A new episode has been added to the database: S2. Ep 39 - In The Stacks

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A new episode has been added to the database: Episode 387: Designing for the User Experience

by teuchy

I've played a number of CRPGs (with Icewind Dale being a particular favorite) and played a couple of D&D 5e one shots with groups. However, my regular board gaming group isn't able to commit to playing a campaign game, so D&D is right out the window despite my strong desire to play it. To address that, I bought some D&D 5e-based solo game books to try, with The Wolves of Langston being the first one I've played. It's recommended for level 1 through 4 characters, but as they state up front, playing with a higher level character will definitely reduce the level of challenge involved. On their website, they state the recommended level for each book they've released, with Wolves being the level 1 adventure.

Overall, I really enjoyed Wolves, with there being a good number of skill checks and just enough combat to make it interesting but not overwhelming for a level 1 character. While it's a bit on rails, I really enjoyed the writing and would rate it at least an 8 out of 10 (whilst realizing that I don't have much to compare it to).

The things I liked were:
- I thought the writing was generally fantastic and engaging - and I liked the ending and epilogue. If I had been playing with a DM that spoke like the book was written, I would be very pleased to be playing with them.
- I thought the book had a good balance of decisions that involved a skill check and decisions that didn't. This kept the story flowing along without too many interruptions, while still allowing you to feel that your choice of character class was having an impact.
- I feel they struck a good balance with the amount of combat involved given the level of the adventure.
- The book made good use of the inspiration system to give you opportunities to roll with advantage. Personally, I was too cautious with spending it and ended up with about half of my granted inspiration unused (though that was partly due to my character class choice lining up well with the skill checks).
- You'll level up at the end of the main story (before the optional epilogue) and you should end up with some useful items for future adventures. I would have preferred a few more sweet loot items, but that's just me being greedy when the items gained are realistically appropriate for the level 1 nature of the adventure.
- While I was initially a bit worried that the book was quite slim, I got a good few hours of play out of it (definitely over 5 hours for me, though I can see more experienced players getting through it quicker). It felt like good value for money as a result. The other books in the series do seem a little bit thicker.
- While I didn't use them, they have a number of free resources on their website that you can use with the adventure (e.g., music, DM guidance for playing this with a group).
- While I haven't done this yet, this could be a good way to introduce a friend / significant other to D&D by playing through it together as one character.
- Lastly, I feel excited to play the next book, which is a good indication in my mind of how enjoyable it was to play Wolves.

There wasn't really anything I didn't like, but ymmv, so here are the things I'd point out to a prospective buyer as things to consider:
- You definitely need to know the basics of D&D 5e. As I'm relatively new to playing it using pen and paper, I kept the Player's Handbook beside me and referred to it when I needed to. The number of times I needed to do this definitely diminished as I played.
- It goes without saying that you can't go off script and can only choose from the options given in the book. However, even knowing that, I feel that the book is a bit on the rails. There are different paths through the book, but you'll ultimately end up with largely the same ending regardless of how poorly you roll during skill checks. Indeed, you start each chapter on the same paragraph regardless of the choices you made in the previous chapter. As a result, while your choices feel meaningful enough when you make them, the further you get through the book, the less impact you feel you are having on the overall story. I still really enjoyed the book, but I would have liked it if they'd used some keywords to give truly different paths (while recognizing that would require more writing / greater complexity).
- Related to that, there is no option to play an evil character. They note that in the introduction, so they're not hiding anything here. I tend to play as a good-aligned character anyway, so it wasn't a huge deal for me, but I realize it might be limiting for some people. There are a couple of decisions you can make that aren't exactly goody two shoes choices, but they don't impact your standing in the game, so opportunities to fully roleplay are limited.
- A lot of the skill checks focus on two particular stats. Given that it's a murder mystery, you can probably guess which ones are most relevant, but your character class choice can definitely impact the number of checks you'll pass, even with using inspiration to roll with advantage. Fortunately, I picked a class that gave me a strong advantage in this book - though I'll have to wait and see how well that class does in future books in the series.
- Speaking of skill checks, there is no impact if you roll a critical failure or success. I'd have preferred it if there was some way you were penalized / rewarded for crits (perhaps using the inspiration system or situation specific outcomes).
- As someone who likes a good dungeon crawl, I would like to see future books include some more combat, ideally with some more complex mechanics (e.g., supporting or being supported by NPCs). None of the NPCs in Wolves had any impact on any of the combats I came across.
- There were no puzzles to solve. I'm not a huge fan of complex puzzles, so it wasn't a huge deal for me, but I know some people love them.
- While I'll probably play through it again with another character taking a different path at some point, I don't feel the need to immediately jump in and play it again. Because key story beats will be the same regardless of the path, the book has somewhat limited replayability, but I am interested enough in the options I didn't take to see how they pan out in terms of story text. However, I feel that I definitely got value for money with just the first playthrough, so this isn't a major gripe.
- I liked the art included throughout the book. However, as you're flipping back and forth to various paragraphs, they can sometimes give away what's coming up, particularly when there's a hard to ignore enemy portrait and stat block on a page you just flipped to. Having that information in an appendix or monster cards might have helped a bit, but still wouldn't be a perfect solution. QR codes maybe?
- On a related note, you have full knowledge about the enemies you are fighting (unlike when playing with a DM). It would be nice to see future books include some ways to alter enemy behavior during combat, perhaps based on dice rolls or remaining hit points.
- There were a couple of small logical / grammatical errors, but nothing that I felt had a big impact. Overall, I found that impressive for a book of this length, but I can only speak to the path I took.

Note that this review was based on version 1 of the book. They brought out version 2 today (just a couple of days after I finished - lol). All existing owners of version 1 were sent a free pdf of version 2, which is good of them and I'll probably use version 2 if I play through this book again.

A new issue has been added to the database: LARPzeit (Ausgabe 78 - Dez 2022/Jan/Feb 2023)

A new rpg item has been added to the database: Eastern Spark

by Bifford

It's an interesting game. Loosely based on BitD (they even say this in the intro) but that is in flavour only. It uses d6 and d10 plus playing cards.

The city of Dis lies under constant cloud-cover, and the undying Empress of Thieves sits on a throne in the centre, cursed coins dropping from her eye sockets regularly. They are not supposed to be currency, but they became it anyway. You were Clerks, until the guild was defunded and disbanded. You have come together to Audit and bring down the corrupt, the cursed business, the magnates who despoil the city.

Your characters have Skill pips (3,2,2,1,1,1 spread over 9 Skills) Feat(s) and Equipment. Clerks use Die for their Skill tests, which are weakened by Coins and Damage.

A set of 9 Foes (big bads) and their Lairs are provided to start us off and provide a framework. Foes use cards, which are weakened by Coins and Debt.

The first phase is the Prepwork, the second the Audit. It is suggested to do minimal prep - do not overthink or overplan. Lay out a rough plan of what to do once you are in the lair. In the Prepwork phase you can gain "Indulgences", "Intel", "Fortunes" and "Magic Items" to aid you in the Audit. Some of those require spending your own Coins, others gain you them.

The second phase is the Audit. You start in media res having already infiltrated the lair (in non-protected areas). The Foe has 9 Coins within the lair and the Clerks should try to find those in order to make the Foe's Debt increase (which weakens their card pool). When found they are put in the middle of the table. Clerks should try to Embezzle Coins (take them without the GM noticing!)

The aim is to "defeat" a Foe and stop their "Lair" (business) being opperational. This might mean death and destruction, but does not have to. The Alert level starts at 0, at 1 the Foe's people are aware of infiltration but not the details, and at 2 are fully aware and Clerks should get out. Clerks can become incapacitated during all this and there's also an interesting Damage mechanism involving a dice tower which if it gets knocked down means you are incapacitated (alternative non-stack version provided, which I'd use for PbF). Clerks might not complete their mission, but as long as they get out and survive they can try again another time. They still get XP for this, but not as much as if they defeat the Foe and Lair.


I think it is quite a cool game, and I'm going to enjoy running it with my group at some point (should make a good one-shot) and also in the Newbie PbF 2026.

by KatharinaKuo

Author: Chris Bissette
Publisher: Loot the Room
Genre/Setting: Dark Academia
Rule Family: Wretched & Alone, Journaling Games
Number of Pages: 56 (including approx. 35 pages of prompts)
Review Basis: I played one adventure.

[heading]Content[/heading]

Blood in the Margins is a journaling game in which you write the diary of a student who has committed murder. The system was designed for solo adventures in the Dark Academia genre.

At the beginning of the adventure, you determine further details about the character and their background, define their field of study, invent NPCs, etc. The game provides few guidelines here, which I initially liked because of the freedom it offered. At the same time, however, I found it difficult to decide right at the beginning who had to die and for what reason. I would have liked to get to know my character better first in order to develop a plausible motive.

In addition, the initial freedom in determining details is deceptive: Later on, there are prompts that impose further restrictions. To give an example: My basic idea was a student who had made an important discovery and was afraid that a colleague would publish it first and reap all the glory, which is why he had to die. Later, however, I received the following prompt: “Describe the moment when you discovered your victim was planning to expose your academic fraud.” Academic fraud did not appear in my background at all, though. So I had to rewrite my background story in the middle of the game. In general, I often had the feeling that the prompts all fit the genre well, but that they sometimes led to inconsistencies between each other and that the interplay between the details you set at the beginning of the game and the details you invent later on didn't quite work.

[heading]Rules[/heading]

The rules are based on the Wretched & Alone system. I wasn't familiar with it before, but it's easy to learn: You play with a deck of standard cards, which is prepared before the game starts so that the exact order of the cards is random, but the aces are found in certain parts of the deck. Then you draw cards and look up in a list which prompt the drawn card is associated with in the current act. Some prompts require dice rolls, which can lead to the investigation progressing and eventually the police showing up at your door. If you draw aces, you move on to the next act, i.e. the next section of the academic year. If you draw kings, you set them aside, and you lose the game as soon as the last king is drawn. In addition, there are also cards that trigger special mechanics. For example, I drew the ace of hearts relatively early on, which, when drawn in the first act, gives you an alibi. If this lasts long enough (represented by tokens), the alibi eventually becomes watertight. That's how I ultimately won the game.

Overall, I didn't feel that the mechanics helped in sparking my creativity. But: they worked well to represent different aspects of the ongoing investigation and the progressing academic year. And they are quite exciting, especially since you never know if the next card will be the last. So I can well imagine trying out more Wretched & Alone games, as the rules are easy to learn and yet interesting.

[heading]Form[/heading]

In terms of form, Blood in the Margins is very simple. There are no pictures, but the layout is clear and I found it easy to navigate while playing. All information is presented in a compact and understandable way.

[heading]Conclusion[/heading]

Overall, Blood in the Margins leaves me with mixed feelings: I like the mechanics, and I respect the fact that the author found so many prompts that fit the dark academia genre well. At the same time, I would have liked the prompts to be better coordinated with each other, especially in terms of setup. A few more playtests would certainly have benefited the game here. Nevertheless, anyone who likes journaling games and/or is a fan of dark academia should take a look at this game.

by bryce0lynch

By Giuliano Gianfriglia, La Tavola Rotonda APS
La Tavola Rotonda
OSE
Level 1

A SIMPLE CONTRACT. A SILENT WRECK. A SECRET THAT SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN AWAKENED. In the sprawling Citadel of Aurion, an offer too good to refuse puts you on the trail of the Stella Cadente (the Falling Star), a transport ship that vanished under mysterious circumstances. What begins as a simple recovery mission for an ambitious merchant soon turns into a desperate fight for survival on an isolated asteroid. Something lurks within the twisted wreckage, and it has no intention of giving up its new “treasure”.

This 52 page sci-fi waste of space adventure has a giant bird in it. And, like, I don’t know, maybe six locations, if I’m being VERY generous and count the hook/tavern and the Jungle Cruise boat ride.

I am a hypocrite. I know I’m a hypocrite. This means I am not an asshole. Since the only way to survive in the world is to be a hypocrite, everyone is a hypocrite and that means that if you think you are not a hypocrite then you are an asshole. I do not go up to homeless people and go on and on about how much money I have, disposable that I’m going to waste, and and how I am not going to give it to them. That would make me an asshole. [Exceptions to the above being made for BradleyDragon, of course.] I cannot imagine staring someone in the face and just flaunting things right in front of them. Fucking avert your eyes in an embarrassed manner and move on like everyone else, or maybe drop a few bucks because it’s the holidays. But, again, don’t just stand there looking at them and telling them, for a long amount of time, how rich you are and how you are not going to give them any money.


Naivete? The old Paranoia chutzpah? Why would you even put this in? “I like to masturbate to pictures of anal warts.” Uh, sure thing. We all do. But the rest of us have the decency to make some thoughts inside our heads only. Seriously, why would you thumb your noses at people? We keep our conversations related to the weather and the state of the roads. We do NOT talk about religion, politics, or the use of AI in products. I’m just absolutely gob smacked.



Ah, I see the problem. We’re sharing stories and we’re connecting with each other.

The setting here is pseud-scifi. Let’s call it Gamma World like, but not quite so primitive. I thin we’re going for a Planescape like vibe, except techno. In this “story” a dude hires you to to a ship and recover a thing. You get hired in a bar. You ride a ship to the wrecked ship, and probably do nothing on the way. At the ship you explore, maybe, three rooms and probably make a skill check. Then you fight a giant bird. Then the adventure is over. And it takes 52 fucking pages to do that. And why is that?


Because there’s tons and tons of generic advice for the DM. Is any of this supported, for the experienced DM? No. Did a new DM just wander in here to run this? No. Doesn’t matter through, it’s all still present.


It takes nineteen pages just to get through the hook. By page twelve, above, we do get a description of the bar where the hook takes place. Yeah!


Long italics read-aloud. “Your adventure begins here.” *sigh*


Hey hey! A meaningless location description in town that has no bearing on the adventure! Yeah!


Congrats. You rode a boat to the wrecked ship. This is kind of a weird way to present the entrances, grouping them by challenge phases instead of by location. No consequence to going in via the hash in the hull. Guess you pick that one. No clue why you would though. Life is random. That’s page 24.


Well, we’re doing a Fail Forward anyway. We don’t place critical information in a binary way in front of a die roll. If you want to create atmosphere, then you create atmosphere regardless of the die roll, which is what is going on here. I’m not a fan of the overly mechanistic stuff here. I think it robs the setting of sense of the evocative.


We’re in to the appendix. This is the dude that hires you, although you never meet him, only an agent. “This could elevate his status.” That’s boring. I want some scheming. Tell me his dirty little insipid scheme. Just add some color to the adventure.

And that’s the adventure. It generalizes. It wants to create this very evocative picture but it does by saying “Paint an evocative picture” instead of priming the DM to create that evocative nature. That’s the designers role. TO provide those cues to the DM. To provide things for them to riff on. Not to tell them to riff on things but to provide the specificity that will then allow that riffing.

I get that that the folks behind this were excited. But, also, there seems to be no clue as to what makes a decent adventure. It’s hard to fathom a hook, a boat ride, and four rooms taking up 52 pages.

This is $3 at DriveThru. There is no preview. Sucker.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/541172/nexum-the-aur...

A new episode has been added to the database: Folge 94 - To End The Rising

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A new episode has been added to the database: Edition Wars Christmas 2025 Day 3: Gelatinous Cube (Edition Wars 140)