Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Delta Green

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

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%

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

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

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 Monsternomicon: Mind Flayers

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

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%

Basics-Let me pick you brain…. Mind flayers! This product provides some background on the illithids 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 Monsternomicon: Kyuss and His Faithful

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

Product-Monsternomicon: Kyuss and His Faithful System- DnD 5e Producer- Wizards of the Coast Price- Pay what you want TL; DR-What we should see from the DM Guild. 99%

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 Demon Lord’s Companion

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

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 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 possesed, 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 Shadow

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

Product-Tales of the Shadow 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 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 expertease 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%

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of The Served Brandolyn Red

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

Product-They Served Brandolyn Red System- DCC Producer- Goodman Games Price- $7 here http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/159410/Dungeon-Crawl-Classics-2015-Halloween-Module-They-Served-Brandolyn-Red&affiliate_id=658618 TL; DR- An awesome starter adventure! 95%

Basics-It's a good day for a white wedding! Until the groom's head is chopped off and the bride is poisoned. Then, players and the guests of the wedding have to find out all the twists and turns in this adventure and recover the groom's head to properly bury the man. Why did this happen? Only you can find out!

Mechanics or Crunch-Ah, the DCC RPG funnel! Hit the players hard and see what falls down. It’s a time honored tradition. This adventure has all the great pieces of one, and the mechanics match enough to challenge first and zero level players as well as bringing enough weird to the party. 5/5

Theme or Fluff-This adventure is one that you as a GM have to bring to life. There is a lot going on here, and it kind of goes in two directions. Only one direction gets the PC’s paid, so they won’t care about family struggles as longs gold happens. If you can bring that part to life, it's a fun side of the adventure. But, most parties and games won’t even care about some below the surface details that the adventure has due to the second part being a bit off base. It’s fun, but a bit too unwieldy with the second story not bringing as much to the party as the first. 4.25/5

Execution- This is a DCC RPG book put out by Goodman Games themselves, so it’s going to be good! The art is great, the pictures are phenomenal, and the layout is simple enough to help every GM run a fun adventure. The book even has detailed family trees that you can use to enhance the substory that I complained about in the theme section. Even the hex crawl simple map is a great addition to the game! This simple adventure has the tools and talent needed to really help you make a great time for the players. Also, it’s out in time for Halloween, so get this now! 5/5

Summary-I love this one so much it might become my new favorite funnel. My players get a place to explore. I get some story to build off with a subplot that is fun, if a bit of a strange addition. The mechanics of the adventure are built well enough that it’s got enough challenge to keep things interesting, but not a killer curve to destroy a party. From the art to the layout, this is a phenomenal adventure and an excellent introduction to DCCRPG, and if a group was looking for a place to start, this is probably the best adventure to throw your friends and yourself as the GM into. 95%

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

Product- Shadow of the Demon Lord System- Shadow of the Demon Lord Producer- Schwalb Entertainment Price- $ 19.99 TL; DR- 13th Age, DnD 4e, and Warhammer in a blender! 92%

Basics-The world is in chaos, and the Demon Lord hasn’t even set foot into it yet. Shadow of the Demon Lord is the first book by Schwalb Entertainment where characters face a world on the brink. The empire is falling, and a transdimensional evil stirs. As it casts its attention onto the world, its shadow falls on the world causing nature to go haywire, the dead to rise, or evil to open gates from other places. Players fight to keep the world safe. Will you be able to stop an unstoppable evil?

Mechanics or Crunch- This is its own system, so let’s break this down piece by piece.

Basics-This game plays like a modified d20 system with bits of DnD 4e and Fantasy Flight’s Warhammer Fantasy mixed in. Almost all actions are resolved with d20 rolls. Characters have several stats, and the modifier for all these stats is the base stat minus 10. Whatever the result is the modifier to the d20 roll. For 90% of the rolls in this game that are not attacks, the characters need a 10 result to succeed at their check; This is called a challenge roll. That’s it-it’s simple and elegant. Aside from the basics of a roll, sometimes outside circumstances modify challenge rolls. These are boons and banes. In these circumstances, six-sided dice are added (boons) or subtracted (banes) from the roll. You only ever roll boons or banes as a boon cancels out a bane and vice versa. These are given for attacking into darkness, having favorable positions, powers, good tools on a disable check, or other in-game effects. If you have to roll several boon or bane dice, you only ever add or subtract the highest six-sided die total among all the boons/banes. Again, it makes math simple and elegant. As you can tell, this is not a math heavy game. That’s not a bad comment as the game focuses that much more on the story and quick action resolution.

Skills-This game doesn’t have skills per se- it has professions. Professions feel like a love letter to the OSR movement. During character creation, players get two professions. This is what you did before you became an adventurer, and this will determine some of the activities you can do. Navigate by starlight alone? That would be impossible for a cobbler, but it would be an automatic success for a sailor or a desert nomad. Discover what a potion does? Possibly a roll with boons for a doctor, but almost impossible (several bane dice) for a grave digger. Again, being able to use professions as skills is simple and effective.

Combat-Combat is as simple as d20 and 13th Age. The game doesn’t have the movement-map requirements of Pathfinder, relying more on theater of the mind. Initiative…just isn’t a thing in this game. Turns are divided into fast and slow parts. Players get to take fast turns, then the monsters. Next, players get to take slow turns then the monsters. Fast turns are when a creature takes one action such as moving or attacking. Slow turns are moving, attacking, and possibly other actions all on the same turn. This game wants players to go first, then monsters. It built this mindset into the system, and it works well. On a creature's turn, combat works almost like any other d20 system. Melee attacks work using the basic d20 plus a creature's strength stat minus 10 vs. a creature's defense stat. Creatures can take banes to this roll to push enemies, escape an engagement, or even knock enemies prone. Damage for each weapon is determined by the type of weapon wielded, just like most other d20 based systems. Creatures and players do not have high hit point totals in this game, so combat can be pretty deadly pretty quickly, reinforcing the gritty nature of this game. In addition to fast and slow turns, you also have triggered actions; these function pretty much like reactions in DnD 5e and interrupt actions in Pathfinder. They are actions you take off-turn that are the result of other creatures’ actions such as attack of opportunity or spell effects. Again, quick and easy is the name of the game in this system.

Distance-This is a decidedly old school game with some modern twists. The game can use maps, but mostly theater of the mind is its goal. Distance between characters reflects that. Distances have descriptors like reach (at hand), short ( five yards), medium (20 yards), long (100 yards), and extreme (500 yards). On your turn as a move, you can move double your speed stat in yards. On a slow turn, you can do that twice. Some creatures move fast while some move slow, and it’s just that easy.

Character generation and advancement- Character generation is a bit limiting compared to other systems like Pathfinder and Shadowrun, but on par with DnD5e or Fantasy Age. Players choose a race and receive some preset stats. Then, that character gets to modify their stats a little based on what their specific race provides them. That feels limited, but it also makes all the creatures of one race in the world feel like their stats represent them, as opposed to the normal +2 all creatures of one type received in standard DnD/Pathfinder, where most human fighters have a 16+ strength compared to the majority of humanity with a 10 strength. As part of creating your character, you also get to either choose or randomly roll a bunch of background information ranging from what you did before to your physical build. Depending on your race, some of these backgrounds will increase various stats. Much like Dungeon Crawl Classics, you start at level 0, and try to survive to level 1 through a short adventure. If you do, you get to choose one of four basic classes called novice paths. The paths are warrior, rogue, priest, and magician, and they function exactly as you’d expect, with these paths focusing on sheer damage and combat prowess, skills, divine magic, or arcane magic, respectively. This choice will change how you level up over time. Leveling in this game is determined on your class at some levels, your race at others, and then you are allowed choices to specialize further in an expert path at level 3 and a master path at level 7. Expert and master paths function almost like paragon paths in DnD3.5/Pathfinder or class specialization in DnD 5e. Depending on your style, this type of leveling will either infuriate you or be your favorite method. Players get lots of options on what type of path to choose at each step, but once you are in your path, you don’t get as many options after that compared to, say, Pathfinder. This game doesn’t have feats or other minor character choices, so character paths and magic spells are the majority of the choices a character makes. However, what the novice, expert, and paragon paths offer that is not found in other games is the ability to really forge your own character. You do get fewer options in a path, but the paths tend to allow any character at any time to really design their own character. Want a warrior (novice path), druid (expert path), bard (master path)? Done! I’m not saying that character would be the most powerful or efficient character out there, but I am saying that that character might be the most fun to play. And that kind of character design is amazing.

Magic-Magic is gained by learning traditions through path options. As a character grows in a class, he or she also gains traditions or spells and power. A character’s power rating determines the number of spells and the level of spells a character can prepare each day. Traditions can be thought of as almost sub-schools of magic with traditions ranging from curse to air and everything in between. Each tradition has several different spells of different levels in it. Magic itself follows a pattern similar to DnD 4e with spells divided into either attack or utility spells. Attack spells have a character make an attack roll against the enemie’s defense or base stat, or the attack spell has the target make a stat challenge roll. As an added bit of fun, some magic attacks also have an extra effect that occurs if you roll above a 20 on the attack. These effects do extra damage, push the target further, or some other effect that shows that you are truly a master magician. Much like the challenge roll systems and banes/boons, magic is extremely elegant and simple. So unlike magic in a few other systems, magic is very approachable and easily mastered in a few moments.

Summary-Shadow of the Demon Lord presents a new RPG system. It’s simple and easy to run and play. The game is built to run efficiently and focus on the story. One of the things trimmed out of the game is power gaming and too long between leveling. That is done extremely well. However as part of that clean up, the game loses many of the options present in other RPGs. That is not a bad thing, but it’s something that you as a player and a GM must adjust your expectations for. You will have a blast with the system, but you will run character from level 0 to level 10 in under a year instead of 20 years. You will also have to get ready for some brutal gameplay and some limitations in character options. If you and your group can adjust to these changes, you will have an absolute blast. 4.75/5

Theme or Fluff-This game runs like a combination of DnD, Lovecraft, Clive Barker, and Warhammer Fantasy. Robert Schwalb is a sick, twisted man, and you will enjoy every minute of it. The world of Shadow of the Demon Lord is already messed up before the Demon Lord casts his influence on it. You have a world full of monsters, craziness, and feuds long before the horrors from out of time and space show up to the party. The world is extremely well written, and built in such as way that expanding it will be easy while still giving you enough places to play and build on your own. Well done! HOWEVER, this is not a family-friendly game (unless you’re in the Manson family.) The book itself has graphic depictions of violence and monsters. Judge if this game would be appropriate for your group and yourself. As someone with a steady diet of Lovecraft, King, and the entire Aliens vs. Predator franchises, I only wanted more. 5/5

Execution-RPGs generally come in two flavors when it comes to organization: world first or mechanics first. This book goes mechanics first, but the mechanics are a bit disorganized. You can get a good understanding of the game from these rules, but you will have to read things a few times. Also, there are some slight organization problems. Character races are introduced, then base mechanics, followed by novice paths and so on. It breaks up the flow and makes you have to move around the book a few times in order to build a character. It’s nothing game-ending, but it’s a minor problem. However, the book does have a decent flow overall, a good layout, and reads well. It doesn’t have many blocks of text that bore the reader. This might not be the best organized book I’ve ever read, but it is at least better than average. And, unlike some companies I could name, this book has an index! The only thing this book doesn’t have that I feel it really should is an example adventure. Shadow of the Demon Lord is its own system. I love the system and world, but as a first time GM for the game, I would like to see how Schwald would like me to run it from his book. That omissions hurts the system a bit as I don’t have an example to base my own ideas off of. As a kickstarter backer, I get an adventure, but I’d like that thrown into the book to really help all the new players to this system. 4/5

Summary-This is a great game that is full of absolute horror. It’s got phenomenal, simple mechanics that allow players to focus on the story. The story itself is an absolute disaster in the best way possible. Every element of the world is well crafted and points to a world on the brink with the demon lord being the tipping point to drive things even further toward chaos. My only complaints are a possible feeling of lack of character options as well as the organization of the book. These complaints are minor as they don’t really hurt the game. Once you know how to play, how a book is organized is only a trivial thing. It’s a great game that I can’t wait to play more of. It’s a love letter to all the things I treasure-simple game mechanics I enjoy and horror authors who keep me up late at night under the covers. 92%

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Titansgrave: The Ashes of Valkana

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

Product- Titansgrave: The Ashes of Valkana System- AGE System Producer- Green Ronin Price- $13.99 here http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/153950/Titansgrave-The-Ashes-of-Valkana?src=hottest_filtered TL; DR- I only wish this had more. 88%

Basics-Cyberpunk, fantasy, and Wheaton-oh my! Titansgrave: The Ashes of Valkana is the much hyped book using the AGE System and a setting designed by several RPG powerhouses and Wil Wheaton himself. On the Tabletop YouTube page, Wheaton played several adventures of this game with his celebrity friends, and now you can play this game at home with your friends. What will happen when you disturbed the ashes of a long dead war?

Mechanics or Crunch-Titansgrave demonstrates some amazing uses for the AGE system, but doesn't quite hit the mark I was expected. The book has some phenomenal new additions to the system like a completely new chart to spend stunt points for one creature type in combat. Those kind of add-ons to a system show how robust and buildable the AGE system can be. The book doesn’t quite keep up that new energy throughout however. The basic Fantasy Age book introduces the system quite well, but Titansgrave doesn’t do enough to expand the system for this universe. I wanted several new additions, spells, and mechanics, however, I really only got a new race, some new items, and a few character options in the first chapter. They all work well, but it doesn’t do enough to really drastically enhance the system. AGE is great itself, but I want more to really make the AGE system Titansgrave own thing. 4/5

Theme or Fluff- Titansgrave tells an interesting story, but sadly one you’ve kind of “heard” before. The Titansgrave story is the fun romp from TableTop. Which if you saw TableTop is awesome. But, if you saw TableTop, then you have a general idea of what’s going to happen. I was hoping for a bit more original stuff like added adventures, side quests, and a continuing adventure in the world, but there is some things here to keep your players guessing. Also, the story is a bit linear. You can’t go too far off rails on this as the story is written ahead of time. 4.75/5

Execution-If you like the layout from Fantasy AGE, you will do fine here. This book is basically a giant version of the adventure at the back of the Fantasy AGE book with some serious additions. I’d like a bit more here as the art is good, but I need a few more maps to throw to my players and some more breaks in the text to help me better read the story. Overall, its well done and something that you can get through with general ease. 4.5/5

Summary-Titansgrave is the first big launch of the AGE system after it got its own push post-Dragon Age. This book isn’t my favorite RPG book of all time, but I think it does a good job of introducing the system and setting in a big way. The book provides a completely new world to play in. I’d like a bit more mechanics specific to the world, but what’s here is well done. The story is good, but depending on how much your players watch Titansgrave, they may have seen some of the high points. The book is well executed, and overall a fun read. After reading this book, I’m hungry for more in the Titansgrave setting. 88%

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Steel and Fury: Combat Maneuvers of the Mighty

Product- Steel and Fury: Combat Maneuvers of the Mighty System- Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG Producer- Purple Duck games Price- $7 here http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/147952/Steel-and-Fury-DCC TL; DR-A must have for the Dwarf or Fighter at the crawl! 97%

Basics-Cry havoc and let loose the dogs of war! Steel and Fury is a Fighter and Dwarf supplement for the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG. This book focuses on the Mighty Deeds of Arms for both of those classes by adding several new deeds that are specific for the type of weapon you are using as well as expanding the deeds by adding mighty criticals and mighty fumbles.

Mechanics or Crunch-Hands down a home run. Every mighty deed gets its own page with descriptions of what happening. Also, the addition of mighty criticals and fumbles really adds to the dice rolling crunch of this system. And, the book has an amazing resource- an end of the book table showing which weapons can do which deed (MORE BOOKS SHOULD DO THIS!). As the cherry on the sundae, even the old deeds get a revisit by adding the critical and fumble rules to them as well. This is well done and slick. 5/5

Theme or Fluff- Again, another home run. Every deed has a ton of story to it. Not only does each deed have a description, but also the deed has a quote from an appendix N fantasy story. That right there is awesome. Also awesome is the art. I honestly didn’t expect much art from a small publisher, but it’s here and well done. You will feel every crunch from this one as Steel and Furry builds on to a solid foundation of carnage. 5/5

Execution-We’ve had two home runs, so it’s time for a foul. I love the book. It’s got great spacing, great writing, text, tables, and great art. What I don’t like is the price tag. This book is $7 bucks for about 60 pages. That’s a bit much as much of this book is pages with tables. $7 isn’t enough to keep me away, but I think this should be around $4 to $5 to keep up with other publishers’ prices. 4.5/5

Summary-This is a great book and addition to the DCC rpg. Purple Duck Games really made a top notch product by supplying quite frankly a ton of new content to the system. Every weapon get some love. At the back is an amazing chart detailing what each weapon can do with the new and old mighty deeds. Even old deeds get new additions with mighty criticals and mighty fumbles. The story this book tells is great proving that a straight crunch book can bring some story and panache to the table. I think the book is a bit over priced. But, if you can stomach the price, this is a necessary book for any fighter and dwarf that hits the table. 97%

Ring Side Report-Crawl! No.8: Firearms!

Product- Crawl! No.8: Firearms! System- Dungeon Crawl Classics Producer- Stray Couches Press Price- ~$3 here http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/121302/Crawl-fanzine-no-8?term=crawl%21+firearms TL; DR- You brought a wizards to a gun fight! 93%

Basics-How about adding some guns to your DCC RPG game? This book provides rules for adding firearms to your game spanning black powder cap and ball guns to laser rifles.

Mechanics or Crunch- Overall, the rules in this book are really well done. This book provides different types of guns for however advanced a GM wants the guns to be in his/her home game. The guns from different ages have distinct feels. In addition to the standard gun y does x damage, there are new rules for duels as well as critical hit and fumble tables. I like most of the added mechanics, but some of the things like a critical hit that disarms you I don't like. It's good, but some things you might not completely agree with. 4.5/5

Theme or Fluff- DCC RPG has some of the best gonzo fantasy rules and themes of any RPG. I love what I see here. You can have modern day armies show up in a DCC RPG game and start drawing on your wizards and rogues. It's a blast! 5/5 . Execution-This one was reasonably well laid out, but some of the tables were a bit off. I could read everything well enough, but I would have liked the information separated into a table and then had a larger description of the tables contents in a separate area. It felt a bit cluttered. Nothing is horrible, but it wasn't my favorite layout for a Crawl! magazine. 4.5/5

Summary-If you love DCC RPG as much as I do, then you are going to buy this anyway. If you are not an addict, this is a good one. It's not my favorite, but it's a good addition to the magazine. There are some great rules for adding guns to a fantasy game. It's all optional, but if you want a touch weirder game by giving the warrior a blaster, this is a great way to handle the rules. 93 %

Ring Side Report-RPG Review of AMP Year One Originally posted at www.throatpunchgames.com, a new idea everyday! Product- AMP Year One Producer- Third Eye Games Price- ~$15 here http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/132784/AMP-Year-One TL; DR- Want some amazingly customizable superheroes? Look here! 93%

Basics- When they showed up, everything changed. AMP is a near future, heroic RPG. Players take the roles of super humans in 2015. The mutants have only been around and in large numbers for about a year, and the world isn't really read for what they have to offer. Will you fight to save mankind or destroy it? Are you here to put these monsters in their place or will you stand with the mutants? All of these are important questions that you will have to answer as you struggle to find where you fit in.

Mechanics or Crunch-This is a new RPG theme and with a ton of new mechanics. Let's do a rundown of some of the high points that are offer. Base mechanic-This game has echoes of its d20 past, and I mean that in a good way. Everything in this game is a d20 + skill A + skill B or d20 + 1 1/2 skill A. That's it. It's simple, it's quick, and it's fun to play. Want to treat an animal's wound? That's a d20 + beast handling + medicine. Want to shoot a gun? That's d20 +marksmanship*1.5. Simple enough. It only gets slow when both the target and the attacker have to roll to determine if a hit is a success. In my game, I found myself just saying 10 plus the skills for the attack or defense. That change made my game run just a bit quicker. Character Generation-This character generation is complex but has several walkthroughs. This is a true everything point by. You can really screw up your character if you try to min/max and fail horribly! Everything from your speed, to your health, to your attacks is all bought via points. You don't have to take any points in speed, but you will move really slowly. I love this style of customization, but newer RPG players really need to look over the example characters to make a useable character. Unlike DnD5e where you make about five choices, when you make your character in AMP, you have at least 20+ decisions to make. It's easy to do as the math of the system doesn't operate like the point buy from Shadowrun 4e, but don't expect your first character to be made in five minutes. Loyalties-One thing I wanted to point out from the character generation was loyalties. This game has lots of different themes that are really well integrated into the mechanics. One way that is done is with loyalties. When you make a character you decide how important various aspects of your life are. These range from your community, yourself, and to lovers you may have. Each rank in these provides in game bonuses with ranks varying from rank zero to rank five. I like the addition of mechanicals benefits from role-playing choices, and these loyalty ranks really provide that connection. Powers-It wouldn't be a superhero RPG without superhero powers. Powers come from several different general areas ranging from batteries (you store up energy) to behemoths (you are the Hulk!). These powers all have augmentations that provide extra benefits like the behemoth has the crush augmentation that adds extra damage on melee attacks or the bolt ability which allows you to fire elemental blasts at people. Most of these powers are dependent to on Juice. Juice can be thought of as adrenalin, and it powers the superpowers of the heroes and villains. Each broad category has a number of smaller augments that you get as you level up in the power. Some categories have several different augmentations, while some only have a few. It's a quick and easy way to broadly provide the foundation for lots of different hero powers, options, and flavors. Some of the names might be somewhat confusing, but looking over the powers the descriptions provide the rules and the story to how each power works. Summary-The mechanics of this book are well done. The game provides near endless customization and the ability to create the heroes and villains you want to be and see. The new ideas such as the loyalties are excellent mechanics that other RPGs should employ that really developed the mechanics and the theme together. However, this isn't perfect. Some aspects are a tad fiddly such as rolling for both attack and defense on both sides of the GM screen. It's not the worst thing in the world, but sometimes dealing with the amount of rolling in combat can be annoying. Also, character generation is somewhat difficult. If you know what you're doing, you get all the tools you need to make any hero, but if you are just by yourself readying a character for a friend's game, you might be lost in the amount of options you have to choose from. 4.75/5

Theme or Fluff- The basic story of AMP year One is that after World War I governments around the world worked on a super soldier project to stop war altogether. Over the generations, the children of the experiments developed these super powers and passed them on. Now, lots of super powered people are emerging. How will the world change because of this? What kind of person will you be? This is a standard comic book intro, and this is semi-cheesy. But, its super powered people. You have to expect a little cheese in that territory. Just look at the number to times Batman has died and come back to understand. While it might not be my absolute favorite intro story, it does leave a lot of room for the GM to design a story in the near future world of 2015. The first half of the book describes the history of the future, and provides lots of different story hooks as well as doing an excellent job of introducing the various groups at play in the lives of the mutants. Does this feel like the X-Men? Good! This RPG specifically mentions that as one of the main inspirations behind the themes of the game. And since there is no currently published X-Men RPG out there, this is the best solution if you want to play in that world. I think AMP does a great job driving home its theme while providing lots of different stories for the GM to run. 4.75.5

Execution- AMP is done fairly well. The powers section is a bit wordy, but all the powers get nice flow charts explaining what augments you have to take to take the next one. A little more art would be nice as well as color, but for a black and white book, it's done really well. The font, words, and layout all work well, and the hyperlinks don't make my iPad slow to a crawl. I would have liked a few more pre-generated antagonists for the PCs to face as well as a better guide on how to generate encounters. But, on the whole this is a well done book that was fun to read. 4.5/5

Summary-If you want to play a free form superhero RPG? Then, pick up this book. The mechanics are simple, the powers work well, and the execution is great. I have my minor gripes, but overall, this is a fun super hero RPG that isn't too crazy or cheesy. The world is fresh and interesting while providing enough open-endedness to give the GMs free reign in the stories they want to tell. I was actually pretty entertained by the story that this book had to tell. Since the tile of the book is AMP Year One, I hope the authors keep up with other AMP books or splat books to keep the metastory going. 93 %

Ring Side Report-RPG Review of Attack of the Buzz Originally posted at www.throatpunchgames.com, a new idea everyday! Product- Attack of the Buzz Producer- Third Eye Games Price- ~$3 here http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/137727/Attack-of-the-Buzz-Adventure-for-AMP-Year-One TL; DR- Know your group, and this will be a blast. 90%

Basics- Alice, Texas is under attack! Not by the mutants that are running around but by bees! Hundreds have died, and no one knows why the bees won't give up attacking people. Can you and the other AMPs you travel with find out how to prevent the bees from killing the town or will you end up like the rest of the town?

Mechanics or Crunch-The adventure is a fun one, but there are some problems depending on who is playing. This isn't a bad adventure for mechanics as everything presented makes sense in the AMP work and is balanced, but bees are swarms. And, swarms are always hard to fight. Especially with new characters. Some characters will be completely useless for some of the major scenes in this adventure. If you have a super computer hacker, then that character will spend most of his/her time running from the bees. It's a bold move for the first adventure put out by a system to feature swarms as the main villain, and I think it hurts the fun a bit. However, the adventure does provide some new powers as well some equipment to help smart players. What's here is good, but the mileage your players will get out of the module really depends on who is at the table. 4/5

Theme or Fluff-This is one of the major events in the AMP Year One story. My players enjoyed being part of the world and solving a major mystery that is presented in the main book. It was fun for the players to work out how to solve some problems as well as fighting for their lives! Also, the major groups all have reasons to send characters to this location helps me as a GM bring all the players to this location while still allowing the players to be whatever they want to be. I didn't feel like I had to shoehorn my players into this one size fits all adventure. 5/5

Execution-This product was laid out like the AMP Year One core book. Overall, that's good as I like the text, font, and layout, but I felt this lacked a few things. Alice, Texas doesn't have a map. That was somewhat troubling. However, I did like the fact that there is some new art like the main villain and the bees attacking the town. The art was well done, conveyed the sense of terror from a bee swarm attacking people, but didn't go gory. The RPG was still pretty age neutral, and that makes the super hero genera fun. I would have liked a bit more art, but for the price of the module, it's worth it. 4.5/5

Summary-As a mod that's a cold intro to the system, this one might not be favorite. The main enemies that are thrown against the player are kind of hard to deal with when players have limited resources and powers. That said, if your players know that swarms are a problem here and they can plan accordingly, then this is a fun module. I'd like a bit more to the module like a map, but for the price, I had fun and so did my players. It's a quicker mod as it doesn't have tons of scenes, but that's not a large problem. If you need your AMP fix and want to learn one of the major secrets in the AMP world, this is a great way to get some more of the system. 90%

Ring Side Report-RPG Review of Crawl! #10

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

Product- Crawl! #10 (Fanzine) Producer- Stray Couches Press Price-$3 here http://www.drivethrurpg.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 Emergence Roleplaying Game

Originally posted on www.throatpunchgames.com, a new idea everyday!

Product- Emergence Roleplaying Game Producer-3mergent Games System- Emergence RPG Price-~$16 here http://www.drivethrurpg.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.