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Originally posted at Throat Punch Games, a new idea every day!

Product- Pathfinder Dark Archive
System- Pathfinder 2nd Ed
Producer- Paizo
Price- $41.99
TL; DR-New toys and adventures for things that go bump in the night. 97%

Basics- What goes bump in the night? Dark Archive focuses on all the stuff that gets thrown into your average Halloween party. It covers psychics, occult inquisitors called thaumaturges, archetypes, feats, spells, and a TON of adventures. Let’s dig in to this book!

Mechanics or Crunch- I love what’s here, but there are small problems that hurt things overall. The two new classes fit within the world of wizards, warriors, and clerics as now we have a mind wizard and an occult paladin. There may be a slight bit of power creep as these might be a bit better than the core classes, but it’s nothing absolutely game breaking. Feat, spell, and archetypes all fit solidly there as well. Interestingly enough, this book has almost MORE for the GM than the players. There are adventures and ways to upgrade monsters to add the occult feel like cryptids and secret societies. Aside from a bit of power creep, the other thing that I feel hurts this is the lack of inclusion into Pathfinder Society. PFS is the majority of the way I play an while I LOVE that adventures are included, new options that you only get when weird stuff happens to you are not given as options in the PFS documenting materials. What is here is well done, but balance and lack of inclusion into Paizo’s flagship gaming market hurt the book a bit. 4.75/5

Theme or Fluff- As a lover of ghost stories and campfire monsters, this book calls to me. I love the flavor here and the fact that crunch is being tied deeper into story. The new ways to add things like cults and monsters also helps. What’s here is amazing. I am slightly sad I didn't see much Lovecraft lore here. We can make it, but I still want my crazy horrors from beyond time and space to make more of an appearance in a book where time magic and feats get put into the system. Couple that with adventures that GMs can drop in instantly, this is a solid book on the Pathfinder occult. 4.9/5

Execution- This is a physical book and a PDF by Paizo, so I’m almost automatically going to love it. Solid layout, fonts, formats, hyperlinks make this a great book and a breeze to read. My one minor issue is this is a book with almost as many pages for the GM as the players. It would be nice to have a PDF of the maps and pictures that I can show to the players like they do with their adventure paths. But, if my criticism is that I want more, that's a good place to be in production. 4.9/5

Summary- I love me some crazy stuff, so I love me this book. I listen to too many podcasts about monsters, skepticism regarding monsters, and ghost stories to pass this book up. It has great additions to the system that might be a touch overpowered compared to things before. It has fun adventures with some amazing options that I wish PFS players could get their hands on. It has solid production, but a lack of web enhancements might hold it back a bit. What’s here is good, but I just want more ways to get at it. 97%

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

Product- Starfinder Beginner Box
System- Starfinder
Producer- Paizo
Price- $29.99
TL; DR- Good with a few issues 90%

Basics- To the stars! The Starfinder Beginner Box is the intro box for the Starfinder RPG, walking players through some basic character generation, how to play, and an intro adventure. It also provides dice, maps, and cardboard standees.

Mechanics or Crunch- What’s here is good, but is is missing a few key things. The walkthrough of how to play is a solid introduction to the game. But, and it’s a big but, it does leave out several things like starship combat. I LOVE Starfinder so that’s something that I think needs to be shown off. Also, as the GM, some of the skills are mislabeled. The skills that are used are simplified versions of the main skills to make life a bit easier for new players and GMs, but I feel that kind of handicaps the learning experience. That all said, it does work well and is a decent introduction to the system. 4.25/5

Theme or Fluff- The box set gives a solid introduction to the world and system, if a bit stifled. You get enough, but the adventure is a dungeon crawl. Not bad, but a bit simplified for an adventure. There are some social interactions, but I’d like more. The Pathfinder 2nd ed. Beginner box has two whole levels of dungeon, and I feel this was just a bit short. It works well, but I wanted more. 4.25/5

Execution- What’s here is fantastic. I love the maps, standees, and books. Everything that is included is done well. Solid work! 5/5

Summary-This is a good, if short, introduction to Starfinder. I like what’s here, but just need more. I want a short space shootout. I want more social. I want full skills,not simplified ones. But those are small wants compared to my friends who learned the system quickly from the box, and myself who was able to GM a game on the fly with minimal prep using this starter set. It’s good, but you will learn more when you buy the full book. 90%

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

Product- Pathfinder Adventure Path #165: Eyes of Empty Death (Abomination Vaults 3 of 3)
System- Pathfinder
Producer- Paizo
Price- $24 here https://paizo.com/products/btq024xm?Pathfinder-Adventure-Path-165-Eyes-of-E mpty-Death
TL; DR-Solid finish to the AP! 97%

Basics- Time to end this! Eyes of Empty Death is the finale of the Abomination Vaults adventure path. You’re DEEP underground and it's now time to deal with the evils that are rising to destroy Absalom. What horrors are this far underground?

Mechanics or Crunch- This is another solid Paizo adventure. Overall, the mechanics worked well and things felt balanced. There are a few things that I feel need a slightly better explanation like how some elements work during the final fight. But, those you can hand wave easily enough. It might not be perfect, but it worked well enough. 4.5/5

Theme or Fluff- This was a fun story overall with extra interesting bits of world lore. The story had new characters and twists with a crazy ending that the players enjoyed. There HAS to be a load bearing boss at the end, because I’ve played enough classic Nintendo games to know it must be. However, all those things just add to the charm of this one. 5/5

Execution- PDF? Yep. Hyperlinked? Yes! Solid Art? Yep. Good layout? Yes. It’s a book by Paizo, so I was never in doubt of the quality. For 20 bucks as a PDF, you get a lot of nice toys, art, layout, and a solid extra book of maps that you can change levels and elements on. Overall, this is all the things I wanted from a modern book! 5/5

Summary- This was a solid conclusion to the adventure path, and while well done, if you like it will entirely depend on if you want a dungeon crawl. The levels are only semi connected and it's a lot of random between them, but that’s the fun of a dungeon crawl. You do random stuff and have fun. I thought it was a well done version of that. So, if you want a nine level dungeon crawl, here you go! 97%

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Starfinder Adventure Path #40: Planetfall (Horizons of the Vast 1 of 6)

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

Product- Starfinder Adventure Path #40: Planetfall (Horizons of the Vast 1 of 6)

System- Starfinder

Producer- Paizo

Price- $22.99 here https://paizo.com/products/btq026i0/discuss?Starfinder-Adventure-Path-40-Pl anetfall

TL; DR- Fun but it can drag if not careful! 87%

Basics- INTO THE UNKNOWN! Settle a planet and fend off the wildlife AND the friends you brought along the way in this Kingmaker in Space adventure!

Mechanics or Crunch- This adventure focuses on building and exploring a location. The problem with this and most other RPGs of this kind is randomness. Each hex has a random chance to happen there unless something is scripted. This problem can lead to you having way too many encounters to the point the book even says reduce the experience the players get. That feels a bit cheap. Couple that with the fact that there are only eight random encounters means players can get bored quickly with the encounters. There are scripted events and locations that do make things more fun, but be aware! It’s fun, but it can get a bit same-y for the fights. Most of the fun comes from the social and that is done well, but if a party just makes all murder hobos which are excellent in the bush, they will get decimated in town as they will be out maneuvered at every turn by the people they came to lead! 4/5

Theme or Fluff- Just like in the crunch, the story can get same-y if you are not careful. Depending on how players handle the world, they can spend tons of time just running around in circles exploring the same hexes again and again if they are slow. The town encounters and managing all the NPCs is the bulk of the story in this one. There is some toward the end showing the world is more than it might have seemed, but most of the time there is just town and other local claims to deal with as the bulk of the story. It’s fun, but this is an intro game that will help power level the characters more than dig deep into the story. 4/5

Execution- PDF? Yep. Hyperlinked? Yep. Solid Art? Yep. Good layout? Honestly yes. Paizo does books and adventures well. Paizo was a publishing company before an RPG company, and honestly that experience shows in a clean book that is easy to read. 5/5

Summary-There is a reason players wanted Kingmaker in space. You build a location and make it shine! This book sets the foundation for that, but like all foundations it takes time to set up. This one is a bit slow and honestly needs an expanded random encounter table as eight separate things is just not enough. Give me 20 or give me more set encounters in each place, even if they don’t advance the story! That right there would lift this WAY up in the ranks as even my players had almost memorized what the D8 meant for the coming encounter! The story that is here is fun and my players quickly learned to love and HATE some NPCs. That makes me happy as a GM. It goes almost without saying that I love Paizo’s bookmanship, so top marks there. It’s a good adventure that just needs a bit more for the random to keep things a bit more entertaining. 87 %

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Pathfinder Society Scenario #4-05: The Arclord Who Never Was

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

Product- Pathfinder Society Scenario #4-05: The Arclord Who Never Was
System- Pathfinder
Producer- Paizo
Price- $6 here https://paizo.com/products/btq02dw7?Pathfinder-Society-Scenario-405-The-Arc lord-Who-Never-Was
TL; DR-Good overall story, but small issues in the middle beats. 83%

Basics- Who is the skull? You find a talking skull…what the heck is up with that? Find out who the skull is and continue the mystery of the fey who want it!

Mechanics or Crunch- The math is all balanced for this adventure, but the progression of it is a bit skewed. This adventure is basically several skill tests, a potential fight, skill test/fight, plot, skill tests, then end fight. Players who are combat monsters will be a bit bored as the goal of most damage will not be a major time sink for the game. It is all balanced for the numbers and skills used, but the game is moving to much more explore, report, corporate and less destroy all things. 4/5

Theme or Fluff- The overall story of this adventure is great, but the beat by beat is a bit off. The basics are to learn about the skull. Characters are introduced in throw away lines and given full pictures, but I don't honestly know who they are and how they fit into the flow. This leads to players asking questions that I honestly can’t answer. It’s nice to have, but it feels off. One example is a NPC who talked to the skull as a person, but that person is mentioned exactly four times. All four times are either in the paragraph saying he talked to her or his pictures. NO real description of who he is and why we care. The major pieces are fun and the second half of the adventure comes together well. The first half has good things that just don't fit true. 3.5/5

Execution- PDF? Yep. Hyperlinked? Yep. Solid Art? Yep. Good layout? Yep! This is what I expect from a Paizo adventure. I complained that there are TOO many pictures. That’s a good problem to have. 5/5

Summary- I like the metaplot between the starter adventure, this adventure, and the last of the trilogy about this magic talking skull. The crunch is good, but not even. If you just want to beat things, this is not your adventure. If you want to explore a magic town, this is a blast. As a GM, some pieces don’t quite work. I want more background on some characters. Help me use the NPCs and their pictures to fill out the social bits of the adventure. It’s physically well done, and the big story is a blast. I just need more flow in the middle. 83%

Originally posted at Throat Punch Games, a new idea every day!

Product- Starfinder Society Intro: Year of Fortune's Fall
System- Starfinder
Producer- Paizo
Price- $6 here https://paizo.com/products/btq02eg2?Starfinder-Society-Intro-Year-of-Fortun es-Fall
TL; DR-Welcome to the sixth season! 90%

Basics- LET’S GO TO THE… museum? The Starfinder society is partnering with many different groups to show off artifacts of the past. What wonders will be shown, what friends will be made, and who might want to mess with this display?

Mechanics or Crunch- Paizo has a solid adventure here, with a decent balance of talking and combat. The flow is mostly talking for the first half and then combat for the second. There are a lot of NPCs to sway, so combat might get a little bit left to the side as its really only two fights. That said, it's done well. 4.5/5

Theme or Fluff- This is a one building adventure. You really only spend time in one museum for the entire adventure, schmoozing with different people learning about things that will happen later in the season's adventures. That is pretty standard for the first adventure in a Starfinder Society season. My one issue is the adventure is pretty short. Most of the time I run this it's less than three hours for a five hour session. The players have fun and the story is decent. Overall, its a good addition to the first adventures of each season. 4.5/5

Execution- PDF? Yep. Hyperlinked? Yep. Solid Art? Yep. Good layout? Yep! This is what I expect from a Paizo adventure. Things are not perfect, as they give good pictures for everything except for one enemy type, so you will need your own picture. It’s not bad by any means, but it's one small thing. 4.5/5

Summary- This is a fun adventure. It's short and a little unbalanced in story tempo if you are a combat monster, but overall it's a good one. I had fun, and so did my players. It’s not perfect, but definitely one that I will be gladly running for multiple groups this year! 90%

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

Product- Treasure Vault
System- Pathfinder 2nd Ed.
Producer- Paizo
Price- $56 here https://paizo.com/products/btq02eav?Pathfinder-Treasure-Vault
TL; DR-Make or buy something fun! 95%

Basics- IT HAS POCKETS! Treasure Vault is the TTRPG equivalent of a Toys r Us Christmas catalog. Lots of new toys for everyone to play with, from alchemists with new materials, to spell additions that give some extra umph to the fireball, or the fighter with the ability to add pockets to armor.

Mechanics or Crunch- Overall, this book has a solid crunch to the system. There are lots of new toys that everyone can use and enjoy. It's an item book and the items fit with the rest of the toys in the rest of the system. My one major issue is that some things are left out because they are covered in other books. Tell me where those are from so I can check the rules out in those books. It's not a major thing but it's enough so I was a bit confused on some new additions in this book and lead me to check out others books for the rules. Also, the newer rules on crafting are good, but they reference things without giving enough background so I was a bit confused there on first read. More links to the other materials and books would help. Good stuff but enough confusion that I was a bit lost as I read through some of the sections. 4.25/5

Theme or Fluff- I was surprised by the amount of theme present in here! There is a framing device where a dragon and a kobold discuss the new items and materials. It's enjoyable! In addition, all the new toys the book presents are honestly fun and more fitting to the world. 5/5

Execution- This is a slam dunk. Solid layout, easy to read font, hyperlinks, and solid art all make this an easy and enjoyable book for anyone to use. Well done book craftsmanship. 5/5Summary-This book is another solid addition to Pathfinder 2nd Ed. The book is crafted well from a technical standing. The new toys for players all feel fresh enough that players will enjoy them and they feel like they fit in the world. Even the new things all fit well within the mechanics of the world. My main issue is I would like more rules to help me understand how some things are used or how some things are done. If you or your players want more items to spend that sweet, sweet GP on, or or more things to make, this is the book you need for Pathfinder! 95%

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

Product-Pathfinder Adventure Path #164: Hands of the Devil (Abomination Vaults 2 of 3)
System- Pathfinder 2nd Ed
Producer- Paizo
Price- $24.99 here https://paizo.com/products/btq027jm?Pathfinder-Adventure-Path-164-Hands-of- the-Devil
TL; DR-Another solid piece of the Abomination Vaults puzzle 100%

Basics- How deep is the place? Hands of the Devil dives deeper into the lighthouse from Ruins of Gauntlight. Players meet new people, monsters, and horrors beyond time as they delve deeper into the lighthouse's history and people. Are your players willing to sell someone else to the devils?

Mechanics or Crunch- This is a dungeon crawler. You kill monsters and find loot. Monsters are fun and new but balanced at the same time. Solid work from Paizo. There are also new items and character options, so this book might not be for everyone, but it does try to have materials that everyone can enjoy. 5/5

Theme or Fluff- The first book of the adventure path was very much find stuff, kill stuff, and that was fun. This one has multiple factions and people all trying to one up each other. It's a welcome change of pace. Your characters can still kill everyone and take their stuff, but there is MUCH more here than the first few levels for story and interaction. This book also has players do a lot more in town, further strengthening the roleplaying aspect. It’s a welcome change of pace. 5/5

Execution- Solid art, layout, text, story, hyperlinks, maps, and flow all make this a BREEZE to read. Paizo knows good books and their adventure paths are where they really shine. 5/5

Summary- There isn’t much more to say than this is well done. Solid fun fights, good story, and excellent execution all typify this one. I like what's here as the players can now decide if they want to talk to the monsters instead of just kill them. They CAN just kill them, but it is still fun to see if the monsters now want to eat them or have my players just want to kill them. This is a solid intro dungeon crawl for Pathfinder, and one I’m glad I'm running with my group. 100 %

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

Product-Starfinder Society Intro: Year of Redemption's Rise
System- Starfinder
Producer- Paizo
Price- $5.99 here https://paizo.com/products/btq02c6r?Starfinder-Society-Intro-Year-of-Redemp tions-Rise
TL; DR- A simple, yet solid intro adventure. 93%

Basics- STARFINDERS! The society calls you to make friends? Year of Redemption Rise is the latest intro module for the 5th year of Starfinder society. Starfinders meet three new factions, learn the basics of these factions, and help each with a micro adventure. It’s the standard fare for a faction introduction adventure, so let’s see how it stacks up.

Mechanics or Crunch- This adventure is a solid balance of fights and fluff. Players will talk with just as many NPCs as they shoot at. The crunch here for both sections is well balanced and thought out. It’s not reinventing the society’s basics, but it does a good job with the pieces it does have. 5/5

Theme or Fluff- What’s here is good, but there is not much here. The major adventure beats are leading a tour group, clearing an abandoned house, clearing a greenhouse, and cooling a political discussion. Nothing bad and it does set up for the future conflicts of tech vs. self sufficiency, but don’t expect some crazy inversion of the adventure template. You meet new groups, make friends with them, and then finish pretty quickly. Short, simple, and sweet. 4.5/5

Execution- Short, simple, and sweet is a good description of the execution of this book as well. Good layout, good pictures, a map for those who don’t have the specific map for clearing the abandoned facility, and easy to master intro and outro pieces for GM in a hurry. Six bucks is a bit steep for this, but that is my only complaint for this module. 4.5/5

Summary- This adventure reminds me of many of the other faction intro adventures. Paizo does their execution well, but it's a bit pricey. The basic crunch in them all is well done and shows a mastery of the system. And while the story is basic, it does a good job introducing new major characters to the players. Overall is this is a solid adventure and introduction to the next year as the society heals its rifts and repairs who it is. 93%

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

Product-Guns and Gears

System- Pathfinder 2nd Ed

Producer- Paizo

Price- $14.99 here https://paizo.com/products/btq029xk?Pathfinder-Guns-Gears

TL; DR- Solid new Pathfinder toys and toy based characters! 95%

Basics- BRING THE BOOM! Guns and Gears brings solid steampunk and introductory industrialization to the Pathfinder setting with new technology and themes, two new classes, a new race, and countless new character options and items.

Mechanics or Crunch- Paizo knows their system the best and they bring the best new materials for their toys. The new classes are fun parts of an ever expanding world. The Inventor is the steampunk inventor you may be searching for, with no magical background or ties like the alchemist. The Gunslinger brings pure boom to any encounter. The new race the Automaton is an interesting, but well supported addition to the world of Golarion. There is just a TON of materials with all kinds of new toys such as new guns, tools, and magic items that can help turn the tide of battle. My only complaints are that the Gunslinger feels a bit under-powered. It is an absolute crit machine, but guns can fall flat if a character spends a day hitting but not critting. That said, what Paizo has here is a FANTASTIC addition to the crunch of Pathfinder. 4.75/5

Theme or Fluff- Guns and Gears is not a small book and there is just an absolute TON of new stuff here. Now in a tool book you would think its just item lists, and there is that, but there is also a bunch of fluff to bring the new stuff into the old game. Pathfinder 1st ed is about 10 years ago in the world of Golarion, so this helps advance the world as the fantasy world gets a bit more pre-industrial. All that said, one thing sticks out and this may just be a me-problem: automatons. I always hate new races in old parts of the world as if we just magically found them in the same places we were. That and they feel out of place and honestly more like a warforged in PF2. Not a game breaker, but something I don’t think I would have wanted in my game. Another nitpick is there are no new spells here, and I feel that's a reasonable, but somewhat annoying choice. If you want some gun spells, look elsewhere. The writers wanted to focus more on mechanics and less on magic, so while I might want some spells, it's ok they are not here. 4.5/5

Execution- It’s Paizo- they know solid book production. Good layout, art, font, hyperlinking, and all the pieces I expect from a AAA RPG company. It's a 50 buck book, but as an evil millennial, I mostly like PDFs, so the 14 bucks for a digital file is extremely worth it. 5/5

Summary-I honestly love Pathfinder 2nd Ed. It's all the pieces of 4th, 3rd, and 5th Edition DnD I want. And differentiating itself from DnD by moving to a more steampunk and pre-industrial culture will help it grow by further making its own path. Guns and Gears is a solid step in that direction with amazing classes, items, and class options. The missteps I see are maybe more opinion; even if they are not my favorite things, they are done well. If you want less magic and more mechanics mayhem in your Pathfinder 2nd Ed, you need this book now! 95%

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

Product- Pathfinder Society Intro: Year of Shattered Sanctuaries
System- Pathfinder 2nd Ed
Producer- Paizo
Price- $5.99 here https://paizo.com/products/btq027s9/reviews&page=2?Pathfinder-Society-I ntro-Year-of-Shattered-Sanctuaries#tabs
TL; DR-A simple and solid adventure 86%

Basics- YOU ARE NEEDED PATHFINDERS! This is an intro scenario for new pathfinders and players of all ages. From a mushroom man trying to sort letters to uncovering a simple mystery can you, a new agent, help the Society in a time of need?

Mechanics or Crunch- This is a simple adventure that gets players rolling dice fairly quickly, but has a slightly slow start. It’s not a super risk taking adventure like the 2-01 intro, but it does introduce many society elements and grander plots. After learning about different adventures around the world, the game is a series of battles. Good for intro fun with some basic elements. It's not crazy-advanced crunch, but it’s solid fun for new players. 4.5/5

Theme or Fluff- Much like the crunch, the adventure doesn’t take risks, has a slow start, but is a decent intro to the world of Pathfinder society. Reading letters at the start is a bit slow, but it does introduce the wider world quickly. The fights are fun if a little standard for 1st level. This isn’t an adventure to push the envelope, but it also doesn’t aim to be. 4/5

Execution- Paizo knows adventures, but they are also the most pricey. I like this one. It has a solid layout, pictures, and design, but it's also an adventure that will only take about three hours, even with an uninitiated adventuring party. It's a bit expensive considering what other comparably priced adventures do. Not bad, but short. 4.5/5

Summary- The first adventure of a season is always a contentious adventure. Push the envelope too much and people get a bit lost as new players. Don’t do enough and you end up with just four smaller adventures showing off factions. This strikes a decent balance, but in doing so it doesn’t take risks in terms of scope or being adventurous. It's also a Paizo product and they put out well done, if expensive adventures. It works well, though it is a bit simple. 86%

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

Product- Pathfinder Society Scenario #2-02: Mountain of Sea and Sky
System- Pathfinder
Producer- Paizo
Price- $5.99 here https://paizo.com/products/btq024wz?Pathfinder-Society-Scenario-202-Mountai n-of-Sea-and-Sky

TL; DR-A better first scenario! 98%

Basics- Pathfinder! The Society calls! A new lodge is being built and new agents are needed to help with getting the area settled. You won’t be wielding a hammer. The land needs to be purified and the locals may help or hurt if you make enough friends. An intro adventure for levels 1 to 4.

Mechanics or Crunch-I love the crunch here. There are a ton of fights, but none drag on. Also, there are multiple things like social encounters, exploration, and some solid fights as well. Heck there is even a hard boss fight, but like all good RPGs, if you play smart and make friends, life is easier. This feels like a great introduction to the system and world, even better than 2-01. 5/5

Theme or Fluff- Story, combat, exploration, and social-all parts of a solid whole that make a fun adventure. When I run this I have a blast and so do my players. Nothing drags; there is always time left but you leave feeling full. More adventures like this are needed to pull new pathfinders into the fold. 5/5

Execution- PDF? Yes. Hyperlinked? Yes. Good layout, handout, and all the other basics make this a solid adventure. The only thing I don’t like are the maps that are marked up so I have to buy the other map somewhere else. That always feels cash grabby, but that is the only bad thing here. 4.75/5

Summary-I love this adventure. You get new locations, new characters, and solid fights that make a fun adventure. It's balanced well with a fun boss fight and great execution that makes running this a blast. Would like clean maps, but that is my only problem. If you want some intro to Pathfinder, you won’t go wrong with this one. 98%

Ring Side Report-RPG Review of Starfinder Society Scenario #1-16: Dreaming of the Future

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

Product- Starfinder Society Scenario #1-16: Dreaming of the Future
System- Starfinder
Producer- Paizo
Price- $5.99 here https://paizo.com/products/btpya08w?Starfinder-Society-Scenario-116-Dreamin g-of-the-Future

TL; DR-Good introduction to the world of Starfinder Society. 92%

Basics- Starfinder! Society calls! New Starfinders are needed to help find the pieces of an old tablet that will open a long lost vault in the stars. This adventure is four short scenes that are all tied together in one adventure.

Mechanics or Crunch-This is a good introductory adventure that has some exploration, combat, space combat, and a bit of social interaction. The only downside is the pieces may be a bit easy for most players. Even pregens have an easy go of this one. But it’s fun nonetheless. 4.5/5

Theme or Fluff- This adventure is four short adventures that all tie together. It’s a bit rough between the pieces, but the goal of this one is to be more an intro to the world, Starfinder Society, and the system. It does a solid enough job with a decent story providing the basics of the world and story of it. 4.5/5

Execution- PDF? Yes. Hyperlinked? Yes. Good layout, handout, and all the other basics make this a solid adventure. The pieces I don’t like are the maps that you have to buy because the maps are marked up. I understand why, but it's still annoying. That's the worst part of the execution, so that is not bad at all. 4.75/5

Summary-. Dreaming of the Future is a solid introduction with a few rough parts. The rough parts are all due to the episodic nature of this one. The pieces are short but that helps with new players learning the system. If you want a fun quick adventure for a new group of Starfinders, you would have a hard time finding a better one than this one. 92%

Ring Side Report-RPG Review of Pathfinder Lost Omens: Legends

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

Product- Pathfinder Lost Omens: Legends
System- Pathfinder 2nd Ed
Producer- Paizo
Price- $18.37 here https://paizo.com/products/btq023gd?Pathfinder-Lost-Omens-Legends
TL; DR- Almost the best text book it could be. 86%

Basics- Welcome to the Age of Lost Omens and Golarion! Pathfinder Lost Omens: Legends is the current standing of the world of Golarion and its people. It updates the setting from Pathfinder 1st ed. to Pathfinder 2nd ed., gives a good overview of the major areas of the Inner Sea, and provides some player options to help players get some mechanical links to the areas of their game. Let’s look at the pieces of this book.

Mechanics or Crunch-This book has some solid mechanics, but I’d still like a bit more. What is really surprising is this book has archetypes for each region's specific known combat enthusiast. Think of having a Special Forces archetype if you were to do a write up on the US. That is surprising and enjoyable. Also there are backgrounds for each area. Both of those are VERY welcome in the equivalent of a fantasy high school geography book that only the GM might spend a lot of time reading through. I would like a bit more though. Give me some ancestry feats that all the people from an area might get. It doesn’t matter if you are an orc, dwarf, or human, if you come from the cold place of ice and snow, odds are you picked up some cold tolerance! Even some more general feats would be good additions to this book. What is here is some solid mechanics that you don’t often see in these books, but I would just like a bit more to really drive home that players need this book. 4.5/5

Theme or Fluff- This is another solid area of this book, but the book needs a bit more to fully round it out. This book is both too short and too long. If you read this from cover to cover you will not enjoy it as much as if you just wanted to read about one area quickly. You wouldn’t read all of wikipedia in one day, but you would drop in to read quickly on an area if you are studying as an example. This honestly is a fantasy high school geography book as you will get 10-20 pages on an area. That is a good introduction, but the book needs a bit more like who are the gods and more world building. Those things are mentioned, but I feel I need more on them. As a Pathfinder 1st ed. player, I know a lot of that world stuff, but for a new player, they will have to do outside research on who some of the key players are. I learned a few things that maybe I missed before, and I can see where Paizo is setting up the next 10 years worth of adventure paths in the mix, but I felt like I needed a bit more content to better understand the world if I was an outsider. 4.5/5

Execution- PDF? Yes. Hyperlinked? NO! If you buy a college textbook today or even a highschool text on an ipad, it is hyperlinked. This is getting crazy as this is an over 100 page civics book and I have to scroll around and find random bits I want to read more on. What is here is good. If you read in chunks, it reads well enough and is enjoyable. If you marathon the book in one sitting, then it’s not as much fun as it does feel too long and too short. Long for its got LOTS of information, but short because I feel like I need some explanation on a few of the players. The art is good and you get a few headshots of major movers and shakers in the world ,so you can drop them in your game. The layout is nice in general with enough breaks to make the reader not go crazy staring in a textbook. I just need a few more additions to really make this an amazing book 4/5

Summary- I have compared this book to a textbook often, and it is a well done textbook. If you needed to learn what most people in an area would know about the region, this would be a great resource to give the players. Also, if you like me haven’t read every splatbook or adventure path put out by Paizo in the last 10 years, then this is a good way to get deep into the world quickly. Now, there is room for improvement. I need a bit more on the world. Gods play an incredible role in the setting, and I feel like they don’t get enough exploration in this book. I also love what’s here mechanically, but I want more. So, all players, not just who decide to make a hellknight, can lay claim to a heritage from Cheliax. Also, PAIZO LEARN TO HYPERLINK! Let me click around your book with ease please. Most textbooks do it now, and your world textbook needs to as well! This is a good world book with a few key flaws that keep it from being great. 86%

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

Product- Pathfinder Adventure Path #163: Ruins of Gauntlight
System- Pathfinder 2nd Ed
Producer- Paizo
Price- $24.00 here https://paizo.com/products/btq023hs
TL; DR- 92%

Basics- Strange lights in the mist! The old lighthouse calls! The local crazy calls forth a group of adventurers to see what horrors her harrow cards have foretold! A dungeon crawl for characters level one to four.

Mechanics or Crunch- This is a straight up dungeon crawl. There is a dungeon lighthouse in a marsh. You are told to check it out. Overall, its slick quick rooms with lots of fights. There are some things I think are a bit rough like some things are listed with different names, so that made the experience a bit harder to dig through as a GM. However, the players have solid fights with fun things to discover. 4.5/5

Theme or Fluff- This is a dungeon crawl. There is a town and it gets a full write-up in both the player guide and the first adventure, but honestly, it's background. The adventure literally just starts you at the foot of the dungeon. I would like a bit more lead up for my players. Otherwise, this megadungeon ends up like the random generated dungeons where I just mindlessly kill orks on my phone. The dungeon is nice and atmospheric, so the story beyond the start is built on show don’t tell. 4.5/5

Execution- PDF? YEP! Hyperlinked? Kind of. The writing is good, the layout is nice, and the flow is quick. The book has bookmarks in the PDF, but it doesn't have clickable links in the parts. That would help as this is over 60 pages and hopping around is a pain. What I absolutely LOVE is the maps. There is a separate map file given with the PDF. That map lets you add and remove things like secret doors and the grid. That makes life SO much easier to run and align online or digitally. Paizo knows how to make a solid book. 4.75/5

Summary- Been looking forward to this one for a bit. Some hack and slash is fun, and having some Pathfinder hack and slash is a blast. Now, the one thing I think I would like different is a bit more story to the carnage. Some lead in as my players need to know why they are killing things. The crunch is good, but a few things are just slightly off enough to annoy the GM. Players won’t notice. The book itself is solid and something I loved to read. This adventure is a solid start to a good old fashioned kick in the door and kill the bad guy campaign. 92%

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

Product- Pathfinder Core Rulebook

System-Pathfinder

Producer-Paizo

Price- $60 here https://paizo.com/products/btq01y0k?Pathfinder-Core-Rulebook

TL; DR-A solid mix of new good things, but some issues remain. 92%

Basics-It’s here! Pathfinder 2nd ed is out in the wild! Let’s dig into this thing! The basics from my previous review here: Let’s look at the big changes.

Base Mechanic-The d20 system never really changes. It’s still numbers + d20 vs other numbers. Pathfinder 2nd Ed has the player add their ability modifier, their level, AND a modifier to the roll, depending on their level of proficiency. The biggest change from the previous one is that the proficiency levels are now +2, +4, +6, or +8 instead of adding one to 4. Honestly, this feels like a change coming from 4th Edition DnD. I know the heresy of that statement, but I like that mechanic.

Action Economy- Players still have the three actions per turn of the playtest with some spells or actions requiring additional actions to do.

Skills- If you are not trained it's just a d20 + ability modifier. If you are not trained, after about 4th level, it might not be useful to even roll.

Options- This edition is labeled featfinder by its critics, but the designers use the word feat instead of options. I’m ok with featfinder as I LOVE class options.

ITEM LEVELS!!!-Items HAVE LEVELS! I love this as you know exactly what an item should cost, what kind of character should have this, and it means that some things such as alchemical items are going to be useful later as higher level options are available.

Character Advancement- Characters now level at 1000 exp. Monsters of your level give certain amounts of experience, and there are formulas for changing the experience points if you are fighting a creature of a higher or lower amount.

Those are the basics. Let’s look at my thoughts.

Mechanics or Crunch-I really love this system. Long ago, I toyed with the idea of making a 3.5/4e hybrid, and this is almost what I wanted. I get the clean mechanics of the d20, but I add my level so leveling up made things matter. I get the deep CRUNCH of 3.5/Pathfinder, but the ease of a 5e. I get cantrips that I can use all the time and not have a wizard firing crappy crossbows while still feeling like a wizard. But it’s not perfect. Skills are kind of a big deal for me. I think the system kind of forgets about skills if you are untrained. I think a fighter could pick up some basics of magic from traveling with a wizard and I liked how previously untrained actions still added your level, just with a penalty. Now you don’t add your level to untrained actions and that basically means you have silos where no untrained character can go. It’s a design choice that isn’t bad, but not one I love. Also, I really don’t like the new EXP system. Just keep creatures with different exp instead of having some crazy formula to figure out the exp! It feels like a level of simplification that some players demanded but the rest of us hate. But overall, I really do like the simplicity of the system and the variety of options in this book. 4.75/5

Theme or Fluff-Everyone has their own idea of what “fantasy” should be. Pathfinder has a niche of an almost industrial magic world where some elements of science are beginning to poke their timid heads out of the real magic with semi-magic, semi-chemistry potions and simple guns. This new game nails that vibe. Also, this edition fixes a major problem others had before: alchemy. I love the idea of alchemy, but it's always hard to add to a system Lots of RPGs add this in later due to fan demands. But that system feels bolted on and not a core of the world, with alchemy basically being a new magic caster class but with a reskin. In Pathfinder 2e, with item levels, an alchemist makes alchemy items and the items are NOT spells. They are their own special thing. I LOVE THIS! Pathfinder 2nd ed nails the Pathfinder theme even better than the original! 5/5

Execution- PDF? Check! Hyperlinked? NOPE! Come on Paizo! This book is over 600 Pages! Even random websites trading illegal PDFs have their stuff hyperlinked and for this size of document, it’s a major problem. Also, I think 3.5 has the best layout for d20 systems in regard to class advancement and feats. However, in the new system the classes get a table of advancement for each level, but you have to read deep into each specific advancement to know what is really happening. It's less at a glance and results in slower leveling and progression. I LOVE table with the character level, short descriptions of mandatory class options, and saving throw bonuses, and even spells if needed. Now we get too many words that are not helping, and two tables that are seperate for magic and character options. That is two too many! Nice concise tables would help this feel less wordy and less tiring to read. Next, feats for each class need a feat table with short, one sentence descriptions of each class option. This is going to take up space, but the current layout of listing several options and just making players read the possible rule in its entirety is too long and wordy. Even if you keep the full feat description, adding these tables would make skimming for your next class option a breeze, but instead you end up reading lots of class options you do not care about. Reading about options you don’t care about is tiring! The rest of the book is fine, but those class sections could use some serious changes to make the material easier to read! Pathfinder 2nd ed charts its own territory, but it needs to learn from its roots for its readability. 4/5

Summary-My review of this system is not glowing, but I do love it. The mechanics of 2nd edition Pathfinder are a mix of 3.5, Pathfinder, and 4th edition and 5th edition DnD. Since I love all those games, I had no issues with all the best being blended together to make the best of everything. I didn’t get EVERYTHING I wanted, but I got enough. I love the world, and the new mechanics of the new edition really emphasize the world. The low point was the execution of the book. It feels way too wordy and made reading all the different classes a slog. The book isn’t bad by any stretch, but I feel that taking some clues on how other editions of RPGs work and displayed their information would really help here. Now this might seem negative but overall I love this system. It's easy to play, characters are made quickly, and I feel it's going to be a fun system for a long time. Can’t wait to see what story I can tell with this system! 92%

Originally posted at Throat Punch Games, a new idea everyday!

Product- Starfinder Adventure Path #1: Incident at Absalom Station (Dead Suns 1 of 6)
System- Starfinder
Producer-Paizo
Price- $23.00
TL; DR-Not the brightest star, but a decent start. 83%

Basics- ARE YOU READY FOR ADVENTURE!? Incident at Absalom Station kicks off the first Starfinder adventure path. Players step off the ship and into gangland warfare as their contact is gun downed within seconds of seeing him. Why? What dark secrets are at play? Who is involved? Also, this book contains a gazatier on Absolom station, several new monsters, and a whole new world for your players to play in.

Mechanics or Crunch-Ah the intro adventure! What can a level 1 nothing do on their first day? Not much, but LOTS OF SKILL CHECKS! Paizo has a history in their adventure paths of having players do lots of checks to get past those first few levels. This adventure is no different. It’s not bad, but once you get past the first fight, its checks. And, if your party doesn’t have the right checks, then its a slog. Past that its balanced and fun. After the checks, there are some simple space fights to get those mechanics out there, an exploration with some progressive fights to get those mechanics out there, and then we’re off to the next adventure book. Overall it’s balanced, but the standard paint by numbers of a new RPG needs to really get players into the system and teach them the rules can be a bit boring. 4.25/5

Theme or Fluff-Repeat after me-PLAYERS HATE FIGHTS WHERE THE ENEMIES SHOULD RUN AWAY. I’m not talking big bads, I’m talking regular grunts above the player’s level. Players want to KILL! This adventure starts with gang war above the players pay grade, and the players want everyone dead. It’s not supposed to happen, but my players are always EVIL, SPITE-FILLED MONSTERS who must kill EVERYONE! If that describes your players, then as written, they will be mad. For check section I mentioned above, the players need to talk to people, and if your party decides Charisma is for suckers, then that is a SUPER slog as my Cha 10 fighter attempts to talk to people as the -1 to -2 modifier other players hope for 20s to even get the middle of the ground information. Past that first fitful start, it’s a fun adventure as players can find the roles they need and better understand what they should do next. This adventure runs like a train-slow, clunky start but then smooth sailing the rest of the way. 4/5

Execution-PDF? Check! Hyperlinked? NOPE! Why not hyperlink this book? It’s 60+ pages! Next, Starfinder isn’t going to get the 64 page world building books that went with the Pathfinder line. That’s ok, but now my players don’t get as much world building as before as unless I print of sections and hand those out, they players either can read the book or spoil the adventure. The items are nice, the monsters are interesting and have great pictures, and the layout is well done. But, no new races! Part of the fun of Starfinder is if you want to be an intelligent mist, then we got stats for that baby! But, I’m not seeing that here. Throw me a new playable race each mod! There are a few other issues as some things just don’t fit well. The water world of Heicoron IV is ok, but there are no mentions of how I can play either of the races that live there. It feels thrown in. It’s not bad, but reference your other books or give me stats, so I can have a whole adventures with the fish people. This is a good but, but it has some flaws that do knock it down a bit 4.25/5

Summary-I’m ready for more, but I have some notes. Overall, I like what’s here. It’s done well, readable, and a good introduction to the mechanics of the system. The story itself has a few issues, but those issues are part of every adventure path’s start. I have more notes on the new execution of the Starfinder line. I want separate books and changes to how they are produced. New races, new tech in the books, and some focus will help improve this line. Will I get that? Most likely not. But, as a GM running a game, I think this is a good way to get your players rolling dice and understanding how to play Starfinder 83%

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

Product- Starfinder Core Rulebook

System-Starfinder

Producer-Paizo

Price- $60.00

TL; DR-DND 3.5 IN SPACE!  94%

Basics-SPACE WIZARDS!  Starfinder joins the Pathfinder universe in the future after a massive, mysterious catastrophe.  Mankind’s homeworld has disappeared, and other races have joined us as we explore the cosmos looking for new peoples, places and our lost world.  Let’s break this down.

Base System- This honestly is Pathfinder 1.5.  It’s a little bit DnD 5e, a little bit DnD 3.5, and oddly enough DnD 4!  The basics don’t change.  Everything is roll a d20, add your ability modifier, then add your ranks in a skill or base attack bonus.  If you want to hop into a Starfinder game but don’t have any experience, you can easily get into this game with about three minutes of reading the rules.

Combat- If you know Pathfinder combat, you know Starfinder combat.  Characters still roll initiative to find who goes first, then when they attack they still have a base attack bonus and add damage based on stats like before.  But there are two major differences, and those deal with hit points and armor.  For hit points, a character now has three pools to draw from:  hit points, stamina points, and resolve points.  Hit points are the same pool of life we all know and love.  They are healed by magic and time.  Stamina points are new, and they represent you getting banged up but not broken.  When you rest, you can spend a resolve points to completely heal up your stamina points.  Resolve points are also spent when a character is knocked out and they want to wake up or stabilize.  However, you can’t regain stamina points through the standard mystic cure (the not cure wounds or cure minor wounds of this edition).  Armor class is also slightly modified.  Now you have two armor classes: elemental armor class (eac) and kinetic armor class (kac).  If the damage has slashing, piercing, or bludgeoning damage types, alongside anything else, the attack goes against kac, otherwise it's against eac.  Done!  It’s just that simple.  This also causes a reduction in rules, as now all combat maneuvers go against kac instead of having to figure out combat maneuver defence, and honestly, it’s a good trade off!

Technology-This is hands down my favorite part of what changed between Pathfinder and Starfinder-ITEMS HAVE LEVELS!  This doesn’t seem like a big deal, but now technology and magic can compete on an equal footing.  In most magic heavy games as soon as the wizard learns fireball, any alchemical/technological items are instantly useless.  Technology in those games seems like a crutch to get to level five and FIREBALL!  Here, you have your fireball, but I have my level 7 grenade.  Its damage values increase and so does the DC to dodge the attack.  Instead of having to guess about what the DC of an item identify check would be, now you can just do extremely simple math on an item's level and have a DC in seconds.  Everything has a level which corresponds to a price, which corresponds to DC and a whole host of other things that make the system work.  Outstanding.

Magic-And here is the low point of the system.  Magic now caps out at level 6.  The save against magic is spell level + ability modifier + 10, so it maxes out at 16+ ability.  The save against character powers is half character level + ability modifier + 10, so it maxes out at 20+ ability.  I’m going to be honest and say this feels wrong somehow.  The system works, but it's different in a way that you might not like on first trying it, akin to a fine wine.  It’s good, but might not necessarily be the tasty thing you hoped for on the first pass.

Spaceship and Vehicle Combat-This is the new, big thing of this system as running around in a vehicle is essential to Sci-fi.  Vehicle combat isn’t hard, but it mostly works by using zones where characters move between using their speed values.  Overall, its an easy system to use.  Spaceships are much more involved, but no less easy to use.  BUT, THIS ASPECT OF THE GAME ADDS FACING TO AN RPG!  That is a sentence the fills me with dread as now I have to spend HOURS fighting over how defenses work on different sides.  However, this system fixes most of that and simplifies it well.  Ships do have facing arcs for weapons and for shields, but it's pretty simple.  Combat rounds are broken down into three steps:  engineering (science scans/moves shields, engineering fixes stuff/supercharges stations), helm (pilots make checks and loser goes first), gunnery (ships shoot at one another).  Honestly, it’s pretty easy to do, and since there are lots of different things to do, EVERYBODY gets to roll dice during a turn from the captain who can yell or ask nicely for another crewmember to do better/get a bonus to gunners lighting up the other ship.

Review Time!

Mechanics or Crunch-Starfinder is a damn good system, but it’s going to suffer a bit because it gets compared to Pathfinder.  If Starfinder came first, then it would not be an issue.  There are things here like the magic DC compared to item and class DCs that are just a half bubble off.  It works, but it's not as clean as Pathfinder.  Magic seems much less powerful as well.  That might be a style choice, but it's a style I don’t enjoy as much right now.  Maybe after playing this game much more, I’ll see the light, but now, I’m having fun but also confused on some choices.  Also, this book needs a solid chapter describing the differences between Pathfinder and Starfinder to get experienced players up and running in minutes.  Small things like shooting into melee doesn't have penalties, but attack of opportunity to shooting in melee still occur are important and need to be explicitly told to the players.   Overall, this is a solid RPG and system, but I want just a bit more in their already massive tome.   4.25/5

Theme or Fluff-PATHFINDER IN SPACE,.... but it’s not!  It would be really easy for this book to phone in dwarves on a mountain planet schtick and call it a day, but this one has races where your puberty now encompases choosing to grow up super smart or super strong, insects who are addicted to individuality as a community, and even a fleet of undead that are disavowed from the other undead because they are too evil.  The book does have your old races, but they take a back seat to new ones who now are exploring the galaxy alongside mankind.  It’s got a mix of old magic from Pathfinder, the technology feel of Star Trek, and its own universe to draw you in. 5/5

Execution-Look, this book was put out by Paizo.  You can say that some of their books might not have been the best, but it's hard to argue that they don’t put out a quality constructed book.  Lots of awesome art, diagrams to walk you through, nice text spacing so I don’t hate it when I read it.  My only problem is I’d like a bit more in the index, but those are only minor concerns on an otherwise great book.  4.9/5

Summary-Starfinder is an awesome book that has a few minor problems.  In terms of execution, it's top notch and a phenomenal resource for how to make other books.  The book tells an amazing story that will draw you into the world and give you ideas on what stories to tell and what characters to put in it.  My one place where I am slightly put off is the mechanics.  This isn’t to say the mechanics are wrong, but they don’t feel completely right.  That’s a minor difference, but it's an important one.  I will happily sit down and play a Starfinder game, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the next major source book they announce is something called Ancient Magic that brings back the nine levels of magic from Pathfinder.  That said, this book is an amazing addition to the Paizo family of products and one I’m glad to get at GenCon.  I can’t wait to have more adventures across the galaxy, stomping space goblin ships and battling reptile wizard people on the moon!  94%

Originally posted at Throat Punch Games, a new idea everyday!

Product-Pathfinder Society Scenario #7–14—Faithless and Forgotten, Part 1: Let Bygones Be
System-Pathfinder
Producer- Paizo
Price- $4.00
TL; DR-Instantly one of my favorites! 97%

Basics-Cheliax is back! This Pathfinder scenario is the start of renewed relations with Cheliax as the Pathfinders move from the shadows and are asked to investigate a few choice locations in the country. However, along the way you find that not is all it seems as you have to deal with an oppressive dictator, unfriendly towns people, and horrors from days gone by that have subsisted on the most foul of meats. Will you survive the horrors of town and the horror long forgotten?

Mechanics or Crunch-This adventure hits all their right marks for a PFS adventure-exploration, social challenges, problem solving(non-fighting),and problem solving(fighting!). Every character gets a chance to be awesome in this one as you can simple fight everything everywhere as a way to win, but if you think your way through the problems, you can find some awesome solutions that are rewarded. The fights that are here are all balanced and felt fun with enough threats to keep the players interested but not enough challenge to destroy the level 1 party. The social still has the Pathfinder problem of “fail by 1, no help” that all Pathfinder adventures will always have, but overall it’s a blast to play that is well balanced for any party. 5/5

Theme or Fluff-This adventure has the feel of a Cheliax adventure, but does have a slight problem with the end. Overall the part of the scenario that takes place in town feels like a town adventure where you must help the townspeople survive in their dictatorship. The rural exploration is fun, as you get to interact with some often unused monsters. The end boss is a bit strange. It makes sense for the DM who gets to read the behind the scenes bit of the adventure, but most adventurers might not see that and will be a bit confused. Overall it’s fun as the left hand turn parts don’t distract from the great story. 4.75/5

Execution- I like how Paizo prepares their modules, but I’ve also become a little estranged from theme as well. I like that they now place stat blocks at the back of the adventure, so I don't have to have almost 10 books open to run the game. However, I’d like a little more consistency with that. The main NPCs get stat blocks in the text, while the rest of the monsters are at the end of the adventure. That’s a pain to flip through, so I would prefer to just have all the encounters together in a clump at the end or put them together throughout. That’s my only real complaint about these adventures though. I love how Paizo puts together their stories, so this one is no different. 4.75/5

Summary-Everybody loves to hate on Cheliax, but it’s always fun to play there. Throwing the halfling bard to the Order of the Rack wolves is always a great way to start some roleplaying as well as draw the player's interest deeper into the game. I love what I’m seeing here, and I think I most players will as well. This isn’t a perfect adventure as the ending is a bit strange, and I’d like some minor format changes. But taken together, this is one of my favorite adventures from this year. 97%

Originally posted at Throat Punch Games, a new idea everyday!

Product-Pathfinder Society Scenario #7–12: The Twisted Circle
System-Pathfinder
Producer- Paizo
Price- $4
TL; DR-Too many ingredients spoil this soup. 70%

Basics-A Pathfinder has vanished, and you must solve the mystery of the xenophobic town! This adventure delves into the Mana Wastes as you try to uncover why a small town is prospering while all around them die, and they must hide their children. Will you find the lost Pathfinder before it’s too late?

Mechanics or Crunch-This adventure is somewhat short and doesn’t add a new mechanic like some other PFS scenarios. However, the fights that do happen here can be a real pain. This is designed for levels 1 to 5, but the first fight is a swarm. That right there can wipe a party of level 1’s, and that fight is for the low tier. Aside from that, the adventure isn’t bad, but it’s a pain to have to pull punches if the players are new to the game or if they are new Pathfinders in general. Also, this mod does some good things like providing the characters with scrolls they may need, but without a caster or the sense to use the tools they get, players will miss 70% of what going on as plants and talking to them play a big role in this one. 3.5/5

Theme or Fluff-The story of this adventure is a bit scatter shot. Nothing here is horrible, but some parts involve a random evil bad guy, another involve some plant monsters, and finally, the town has it’s own strange role to play. It feels like this adventure goes into too many directions instead of focusing on one group of monsters or theme. As a GM, I was a bit lost. There is a lot of fun stuff here, but as a GM you have to keep a ton of balls in the air to have a payoff. And, if you team isn’t on their game they might miss too much to really get the main beats. Too many ingredients spoil this soup. 3/5

Execution- Overall, this has all the standard Pathfinder Society polish. Everything get’s laid out well enough to keep you running quickly and efficiently. I think there are a few too many pages of just text to bore the reader and prevent quick skimming, but overall this is a decently laid out adventure, Paizo’s bread and butter. 4.5/5

Summary-This isn’t bad, but this won’t be on the top of any of my lists. It’s a simple enough adventure that has possibly bad enemy choices as well as a bit too convoluted plot. It’s easy enough to run, but not something that you may want to run. If you LOVE the Mana Wastes and Pathfinder Society, you will enjoy this. If you just want a 4 four hour adventure for your local PFS group, this might not be the best adventure for you to pick out. 70%

Originally posted at Throat Punch Games, a new idea everyday!

Product-Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide
System- DnD 5e
Producer- Wizards of the Coast
Price- $36
TL; DR-A doughnut-great fluff, but no crunch! 87%

Basics-Welcome to the Forgotten Realms! The Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide is the first player and dungeonmaster book for DnD5e. It focuses on the world of the Forgotten Realms and more specifically the Sword Coast. The book builds the current Realms and provides the standing of the world, as well as giving players some new backgrounds, class archetypes, and race options.

Mechanics or Crunch-The best description of the mechanics in this book is “What mechanics?” Most of the crunch in this book is confined to one chapter. It’s a decent chapter, but it only supports a few classes with some classes not receiving any new toys. They do get some Forgotten Realms specific story, but no new crunch/mechanics to drive it home. This book also only has one feat in it, and that is an optional feat. There were high expectations for this book, and I feel it didn't meet them. What’s here is good, but there is just not enough here to really make this worth it for every crunch heavy gamer. 3.75/5

Theme or Fluff-I love the Forgotten Realms, and this is a decent introduction to a part of it. As the title suggests, this book focuses on the Sword Coast. What the book focuses on is great! Each area gets a great description really building out the world in interesting ways and telling how the Realms have changed since 4th edition. However, it mentions the rest of the world. That’s good, but they don’t provide a map the the rest of the world. That’s my main problem with what is here. There are parts mentioned in a sentence that are not shown. The previous editions’ Realms books showed me the world,gave it a one line description, and then left it at that. This book doesn’t even give me the geography past the coast. This wouldn’t be a problem except the novels, adventures, and the Adventurer’s League all take place in the parts of world not covered in depth by this book. 4.75/5

Execution-This book covers a ton of ground, and it does it reasonably well. Everything has pictures, which is awesome, so the book sufficiently breaks up the text. There are a few walls of text though. The art is good, the font is nice, and the maps are amazing. I’d like this book to be a bit thicker to give space for more breaks and more information, as well as to justify the price a bit. However, I liked the way this book was laid out and built overall. 4.5/5

Summary-I wasn’t thrilled with this book. The theme is great. New players in the Realms will get a ton out of this book. Even people from 4th edition will have a lot to learn about the new realms. The overall execution of the book is great, if a tad pricey. However, the biggest problem is the lack of mechanics. This is the first real expansion to the system, and it doesn’t do or provide much expansion to the system. This book isn’t bad, but stacked up against the core books, I wasn’t impressed with this book. 87%

Originally posted at Throat Punch Games, a new idea everyday!

Product-Pathfinder Society Scenario #6–22: Out of Anarchy
System- Pathfinder
Producer- Paizo
Price- $ 4
TL; DR- Too many ingredients spoil the soup! 78%

Basics-The society never leaves a man behind-they just might take five years to help him...and it might be someone's pet project as well…. In this adventure, the Pathfinder Society sends in new recruits to find a long forgotten Pathfinder in a blockagged town in Cheliax. There, the young Pathfinder have to navigate several different rival groups, find their target, and get him out...all while not starting the third burning of the city! This adventure is designed for level first to fifth level characters.

Mechanics or Crunch-What’s here is good, but there is just too much here! This adventure has some serious roleplaying opportunities (which is great) and some serious combats (there are over four!). That is too much for a four-hour time slot! Each part isn’t bad as the roleplaying characters get some time to shine and the combat monkeys can take center stage at different points, but in a four hour adventure slot at a con, this adventure simply is too long. GMs will have to drop part to keep this one going fast enough to cover all the ground. 3.5/5

Theme or Fluff-So, not only is there a lot of mechanics, there is also a lot of story to cover as well. It’s not bad, but it’s too much! First is a missing Pathfinder. Then,there are four factions to contend with. Next is trying to get out and get help. And lastly is dealing with other enemy groups in the city. That is too much talking! I love good roleplaying in a Pathfinder Society adventure, but with so much going on here, it’s hard to make all the pieces shine. If you don’t ham up each group, then players don’t notice them. If you do, then it takes too much precious time that you won’t have for the fights and talking to the different groups later. It’s too difficult a balance to walk-especially for a 1-5 level, four-hour scenario. 4/5

Execution-Overall, this adventure has the Paizo polish. Lot’s of pictures to help describe things, lot’s of included information to make running this easy, and a decent amount of breaks to make the text flow better. However, the organization isn’t perfect. This adventure is about 40 pages! Some pages are copies of Bestiary books to help run the adventure, but I would like a few more breaks and a table or two detailing how different groups interact with the players at different locations. Those little things would help speed up the pace of this adventure and possibly get it out close to the four-hour runtime. 4.25/5

Summary-If I had eight hours with a single table, this would be a great adventure to put them through. They could really dig deep into the roleplaying, and the combat-crunch players would have an absolute blast as well by being able to paint the town red with their enemies. But, this is written with the goal of four hours. For that time limit, there is just too much here! It’s written well enough, but will all the twists, turns, and fights, you CAN’T get this adventure done and be on time. And any adventure I can’t run in a time slot at a con, written for a con, isn’t one I run a second time. 78%

Originally posted at Throat Punch Games, a new idea everyday!

Product-New Dawn
Producer-Stronghold Games
Price- $60
Set-up/Play/Clean-up- 90-120 minutes (2-4 players)
Type-American
Depth-Medium
TL; DR-Eclipse by way of Among the Stars. 90%

Basics-We’ve gone Among the Stars, Expanded the Alliance, sent Ambassadors, and now have a New Dawn for the galaxy. In New Dawn, players take the roles of the same alien races from Among the Stars, but now have moved from the joint space station to exploring the galaxy for resources.
In terms of overall play, New Dawn plays a bit like Eclipse. This game has three resources that players must spend to dominate the galaxy: economic, science, and military. Each race/player starts with a player board with 15 bases in their color. Each base covers up a resource of that type with the fifth base covering up a resource and a victory point. Players choose one base to uncover and place on the central alliance start point. Then, each turn goes as follows: 1) draw up to four tiles to explore 2) place one tile and get its placement bonus 3)buy a research card 4)Move one of your military headquarters to any space 5) take three actions in turn 6) Send aid to the alliance. The tiles are the different sections of space to explore and are split between science, military, economic, and hostile (a mix of all three that is high risk/high reward). Each tile has a placement bonus which ranges from getting resources, placing more tiles, or attacking a tile for free. Research is interesting as each race has its own deck of cards that allows each player to customize how each race plays in each game and allows limited responses to other race's/player’s actions. Military headquarters are the main movement pieces of the game. You start with one and use it to buy or conquer other tiles. You never lose them, but you can buy more to give you extra power and points. This all said, the main game itself is the actions. Actions are as follows: gain one resources of any type, buy a tile, seize a tile, use an ambassador, or buy a new military HQ and move all the HQs you have. The resources are self explanatory, but the ambassadors are new. Ambassadors are tokens that you place on any tile and then do the ambassadors action. These actions are all written on the cards themselves, but are mostly better versions of the actions discussed above. Of the actions you have, the two biggest and most important are the buy or seize a tile. Buying a tile is simple. Each tile has a cost in economic resources and a victory point cost. You just pay the economic cost. Seizing is more interesting and MUCH more random. If a tile is is not controlled, you add the victory points and the cost and then roll dice according to where your Military HQ’s are. For each military HQ’s on a tile you roll the yellow die (a d6 with numbers 2,3,4,5,5, and 6) and for each military HQ adjacent you can roll the white die (a d6 with numbers 1 through 6). Some powers and abilities give you a green die (a d6 with numbers 0,1,1,2,2, and 3) or the RED AWESOME DIE (a d6 with numbers 3, 4, 5, 5, 6, and 6). The attacking player must beat the defence, not tie. If he/she wins, then that player places a base on the tile of the same type as the one from his/her player board. Combat against a player works exactly the same way with a base on a tile giving you a yellow die in addition to all the Military HQ on or around the tile as above. This can lead to some epic dice roll offs as player can also get rerolls and bonus dice from other powers as well. If the defender loses, the he/she takes his/her base of the tile and covers up the right most resource on the player board and the winners get to place a base as before. In addition, at the start of the game four random bonuses are placed around the board. These bonuses range from extra defence, free movements of Military HQs, to rerolls and extra dice. Each tile typically has some arrows on it. When a tile is bought or seized, the player gets to change the direction in which it is facing, and the arrows the tile points to give a bonus to the owning player. The last action of each turn is to send aid to the alliance. This is buying victory point cards using the three different resources as printed on the card. After five rounds, the points for bases, aid, uncovered resources, and purchased tech and military HQs are added up, and the player with the most has conquered the galaxy and provided the most aid to the alliance!

Mechanics-First thing first, let’s deal with the elephant in the room-Eclipse. Eclipse is a great game, but not my favorite 4-X space game. This game and Eclipse both have the multiple bases and resources concept, tech trees, exploration, and color-based dice combat. And all of that is done a bit different but well by each game. However, Eclipse goes about one turn too long. This game is MUCH shorter, easier to recover from some early game problems, and actually provides much more player control. AND, this game at it’s highest price is $60 while Eclipse still retails for about $100. How New Dawn handles everything is fun, fair, and a great way to manage a galaxy. It’s something that new gamers can handle, and older gamers will enjoy. It’s not perfect as the randomness can honestly destroy your enjoyment of a game and combat is a bit more powerful than other strategies, but if you play American-style games, you know that pain all too well! Don’t let those minor problems keep you from this game. 4.75/5

Theme-This game changed a few key things that I think hurt the game a bit. The theme of the first game was alien races working against each other, but not on an overly aggressive scale as the war was fresh in their mind. This game is all about combat. It will be extremely difficult to win the game without conquering a single base or engaging in combat. It’s a massive departure from the first game. The second is the race descriptions. The first game Among the Stars is a pretty simple drafting and tile laying game, so the designers spent the second half of the rulebook describing the universe and the races within. This game is a bit more complicated, so the rules need a bit more description. But the races and world only get about a half pages description on the first page. I really miss the world building of the first game. The game itself is well done and you do feel like you're conquering space and your friends’ bases. But, I’m not sure that’s exactly what I wanted from the second game in this series. 4.25/5

Instructions-I mentioned in the theme section, the rulebook doesn’t have as much description as I would like, but overall the rules are well explained by the book. There are a few problems that I think need a tiny bit more explanation like the arrows on location cards. The rules tell you about the different cards placed on the board at the game start, but they don’t give you as deep a working description of that mechanic. You will figure it out on your first play, but it’s a slight problem. If you can apply your best logic to the game, you will do fine with the rules in the box. 4.5/5

Execution- This game doesn’t come with a ton in the box, but what’s there is done reasonably well. To see all the pieces in the box, see my unboxing video here The board is two sided with a simple and complex game, which is a nice added layer of gameplay and replay-ability. The tiles all look like the same tiles from Among the Stars which is a nice call back to the first game. I even like the new plastic tokens in the game. What I don’t like is that the gameboard isn’t big enough. There are spots for some tiles but not others. I’d like one more row on all the sides to give enough places to place all the parts that game has. Also, I’d like the box to be a little thicker cardboard. Stronghold Games typically makes their game boxes of a lighter material which is nice when I carry five of them to a con to demo them, but the boxes don’t stand up to too much punishment. These are minor quibbles, but there are things to consider. Overall, it’s a beautiful game that has some good parts to it. 4.5/5

Summary-This might not be my favorite 4x game, but it’s quickly made a spot in the top few of them. It’s got all the things I love in a game: strategy, depth, speed, and ease of learning/teaching. I’d like a bit more story and cardboard, but that isn’t any reason to not pick this one up. If you like Sci-FI games, 4x games, or simply want a good game to play at any gameday that won't eat the whole day, then this is an excellent game to buy. I can’t wait to play this again and to see the expansion that will come and further develop the ideas that came out of this game. 90%

Originally posted at Throat Punch Games, a new idea everyday!

Product-They Served Brandolyn Red
System- DCC
Producer- Goodman Games
Price- $7
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 Throat Punch Games, a new idea everyday!

Product-Pathfinder Player Companion: Melee Tactics Toolbox
System- Pathfinder
Producer- Paizo
Price- $12
TL; DR- a one-feat-book 77%

Basics-Why do it from afar when you can hurt them up close! Melee Tactics Toolbox provides every up close and personal character with several new options ranging from spells, items, feats, class options, and even new archetypes much live every other player companion product.

Mechanics or Crunch-This is a major crunch book for players, but I wasn’t amazed. There are several new options, but nothing here immediately made me want to build a character based around that theme. Some of the new options seem like new expectations just for expansion sake as the archetypes underwhelmed me like the rogue archetype that strips out all the rogue powers that make a rogue a rogue. Nothing here is objectively bad, but it’s not as amazing as I expected. 4/5

Theme or Fluff-This book has a bit of theme, but not as much as I wanted. You get a few bits and pieces but not near as much as the world books the Paizo puts out. It feels light. 3.5/5

Execution- This book has a ton it it, but it feels a bit overstuffed. There are many things in the book, but it feels a bit like things were thrown in because of the melee thing and that was the sole reason that they made the cut. So, things didn’t flow as well as other books. Also, much of the execution was a bit off as there were a few too many walls of text to really draw me into and through the book. But, as a counterpoint, the book does have a nice font, decent layout aside from a few too many text walls, and some nice art. However, as a counterpoint to that, the book still has the standard Paizo price for its splatbooks which is a little high anyway. 4/5

Summary-This is my least favorite Paizo Pathfinder book to date. Overall, it’s not a horrible book, but compared to Paizo’s other products, I wouldn’t suggest you start with this one. Honestly, this is a one-feat-book meaning that you will find exactly one thing from this book that might, sometimes, help you PFS character. And, you will buy it so you can show your PFS GM the feat/spell/item, so you can legally use it in your game. But, truth be told, you can pass this book by and be ok even if you are a greatsword only fighter. Too many options that are not worth the price, little world and character story, and a less than stellar execution make this a book that won’t find its way into many Pathfinder collections. 77%