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minimald6
Publisher: Darkworm Colt
by Russell D. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/11/2018 09:19:37

It's 2 pages, no frills. You can literally go read this whole game off his website. So why does it have 5 stars from me, and a lot of others?

Simple, Elegant, Hackable, and one of the tightest communities I've seen.

Seriously, at the time of this review there's over 20 little fan games (two of them mine) and everyone keeps cranking them out.

The mechanics are super simple -- you're either rolling two d6 dice, 1 die if disadvantaged or 3 dice if advantaged. Roll a 5 or 6 on any die and you succeed. Likely success? Just don't roll. Incredibly narrow chances? It's impossible. Stats are just there to arbitrate ability -- you can remove them and still play the game. That isn't a bug, that's a feature. It's this weird nebulous crossroad of new school and, yet, very old-school in that GM arbitration makes or breaks a game.

I was skeptical, but it's really been a blast seeing what we can do with this tiny little framework.

In Short: This PDF is really just a promo of the experience. Look up the website, find our G+ community, and dive in to the awesome little DIY rpg community that could.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
minimald6
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The Blood Hack
Publisher: DYS Games
by Russell D. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/19/2017 18:07:11

Loved this! As someone who cut his teeth on both D&D and Vampire, it's great to see a game that takes elements of both yet stands on its own. The Black Hack as a chasis allows for some super-sweet "rules necessary" approaches that really streamlines the experience without feeling shoe-horned. I've had friends turned off of the other vampire RPGs because the alleged "Storytelling" alternatives to D&D felt bloated. Or they were unsure about diving into the lore and metaplots. Here, it's very light on the background (but gives just enough to have your engines turn!) and the rules hardly get in the way. It's easy to consume the mechanics in a single sitting. It's not as pretty as some of those other games, but it is a fast 57 pages to read through.

So for those wondering what this game has to offer in the mechanics department different from The Black Hack itself: modern stuff like firearms & vehicles. The Blood's power system breaks away from vancian ties to use a "Blood Usage Die" which is a perfect substitution to blood pools of those other games. Also, the Blood Rituals are a pretty wicked aspect that give the game its own flavor and helps show how monstrous these characters can be.

So in short: a minimalist hack of a minimalist hack of D&D that potentially runs liter and more streamlined than other Vampire games out there.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
The Blood Hack
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Shadowrun: Anarchy
Publisher: Catalyst Game Labs
by Russell D. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 10/17/2016 11:36:37

I love this drek. There may be things I would’ve considered doing differently, and I’ll admit it feels a bit schizophrenic in places trying to decide its target audience (too crunchy for story gamers, too narrativist/hand-wavey for traditional SR players.) This isn’t 5th Edition trimmed down; this is the SR setting hacked & reskinned to fit the Cue System.

And that’s fine — I haven’t ran or played “Shadowrun proper” in years. I have a shit ton of old SR books on my shelf, and the latest ones I have are 3rd Edition. 4e character creation was too GURPS-ish for my taste; 5e looks wiz but I don’t have the time like I used to in order to teach it and run it.

Anarchy makes me nostalgic for what my favorite Shadowrun campaigns were — sessions where we disregarded the simulation, the minutiae, and focused more on the story. I didn’t punish my players for over-the-top, I rewarded them. I always made it a house rule that if you bought a few clips of ammo between runs, we’d play with “cinematic” ammo rules. I streamlined the fuck out of the Matrix with “Rule of Cool” and simple skill tests, because cyberpunk hacking to me is more about style than substance.

Anarchy is mechanically NOT Shadowrun. Yes, you’re rolling handfuls of six-siders and trying to wrack up successes. That’s sexy, and that’s honestly about as much “rules nostalgia” as I want. Combat is streamlined; there’s not even different modes of gun fire and initiative rolls are optional. Armor is just a bubble of extra damage pips before it goes on your actual health marks. Magic doesn’t have any Force or Drain — it’s straight forward effects. I mean hell: magic, cyberware, adept powers, cool equipment, and any other strange knack that makes you a badass are all rolled under the banner of “Shadow Amps”. These could be called Gifts, Stunts, Feats, Perks etc in many other systems. And I’m cool with that.

I don't have the time to teach or game master the Shadowrun I cut my teeth on. But this is a good foundation for me to get my Sixth-World fix, and introduce others to it. It's lean, mean, and pretty easy to wing it. It’s almost two games in one — the default “Narratavist” style is something to play on a moments notice. Grab a pre-gen character, pick a mission, everyone contributes to the story. It’s like Fiasco but more game-ish and pretty violent. Play it “Traditionally”, and with a few minor adjustments (that are in the book) it’s a game I can actually see myself running a campaign of despite my limited schedule.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Shadowrun: Anarchy
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Grin
Publisher: Arcana Games
by Russell D. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/28/2015 08:52:55

GRIN brings something different to the table. It's easy to compare it to DREAD as it's a horror game, where the mechanics imply "Succeed until you die or go crazy." It's only one page of rules, just enough for you to grasp but lite enough where you can't help but want to tinker and expand it some. This wasn't a bad thing for me, as I like "building up" with my rules. If you grab the additional supplements (Torchlight and Asylum) you get a glimpse at how to modify the system for the story you're running.

But focusing on this core document on its own: -> Really concise, everything you need rules-wise in a single page. -> Narrative Horror RPG that has more in common with games like Fiasco, where it's intended more for one-shots than campaign play. Also the players (in these rules) don't really have a character sheet aside from a name and a concept. ->Mechanics are a risk-taking "succeed or die." There's a buffer in the way you shuffle the deck to ensure there's game time before tension strikes. You'll find you and the players counting down cards, wondering to odds of each pull as the discard pile becomes smaller than the draw one.

I give it 4/5 because it's GREAT for those who are good at improvising and house ruling. Folks who need more guidance or inspiration will probably be turned off from the game. But with a good group it's really fun, and really intense.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Grin
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Hyperspace Messenger 03 - Aliens
Publisher: DwD Studios
by Russell D. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 06/16/2015 08:23:03

Aliens is all about creating new “race as class” Alien types tailored for your campaign (or completely made at random.) The first chunk of the supplement is an easy step-by-step guide to cherry pick or randomly roll up features and characteristics of the new alien race. When it’s all wrapped up, you tally up XP value based on the results. This is what it takes to reach level 2 for the character, and each level after doubles that value. Easy peasy.

But he doesn’t stop there — He then presents 5 sample alien classes, each one with a full page write up and full colored artwork by the incredibly awesome Khairul Hisham.

Pros: A really fun, random, old-school style method of generating new and unique alien races to populate your game. Once again, good layout and the artwork rocks.

Quibbles: The overwhelming sense of guilt I have for only paying a buck for this.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Hyperspace Messenger 03 - Aliens
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Drongo (Planet of Peril)
Publisher: Leviathan Publishing
by Russell D. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 06/16/2015 08:21:33

I have a special place in my heart for pulpy science fantasy. I’m a lover of Heavy Metal magazine, my dad raised me on old Flash Gordon serials, and Krull has to be one of my favorite movies. Drongo cites Burroughs and Howard as inspiration — and frankly if you don’t love those guys, I’m not sure we’re on the same level.

This is a world ruled by a powerful magician in a city that marries science and magic, who is ruthless and is described as being only steps away from godhood. This is a world of swords and rayguns, of nomadic tribes and futuristic armies (and at least one time traveler.) The booklet gives us a brief history, seven major factions, about seventeen regions/places of interest, descriptions on a handful of common languages, a couple pages devoted to the ruler Tiverrig, Tamer of Worlds, and finishes with a brief bestiary of six creatures. The artwork is thematic and kicksass, the font choice is crisp and looks good on my tablet. It’s gonzo without being overboard, and is a great example of a setting that can pull in things from other OSR games regardless of genre.

Pros: An awesome Gazeteer for an insane setting that fits the bill for those wanting to go more sci-fantasy/pulp with their White Star games.

Quibbles: At the time of this review, there's no world map provided. However, the author has shown me a preview of a map that will be added on. Some may find it lackluster or brief, but those who work better with old-school gazetteer settings with lots of flex room will thrive with this product.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Drongo (Planet of Peril)
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Psionics
Publisher: DYS Games
by Russell D. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 06/16/2015 08:18:40

Psionics is what it says on the tin: a psionicist class for White Star. The “Star Knight” and “Alien Mystic” classes are fine for Jedi-style flavor, but I know in my particular home campaign I’m not really a fan of having them. Not to mention their meditations and gifts felt too much like D&D counterparts, which isn’t exactly what I was hoping for. I loved the “Psychic” class out of Stars Without Number, but it’s a bit beefy to implement in the liter rules of White Star.

So for an alternative, Matthew Skail gave us a class that acquires a number of powers (and a limited number of uses a day) based on level. The difference here is each power (called disciplines) is available to choose from level 1, and it scales by the character’s level. Psionicists also get to choose a focus at level 1, which is an ability they can use that doesn’t spend one of their daily power uses.

What’s great is each discipline has a variety of uses, and even when you can only kick them off once a day they turn out handy. For instance: “Cellular Adjustment” provides a pool of d6’s equal to level. The duration of the power, however, is 1 hour. In that time, the psionicist can take that pool of dice and spend it how they want between themselves and others. Some of those dice can also be spent to grant a target extra saving throws versus poison or disease, and at max level can revive someone who was recently slain (but with some tolls put on them.

Other powers are what you would expect — mind assault, shielding, remote viewing, telekinesis, etc. But all of them offer an array of effects and aren’t just one time tricks that are spent and gone.

Pros: A damn fine alternative psychic-powered utility class that offers options but is mechanically sound for the lighter aspects of the system. Would even make a good class for fantasy-based games using Whitebox style rules. Artwork is pretty cool and appropriate.

Quibbles: The only cons I have about this are minor nags of preference: the flavor text still has this element of the fantastic, such as references to the “Akashic Overmind” and forming temples at higher level. This is easily remedied with hand waving, and isn’t terribly distracting. There’s also something not quite grabbing me about the choice of font and size, and I wished the tables and pictures ran alongside the text as opposed to being breaks between text and taking up their own real-estate — leaving a bit of negative space on the page. I’m guilty of these things in my own self-released games, though, so I really have no room to talk.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Psionics
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Hyperspace Messenger 02 - Robots
Publisher: DwD Studios
by Russell D. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 05/27/2015 10:33:42

This product is definitely beefier than Issue 1. This isn't a supplement geared towards PC Robots -- it's given those are a cut above the rest of the machines kicking around the universe. Instead, we're given a solid collection of generic robots for you to grab at a moment's notice. The artwork is charming but not distracting; the layout is clean and sharp. We're presented with 10 new scanner options for robots, and 9 robot archetypes with full NPC blocks ready for use. Each write up also lists protocols for robot behavior. In a sense, this pretty much a miniature "monster manual" specifically for robots.

Definitely $1 worthy.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Hyperspace Messenger 02 - Robots
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Hyperspace Messenger 01 - Stunners
Publisher: DwD Studios
by Russell D. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 05/27/2015 10:24:17

Short, sweet, to the point. It's a handy rules add-on -- honestly I may even adopt it in my other OSR games. I've always juggled "subdued" hit point damage (how much of that was bashing? How much of that was lethal?) so this is a nice streamlined option. This easily could have been a blog-posted homebrew somewhere -- but the buck you spend delivers it in a nicely edited, laid-out PDF with some pleasing graphics that'll look sharp either printed out or on a mobile device.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Hyperspace Messenger 01 - Stunners
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Covert Ops Role Playing Game
Publisher: DwD Studios
by Russell D. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/10/2013 19:02:15

Once again, DWD Studios has brought us one of the best values in gaming. COVERT OPS is a game of modern day paramilitary and espionage action, using the d00Lite rules found in their previous blockbuster "BareBones Fantasy." And, once again, don't be fooled by the "lite." The game plays quick, the rules are tight and the character creation is fast. But, boy oh boy, did they deliver on content.

Fans of BareBones Fantasy will be completely at home in this d100-based system. Professions as Skills, streamlined combat and open advancement are still the foundations of the game. What's been added is tons of content for the modern setting: weapon and gear payouts, background options for character origins, martial arts fighting styles, vehicle chase rules... everything you'd need is here.

For the GM, DWD does not fail to deliver on the awesome tools and tables they're known for. Go in with just an idea of what you want, roll some dice and before you know it... an entire adventure, stocked with baddies, traps and sinister villains (and their organizations) are ready for your agents to topple.

The Core Rulebook alone is great, but with the PDF bundle you get A TON MORE. The GM Operations Manual will help you add and modify the game to your liking, with plenty of optional content to tack on. The Usual Suspects provides dossiers of common NPC archetypes at all levels of play. You're also getting plenty of hand outs and extras in the PDF bundle. Even the Hardcover PDF is a steal, considering you can shell out the same price for an incomplete title from most big name publishers, where here you're getting one of the most solid stand alone products to come out this year.

And the presentation is awesome. Very well edited, very concise rules and the layout is very pleasing to the eyes. PDF moguls will be happy to see these books load quickly and not bog down their preferred reading platforms, as well as to see how well the manual flows and has all the proper book markings you'd expect.

Like I've praised them before with BBF, COVERT OPS is a labor of love from a couple guys, who managed to bring us a title that hands down deserves to sit on our bookshelves among the bigger industry names. If you enjoyed BBF, you'll love this game. If you're looking for a solid modern day action game, you need this title. If you're the GM without much time to prep, this game has you covered (and your players would never know.) If you're the kind of GM who wants to tinker, the rules are released under CC-BY-NC-SA.

TL;DR -- This game rocks, and you won't be disappointed.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Covert Ops Role Playing Game
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Creator Reply:
thank you for the great review!
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BareBones Fantasy Role Playing Game
Publisher: DwD Studios
by Russell D. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 10/29/2012 09:11:19

Don't be fooled by the "rules lite" ideology of this game, it's a solid system that is both easily expandable but stands perfectly fine on its own. The guys who wrote this game put a lot of love into it. They cut the drek and deliver in 84 pages what other games have taken 2-3 books to offer. The artwork is good, the layout is excellent, renders great on my mobile devices and was edited well. The mechanics are a pretty straightforward percentile system; one of the nicest things about it though is, unlike a lot of other percentile games I've played, the mechanics and stat development remains constant throughout. No superfluous formulas and varying base skill ratings to remember.

Not only is the game great for a fast playing (yet still pretty detailed) fantasy campaign, but for the busy GM with an active life away from the gaming table you're provided a lot of tools to get rolling: Magical item creation, adventure seed generator, random dungeon dressing, and a "brush stroke" campaign world to tinker in. The game is also designed with emphasis on the GM making the rules calls: don't like a rule? Ditch it. Need more rules? Define them. Come up with some cool homebrewed content? The game is licensed under Creative Commons -- post your fan material or submit it to DwD if you'd like to see it published. The guys at DwD are eager to share their toys with the fans.

Still on the fence? I've a full hands-on review at my site.

http://chaosgrenade.com/post/34433250150/hands-on-review-barebones-fantasy-rpg



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
BareBones Fantasy Role Playing Game
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