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What Ho, Frog Demons
Publisher: Hydra Cooperative
by Christian H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 11/03/2018 03:41:56

The adventures and setting elements presented in What Ho, Frog Demons (WHFD) are fun and intereting in their rarely seen comical, almost grotesque approach to adventure design. The adventures themselves are well structured. NPCs, locations and plots are presented individually in neat lists, easy to cross-reference to create an adventure that works at the table.

The content itself is very weird and wild, with inspiration form tons of different sources mixing into a decidedely surreal whole. This is a great part of the charm of the Hill Cantons setting. Still, other books in the series (Slumbering Ursine Dunes, Fever Dreaming Marlinko, Misty Isles of the Eld) are more unified in a particular theme, where WHFD comes across as more eclectic. This might be a function of the scope - WHFD describes a larger area, with a more diverse range of possible adventures. The result is the tone of WHFD ends up being harder to pin-point.

If you are in for a wild ride and do not mind a few bumps on the road, WHFD does provide a large and interesting world to explore. There is much to use out of box, take inspiration from or simply salvage into whatever shape you want to use. I might perosanlly tone some of the deliberately silly elements down in some places, while cutting out some of the more gory elements to find a middle way that suits my group's style of play. Thankfully, the module makes this easy by presenting everything in a format that allows for maximum mixing and matching.

The art is also excellent, reminding me of old black and white pages from old issues of Heavy Metal magazine. I am eagerly waiting for a print version of the book for easier use at the table.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
What Ho, Frog Demons
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Sword Breaker Issue No. 2 - The Hollow Fingers
Publisher: Sword Breaker
by Christian H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/26/2017 15:03:33

The second issue of Sword Breaker provides an imaginative new setting in The Hollow Fingers, a desert community in great termite-hive constructions. Fits right into any setting's desert region, I certainly know I will be using it.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Sword Breaker Issue No. 2 - The Hollow Fingers
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The Shade - A Dungeon World Playbook
Publisher: Dwarfare Games
by Christian H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/03/2016 04:28:22

The Shade has everything a playbook needs. The class gives of an anime ninja feel, with a focus on stealth and supernatural powers. There’s a very short introduction followed by the class itself. Moves are good and varied, mostly using Dungeon World’s hold mechanic to give The Shade tactical options. I can see the dramatic tension rising on the tabletop – do I spend my hold to evade the guard, or do I try to take him out quickly to conserve it for a more critical time? The book also holds a few magical items, some more imaginative than others but all useful. The Shade is a good playbook, though it does not go beyond expectations it delivers a solid class.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
The Shade - A Dungeon World Playbook
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The Scoundrel - A Dungeon World Playbook
Publisher: Dwarfare Games
by Christian H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/03/2016 04:11:32

The Scoundrel presents a more suave version of the Thief. Backstabbing and trap removal toned down, moves related to social interaction put in the foreground. The playbook open with art of a Scoundrel, followed by a few lines of introduction to set the mood and goes into the class. It is my favorite way of opening a playbook, a few words on what this class is and then rules. It works better than just throwing the reader into the class features without any overall idea of what is the intention with this class. Comments from the author occasionally appear under different moves and items, giving a better understanding of the text as written.

Though not poorly done, the artwork confuses me. I get a strange kind of ‘Saga’ magic-mixed-with-technology vibe from the character image, which shows a character in modern looking clothing with a magical scepter (?) strapped to his back. Reading the class I fail to see the relation to the image presented – a small criticism, but something I felt stuck out.

The Scoundrel works for lots of different character concepts. If you want a talker rather than a lock-picking thief this is the character for you. The class does retain some combat moves, mostly related to tricking the opponent I different ways. I will be presenting this to the Thief player in my group as an alternative to the base class, as she always wanted to play a fast-talking face and found the thief class not met up to her expectations.

The book ends with a few pages of new items, compendium classes and a new race, the half-elf. The items are particularly good and fits the mood of the class very well, including various concealed weapons and gear. The wrist crossbow might be my favorite; it gives of an ‘Assassin’s Creed’ kind of feel that goes well with the Scoundrel. All in all a nice book. You get more than your monies worth, and I do not mind giving it a top grade.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
The Scoundrel - A Dungeon World Playbook
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Creator Reply:
Hello Christian, Its been over a year but the artwork has been updated to match more a fantasy setting. I hope the new artwork is to your liking.
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The Oracle - A Dungeon World Playbook
Publisher: Dwarfare Games
by Christian H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/02/2016 23:44:26

The Oracle makes good use of Dungeon World’s mechanics. The class’ moves mostly deal with seeing the future (or a future) as you would expect. The playbook is clearly inspired by ancient Greek oracles like the one at Delphi. It would fit very well into a fantasy world inspired by the ancient Greeks, or 60s Hollywood blockbusters set in the period.

The book presents the class with a little intro, written in character, to set the mood. It works for me. Then we go straight to the class description. Some moves are dependent on other characters, NPCs and players, and the class makes a good job of using bonds and hold to create interesting possibilities for almost every situation. There are also a few notes on the different moves and how they might be used, something which I love. It gives an insight into what went on in the designer’s head when writing this class.

In addition to the class itself, the book also has new equipment and an original race, the Catari - four armed humanoids with a knack for fortunetelling. Both additions are very welcome, giving a little extra content for your money. The Catari is a race I would like to see fully fleshed out at some point, maybe in an appropriately themed setting. My only problem is that some of their moves would seem more suited for the Oracle class than for a race, something I might mess with when using the class.

The art is fair, with 4-5 images spread over 16 pages. A good count per page. Used mostly for watermarks the art presents the class nicely, though I am disappointed we do not get a nice, full picture or pictures of the Catari. The only image of this race is a watermark, and show the character’s back.

I would recommend the book for anyone, though it might fit best into a setting with some leaning towards mythic Greece.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
The Oracle - A Dungeon World Playbook
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The Hunter - A Dungeon World Playbook
Publisher: Dwarfare Games
by Christian H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/26/2016 12:15:36

With a good base class and tons of extras this might be my favourite of Dwarfare Games' playbooks.

The book opens up with a cmall text writeen from a hunter's point of view, which gives a nice feel for what this class is all about. I would have liked a few lines of introduction on sources of inspiration, design philosophy and style but there is nothing lacking as such. We move right to the class, which moves make me think of a Hammer Horror version of the Ranger. There is a feel to this class not unlike the world of Geralt's 'Witcher' universe or the Winchester brothers' 'Supernatural'. A flexible class that can see a lot of different uses. The Hunter's base damage seem a bit on the low side. I would personally raise it by a dice type. This might be because the Hunter is intended to work in accord with a more hardcore warrior type, for me it stuck out.

The Artowrk is limited to the frontpage impression of a Hunter (nice!) and some watermarks showing preusmeably also Hunter types. It does the job of presenting the archetypical Hunter without being in the way as watermarks sometimes are.

And then there's the extras. Gear, posions, compendium classes, magical items... there's enough stuff to inspire a few adventures at least! Everything is well suited to taking the class into distinct roles depending on what the player wants while keeping the essence consistent. Good stuff.

All in all I can only repeat what I wrote earlier, that this might be my fauvorite of Dwarfare's playbookds so far. I would have liked a small essay or introduction about the writer's vision, to help graps the exact purpose of the book. That being said the writer does provide a G+ tag and an email and encourage the reader to send him any and all questions, so that might be the way to go.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
The Hunter - A Dungeon World Playbook
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The Chronomancer - A Dungeon World Playbook
Publisher: Dwarfare Games
by Christian H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/26/2016 11:52:39

The Chronomancer is a solid playbook for adding some Dr. Who to Dungeon World!

And as a fan of Dr. Who I see no downside to this. We get a short introduction to the concept and after that it is right down to the crunch. The mechanics are interesting enough, there's lots of good time shenanigans to plahy around with that makes for interesting time travel related possibilities at the table. Chronomancers store resonance energy equal to either Wis, Int or Cha dependent on their background, using t to fuel their abilities. This is a departure from a straight up spell list that I would usually associate with any class ending on '-mancer'. Alternatively, the Chronomancer can use a system where Resonance is aquired through a move and can cause Paradox, which attracts weird situations and a penalty to making new changes in the timeline. I thought that was brilliant, and I would really have liked to see the Paradox mechanic more fleshed out.

The book ends with a small section on new gear, with one of two new items being directly Chronomancer related.

Overall the Chronomancer provides some interesting mechanics that might go on to affect gameplay in unexpected ways. The Paradox mechanic is perhaps the most interesting of these, and while I would have liked to see that with a bigger role there's nothing stopping you from expanding it to what fits your game.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
The Chronomancer - A Dungeon World Playbook
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The Barbarian - A Dungeon World Playbook
Publisher: Dwarfare Games
by Christian H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/26/2016 11:36:24

The Barbarian is a staple of fantasy litterature, and it is good to see it get some attention in this playbook.

Dwarfare's take on the Barbarian is a little different from what yo might usually see in other games. There's an emphasis on leadership through the 'Chieftan' background and assorted moves. This is an interesting angle, and unfortunantly it's not very well explored in the playbook, lacking some more supporting moves. That being said the Barbarian also has the kind of thing you'd expect if you have ever played the world's most famous roleplaying game, new and old players can feel right at home.

I was disappinted the playbook feels too short. There's no introduction, the book goes right into the class, and no real effort to explain moves and the reasoning behind them, something I really like in my DW playbooks. The books ends with a short section on artifacts that seem misplaced. I would have preferred using that space to go into depth with the philosophy behind the class, an afterword explaining some design choices or similar. Overall the book does what it says, no more no less. Finally I want to comment on the design. It is uninteresting. Some more evocative artwork would have helped to give me a better feel for the class.

Overall The Barbarian is a decent playbook, and that is good, but there is nothing that really make it stand out. Buy it if you want a decent class with for immediate use rather than an essay on what the Barbarian is.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
The Barbarian - A Dungeon World Playbook
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The Queen's Cavaliers Playtest Rules
Publisher: Bold Pueblo Games
by Christian H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/06/2015 11:26:46

I am currently playing in a group using the original draft rules and am a Kickstarter backer. As the campaign ended successfully several months ago and I have actually tested the rules in active play since then I believe I can objectively rate the game with no suspicion of ulterior motives. The core mechanics remain the same as in the older version with some changes to secondary concepts and the addition of some new rules for other game concepts.

The rules are skill and attribute driven, with some general attributes being the basis of more specialized skills that a character can use. The mechanics rely on dice pools of 1+ dice and work rather smoothly once you get used to adding up what dice are applied in what situations. The addition of maneuvers, stunts that can improve rolls in different ways, add a flavorful swashbuckling element integrated in mechanics and narrative. Speaking of narrative play the system excellently facilitates this through the addition of Passions, a mechanic that allows players to use the characters' beliefs and emotional investments actively in play.

The Alpha and Omega of the system however are the ubiquitous Style Points, earned for performing good feats of roleplaying and for making 'critical' rolls. Style Points are used to activate maneuvers, use passions actively and generally increase player control over the rules mechanics at critical moments. They are limited to only three per character at any given time, preventing hoarding, emphasizing fast use and keeping the players thinking of how to best spend their resources.

The game world is very closely modeled after 1600s Europe, with byroads into the mid-east and the Americas. This makes the setting easy to picture while allowing for greater creative freedom on part of the game master. I would have liked to see more on the different cultures, the addition of a calender describing time keeping in the game world is a nice detail but seems an odd thing to focus on in the introductory play-test rules. an extra page of background material had been preferable.

The game's creator has a stated goal of focusing on diversity of sexual orientation and gender, and while the setting mostly keeps to societal norms of the 1600s that is its inspiration gender roles are very different from our own history. Another reviewer has claimed that the game focuses needlessly much on sex and gender. This is untrue in my opinion. Looking through the play-test document I've found four mentions of sexuality and gender roles, only two of which directly concern homosexuality and only in passing. I wouldn't call that excessive or 'preachy'.

All in all I've enjoyed the game very much so far and found the rules to work well. My group have established a few house-rules, mostly concerning the use and acquisition of Style Points which seemed a little too generous. The setting is nicely evocative of Dumas and his successors. I give the game a solid 4/5 for its evocative setting and smooth system, with only minor quibbles in that the rules still need some polishing and balancing.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
The Queen's Cavaliers Playtest Rules
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Spears of the Dawn
Publisher: Sine Nomine Publishing
by Christian H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 04/09/2014 06:31:22

I ordered the Soft Cover + PDF bundle and have not been disappointed by either. A solid game setting, simple but fun rules system made for tweaking for your own needs and a large number of ideas for NPCs, conflicts and adventures presented as random tables. The book puts a lot of thought into playing a sandbox style game and provides good tips on how to do this. I would have liked to see some more stuff on the author's thoughts on integrating SoD play with a more linear approach - although this is hardly a problem in itself. The book is well laid out and edited, and the handy afterword (complete with bibliography) is a nice addition. My only comlaints: some of the setting information seem spread out a little where it could have been centered in fewer sections. Also the fonts used for Character Sheet headlines is a little busy with intricate symbols that are hard to print out properly.

All in all I can't see these minor errors prevent a solid 5/5 rating from my part.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Spears of the Dawn
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