors the word!
Mechanics– This is not a complicated Euro, and that works for and against this game. The simplicity of the mechanics works as a great introduction to the gaming hobby. You will know the rules of the game in under five minutes. The simplicity works against the mechanics as I didn’t feel as challenged as I could be if this game had multiple resources to track. However, the multiple resources would have made this game that much harder to teach, learn and play. Overall, it’s a good, simple Euro. Think of this as an excellent sushi appetizer to the gaming industry-it tastes great, but you might want something a little more filling as you learn to love this acquired taste more. 4.5/5
Theme– This game has some good theme, but something gets lost along the way. The theme of inventing new items to conquer the world comes through. And the fact that most items have some side effects also keep going with this theme as you’re battling it out with other mad scientists. However, some of the theme get’s lost along the way. I’m fine with most of the actions but some things don’t translate well. The work actions seems like a misplaced opportunity in that vain. All of my other actions are downright nefarious, but work feels like I clock in at Amazon to fill packages; even the work action looks like a shipping company. Why not something like Extort with the action picture being a man/woman in profile with some sort of atomic raygun getting money from a generic civil leader. It’s those little touches that cause this game to lose some of its theme. You will still feel like a mad scientist inventing crazy machines, but maybe one who moonlights as a DHL driver. 4.25/5
Instructions– The rules a simple, sleek, and short-all great descriptors for a board game’s rules. This game isn’t as hard as Twilight Imperium, but the rule book does explain the game in simple terms that gets the point across quickly and well. 5/5
Execution– Here is where I think things need a bit of work. Overall, everything is serviceable. That said, there are some issues. The cards for the game are printed on very thin cardstock. It’s not bad, but it will tear easily. The art in the game is awesome and has that retro-science feel to it. The worst part of the game is the coins. The coins are printed on sheets of several cardboard pieces pressed together, but the cardboard didn’t adhere to itself properly, so the cardboard is spongy and bows. The coloring of the cardboard is a single sheet of sticker. That’s not horrible, but the cutter for the cardboard didn’t cut the cardboard and stickers well, so when you punch out your money it will have all these random bits of extra sticker attacked like flaking paint. USAopoly has acknowledged the problem, and future print runs will be better. But, for right now my copy gets a C overall. If you want to see the components, I’ve made an unboxing video where you can see all the components here http://youtu.be/Qdtz9YQDKHA 3.5/5
Summary-This is a good quick Euro. It’s a great game with lots of replay. I like the mechanics as I can teach random people how to play quickly, and they get autonomy in a short game. Also, this game has some meat on its bones as it’s a Euro with some decent thinking power behind it. You can’t go into this game hoping for Kanban or another four hour Euro though. This is excellent at what it wants to be, and you have to know that going in. I think the rules are great, but I’d like some minor, cosmetic changes to help the theme a bit. The production quality is ok. It will be better, but if you get a first print run, expect a few, minor problems. But, if you’d like a good game that will have you thinking for 20 minutes with your friends, then this a great game of world domination to pick up! 86%
Throat Punch Games 