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This is a thread for posting short reviews of RPGs and other trad games (including boardgames), rather than long, exhaustive reviews. The focus will be on first impressions. Try to be short and pithy. This is, after all, for people who don't have time to go through the lengthy reviews in other threads. ascendance fucked around with this message at 18:03 on Nov 24, 2014 |
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Nov 24, 2014 17:49
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| # ? Apr 30, 2024 00:27 |
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Aria Worlds I am running a brand new D&D game, and remembered I had this kicking around in my parent's basement, so I went home and got it. A quick survey of this game leaves me shaking my head in despair and surprise. People have called this game impenetrable. I just call it terrible. Sure, there's a ton of language (instead of a game master, you have a Mythguide; instead of an adventure, you have a Narrative; instead of a campaign, you have a Canticle), but the real problem is the system. Basically, skill checks are... add 3 attributes, divide by 6, add your skill. It's not exactly a system designed for quick and easy play. Also, the culture generation system feels extremely dated, what with the split between "Primitive" and "Civilized" cultures. Notwithstanding the fact that both kinds of cultures produce murderhobos and have settlements. Cultures are also seemingly quite monolithic, and there is little reference to conflicting agendas and centers of power. There's also the fact that creating a culture generates a poo poo ton of stats. Many stats are also used in complex formulas that generate other stats. The problem is, the stats are are basically tied to a bunch of descriptions, and aren't actually rolled or used in any kind of interactive way. If it wasn't dog eared, I would stick this on eBay. I'm sure some collector wants it.
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Nov 24, 2014 17:56
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Mouse Guard Play Mouse Guard. First, if the the comics or Redwall strike your interest, you'll be happy to know that it lives up to these books. Secondly, if you're looking for a good story game to get people into the hobby, it's a great gateway game. Thirdly, if you have a pulse and an imagination, you'll enjoy it. It bears repeating, play Mouse Guard. You might not be able to find new copies of the book, and second-hand copies are horrifyingly marked up in price, but it is completely, entirely worthwhile. There's also digital copies, but the physical version is something to fawn over. The comics are also rad. Drive Thru's shop page for it, presently on sale for $20.
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Nov 25, 2014 03:52
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Eldrich Horror It's like Arkham Horror, but in one (two) small boxes! Still needs quite a table. Get some friends and at least six hours of playtime, and you're good to battle Cthulhu. Or Azatoth, since the retard god/kill all button is the easiest to defeat/least complex in rules. You play against the board, so in theory you can do it alone, though it's better with friends. Specialization is kind of needed, since you can't be good at everything. Involves a fair bit of traveling. Like I said before, it's a looooong game and you're likely to lose, but it's fun, especially when crazy stuff happens and you step through a portal and your father shoots you while a younger you watches from his bed. Also, a surprising amount of portals to hellish dimensions lead to otherworld libraries with semi helpful monstrosities.
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Nov 26, 2014 13:23
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JcDent posted:Eldrich Horror In this vein, also check out Robinson Crusoe: Adventure on the Cursed Island. Like Arkham/Eldritch, it's a board game co-op Roguelike type of experience. Players are stranded together on a mysterious island with a randomized layout, and you play against the (quite harsh) board and a tight time limit in order to accomplish one of several scenarios, which you choose at the beginning of the game. Each scenario brings its own rules to the table regarding things like your time limit and your victory/loss conditions. In addition to pursuing that goal, you must gather materials and build tools and shelters in order to survive the elements, while hoping that you don't get murdered by wildlife before you can build a weapon. Exploration is important, as the map is made up of un-revealed tiles that have their own terrain features and unknown resources to obtain. There's lots of dice rolling involved to see if you don't die, which makes it ultimately Ameritrash, but it helps cut down on quarterbacking that you might see in a lot of co-ops because it's difficult to know what's going to be a good idea or a waste of time without just doing it. If you like long-playing, fiddly, co-op adventure games, it's definitely worth checking out, and the 6 scenarios that it ships with provide replay value with their self-contained rules variations, including a traitor mechanic.
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Nov 26, 2014 13:59
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| # ? Apr 30, 2024 00:27 |
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Spears of the Dawn is an OSR game which derives influence from African folklore and mythology. It's really great and stands out as a gem amid the retro-clones for various reasons. It's unafraid to get rid of sacred cows such as Alignment in order to make a good game, the author did actual research on African culture instead of Dan Browning it, and all classes get cool poo poo including the Warrior who has special moves known as Idahuns (or "replies") and is the resident skill-user in absence of a thief class. The author raised enough money to help the artists release all their work into the public domain so that others can follow in his footsteps for designing their own sourcebooks. Spears of the Dawn also has great advice for running a sandbox campaign, where the PCs are in charge of exploring places and there's no central plot railroading them. The mechanics are clean, straightforward, and simple. It blends both traditional D&D fantasy elements with African folklore to create a new and interesting world to explore. For example, the PCs all belong to a prestigious order of undead slayers known as the Spears of the Dawn who are also defenders of the common folk; arcane spellcasters manipulate a property known as ashe which is the fundamental building blocks of the physical world; spirits who aren't shown the proper respect via rituals after death stay in their bodies and rise as undead, so a lot of funerary practices have intrinsic value in helping the departed find safe passage to the afterlife.
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Jan 26, 2015 03:09
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