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Deadlands: the Weird West: Showdown at Sundown
Publisher: Pinnacle Entertainment
by Michael P. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 11/25/2022 19:30:14

This is a fun adventure to run. I ran this for my home group. Just a fair warning, your players might be hesitant to actually participate in the gunslinging competition and found dueling for as a recreational sport with live ammo as profoundly stupid. Even our gunslinger refused to actually participate. It's the equivalent of taking turns shooting each other with body armor.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Deadlands: the Weird West: Showdown at Sundown
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Deadlands: the Weird West
Publisher: Pinnacle Entertainment
by Michael P. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 11/25/2022 19:26:03

Played a campaign with this setting, been playing deadlands since The Flood with deluxe. Overall good quality artwork throughout the book, and game mechanics are solid, with alot of material you can poach for other settings as well.

The Good: The layout and art are pretty good and consistent throughout. It's very legible and easy to navigate. The game mechanics updates bring the game in line with SWADE, so if you are running swade the book is worth the purchase for that. Also this is probably one of the best versions of the enlightened kung fu mechanics. Lift that for a Wuxia game and youre off to a good start. Also the new focus on a single campaign county as opposed to constantly travelling is a good shift

The Bad: Personally, I didn't like the SWADE changes to arcane backgrounds. Hucksters lost alot of emphasis on dealin' with the devil, a mechanic that used to allow them to cast spells at a gamble of a poker hand instead of paying power points which recovered much slower for them. Now it's something to cast a spell they havn't taken a power for, making it a more situational gamble. Consequences for backlash have been diminished in all arcane backgrounds and now only function on a critical failure. Blessed and weird science are just other casters now, losing their unique mechanics. The mad scientist probably powers are now entirely trappings and function no different than a huckster mechanically.

The Ugly: As mentioned above the mad scientist is probably the worst thing in the book, but what maes this part especially ugly is the removal of the CSA as a faction. Previously the civil war never actually ended and the country was locked in a stalemate due to the arrival of ghostrock, magic and super weapons. It really sold the alternate history aspect and allowed us a fresh setting on a familiar map. It got alot more bland after that, it feels alot less "alternate history" and more "heres the wild west with magic"

Overall, if you prefer swade mechanics, its worth getting. You may want to consider revamping the mad scientist and adding back in the csa or using the lore from the previous editions.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Deadlands: the Weird West
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Hero Kids - Fantasy RPG
Publisher: Hero Forge Games
by Michael P. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 11/25/2022 19:12:29

So I pulled the trigger on this game a while back and never ended up using it. Started my kids on basic D&D instead, but it was a close call. I looked pretty hard for a game I wanted to run with my kids and found the majority of games designed for kids were just downright awful and underestimated the kids ability and was very clearly what an adult thought someone elses kids would like. Hero kids isnt like that, it allows them to go on very similar adventures to what the grown ups are doing at the table, and the game resolution system is very simple and leaves most of the content up to the gm. I also liked that the game doesnt preach "the message" or anything weird from whats going on in the real world and focuses on allowing kids to enjoy these games that their parents might. If I was going to pick a game oriented towards kids, it would be this one.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Hero Kids - Fantasy RPG
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ZWEIHANDER RPG: Revised Core Rulebook
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
by Michael P. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 10/06/2021 09:41:44

Shameless rip off of WHFRP, filed off some serial numbers and sanitized it for "modern audiences." Just play what you really want to play and go get WHFRP 2e, and if youre looking for a spiritual successor check out shadows of the demon lord. Don't support an author whose claim to fame is dangerously close to plagiarism, while with the other hand goes around crusading against anyone he believes has plagiarized his products.



Rating:
[1 of 5 Stars!]
ZWEIHANDER RPG: Revised Core Rulebook
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Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition
Publisher: Onyx Path Publishing
by Michael P. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 10/06/2021 09:33:17

Oh boy where do I start, 20th anniversery mage the ascension should have been great. Mage the Ascension was one of the first RPGs I ever picked up, I had a passion for the story and the idea of such an urban fantasy. Unfortunately this is an echo of it's former self. The layout and formatting are decent enough but the art is incredibly mediocre. It's sanitized to the point of having no soul. Everything is written to be as inoffensive as possible and with it there is no daring or flare. Several factions are renamed to a more politically correct name and the focus has moved from the traditions to the orphans, because hermeticism is bad or something. The book is incredibly preachy especially when you get to the appendexes. Don't get me wrong, the game is very playable and the rules themselves are just 2nd edition in a new packaging. But i'm going to quote dragon magazine 39 here, published in 1981

"If someone uses a fantasy game or novel as a soap box or a pulpit, that person has...turned a form of art into a form of propaganda or pornography." - Dragon Magazine Issue 39.

I'll stick to the older editions if I want more mage, or my own homebrew urban fantasy setting. This is a hard pass for me, but don't be surprised if this review is deleted soon. DTRPG acts awfully suspicious when it comes to negative reviews.



Rating:
[1 of 5 Stars!]
Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition
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Sprawlrunners
Publisher: Pinnacle Entertainment
by Michael P. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 11/12/2020 20:03:41

This product is just pure awesome, complete with art and over 70 pages of material. The author makes good use of space and I never really felt like any of the book was unneccessary. im definitely going to be using some of this for my table particularly the expanded hacking rules and maybe some of the gear.

Up front though both cyberware and equipment function on unique points systems you acquire through edges as opposed to acquiring them with wealth or money. mechanically it seems solid but i think for my table we will be using cyberware amd gear in the more traditional sense rather than being tied to edges. Thats just personal preference.

overall i think this in conjunction with existing books, it is a useful toolkit. So even though im not a big fan of cyberware as edges, the overall product is still worth 5 stars and im glad i picked it up



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Sprawlrunners
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Savage Worlds Adventure Edition
Publisher: Pinnacle Entertainment
by Michael P. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/16/2019 13:01:45

Truly one of my favorite rpgs of all time. For the longest time i thought universal or "generic" rpgs were a waste of time until savage worlds. I started with deluxe and then this came out. The best part about pinnacle is they don't reinvent the wheel with every edition of the game, so all of your previous material is largely compatible or easily converted on the fly. Magic got a boost in this version, and some interesting dynamic elements like universal spell modifiers similar to SPC2 for super powers. Power points regenerate faster with rest and backlash now only happens on a critical failure. Also martial arts and grappling are now awesome and face characters are actually playable. Also players are slightly harder to kill outright, but that hasn't stopped me int he slightest from wracking up a small body count in my deadlands game.

The book itself the artwork is good, funny enough instead of focusing on iconic characters from various settings or adventures or random genres, it is the same group of players who make the same type of characters across multiple genres.

Its very easy to read, by the time i was finished with it i had so many different games i wanted to run. Ultimately this is an improvement over previous editions my only real criticism is as versatile as the system is ive still had some issues with magic for diffirent types of settings or spellcasters and variety of powers. And i think i still prefer the old weird scientist.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Savage Worlds Adventure Edition
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Shadows of Esteren - Book 1 Universe
Publisher: Agate RPG
by Michael P. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/16/2019 12:47:17

Okay so a little big of background here. I have backed this project since this book and continued to back the project up until dearg part 1. I know i'm a bit late with this but it's appropriate. So i'll try to be thorough here and be as fair as I can. I'll start with the fact that i loved the idea of the world, the art and even the music accompaniment.

The Good

  • The Art, its fantastic and evocative.
  • The world, barring a few eccentricacies it is well done. Seperated into 3 kingdoms that are basically science vs religion vs tradition.
  • The skill and attribute system, i liked the idea of domains. Much like a skill group you raise the entire group until you reach a certain point you put points into specific specialties. Like close combat > swords. You're good in close combat but youre really good with a sword.
  • Simple to understand rules.

The Bad

  • The system math is a bit quirky play. For example, roll 1d10 + attribute + skill vs Defense. Meet or exceed target number. If its a hit, weapon damage + the difference. So it ended up being something like (1d10+ attribute + skill ) - (defense) + (weapon damage) - (Armor). Realistically we just added weapon damage and armor to attack and defense and did the difference. Either way there is no clean quick way to calculate it.
  • The game is incomplete, large portions of important pieces of information are missing regarding both the game system and the world. Even a basic bestiary would have been nice with templates for general npc extras like guards or knights or even horses and dogs.
  • Expensive for what you get. 25 dollars for a pdf, 50 or so for a hard copy for an incomplete game and simple system where most of the answers end up being "you the game master figure it out" on how sorcery works, who fiondas are, and how to create challenges and extras.
  • Here is the worst part, the kickstarters. Every book starts with a kickstarter as crowd funding. I understand they are a small studio but they manage to get a bunch of random products out while the material we actually paid for takes a backseat. I understand things happen but for example, Dearg part 1 was supposed to come out in the summer of 2017, which means i probably ordered it sometime around q3 of 2016. I just got my books in 2019. 2 and a half years is unacceptable for a paid product.

So in summary they take too long on their kickstarters for a game worth maybe about half the price its actually selling for.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Shadows of Esteren - Book 1 Universe
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Shadows of Esteren - Monastery of Tuath
Publisher: Agate RPG
by Michael P. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/16/2019 12:22:16

This was probably one of their better adventures that can be dropped in most campaign settings. I loved the use of clue cards as the players explore the monestary. My biggest problem while running it was the players threatening to leave at the first sign of danger.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Shadows of Esteren - Monastery of Tuath
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Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition Quickstart
Publisher: Onyx Path Publishing
by Michael P. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/16/2019 12:20:27

I wanted to love this product, i was a huge fan of mage for a long time. The game system i just as clunky as always, but i don't like the changes made to the lore and renaming of factions. The pregens are all over the place and make very little sense and arent very likeable overall you play a gang of hobos fighting what amounts to be "the man" i did in all fairness, try to run it as is but like i said i couldn't really stand the pregens or the basic premise. When you have access to that much magic you would think that you could use your basic talents to not live in squalor. I think ill stick to older editions or ars magica



Rating:
[1 of 5 Stars!]
Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition Quickstart
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Shadows of Esteren - Book 0 Prologue
Publisher: Agate RPG
by Michael P. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/16/2019 12:12:32

Great couple of one shots and fantastic art. The game master should be a bit experienced for some of them, particularly in running mysteries.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Shadows of Esteren - Book 0 Prologue
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World of Darkness: God-Machine Rules Update
Publisher: Onyx Path Publishing
by Michael P. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/16/2019 12:10:28

Great updates on an old game, mechanically soun. Not a huge fan of the new metaplot or OPP/WWP



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
World of Darkness: God-Machine Rules Update
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Savage Worlds: Test Drive 2012
Publisher: Pinnacle Entertainment
by Michael P. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/16/2019 12:09:01

It was written for savage worlds deluxe but can be used with swade with a little bit of converion for the pregens. One of the best free adventures released and a great jumping point for a modern horror/modern fantasy campaign.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Savage Worlds: Test Drive 2012
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Dragon Age RPG Quick Start Guide
Publisher: Green Ronin Publishing
by Michael P. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/16/2019 12:07:40

I dont want to pour into a ton of wordcount where on a product you can just get for free but overall i felt the system was lacking. The world and the art is generally fine mostly just emulated the games, but my issue came with the fact that it feels like everyone has buckets and buckets of health and not enough damage to compensate turning combat into a slog. Reminded of D&D 4e. Anyway great setting but i cant recommend the system.



Rating:
[1 of 5 Stars!]
Dragon Age RPG Quick Start Guide
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Fast Lane Hacking
Publisher: Pinnacle Entertainment
by Michael P. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 06/16/2019 23:12:57
I really enjoyed this, I havn't gotten the chance to playtest it yet but it is definitely a good expansion on hacking rules that keeps with the spirit of savage worlds and the best part is it is setting agnostic. So the rules can work in any scifi setting. You don't need it to feature hacking in your game, but if it is a big theme in your setting i'd strongly suggest checking it out. It's only a dollar too. Its definitely inspired by shadowrun flavor, without the headache of the being too complicated.

Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Fast Lane Hacking
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