Tag: RPG Review

Ring Side Report: RPG Review of PIRATE BORG Starter Set

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Product–  PIRATE BORG Starter Set

System– PIRATE BORG

Producer– Free League

Price– $19.99 here https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/555993/pirate-borg-starter-set?affiliate_id=658618  

Basics:  Welcome to the Dark Caribbean! This box set has a ton of stuff and enough to help you get playing quickly.  Check out our unboxing video here: https://youtu.be/FgXEPdMvink .  Let’s dig into this game and box set.

Mechanics or Crunch: How much crunch do you need?  This box set has a small rulebook and enough tokens, player sheets, and maps to get you playing in all of 10 minutes.  This ruleset is d20+ a number between -3 and +6 to hit a 12.  That’s most of the actions.  The rules explain that well and get you building characters in about 10 minutes.  I love the Borg mechanics and simplicity.  And this box set teaches that well and quickly.  5/5

Theme or Fluff–  I love all the stuff in the story here, but I the story has a small plot hole.  The basics of the story are: you are hired to find a thing, get marooned, find half the map, learn the rest is in a British anti-pirate port, and then go find the thing.  It’s fun and teaches the basic rules well, but I think the link to the British is a bit light.  That said, I love what’s here.  Sure, its a bit of a knockoff of Pirates of the Caribbean, but I DON’T CARE!  It’s just fun, especially when you mix in the fact that there is magic dead guy drugs that can make you a god running around. 4.9/5

Execution: I do love me some intro boxes, and honestly I think this might be my favorite.  Why?  Sure, this, like any other good intro box, has dice, maps, tokens, a small intro book, character sheets, and an adventure, but it’s also got DRY ERASE MARKERS!  You build a character in about 10 minutes, and they can die fast.  This gives you dry erase markers and laminated character sheets.  That right there in this kind of game is a godsend. 5/5

Summary: You want some crazy Pirate fun in the Caribbean?  Here you go.  The system is fast, fun, and low rules.  The story is good.  And the box itself is my ABSOLUTE favorite.  And the physical box is about 40 bucks.  The PDFs are a solid value at 20 bucks too.  This is something you need to get and have fun with.  99%

Ring Side Report: RPG Review of Beyond the Blood Door Player’s Guide

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Product–  Beyond the Blood Door Player’s Guide

System– Starfinder 2nd Ed 

Producer– Paizo

Price– Free here https://downloads.paizo.com/OP-Files/SFS2+Beyond+the+Blood+Door+Players+Guide.pdf 

TL; DR– A good start. 99%

Basics:  WHY ARE THE BALLS OF BLOOD IN THE SKY!?  Absolom station is under attack, maybe?  It’s time to gear up and save the station.  This book is a guide for new and old players, with information about the Starfinder society, new backgrounds, a new race, religions to consider, and more to help players.

Mechanics or Crunch: This is a free book with lots of crunch.  There are whole new character options for players to try.  The fact that a whole race with feats is provided is amazing.  Solid start to the new season.  5/5

Theme or Fluff–  This book is short but gives enough info to get you started. The book can’t solve all the mysteries of the season.  But, I’m intrigued.  The book also builds out multiple world pieces to give me things to do and explore.  I’m interested in what’s here. 5/5

Execution: I like what’s here, but would like a bit more art.  The world, layout, text, and new materials are all well done.  But, I want single art of the main characters. Give me a way to easily show those characters off to the players.  It’s being eliminated from the adventures, so put those in the player guide.  4.75/5

Summary: I love society play.  Paizo has started to make player guides for the new season, and it’s a smart, well-done move.  The only thing I want is end pages with the pictures separated liek the old adventures.  But what’s here is amazing!  99%

Ring Side Report: RPG Review of Starfinder Society Scenario #2-01: The First Cut

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Product– Starfinder Society Scenario #2-01: The First Cut

System– Starfinder 2nd Ed 

Producer– Paizo

Price– $5.99 here https://store.paizo.com/starfinder-society-scenario-2-01-the-first-cut/ ! 

TL; DR– A crazy good start to a new season.  97%

Basics: Ah, a nice normal day  WHAT IN THE SARENRAE!  Balls of blood appear around Absolom station and pop out monsters made out of blood that attack everyone.  Can you save them all?  

Mechanics or Crunch: This scenario is combat-heavy with a bit of skill-based challenges where you attempt to stop all the violence.  It’s combat heavy, so a social character will be a bit out of sorts.  So will exploration-based characters.  Skill characters will have things to do.  It’s not bad, but you can’t do everything in 3 hours.  4.5/5

Theme or Fluff– Bad stuff happens, and you stop it.  That’s the theme, and it does that well.  It’s a solid year intro adventure.  The story is light, but you are rushing between different issues to try to save as many people as possible.  That’s a fun ton of problems to solve.  5/5

Execution: There are new monsters and enough pictures in this one.  The monsters have pictures for you to include in the adventure, along with stats for them.  There is enough new here that you don’t have to consult too many outside sources to play this one.  It also reads quickly and requires only two maps to run.  Good old Paizo polish.  5/5

Summary: I like what’s here.  It can’t be everything to everyone, but it’s fun.  You kill bad things, save people, and stop the problems.  All in a day’s work for the Starfinders.  It’s also well written and well laid out, so you can read this fast and easily.  A good start to a new season.  97%

Ring Side Report: RPG Review of Chrysalis

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Product– Chrysalis

System– ALIEN RPG Evolved Edition 

Producer– Free League Publishing

Price– Coming soon! 

TL; DR– Good, but pricey 87%

Basics: Time for a fresh start on a new planet.  Wait, what did they just load into the hold?  Chrysalis is a one- to two-hour demo adventure for Alien RPG Evovled edition.  It’s got pregens and maps with some horror-based fun along the way.

Mechanics or Crunch: This adventure has all the pieces for a good intro to the mechanics of Alien.  You have a time crunch that illustrates how long actions take. You also have a little combat and a little skill-based checks and a tad bit of panic in there.  All the basics are covered to learn this system quickly and well.  5/5

Theme or Fluff– I don’t hate the theme here, but I do think the story needs a bit more direct suggestions.  The game has a short intro, but most of the plot takes place aboard a crashed ship.  The ship has horror things in it, but you also have to put them where you feel they fit.  That’s good, but for a new GM, I’d directly say “put this here” and “do this there”.  Also, I like the combat, but I feel it doesn’t belong as much, say, in other events.  Honestly, I want more direct Alien corporate evil than the random evil that happens on this adventure.  Not bad, but not as Alien as I would have hoped. 4/5

Execution: This is well done, but doesn’t belong as a separate thing.  There are maps, pregens, and pieces to help the players really learn this system.  But, this honestly belongs at the back of the base book.  The base book missed an adventure, and this was it.  Also, at GenCon, this was over $ 10.  This is a one- to two-hour intro adventure.  That is WAY too much for this.  It’s good, but that’s too much.  4/5

Summary: This is a great intro adventure.  At GenCon, this was being run in the Free League room every other hour.  And, this adventure did exactly what it’s supposed to do-it entertains and teaches the basics.  I love that.  The theme is a bit off, with the Alien being more of a random problem and less about corporate machinations, but that’s ok. The big issue is price.  It’s pretty expensive for what you get.  It’s good, but it should be a free PDF and given out when you get the main book.  87%

Ring Side Report: RPG Review of ALIEN RPG Evolved Edition Starter Set

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Product– ALIEN RPG Evolved Edition Starter Set

System– ALIEN RPG Evolved Edition 

Producer– Free League Publishing

Price– $19.99 here https://www.drivethrurpg.com//product/521240/alien-rpg-evolved-edition-starter-set?affiliate_id=658618 

TL; DR– Everything I wanted and more! 100%

Basics: What happened here?  This is the starter set for the Alien RPG Evolved Edition, and it includes the “Hope’s Last Day” adventure.  It’s got five pregens with detailed backstories, multiple cards for players to navigate the adventure and see ever-changing motivations, and lots of dice specific to the system.  For those of you who remembered the original book, this adventure is in the back of that version.

Mechanics or Crunch: This has all the intro crunch you will need.  The box comes with a 20-page book discussing the mechanics of the system.  I’ve gotten pushback on my glib remarks about how little crunch this game has (in the best possible way), but this book is honestly about 20 solid pages with enough rules to get you and your players playing FAST.  There are item cards that you can hand out to your players so they can see the stats on the different weapons.  And everything is just done well. This is a solid intro for the crunch of the system.   5/5

Theme or Fluff– This box gives you the movie world of Alien fast.  It’s just a short book with a 3-4-hour adventure and multiple character motivations.  Characters don’t like each other and have conflicting motivations, so make sure your players are ok with that, but it’s a simple adventure that explains the world well.  Just well done.   5/5

Execution: I love this boxset.  Check out my unboxing here: https://youtu.be/uDghTPRaujE. Just amazing production values and great writing and layout all around.  I love everything that’s here.  There are a few errors like a location on the map being mislabeled, but aside from that, it’s just everything I wanted in a box. 5/5

Summary: I can’t recommend this enough…. To the right people.  This adventure has five players try to survive the horror of an Alien invasion.  But, the adventurers don’t like each other and might stab one another in the back. If you just want a big damn heroes adventure, maybe don’t get this one.  If you want movie-accurate gaming with a good explanation of the rules, and great production with minis, dice, maps, and cards, then this is a great way to get into the Alien RPG!  100%

Ring Side Report: RPG Review of ALIEN RPG Evolved Edition Core Rulebook

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Product– ALIEN RPG Evolved Edition Core Rulebook

System– ALIEN RPG Evolved Edition 

Producer– Free League Publishing

Price– $20.99 here https://www.drivethrurpg.com//product/520969/alien-rpg-evolved-edition-core-rulebook?affiliate_id=658618 

TL; DR– Good horror missing an example.  97%

Basics: In space, no one can hear you scream, 2nd Ed!  Well, more like 1.5.  Alien Evolved Edition has some minor changes to the original edition.  Honestly, it’s the same system, so I wouldn’t call this a new edition, but really an update.  The biggest changes are stress.  Stress is MUCH more forgiving in this edition.  Bad things happen, but you don’t have cycles where everyone just goes crazy from one roll feeding off others’ craziness along the way.  It’s more forgiving.  The game is much kinder to players, as characters have a better chance of surviving encounters.  There are many other small changes, like armor now being a static number rather than a roll, acid splash being nicer to players, and so on.  But honestly, if you know the original, you can play this new edition with a quick skim of the book.

Mechanics or Crunch: I liked the original, and the updates are just nicer to the players.  I like a gonzo RPG where players die every five minutes, but that also means the story can’t be very deep for that character.  The Alien movies, when they are rock-solid, have deep stories and gut punches that make you love and hate the characters and what happens to them.  By tempering the harder aspects, you get much more survival.  I LOVE that.  I also like that it’s still there; stress and rerolls go hand in hand.  Panic-driven storytelling and having characters freeze at the worst times make the story deeper and more intriguing.  It feeds well into the theme below.  Solid work on the tweaks that make this game more fun for longer campaign play.  5/5

Theme or Fluff– Do you like Aliens?  Do you like the extended Alien universe?  Honestly, this book is about 10 pages of rules, but the rest of the 300 pages is world.  You have all kinds of world-building in this book.  This is a solid book to build the world of Alien.  5/5

Execution:  This is a good book, but it’s missing some big things.  All the big things are here, like hyperlinks, good layout, and even amazing art.  But the big things it’s missing are pregens and an adventure.  Those are completely needed for any RPG.  You need a free adventure to really help get the GM and players into any RPG, but the new edition has new things like one-player rules as the soul survivor.  Good, but not the adventure I wanted. 4.5/5

Summary: I love what’s here, but I need a bit more.  The mechanics are absolutely solid. It’s more forgiving than before in just the right way.  The fluff is amazing.  You can see so much more of the universe is out there than the movies show you.  The execution is good, but missing.  I need an example to build off of.  I think most other GMs need that as well.  But, aside from what’s missing, the book is solid.  If you like horror and d6 dice pool-based RPGs, this is a must-have. 97%

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%