I was sent The Book of Warriorsfor free to review for my blog. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, I won’t let it sway my opinions. This will be my honest review. If you enjoy my reviews, please leave a like, comment, follow, and share this with your friends. You can also always buy me coffee.
What is The Book of Warriors
The Book of Warriorsis a cute little fantasy roguelike RPG out now for PC. Lead your party through the dungeon as you search for power, treasure, and fame. How much of the dungeon can you clear before your adventure ends?
Gameplay
You start each run by choosing a hero. There are nine different classes, each with unique abilities. Your run won’t end if you lose your initial hero. You then make your way through your dungeon, clearing procedurally generated rooms, unlocking upgrades, and recruiting heroes to your party. Upgrades, loot, and heroes you recruit are random, but occasionally you can choose the type of upgrade you can unlock. For the most part, the RNG is fair, but there are runs I lost because I was unlucky.
To clear a room, you either need to clear the room of enemies or lose your heroes. Maps will have hazards or cover that offer buffs and debuffs. Although not all the maps are fun, it does give combat enough complexity to keep things engaging.
Combat is simple. Heroes can move and perform one action per turn. The type of action changes as the characters level. The game feels a bit like a mobile game, but it is fine for the casual experience that it represents.
Like most games in this genre, the game is a little grindy, especially at later levels. You do unlock permanent upgrades the more you play, but enemies at later levels do feel like damage sponges. This is only a problem when you’re stuck on a bad run.
Thoughts
I enjoyed The Book of Warriors. The art is cute and the gameplay is relaxing. I enjoyed it for the change of pace that it offered, but I don’t see it being my main roguelike. While I appreciate the simplicity, the grind gets old after a while. You’ll get $8 worth of fun from this game, but it isn’t replacing anything in your current library. I would pick this up if you want a break from your current rotation but don’t want a massive commitment. If you enjoy tactical RPGs, or simply want to get into a new one, this is a solid option. You can pick up The Book of Warriorson Steam now for $7.99. It is currently on sale for $5.59 for the next 48 hours of writing this.
With only a few sessions left in my Dragonbanecampaign, I think now is a great time to release the review. Please note that I did receive a free copy of the pdf and foundry module, but I was planning on at least running the quickstart guide eventually. That said, this will be my honest review.
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Dragonbane is a fantasy tabletop RPG based in the Mysty Vale It features unique races, an interesting combat/initiative system, and a less limiting class/character creation system than a traditional RPG. The game is easy to pick up, and fun to play once you’ve adapted to the Year Zero engine.
Initiative
Dragonbane uses cards for initiative, and I love this system. While I love rolling dice, nothing beats the randomness of drawing cards. While some characters and creatures might go multiple times in a round, there are no initiative bonuses in Dragonbane. Instead, the creature or player who pulls the lowest card goes first.
This order isn’t fixed. Players can switch initiative cards with each other or enemies for an advantage, and the initiative resets after each turn. It felt like my players were no longer waiting around for their next turn, but instead were adapting to change, or planning to gain the advantage.
Combat
I love the combat system in Dragonbane. As a GM, I love how the system handles monsters. Monsters come with a roll table of abilities and attacks they can perform each turn. During a monster’s turn, GMs roll for the action. The randomness of this system makes combat a lot more exciting. I either roll for the TPK (I never did), or I waste a turn on a useless debuff. There are some monsters I’d tweak for future campaigns, but combat generally had enough fun and suspenseful drama.
From a player’s perspective, I love how strategic the action economy is. A player can use their action to attack, aid a party member, or evade/parry an attack. I like that players aren’t waiting around for damage, but can instead use their action to mitigate it. Waiting and evading a deadly attack is so satisfying.
Classes
It’s important to note that classes in Dragonbane are more like templates. While other systems limit the abilities and skills available to a character based on their class, Dragonbane gives players the freedom to play their character how they want. Classes in Dragonbane are only really to help players allocate their proficiencies and skill points.
After a player starts the adventure, players have the freedom to allocate skill points wherever they want. This means you can be a wizard who is proficient at swords, or a knight who can cast magic (depending on how your world handles magic). To people coming from other systems, some of the classes will feel underwhelming, but I always let my players change their character if they don’t like what they come up with the first time.
Leveling
Leveling in Dragonbane is based on five questions:
✦ Did you participate in the game session? ✦ Did you explore a new location? ✦ Did you defeat one or more dangerous adversaries? ✦ Did you overcome an obstacle without using force? ✦ Did you give in to your weakness? (Optional)
At the end of the session, the GM asks players these questions. I didn’t use the optional rule for my campaign because we didn’t want to deal with keeping track of weaknesses. For every yes, players get a point they can spend on attempting to level one of their skills. They then roll a D20 for every skill they want to level. If they roll a number higher than their skill, the skill increases by 1.
There will be sessions where players will level every skill they roll against, and in others, they won’t get any. The higher the level, the harder it is to upgrade which is what gives the game the system its balance. My players loved this system because they got to roll dice, and they had the freedom to customize their character to fit their plays tyle.
I loved the questions because they forced my players to play differently. My player who didn’t usually participate was suddenly roleplaying and encounters that would have usually resulted in murder were resolved peacefully. It was such a nice shift, but it also meant I needed to be ready for anything.
Adventure
The prewritten adventure is a great way to get you started in the system. GMs get access to a well-structured template of adventures, and players get a solid sense of what to expect from the system.
The adventure is a collection of quests loosely tied by lore, but they can exist independently. I changed a lot from the adventure because that’s how our narrative flows. If you’re thinking of running Dragonbane, and don’t know where to start, the adventure in the core book is fantastic. Like all prewritten adventures, use it as a template, and don’t be afraid to go off-script.
I always start with these prewritten adventures, but we usually veer way off and have a lot of fun doing so. This adventure was no different. I liked the adventure. The flavor was good, the lore was neat, the encounters felt balanced, and there was enough content for a long campaign.
Conclusion
We had a lot of fun with Dragonbane, and it’s going to be hard switching to another system. With the new Beastiary coming out in March, I’ve got a few more sessions planned, so it isn’t goodbye just yet.
I loved how easy it was to jump into this system and pick up all the rules. I love how easy of a transition it was from 5th Edition. Some mechanics took some time to get used to, but nothing that I would call impossible. It has a neat leveling system, a fun combat system, and unparalleled freedom in character creation.
If you are looking for a fantasy TTRPG, you need to look into Dragonbane. I recommend it to anyone who loves fantasy, or just needs a break from 5th Edition burnout. Pick up your copy of the rule book in PDF from Drivethru RPG ($24.99), but the art is so beautiful you’re going to want a physical. You can pick up your physical copy from the official site ($41.98 +shipping) or Amazon ($49.99 shipping included.) It is currently on sale on Amazon for $45.69.
I was sent the Mutant Year Zero: Ad Astra Campaign for free to cover for my blog. I haven’t had a chance to play the game because I am still finishing up my Dragonbane campaign, but I’ve read through the book. This will be my impressions of the book.
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What is Ad Astra
Ad Astrais the latest campaign book for Free League Publishing‘s TTRPG, Mutant: Year Zero releasing onf Febuary 13th. Ad Astra picks up after The Path to Eden campaign.It is recommended you own the Mutant: Genlab Alphaand Mutant: Mechatron expansions for additional rules and stats. I don’t see why you couldn’t just make up rules on the spot, but it is always nice to have balanced stat blocks at the ready. You’ll also need a copy of the core rule book, although you might get away with just using the starter booklet.
If you’re interested in running a game of Mutant: Year Zero, I recommend you pick up the starter booklet. The booklet provides a streamlined and condensed sample of the game, and it comes with a sample campaign and character sheets to get you started. I recommend you run through the starter booklet before you invest in the system. You can grab your free copy of the PDF on Drivethru RPG, but I’ll leave a copy here for your convenience.
Society has fallen. The planet has become a wasteland. Those who survive on its surface have mutated, and are now unrecognizable to their ancestors. With the resources dwindling, survivors must fight to stay alive. This time, the call to adventure takes our heroes into space. What mysteries lie beyond the stars? What adventures await? Explore the solar system and fight new monsters in this new epic adventure.
Impressions
I love the comic book style of this system, and Ad Astra is no exception. I absolutely love the flavor of this game, and space campaigns are always fun. I am never big on following prewritten adventures, but I am coming around. It is nice to have something already prepared with lore, encounters, and loot. I usually use these as a jumping-off point, but will eventually end up off-book. When that happens, it is nice to have something to fall back on when the story needs a little nudge.
I like how this book feels like a history book. It goes into a good amount of detail about factions, history, and everything you need for World Building. How much I would use it would depend on my players, but I appreciate the book for the resource that it is.
As gameplay goes, I’ll have to run a campaign first. I’ve been having a lot of fun with the Year Zero system, so if this game plays anything like Dragonbane, I am here for it.
If you are interested in a campaign of Mutant, I recommend you run the booklet first to get a sense if it’s the right game for your table. After your table has become invested, move through the rest of the resources until you’re ready to take things into space.
If you’re already playing Mutant and want to take things into space, you should consider Ad Astra. The artwork is fantastic, the flavor is great, and it introduces unique monsters, items, and mechanics you’re going to want to borrow for your campaign.
You can preorder your copy of the Ad Astracampaign on the official site for $41.80 (not including shipping), or from Amazon for $39.99 (free shipping with Prime).
I was sent Enshrouded to review for free to review for my blog. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, I will not let it sway my opinions. This will be my honest review. If you enjoy my reviews, please leave a like, comment, follow, and share this with your friends. You can also always buy me coffee.
What is Enshrouded?
Enshrouded is a sandbox survival game out now in Steam early access. The game supports single and multiplayer gameplay, but I like to play my survival games alone. This review will be on the solo experience only, but hosting and joining a game isn’t difficult. I recommend joining the official discord for news, tips, and to find new friends.
I got to play the demo for Steam’s Next Fest earlier this year and enjoyed it. If you are looking for a new survival game to sink some time into, Enshrouded is a solid choice, but know that the game is a little rough because it is still in development.
Players wake up in a world in a depressing state of destitution. The Shroud plagues the land. Bloodthirsty monsters and marauders roam its hills. The only sense of civilization you’ll find is the one you create with your own two hands. How far can your determination take you? Can you rid the world of its blight, or are you merely prolonging complete demise?
Impressions
The game is still in early access, so I’ll try not to review it too harshly. The game runs well, but there is some noticeable roughness. Monsters get stuck, frames drop, and artifacts sometimes don’t render correctly. None of the issues are game-breaking, but they are noticeable.
The game itself is fun, and a solid title to add to your collection. There is a good amount to do without it ever feeling overwhelming. I like that there is a quest line that guides players through the fundamentals. You will eventually need to reference a guide for farming locations and recipes, but the solo experience is pretty beginner-friendly. I went without a guide and while I do see the benefits of having a guide, it never felt like I was locked out of content for lacking one.
Aside from a few kinks, combat feels good. There are a good amount of weapons to help players have the adventure they want. I was a huge fan of fighting with magic, but I didn’t mind when I was forced to switch to my secondary. The boss fights in this game was perfect for my skill level, and beating them was satisfying.
What I liked most about this game is how much there is to do. If I wanted to relax, I could farm or build my base. If I wanted to fight, I could find shrowded zones and kill monsters. If I got stuck, I could follow the quest line. Most importantly, the game is fun. I love that I can sit back and enjoy the game at my own pace.
If you’re thinking of getting Enshrouded, do it. Aside from a bit of early access roughness, it is a solid survival sandbox. It looks good, feels good, and sounds good. I’ll be coming back to it from time to time, and reviewing it again when it comes out of early access. Stay tuned for that. Until then, you can pick it up on Steam for $29.99, or at the very least, add it to your Wishlist.
I was sent an early demo of Voxlandsto cover on my blog. While the game is playable, it is still rough. It wouldn’t be fair to review the game at its current stage of development, so I will limit my post to my initial impressions. I am hoping to get a full copy upon release, stay tuned for that.
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What is Voxlands
Voxlands is a pixel art survival game coming to PC. The game gives off Minecraft vibes but with enough of a twist to be its own thing. Travel through an open world, go on quests, fight monsters, stave off starvation, and craft what you need for survival in this cute and casual experience.
Gameplay
Thoughts
I was excited to get Voxlands because I love pixel art games. Voxlands has an adorable design with a fun and quirky tone that just works. I can’t really talk about its performance because the game isn’t finished. The demo is more than playable, but there is some roughness that I am sure will be ironed out on release.
The game feels like Minecraft, but the guns and combat give it the unexpected retro Doom feel. I love how fast-paced everything is, and the combat, although a bit clunky at the moment, feels good. I didn’t do much with crafting, and the demo doesn’t have multiplayer. Not that I have friends to play with.
This game is cute, and I am excited to see what it turns into. I still need to see a more fleshed-out crafting system, more weapons, and a bigger world before I can make my review, but I am curious. It is a short demo, but it does enough. Make sure you check it out when it goes live. There is no release date at the moment, but you can always add it to your Wishlist until then!
The Realm of Ink demo is now live on Steam. If you are looking for a new action roguelike to sink some time into, download this demo today! The demo is only 40 minutes long, but you’re going to want more.
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Hook
Realm of Ink is a short story collection controlled by the Book Spirit. For the most part, characters within its pages live their lives as written. This changes when on a hunt for a cunning Fox Spirit, Red discovers that everything around her is a fabrication. After her awakening, Red makes her journey through this fictional world to find out the truth of the Book Spirit. What secrets will she learn along the way?
Gameplay
Thoughts
The full version of the game will give players access to different characters, spirits, and upgrades, but the demo is limited to one character, chapter, and a limited selection of upgrades and spirits. While I was left wanting more, the provides players with a solid grasp of the gameplay loop.
Real of Inkplays like your traditional Rogulike. Players start each round with a random spirit and earn random upgrades as they move through the levels. Champions have access to a light attack, a heavy attack, and two spirit abilities.
These types of games are repetitive by design, but there is enough RNG in this game to make each run feel different. I ran through the demo version a few times and never had the same build twice. Some builds are better than others, but that is the nature of RNG.
Red is a cool champion with three loadouts. Players start the demo with the single sword but can unlock a duel wield version for faster attacks and a ranged attack after you end your first run. Each loadout plays differently, which keeps the game feeling fresh. I preferred the ranged version of Red because I had a lot of fun kitting in this game.
Realm of Ink is beautiful, and I recommend you check it out to appreciate its art style. The demo also has fun flavor, and an amazing soundtrack. The gameplay was fun. Combat was great, leveling was fast and easy, RNG seemed fair, and the spirits gave fun abilities. I don’t like that you start the game with one spirit and have to find the second through RNG.
The only complaint I have is that in some runs, I only had access to one spirit ability. This felt like a disadvantage, especially when it came to the boss fight. I hope spirits are easier to collect on full release because it is the mechanic that gave the game its unique flavor.
The demo is short, but it was long enough to get me excited. I need a little more story and gameplay before I can form a full opinion. If you’re looking for something new to play, check out the Real of Ink demo. It’s free, it’s fun, and it isn’t a huge commitment.
We don’t have an official release date, but I will be trying to get my hands on a copy when it comes out. Stay tuned for that. If you enjoy my content, please leave a comment, like, follow, and share this with your friends!
The Building Better Worldsexpansion for the Alien RPG just released, and you might want to pick it up for the colony mechanics. You will need the core rulebook to use this resource, so either the Core Rulebook ($54.08) or the Starter Set ($51.22) should be enough to get you started.
Starter set doesn’t include GM Screen
The Starter set has everything you need to get you started:
5 generated character sheets
prewritten adventure
84 game makers to keep track of characters, motions, and more
54 custom cards for weapons, personal agenda, and initiative
10 specially designed base dice
10 specially designed stress dice
864x558mm double-sided map
You do get a condensed version of the rules, but this should be perfect for new players. If you want to create your own adventure, I recommend you pick up the core rulebook! You get a pdf version for either physical copy.
Thoughts on the Expansion
Building Better Worlds is a neat resource for GMS who need a little extra help to spice up their next Alien campaign. I typically like to make up my adventure, even when working from a book, but I appreciate being able to fall back on other people’s ideas from time to time. This book has some neat ideas I definitely want to try at my table, like having my players become stranded on a prison planet of deranged criminals and Xenomorphs.
The book introduces new ships, NPCs, planets, solar systems, and weapons to help aid GMs with flavor and world-building. It includes several plot hoots, ideas on how to run certain planets or colonies, and even a campaign players can run through if they need a jumping-off point. Most importantly, the book introduces the colony mechanic.
From my brief understanding, players will need to travel to foreign planets and either start, maintain or save a colony for humanity’s expansion into the cosmos. This won’t be an easy task. Planets are inhospitable, conditions are unpredictable, and there are bloodthirsty aliens lurking in the shadows. In space, if the stress of survival doesn’t kill you, the Xenos will. This sounds like the perfect bleek setting for any table that needs a change of pace, and I am here for it.
Where to Buy
Remember, you need access to the core rules before picking up this expansion. Those interested in the Building Better Worldsexpansion can get their hardcover copy from the official Free League Publishing website for $45.51. Those who don’t care about physical media can pick up the PDF on DriveThruRPG for $19.99. If you play online, I recommend picking up the official Building Better Worlds module for Foundry VTT. I’ve written a post explaining why you should use Foundry VTT if you want to know more.
I do plan on running Alien RPG at some point after Dragonbane. I have a huge collection of RPGs I need to get through, and I like to take my time and live in them for a bit. Until then, stay tuned! If you enjoy these updates, please leave a like, comment, follow and share this with your friends.
I was sent Terra Aliafor free to review for my blog. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, I won’t let it sway my opinions. This will be my honest review. If you enjoy my reviews, please leave a like, comment, follow, and share this with your friends. If you’re looking for accessories for your VR headset, like magnetic prescription lenses or a high-quality charging cable, get it at ZyberVR. Use discount code CHURAPE for 15% off. You can also always buy me coffee.
Terra Aliais a VR RPG game for the Meta Quest that teaches players a new language. The game supports 10 languages: English, Spanish, Italian, French, German, Russian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and Brazilian Portuguese. Players are put into a world full of magic, but the only way to use it is to learn a new language.
There is a story to this game, but it doesn’t feel important. At least it didn’t hook me enough to care. The main draw to this game is the grind to learn a new language. The game does this through exploration, puzzles, and combat.
I felt like exploration was the main loop for this game. Players pick up new vocabulary and phrases through exploration. To pick up a new word, you point at the word, listen to the translation, and pronounce it properly. The game offers a prerecorded pronunciation and uses the Quest’s mic to check yours. Players use the words and phrases they learn to solve puzzles, beat challenges, and cast spells.
For the most part, the prerecordings are fine when it comes to single words, but they fall off when it comes to prerecordings. The recordings of some of the phrases were incoherent, and I found myself stuck because I couldn’t hear the pronunciation. Challenges are a pain because you can’t repeat the pronunciation of phrases. You can listen to single vocabulary words all you want, but you only get a quick shot at phrases. This made learning phrases difficult, and the challenges annoying to complete.
Combat in this game is where this game could have stood out more, but it falls flat after the novelty wears off. After a couple of battles, I found myself actively avoiding them because they felt like a chore. To cast a spell, players have to translate a word to their chosen language within the time limit. The system gives players a word like a dog and two options, and players must pronounce the correct word properly. It’s a fine system, especially with this kind of RPG, but nothing exciting. It also doesn’t always work which is a bit frustrating.
Terra Alia is good at teaching players new words in a different language, but don’t expect to become fluent. I found that the repetitive grind helped me pick up new words quickly, and I rarely needed to look up a resource. Unfortunately, once the novelty wore off, I didn’t find much reason to play. If you have young kids, this is a solid came to throw them into. It has a cute cartoonish style, the loop is simple and easy to follow, and it’s a nice intro to a new language. Anyone more hardcore about RPGs will find the experience lacking. It is a cool idea and I hope they can make it better, but in its current state, I can’t recommend it.
Skinny Minisis giving away a free set of their Frozen Foes bundle with orders over $60. With free US Shipping, now is a great time to load up on some high quality acrylic minis for your next campaign. You never need minis to play D&D, but it is always nice to have a table full of high quality figures to move around.
What are Skinny Minis
Skinny Minis sells high-quality 2D acrylic miniatures, high-quality maps, and prepacked one-shots to elevate any RPG session. They feature a very cool art style, and they have a product for just about any campaign setting. The best part about Skinny Minis is how well they store. While I would love to have a collection of high-quality minis 3D printed or otherwise, I don’t have the space for it.
If you’re for a minimalistic way to elevate your next campaign, check out Skinny Minis!
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Realm of Ink is an action roguelike coming to PC and consoles this year. The game features a unique brushed artwork, a neat isometric design, and promising gameplay. The art is what initially drew me to this game, but the story has me interested.
Red discovers she is a fictional character within the Realm of Ink short story collection. She must now travel through the depths of her story to discover the truth of her existence. Is her fate prewritten by some faceless author, or does she have the power and free will to write her own?
I am curious to see how Red’s story pans out. Players will also get to play as other characters as they are unlocked, and I am a huge fan of the spoiled character designs. I did get an early copy of the demo and will be posting my impressions as soon as the embargo is lifted. Until then, I recommend you watch the trailer and add Realm of Ink to your Wishlist.
