Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Urban Steampunk

Product-Urban Steampunk System- Uber RPG Producer- Uber Goober Games Price- ~$ 13 here http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/100785/Urban-Steampunk-ber-RPG-Steampunk-sourcebook TL; DR- Ankmir is a fun playground, but this book isn't full of player options. 85%

Basics-You can't have steampunk if you don't have a Victorian city full of machines! This book provides a perfect city of steam Ankmir to play in/destroy while giving GM's the options to build their own world.

Theme or Fluff-Much like the other setting books by Uber Goober, this book does a great job of building three different worlds in the same city. Uber Goober sets up a world of steam tech, a world full of rebels, and a world for magic all in the same city. Whatever game you want to play, Uber's sets up the world and gives good background for a great setting to start your own game. 5/5

Mechanics or Crunch- And here is where the book suffers. Just like Steampunk Uncharted, this book isn't a splat book for characters. There are few mechanics discussed here, but don't get this book if you just want more player options. There is a great deal of information regarding all the different important population information a player could want if you want to get super crunchy in your story. It's a story book, but that aspect is done well. 3.5/5

Execution-This book could use some more pictures to distract from the walls of text. But the book does have lots of maps, so that helps. There is textbook problem here as many pages are just two columns of black text on a white background. That doesn't draw the reader, but what is here is set up as best as it could be giving the amount of art that is in this one. Each area gets a description, how to play in the three types of steampunk, story seeds, and persons of interest in the area. 4.25/5

Summary- As with Steampunk Uncharted, if this book and the core Uber RPG: Steampunk book were put together, they would add up to one amazing book. Uber RPG: Steampunk introduced the city of Ankmir, but this book expands on the main city presented there. Ankmir is a fun playground to run around in, but if you only want new stuff for your characters, you might want to look at the other books by Uber Goober. 85%

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Universal Airship Combat System Originally posted at www.throatpunchgames.com, a new idea everyday!

Product-Universal Airship Combat System System- Uber RPG: Steampunk Producer- Uber Goober Games Price- ~$ 13 here http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/101071/Universal-Airship-Combat-System-ber-RPG-Steampunk-sourcebook TL; DR- Two books in one! 87%

Basics-Time to hit the sky! Universal Airship Combat System is a book covering the rules for airship and mech combat in the Uber RPG system. This book covers combat in the RPG as well as giving simple rules for a tabletop miniature system.

Theme or Fluff- Back to the fluff first reviews for the Uber system. This book is not a theme book, but it gives enough options that you can fit any theme into it. Uber RPG: Steampunk doesn't have a default setting, so this book provides the mechanics to build whatever options you want into your own world. One of the saving graces for theme in this book is how damage is dealt. The system uses a 52 card deck to determine where shots hit and how it damages the ship. That kind of story elements really marries theme with mechanics as you get a short snippet on how the attack happens and some mechanical details to. As with the base Uber RPG: Steampunk, the book doesn't do much give you a world, but provides the tools to build it. The only problem with that is you, the GM and players, have to do much more heavy story lifting. 4/5

Mechanics or Crunch- While this book isn't a theme book; it is an amazing book for its mechanics. Much like Uber RPG: Steampunk, the base system is d6. The system presented here is amazingly simple and quick. Movement happens in ascending dexterity order. Slower ships move, and faster ships can react. Attacking happens simultaneously. You add up all the attack power your ship has, and then subtract the defensive powers your target has, and roll six sided dice. For each five rolled, draw a card from a deck of cards. For each six, draw two. The book has a chart detailing how the card damage and affects the ship as each suit and number focus on specific areas of the ship. Done! It's a slick and quick system that makes combat not drag as some large scare combat systems do. The book even provides mech combat if you want to climb into a steam powered mechanical walker. And rules for mech vs. airship combat! AND rules for a table top miniatures game! Honestly, this book is jam packed with a quick, easy to use, fun to execute combat system. 5/5

Execution- Uber Goober is a small company, and small companies don't have the art resources to make large scale book full to the brim with art. This book has lots of pages with only text. That kind of hurts the overall appeal as you have major textbook problem. However, this book has more tables and lots of art to show what the authors meant for each type of ship and mech. It's better than the original book, but still a bit flawed. 4/5

Summary-This is an easy to use, short book that give you multiple ways to integrate steamtech into your world. This book isn't the most reader friendly, but there is more art than the base book for the system. If you like the quick combat style of Uber RPG: Steampunk, then this build upon that and give more flair to large scale combat. Honestly, if Uber would add the random table of hit locations to the base Uber RPG: Steampunk I would love that system even more. If you you're looking for a good tabletop system to handle steampunk miniature combat or a way to integrate more steam machine combat in your Uber RPG: Steampunk game, this is a great book to add to your collection. 87%

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Uncharted Steampunk

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

Product-Uncharted Steampunk System- Uber RPG Producer- Uber Goober Games Price- ~$ 13 here http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/102911/Uncharted-Steampunk-ber-RPG-Steampunk-sourcebook TL; DR- Marry this with the base book, and it's amazing. 83%

Basics-Need a world for your Uber RPG: Steampunk players to roam in? This is a companion book to the base Uber RPG: Steampunk game. This book provides a world to play in/destroy while still letting GM's build their own world.

Theme or Fluff- Uber Uber Goober likes to let GMs build their own world. This book, while a setting book, still let's GMs build their own world. How? Well each part of the world gets a description in the three main Steampunk styles that Uber introduces at the start of their books: steam tech focused, rebelling against society, and fantasy steampunk. Honestly, this has to be the best approach I've seen to getting the theme of your game out there. The author basically says "Here are three different worlds and their themes to play with. Choose one and go!" 5/5

Mechanics or Crunch- And here is where the book suffers. The book discusses the survival skill and gives ideas for encounters, but this book doesn't have many new mechanics in it. What is here is good, but the books main purpose is to build the world for you, got give you new toys for that world. It doesn't add to many new enemies or options, but what is here is well fleshed out. 3.5/5

Execution-PICTURES! This book has more pictures! The pictures of the continents are well done. However, much like Uber Goober's other books, there are still a ton of pages with just black text on white page. This book is, by definition, a geography/history textbook, and it suffers from many of the same problems old textbook do. That makes this much less exciting to read. A few more pictures of the peoples and scenes of different places would have really helped draw the reader in. 4/5

Summary- If this book and the core Uber RPG: Steampunk book were put together, they would add up to one amazing book. This book has all the world building and steampunk theme any player could ask for. The core book has sleek mechanics that make the game run well. This book and the core both fill the gaps the other is missing. On its own, this book is a good world book that gives the GM enough options to make the game they want happen in the world of their choosing. What this book doesn't have are many more mechanics and some more pictures to help set the stage and scenes. All together, this is good foundation for GMs to build the world they want. 83%

Ring Side Report-RPG Review of Uber RPG: Steampunk

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

Product-Uber RPG: Steampunk System- Uber RPG Producer- Uber Goober Games Price- ~$ 20 here http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/100784/ber-RPG--Steampunk?site=&manufacturers_id=2798 TL; DR- A dense, but good, all purpose steampunk RPG. 82%

Basics-Have a steampunk idea in your head, but don't have a way to execute it? This is the RPG for you. Uber RPG: Steampunk is a generic system designed to allow players and GMs to build the Steampunk world they want. Let's dig into the individual parts.

Theme or Fluff- Usually I look at the mechanics of a book first, but this RPG's theme needs a bit of an introduction First. Uber RPG: Steampunk is designed to be completely setting agnostic. If you want superhero Steampunk, then you can make this game superhero Steampunk. You want fantasy Steampunk, here you go. Magic? Same deal. That's great, but you now have to bring many more of your own ideas to the party. The book does have examples of what kind of worlds you can build, but you're the director on this one. This level of freedom is a double edged sword as now a GM and the players have to do much more of the heavy lifting instead of letting the RPG come prebuilt and prepackaged with its own world. The Steampunk is strong in this one as the author spends an incredible amount of time describing steampunk and the different forms of it. That is an excellent introduction to anyone who isn't sure what Steampunk is. But, the saying "good at everything, master of nothing" kind of creeps in as so many different ideas a brought forth with only a little focus on each one. 4.25/5

Mechanics or Crunch- The system is a d6 based system. It's quick and painless when you know what you're doing. Let's break down the different areas of the game. Character Generation-Characters are made via a point buy system. As with the theme, anything goes as long as you all agree with what you want in your world. Several different examples of prebuilt characters are in the book, so you get a great idea of how to build a character. Look at the examples as your character build can kill you if you do it wrong! There is that much freedom here. If you know what you want, you can build that person from the get go. However, if you go in blind, you can make some serious mistakes that will end you in the first fight you get into.

Base Mechanic-This system is a d6 based system, but does not use the standard two numbers are good/one bad mechanic. Fives are one success, six's are two successes, and ones represent complications. Every roll is mostly independent of any other number with successes dictating how well you succeed at a task. Dice pools are made in the standard attribute + skill ranks method common to d6 systems. If you roll more ones than total successes a botch happens where the GM dictates your failure somehow. This system is meant to speed up the game as the size of your dice pool can also dictate automatic successes. The larger the pool, the mightier the task you are assumed to instantly succeed at. I think that's an awesome addition to the rules of any RPG. You reward players for building in one direction, but don't slow the game down having to make them roll the dice.

Powers-This game uses powers to determine your attacks and other actions. Since the game doesn't have one setting, Uber RPG: Steampunk gives you the ability to build whatever power you need ranging from magic missiles to Tesla coil ray guns. Each power builds a Mighty Dice Pool which keeps powers balanced. It's easy to build lots of different powers quickly, and the balance also keeps things working like clockwork (Ha, Ha, Steampunk pun!) during combat. Powers can also be pushed which means that you roll extra dice or do extra effects, but this comes at the cost of doing damage to yourself or reducing the Mighty Dice Pool of your weapon. This represents over exerting yourself, running out of ammo for the gun, or causing some Steampunk device to go haywire.

Combat-Combat is quick and deadly! Each turn players get to announce and perform an action in descending dexterity order. Attacks use the Mighty Dice Pool determined earlier during character creation. Some powers reduce the effectiveness of an attack, but aside from that, there is no set number to determine if an attack hits and how hard. Characters do not have hit points. Instead, characters have conditions ranging from stunned (out of combat for one turn) to dead. After your attack with a power, you determine the number of success you got on your roll and compare that on a chart to the constitution of the target. Some powers and abilities reduce the dice pool rolled, but beyond that there is no defense roll or armor class from the target. It quick, clean, and very deadly!

Summary-This is well done universal system. You get all the toys you could ask for, but you have to build them yourself. Again, that's heavy lifting for the GM as well as the players. Combats quick, but you do give up some say in what happens as aside from some powers, you don't get to determine how attack affect you. This system works well if you invest time into it, but you do have to invest that time. You can also see the LARP roots in this system keeping combat quick and focusing on the narrative on the encounter rather than the numbers of the encounter. 4.5/5

Execution- I like the system, but the book itself has a classic case of text book problem. The book is incredibly full of information leading to several pages of text with few pictures. The text is small, but you can easily resize on an iPad if you read the PDF. I do like the quick summary of the game in the first few pages, but the sheer number of pages with text explaining everything in this book makes the book drag a bit. The content is good, but more pictures and white space would really help this one. 3.5/5

Summary-If you want flexibility; this is the system for you. The rules are well done to the point that anything anybody could want to make happen can happen. The theme is light, but that's a direct result of the book being open to anybody who wants to make their own Steampunk game. The mechanics really reinforce that theme of open Steampunk design by focusing on balancing all the different things people could create. I do like the balance presented in this game. My only real concern with this game is it gets lost in its own open design and the density of material presented. The art is good, but there just isn't enough of it. And, white space is your friend! However, if you can get past the problem of getting too much in a book, and don't mind completely building your own world and powers, this book is a well stocked tool box for building your own Steampunk world. 82%

Ring Side Report-Concert of Europe

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

Product-The Concert in Flames System- Victoriana Producer- Cubicle Seven Price- ~$20 here TL; DR- Great adventure, but only for the GM. 87%

Basics-Can you stop Europe from burning? An ancient evil is being awoken by a small group trying to upset the tentative balance of Europe and bend a fiend to their will while the fate of the Concert of Europe rides in the balance. This book also provides GM with extremely detailed notes on the geopolitical standing of the Europe countries in 1856.

Mechanics or Crunch-This is NOT an option book, but that doesn't make it a bad book. This book adds some new mechanics like new races and a new country specific creature or enemy for each of the different regions discussed. It's good, but you should not expect some new options and creatures each page like a player's option book or monster manual. The countries do have great write ups describing the make-up of each country, so you can quickly create things like a group of upscale Russians if you need them at a moment's notice. The adventure has simple stat blocks for each enemy which will make running the adventure easy and quick. What's here is well done, but you cannot go into this one hoping for tons of new crunch. 4.5/5

Theme or Fluff- This is where the book truly excels. Just like the base book, this book could almost be an excellent historical reference if you strip out the steampunk and magic elements. Each country in 1850's Europe gets an in-depth write-up. The adventure itself has a ton of depth as well as a great story for your players to run amuck in. The story has elements of government intrigue, magic, religion, and some trans-country train adventure. It's great steampunk fun. 5/5 . Execution- While the fluff and crunch are great; the execution has a few problems. There are some art to break up the text, but there are too many pages with just black text on grey background. This is a classic case of textbook problem. I do like some the way the book is divided. But, the font is a bit too small. And, there is just too much of it. This book also makes an inexcusable error for any fantasy book discussing geography. There is NO detailed map of Europe! Nor is there a map of the adventure train routs. While the countries are basically the same as real world 1856, a better map would have really helped with adventure design and the adventure in the book. I do like the pictures from the adventure as you get some nice hand drawn pictures of some of the major characters. All together, this isn't a badly executed book, but some flaws do hurt the overall presentation. 3.5/5

Summary- If you want to take your players across Victoriana Europe, then buying this book is a no brainer. GM's get all the information they need to make each European country feel distinct from one another with far more depth than there is in the base Victoriana book. If you want crunch options, then this book isn't for you. The adventure in this book is a fun romp across Europe as the players try to keep the Concert of Europe from falling apart. If that's the kind of adventure you and your players want to play, this is a great adventure. However, if you don't want to control the fate of the world and just want to play a game in London, then this is one to pass. There are some concerns I have with the execution, but those won't prevent you from enjoying this book if you want some excellent write ups describing Europe. If you want some cross European intrigue and a great adventure to start that controversy, go get this one. 87%

Ring Side Report-Victoriana 3rd Edition

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

Product- Victoriana 3rd Edition System- Victoriana Producer- Cubical Seven Entertainment Price- ~$25 here http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/116730/Victoriana-3rd-Edition?term=victoriana+3rd TL; DR- You can't go wrong with Steampunk, Lovecraft, Penny-Dreadful Shadowrun! 93%

Basics-Ever want to mix steampunk with Victorian sensibilities and add a ton of Middle Earth to the equation? That is the mix for Victoriana-an RPG set in 1856 where magic is semi-common place, steam power is beginning to conquer the world, and "heroes" are called from all walks of life. This is a whole RPG in one book, so let's break this down into its important parts and numbers.

Mechanics or Crunch- At this games core, it's a simple d6 pool game. Let's see how that plays out on each level:

Base Mechanic- Victoriana is a d6 dice pool game. Each task you do will be a combination of an attribute and an associated skill. Shoot a gun? Dexterity and firearms. Ride a Wyvern? Presence and Animal Handling. A few small things make this game amazingly fun and different from other dice pool games. One is the numbers you want. You are looking for 1's and 6's. Even better, 6's explode and you roll them again counting 1's and 6's. AND THE 6's KEEP EXPLOIDING! I love the dynamic addition of exploding dice in any game!

Task Difficulty-Most tasks you perform require two successes with some task allowing partial successes. That is a quick and easy mechanic for deciding failure and success. The system builds on this simplicity by adding "black" dice. Want to mix dangerous chemicals on a bumpy train ride? Well you roll your normal Attribute and Skill, but you also roll 3 BLACK dice. These black dice work just like normal dice, but they take AWAY successes. AND, they explode like normal dice! AND, THE PLAYERS ROLL THEM! This puts some of the pressure on the player and it's just pure fun as a GM. If you have negative successes at the end of a roll, then you have a foul failure. These situations are where the GM gets to absolutely play with the player. Guns break. Mechanical arms are ruined. Spells summon crazy monsters. It's the whole nine yards of bad things for a player. Some tasks have opposed rolls like attacking and dodging, but black dice can still be added to both sides of a combat. If you're shooting in the dark, and my bad guy is dodging while on a slippery floor, both sides get to add black dice to their rolls. Whoever has more successes wins.

Combat-You could have an RPG without combat, but why!? Each round players can choose to do one action (move, attack, cast a spell, etc) at no penalty. However, a player can do up to his/her dexterity in actions per round. Each action the player performs divides the dice pool for that action. Run and shoot? Divide your pool by two. Run, shoot, and mix a bomb? Divide your pool by 3 for EACH action. Your black dice are NOT changed as your divide your pools! You can do anything you want, but the more you do, the worse you can fail! Damage also is dependent on d6's. Each weapon has a damage value. If you score more successes than your target, you get to roll a number of d6's equal to the damage value for your weapon counting the 1's and 6's as before WITH EXPLODING DICE! After you count your successes, you add your initial number of successes to your count and the opponent subtracts his/her armor and takes the difference as damage.

Character Generation-Character generation in this system is divided into two broad categories: completely homemade or guided. If you make your own character from the soles of your feet up, have fun! If you want a little more guided approach, then you can build your character by selecting your background, breeding (social standing and race), build package (where you fit in the breeding and background), spend attribute and skill points, and earn and assign extra build points via drawbacks and other abilities. It's pretty simple, but flexible allowing all kinds of different characters to populate the world. As a word of caution, this system has the kind of flexible that a few example characters could help to keep players from killing themselves during character generation.

Magic and Machines-It wouldn't be magic and steampunk without magic and machines. Magic is divided into a few different categories. Basically, each mage has training in one of these areas of magic and makes still tests as previously discussed. It's simple and quick. The different types of magic all feel different as hermetic wizards throw around all kinds of elemental magic, while people of faith have much more religion based magic like healing and exorcism. All magic uses another metric called quintessence. Quintessence is spent to cast spells and is recovered over time and rest. Also, if you don't have quintessence, you can just take damage. I LOVE cast till you pass out systems! This is only the tip of the iceberg, but magic does feel like magic and not just another skill roll. Machines on the other hand are built once and then never have to be paid for again. They may require fuel like steam or gas to run, but the different machines fell like they have different functions. Most of these functions have different actions than magic, but part of the theme is how magic is beginning overtaken by the age of steam. Some of these devices even require magic to be built! Whatever steampunk idea you have in your head, based on the marvels here, you can build your favorite toy! Order and Chaos- Victoriana's spiritual fight isn't between good and evil. Don't get me wrong, good and evil are here, but the major fight is between the forces of entropy and order. The RPG spends some time outlying that order isn't necessarily good as a crazed priest of order can easily be as evil as a demonologist of chaos. Players can decide to side with one or the other, and when they do an action that advances their side, they can get dice depending how advanced they are on the cogs of their faction. Order provides a straight bonus to an action, while chaos provides many more dice than order, but you have to roll these dice to see if you succeed. It's a fun addition to the game, but one that your players and you will have to choose to get deep into. Summary-I love what is here. It's simple in a good way, quick, and flexible. It's got a fun feel with action and puts some of the dirty, hard choices in the players hands themselves with black dice. I love when I make the players be the bad guys for a change! 5/5

Theme or Fluff-Victoriana is an "almost Earth" setting. Even with elves, magic, and steam powered robots, people are not all that different. So, this book assumes that history will pretty much follow the same path to 1856. And, you know what? It works really well! I liked the world this book built. Also, if you remove all the "wizard/steam robot did it" references in the setting back story, the first half of the book is a well done summary of European history till 1856. Honestly, a world with different races (really different races not just Spanish compared to English, but Ogre compared to hog-faced beastmen soon to be German Chancellor) explains the wars in Europe better than the petty motivations that have occurred through all of our real history. The story of this world drew me in, and I sat and read the intro fiction as well as the world guide. It's a well done world with lots of depth to help you understand the world and live in it as you game. 5/5

A note on history, truth, and the "isms"- Victoriana is set in a time when it was amazingly awesome to be a white, European, rich male. For every difference from that standard, things got steadily worse. This RPG introduces the realities of that life, but doesn't dwell on them. It leaves how much of that you want to throw into your game up to you. That's important since some players might not be too comfortable roleplaying in a time when a husband could not technically rape his wife. And, if you wanted to, things could get worse from there. Sexism, racism, and specisim are alive and well here, but the book walks that line well and wholly lets the GM and players decide how much of the more horrible parts of history and alternative history they want to explore. I feel it's important to note that there are some possible adult themes, but they are handled well. If you just want some pulp steampunk with orcs and magic, then you can easily get that from the system too.

Execution-I liked this book, but the problems I have with this book are not getting enough book. What's here in this book is great, but could use a bit of help to distinguish information from background text. The book is black and white. That's not a bad thing, but some of the information isn't as highlighted as well as it should be. My next major complaint is the lack of examples. Combat and character generation could both really benefit from an example of creating a character and how to systematically tear another character to bits via combat. I liked the layout in general. The pictures did a great job explaining the world and people and keeping me engaged. Even with this complaint, my comments are positive. 4/5

Summary-If you want some steampunk, some magic, and some Victorian history; you can't go wrong with this system. Character generation is easy, actions have the players doing more thinking then just roll one die, and combat is quick. This RPG runs like a good watch-it looks like lots of too complicated moving parts, but when you really get down to it, you see its got a simple, elegant design. Magic and machines are there, but the subsystems that make them run are not overly complicated. A new player could easily play with either of those systems with no trouble. My only complaint is I feel more examples of combat, encounter generation, and characters in general would have really helped players get into the system easier. It's not a game breaker, but it's something to note. Overall, I love this system. If you're looking for your steampunk Shadowrun fix, you cannot go wrong with this one! 93%

Full disclosure: I was provided a reviewer copy.

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Barrow of the Cursespawn

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

Product-Darkwood Arc Excursions: Barrow of the Cursespawn Producer- Saga RPG System-Pathfinder Price- ~$6 here http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/132931/01AE01-Barrow-of-the-Cursespawn-PFRPG-PDF TL; DR-Zelda puzzles in Pathfinder!? 93%

Basics- Welcome back to the world of Darkwood. Miners are missing, and OTHER adventures are on the way! But, after a chance meeting in a bar, you and your friends are dragged into the events at the mine. Can you save the day and find out what's happening in the wilderness? This is a Pathfinder adventure that is designed to fit well into the Darkwood Adventure path for characters level 7.

Story or Fluff-This is an interesting one. To really get all you can out of this mission, a GM worth his/her salt must deeply read the background. This company excels at building story in their adventures, and it shows in this one. At its heart, this adventure is a simple dungeon crawl with adventure set in Saga's world of Darkwood, but these people write an awesome intro to get your involved and build story into the dungeon to make it interesting. However, like some fantasy or Sci-Fi adventures and stories, this adventure has the Dune problem for names-way too many terms are introduced to describe thing that have a general name like a burial mound or a shaman. It's not bad, but as a reader, it can sometimes be confusing. 4.5/5

Mechanics or Crunch-When you look at this one, it's a pretty short adventure. If your table doesn't mess around, you can easily get through this adventure in about three to four hours. The monsters are pretty par for the Pathfinder course at seventh level, but what will make this stand out are puzzles! I love adventures that have more than just fights. The puzzles are pretty nice. Now as a person who's played every Legend of Zelda game, these puzzles are not world endingly difficult, but anytime you have a TIMED puzzle in a tabletop RPG, it's going to be a good evening! The traps and monsters are all normal stuff, but its standard stuff you'd expect to fight at this level. There is new stuff here, but I don't think any seventh level party will be overly challenged by this adventure. However, those issues maybe more of a Pathfinder system problem than anything that is written by Saga. It's a good stand along adventure, but you'll need all the standard Pathfinder/Paizo books to run the adventure, but to get the most from this adventure you will also need Saga original AP book (reviewed here http://throatpunchgames.com/2014/06/06/ring-side-report-rpg-review-of-the-deft-and-the-deadly/ ) 4.75/5

Execution-This is a pretty short product, but the price is right. Like I said before, these writers are great at story, but there are a few pages of nothing but text with lots of new terms. I'd like a bit more art, but what is there is art, its put to good use. Also, the puzzles and some of the traps get great layouts and art to really help the players and GM understand what's going on and how to run the adventure properly. 4.75/5

Summary-This isn't a perfect adventure, but it's a damn fine one. It's got a good plot that factors into Saga's other metaplot for their adventure path. It's a nice evening adventure sized adventure with fighting, traps, and puzzles. If you like Saga's current AP, then you're getting this one regardless of what I have to say. But, if you want some good third party Pathfinder adventure, for six bucks, you can't go wrong here. 93%

Disclosure: I was provided a review copy of this adventure.

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of The Deft and the Deadly

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

Product-Darkwood Adventure Arc #1- The Deft and the Deadly

Producer-Saga RPG

Price-~$13 available here

System-Pathfinder

TL; DR- A well done 1st product from a new company-90%

Basics- Welcome to Darkwood, Mudder. Seeking either revenge, glory, or money, you and your friends stumble into Darkwood. This is a town on the fringe where several powerful people (and not people) battle for dominance in a new world. Can you make your name out here, or, will you end up face down in the mud you’re covered in? This is the first adventure in a five part series. Besides the adventure, the book provides large appendices on Darkwood, new items and diseases, example start characters, rules for coalition affiliations, NPCs, and a whole new world!

Fluff or Story- The people at Saga RPG put together a heck of a product for story. Every part of the town gets a bit of writing. All the shops have stories and a menu. The main story is more sandbox and with linier sections. This is to be expected as the characters are entering the world and have to be giving some quests to move them along, but eventually, the players are just told to have some fun and make some money in town. It’s a lot of fun. Aside from the main quest, the book covers a whole new world and its kingdoms. That’s pretty ambitious for a new RPG company’s first product. For less than a Paizo adventure product, you’re getting a higher page count of stories. I’m pretty intrigued on what going to happen over the course of this story. 5/5

Crunch or Mechanics-You don’t expect much mechanics from your standard adventure or a third party, but, these guys went above and beyond on this. There are a new mechanics ranging from measuring faction relationships to a new god with two new domains. Of course, there are new items and all the other standard things expected for a Pathfinder adventure, but, this comes from a third party. It’s well done, thought out, and an excellent addition to the systems library. 5/5

Execution- Here is the ONLY place I have negative things to save about this product, and at WORST these guys are above average. One thing I hate is recycled art. These guys reuse the same art a few times across their first book. The second thing I don’t like is there are some layout problems. It opens a little slow on my iPad, but that’s ok. However, there are some layout choices I would not have made for spacing. That leads to the third problem I have-“text book problem”. This book has A LOT to say. The book moves from AMAZING depth in a town to a whole new WORLD. That’s a lot of ground for one book to cover. That said the book covers it in depth, but does so with more than just a few pages of just text. That’s not the worst sin out there, but it makes this read a little like a text book in places. I would have liked a bit more art to interrupt the text, grab your attention, and guide the reader’s eye. But, I’d like to put that in perspective. I am complaining about there being too much in this book. 3.5/5

Summary-This is a well done product. If you’re tired of the Paizo product scene, this product is done well enough that is up there with a standard Paizo project with a compelling story and interesting additions to the system. I would like a player handbook like the other Pathfinder products I’ve read, but, this product is already full enough. My complains are in how this thing looks, not what it contains. This is one of the best Pathfinder products I’ve seen in a while. 90%

Disclosure- I was provided a review copy of this product.