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Journey Around The Radiant Citadel
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by Jarrod S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/19/2023 08:53:05

This is a well-written product with tons of good information about the Radiant Citadel. It helps turn the official bare-bones city into something more than a rough sketch. There's lot of good stuff in here, from locations, to adventure hooks. The pdf is also very colorful, which might make printing a drag, but it is also in line with the vibrant colors I would expect in a Radiant Citadel product. So, why only 3 stars?

There is no cut and paste option. When I buy a pdf, I always cut and paste and make my own documents in Word. Charts, player handouts, etc. I can't do that with this product, which makes it far less useful to me. Now, instead of having all my information in one place in a Word document, I have to flip back and forth between two products (assuming I printed this in the first place).

So yeah... 5 stars for content, 1 star for utility. If the ability to cut and paste a product you paid for isn't a big deal for you, then I'd say it's a 5 star product for you.

----- EDIT ----- I'm pleased to say that the cut and paste issue is fixed. Thank you so much! This easily now makes this a 5-star product. The content remains outstanding and I would reccomend buying this if you're planning to run Radiant Citadel, as it greatly fleshes out the hub.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Journey Around The Radiant Citadel
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Creator Reply:
Jarrod! Thank you for your kind words my friend. It was not our intention to make this title not copy and pastable. I think we have fixed it, if you could confirm in the discussion I started on the Title's page that would be great. Pete and Dave.
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Black Star Companion
Publisher: LakeSide Games
by Jarrod S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/03/2023 02:04:55

An outstanding companion book for an already outstanding game.

There are 2 new Archetypes to play with - the Fringer and the Psychic. I especially love the psychic, because it allows you to play a more traditional psychic without the accompanying mysticism of "the Force." This is perfect for helping to emulate settings like Firefly or Babylon 5.

The original Archetypes all get 3 new Talents, giving you even more options for character creation and advancement.

Flaws are introduced as an optional rule. I always like systems where you can take a Flaw for your character. The rules say that the GM might simply every character to have one, but another option is to leave it up to the players, and if they do take one for their character, give them a bonus Talent.

There's an Optional Rules section, with a good chunk of it devoted to emulating "hard sci-fi" settings, so kudos to the author for branching out beyond the "not Star Wars" setting and allowing GMs to run games more in line with The Expanse.

The companion covers some fairly vital stuff that was missing in the core rules, such as vehicle upgrades (so you can build that smuggling ship you always wanted), wealth, and capital ships. There's also a section with a handful of alien races (most of which will be familair if you look at them long enough), as well as a section on adversaries with some much-needed bad guy stats.

Top it off with a planet generator, answers for some commonly asked questions, and 4 more pregenerated characters (all of which are really fun), and you've got a product that packs a hefty punch for its page count.

5 out of 5 all the way around. This product and its parent core rulebook are exactly what I look for in small publishers. I can't wait to see what comes next!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Black Star Companion
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Black Star
Publisher: LakeSide Games
by Jarrod S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 06/25/2023 22:35:23

What an awesome, fun, rules-light game! You basically roll 2d6, add the relevant Ability (which are a combination of stats and skills), and you need to get a 9 or better to succeed. That’s pretty much the basic mechanic, but there is minutia beyond that. Such as rolling a 5 or 6 on your dice gives you extra damage; bonus and penalty dice, etc.

Every character gets 2 Archetypes, which I love because nobody ever really seems to be just one thing. Wanna play a Luke Skywalker type character? He’s a Mystic and a Pilot. Etc.

Then there are Talents (like Feats) for each Archetype. There are also Gear Talents for super-fancy or high-end equipment, Mystic Powers for your “Force” users, and Innate Talents for creating bots, cyborgs, and aliens. If you want to play an alien instead of a human, simply choose an Innate Talent during character creation and you get to make up the rest (assuming you aren’t just importing your favorite sci-fi races).

Resolve is a combination of Hit Points and Hero Points, which I’ve never seen done in a game before and I think is really cool. Is it worth using a point of Resolve right now, knowing that its going to reduce your “hit point” level?

Only the players roll dice! Not only do the player’s roll when their characters attempt to something; they also roll when something is being done to them. So, assume a bad guy is shooting at you (the PC) and will hit you unless you make your dodge roll. It’s all in the hands (well, dice) of the players.

The setting information is pretty bare bones. But I think the assumption is you’ll be playing Star Wars with the serial numbers filed off, so there’s no need for pages and pages of world information, alien races, etc. This is a plus for GMs who like to create their own worlds, because you could easily ignore what setting info there is and import your own. I could easily use these rules to run Firefly, Farscape or Cowboy Bebop, and with a little work Star Trek, Stargate, and the like.

And with a companion book nearing completion, there’ll be even more options. New talents, new archetypes, rules for classic psionics, ship rules, and more.

Fantastic job on this game! I can’t wait to get this to my table.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Black Star
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Family Trade
Publisher: Gallant Knight Games
by Jarrod S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 01/04/2023 15:34:11

What a great addition to Tiny Dungeon or Advanced Tiny Dungeon. And for the price, you can’t beat it.

Coming up with a Family Trade for Tiny Dungeon characters is always one of the hardest parts of character creation for me, and this product fixes that. It has a comprehensive list of occupations that a typical medieval fantasy character might have. Not only does it have a description of the trade, but there’s also a Trick of the Trade – a benefit to having that trade. They’re not a powerful as your standard Trait – they usually just give you a small bonus to do something specific – and that’s exactly how it should be.

I can’t recommend this product enough and I hope to see more Family Trade products for other TinyD6 games (Tiny Frontiers, etc.).



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Family Trade
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Micronomicon: A Compendium of Magic
Publisher: Exploding Seed
by Jarrod S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/05/2021 20:15:01

Micronomicon is 438 pages of glorious magical goodness. 438 pages! That’s mind-boggling, especially since the Tiny Dungeon core rule book weighs in at 209 pages. Now before I get into the review, know that I’m one of the editors of this eldritch tome. But I also did it in my spare time and for free, because I believed in it. Hopefully, by the time I’m done, you will too. There really is something here for everyone and there’s a lot to unpack, so here goes…

Chapter 1: Alchemist details the schools of alchemy (potions, poisons, and alchemical bombs); a Prestige Trait; alchemical elixirs; alchemical metals; and finally, magic items specifically related to alchemists.

Chapter 2: Archmage gives us a plethora of new magical disciplines (nature-based, heritage-based, and several necromancy-based). This chapter is rounded out with new enemies and archmage specific magic items.

Chapter 3: Artificer details how to make magic items. It includes new Prestige Traits; common artifact types; new enemies; and a new Heritage.

Chapter 4: Bard details bardic magic. It also has new Traits, optional rules for instruments and some really cool, new Traits. This is rounded off with some magical musical instruments.

Chapter 5: Beastspeaker goes into more detail about how to use the basic Trait. Then it adds a new Traits and new Prestige Traits. There are nifty charts for determining what beasts can be found in different environments. Then we have a new enemy and magic items.

Chapter 6: Cookpot. Cookpot Adept isn’t just for halflings anymore. Originally from TinyZine #9, this opens up Cookpot magic (or as I like to call it, gouromancy) to everyone. Aside from the new Trait and Prestige Traits, there are a whopping 12 Cooking Traits to make you an even more portent gouromancer. Side note – one of those Prestige Traits is Cauldron Witch, which then allows you to take Cauldron Traits, opening up even more options. Seriously, it’s insane.

Chapter 7: Familiar has a ton of new Traits and Prestige Traits. Perhaps most cool of all is there are rules for having a demon as a familiar. There are also Traits to make your familiar/demon better. We end the chapter with new enemies.

Chapter 8: Healer talks about details on healing, random deity generation charts, sample pantheons, new Prestige Traits, and healer-centric magic items.

Chapter 9: Psionics is one of the best chapters, in my humble opinion. After talking about what psionics are, we get some new Traits and Prestige Traits. We also get several Psionic Fields, which are similar to Magic Disciplines. They’re cool. A new enemy and some magic items end the chapter.

Chapter 10: Shaman. Originally appearing in the Spirit World micro-setting, this makes Shamans useable in any setting. There are two Traits and one Prestige Trait, then several pages of discussing what shamanism is and how it works. The optional rules for Places of Power is really cool.

Chapter 11: Spell Reader contains everything you could ever want to know about scrolls and reading spells from them. There are new Prestige Traits and new enemies.

Chapter 12: Spell-Touched is another of my favorite chapters. Themes for spell-touched are discussed, as well as how to customize cantrips. Over the following pages are several new cantrips based around themes (such as “wilderness” or “investigation.”). They’re pretty cool and definitely get you to thinking about what new cantrips you can come up with yourself. Then we have Traits and Prestige Traits (big, big shout out to the Chaos-Touched Prestige Trait), and we end with magic wand.

Chapter 13: Teleportation Mage is perhaps my single favorite chapter because… well, teleporting is cool. Originally part of the King’s Daggers micro-setting found in TinyZine #4, this makes Teleportation Mage useable in all settings. After talking about the basics of teleportation magic, we have new Traits and Prestige Traits. Mix and match these to make a truly fearsome foe. And we end with magic items.

Part Two of the book is settings. These are the micro-settings that everyone familiar with TinyD6 is familiar with having in the books. Micronomicon has 22 of these micro-settings, so there’s sure to be something that grabs your attention. Sprinkled through the micro-settings are new Heritages, new Traits and Prestige Traits, new Magical Discipline, new enemies, and new items.

Told you that it was a lot to unpack. I LOVE this book. I think that should be obvious by now. Although I edited it, I didn’t receive any compensation for doing so. I volunteered because I fell in love with this book. Consider this to be THE essential sourcebook for all things magic for Tiny Dungeon and should be your first purchase after getting the core rulebook.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Micronomicon: A Compendium of Magic
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Tiny Cthulhu
Publisher: Gallant Knight Games
by Jarrod S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 01/14/2021 01:17:53

I love the Cthulhu Mythos but I just don't like rules for Call of Cthulhu, Trail of Cthulhu, or any other Cthulhu-themed rpg on the market. Enter Tiny Cthulhu. I was already a fan of the TinyD6 system when Tiny Cthulhu went to Kickstarter.

I feel like this is the most comprehensive and clearest presentation of the TinyD6 rules, not counting Advanced Tiny Dungeon, which is a slightly different beast.

I can finally run a Cthulhu game, using an easy to run rules set!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Tiny Cthulhu
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Fallen Justice: A Tiny Supers City Book
Publisher: Gallant Knight Games
by Jarrod S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 04/21/2020 15:14:09

Want to run a Batman, Arrow, Watchmen, or Sin City type of superhero game? This supplement has you covered. Inside its pages, you get:

  • 10 New Archetypes to choose from, none of which are allowed to have super powers, but each with their own unique advantages.
  • Equipment Kits allow non-powered heroes to emulate certain super powers. For example, take the Disguise Kit and gain the benefits of the Shapeshifting power.
  • Utility Belts allow the characters to carry various kinds of useful gear and gizmos. Change out your gear to carry whatever you feel like for the adventure.
  • Vehicle rules, which allow you to customize your ride.
  • Drugs and their effects. But not standard “real world” drugs. These drugs emulate Traits or powers.
  • A guide to Haven City, a city of grit, grime, and shades of gray.
  • Iconic heroes and villains of Haven City.

Highly recommended and an enjoyable read. Great new options for any Tiny Supers game. You could also easily lift everything from this supplement and drop it in a regular Tiny Supers game, for more options.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Fallen Justice: A Tiny Supers City Book
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Tiny Pirates: Second Edition
Publisher: Gallant Knight Games
by Jarrod S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 11/14/2019 17:20:39

Tiny Pirates is the most recent “small” Tiny D6 game. And by “small,” I mean that it does not contain any Micro-Settings, like Tiny Dungeon or Tiny Frontiers do. Even without any Micro-Settings, this book is well worth your time and money. Let’s take a look.

It clocks in at 77 pages, which is significantly larger than the other “small” books that don’t have Micro-Settings (Tiny Gunslingers and Tiny Living Dead). The pdf is 77 pages.

Up first, is The World of Tiny Pirates, which is only a couple of pages long but gives you a brief overview on what the game is about.

Next, is How to Play. If you’re familiar with other Tiny D6 games, this is pretty much the same chapter that’s in every Tiny 6 book. Not much new to see here, except a nice sidebar about the X Card and another on Cinematic Ammo.

If you’re not familiar with Tiny D6, the gist is this: you roll 2d6 and if you roll a 5 or 6 on either die, you succeeded. If something is giving you an Advantage, you get to roll 3d6. If something is giving you a Disadvantage, you only get to roll 1d6. If you hit, you do one point of damage and armor plays no part (which works very well with the setting).

Up next, is Ship Rules. I was surprised to find this before character creation rules but after reading it through, it makes sense that’s its first. The Ship Rules are brand new to Tiny Pirates, and they rock. They clock in at 15 pages, so that’s a pretty good-sized portion of the book. I look forward to trying them out!

Next is Pirate Creation. While some Tiny D6 games have Heritages (races) and some have Archetypes, Tiny Pirates has Roles, which is what position you have on the ship. It might be the Captain, the Pilot, or the Ship’s Doctor. Every Role has a unique ability associated with it. Then you select two Traits. For those not familiar, Traits are kind of a combination of Attributes and Feats (to use D&D vernacular). Some examples include Strong or Tracker. Tiny Pirates has only a few new Traits that aren’t in other Tiny D6 games, and I was actually surprised to see that some didn’t make it into the game. It’s easy enough to house rule in any Traits not in the book.

Finally, we have For the Game Master, which is also in all of the Tiny D6 books. I was expecting this chapter to be the “same old, same old” but was pleasantly surprised to find some new content. There’s a new Optional Rule: Collaborative Campaign, which could easily be used in any Tiny D6 game. The Sample Enemies section stats out 18 nasties to swing your cutlass at. Of those 18, I’ve only seen 1 before. Some of the enemies are even supernatural in origin in case you want to have magic and the supernatural in your game.

The final two pages (not counting the character sheet) is the Optional Rule: Duels. They seem like a solid addition and would definitely make the game livelier.

One minor squabble, and I stress, it is minor. There’s a couple of times the book talks about magic and it refers you to Tiny Dungeon. While this isn’t a big deal to me because I have it, not everybody does. It’s just a pet peeve, but I think a core rulebook should be complete in and of itself, without referring you to another core rulebook.

As with all the Tiny D6 games, Alan and company have written a solid product. I’m very happy with this game and it left me wanting more, but I’m just greedy that way. I would also be remiss if I didn’t give a shout out to Chris Yarbrough for the art. The art tends to be just a little on the “cartoony” side but I think it’s a perfect fit for the tone of Tiny D6. I like it.

If you like Tiny D6 games, there’s a lot of new content you’ll like. If you like pirate RPGs that are rules light, you’ll like this game. Job very well done!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Tiny Pirates: Second Edition
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H. P. Lovecraft Preparatory Academy
Publisher: Third Eye Games
by Jarrod S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/21/2019 00:01:01

First, to be completely forthcoming, I was part of the Kickstarter for this book. But, I’m not letting that color my review. In fact, there were some serious delays in the final finished product. But, I’m only going to discuss the product itself. So, what’s the verdict?

I’m extremely happy with this game and they did an AMAZING job with it. I’m a big fan of the Prose Descriptive Quality (PDQ) system and I own every PDQ game there is. Some are great and some… not so much. This one is definitely up near, or at, the top. It’s the longest PDQ game to date and there is a TON of information packed in there. Each student type (see below) has an entire chapter devoted to how their powers work with a plethora of examples.

For those familiar with the PDQ system, they’ve made some rules tweaks that really make the game their own. The two biggest changes are as follows: #1) Instead of having damage lower your Qualities, you now have a damage track. This was done so that physical and mental damage could be tracked separately. Which is a must considering the setting’s heaving Cthulhu vibe. Big rule change #2 is, instead of making up your own Qualities, you have a predetermined set to choose from. They are geared to the setting and well done. This will help players who can’t decide what Qualities to give their characters.

The blurb describes the setting as basically Scooby Doo with real monsters, but I think a more accurate description would be “what if Harry Potter was written by H.P. Lovecraft.” But HPL Prep doesn’t just teach would-be wizards and witches. It is also home to mad scientists, kids with monster pets (Pokemon with actual scary monsters), mutants (more Lovecraft than Marvel), kids who can enter, and manipulate, your dreams, and even plain ol’ regular kids (who are nicely balanced against the “powered” ones). I think with minimal work, you could also run this game at a college level, because let’s face it, not everybody is going to want to play a 13 year old kid.

I’m super happy with this game and, despite a somewhat frustrating Kickstarter, I’m very glad I backed this. If you’re a fan of the PDQ system, don’t hesitate to get this game. Between the rule changes, the setting, and the plethora of power examples, there’s going to be something you’ll like – even if it’s just to borrow for a different PDQ game. If you’re not familiar with the PDQ system, this game is a great place to start. It has kept the best parts of PDQ and turned the “less good” bits into something more user friendly. This game is also recommended to fans of The Laundry novels, the Locke & Key comics, the Hellboy comics, the Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children novels, and the Monsters & Other Childish Things rpg.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
H. P. Lovecraft Preparatory Academy
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Legends Walk - Truth & Justice Edition
Publisher: Silver Branch Games
by Jarrod S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/30/2007 00:00:00

If you're a fan of Truth & Justice (or of the PDQ system in general) then this game has something for you. It's basically a sourcebook for T&J about super heroes who get their powers from mythological gods, heroes, or monsters (called Sources). There is an extensive list of gods from the Greek, Norse, and Aztec/Maya pantheons. There are associated Powers, Qualities, and the like for each Source. This helps streamline character creation because your "powers" must fall within the Source's sphere of influence. So, in other words, if you want to talk to fish and breathe underwater, Thor is not a good choice for your Source. Choose Poseidon instead. There is also a large write-up of the current state of the world. In the Legends Walk setting the year is 2020. This section may not be as useful to you if you plan on using Legends Walk to create mythological supers in a normal modern day setting. But it still filled with excellent ideas to mine and use as you see fit. There is also a short section on how to use Legends Walk in other settings. Some are historical, some are futuristic, and some are modern earth. They are all inspiring. If you're a fan of Marvel's Thor comic, the novel American Gods by Neil Gaiman (and you should be!), or want to add a mythological flavor to your T&J game - get this book now! You won't regret it.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: The content of this product is excellent for the price. I am very happy with what I got. The art is good, if sparse, and most importantly, it didn?t distract me from reading the product.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: I would have liked to buy a PDF + Print version simultaneously but (as of right now) that option does not exist. Instead I have to go the company?s website to purchase the print version. It is my opinion that if I purchase a print version of a book, I should get the pdf version for a few bucks extra. It shouldn?t be two completely separate purchases. I would have liked to see more pantheons detailed as Sources but I understand space constraints. There are two splat books which offer up four new pantheons, but these write-ups are for the original LODE system, not the PDQ system. Hopefully they will also be converted to PDQ sometime soon. No Egyptian pantheon? To me, that is a pretty big oversight and one that sorely needs to be corrected (are you listening, Tim?). I would rather have had the Egyptian pantheon than the Aztec/Maya pantheon, but maybe that?s just me.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Legends Walk - Truth & Justice Edition
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Creator Reply:
Thanks Jarrod, glad you liked it! To explain the print/pdf position: as part of the OneBookShelf merge process, the print-on-demand facility is going away at some point fairly soon, and it's unclear whether this is temporary or permanent. For this major release I decided to focus promotion on a more secure service for those who want print books.
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The Zorcerer of Zo
Publisher: Atomic Sock Monkey Press
by Jarrod S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 01/16/2007 00:00:00

This is what roleplaying games should be. They should make players want to describe exactly what their characters are doing in as much detail as possible instead of just saying "I hit the giant with my sword." BORING! The PDQ system is fast and simple but still crunchy enough for those traditionalists. This is definitely a game for those who can think outside the box.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: The ease of the PDQ system. <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The pages are 12 x 9, which is going to make this diffcult to print.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
The Zorcerer of Zo
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