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Mecha vs Kaiju: Shen Battler Aurora
Publisher: WrightWerx
by Daniel R. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/19/2022 02:23:47

I haven't played this setting yet, nor have I used the rules. But I have read through the entire book to get an understanding of what inspirations were thought up for this setting, and how it can be applied to the Mecha Vs Kaiju game. When I do get the chance, I may come back to this review to edit and adjust my score.

No Spoilers:

Even so, I would like to point out that this Setting Might be the closest to being D&D, only with Mecha. Even so, its more than possible that there might not be any room for chrunchy Gameplay (unless you put in the Necessary Work that makes sense for the Characters, the Setting, and how to adjust to the Magic System.

On the Flip-side, the Anime Inspirations that this setting draws from are worn Heavily on its sleeve, not a bad thing. But believe you-me, that I instantly got many of the references. Not helped that the name of this Book is a dead give away for which Anime its pulling from.

Make no Mistake, this is an "Isekai" Setting, that also is connected to the Mecha Vs Kaiju World. And the references don't stop: from Visions of Escaflowne, Cross Ange: Angels & Dragons, Knights & Magic, and even obscure stuff like Undefeated Bahamut Chronicle. At this point, the whole arm is covered in Anime!

Only making this fact more clear, is that this book is just a massive world setting to play out the GM's own version of SUPER ROBOT WARS. I'm not against that, cause that idea is really cool, and having that sort of Mecha Mash up while fighting off an Oppressive Magitek Empire, Magic Starved Berserk Dragons, and Rampaging Kaijus that haven been reawakened is Very Freaking Cool!

But I also know that it can be an Acquired taste! Hell, it would probably really difficult to properly set it up, not to mention that GMs might not be up to the Task when it comes to figuring out how to weave in their Friends/players original Mecha Ideas. Its a tough call, cause most of this book is one Massive Lore dump! While the options are plentiful, figuring out what to leave in and what to cut out will always be a necessity for the GM, but its hard to say if any of the material will work between Shen Aurora's setting, and Mecha vs Kaiju's Sourcebook setting! Its often best to be careful doing so since they might not gel together well.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Mecha vs Kaiju: Shen Battler Aurora
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Two Page Mini Delve - Deepwood Memorial
Publisher: Roving Band of Misfits Press
by Daniel R. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 06/28/2022 22:07:31

Not gonna lie. This Adventure isn't what I was expecting. And felt unsatisfying to run for my group. Chalk it up to personal preference.

While a short & sweet Adventure module set in a ruined Elvish made Cemetary that's edited well, and contains a great map. It's not good for tying into a larger, overarching adventure(s). I can see that this adventure is basically an Introductionary level module that's good for short 4 hour D&D sessions at best. As the "End-Goal" of this Module isn't as rewarding towards the players as I had hoped for. And is more about exploration into a tomb that leans into Indiana Jones rather than D&D. Not trying to rag on the Author of this piece, but this module wasn't as exciting after playing it.

And Playing it as is, wasn't the best move. To new DMs, one important lesson is to always read through the Module, and edit it. Which thankfully, the third page attached to this adventure has suggestions and helpful advice on how to work that all out.

Even so, this adventure will have to have some additional tweeking, especially if you plan on using it. Having a defined "Item" or "Maguffin" locked away here would be great way of modivating the party.

Other suggestions:

  • Never use the headbands. Makes the players feel like their railroaded on a tour than on an adventure.
  • This Forgotten Memorial should have Skeletons or Undead enemies. Come up with a reason for "Why" the Undead are roaming, especially since the Memorial should be hallowed ground.


Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Two Page Mini Delve - Deepwood Memorial
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Philo's Curiosities and Collectables
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by Daniel R. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/19/2020 14:20:23

A very inventive and funny Pawn Shop, definately a good pick up since the Gnome running the place is a just as much entertaining as the Shop itself.

Set in any town, village, or wayward stop before the next dungeon. This booklet gives you a lists of items, a shop keeper, a Animated suit of armor, and Iron Golem at the front to give the shop some personality. Philo's Curiosities is pretty good to have, especially if you want magic items for your party but don't want to give them overpowered item at the start. Though most of said items aren't all that impressive and can just provide something extra to your campaign.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Philo's Curiosities and Collectables
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Paladin: Oath of the Tactician
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by Daniel R. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/19/2020 14:00:15

Love this Paladin Tree for its Simularities to the Chess Themed Cleric of 3rd Edition.

But simply put, this Paladin is almost like a Bard on Steroids! And While I can see that alot Balancing was thoughout within the Spacing of this Paladin's abilities (From lvls 3, 7, 15 and 20 especially), its more than likely that this Paladin can walk through a Whole Field of enemies if he has a Crew (or Army) by his side.

"War God's Blessing" and "Aura of Militant Faith" are impressive divine powers with the 5E system. Though considering the length of time and Leveling you would have to do to reach "Aura" and "Sacred Stratagem". This feels more suited to a long-form Campaign of D&D. Sure you'll get alot of neat Spells to use, but tapping into the true potential of this beast will take time.

DMs, run at your own risk. And Players, make sure to test this one out first before you decide to run with it :)



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Paladin: Oath of the Tactician
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Monsters Destroy All Cities
Publisher: Olde House Rules
by Daniel R. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 05/21/2020 18:29:14

It's been a long time since I last played a Table Top game featuring Giant monsters. Especially one where you just sit down with a sheet and build a monster from scratch in just one sitting.

Well, I think I have found that game again, and I can say that "Monster: Destroy All Cities" is an easy to manage, pick-up-and-play, Giant Monster Mass of fun! And with the likes of "Monster Island: the Game of Giant Monster Combat" being out of print and extremely hard to find. I can see this game as a really good replacement. Though there are a few details that I would like to address in regards to some aspects of this game, but we'll certainly get to that soon enough.

My Review:

One of Many

I won't lie, this game isn't the only Kaiju / Giant Monster game out there. There are plenty of games to look at (Plenty right here on this site alone). But I can tell you right now that it is hard to judge whether or not you will like many of them. As there are many angles that a Kaiju games can approach. From board games, to crunchy Rpg games, to even story driven affairs, with most players ether ending up as a Character driving a Mecha or a Human guiding a Kaiju through a special link that they share. There are ALOT of games out there, and that's more than enough material to read and draw up conclusions about. Maybe too much material, as I have spent Years trying to look for a Kaiju game after getting into DnD and discovering that there were a Ton of Rpgs out there that I could play!

And to some degree that was cool, until you find out that some of the good ones don't really exist anymore.

Point is, the journey to get to this game wasn't easy, but it certainly was worth it.

Good ol' Stomping Fun!

Honestly at a $1.49 along with free pdf Character / Monster Sheets, how could I not place a purchase down for this? It was a tough call at first, yet once I got it printed out and sat down with it, my outlook changed.

One thing I noticed right off the bat was just how light a read this game pdf was, stacking up to a nice 48 pages that give you all the rules and the ideas for what to use on you table to get this game started, with more suggestions after monster creation.
Speaking of which, Monster creation being failrly sparse, with only 3 defined "Body-Types" or Monster-types. Those being Avian, Saurian, and Simian (You can sorta tell as to who these monster types are a mirror of). With the Fourth and Fifth body-types being Xenoform and Mech (or Mecha).

The game has a point-buy system for Monster skills and abilities that go towards your overall strengths. Letting all monsters start out with the same amount of points, while Xenoform and Mech both get their own own set of points. All in all though, most of the Monsters starting out will be roughly the same in terms of fighting potential. So while they start out small, the game really makes you feel like a powerhouse as you go toe to toe with your enemy players. Its simple and easy to use, and almost feels like watching a wrestling match take place (just like all my favorite Giant monster movies!)

With the only difference being how you use your Skills as you Tactically try to outwit your oppnent. The name of the game being to win! Winners gaining two points for every win, and Losers gaining only 1 point just to keep up. However, if your Kaiju decides to Fly or swim away, than no points are added. Running away being the real loss for any player.

A Few Missing pieces

As much as I like the sparse material, there are a few key details that I feel I must address. with one being the skill list, as there are only 24 skills on this list and most of them are terrestrial based, meaning while your monsters do get alot out of Acid Spitting, Radiation Blasts, and Earth shattering attacks. The Game doesn't quite give you a whole lot of attacks that vary, in fact it much of the skills are a mix up of support Abilities, movement based (Tunnel Vision, Flight, etc), or mostly close-range brute fighting. None of its bad. But I do kinda wish there was more. as we don't have say, a Whirlwind or Tornado attacks, Watergun or an Ocean Vortex, Energy Blade(s) options for Mechs. Or even the option to do a Tail Strike or Tail-Whip. Not even a Sonic Scream? Sure there probably is a way around that, but it clearly seems that the list was still being thoughtout at the time.

And while it is true that the Xenoform and Mech (Mecha) Body-types do exist to make up for the lack of the Diverse Kaijus species out there, I'm alittle vexed as to why we aren't given an Insect, Aquatic or Astro-Monster Type to use either?

There is also one thing that I would like to point out, Hit-Points. While it is true that all monster gain the same hit-points (10) no matter what body-type. In one of the sample monster,the Hit-Points on it are at "11"! I don't know it if this is a typo, but from what I can tell, there is nothing in the book that details about raising your maximum HP. I combed it pretty thoroughy. Was I missing something?

Conclusions

While not perfect, I don't believe this game (or any other) has to be in order to enjoy it. Supplemental material would however make this beautiful game even more enjoyable. Still, even if none of it comes, it may be possible for a game master to homebrew up some minor tweaks and changes. Heck, even so much as writing Insectoid under Xenoform makes it more interesting and personal.

But probably one of the biggest changes that could be good suggestion to follow up on; would be to allow minor annoying enemies to show up, like Jets and Tanks, we already have rolls for Missiles and Bombs, but as for simple stats from DFs (Defence Forces) or Aliens and their Space weapons would be interesting. Although, that can simply be up to the Game master to create, and the game itself seems to allow for the modification of "units" to be added like that.

Heck, even changing up the combat and giving people a few Scenerios, such as having some Kaiju protecting their eggs or stopping a bunch of humans or aliens out to enslave the Kaiju makes for a change of pace when it comes to the combat.

All in all, I found "Monsters: Destroy All Cities" to be a great addition to my collection, and I'll probably be playing it alot more often. And if there comes a time where some more material is added to this game, I'll pick that up too. But For now, I think I'll play it as it is for now before giving my friends a few homebrewed challenges to offset the wrestling vibes. :)

Thank you James & Robyn. :)



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Monsters Destroy All Cities
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Creator Reply:
Thank you for the kind words! The 10 HP monster you referenced has 1 rank in the Armored power, which grants +1 HP per rank taken, if that helps. We hope you enjoy the game and highly encourage house rules!
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