TL; DR-Run for your lives cypher system horror! 100%
Basics– Begin your statement…. This is the full RPG for the Magnus Archives. This has rules for the cypher system, how to make characters, character options, monsters, two adventures, and a full introduction to the Magnus Archives.
System et al- Cypher system is VERY agnostic for where you put it in. It’s always only the player rolling, and how hard a thing is, is its rating. Players have abilities and can spend points to reduce the ratings of any challenge. Players then roll a d20 and need to hit the rating times 3. Failure isn’t instant death, but does have consequences. Doesn’t matter if it’s Numenera, fantasy, or horror like the Magnus Archives.
Cyphers- Cyphers are one time things that give you awesome powers. In the original system, they were items from a long time ago that might be one time cool tricks, like a cell phone that will let you call five minutes into the future to give yourself a heads up on what problems you’re going to face. Here, cyphers are one time abilities. You rest up and you get these back. I don’t hate the change, but it was surprising the first time I saw it.
Mechanics or Crunch– This is what I wanted! This book has rules for the whole system. One shocking thing is how powered the monsters are! Most monsters start at a challenge of 5. That means a character must roll a 15 if they want to hurt them. This goes with the theme, but the game says that you need to RUN when bad things happen. You’re just a dude and that zombie will eat you. But, that ties the theme well into the story. Also, most characters are not crazy psychic monsters like the X-men. You might get some psychic powers later, but for the most part, it’s hitting that zombie with a baseball bat or shooting horrors with a .45 to make them go away. And I enjoy it! 5/5
Theme or Fluff– Theme is strong here as well. Like I mentioned in mechanics, you don’t want too many straight up fights. This isn’t pulp stories or superhero comics. You’re gonna die! And that’s horror. The feeling that that thing in the dark is not just Generic Monster 4 for you to mop up for XP before the pizza arrives is very strong in this book. The mechanics and the theme drive you to feel the dread your character experiences. 5/5
Execution– Monte Cook Games does solid work in production. The book reads easily, has solid art, and is well laid out. Overall it’s just a well done book. I said this last time and I’ll say all the same things again. The one minor issue is this book has two adventures but no premade characters. But I will give it a pass as the free player book has four premade characters in it. 5/5
Summary– This is a good book, but you have to decide what you want. If you want more modern horror, then this is a solid book with great mechanics and a whole podcast behind it. If you want to punch Cthulhu in his tentically face, then this is not the game for you. Also, the podcast is well done but technically over. That’s not bad, as you get a complete story, but might drive some players away. If you like the cypher system and want horror, then this is your game. 100%
TL; DR– Good, but this doesn’t cover most of the basics. 80%
Basics– What’s your statement? The Magnus Archives is a podcast that was adapted to the cypher system. Players take the roles of investigators looking into paranormal events. WIll you find what’s causing all these strange events?
Base Mechanics- This is the cypher system. Players state an action, and the GM states a difficulty. The difficulty times 3 is what the player needs to roll on a d20. If the player wants to lower the DC, players can spend points from a pool for mind, body, and dexterity to reduce the level. The GM doesn’t roll dice!
And that’s it. It’s built on the basic cypher system.
Mechanics or Crunch– This book gives the very basics of the cypher system, but dont expect to play the game with this alone. You can’t build characters with this. Nor can you really run a game with this alone. You get the base mechanics of this game with a good explanation, but you get no options. It has pregenerated characters, which I love, but it’s very bare bones. 3.5/5
Theme or Fluff– There is more here, but it’s very basic. I don’t know what the Magnus Archives are and why there are statements. I know there are podcasts about it, and I’m interested in them now. But I don’t really know why or who is doing the investigating. What’s here will draw you in, but you will need the full book to get those answers. 3.5/5
Execution– Monte Cook Games does solid work in production. The book reads easily, has solid art, and is well laid out. Overall it’s just a well done book. 5/5
Summary– For the price of free, this is a good intro to the Magnus Archives. If I had paid for this, I would be upset. In a player’s guide, I expect a bit more character options and explanations to the game. This has a decent explanation, but no options. I also expect a bit more in terms of world building. I’m intrigued, but I have no answers to what is going on. As a product, this is a good book for production. I want a lot more, and all of that is found in the main game book. Worth a look at free if you want to see the basics of the system and world. 80%
Basics– Welcome to the shadow war! In CthulhuTech, magic has returned to the world and it has merged with all the tech of the day. However, strange Gods and Cults now use this for their own goals. This will not end well for mankind! This book has several pre-generated characters and a walk through of a very simple adventure with mechanics to introduce the new version to new players.
Base mechanic- This game uses a d2 system. Basically you have a skill and an attribute. You roll dice equal to their total for an action. If you get odds, you fail on that die, and evens are successes. Get enough successes and good things happen. This goes all the way through to combat and chases. It’s a VERY simple system.
Mechanics or Crunch– This is a simple game intro for a simple game. But it works. This is not crazy complex with all kinds of modifiers. I’d put this closer to a Fate system. If you want rules lighter but with some choice, this might be the system for you. 5/5
Theme or Fluff– This adventure is good, but the layout is both good and annoying. The characters have their own sections which is nice. The GM doesn’t get a lot of introduction to the system before reading box text. The game primarily teaches about the world and mechanics by box text. This is good as an intro,but I still don’t know too much about the world itself. I also feel its not really tech-based any more. I feel this is just magic or even more closer to Persona with the characters basically using summons to fight. I’d like more tech and less Cthulhu in this game. 4/5
Execution– This works well. The book has separate character sheets, pictures, and a nice layout to make it easy for players. For the GM, there are nice sections to guide the GM so they can guide the players into the story. It flows easily and quickly for a fun one shot adventure. 5/5
Summary– I am intrigued by this. It’s fun and simple. I typically like more crunch, but this works well enough for what it wants to be. The world might be better served with more build up. There is story here, but I feel like I’m missing a lot. This is due to it being a quick start. I am interested in the full book, so it did its job. 93%
Basics– We who are about to die Salute BBQ Ziggurat! Want your big break? You can get it if you survive the Murder Mountain Smackdown! It’s a new Dungeon Jockeys outing, and you can get your own shot at the big leagues. All you have to do is not be killed or stolen away to another universe!
Mechanics or Crunch– Do you like DCC? If so, you will like these mechanics. It’s simplistic, but DCC is not a crunch system. It’s fast and fun AND VERY VERY CRAZY! From Desert Yetis to snow gnomes to crazy creatures stealing away people to different dimensions. I had a blast running it, and the players had a blast playing it. 5/5
Theme or Fluff– The story is good, but not perfect. XCrawl walks a weird line between DCC, American Gladiators, and American Idol. That said, it does most of that well. What I really didn’t like is how the cover monster is used. There is a crazy monster that just eats characters. It’s not really explained well, in my opinion, and you don’t really fight it. I’d like a fight with it or something crazy, but it’s more just fail a roll and die. Aside from that, it’s crazy fun. 4.5 /5
Execution– This is just a repeat of many of my other Goodman Game reviews. It’s classic RPG stuff with modern layout and design. This is how DnD in 1e should have been laid out to help me as a GM run it. 5/5Summary– Aside from one monster, I feel this is a solid intro to XCrawl. It’s a funnel where LOTS of PCs will die, but you end up with a rag tag team ready to roll in the big leagues. You get your American Idol shot at being a hero on TV. As a GM, there are fun monsters, crazy events, and all kinds of shenanigans you won’t see in the more straight fantasy offerings. If only the cover monster was a bit different, it would be perfect. 97%
Basics– Pathfinders, are you ready to PARTY!? This intro scenario for this year’s Pathfinder Society season has you go hobnob with the snobs of Absolom to make a good impression. All you got to do is be nice, show the Pathfinder Society is good, and make a friendly impression. What could go wrong?
Mechanics or Crunch– This adventure’s mechanics are on point for an intro adventure. There are about four different encounters in this adventure. It’s pretty heavenly split between some social, some light exploration, and combat. All of them feel like they fit for the levels they aim for. This adventure is the standard excellent Paizo crunch I expect.5 /5
Theme or Fluff– Intro adventures have tough ground to cover, and this one does well, but it’s not perfect. The adventure has the players go to the party, and start with a few different mini interludes. These work well, but players can’t see all the characters and their small side quests and vignettes. Not bad, as the forced adventures where players have to do all the side quests get a bit story heavy, but these all kind of boil down to “do good and learn that one person doesn’t like you”. Next there is the new antiPathfinder group who aren’t evil, and you have to avoid them. Then you quite literally have to fight devils and then save someone’s life. After that people try to run you over. After that you must convince everyone you’re awesome after literally saving people from the devil. Lastly there is one last optional combat that’s fun. The story gets a bit disjointed as you save them every step of the way, but people still don’t like you. Maybe that’s more realistic than I think having just reread that again. 4.5 /5
Execution– This is just a yadda yadda of all my other Pathfinder reviews. Good layout, easy reading, good pictures, good resources, good handout….yadda yadda yadda. I expected Paizo to make a good layout for the adventures, and I got it. I might quibble about not having all the monster pictures in the book, but that has more to do with there being three different fights possible in the middle, but seeing as those on their free database with pictures, that feels too pedantic for even me to downgrade them for. 5/5
Summary– This isn’t perfect, but this might be one of the better year intro adventures out there. The mechanics are good. The flow is not perfect, but it works decent enough. The adventure itself is solidly crafted. It players in under four hours, and is fun enough that everyone had a blast. If you want to jump in to Pathfinder Society, this is a good starting point as either a GM or a player. 97%
TL; DR-New and old combine to make a fun D20 game. 90%
Basics– Welcome to the world of Ancerra! MythCraft is a kickstarter from last year that works via several talents and a base system you already know if you played most other DnD style games. Let’s look at how the system works.
Base Mechanics- This is d20+attribute for attacks and D20+attribute+skill ranks for skills. You attack with a sword? Add your Strength to that d20. You shoot a bow? Add your Dexterity to that d20. You know it, I know it, and we both love it.
Attributes- each level you gain +1 attribute point. Your bonus in an attribute can NEVER be more than half your level +1. So a sixth level fighter can’t have a strength greater than +4. It’s easy enough to keep track of and familiar enough to be easily applied.
BOP-Characters are built from a Background, Occupation, and a Profession…. and a lineage. Lineage is your race. You gain features at specific levels that are lineage specific. The lineages range from your standard human to constructs to even undead and kind of robot people. Backgrounds give you skills you can put points into and occupations it should lead into, and professions are the job you do for money and it provides additional skills and bonuses. Both professions and occupations deal with tags. Tags are information that the game uses to identify important things and prerequisites for bonuses.
Classes- At second level you can choose a class and here is where the game REALLY opens up. There are over 10 classes. These classes have different paths that lead to different talents that give you different abilities. This game uses talents for lots of different abilities and honestly you could use the word feat from DnD and Pathfinder and you would completely understand what the game means. But unlike the strategic direction that DnD 5e went in to avoid feat trees, this game leans HARD into feat trees for the different classes and subclasses within each.
Skills- Your background provides you with a number of skill points, and skill and subskill options you can spend those points on. You gain skills each level as well. The amount of skill points you can put in each skill is limited by your background.
Combat-All the normal things you know and love for combat are here. You roll initiative at the start of combat but it’s based on your awareness attribute instead of Dexterity or Perception. BUT here is where MythCraft separates itself from other games in the DnD space. Each action takes action points. Instead of DnD’s Move, Minor, Standard or Pathfinders three actions, each character gets three action points and more based on your coordination attribute up to 8. Each action you do takes different action point costs. Some spells cost one point while some might cost over four! Stab someone with a dagger will be two points, while some things like a Greataxe are eight minus your strength score, minimum four. You may need to build up to the big boy big toys that do massive damage, but a nimble elf with a dagger might get four solid dagger strikes in a turn. If you hit the armor score, you do damage via rolling different sized dice.
Magic-Magic is more akin to Final Fantasy in this game. You get spells via talents and classes, but you don’t prepare spells like in DnD or Pathfinder. You have your pool of points, and you spend those points as well as action points to cast spells. You can cast the same spell all day long as long as you have the points you need for it.
Ok, Let’s do my thoughts.
Mechanics or Crunch-This game is different and the same at the same time. The D20 system and its children are alive and well. It’s put to good use here being both new and old at the same time. It’s easy to pick up, but not a carbon copy of 5e, 4e, 3.5, or Pathfinder. It is easy and fun to play. I don’t know if most people will get to level 30 and have a crazy high coordination to get those crazy turns, but it is an interesting game where you get to do all kinds of different actions or the same action. 5 /5
Theme or Fluff– My complaint about this game is there is a lot here, but not enough story about the world. The different character options provide a story, but there is not enough about the world as a whole to draw me in. The races all have backgrounds that are cool and intriguing. The classes have story in them and the art makes you see what they are. The gods and pantheons are all interesting. But, there is not a world story in this book. You get that there is some planet you are playing on and there is some fantasy things happening like demons bad, but beyond that I have no idea who’s doing what. I want to know more, but give me more in this book. There’s awesome here, but I need more. 4 /5
Execution– This book makes interesting design decisions that alternate between paying off and not quite getting there. First, the simple issue of too many different words for the same thing. You have talents and features. Just call them one thing and give them different tags. This game gives out lots of tags to label stuff that’s important. Good, so just have talents with tags for the linages and say you can take them at different levels. It’s what Pathfinder does and it works. The book has several pages with introductions of each class and a picture. It then says go to page XX to see all the class stuff. That’s cool! Those pages are several pages of words explaining each talent. That’s boring, but needed since this is a feat based game. Then after all the feats, the book has each feat tree for each subclass. Honestly I would put those in between each class to show how the different talents/feats have different requirements for each other. I love the diagrams and don’t even mind if they are not hyperlinked inside the pictures. But breaking up 50 pages of text with some pictures will help your readers. Otherwise, this book does the job well, though with a few minor issues. 4.5/5
Summary– This book is someone’s labor of love and how they see d20 RPGs being played. It’s close enough to your old D20 favorites that you will learn how to get playing fast. It’s also different and has enough options that you won’t call this a simple clone of any other game out there. Its issues are in the execution, with a few choices that I feel need a bit more work to reach perfection, and a lack of world story that I feel other books will address. I just wish they were in this one! If you don’t want to play another 5e game but want the simplicity of the math, and you don’t want Pathfinder but want the flexibility of the action mechanics, Then this is the game you and your group should pick up. 90%
Basics– Time to adventure! SagaBorn is an old school/slighly modern RPG set in the world of Uteria. This RPG offers an interesting mix of old and new RPG mechanics. Let’s break this down
Basics– Know 3.5 DnD? Then you know this. This system is d20+ modifier vs a DC. The modifiers are what you know and love with base attack bonus + ability modifiers + maybe magic weapon bonus to hit guy. Its a well worn and comfortable as your favorite shirt.
Skills and levels– Characters max out at about level 8, but there are epic levels if you want to continue the game. Characters get skill points. You can have skill points equal to your level +1 in any area. Then you get expertise points as well. These are like subskills within a skill or specializations. So a skill check is your ability modifier + skill points in an area + expertise points if applicable +d20. Again, it’s that same game you know how to play.
Magic- Magic is different. This is much more like the later final fantasy games and less like DnD. You have a pool of mana, you cast spells with different amounts of mana, and the magic happens. DC for saves is based on the amount of mana a spell takes, so mana spent is close to the spell level/rank.
Ok, thats the basics, Let’s review.
Mechanics or Crunch– SagaBorn is an interesting mix of DCC and DnD 3.5. If you love 3.5, you will get the game you wanted with this one. For the DCC crowd, you might not get exactly what you want. DCC is more rules light. This has more character options and such, and that might annoy the old school gamer who just wants to take 3 levels in dwarf and smash the orc int he face. I don’t hate what’s here, but it does feel a bit like its aiming for a niche that others might not know about. The simplicity feels a bit muddled with the complexity of some mechanics. Again, its not bad, but its not streamlined DCC nor is it granular Shadowrun. 4/5
Theme or Fluff– SagaBorn has a world, but it doesn’t get the love that it deserves. This book spends a lot of time on the races, but the world doesn’t get nearly as many pages. It’s here and the world gets covered, but There isn’t as much as I would like to really know the world. This feels like a good meal I didn’t get enough of. Good, but feed me more. 4/5
Execution– This book does not do the sins that a lot of rules light, simple systems does, but its got some rough edges. I get hyperlinks and easy to manage text. There is art, but I would like a bit more. The things I want more of are some descriptions of mechanics. It feels a bit muddled. Also, some of my background made this work for me, but newer players will need help to really understand what is happening. Not bad, but this book needs more to be user friendly. 4.5/5
Summary-This is an interesting mix that needs niche players. If you want a DCC rpg with a bit more complexity, then this works. If you want DnD 3.5 with a little bit less complexity, there you go. SagaBorn does exactly what it sets out to do, but make sure you want what it is offering. Newer players maybe shouldn’t start here alone, but with some help, they will have a blast. Check this one out if it’s exactly what you are looking for. 83 %
TL; DR-A few small issues keep this from a perfect book. 93%
Basics– The end comes NOW IN AGE! Cthulhu Awakens uses the popular Call of Cthulhu Setting and mixes it with the AGE system. Let’s dive into how to play and then the review.
Age Basics- AGE takes a lot of inspiration from GURPS. Basic tests are three six sided dice with one being a different color or standing out. When you do anything, you roll 3d6+focus+ability, add, and then see if you hit the target number. Ability is just like ability bonuses in DnD or Pathfinder. Focus would be best thought of like feats. That stand out die is used for multiple things, but indicates how successful you are with a 1 being barely successful on a success and a 6 being AMAZING successes.
Stunts- The more important role of the different die is stunts. When two of the three dice, including the stunt or standout die, are the same, you use the stunt die to get special events. You spend the number on the stunt die to get bonus things like spraying more damage, hitting more creatures, bonus to next roll, reducing damage to yourself, and so on. For perspective, this happens about 42% of the time on average.
Sanity- The interesting thing in this game is how the Cthulhu monsters affect the character beyond just ripping them to shreds. The loss of sanity also means gaining in understanding the mythos. The more you lose yourself, the more you gain in powers. These might be Faustian bargains, but power’s power!
The rest- This system uses the 3d6 and stunts for almost everything. It’s very fast and simple, but allows for interesting and crazy things to happen. From there it’s just like any other RPG system with HP, damage, and sanity being drained by monsters in the world.
Mechanics or Crunch– AGE is an interesting one. It’s fun and fast, but might not be for me. Character growth is somewhat limited as you don’t level past 10. It’s classless, so you can mix and match anything you want. But you do get kind of stuck into siloes as you grow. This is not a problem, if you want that. The notion of gaining power from exposure is fun. Overall, this is a good system, but might not be for me. 4.75/5
Theme or Fluff– This game is less Call of Cthulhu and more action Pulp Cthulhu. Characters fight the apocalypse, which is fun, but that is not quite what I want in a Call of Cthulhu adventure. I want more people to go absolutely mad from seeing things, and less gaining acceptance and power from seeing monsters crawl out of different dimensions. However, that’s more my opinion on the matter and not an indictment of the system. 4.5/5
Execution– This has ALMOST everything I need for a solid RPG book. The book reads well and has a fun story. Its layout makes it engaging and easy to read. The book tackles difficult issues with care, dealing with mental health, offensive games, and HP’s racism. The book is hyperlinked. It’s even got not one, but TWO adventures having both a 1920s adventure and a modern day one. It doesn’t have characters. I’d forgive that as there is a free intro RPG, BUT that one only has pregens for one time setting. The stuff that’s here is fantastic, but the stuff that’s missing is felt. 4.75/5
Summary– This is a good book with a fun RPG, but small things keep this from perfection. The mechanics are not quite what I want; hoping for 40% chances to occur so you can do cool stuff can annoy you. But when they happen, it is awesome. The theme isn’t quite what I want. I want more helpless horror, and this is more punching the Dark in the Face. And lastly, the book does fantastic execution, except no pregens. Most of my gripes are in how I want a game to be, but not necessarily in AGE being bad. It’s honestly fun, and quick. Not my cup of tea, but if you want to punch Cthulhu in the face with power you got when you went crazy, then this is the RPG for you! 93%
Basics-Time to keep exploring! Archives of Eternity continues the main metaplot as the Starfinders continue to explore Aballon. This time an old archive is found. Who was there, why where they there, and what secrets are hidden in the archive?
Mechanics or Crunch– This is a very story forward adventure. If you are a combat monkey, then you might not enjoy this adventure as much as some others. The combats that are here are good, but they tend to be kind of short. That’s not bad as the math that’s here works well. But, if you wanted four hours of just crunch, you will be slightly disappointed. 4.75/5
Theme or Fluff– The story is the main focus of this scenario. I’m saying this because the whole point of this adventure is to explore a long lost archive of materials. And with that, it succeeds well. Several questions are answered, but many more are presented. That’s fun world building for the Starfinder society. 5/5
Execution– This is the Paizo I know and love. We have solid layout with solid text, with solid pictures, and an overall ease of reading. This is the Paizo quality I love. 5/5
Summary– Starfinder society for 1st ed is almost done. I love what’s here, and Paizo is giving this world a fun sendoff. These adventures are key to helping with that send off. It’s not perfect, as its maybe a bit too story focused. I like the story, but some of my more combat oriented players were a bit disappointed. It won’t take four hours, but it will build out your Starfinder experience. 98%
TL; DR-Good, but outside flaws hurt the adventure. 95%
Basics– Hey Kid, want to find some miners for us? Rescue at Shimmerstone Mine is a quick adventure for level 15 Starfinder 2nd Ed characters. Players are contracted to find some missing miner after communications went dark. What happened in the mines?
Mechanics or Crunch– It’s high level Pathfinder/Starfinder 2nd Ed content by Paizo-it’s good. The math works well here as it’s more of the classic formula with players attempting to find all the missing miners. There are fights, traps, and puzzles for them to solve. Mathematically it works well. 5/5
Theme or Fluff– For what it is, it’s a solid adventure. This is a three hour adventure, so if you want more story, you will be a bit out of luck. It is an engaging story of a mine that went crazy and understanding why the mine exploded into crazy riots is part of the Starfinder RPG system and Starfinder universe update, but the adventure’s story works well enough all on its own. For a short adventure, it’s a fun one. 5/5
Execution– Paizo did a good job here, but dropped the ball in some very serious ways. It’s hyperlinked, well laid out, yadda yadda and the standard good things that Paizo does. But, there are serious issues as well as some minor issues. The minor: the adventure says there are x number of miners and you will not find that number. That’s minor, but it drove a player of mine mad! The majors are Paizo didn’t put in a separate picture page for the NPCs. They do that in the Pathfinder and Starfinder adventures, but why not here? It’s even more of an issue because they literally put pictures of the NPCs in the text. Give me a page with them alone to show the players. But the biggest sin here is the lack of pregens. Paizo wants players to make level 15 characters. No, give me some you think my players would build. You did it for level 1 and 5, but why not 10 and 15? You can find them online as people are making them, but that’s a big issue here. This is a good adventure with some serious outside execution issues. 4.25/5
Summary– I like this one, but the flaws are here. In terms of pure math and crunch, it’s solid workmanship showing off the system. For the story itself, it’s fun and expands the world. For the execution, there are a few faults. No pregens is a big red flag. GIVE ME THOSE PREGENS! Make this plug n’ play for tables! Beyond those issues, it’s a good adventure that will play in 2-3 hours while expanding a bit on the world. 95%
Throat Punch Games 