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curse the darkness
Publisher: Growling Door Games, Inc.
by Michael H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/16/2012 21:29:37

curse the darkness is a post-apocalyptic roleplaying game set in a world that seems to have gone out more with a whimper than with a bang. Well, whimpering and wiggling under the His heavy boot begging him not to send Them after us. He, whoever He is, came into our world and declared the end of everything. By this he meant the end of religion, government, or anything resembling an ideology. If an idea led to the organization of people then They would come and put an end to it.

The premise is scary. While many of us lament the social structures which influences our lives in what we perceive as negative ways there are usually a lot more which work to our benefit. What would you do if one day someone took it all away? He took the world and literally cut off its head. Then he replaces it with his own rules. Help everyone no matter what. No religion. No government. No anything.

Some years have passed since the downfall of civilization as we knew it and He has become lax in his efforts to keep humankind in its place. Some see this as a time to rise up and reclaim our world. Some think we should stick to the shadows and keep hiding.

So which will you do? Light a candle or curse the darkness?

curse the darkness is a story driven game which uses decks of cards to handle challenge resolution. The system is interesting if not a little overwhelming to adjust to. I think more than anything the game requires a shift in mentality towards cooperative storytelling (more so than other games like the World of Darkness games). It will take some getting used to but once that happens the stories will flow and the system works quite well to accomplish its goals.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
curse the darkness
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Legend of the Five Rings 4th Edition
Publisher: EDGE Studio
by Michael H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/16/2012 21:16:19

I have been playing Legend of the Five Rings off and on since I discovered the first edition of the game back in 1999. I have always been a fan of Japanese history, culture and folklore (no expert by any means, just a fan). Prior to finding this game I had become hooked on Rurouni Kenshin and I was looking for a game that captured the mythical and epic nature of medieval Japan. Legend of the Five Rings was the game that filled that need for me.

Prior editions of the game were tied intricately to the ongoing storyline which was being driven by the Legend of the Five Rings collectible card game. While in a lot of ways this was a good thing it often left players of the RPG just a bit behind the curve when it came to developments in the setting, slaves to a game in which they had no say. The Fourth Edition of L5R has finally freed players from this burden and empowered players to enjoy the time frame in the setting they want to explore.

The second edition of the game was tied very closely to Dungeons & Dragons and overall it felt like an underdeveloped product although it did bring several interesting mechanics to the table. Third edition marked a separation from D&D but as time went on the game became more and more complicated to play. While no one can deny the quality of the game it was hard to play the game without feeling a bit overwhelmed. One of the major focuses of the fourth edition was returning the game to a simpler core set of rules which maintained the flavored development by previous editions without crippling players with an overpowering game system.

For the most part I feel the game succeeds at fulfilling that goal. I finally had a chance to play L5R 4E at GenCon 2012 and I walked away a very happy gamer. The system was easy to use but versatile enough to handle everything our group threw at the game master. Combat was fast, fun and deadly without being tedious to track. Each character was infused with the L5R flavor that we have come to know and love.

L5R 4E is a game that has finally come back into its own. AEG got everything right with this edition and once again I find myself 100% engaged with the product line.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Legend of the Five Rings 4th Edition
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Monsters of Sin 6: Sloth (Pathfinder RPG)
Publisher: Kobold Press
by Michael H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/16/2012 20:48:14

The Monsters of Sin series is an excellent series of PDFs written by Ryan Costello, Jr. which explores the "seven deadly sins." Although these products have been written with the Midgard setting in mind they can easily be used at any game table using the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game (or even Dungeons & Dragons 3.5).

Sloth is a tricky sin to represent at the game table because by definition a slothful character tends to not engage the world around them. To help game masters and players bring sloth to life at the game table he boils the sin down to one of two approaches; "sluggish, unmotivated monsters, and monsters that drain characters of their ability to physically continue."

The Slothful Creature is a CR -2 template which is completely detrimental to the creature on which the template has been placed. This is an interesting tool for game masters who want to introduce creatures into their game which may be a bit too powerful for the party while also adding interesting elements to the story. Or even making an average level challenge less challenging can be a nice twist.

The Flab Giant (CR 4) is a new breed of giant. The origin of this breed is left to the imagination of the game master but whatever the cause for the genesis of this race they are a nasty bunch. Overweight and lazy love to use their greatest strength against those who bother them, their sheer girth.

If drakes are lesser versions of the dragons then a Scrap Drake (CR 6) would be the drake of the drakes. Does that make sense? The scrap drakes don't care if it does or not. In fact, they don't care about much at all. The best thing about a scrap drake is once you drag them in front of something to guard the odds are good they will stay. They are too lazy to go anywhere else.

Slow Storms (CR 15) are nasty outsiders which afflict their enemies with debilitating arthritis. The abilities of this creature are a good way to get PCs to slow down and can be a very interesting story development.

The Embodiment of Sloth (CR 17) is a master manipulator who does a good job of motivating others to get the job done for them. As a giant lump of flesh it can easily be mistaken for a nasty slime or pudding but it is far, far more dangerous.

As with the other PDFs in this series this is a well written product. For $2.99 game masters will not only be provided with some interesting tools but a great deal of inspiration as well.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Monsters of Sin 6: Sloth (Pathfinder RPG)
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Hunter: The Vigil Quickstart (The Hunt)
Publisher: White Wolf
by Michael H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/16/2012 20:12:38

Hunter: The Vigil is one of the best game lines in the New World of Darkness (NWoD). Game play as mortals is one of the pillars of the NWoD and this game line develops that experience providing even more depth. Hunter: The Vigil Quickstart (The Hunt) is a great S.A.S. to introduce your troupe to this game line.

Set in the iconic Hunter city of Philadelphia your players find themselves drawn into the darker side of their world. Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately) they are not alone in this journey. For better or worse the troupe has come to the attention of Task Force: Valkyrie and they think the PCs are the perfect people to look into a rash of ritualistic murders. The investigation will unavoidably lead them deeper into the wicked side of the World of Darkness.

This S.A.S. can also be played with Hunter: The Vigil Quickstart (One Year Later) which appropriately takes place "one year." Together these S.A.S. modules make the perfect launching off point for a chronicle.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Hunter: The Vigil Quickstart (The Hunt)
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Episode 89 - GenCon 2012: What's Up with White Wolf
Publisher: White Wolf
by Michael H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/07/2012 11:48:07

This was good but it felt like a teaser for the "What is the Onyx Path?" seminar.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Episode 89 - GenCon 2012: What's Up with White Wolf
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Encounters ~ Plots ~ Places
Publisher: Troll in the Corner
by Michael H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/07/2012 11:21:29

Encounters ~ Plots ~ Places focuses on the quality of the material as opposed to quantity. That said this product is still filled with dozens of interesting NPCs, curious creatures, intriguing items and plot-worthy locales. Game masters will find no lack of inspiration in this product and will get a lot of mileage out of it no matter what game system they are using. The material in this book is written independent of game system which means it can be used with any fantasy roleplaying game with very little work.

Not only is each entry well written Benjamin Gerber took the time to develop adventure hooks for each as well. Then on top of that he included a section at the back of the book with additional adventure hooks to add even more tools to a game master's toolbox.

For the most part the layout of the book and the art were superb although there are some questionable art choices. Visually the book is not as cohesive as I would have liked it to be which disappointed me because the written portions of the book are top notch. The book also have some problems with editing and/or formatting; there were a lot of broken paragraphs, missing periods and things like that.

Full Disclosure: I received a free PDF copy of this product for review purposes. Regardless I would happily pay $6 for this book. I believe it is worth every penny and I think you will too.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Encounters ~ Plots ~ Places
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Creator Reply:
Hi Michael, I thought I had stomped out all of those formatting bugs! The broken paragraphs/missing periods and whatnot should all be addressed in a maintenance release coming out later today. Thanks for the review!
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Episode 90 - GenCon 2012: What is the Onyx Path?
Publisher: White Wolf
by Michael H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/31/2012 14:05:15

This was the big announcement we had been waiting for. Rich Thomas is Onyx Path Publishing!

Well, it is a bit more complicated than that and there are a lot of great people involved in the next step in White Wolf's evolution but that is the core of the message. Major changes have happened, great things are in store for the future and Onyx Path Publishing is the company that is going to take us there.

More Classic World of Darkness books! More New World of Darkness books! Exalted 3E! Scion 2E! Trinity 2E! Cavaliers of Mars! And more...

Check it out!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Episode 90 - GenCon 2012: What is the Onyx Path?
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