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Player's Guide to the Aegean
Publisher: Skirmisher Publishing
by BENJAMIN N. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/23/2017 16:49:59

Following Men & Monsters of the Aegean, the folks at Skirmisher Game Development Group now give BASH gamers the Player’s Guide to the Aegean a guide to creating heroes for their Swords of Kos fantasy rpg set in the lands and isles around the ancient Aegean and Mediterranean seas.

As with the last BASH product, the book is a mix of modern and old artwork, some black and white and some in colour. We are given beautiful colour maps of the greater Mediterranean area and the Aegean in close-up. The Isle of Kos, the center of their setting is also mapped out in black and white and perfect for handing to every player in a cost effective manner.

The Player’s Guide provides a quick history of this world of ancient Greek legend as it would have progressed a few centuries, without the dominance/interference of Rome. In this alternate Grecian history there was a great cataclysm a century earlier that brought many monsters and races back to the world (including a few new ones).

This book provides players many options for the two most fundamental aspects of their characters: Where they come from (culture); and, what race they are. For cultures there is the Catalhoyuk (mountainous region that has forsaken metalwork and technology), Greater Peloponnese (warrior peoples of Sparta and environs), Attica & City State of Athens (lands of the traditional Hellenic culture), Republic of Rhodes (nation of seafarers), Kos & the Aegean Isles (a melting pot of the region, also strongly tied to the sea), Kingdom of Lydia (a nation run by the wealthy, for the wealthy), Tetrarchy of Anatolia (an aggressive land of humans and hobgoblins), Grand Duchy of Porphyris (an island that is home to many pirates), and Abbadonia (a tyrannical nation of islands rules by manticores).

Each of these nations/regions is given a quickly absorbed, summary description and lists of required or common skills, advantages, disadvantages, and powers that players must, or might buy as part of their background. The “required” items, if a region even has one at all, is just one skill, Stat level, or disadvantage that is intrinsic to the people of that land. The “common” listings are just great suggestions that fit the typical citizens with this background. BASH is a points-buy system and there are no free rides, so the player must pay for any of these traits from their starting character points. Each region section provides an example of a player using these trait offerings to build their unique and representative background (a great touch here).

The races section gives a good mix of traditional races from Greek myth as well as the usual DnD staple: Antaean (large 7’ tall peoples), Arachnaean (think DnD drider or spider-centaur), Centaur, Cynocephalian (a dog-headed people), Cyprean Bull Centaur (bovine centaurs), Dragonkin (humanoid dragon people), Dwarf, Elf, Gnome, Halfling, Merfolk (Princess Arial-like, fish-human hybrid), Myrmidon (ants, given humanlike form, with bodies covered in a natural, bronze-like chitin resembling plate armor), Orc, and Satyr (Pan-like, goat-human hybrids). Oh yes, and human, by far the most dominant species of the setting, is available but not given any special treatment.

Some of these races might be more, or less, common than other types, depending upon what areas of the Aegean you travel. As with regions, these races each have required and suggested traits and powers offered for the players. Each description illustrates how the race is integrated into the Swords of Kos setting. The race section provides unique powers (like Arachnean Prophecy, wherein an Arachnean character with the Domestic/Weaving skill, may take the Clairvoyance power with the limitation of must weave to use). Collectively, the races offered make a great and broad selection sure to meet most players’ tastes.

Overall, this is a good book for a setting that mixes traditional fantasy with Greek myth.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Player's Guide to the Aegean
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Krampusnacht: Night of the Krampus!
Publisher: Skirmisher Publishing
by BENJAMIN N. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 11/27/2016 18:03:44

Krampus is coming this Christmas to the children of the St. Nicholas Orphanage, and these forgotten kids will not be dreaming of sugar plums and opening presents in the morning: they will be busy trying to save the world from a hellish fate.

Krampusnacht: Night of the Krampus! is a nightmarish, holiday adventure featuring 5 protagonist heroes, aged 10-16, given super power gifts from a being that may have been Santa Claus (but not necessarily so, if you find that too silly) and must use their newfound abilities to fight an unholy, supernatural creature and its helpers.

If you’ve seen the movie Krampus (and why wouldn’t you?), you’d know how creepy this demonic entity can be? Sure the artwork for this product looks a little campy and cartoonish, but don’t let that detract from what is otherwise a quite crafty adventure.

The adventure takes place over three acts. Act 1, “Have You been Good Little Boys & Girls?”, sets the stage for the story with a visit from St. Nick and gifts for the children. This is the fun bit where players get to do a lot of roleplaying amongst themselves, the other children and the various adults (including the jolly gift-bearer, himself). It is also the point where the weirdness begins to unfold and their young characters ultimately find that they must use their Christmas ‘gifts’ to save the other children.

I won’t go into too many details as I don’t want to spoil the fun but Act 2, “It’s Krampusnacht, Tonight!”, dials up the badness level when the players encounter and confront the Kinder (Krampus’ little helpers, children like themselves with their own unique gifts) in their neighbourhood and first meet the Krampus itself.

Act 3, “Krampusnachtocalypse!”, is the final showdown between the heroes and Krampus. If they succeed, then all is well for another year: but if they fail…

The Bad:

  • The art for this adventure is cartoonish and might unfortunately turn off a few buyers.
  • It’s a Christmas-themed adventure which will probably dissuade some from purchasing what usually turns out to be half-inspired scenarios meant to fill the holiday season with related tropes.
  • If you haven’t seen the Krampus movie then you are probably like me and rolled eyes at the idea of a Christmas ‘demon’. Seriously, a demonic nemesis to good old St. Nick? Please…
  • Super children. You play super-powered children fighting a lame Christmas demon… Okay, I’ll stop there. You probably catch the drift.

The Good:

  • The art. Yes, it is cartoonish, but its actually quite nice. If this were an adventure for Monsters and Other Childish Things (a very serious horror game, aimed at adults playing child heroes) then it would fit very nicely. Sure Storn Cook, Jon Gibbons, or some other artist could have turned out some seriously cool, superhero-worthy artwork for Krampusnacht: Night of the Krampus!, but that would have been expensive and Skirmisher Game Development Group would never have made even half of their investment back. As it is, William T. Thrasher made some character images that are quite interesting. He shows us each of the five heroes both in, and out of, costumed identities (among other things in the adventure).
  • Ages. The heroes are allowed to define the age range of their heroes across a 4-5 year span (10-16 years). They can be the older children at the orphanage, dealing with teen issues, or young kids struggling with the awkward tween, transition stage of life, where they are not quite children and not yet the cool teenagers they’d like to be.
  • A campaign starting point. Whether or not you want to include an actual Santa Claus in your game, this adventure provides an interesting origin story, campaign launching framework for young heroes within a supernatural theme. There is a lot of potential for superhero adventures set outside of the usual mutants and four-color genres. You have a flame-based character that can transform into an insubstantial, smoke form; a four-legged, centaur warrior; a rock-bodied, earth controller; a tough, regenerator with the ability to radiate a damage field; and, a shape changer with a red-coloured, give-away tag. All characters are built around the 25-point, Street-Level campaign scale (some a couple of points over, others a couple under).
  • The Kinder (! Spoiler alert !). These young villains make interesting, possibly recurring, opponents for the heroes for an ongoing campaign. Darklord, Gargoyle, Grim and Tween Wolf are villains characters on par with the hero’s super abilities. They are presented with both motivations and a “Greatest Fear” that adds some interesting colour to their character.
  • Ritual magic (! Spoiler alert !). Krampas is not just a big bad boss character for the heroes to beat; he is a supernatural creature that intends to use some heavy magic that could dramatically change things on Earth, forever (depending on how well the heroes succeed). The ritual spell being used is a great example of an Extended Check in action. It puts the heroes under the gun when trying to end this villain’s diabolical plan and makes a great, exciting climax for the adventure.

Overall, Krampusnacht: Night of the Krampus! is a worthy super hero adventure, that just happens to use Christmas-themed elements. There are plenty of advice offerings to use this adventure differently (as part of an existing campaign, or to even dissect and re-skin for use in new ways).

Do yourself a favour and pick it up!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Krampusnacht: Night of the Krampus!
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Awesome Powers Vol. 4 Force & Gravity Powers
Publisher: Basic Action Games
by Ben N. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 04/14/2014 18:43:59

AWESOME POWERS 4: FORCE & GRAVITY POWERS is a 25 page PDF document that I got as part of the Kickstarter campaign I pledge in and deals with two of something like 40 power suites funded (Force and Gravity powers). The book describes how these two, broad power groups each can be broken into specific facets (Kinetic Energy and Hard Light facets for Force powers, and High-G and Low-G facets for Gravity powers). While the powers described in this suite are built from the core powers found in the BASH: ULTIMATE EDITION core rulebook, they quite often provide tailored rule descriptions designed to help perfectly represent the ideal of the super ability. Force Shield (on pg15) describes how it offers a +3 Dice Bonus against Burst and Cone attack damages. Inertial Dampener (on pg20) is basically the Immunity 1 (Movement) power but also confers a +2 Multiplier Bonus against Telekinesis-type influences used against the character. It offers random power generation for Force and Gravity powers but also allowing you to combine these tables with those of all three of the previous AWESOME POWERS already released. Also, rules are given for the various gravity environments that heroes might find themselves in (high-, low- and micro/zero-gravities). There are a number of new additions and clarifications/expansions to the Enhancements and Limitations of powers. The Non-Combatant disadvantage is a great inclusion for those heroes and villains that are better thinkers than fighters. Membership, a new advantage, is worth the $1.99 price of the PDF all by itself as it provides great rules for organizations and the perks/hindrances which they confer. Want to recreate a number of GREEN LANTERN abilities for your hero? Look at the Force Blast, Force weapon, Tractor Beam, Force Field Projection, Force Flight and Sculpt Force powers. Want to model the Blob’s ability to stay put? Inertial Dampener. How about Gambit’s ability to infuse objects, like playing cards or his staff, with energy? Kinetic Charge might be the power that you’re looking for. Two sample characters, Gravitic and Mime, provide excellent examples of supers that embody each of these power types (Gravity and Force). This book is an excellent resource for super power inspiration and for players that are inexperienced with the super hero gaming. Collect the series; you will not be disappointed!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Awesome Powers Vol. 4 Force & Gravity Powers
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Awesome Powers Vol. 2 Mechanical Powers
Publisher: Basic Action Games
by Ben N. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 10/07/2013 11:58:13

BASH! ULTIMATE EDITION is a great supers system that allows players to create finely tuned powers for their heroes. It's simple point-buy system allows you to sellect the rank of a given power and then modify how it works with Enhancements and Limitations. The possibilities are endless... and a little daunting at first.

What AWESOME POWERS does is package the myriad of potential options into a number of pre-made powers. This book, number two in the series, presents powers that are commonly found in super characters with robotic, cybornetic and powered armor backgrounds. These are fantastic. It offers 103 (mechanical powers if I counted correctly) divided into offensive (Electromagnetic Pulse, Mini-Missiles, Teleporting Ballistics), defensive (Ablative Armor, Density Phasing, Reinforced Skeleton) and utility groups (Computer Interface, Invasive Broadcast, Tool Array). Each power listed shows how it was made from the base powers found in the BASH:UE rulebook. Not only that but each power describes options for further customizing.

One of the other cool features of the AWESOME POWERS series is that each book provides random character generation tables. These were created in a manner that allows them to incorporate each of the previous books in the series (though you will need the latest book for the most up-to-date random chart available). While random character creation might not be for everyone, it does produce some very original character concepts. For instance by combining the random powers of this book with the elemental suites from AWESOME POWERS #1, you might create a hero you call HYDROMAX: a being comprised of living water that wears a powered-armor containment suit!

AWESOME POWERS 2, like the other, contains a lot of great art by Ade Smith and Danilo Moretti. The charts are very clean and nicely coloured. There are three sample characters included at the end of the book showing some examples of the various powers applied. This book is a few pages smaller than with AP#1 but, to be fair, this book covers two less power suites than its predecessor. You'll also find a few more Advantages, Disadvantages, Enhancements, and Limitations that will really come in handy for character creation duties.

There are a few typos in the book, but not too many. Also, on of the text boxes isn't large enough for the text it contains and so some of the last sentance is cut off. Still, despite these small nitpicks which brought my rating down from 5 to 4, AWESOME POWERS #2 is a fantastic addition to the BASH! ULTIMATE EDITION family! Go pick it up; players will love mining it for ideas.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Awesome Powers Vol. 2 Mechanical Powers
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Adversaries: The Triad (BASH)
Publisher: Soultaker Studios
by Ben N. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 04/26/2012 09:52:00

Disclaimer: I was one of a handful of BASH enthusiasts asked by the author to double-check the stats for the characters so this review will avoid specifically critiquing the character builds in detail.

What do you get? A super-fantastic deal for just 99 cents!

Adversaries: The Triad is a mini-villain rooster featuring the three members of the Triad, a demon, a cultist leader, cultist minions, the legendary super hero (The BADGE), and finally two well written mini-adventures (2 pages each - similar to Savage Worlds “One Sheets”)! And there is more! You get police mug shots of the Triad (great hand-outs for the players at the game table) and stand-up cut-outs of all the characters for those of you into miniatures play.

These villains, the Triad, are a group of treasure stealing professional thieves specializing in magical artifacts. Hoarfrost has ice powers; Hypersonic has speed and sonic powers; and Moonstone, the leader, is all muscle (or should I say all rock?). All three gained there powers through the use of a magical ritual which transferred the supernatural traits of various mystical artifacts into themselves. Now with their unique powers and skills in artifact research, archeology and ‘procurement’, the three sell their abilities to the worlds wealthy; helping the affluent to find and acquire other rare and powerful relics (and becoming very rich in the process).

The two adventures, The "Demon at the Museum" and "Badge of Honor", are two excellent stories with a very Silver Age feel and both are great for an evening’s play. The first involves an attempted heist by the Triad at a museum featuring some of the rare collection of the late magician Mordecai the Magnificent that backfires for the crooks (or does it?). The second adventure has the Triad attempting to steal a powerful artifact during a ceremony honoring the Badge (a great hero of legendary renown) which would serve as an excellent introductory adventure.

In summary, Adversaries: The Triad is a great one-stop shop for villains, adventure and an npc hero at a great value. The artwork is fantastic. The paper standees and wanted posters are great and useful tabletop elements.

Oh, and did I mention… That the price is unbeatable!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Adversaries: The Triad (BASH)
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