Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Delta Green: Agent’s Handbook

November 2, 2016November 2, 2016 ~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ Leave a comment

Product– Delta Green

System-Delta Green

Producer-Arc Dream

Price– $20.00 here http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/181674/Delta-Green-Agents-Handbook?affiliate_id=239993

TL; DR-Great RPG with one big problem 87%

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Basics– ia ia cthulhu fhtagn- BUT NOW WITH GUNS! Delta Green is Call of Cthulhu if run by the government as secret agencies vie for power and try to keep the horrors from beyond time and space from destroying the world or taking over the United States! Can you handle the truth?

Mechanics or Crunch-Let’s break the mechanics up and give the basics as well as my assessment.

Base Mechanics-Delta Green is a classic percentile based system. You have a skill or an ability rating, and you roll under that number to succeed. As I grow older, I like this no fuss/no muss methods of rolling dice to avoid overly math-y systems.

Difficulty-When a situation is harder or easier than normal, the GM might ask you to add or subtract 10% or 20% to or from your skill or ability total. Again, it’s a simple and easy way to modulate difficulty.

Combat– Combat is basically simple. Characters act in dexterity order from high to low. On your turn you do one action. These actions range from move, shoot, or aim among other things. For actions that require a roll, you roll under a skill as above. There is no given dodge roll if you are attacked. If you haven’t acted in a round, you can forgo your next action to try to dodge an attack by rolling under the attack roll. Damage is a single dice roll that subtracts from a hit point total. Go too low on the hit point total and you pass out. Also, some weapons have a lethality rating. If you roll in that range, the weapon just kills the target in one go!

Personal Life and Sanity- Just like other horror RPG, Delta Green has a sanity system. Characters lose sanity and gain mental illness as they go crazier and crazier dealing with horrors beyond time. This system throws in bonds as a serious component as men and women lose family members, friends, and loved ones. Think of the PTSD struck veteran, but now add the fact that he/she deals with monsters beyond human ken. Players may lose family members or whole families as they slowly go deeper and deeper into the world of Cthulhu slipping away from normal. That level of commitment to roleplaying in the mechanics is awesome.

Advancement-Advancement is a snap in this game as well. When a player attempts a roll in this game and they fail, they mark the skill with an X. At the end of the game session, any skill that you failed that you had at least 1% in, you gain an additional 1%. Also, between sessions, a character can gain 1 in an ability or they can gain 1d10 in a skill if they spend time working on it. If they do, they lose 1 level in a bond as they lose touch with someone they felt was important!

Summary- I really want to like this game more than I do. The addition of solid role-playing psychology makes this a great way to blend the theme and mechanics of a world where things just can’t be and can’t be dealt with rationally. However, combat just makes me irrationally angry. I don’t like systems where you can’t move and act. That’s a minor issue as if all the players and monsters abide by this rule, I can deal. However, the rules as written basically make it better to have a lower dexterity. You get to react to an attack, but people who go fast can’t. I can understand not being able to take your next action if you dodge, but this game penalizes people who go first. Sure, it can be a minor issue if you don’t fight much, and I can deal with not having a dodge roll at all. But, this irks me deeply to my core. Therefore, it’s an ok system with a serious flaw. 3.5/5

Theme or Fluff-I mentioned above how much I love the commitment to theme the game has in its mechanics. This game might even be darker than Call of Cthulhu as this game brings the role of sanity and psychology to the forefront in a very post-9/11 way as the psychology of the soldier is experienced first hand. The book is full of stories and fragments of people trying to handle the unhandable. It’s deep and immersive in a way I can really dig, safely and from afar. 5/5

Execution-This is a well put together book. It flows well, has great art, and the PDF is well done and hyperlinked. I like the index, the layout, and the whole book overall. Some things could use a bit more organization, but the book is an exhaustive reference on both the government and the paranormal for new players. 4.5/5

Summary-Delta Green is a great RPG with one serious flaw. Now, as a gaming group, you can play this however you see fit. It’s a flaw that you can fix by all deciding that this is how the game runs. It’s a flaw I will fix instantly in my tables, but the rules as written make me spitting mad. And it’s just that one part. The rest is amazing. I love the depth of little extra bits that the authors throw in about government jurisdiction and random trivia that are in the book. The art is great and the treatment of psychological factors in our veterans is phenomenal. Sure, this is a just a game, but the level of depth that game goes into to use these conditions as things a person would experience if they experienced Lovecraftian horrors is excellent. I like everything in this EXCEPT one thing. If you can get past that one thing, this is a great RPG that really updates Lovecraft to the post 9/11 world. And since it’s under $20, it’s well worth the look even if you just use it for a guidebook to government organizations in your horror games. 87%

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition

October 23, 2016 ~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ Leave a comment

Product– Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition

System-Call of Cthulhu

Producer-Chaosium

Price– $30.00 here http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/150997/Call-of-Cthulhu-7th-Edition–Keepers-Rulebook?affiliate_id=658618

TL; DR-Great RPG with an ok execution. 85%

Basics– ia ia cthulhu fhtagn! Call of Cthulhu is back with the newest edition of the classic horror RPG. It’s got a new update, a new hardcover, and a new look. Let’s see How it stacks up to the current stack of other RPGS!

Mechanics or Crunch-Let’s break this one down into a few different areas.

Base Mechanics- This is a classic percentile dice based game. Much like any other RPG, when you are told you need to roll the dice, you roll percentile dice (d100). The goal is to roll under your skill or ability. An example would be trying to read an ancient Egyptian manuscript. You would see if you have the skill Language(Ancient Egyptian). If you do, you can roll your d100. If you roll under, you roll succeed. It’s quick and simple.

Additions that are new to the system (or at least to me)-CoC 7th edition my first edition of Call of Cthulhu . What this system does instead of modifying your percentage in a skill or ability like other systems is the use of ½ and ⅕ skills. If the test is difficult, you may be asked to roll under ½ your skill. If the task is amazingly difficult, then you have to roll under ⅕. Again, it’s a quick and easy way of executing difficulty .

Pushing– Let’s say you fail, but you want to try again. You want to steal a wallet. You fail once, but you think you could do it again. This is called a push. When you push, you get to reroll a skill. Failing to steal the wallet is bad as you might get caught. BUT, if you push, you might get the wallet and not get caught. HOWEVER, if you push and fail, then it get really bad. Maybe instead of pushing you off as a harmless carpetbagger, the target of the theft calls the cops and starts swinging immediately instead of just yelling loudly. It’s a great addition to the risk and reward of Call of Cthulhu. Also note-you may never push in combat. Speaking of which….

Combat-Combat is quick. There is no initiative. You have an statistic called dexterity (dex). Combat resolves from high to low dex. Each turn you can move a bit and then do one action. Just like the base mechanic it’s roll under. If I want to attack, I roll under an attack skill, and the target tries to roll under a dodge or counter attack skill. If we both succeed , then we look if both are under ½. If that happens, we check to see if we’re under ⅕. If that happens, the defender wins. Each character only has a few hit points and damage adds up quickly, so combat is deadly fast! I love quick and efficient systems.

Bonus and Penalty Dice- Many other percentile based systems have modifiers you add or subtract from a skill. Call of Cthulhu 7ed doesn’t do this, but It uses something similar to DnD 5th edition advantage system with bonus and penalty dice. When a situation is particularly good like doing research on ancient Egyptian mythology in at the University of Cairo’s Egyptology department library, you would get an extra d10 die. You roll this die along with your other percentile die and use the lower of the 10 position dice. Penalty dice work exactly the opposite. Say you are trying to decipher a deep one script while riding across the countryside in the dark avoiding horrors from beyond time and space, you get an extra d10 die. Now, you get the higher of the two dice as you have a harder time doing the skill. Of all the things I’ve seen develop in the RPG world lately, this is one of my favorites.

Money-Here is a weird one. Characters don’t have cash, per se, they have a credit rating. This is a rough estimate of how much they can spend at any given time. You walk into a shop and want to buy something and it’s under your credit rating expenses in a day, you just get it. If it’s massively above your credit rating, then you might lose some credit rating at the end of the adventure!

Advancement-Every session, a character marks all the skills they use and succeed at. At the end of every session, the character makes single attempt to roll over their current skill in that task. If they do, then they gain 1d10 extra points in that skill. In addition, characters can also attend school and do a test over their skills and advance much the same as above.

Sanity-It wouldn’t be Lovecraft without someone going mad! When you see something scary or learn a spell, you make a sanity roll. Sanity is like any other skill that you roll under. If you roll under, you lose less sanity. If you roll above, you lose more. Both events make it harder to deal with in the future! Lose all your sanity and you go insane!

Magic-Magic exists, but it comes with a cost. Spells use skills like any other action, and each spell uses magic points. When you run out of magic points, you start to lose hit points. To cast a roll, a character has to succeed at a ⅕ power roll. From then on, the character doesn’t have to make a check to cast the spell. Again, it’s a sleek and easy system.

Summary- Overall, I like what I see here. It’s sleek, easy to run, and more important, easy to play. Players are not buried under a mountain of information at the start of the game. You want to do X. If X could fail, then you roll. If you do fail maybe you can push and succeed or things get really hairy. Call of Cthulhu has an advantage-like system that makes life easy instead of having to fiddle with different modifiers. Money is easy to handle, and advancement is a snap. I like what I see here. My only issue is diversity and options. You really only advance in things you succeed at. If I want to learn to speak Aramaic, I have to know it at the start of the campaign. I don’t freely learn that unless I train which might not happen. My second problem is character options. Sure there are lots of cool options, but beyond character generation, character are more flung into situation and can’t really build in a direction. It feels a bit swingy to me, but that also enhances the helpless feeling from Lovecraft. These are minor complaints, but overall, it’s a good system. 4.5/5

Theme or Fluff-The theme of this game is on point. This is the 7th edition of the game, so they know how to make a good story with Lovecraftian themes. In general, you CAN’T hack and shoot your way out of a confrontation with the horrors beyond time. The book has lots of help to get new investigators into the game quickly and efficiently. There are even two fully fleshed out adventures that the keeper(GM for this game) can throw at the players to get them playing the day you get the book. 4.75/5

Execution-This is the one area where I have some significant problems. Things are written relatively well, and the art is good. But, the layout of the book is a problem. The PDF is hyperlinked, but finding what you need is still a pain. The book has over over 300 pages, and I still have problems every time trying to find the credit rating table to figure out how much my players can spend at any given time. That is a significant problem! 3.5/5

Summary-This is a great system that the layout of the book hurts a bit. I love the way the system works in general, but wish that it had just a bit more options for the players during the game. The theme is on point, and I love what here. My major problem is the book’s design. I can’t find what I need when I need it. I will admit, that might be a problem from me not having much experience, but if a new keeper is having problems, then that’s bad no matter what. However, if you can push through some problems with using the book, you can easily fall in love with this horror RPG. 85%

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Torment: Tides of Numenera-The Explorer’s Guide

September 14, 2016September 14, 2016 ~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ Leave a comment

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Product– Torment: Tides of Numenera-The Explorer’s Guide

System-Numenera

Producer-Monte Cook Games

Price– $40.00 here https://www.amazon.com/Torment-Tides-Numenera-Explorer/dp/193997951X/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473811918&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=Torment%3A+Tides+of+Numenera+-+The+Explorer%27s+Guide

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 Pathfinder Society Scenario #7–14—Faithless and Forgotten, Part 1: Let Bygones Be

March 6, 2016 ~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ 1 Comment

Product-Pathfinder Society Scenario #7–14—Faithless and Forgotten, Part 1: Let Bygones Be

System-Pathfinder

Producer– Paizo

Price– $4.00 here

TL; DR-Instantly one of my favorites! 97%

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Basics-Cheliax is back! This Pathfinder scenario is the start of renewed relations with Cheliax as the Pathfinders move from the shadows and are asked to investigate a few choice locations in the country. However, along the way you find that not is all it seems as you have to deal with an oppressive dictator, unfriendly towns people, and horrors from days gone by that have subsisted on the most foul of meats. Will you survive the horrors of town and the horror long forgotten?

Mechanics or Crunch-This adventure hits all their right marks for a PFS adventure-exploration, social challenges, problem solving(non-fighting),and problem solving(fighting!). Every character gets a chance to be awesome in this one as you can simple fight everything everywhere as a way to win, but if you think your way through the problems, you can find some awesome solutions that are rewarded. The fights that are here are all balanced and felt fun with enough threats to keep the players interested but not enough challenge to destroy the level 1 party. The social still has the Pathfinder problem of “fail by 1, no help” that all Pathfinder adventures will always have, but overall it’s a blast to play that is well balanced for any party. 5/5

Theme or Fluff-This adventure has the feel of a Cheliax adventure, but does have a slight problem with the end. Overall the part of the scenario that takes place in town feels like a town adventure where you must help the townspeople survive in their dictatorship. The rural exploration is fun, as you get to interact with some often unused monsters. The end boss is a bit strange. It makes sense for the DM who gets to read the behind the scenes bit of the adventure, but most adventurers might not see that and will be a bit confused. Overall it’s fun as the left hand turn parts don’t distract from the great story. 4.75/5

Execution– I like how Paizo prepares their modules, but I’ve also become a little estranged from theme as well. I like that they now place stat blocks at the back of the adventure, so I don’t have to have almost 10 books open to run the game. However, I’d like a little more consistency with that. The main NPCs get stat blocks in the text, while the rest of the monsters are at the end of the adventure. That’s a pain to flip through, so I would prefer to just have all the encounters together in a clump at the end or put them together throughout. That’s my only real complaint about these adventures though. I love how Paizo puts together their stories, so this one is no different. 4.75/5

Summary-Everybody loves to hate on Cheliax, but it’s always fun to play there. Throwing the halfling bard to the Order of the Rack wolves is always a great way to start some roleplaying as well as draw the player’s interest deeper into the game. I love what I’m seeing here, and I think I most players will as well. This isn’t a perfect adventure as the ending is a bit strange, and I’d like some minor format changes. But taken together, this is one of my favorite adventures from this year. 97%

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Monsternomicon: Mind Flayers

February 17, 2016 ~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ Leave a comment

Product–Monsternomicon: Mind Flayers

System-DnD 5e

Producer-DM Guild

Price– $1.49 here http://www.dmsguild.com/product/172230/Monsternomicon-Mind-Flayers&affiliate_id=658618

TL; DR-An awesome product that shows the DM Guilds problems. 93%

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Basics-Let me pick you brain…. Mind flayers! This product provides some background on the illthids that stalk the Underdark from elder brains to lich mind flayers. This product is firmly a GM only product but provides a ton of different creatures for the DM to throw at his/her players as well as whole campaign of ideas for the players to combat.

Mechanics or Crunch-I love mind flayers, and this book provides some awesome new crunch to their bag of tricks. This book is primarily a monster manual focusing on these evil monsters, but the monsters it does provide all look great in terms of their stats. This product stays away from the psionic side of things and introduces new monsters like a lich mind flayer. Nothing quite like an undead brain eater to throw at the party! What’s here is a fun bag of tricks for the DM to surprise the players with. 5/5

Theme or Fluff-Here is where things are slightly off kilter, but not by much. There are no pictures of any on the creatures from this book. I’d like a few more pictures so I can throw these to my players to instill the sheer horror of what’s ahead of them. What is here though does have some great fluff to build on the world and the mythos of the purple fiends from underground. Also, by focusing on the arcane, the book misses a bit of the psionic fun that these creatures have. The arcane monsters that are here are great, so while I might not be as enthralled with the magic of them they do have their own world built around them. 4.75/5

Execution– What’s here is good, but I’d like a bit more art to show the players and break up the text. The major problem I have is some systemic problems that can’t really be fixed. The DM guild provides an awesome platform for creators to build onto the world that Wizards of the Coast has. However, it comes with limits, and this book runs into them and it hurts the product a bit. I’d like this product to start with the basic mind flayer. The book can’t as that’s not allowed by the terms of the DM Guild. I’d like to include the current psychic ideas, but that also can’t be added as that isn’t part of the DM Guild as well. Overall, it’s a great product, but I feel it’s fighting a bit of an uphill battle to be as amazing as it is. 4.25/5

Summary-Mind flayers are my second favorite enemy after the undead, so this book hit the best parts of my evil soul. I love new options to make my players cringe and cry as horrors beyond time and space devover commoners in horrific ways, and this book provides those new abominations to make that happen. However, I feel that a few changes would help this product get to its potential. Some are minor things like more pictures of the monsters, but some are things that can’t be fixed because of the platform it’s placed on. The DM Guild is a phenomenal resource, but some of its restrictions will hurt products. And, I feel that those restrictions hurt the product here. It doesn’t damage the product in a real tangible way. You will enjoy this from cover to cover, but you can feel the problems it presents in this tome. 93%

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Pathfinder Society Scenario #7–12: The Twisted Circle

January 27, 2016 ~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ Leave a comment

Product-Pathfinder Society Scenario #7–12: The Twisted Circle

System– Pathfinder

Producer– Paizo

Price– $4 here http://paizo.com/products/btpy9hgz?Pathfinder-Society-Scenario-7-12-The-Twisted-Circle

TL; DR-Too many ingredients spoil this soup. 70%

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Basics-A Pathfinder has vanished, and you must solve the mystery of the xenophobic town! This adventure delves into the Mana Wastes as you try to uncover why a small town is prospering while all around them die, and they must hide their children. Will you find the lost Pathfinder before it’s too late?

Mechanics or Crunch-This adventure is somewhat short and doesn’t add a new mechanic like some other PFS scenarios. However, the fights that do happen here can be a real pain. This is designed for levels 1 to 5, but the first fight is a swarm. That right there can wipe a party of level 1’s, and that fight is for the low tier. Aside from that, the adventure isn’t bad, but it’s a pain to have to pull punches if the players are new to the game or if they are new Pathfinders in general. Also, this mod does some good things like providing the characters with scrolls they may need, but without a caster or the sense to use the tools they get, players will miss 70% of what going on as plants and talking to them play a big role in this one. 3.5/5

Theme or Fluff-The story of this adventure is a bit scatter shot. Nothing here is horrible, but some parts involve a random evil bad guy, another involve some plant monsters, and finally, the town has it’s own strange role to play. It feels like this adventure goes into too many directions instead of focusing on one group of monsters or theme. As a GM, I was a bit lost. There is a lot of fun stuff here, but as a GM you have to keep a ton of balls in the air to have a payoff. And, if you team isn’t on their game they might miss too much to really get the main beats. Too many ingredients spoil this soup. 3/5

Execution– Overall, this has all the standard Pathfinder Society polish. Everything get’s laid out well enough to keep you running quickly and efficiently. I think there are a few too many pages of just text to bore the reader and prevent quick skimming, but overall this is a decently laid out adventure, Paizo’s bread and butter. 4.5/5

Summary-This isn’t bad, but this won’t be on the top of any of my lists. It’s a simple enough adventure that has possibly bad enemy choices as well as a bit too convoluted plot. It’s easy enough to run, but not something that you may want to run. If you LOVE the Mana Wastes and Pathfinder Society, you will enjoy this. If you just want a 4 four hour adventure for your local PFS group, this might not be the best adventure for you to pick out. 70%

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Monsternomicon: Kyuss and His Faithful

January 21, 2016 ~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ Leave a comment

Product–Monsternomicon: Kyuss and His Faithful

System– DnD 5e

Producer– Wizards of the Coast

Price– Pay what you want at http://www.dmsguild.com/product/170843/Monsternomicon-Kyuss-and-His-Faithful?term=Patric&filters=45469_0_0_0_0_0

TL; DR-What we should see from the DM Guild. 99%

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Basics-The Worm that Walks is back! This book is a fan submission to DMguild.com detailing Kyuss, his priests, and his monsters. This short volume introduces the god, his mechanics and history, as well as some new monsters, spells, and a whole new cleric domain.

Mechanics or Crunch-Fan content can go either way-either amazingly good or horribly bad. This book is amazingly good. In a book about a god, I wasn’t expecting much, but honestly what’s here is phenomenal. You get crunch on him, how he works, and how his priests work. The rot grub is back, and that makes me very happy. They are as DEADLY as ever, and they should be. The fact this thing has domains, monsters, and spells is icing on a great cake. Kyuss himself is a ~bit~ overpowered, but that doesn’t take away from the whole book. 4.9/5

Theme or Fluff-I didn’t know much about Kyuss when I starting reading, but I think now I could run a whole campaign on the god. It’s enough to get you running and has threats that a DM could use to put the fear of this dark god in their players. It reads quick, and it’s well done. 5/5

Execution-This is my first DM Guild product, and as fan content, I was apprehensive. But, this book is NOT just slapped together. There are pictures to break up text, the format isn’t a distraction, and it’s not too long to wear out its welcome. This is the kind of content I want to see on the DM Guild going forward. 5/5

Summary-This is a fun book about a dark god. I enjoyed what I read here, and honestly at the price of pay what you want, you should go get this for free to check it out. If you like it, throw a buck to the creator for his good work after you’ve read it. It’s got spells, a domain, monsters, and a campaign ending threat that could destroy the universe. All that is an amazing combination in a small product that still has time to give some great story on the Worm that Walks. GO NOW! Read this thing at least for free to see how to produce good content for the DM Guild. 99%

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide

January 11, 2016January 11, 2016 ~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ Leave a comment

Product-Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide

System– DnD 5e

Producer– Wizards of the Coast

Price– $36

TL; DR-A doughnut-great fluff, but no crunch! 87%

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Basics-Welcome to the Forgotten Realms! The Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide is the first player and dungeonmaster book for DnD5e. It focuses on the world of the Forgotten Realms and more specifically the Sword Coast. The book builds the current Realms and provides the standing of the world, as well as giving players some new backgrounds, class archetypes, and race options.

Mechanics or Crunch-The best description of the mechanics in this book is “What mechanics?” Most of the crunch in this book is confined to one chapter. It’s a decent chapter, but it only supports a few classes with some classes not receiving any new toys. They do get some Forgotten Realms specific story, but no new crunch/mechanics to drive it home. This book also only has one feat in it, and that is an optional feat. There were high expectations for this book, and I feel it didn’t meet them. What’s here is good, but there is just not enough here to really make this worth it for every crunch heavy gamer. 3.75/5

Theme or Fluff-I love the Forgotten Realms, and this is a decent introduction to a part of it. As the title suggests, this book focuses on the Sword Coast. What the book focuses on is great! Each area gets a great description really building out the world in interesting ways and telling how the Realms have changed since 4th edition. However, it mentions the rest of the world. That’s good, but they don’t provide a map the the rest of the world. That’s my main problem with what is here. There are parts mentioned in a sentence that are not shown. The previous editions’ Realms books showed me the world,gave it a one line description, and then left it at that. This book doesn’t even give me the geography past the coast. This wouldn’t be a problem except the novels, adventures, and the Adventurer’s League all take place in the parts of world not covered in depth by this book. 4.75/5

Execution-This book covers a ton of ground, and it does it reasonably well. Everything has pictures, which is awesome, so the book sufficiently breaks up the text. There are a few walls of text though. The art is good, the font is nice, and the maps are amazing. I’d like this book to be a bit thicker to give space for more breaks and more information, as well as to justify the price a bit. However, I liked the way this book was laid out and built overall. 4.5/5

Summary-I wasn’t thrilled with this book. The theme is great. New players in the Realms will get a ton out of this book. Even people from 4th edition will have a lot to learn about the new realms. The overall execution of the book is great, if a tad pricey. However, the biggest problem is the lack of mechanics. This is the first real expansion to the system, and it doesn’t do or provide much expansion to the system. This book isn’t bad, but stacked up against the core books, I wasn’t impressed with this book. 87%

Ring Side Report- RPG Review ofDemon Lord’s Companion

December 10, 2015December 10, 2015 ~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ Leave a comment

Product-Demon Lord’s Companion

System– Shadow of the Demon Lord

Producer– Schwalb Entertainment

Price– $ 10 here http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/168258/Demon-Lords-Companion?src=slider_view&affiliate_id=658618

TL; DR-The best DLC I’ve downloaded all year! 100%

Basics-OPTIONS! Have you already gotten tired of all the options in the core Shadow of the Demon Lord book? Odds are not, but here is a new book with races, master and expert paths, new items both magical and mundane, magic traditions, and even more rules for parts of the game not covered in the basic book like vehicles.

Mechanics or Crunch-This is an amazing book for what it adds. Every one of these pages is crunch. From the new spells to the rules for how to drive in this game, no space is wasted that doesn’t add to the world. New races are added such as halflings and fauns, new traditions such as alchemy are added, and tons of new items are brought into the world. This might be one of my favorite splat books to a system I’ve read in a long time. 5/5

Theme or Fluff-Now I don’t expect much from a splat book in terms of theme, but this one delivers! Let’s look at two things to drive home this point. First are story complications. These are new character additions that provide a detriment and a bonus. They almost function like zero-level feats. You get horrific problems for bonuses that directly come from this problem. An example is you might be ever-so-slightly possessed, but you can also talk to that demon to get bits of lore and knowledge. That’s pure Demon Lord’s Shadow right there. Second, let’s look at azeen. Azeen are foot long worms, that you place in your face or another large orifice and let it crawl/tare inside you. It gives you a whip that you can spring from your hands as an attack. Randomly, in the next 20 days you will crap your pants as the worm violently dies and is violently shot from your body. This is a new forbidden item with strong benefits, horrific complications, and a corrupting influence. Again, this is mainline Shadows of the Demon Lord with full descriptions of horror building up the mechanics with solid storytelling. Absolutely beautiful! 5/5

Execution-This book only comes out as a PDF currently. However, what makes this interestingly is the price, pictures, and writing. Comparing this book to other splat books, DLC is hands down the best I’ve seen in awhile. This book is 50+ pages for 10 bucks. That blows Paizo out of the water! I get a book full of character options, game rules, and monsters that is layed out properly, reads quickly, and is fun for less than half of some other books. 5/5

Summary– I didn’t ask for more options for Shadows of the Demon Lord, but I have wondered about some specific content. And this book delivered on all of it. Want some more steampunk? Well we’ve got airships and even guns now. Want more magic? Well now there is fauns and other magic traditions. Heck, you want to get some Kung Fu in your Demon’s Shadow? Now you can. Crouching tiger, hidden demon away! Everything fits in this book. It’s all from the very mouth of the Dark Hobo himself. It’s a great value, full of pictures to inspire, and quick pleasure to read. This book is well worth your time and money. 100%

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Tales of the Demon Lord

December 9, 2015December 9, 2015 ~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ Leave a comment

Product-Tales of the Demon Lord

System– Shadow of the Demon Lord

Producer– Schwalb Entertainment

Price– $ 10 here http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/163527/Tales-of-the-Demon-Lord?term=tales+of+the+demon&affiliate_id=658618

TL; DR-Lean, mean adventure! 90%

Basics-Starting with a small series of death in the far flung town of Crossings, this adventures takes players from starting, zero-level character to master character who have to ultimately face down and prevent the arrival of the Demon Lord. This adventure is a whole campaign in itself introducing a section of the world called Crossings to the players and the GM. Will you be able to face the horrors of things touched by the Demon Lord’s shadow?

Mechanics or Crunch-Shadow of the Demon Lord is it’s own system through and through, and this self contained campaign has the math for the system clearly down. What’s here works well. However, the campaign doesn’t give too much away to the novice GM. I like what’s here in terms of encounters, rewards, combats, and exploration, but I’d like a bit more behind the game’s curtain. This is the first full campaign, so this adventure will serve as the game’s best guide. However, I’d like a bit more to help me get all the expertise I and other GM’s need to better run this system.4.5/5

Theme or Fluff- Schwalb writes an awesome story from the ground up. The book starts by building its own town called Crossing and then builds out. In terms of story, it’s a swift story that’s a great way to get players into the world. Also, this book has a ton of variety from simple go here/kill people, small hex crawls, and even hardcore roleplaying. Every player will get a bit of fun out of this adventure, and every GM will have a blast running this one. 5/5

Execution– Of all the good stuff in the book, the execution is the most lacking. The execution is by no means bad, but I may be a bit to spoon fed by other publishers when it comes to published material. There is almost no box text. Have gamed with the master himself, I know he writes awesome descriptions, but this book will ask you to write most of your own. Furthermore, Shadow of the Demon Lord adventures are short. From the get go, SotDL adventures are designed for about a four hour experience after which players level. That is not bad by any stretch, but the transition and the brevity of the writing is strong change for some GMs. There are breaks in the text. But, I’d like a bit more art, and I’d like the art that’s here to be a bit larger. It’s hard to get those maps to the table and make them a size that looks nice. The adventures do read quickly and easily, and the simple descriptions are enough to get you gaming quick. But, keep in mind that the simplicity of the write ups are there to make the games run fast and with no down time and limited prep time. 4/5

Summary– Tales of the Demon Lord is a phenomenal adventure for SotDL. It’s a full campaign unto itself that covers several different adventure types and play styles. It’s well written, and simply executed. However, this is not a hand-holding product. Tales of the Demon Lord aims to be a campaign, not your paint by numbers GMing guide. It’s several adventures that tell a story, but it doesn’t teach you how to write or design adventures if you’re only passively playing or running this adventure. It’s fun, but don’t expect verbose, cookie-cutter explanations for you to read your players. Expect a lean, mean adventure that you can run quickly and efficiently with minimal prep, memorization, or GM brain loading time. If you get past a bit of shock of how spartan SotDL adventures are presented, then you will really enjoy what’s here. 90%