Tag: RPG Review

Ring Side Report-RPG Review of Trail By machine

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Product– Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-01: Trail by Machine

Producer– Paizo

Price– ~$4

System-Pathfinder

TL; DR– Good intro to the Year of the Sky Key, but some plot flaws. 97 %

 

Basics– Pathfinders-time for some basic training!  Go to the old Red Redoubt and survive a few simple tests of pathfinder skills.  All goes well until something mysteriously sets off the eons old redoubt powering up motors long dead.  Can you figure out the ancient, yet futuristic technology of the Red Redout of Karamoss to escape?

 

Mechanics or Crunch– This one has a decent mix of old and new items and mechanics.  It eases the players into the new, fantastic technology that players can pick up while exploring Numeria.  Also, this scenario presents rules for converting enemy characters to good characters in the society setting.  It’s a fun way for players to reform others by thought, action, and speech. 5/5

 

Theme or fluff- The Adventure has some interesting twists that will throw your players for a loop.  I won’t spoil them here, but they are pretty fun.  However, if the players do the smart thing, and instantly leave when they have their goal, they will only get to explore roughly HALF the area and miss all the items and faction boons!  A simple change in where some doors close would really help this adventure force the players to experience the cool technology and locations offered here. 4.5/5

 

Execution– Trial by Machine is done well.  The picture on the front of the module is nice as its something you can show your players to help them understand what they are fighting.  I would have liked a few more pictures to help my players with some of the more fantastic enemies and locations, but the art included isn’t bad by any means.  The text is decently put together as it’s not too cramped and laid out well. 5/5

 

Summary– This is a fun one.  I really like the Sword and Circuitry concept of the year of the sky key and the Iron Gods campaign, and this get that into the Pathfinder Society.  This adventure eases the players in slowly to robots and other fun technology things while teaching them how to interact with technology and new items.  You might have to do a bit of GM fiat to make half the adventure happen, but if you do, the players will have a much better time than if you just let them leave after half an hour of Pathfinder! 97%

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Shadow Spells

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Product– Shadow Spells

Producer– Catalyst Game Lab

Price– ~$7 here http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/137717/Shadowrun-Shadow-Spells

System- Shadowrun 5e

TL; DR– Good, but more for your GM.  92%

 

Basics– Always geek the mage first!  Shadow Spells is the first pdf book to be released post Gen Con for Shadowrun.  This book builds on larger magic book Street Grimoire by introducing new traditions, new threats and allies in the shadows, and ending with new spells and abilities for mages of all sorts.

 

Mechanics or Crunch– This book does have some cool stuff in it, but most of the presented crunch is focused on making the GM’s life easier.  The book introduces several new threats and allies for the PCs to tangle with, and they are all well done with fun new magical powers.  On the PC’s side, the new traditions all look great and look fun to play with.  The best thing introduced by far in this book is the Norse tradition.  So if you want a mage who has a crow familiar and worships Loki for power all the while screwing with everyone with illusions, then this is the book for you.  The powers and spells are ok.  Nothing is bad here, but most of the spells have extremely limited use.  There are some winner spells that are pretty useful on most runs.  However, most of these might be spells you buy later, as most of what’s here is not the kind of spells you would pick up at character generation when you only can choose 10 spells.  4/5

 

Theme or Fluff–   I love the way Catalyst presents information in their books.  Instead of “here is X information”, everything is always presented as an internet post with people commenting on what just was presented either to provide new information or to provide some snark.  It might not be laughing out loud comedy, but it’s funny and entertaining enough to keep you reading and interested in what is basically a textbook on obscure magical persons and traditions in the sixth world.  5/5

 

Execution– Much like the rest of the short Shadowrun PDFs, this one is well done.  I’d like a few more pictures and some more white space to break up some text, but overall, I enjoyed reading this.  It never felt like a slog through dense, boring text.  There are some cool pictures as well as some nice text boxes to break up the text and give the reader a chance to breath.  These all help to keep me interested and entertained rather than bored.  Some things I would have liked to see are some pictures of the named characters in this book as we see some pictures of the named people of interest, but not all.  But overall, it’s a well done book.  4.75/5

 

Summary– I love magic in Shadowrun.  It’s always fun to take down a fully armored troll street samurai with a timid elf pinned down in an alley.  This book adds some more story to the Shadowrun world.  Overall, it’s pretty well done, but if you don’t play a mage, then this book is completely useless to you.  If you don’t want to play an obscure tradition, then this book doesn’t help you either.  As a GM, this book is very useful as it provides a new set of enemies and powers that you might want to throw on an enemy.  For the average player, you really have to consider what you want.  This book provides some great character options, but it might not be useful to most players.  92%

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of the Current DnD 5e Expeditions Adventures

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Product– DnD 5e Expeditions- DDEX1-1 to DDEX1-3

System– DnD 5th Edition

Price– FREE!!!  (at participating game stores)

TL; DR– Great to see the new LFR. 85%

 

Basics– Dungeons and Dragons 5e is here, and so is the Wizards of the Coast organized play program called DnD Expeditions.  Let’s look at the first three adventures as a group.  The first publish three adventures are: Defiance in Phlan, Secrets of Sokol Keep, and Shadows on the Moonsea.  They are all open for characters level 1 to 4, and all play a role in the current metaplot-Tyranny of Dragons.  Let’s do a rundown of these adventures and see how the stack up.

 

Story or Fluff– These three adventures give an introduction to the town of Phlan and its surroundings.    In Defiance in Phlan, five different short stories are introduced with a time of one hour each.  Secrets of Sokol Keep has the bay lighthouse stop working and the players are asked to fix it.  And finally, Shadows of the Moonsea has an unknown “thing” moving up the Moonsea coast approaching Phlan next.  All these modules follow a pretty standard plot as  with previous DnD living games: 1) Introduce a problem/get the PCs involved, 2) PCs find the problem, 3) PCs kill the problem.  That’s not a bad story structure for organized play adventures.  If these three have a single problem, it’s the introduction of the problem, and why the players should care.  Often a problem is introduced, and the players have no reason to care aside from wanting to play some DnD that day.  Here is one area that the DnD Expeditions loses to Pathfinder Society-pre story player involvement.  Another problem that can occur is one time checks that if not succeeded often prevent the players from finding a major plot point.  Nothing is game breaking for the story, but some extra story parts would really help the players get into the story and prevent the GM from having to do some heavy story lifting at the start on the fly. 4/5

 

Mechanics or Crunch– DnD is a pretty tight system, and the adventures show this for the most part.  The combats are well done and provide enough challenge.  Also, each combat is given a small stat block to change the combatants on the fly for really weak parties to overly strong parties.  It really helps the GM find his grove and run a great adventure with fun combats.  One encounter I can think of deviates from this as the fight is just too hard for a level one party, and it makes that adventure suffer a bit.  But, that encounter is a clear outlier for these adventures. 4.8/5

 

Execution– These are free PDFs given out to the organizers of the Adventure League, so I don’t expect art.  I don’t get any, so I don’t penalize the adventures for that.  What I don’t like is how combats are buried in the text!  When the players enter a room, a box is given with the description of the room.  Below that box is the standard description paragraph of the room with all the hidden items, other checks the PCs might do, etc, but if there is a combat, the monsters and their numbers will be hidden in that same text.  That is not helpful!  As a GM, when I have a room, I really need to know how many of any monsters are in the room first.  I’d separate that from the main text and have that listed right under the title of the room in a separate block of text.  It is the same in the Tyranny of Dragons adventure, and it really doesn’t help there either.  However, these are free adventures that do tell some interesting stories.  I like what is here, but some significant changes to the organization of the text could really push this over the top. 4/5

 

Summary– DnD is back, and so is the child of the Living Forgotten Realms.  It might not be the old Living Forgotten Realms, but if this is what its children look like, I’m fairly happy.  It’s great to see a major company give out several hours of free play to its fans.  These are not bad adventures by any means, but a few changes would really help with these be just a bit better.  Moving where the monsters are listed would make my life as a GM much easier!  I’ve read the adventures, but being able to quickly scan the text will help me find out what needs to be in the room after my 10th four hour event at a con.  The stories need a bit of work at the start to draw the players in a bit more, but the last bits of the story and the world they create are often great.  Shadows of the Moonsea has a left turn, but it’s nothing that you won’t enjoy.  All and all, these are three great adventures that any new player to DnD will really enjoy. 85%

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Pathfinder Campaign Setting-Technology Guide  

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Product-Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Technology Guide

Producer– Paizo

Price– ~$20 here http://www.amazon.com/Pathfinder-Campaign-Setting-Technology-Guide/dp/1601256728/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1411311976&sr=8-1&keywords=technology+guide

System-Pathfinder

TL; DR– Problems with focus, but great item selection. 90%

 

Basics– Welcome to the world of tomorrow!  The Technology guide is the extra setting book that GMs of the Iron Gods will need to handle all the new technology items and some rules presented in that adventure path.  This book introduces a number of new archetypes, feats, spells, rules, and skill uses for the base classes as well as a prestige class.  Then, the book moves onto introducing several technological items, weapons, armor, drugs, and generators.  Finally the book adds new hazards, rules, and artifacts for the Iron Gods campaign and Numeria as a whole.

 

Mechanics or Crunch-This book is a combination of the Ultimate Equipment book and the People of the River.  The book adds an insane amount of items all with new rules how to handle them.  The rules make sense within the Pathfinder system and help distinguish technology from magic.  The character options are all well done and provide some awesome Numeria flavor for any technology based campaign you could be running.  5/5

 

Theme or Fluff– This book does have a decent amount of story.  Each item gets a short description in addition to its rules and a picture.  The pictures might not be amazingly large, but there are pictures you can show to your players and help them envision the world of Numeria.  The book even goes so far in depth to describe the different types of metals found in Numeria and what they look like.  It’s not a perfect theme book, as the primary focus of the book is to provide rules and items, not to provide story.  But, what is here does have some decent story to it. 4.5/5

 

Execution– I love how Paizo puts their books together.  Even though this is an item book, the pictures and layout really breaks up the text and makes this much less of a drag to read.  The problem I have is that this book is a Pathfinders setting book.  The setting books are not designed to be given to the players.  However, a 1/3 of this book is player options.  This book is kind of indicative of the problems I’ve seen with the Iron Gods roll out of as a whole. To do the Iron Gods AP justice, several new character options, items, and rules all have to be introduced.  However, all the Numeria character options are spread out across at least four books, and the rules are also spread out across some of these four books, but different rules are also in other books.  This is particularly a problem with this book as players are not supposed to look at this book.  But, as a GM you almost have to give it out, so base class characters can have additional class options.  It’s not world ending problem, but the lack of focus is apparent. 4/5

 

Summary– Honestly, if you are going to GM the Iron Gods AP, you’ve most likely bought this book already.  If you have no plans to ever put technology in your Pathfinder game, then this book has literally nothing to offer you.  It’s a good book for what it is (character options and items), but it has some problems with focus. 90%

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of People of the Stars

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Product– Pathfinder Player Companion-People of the Stars

System-Pathfinder

Producer-Paizo

Price-$13 here http://www.amazon.com/Pathfinder-Player-Companion-People-Stars/dp/1601256744/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1410741048&sr=8-1&keywords=People+of+the+stars

TL;DR-It’s that book with android stuff! 93%

 

Basics-I want to believe!  People of the Stars is the player companion to Distant Worlds.  This book follows the standard Pathfinder formula for player books by adding new races, feats, items, traits, archetypes, and spells for races from beyond Golarion in the solar system.

 

Mechanics or Crunch– This is crunch-tastic.  The book is full of all kinds of great stuff to build otherworldly characters.  What’s here is pretty useful and well done if you want to have an intergalactic campaign.  If you want to keep you game on Golarion, there isn’t much for you here.  5/5

 

Theme or Fluff– There are some amazing stories here.  Each world in the solar system gets about half a page and gives a nice, short summary that world.  The races all have some nice build up and are varied enough to be good additions to the Pathfinder race line up.  However, like I said above, the stuff presented here really won’t be that much use to any campaign or player if you just stay on Golarion. 5/5

 

Execution-Paizo knows how to make a good book.  This book is well written, laid out well, and entertaining.  This isn’t the best book put out by Paizo as there are some parts that drag on, and there are a few sections with “textbook problem”.  But, this is generally a good book. 4/5

 

Summary-Going to play in the solar system in Pathfinder?  Then, get this book.  Going to play the Iron God’s campaign and want to play an android?  Get this book, because this book has some android feat and traits you might want.  Otherwise, this book might not help you much.  It’s a well done book, but this book will mostly hit a niche market.  Even the Iron Gods adventure path doesn’t use this book and advices the use of another book called People of the River.  This is a good book, but only a few people will really need this book. 93%

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Barrow of the Cursespawn

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Product-Darkwood Arc Excursions: Barrow of the Cursespawn

Producer– Saga RPG

System-Pathfinder

Price– ~$6 here http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/132931/01AE01-Barrow-of-the-Cursespawn-PFRPG-PDF

TL; DR-Zelda puzzles in Pathfinder!? 93%

 

Basics– Welcome back to the world of Darkwood.  Miners are missing, and OTHER adventures are on the way!  But, after a chance meeting in a bar, you and your friends are dragged into the events at the mine.  Can you save the day and find out what’s happening in the wilderness?  This is a Pathfinder adventure that is designed to fit well into the Darkwood Adventure path for characters level 7.

 

Story or Fluff-This is an interesting one.  To really get all you can out of this mission, a GM worth his/her salt must deeply read the background.  This company excels at building story in their adventures, and it shows in this one.  At its heart, this adventure is a simple dungeon crawl with adventure set in Saga’s world of Darkwood, but these people write an awesome intro to get your involved and build story into the dungeon to make it interesting.  However, like some fantasy or Sci-Fi adventures and stories, this adventure has the Dune problem for names-way too many terms are introduced to describe thing that have a general name like a burial mound or a shaman.  It’s not bad, but as a reader, it can sometimes be confusing.  4.5/5

 

Mechanics or Crunch-When you look at this one, it’s a pretty short adventure.  If your table doesn’t mess around, you can easily get through this adventure in about three to four hours.  The monsters are pretty par for the Pathfinder course at seventh level, but what will make this stand out are puzzles!  I love adventures that have more than just fights.  The puzzles are pretty nice.  Now as a person who’s played every Legend of Zelda game, these puzzles are not world endingly difficult, but anytime you have a TIMED puzzle in a tabletop RPG, it’s going to be a good evening!  The traps and monsters are all normal stuff, but its standard stuff you’d expect to fight at this level.  There is new stuff here, but I don’t think any seventh level party will be overly challenged by this adventure.  However, those issues maybe more of a Pathfinder system problem than anything that is written by Saga.  It’s a good stand along adventure, but you’ll need all the standard Pathfinder/Paizo books to run the adventure, but to get the most from this adventure you will also need Saga original AP book (reviewed here https://throatpunchgames.com/2014/06/06/ring-side-report-rpg-review-of-the-deft-and-the-deadly/ ) 4.75/5

 

Execution-This is a pretty short product, but the price is right.  Like I said before, these writers are great at story, but there are a few pages of nothing but text with lots of new terms.  I’d like a bit more art, but what is there is art, its put to good use.  Also, the puzzles and some of the traps get great layouts and art to really help the players and GM understand what’s going on and how to run the adventure properly. 4.75/5

 

Summary-This isn’t a perfect adventure, but it’s a damn fine one.  It’s got a good plot that factors into Saga’s other metaplot for their adventure path.  It’s a nice evening adventure sized adventure with fighting, traps, and puzzles.  If you like Saga’s current AP, then you’re getting this one regardless of what I have to say.  But, if you want some good third party Pathfinder adventure, for six bucks, you can’t go wrong here. 93%

 

Disclosure: I was provided a review copy of this adventure.

Ring Side Report-RPG Review of Crawl! #10

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Product– Crawl! #10 (Fanzine)

Producer– Stray Couches Press

Price-$3 here http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/133560/Crawl-fanzine-no-10

System– DCC RPG

TL;DR– Class options for demi-humans! 100%

 

Basics-Crawl! is the semi-official fanzine of the DCCRPG.  This month its options for demi-humans.  Instead of the basic race as level options frorm the main DCCRPG , this book presents Dwarven Priest, Elven rogue, Halfling burglar, and Halfling champion (fighter) as options for Dwarves, Elves, and Halflings.  The book also presents a system to take half levels or multiclass and the random stats tables for height, weight, build, hair type, eye color, and other physical features.

 

Mechanics or crunch– The one thing DCCRPG needs more of is options.  This is not a universal opinion, but I know I want more books for this system.  The class options here are still fairly balanced, and things I’d allow at my table.  If you want more options for your dwarf, this is worth a look.  Also, even the tables to add to your character are random, so you get more options, but don’t lose the randomness that is pervasive in the system. 5/5

 

Theme or Fluff-I know it’s not in the OSR spirit, but I don’t want to grow up to be a dwarf!  I like the idea of race shaping your character, but I want more options for that character.  This gives a few more options for what your characters can be instead of the basic dwarf has to be a dwarf idea from old school gaming.  The classes still fit the mold for DCCRPG, so they don’t stick out badly but really just add to the world.  The last half of the book is random tables to make your character more of a living person, not just a few stats, so that is great for story and character building as well. 5/5

 

Execution- All too often a fanzine will be crap because its one guy in a basement.  This one is not one of those.  This is well done with the same layout, art, and style of the DCCRPG main book.  It’s a quick read that’s priced right for its content and size. 5/5

 

Summary-Want some quick options for your demi-humans?  Get the book.  Want some ways to build your character a bit more than just a few stats?  Get the book.  Want more DCCRPG?  GET THE BOOK!  My only problem is I’d like MORE class options, but for three bucks, I’m ok with what I get in this book.  Hopefully, we will see the more options like this soon. 100%

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of The Strange

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RPG-The Strange

Producer-Monte Cook Games

Price-$41 here http://www.amazon.com/The-Strange-RPG/dp/1939979161/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407796403&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Strange

System– Cypher

TL;FR-It’s the next RPG from Monte Cook Games, so It’s going to be good.  100%

 

Basics– Ready for some Strange?  The Strange is a semi-sequel RPG to the previous hit Numenera.  In this RPG, the concept of the Strange is first and foremost.  The Strange itself is a chaotic mix of ideas where different versions of reality can be generated.  In these different pocket “dimensions”, steampunk, video game, popular fiction, fantasy, literature worlds/universes can be created and existed in .  However, monsters that eat whole worlds prowl out in the chaos.  In this game, your job is to keep that from happening.

 

Mechanics or Crunch-There is a lot here, so let’s go topic by topic.

 

Mechanics Basics- Remember Numenera?  This is pretty much the same.  GM never rolls the dice.  Players say a task or activity, the GM sets a level, multiply that level by three, and player rolls a d20.  Hit the number-succeed. Don’t-fail.  Your differnt powers and skills may make the number on the d20 lower.  The system is quick, easy, and keeps the focus on the story.

 

I’m a blanking blank who blanks– Character generation is select one of  descriptor that give you a general power, a class from one of three options, and an additional power that grows as you gain “levels” or tiers.  Character generation is again quick, easy, and keeps the focus on the story instead of min/maxing.

 

Worlds of “who blanks”-In my day job (thing that keeps me in the RPG books), I am a research scientist.  That’s great in a place where “science” works, but what about a place with magic?  Well, since a major part of this game is about changing worlds, the last part of each characters blanking blank who blanks changes depending on the world!  So, when Ed the crazy paradox who researches leave Earth and moves to a world of magic, I get a chance to choose what kind of character I change into based on the new world.  Now Ed is a crazy paradox who practices soul sorcery and looks like Anubis as I enter the magic world of Ardeyn.  This is the BIGGEST change in The Strange.  Your character is a near infinite number of characters as you can go to a near infinite number of worlds.  And that is awesome!  The book comes with a bunch of different descriptors that give all kinds of different options based on the different types of worlds presented.

 

Infinite Worlds-The Strange is infinite (as far as we know…).  The base book comes with some basic worlds to play in, but the game comes with rules to make any type of world you want.  The book even gives rules for the players to create their own worlds.  You can tell the Bruce Cordell was a major writer as the Lovecraft world is presented, and that makes me happy.  Want to play some Oz?  Done.  Wonderland?  Done.  Again, awesome!

 

Translation-the newest mechanic that is presented is translation.  This is the process of moving from one world/universe/reality to another.  It’s fairly simple, but the rules give a good introduction on how to do it as well as different way to move between worlds/universes/realities (portals, cyphers etc).

 

Mechanics Summary-This game is basically a bigger version of Numenera.  Heck, since The Strange is all inclusive, Numenera CAN exist within this game!  That’s not a bad thing!  This game feels like Monte Cook Games learned from Numenera, and Numenera was an excellent system to start with!  Small new additions make this an even better systems in terms of mechanics.  This game isn’t for the min/maxers out there, as it’s set up to be a super easy to use system that focuses on the story.  The mechanics of this one really do focus on the story first, giving just enough math to make things happen, but enough options to keep anyone happy. 5/5

 

Theme or Fluff- The theme is strange (pun intended) and fun.  You play a combination of MIB/RIPD/Delta Green/Stargate/Warehouse 13 Agents.  It’s a fun theme with an infinite number of places to play.  Heck, the book introduces fiction leakage-ideas leaking from one place to another and creating worlds/universes in the Strange.  So, you if you want to start a game where every single work of fiction comes from a different place in the Strange and cultists from Lovecraft are summoning Kaiju/Transformer monsters from beyond reality and the ritual must take place in a world based on 50 Shades of Gray with the end goal of destroying Earth, the game give you the tools to make that happen.  The theme covers all the themes you could want while adding its own touch to everything.  And again, that is awesome. 5/5

 

Execution-This book has a lot of ground to cover.  From introducing the cypher system to the multiple different descriptors needed to play this game in different realities to describing the setting, this book does a good job explaining how the game works.  Things are as close to perfect as you can with this size book.  The book does have the occasional sections where things get a bit textbook dense, but the number of pictures keeps that to a minimum.  The font, layout, pictures, and breaks make this fun to read and will keep you digging deeper and reading.  And this book is over 400 pages!  That number of pages for the price when considering the quality of the RPG is insane! 5/5

 

Summary-Monte Cook Games knows how to make an RPG for their target audience.  You CAN’T min/max in this system.  If you want to power game, look elsewhere!  This game is designed to tell a story, move it along quickly, and draw you in as quickly as possible.  The mechanics are amazing.  If you like the cypher system, you will like this.  Heck, the best part of this game is EVERYTHING from Numenera has a place in The Strange.  Each power, descriptor, and idea can be SOMEWHERE in the strange.  I suspect that within a few weeks a handy list giving which types of worlds/universes the Numenera powers/descriptors would work in will be out there (or I will make one!).  The idea that you change, but don’t, as you enter different worlds is a phenomenal addition to the system and RPGs as a whole.  I love what I see, and if you get a chance, you will too.  However, here is a word to the wise.  Since your characters change settings and powers fairly quickly, the player’s handbook is a good addition as it will really help you know how your powers work in each world, and the game won’t stall as the players have to pass the book around to understand each world they enter and how their characters fit in.  Give this one a look as soon as you can! 100%

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Emergence Roleplaying Game

~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ 1 Comment

Product– Emergence Roleplaying Game

Producer-3mergent Games

System– Emergence RPG

Price-~$16 here http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/131828/Emergence-Roleplaying-Game-Core-Rulebook

TL;DR– A bit of Hero, Eberron, and Shadowrun all together. 85%

 

Basics-Man is not alone in the universe, but he’s still the worst thing out there.  In Emergence, mankind has discovered a stone allowing us to travel to another world, Stargate style.  There we meet elves, dwarves, and orcs and begin to treat them poorly leading to a war cumulating in the other races destroying our gate home.  Now a portion of mankind lives on this world in relative peace over 100 years later.  Players take the role of one of the people in this brave new world which features a combination of magic, technology, and a fusion of the two.

 

Mechanics or Crunch-HOLY COW THIS IS A CRUNCHY SYSTEM!  That is by no means bad.  But, if you were looking for Fate or Fiasco levels of rule complexity, then look elsewhere.  The book clocks in at over 300 pages, so this system has some serious meat on its bones.  Let’s go over the highlights:

Races-First thing I noticed about this system’s mechanics is the way you build your character.  It’s a standard build point system, but the races are much different.  When you create your character, you get four race build points.  Each race has abilities that cost between one to three build points, so if you wanted to play a quarter human, quarter dwarf (on my mother’s side), quarter elf ( on my father’s side), and quarter orc (don’t ask), then you can!  I think that’s pretty cool.

 

Character Generation-Characters start by selecting a background that will give them default stats, building your race, and then spending 100 build points to make whatever kind of character they want.  I always love any system that allows for that much customization, but it does slow down character generation.  Also, the BEST part of these build points is build points are the generic points used for experience points.  And, post character generation build point spending is exactly equal to during character generation build point spending.  I HATE systems that change the rules for that after character generation!

 

Talents and Combat-Another option that characters have are talents.  Talents are like feats that give the character better abilities.  You have to meet requirements to buy a talent, but they do give the character that little bit more.  Also, the talents are designed like trees with multiple levels for your character to take and specialize in.  Talents handle several different aspects of this game ranging from a multiple shots with a bow to magic spells.  And, these talents and some action in combat burn stamina.  Stamina represents your character being more winded and worn down.  You only have so much stamina, so you have to be smart when you use these points. And since your spells use stamina, you have a system that includes “cast till you pass out” mechanics which always makes me happy!

 

Base Mechanic-This system uses a fairly simple mechanic of 3d6 + ability + skill ranks vs. a static number for most rolls and tests.  I love systems that use multiple dice as it makes a nice bell curve, so all numbers have a meaning!  I’ve written about how much I love this before, so I’m pretty happy to see this appear again.

 

Health and Damage-Something I really love in a RPG is conditions tracks.  This game has four different health ranges.  As your character is damaged, you lose hit points from the left most track.  When on track is empty, you lost some abilities or now have penalties to some actions.  This neatly solves the “more than none, ready to run” problem I see all too often in games like Pathfinder and DnD.

 

Tools, Armor, spells, items, weapons, cybernetic body parts-This game has a lot of toys for the average player to look over.  The rules give you options for running just a crazy spell tattooed shaman to being a mostly robotic cyber-knight with a shotgun.  The book has a ton of player options ground to cover, but it does it well.

 

Monsters-Something that kind of annoyed me was the lack of monsters in this book.  The back of the book does introduce a few monsters of a few different types as well as comprehensive rules on how to make more.  The rules to make your own monsters are well done, but I, as the GM, have to put that much more time into this game ahead of the game.  Adding in more monsters would really help this book.

 

Mechanics Summary-The rules might be thick, but the base idea is a quick one that you can learn in 10 minutes.  This book is crunchier then a box of broken glass, but that doesn’t make the system bad.  Don’t get his one if you want Fate levels of rules, but if you want a very solid rules system that give you a lot of room to build and play, get this game. 4.5/5

 

Theme or Fluff-This book has a lot of stories in it.  A world where man has only existed for less than 150 years and where he’s the bad guy from the start is an interesting place to start a setting.  Each race and their cities get a bit of a section in the opening chapter of the book.  This system is most definitely a mix between the dragonpunk of Eberron and the cyberpunk of Shadowrun.  I would have liked a few more story ideas as the world and its different environs are well described, but not as many ideas are given to the GM to start the game.  It’s not hard to make up your own ideas, but giving a jump start to the GM is always appreciated. 4.25/5

 

Execution-I liked this book, but it does shave its flaws with the two main ones being recycled art and “textbook problem”.  The book does recycle a lot of its art.  I know the company is a smaller one, but the same few art assets are reused several times throughout the book.  Again, it’s not the worst thing, but it always annoys me a little.  The much bigger problem is the “text book problem.”  This book has a LOT of ground to cover providing rules ranging from spells to shotguns powered by magic as well as introducing a whole new setting.  The opening chapter reads just like an atlas/guide book giving all kinds of important stats and short introductions to each section of the world.  The rules sections are dominated by two column pages of black text on a blue/white background.  Those pages tend to drag on a bit as there are several of them in a row.  The pages do introduce several important things, but page after page of the same layout does get a bet daunting to read.  More tables for rules and color art would really help this book be that much better.  It’s just that dense! 4/5

 

Summary-This is a good book if you like crunch.  The world itself is nothing to sneeze at, but I would like some more example problems to face to help me design adventures for my players to go on.  However, the mechanics of the rules are amazingly well done, and I think the mechanics are the star of this book.  It has a lot of the things that really make me happy when I read a rules set.  To really make this game a grand slam, I’d like a small book on threats to the world, a GM screen to keep all the mechanics straight, and a monster book to give me some foes to throw at the PCs in a hurry.  But even without those tools, this is a great game that reminds me of other great systems like Shadowrun, 3.5e Eberron, and the Hero System.  85%

 

Discloser- I was provided a review copy of this game.  I have not been paid or compensated in any other way.