So, earlier this week I became even older than I have been before, and was given some cash to celebrate. Of course I did the responsible thing with my money and blew most of it on TTRPG books.
New additions to my collection are Danger Gal Dossier for Cyberpunk Red, Building Better Worlds for the Alien RPG, and the Dungeon Master’s Guide for 4th Edition D&D.
From a quick look through each; Danger Gal Dossier looks to be a useful collection of NPCs, not just stat blocks, but personalities and organisations. I look forward to giving the NPC creation guidelines. bash in my proper look through. Building Better Worlds is for anyone who wants to play Newt’s family. As I got the PDF before the hardcopy arrived I have been messing about with the planet and colony creation tables and they’re a fun mini game, more on that in the longer write up. And the 4e DMG seems to be laid out pretty well and have some decent advice for running the game.
Getting the 4e DMG also means I have one from each edition now. 1st, 2nd (revised), 3.0, 4th, and 5th.
I also grabbed a few Magic the Gathering D&D art cards. i don’t play MTG, but these make great bookmarks and are just the right price to hit the free postage threshold on one site I order from.
In one way TTRPGS are like sports, if you can’t play ’em you can at least watch someone else do it. I was going to use a different comparison here, but decided to keep it clean.
So what have I been watching whilst unable to play?
First up is Black Dice Society. An official D&D actual play that was made to promote the launch of Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft in 2021. However unlike a lot of promo shows that only run for a few episodes this horror themed game ran for around 60 episodes. When it initially aired this broke my sleep patterns from the time zone difference. Still one of my favourites and I go back every so often to watch it.
In this series B. Dave Walters guides Tanya DePass as Fen, Mark Meer as Brother Uriah Macawber, Deejay Knight as Desmond Drunes, Noura Ibrahim as Nahara, Sage Ryan as Valentine, and Becca Scott as Tatyana through pretty much every Dark Domain there is. It should probably be mentioned that as a horror campaign it can deal with some pretty dark stuff, so viewer discretion is advised if you think some of the themes may not be for you.
What I picked up from this series is how to build atmosphere, create drama and pace things. B. Dave does a masterful job of building the feeling of each Dread Domain, and the players all buy into this so well and add to it. The fights are really well paced and they never drag.
Just a quick entry to list a few thoughts now I’ve reviewed the books for current games that I got between Christmas and now. Just taking a moment to assess things, how the blog’s going and what I plan to do with it going forward, and just some random thoughts.
First thing I have to mention is doing this has reminded me how enjoyable I find writing. For various reasons I’ve been without a creative outlet for a while now, and finding one again is such a good feeling. Engaging my brain for a bit, reading, and finding ways of expressing my opinion on the stuff I’ve read has put something back into my life I didn’t know I was missing.
Hopefully, my writing is getting better. I think it is, but it may take a few more months for me to be comfortable judging that. I am definitely getting faster though. Whilst there was a gap recently due to illness, each individual entry is taking les time to type as the words come easier.
And if anyone reads any of this I hope my words help them.
And it’s time to crawl out through the fallout, under an orange coloured sky for the latest entry in the Pick Up Pile; Fallout the Roleplaying Game, the last of the newer games I got for Christmas. Just in time for the Amazon Prime series to land on April 11th. This game is available in physical form from most game stores, or direct from Modiphius themselves HERE. Alternatively PDF copies can be obtained from Drive Thru RPG HERE, or Modiphius HERE. Also I must mention that when you buy a physical copy of the game, from any retailer, Modiphius can be contacted for a free PDF as per the instructions HERE.
First up, as I usually do in these reviews is the physical description. A sturdy, 432 page book withe ribbon bookmark (have I mentioned too much how I love ribbon boommarks yet?). Pages are thin to keep the book from being overly bulky, but not fragile and feel like they’ll stand up to regular gaming use. The cover is blue, made to resemble the back of a Vault-Tec jumpsuit, with the number 111 on it, so those familiar with the Fallout videogames will already have an idea of the default setting in the game. The PDF is indexed and has clickable links in the contents page, however page references do not appear to be links. The PDF also came with an Errata document to check your copies are up to date. This was last updated Feb ’23 so any new copies should be updated to have all these corrections already.
So, when you crack open the book, what’s inside? The contents page lists out the Twelve chapters (plus intro). Welcome to the Wasteland, Core Rules, Combat, Character Creation, Equipment, and Survival cover rules thet concern everyone playing the game. Corporations of Pre-War America, Vault-Tec, and The Commonwealth are all setting details, both geographical and historical. Then you have Gamemastering, Denizens of the Wasteland, and With a Bang or a Whimper for the GM’s eyes only. These are followed by the Appendices, where you’ll find the index and the character sheets, which I won’t go in depth on other than to say the sheets are clearly laid out and fit the look of wverything else in the game.
The artwork throughout the book is brilliant, much of it seems to be concept art and illustrations from Bethesda themselves. A lot of it having been used in various Fallout game promotional things over the years. There are atmospheric two page spread before every chapter, and example illustrations everywhere. A fantastic amount of good quality art that breaks up the text nicely.
Welcome to the Wasteland is up first. These four pages give an overview of the game, the default setting (Boston as pre Fallout 4), and what you need to play aside from the book.
Now this is a game accessory I’ve been after for a while, but never seen it at a decent price when I had the cash… until now. The Cyberpunk Red Netrunning Deck from R.Talsorian Games. Physical version, as reviewed here, available from most good game shops and nerd suppliers, digital version is available HERE from Drive Thru RPG.
So, what’s in the box? and will it help you hack the Gibson? There are 52 regular playing card sized cards in here. All nicely cut and of a sturdy cardstock. The cards are typical playing card/CCG size, as shown in the picture below, so you can use standard size sleeves to cover them if you want that protection (which I have done).
The cards are split into four categories, 7 Floors, 3 Daemons, 27 Black ICE, and 15 Programs. Each representing a part of the hacking system from the core rulebook. You get:
Just a quick one. I finally managed to grab a copy of the Netrunning Deck for Cyberpunk Red by R.Talsorian Games. Every time I’ve looked when I’ve had the cash before they’ve been out of stock. in the places I use.
I’ll get an entry up with a few thoughts on these over the next couple of days whilst i continue to work on the next full book review.
This instalment of the Pick Up Pile is on a book that’s been out for a while, but is new to me (as I got it for Christmas). Free League’s Tales from the Loop, the game of kids and mysteries in the 80s based on the art of Simon Stålenhag. Available in physical form from most FLGSs and in digital from Drivethru RPG here.
Physically this is a nice solid hardcover book with obvious high production values, as one can expect from Free League if you’re familiar with any of their products. It’s 192 pages, and thick pages they are too. To give an idea, this volume is about the same thickness as my Alien Colonial Marines book which is 350+ pages. Each page is off white with easy to read, well spaced, good sized text. Artwork is of a high standard, as you’d expect from the inspiration, and scattered throughout.
There are 12 chapters in the book, the first 5 being for everyone playing, covering background, setting, character creation, and rules. The last 7 are for the Game Master only covering mystery structures and sandboxes, and four adventure that can be strung together into a campaign with one adventure per season of a year.
First up is the usual “What is a roleplaying game?” and “What’s this game about?” sections. The usual fare that anyone reading this has probably seen a million times. Also covered here are the Principles of the Loop:
Heyyyyyy Night City, welcome to another pondering post here on the Pick Up Pile! Tonight after the body lottery we’ll get right on to covering Interface Red Volume 3 for Cyberpunk Red. Then we’ll take a look at the Data Screen .pdf for the same game.
First up, Interface Red Vol.3 a book I’ve been wanting to get my grubby little mitts on as soon as I heard it had the full body conversion rules for CPRed in it. It’s a 114 page pdf, I’ll update with details of the print version when that arrives.
[UPDATE]
Now my print copy has arrived. It’s a solidly put together softcover colour book with matte finish pages. Due to the page count it feels more substantial than previous interface volumes, as it’s about the size of the previous two put together. It’s the same width and height as Vol.2, so slightly taller than Vol.1.
I did notice large areas of flat colour, such as the red in chart borders and solid black areas are a little lighter than in Vol.2, and more than in the standard print run CPRed books. This isn’t too severe and I think I only noticed it due to a once-professional background in colour matching. Also, oddly this volume has two blank white pages at the end, I guess due to the amount of pages of content being one less than the required paper for the volume.
Top left: Interface Red Vol 2. Bottom Left: Vol 1. Right: Vol 3.
Neither of the above minor issues really detract from the book in any way. It’s a well put together book, reminiscent of some of the Chrome Books for CP2020, and I’m glad I picked it up.
[END OF UPDATE]
The first chapter is Hardened Mini Bosses, for when your players have optimised their characters so well and you need a ready made ass-kicker to give them some challenge. The Hardened Pyro upgrade to the Pyro from the core book being the easiest to do a direct comparison with, and yeah, this will catch cocky players out. Just make sure your players can take it.
Next up, Digital Dating in the Dark Future, a series of lifepath like tables that simulate dating in your characters downtime. I didn’t think this would be that useful to me at first but I’ve come around on it. the main reason is that whilst the lifepath creates characters for the GM to use from a characters history, this can create someone that’s here and now in the game.
Yeah choom, another pick up post so soon. I have been waiting for this release so jumped on it when it went live a few minutes ago. I just grabbed Interface Red Volume 3 for Cyberpunk Red. I ordered it in physical and digital versions, and when I was there I grabbed the PDF of the GM screen, whilst it’s still cheap, so I’ve got all the useful charts together.
I’ll probably bump Interface Red 3 up the review queue as being a slim volume it’s going to be a quick read. Especially having read a lot of this in the DLCs that have already com out.. I think I’ll cover it next in PDF, then add anything that stands out from the physical version if applicable in an addendum later.
This Pondering entry of the Pick Up Pile will be a long one as it’s covering the Deck of Many Things set for Dungeons and Dragons 5e, published by Wizards of the Coast . So that’s two books and a deck of 66 cards to go through.
I have the limited Alternate Art cover set of this, however the covers are the only difference in the two versions, the internal contents being identical. The cover is very nice, with spot gloss effects on any raised details and artwork, further enhancing them. This is another winner in the line of Alt art books.
I’ll go chapter section by section and chapter by chapter through the Book of Many Things, giving an overview of contents and commenting on them.
The first section is the Dungeon Master’s Toolbox, each chapter covering ways the deck can be used by the DM to enhance their game, even if not using it as the magic item itself in game.
Fool. As with the tarot card that shares it’s name this section is concerned with beginnings. It details the history of the Deck of Many Things throughout the earlier editions of Dungeons & Dragons. From the first appearance in Greyhawk 1975 where it was 18 but nameless cards (the effects of which did have some resemblance to the modern deck) to the set that comes with this book. The more recognisable names and effects starting to be codified in the ’79 DMG. An interesting, if maybe too brief, history of the deck. The rest of this chapter serves as an overview of those that follow.
From the 1st Edition DMG
Key. This chapter has details on how to introduce the deck to your game without breaking it. Several adjusted decks are listed, tailored to different group tastes, such as a relatively low powered deck for lower levelled characters or one with harmful cards suitable for a horror themed game. The there are brief sections on how to introduce the deck in your game’s story and how to introduce the effects of a card draw. Following is a section suggesting magic effects for each card when used a s a separate artefact on its own. Such as the Gem card storing a 6th level spell and being able to cast from it daily, or the Star granting advantage on saving throws for 10 minutes. A really nice alternate use for each that could be worked into a campaign where players are assembling a deck from scattered cards, and want to use them for something before the deck is complete. Finally there is a part dedicated to making new cards, suggesting that any characters attempting this should be at least 17th level and it should take a long time and some exceptionally rare components. Perhaps more suited to NPCs unless you have a very high level open ended campaign.
Three Kobolds With A Trench Gun 