DriveThruRPG.com
Browse Categories
$ to $















Back
pixel_trans.gif
Other comments left by this customer:
You must be logged in to rate this
pixel_trans.gif
Winds of the Ice Forest (LL)
Publisher: Random Order Creations
by Damon D. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/09/2014 06:56:06

Winds of the Ice Forest is a winter-themed adventure module for Labyrinth Lord suited for first to third level characters, and is structured as a series of random encounters, with several possible goals and adventure hooks to get the party started. It is very unlikely that players will experience everything this adventure has to offer; there are multiple adventure hooks that each provide unique goals and NPCs, and encounters which change depending on those goals, and the order in which they are experienced.

While written as an old-school adventure, it isn't quite as unforgiving as the modules of old. There are plenty of mechanisms within the adventure that allow characters to recover hit points at a decent rate, though combat can still be very lethal if players don't use their wits, and one trap in particular will one-hit kill a first level character if used as written.

The art isn't brilliant, but provides enough flavor and detail to establish the atmosphere of the adventure. And, honestly, I find it incredibly charming, though I'm certain most would disagree with me. There is no overall map necessary for the adventure, though there are several maps detailing specific encounters, and they are well laid out and easy to read.

The one major complaint I have regards some of the magic items. One NPC in particular, when defeated, will load up the party with a variety of decently powerful magic items, which some GM's may find unsuitably powerful for a starting first-level party.

Overall, Winds of the Ice Forest is well put together adventure. The content is creative and fun, and is laid out in a neat, organized manner that makes it extremely easy to navigate. If you decide to pick up this adventure, definitely throw some dollars their way, it's highly deserved.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Winds of the Ice Forest (LL)
Click to show product description

Add to DriveThruRPG.com Order

pixel_trans.gif
Creator Reply:
Thank you for the kind review, Damon. The constructive criticism is highly valuable and greatly appreciated!
pixel_trans.gif
KOBOLD Guide to Combat
Publisher: Kobold Press
by Damon D. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/09/2014 06:17:19

While by no means a bad book, the Kobold Guide to Combat is far from the series' best. Overall, it feels like the publishers were hard pressed for content. Many of the articles, while interesting in their own right, are either too broad or limited in scope, or are only tenuously relevant to fantasy role playing games. Having read most of the articles, and having skimmed the rest, I don't get the impression that the subject of combat justified the length, if the seemingly hodgepodge collection of articles is any indication. If you are a long time fan of the Kobold Guides, you can do a lot worse than picking this one up, but if you've never picked up a book from this series, I'd highly suggest checking out the Kobold Guide to Game Design, or the Kobold Guide to World Building, first or skip this one altogether.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
KOBOLD Guide to Combat
Click to show product description

Add to DriveThruRPG.com Order

pixel_trans.gif
Defunct Listing
Publisher: Amagi Games
by Damon D. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/30/2014 21:14:27

Mechanisms Ror Tabletop Roleplaying is a collection of well-polished and interesting house rule suggestions for any pen-and-paper roleplaying system, with further suggestions for tailoring the new mechanics to a preferred system. Though the rules herein do seem to be informed by a number of other games ("Action Scenery" especially, being very similar to Apocalypse World's task resolution), their execution is sufficiently unique and easy enough to follow to more than justify a purchase. Aside from the solid content, the presentation is far above and beyond what is par for the course for inexpensive, minimalist supplements sold exclusively through digital distribution. I've been very disappointed by similar products in the past, such is not the case with Mechanisms For Tabletop Roleplaying. I highly recommend it.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Defunct Listing
Click to show product description

Add to DriveThruRPG.com Order

pixel_trans.gif
LotFP Rules & Magic Full Version
Publisher: Lamentations of the Flame Princess
by Damon D. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/26/2013 16:41:30

I began my adventures with Lamentations of the Flame Princess when I first bought the Grindhouse Edition a couple of years ago, drawn in by the promise of a crazy, weird-fantasy take on the original fantasy roleplaying game. What I got wasn't bad, but not quite what I was promised.

LotFP is a "retro-clone" system, using Wizards of the Coast's Open Gaming License to reverse engineer the rules of early fantasy roleplaying games, in this case, the Basic and Expert boxed sets of the original game, with a few adjustments to make the system easier to learn and play, particularly the use of ascending armor class in a similar fashion to the 3rd Edition SRD, and a simple, effective, and unobtrusive encumbrance system. While these are fairly nice additions to the old-school formula, the system still seems bare, containing only the core classes, without any sign of the more colorful sub-classes. In addition, the fighter is the only class which gets an increased to hit chance as he or she increases in experience. While the attempt to make the fighter more effective at higher levels relative to spellcasters is certainly noble, it seems like a crude patch which could have been much more carefully balanced without such a huge disparity in fighting ability between classes.

"So," you must be wondering, "where does the weird fantasy come in?"

Well, to be honest, I'm not sure. There's very little in this system that gives it any sort of identity other than an old-school revival RPG. There are no "weird" character classes or abilities, no particularly "weird" spells (most, if not all, of the spells will be very familiar to fans of the original games), and no collection of monsters whatsoever. At least, this was true of the Grindhouse Edition release, who knows, maybe monsters will be included in the referee book, which has yet to be released at the time of this writing.

Maybe I'm overreacting, but I feel the spell list and monster list would have been prime territory for illustrating a weird-fantasy world unlike anything you've seen before in a fantasy RPG. Instead, what I got was a fairly bare-bones retro clone.

If you already own the Grindhouse Edition, the new Rules & Magic book's only major addition is the inclusion of firearms rules, which was nice, but nothing that interested me particularly.

Honestly, if you're looking for weird fantasy, look to Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea. The weirdness is baked right into the system, all the way from the classes, straight through the spells and to the monsters. It's another retro-clone system (This one emulating the Advanced 1st edition of the original game), so you'll be able to scratch that itch.

If you're not interested in the weird, and looking instead for a refinement of the Basic/Expert editions, my personal favorite is Adventurer Conqueror King System (ACKS). It is easily the most streamlined, well-designed, fun retro-clone I've played to date. Instead of looking to the 3rd Edition SRD for inspiration, the author took the original rules and found his own way to streamline the system while keeping its essence intact.

I know I sound harsh, but LotFP is not a bad game, it just didn't do much to impress me. For what its worth, the encumbrance system is the best I've seen in an old-school revival product, and one I've house ruled into many similar systems. If you're looking for some inspiration, it may be worth picking up for that reason alone. If not, read the free rules, see how you like it, and make the choice for yourself.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
LotFP Rules & Magic Full Version
Click to show product description

Add to DriveThruRPG.com Order

pixel_trans.gif
Displaying 1 to 4 (of 4 reviews) Result Pages:  1 
pixel_trans.gif
pixel_trans.gif Back pixel_trans.gif
0 items
 Gift Certificates