Tag: RPG Review

Ring Side Report-RPG Review of Shadowrun Sixth World Companion

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Product-Shadowrun Sixth World Companion

System- Shadowrun 6th Ed

Producer– Catalyst

Price– $19.99 here https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/396661/Shadowrun-Sixth-World-Companion-Core-Character-Rulebook?affiliate_id=658618

TL; DR– If you want to build a new characters and are new to the shadows yourself, this is a solid place to start. 93%

Basics–  WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?   Sixth World Companion focuses on how to build characters for Shadowrun players of all levels.  The book has rules for newer players to build characters with guided character build packs and blocks of gear with a simple cost like buying bundles off a shelf.  For more seasoned players you have new qualities, subraces, and methods to build characters instead of the older point buy.  Let’s dive into my thoughts on this one.

Mechanics or Crunch–  This book fills an interesting gap in Shadowrun.  Newer players are often intimidated by character creation needing a paired down method with less option paralysis, and more roleplaying heavy players want a more thematic character creation process.  This book delivers both these options to broaden the game’s appeal. Older, seasoned players get the rarer races and some newer toys but no magic options or real new gear.  What is here is good, but some players might not find anything they really want if you know what you want to build and don’t want to play some crazy creatures in the shadows.   4.5/5

Theme or Fluff– How much you like this book will honesty boil down to what you are looking for.  If you want some thematic methods for building characters or new races and lore for them, then you will love this book.  If you want a box of new net gear or some magic tomes to blast enemies with, then you will likely not get as much out of it. It doesn’t expand the main story of the universe, but it does fill in some edges on things that are missing in the sixth edition’s world. 4.5/5

Execution– Catalyst has learned many lessons on book layout and design.  This is a hyperlinked book with MANY tables to help you find what you’re looking for, as well as solid pictures, design, and text to make reading this a breeze.  I enjoyed the text and didn’t suffer through it like other books. Nor did I have any trouble finding what I wanted.  Solid book production Catalyst.  5/5

Summary– This is a book where your mileage will vary.  What you want will really determine if you will like this book.  If you need new character build guidelines or story build building options, then this is a solid book.  If you want lots of new toys, spells, or expanding the world and story of Shadowrun, then this is not the book you are looking for.  In either case, it’s a solid book with amazing execution showing that Catalyst has learned how to make books you will enjoy reading and easily navigate. 93%

Ring Side Report-RPG Review of Guns and Gears

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Product-Guns and Gears

Originally posted at www.throatpunchgames.com, a new idea every day! 

Product-Guns and Gears

System- Pathfinder 2nd Ed

Producer– Paizo

Price– $14.99 here https://paizo.com/products/btq029xk?Pathfinder-Guns-Gears

TL; DR– Solid new Pathfinder toys and toy based characters! 95%

Basics–  BRING THE BOOM!  Guns and Gears brings solid steampunk and introductory industrialization to the Pathfinder setting with new technology and themes, two new classes, a new race, and countless new character options and items. 

Mechanics or Crunch– Paizo knows their system the best and they bring the best new materials for their toys.  The new classes are fun parts of an ever expanding world. The Inventor is the steampunk inventor you may be searching for, with no magical background or ties like the alchemist. The Gunslinger brings pure boom to any encounter.  The new race the Automaton is an interesting, but well supported addition to the world of Golarion.  There is just a TON of materials with all kinds of new toys such as new guns, tools, and magic items that can help turn the tide of battle.  My only complaints are that the Gunslinger feels a bit under-powered.  It is an absolute crit machine, but guns can fall flat if a character spends a day hitting but not critting. That said, what Paizo has here is a FANTASTIC addition to the crunch of Pathfinder.  4.75/5

Theme or Fluff–  Guns and Gears is not a small book and there is just an absolute TON of new stuff here.  Now in a tool book you would think its just item lists, and there is that, but there is also a bunch of fluff to bring the new stuff into the old game.  Pathfinder 1st ed is about 10 years ago in the world of Golarion, so this helps advance the world as the fantasy world gets a bit more pre-industrial.  All that said, one thing sticks out and this may just be a me-problem: automatons.  I always hate new races in old parts of the world as if we just magically found them in the same places we were.  That and they feel out of place and honestly more like a warforged in PF2.  Not a game breaker, but something I don’t think I would have wanted in my game.  Another nitpick is there are no new spells here, and I feel that’s a reasonable, but somewhat annoying choice.  If you want some gun spells, look elsewhere.  The writers wanted to focus more on mechanics and less on magic, so while I might want some spells, it’s ok they are not here. 4.5/5

Execution–  It’s Paizo- they know solid book production.  Good layout, art, font, hyperlinking, and all the pieces I expect from a AAA RPG company.  It’s a 50 buck book, but as an evil millennial, I mostly like PDFs, so the 14 bucks for a digital file is extremely worth it.  5/5

Summary-I honestly love Pathfinder 2nd Ed.  It’s all the pieces of 4th, 3rd, and 5th Edition DnD I want.  And differentiating itself from DnD by moving to a more steampunk and pre-industrial culture will help it grow by further making its own path.  Guns and Gears is a solid step in that direction with amazing classes, items, and class options.  The missteps I see are maybe more opinion; even if they are not my favorite things, they are done well.  If you want less magic and more mechanics mayhem in your Pathfinder 2nd Ed, you need this book now! 95%

Ring Side Report-RPG Review of Doors to Darkness

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Originally posted at www.throatpunchgames.com, a new idea every day! 

Product-Doors to Darkness

System- Call of Cthulhu, 7th Ed.

Producer– Chaosium

Price– $17.48 here https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/199593/Doors-to-Darkness

TL; DR-Decent intro with some basic Call of Cthulhu adventures. 90%

Basics–  What’s in the basement?  Doors to Darkness is a collection of five simple adventures that beginner keepers can bring to the table to introduce Call of Cthulhu to their friends and get new players involved on both sides of the GM screen.

Mechanics or Crunch– What’s here is good, but I would like a bit more.  The crunch of the adventures (monsters, skill checks, basics of play) are all done well.  My one major criticism is there is not a lot of extra information to help newer keepers/game masters learn the ropes.  I would like a bit more GM box text to help a new game master run the game.  Since the players and the GM are most likely new, that would really help everyone learn exactly what they are doing.  Solid work but this book needs a bit more basics explained to the GM. 4/5

Theme or Fluff–  This book has some solid stories that may be a bit disjointed.  There are five stories that range from snake cults to undead horrors.  Nothing is bad and these are excellent introduction stories, but none of these are really connected.  It leads to a bit of a random experience that can end up being kind of a monster of the week.  Not bad, but do not expect a long running campaign, but a more introductory experience. 4.5/5

Execution–  Here is where Chaosium excels.  Chaosium makes amazing digital props and electronic resources for their adventure.  Solid layout, digital links, and good text make for an easy to read experience.  The book of notes is also an amazing piece that really helps me as a keeper draw in my players.  And there are several premade characters that any player could pick up and start playing right away.  Fantastic execution Chaosium! 5/5

Summary– Overall, this is a solid effort to help new players get into Call of Cthulhu.  For about 18 bucks you get five adventures with decent plot, solid tools and great handouts to draw new and old players in.  New keepers will have a bit of trouble as this could use a bit more tools to help newer ones with the rules.  But if you want to start Call of Cthulhu and need a good starting point, this is a great place to begin.  90%

Ring Side Report-RPG Review of Pathfinder Society Intro: Year of Shattered Sanctuaries

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Product– Pathfinder Society Intro: Year of Shattered Sanctuaries

System- Pathfinder 2nd Ed

Producer– Paizo

Price– $5.99 here https://paizo.com/products/btq027s9/reviews&page=2?Pathfinder-Society-Intro-Year-of-Shattered-Sanctuaries#tabs

TL; DR-A simple and solid adventure 86%

Basics–  YOU ARE NEEDED PATHFINDERS!  This is an intro scenario for new pathfinders and players of all ages.  From a mushroom man trying to sort letters to uncovering a simple mystery can you, a new agent, help the Society in a time of need?

Mechanics or Crunch– This is a simple adventure that gets players rolling dice fairly quickly, but has a slightly slow start.  It’s not a super risk taking adventure like the 2-01 intro, but it does introduce many society elements and grander plots.  After learning about different adventures around the world, the game is a series of battles. Good for intro fun with some basic elements.  It’s not crazy-advanced crunch, but it’s solid fun for new players.  4.5/5

Theme or Fluff–  Much like the crunch, the adventure doesn’t take risks, has a slow start, but is a decent intro to the world of Pathfinder society.  Reading letters at the start is a bit slow, but it does introduce the wider world quickly.  The fights are fun if a little standard for 1st level.  This isn’t an adventure to push the envelope, but it also doesn’t aim to be.  4/5

Execution–  Paizo knows adventures, but they are also the most pricey.  I like this one.  It has a solid layout, pictures, and design, but it’s also an adventure that will only take about three hours, even with an uninitiated adventuring party.  It’s a bit expensive considering what other comparably priced adventures do.  Not bad, but short. 4.5/5

Summary– The first adventure of a season is always a contentious adventure.  Push the envelope too much and people get a bit lost as new players.  Don’t do enough and you end up with just four smaller adventures showing off factions.  This strikes a decent balance, but in doing so it doesn’t take risks in terms of scope or being adventurous.  It’s also a Paizo product and they put out well done, if expensive adventures.  It works well, though it is a bit simple.  86%

Ring Side Report-RPG Review of Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game

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Product– Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Games Playtest Rulebook

System- d616

Producer– Marvel

Price– $9.99 here https://www.amazon.com/Marvel-Multiverse-Role-Playing-Game-Playtest/dp/1302934244 

TL; DR-A solid evolution of GURPS 93%

Basics–  AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!  The Multiverse Role-Playing Game is the newest version of Marvel role-playing game.  Let’s look at the game play, theme, and execution in our break down of the Marvel Multiverse role-playing game.

Basic mechanics/d616 system-  Like most other RPGs, this system is roll dice, add number, see if successful. What sets this system apart is the basic mechanic of 2d6 and a separate d6.  The separate d6 is your Marvel die where the six is a six, but a one is used as a six. Thus you have two normal dice and a die with two sixes increasing the likelihood of higher rolls.

Edge, trouble and Karma– Like most other modern RPGs, this system has reroll abilities.  If your character has advantages like equipment or special powers, you can reroll dice, taking the higher roll. Trouble is the opposite of edge where the game master, called the narrator, can make you reroll dice and take the lower value.  Karma is a resource you can spend when you choose to reroll a single die on any check.

Character Generation-  Character generation is relatively easy.  Your group chooses a rank between 0, basic human, to 25, god-like power, a concept, archetype, basically a class, spend ability points, pick backstory elements that function as traits, choose powers,and calculate final scores.  This is a very class-based system, so you choose a class and that’s what you do.  Right now you can’t blend classes, but this is a playtest.  The archetype you choose determines how your different character attributes change as you level up and spend points to advance.  Interestingly, each attribute also has a corresponding defense value similar to DnD 5e for saving throws.

Powers- Powers are the equivalent of feats in DnD.  Your backstory, rank and concept affect what powers you have access too.  Also interestingly, there are the equivalent of feat trees as you can become more powerful in a particular area.

Combat-Combat is similar to most other RPGs.  You start with initiative and on your turn you can take different actions like easy actions, actions like talking quickly, standard actions, attacking or doing something complicated, movement, and off turn actions like reactions.  Attacks are against specific defenses, and success means you do damage according to your archetype. Damage is reduced by specific damage resistances which give a specific value.

Ok, let’s see our thoughts on it.

Mechanics or Crunch– This system feels like an interesting evolution of the GURPS system mixed with modern ideas.  The system works decently well, but the system makes a few strange steps to make the d616 system happen.  The idea of a die having two sixes is interesting but it’s done because the basic universe for the Marvel comics is the 616 universe ( for reference we live in the universe 1218).  That said, the basic ideas are things most RPG players will know and love and pick up quickly.   4.5/5

Theme or Fluff–  There isn’t much to say except this is done well.  You have the Marvel comics people doing the Marvel Comics RPG.  They know their characters so what you see here feels like the Marvel comics.  5/5

Execution–  I love everything I see here with one exception. The book has a great layout, solid writing, and good pictures.  It has several premade characters and a whole adventure all for under 10 bucks!  What I don’t like is I can’t just buy a PDF. I can buy digital via roll20, but I can’t just go to drive thru RPG and buy a PDF.  This is good for the comic shops, but I want to read this via my tablet or phone via PDF.  This is strange as I can buy via Kindle, so why not the usual places? 4.5/5

Summary– Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Games is a good evolution of game design and production.  The system is good despite the quaint use of the die that breaks down to two sixes on it.  The story is solid as solid stories and theme is what Marvel does.  The execution is great, but I am annoyed that I can’t buy this where I get most of my RPGs.  Overall, this is a solid game that, if you or your fellow true believers want a comic book adventure oneshot, is well worth picking up.  93%

Ring Side Report-RPG Review of Colonel Bull’s Body

~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ 2 Comments

Product– Colonel Bull’s Body

System- Any system but fits well with Savage Worlds/Deadlands

Producer– Dragonlaird Gaming

Price– $7.99 here https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/376305/Colonel-Bulls-Body?affiliate_id=658618 

TL; DR-A great intro to Deadlands. 98%

Basics–  THE DEAD WALK!  A friend of yours has died, but now some see horrors off in the distance.  You don’t care either way as getting his body back for burial nets you a massive pay day.  Can you find his body and get your money?

Mechanics or Crunch– Solid work here for a fantasy cowboy game and fits well into a Deadlands game.  There is investigation, combat, and roleplaying in equal measure here so all three pillars of a good session are on display.  This is just good, well done crunch.  5/5

Theme or Fluff– More solid work here by Dragonlaird for their story.  My one, very slightly negative point is that it’s similar to a predictable Deadlands plot.  There is always some evil sorcerer guy off-screen doing a bad.  That’s why this feels like Deadlands, but it could be a bit too predictable for your hardcore Deadlands fan as not much comes out of left field.    4.75/5

Execution– Dragonlaird excels again with their making of a nearly flawless book.  Hyperlinks, layout, text size, scannability, art-everything is just on point.  My one issue is cost.  It’s 8 bucks.  Not horrible, but it’s that much for about one solid or two shorter four hour sessions.  But, you are getting what you pay for with this one. 4.9/5

Summary– I’ve always wanted to get deeper into the old west and while not a Deadlands product, it would lead you deeper into it.  It’s an interesting world, and it takes advantage of the Savage Worlds rule set.  Colonel Bull’s Body is an excellent intro adventure for both.  It’s got classic cowboy fantasy themes and solid mechanics.  Your older Deadlands fans might not get as much out of it, but for those looking for a good intro to the fantasy cowboy world or a solid session, this would be a great one to pull out for game night.  The price is a bit high, but you are getting what you pay for with this product in terms of art, design, and layout.  Another great product by Dragonlaird.  98%

Ring Side Report-RPG Review of Jobs and Adventure Hooks for Space Freighter Campaigns

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Product– Jobs and Adventure Hooks for Space Freighter Campaigns

System- System Neutral

Producer– Dragonlaird Gaming

Price– $4.24 here https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/374855/Jobs-and-Adventure-Hooks-for-Space-Freighter-Campaigns?affiliate_id=658618 

TL; DR– Solidly made for a specific audience. 100%

Basics–  HAVE CARGO?  WILL SHIP!  Jobs and adventure hooks for Space Freighter Campaigns is a source book to build adventures, cargo, and passengers on the fly.  If you need charts to build something quick, this is the book for you.

Breakdown- Not much more to say, this is a book about building random cargo and passengers for space adventures and building hooks from that.

Mechanics or Crunch– This is a pretty system neutral book helping you run games from the Star Trek universe to Pathfinder.  No real crunch here for one specific game. -/5

Theme or Fluff– Here is the meat and potatoes of the book-story through randomness and ideas.  The book is set up with lots of tables to roll on to help you build that adventure quickly.  Need something to ship somewhere? That’s this book.  From colonists in hypersleep to  guns to space rebels, that’s the random stuff the tables will help you build.  It’s well done with flow charts to help you build the people, places, and things you will ship to other people, places, and things.  5/5

Execution– Solid and well done execution!  Hyperlinks, good layout, and nice text spacing makes this a breeze to read, skim, and navigate. 5/5Summary– This is a great book that only some of you will need.  If you are playing Warhammer 40K as a space marine, this book won’t really help you.  Space, but no shipping.  If you are playing a pirate in the age of sail, you won’t need this book either.  Shipping, but no space.  But if you need a cargo and personal manifest for your Firefly game, this will be your absolute jam.  This is absolutely the reason DriveThruRPG exists-solid work done by independent creators that major studios would not be able to do.  It’s well done and has great ideas, but the audience would not be as broad as a generic DnD book.  However, if you want some space shipping and all the random stuff that happens in between, then this is the book for you!  100%

Ring Side Report-RPG Review of After the Rain

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Product– After the Rain

System- After the Rain

Producer– Desks and Dorks

Price– Coming soon!  Check here-https://www.desksanddorks.org/after-the-rain

TL; DR– Sad done well. 100%

Basics–  Depressing!  That is After the Rain, a soon coming RPG from Desks and Dorks.  This isn’t just one setting, but all of them that are sad.  This game is a game of loss as an ever present rain takes away part of who you are.  Let’s talk about what that means in depth.

Breakdown-

Base mechanics-  You build a character by rolling four six-sided dice and choosing three.  These three become facets of your character. Facets define you from your child to your job to the person you swore to kill.  Over the course of the game, when you do an action you choose a facet that relates to the action. Your actions must therefore be from things that that part of you would allow.  A mother of six would not use her mothering skills to build a nuclear sub, but the same woman might be a nuclear physicist and use that facet to build the sub.  But, and here is the key, when you use that facet, reduce it by one.  The game will slowly wash away in the rain.  Once a facet reaches zero, that aspect stops defining who you are.  You don’t care about the kids or you just don’t feel you can do science any more.

Dice and doing something different-When you do something with a facet that is way out of bounds for that part of your life like a mother building a sub, you risk the facet.  You roll a six sided die and add the facet level. If you roll high, things are great, medium, less so, and low, you lose the facet.  Maybe the kids help and the rain makes the sub slip the mooring, roll, and kill them (This is not a happy game!).

Now the breakdown!

Mechanics or Crunch– This is a simple game of loss and the mechanics help build this up well.  Everything you do costs you.  The math of the game beats you down as every way you solve problems in the game costs you bits of yourself as the rain quite literally takes it away.  It is simple, beautiful, and mind numbingly depressing. 5/5

Theme or Fluff– This game is theme.  The settings you and your friends make are all about costing you for a goal.  Pieces of you are left all around your pretend world as you attempt to survive the rain. The game’s whole motif is the world and the rain are beating you down.  And this game does just that.  This all sounds bad, but it’s depressing in the same way a sad movie is depressing.  It’s well done sadness.   5/5

Execution– This one I won’t comment on.  The PDF I had was a simple word document on it.  -/5

Summary– What kind of game do you want to play?  My wife loves heroic fantasy.  She wants feats and math and clicky clicky dice.  I told her about this game and she hated it.  I told my friends at the comic store and they loved what After the Rain is, and I do too.  This game is A Grave of Fireflies come to life.  The world and the rain are just taking who you are as you try to survive in a world of constant hardship.  That does not make this game horrible.  That makes this a VERY specific kind of game for a VERY specific kind of table.  My wife and her friends hate this thing.  It isn’t a hero’s journey.  But, if you want a game of loss and struggle while the world is taking from you, this is your game.  Its mechanics completely reinforce the theme and its theme completely reinforces the mechanics.  It’s a beautiful sad ballet.  I would put this up there with Dread in terms of one night solid RPGs.  If you want a game of loss, struggle, and emotional weight, After the Rain is the beautifully tragic game you are looking for.  100%

Ring Side Report-RPG Review of SCP The Tabletop RPG

~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ 1 Comment

Product– SCP The Tabletop RPG

System- SCP The Tabletop RPG

Producer– 26 Letters Publishing

Price– $19.99 here https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/334521/SCP-The-Tabletop-RPG?affiliate_id=658618

TL; DR-Secure this book! 96%

Basics–  Secure, Contain, Protect!  SCP is probably the internet’s best and worst kept secret.  The SCP is the largest collaborative storytelling project in the world, outside of the Lovecraft Mythos, and all of the Lovecraft Mythos fits into the SCP!  The SCP is a clandestine organization that is lawful neutral at best, doing horrible things in the name of saving as many as they can.  Players take the roles of SCP personnel, attempting to deal with the things that bump in the night and hopefully kill as few as they can along the way.  Let’s look at the pieces.

Breakdown-

Base mechanics-  Character generation is point buy, but you buy dice.  When you do anything you roll up to four dice.  From those four dice you take the maximum of two of them and add any skill ranks you have in the action.  If you hit the difficulty, you succeed!

Dice-This game uses everything from D8s to d20s.  When you buy dice, for every three D8s you buy, you can then buy 1d10.  This gives you an extra bonus.  For every two d10s you buy, you can buy a d12 and get an additional bonus.  You can build an absolute unit for strength but if you can’t do intelligence actions, you will have some major problems!  Remember your team when you build characters.

Exploding dice-If you roll the maximum result you get an extra dice that you roll and use.  You can get some truly powerful rolls when your D12 explodes into a d20!

The rest-The rest of the system breaks down like most other similar systems with lots of skills.  The skills are the bread and butter of this game as you focus your abilities to do awesome stuff.

Now the breakdown!

Mechanics or Crunch-This game feels like a fun remix of Savage Worlds.  The idea of different sized dice and the mix of multiple dice means you get more average results.  I love random dice, but sometimes you just get hosed by probability.  When you throw four d12 at a problem, the law of averages doesn’t bite you as hard as it can, most of the time.  It’s simple and easy to play.  This system’s only problem is there are a ton of skills.  The good of a ton of skills is you can truly build that character you have in mind.  The bad of a ton of skills is your awesome mountain man can be lost in the big city as overspecialization is fun but if you are not keyed into the adventure, it can lead you to be sidelined.  That’s the only real issue I have with the crunch here, so this is a solid system!.  4.5/5

Theme or Fluff– SCP, are you the good guys or the bad guys? YES!  The fluff here backs up the nature that the SCP are here to help, but maybe not here to help you in particular!  If you want to play a morally grey character, then this gives you the solid background to do it well.   5/5

Execution– PDF? Yes.  Hyperlinked?  Yes.  I like the layout, the text, and the makeup of the whole book.  There are pregens and an adventure to get you playing right away.  I really love how the character creation is set up with step by step instruction, even pointing to the areas on the character sheet.   My one minor problem is some of the set up.  The book divides itself based on the class of personnel.  Which isn’t bad, but it means you have to go to multiple places to see all the toys and equipment.  It’s not a major issue, but a small annoyance.  Otherwise, this is a solid book that shows how I want things done.  4.9/5

Summary– Let’s not be a bad guy, let’s not be a good guy, let’s be the one keeping everyone safe.  The SCP is a fun playground where horrible things are done to prevent something even worse.  That’s a fun setup and combined with solid mechanics and an amazing book this is well worth your money.  If you like Savage Worlds and want the best collaborative horror you can find on the internet in your game, this is a solid addition to game night. 96%