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5150: Star Navy - Total War
by Peter H. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 06/22/2023 11:56:28

exceeding basic and poorly written, Full thrust does a much better job with the space combat and that is free, the boarding action... well, i have no intention to try it out at this point, it seems pointless when there are better written rules out there



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
5150:  Star Navy - Total War
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Friday Night Fights 2nd Edition
by Shannon T. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 05/17/2023 00:00:11

I just discovered this game a few days ago and I picked it up because I have always wanted a Western style martial arts game. Reading through it was interesting. So tonight - after my normal game imploded due to life - me and one my regular victims decided to test it out. It was great. Odd at first but the flow was nice. Once we were getting into the groove the fights were a lot of fun. There were reversals and knock downs and a surprising amount of drama generated by this honestly slick bit of game design. As someone who has boxed and kickboxed - many moons and pounds ago - this has that fight rhythm. I have some interesting ideas for this system down the way.

The only change I would make is for the head to head rules for using Bonus Dice with hiding dice under your hand. I would go with a bidding war mechanic. Like how Legends of the 5 Rings does duels. But that's honestly a minor quibble at worst.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Friday Night Fights 2nd Edition
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5150 Star Army Total War
by eric b. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 05/14/2023 04:48:16

5150 SATW is a great game, offering a fantastic combination of various elements that are rarely combined to such a level of efficiency: flexibility, depth and coverage, quality of rules engine and ease of play. > Flexibility: The game can be played as a classic tabletop miniatures game (with one-off encounters or full campaign), or as a combination of tabletop and battle board play, or as a series of encounters resolved entirely on the battle boards. It can be played solo, or coop or player vs. player. You can even transform the game into a RPG-light experience with a lot of non-combat interaction between game characters. > Depth and coverage: Several "factions" are offered to the players, from humans to alien bugs, with everything in between (several different races with different attributes and play mechanisms are present in the game). > Quality of the rules engine: THW rules engine is an extremely efficient mechanism, with what is probably the best Reaction system on the market. Opposing forces keep reacting to each other's actions, depending on different factors. This is not an IGOUGO system, it is much more dynamic and much more engaging for all players involved (even in solo mode). > Ease of play: The originality of the Reaction system, which is quite different from the usual way of playing, may appear disconcerting at first. But the rules are realy easy once you get into them and the mechanism flows perfectly. If there are so many tables in the rulebook, it is because a myriad of possibilities are covered. In the end, mechanism wise, only two or three tables are used constantly and they are very esaily memorised. I highly recommend that game, which I consider as one of the most polished of THW products.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
5150 Star Army Total War
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5150: Star Marine
by Tyler S. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 02/19/2023 16:12:57

Havent gotten through the whole book yet, but I absolutely love the campaign mechanics and character custimization. The races arent the most inspiring (still interesting), but I won't be using them regardless. Ten dollars is a great price for this book with how much variation you can get. Im going to give it a 5 star as it checks all things I love in a miniature game. I good campaign system, and a little bit of lore/ roleplay mixed in if you want it. Keep in mind I am easy to please though!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
5150: Star Marine
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Warrior Heroes Adventures in Talomir
by Michael S. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 02/15/2023 11:41:35

Nothing in life is perfect, but this comes pretty darn close.

First off, I'm impressed by the quality of the art tokens. So many counters out there (these are not VTT, but rather print-&-play) are simple line drawings, okay and usable. These, however, are colorful, detailed, realistic, and carry real personality. Kudos to the artists!

Also, the "Stop!" text boxes within each section ask sensible questions and provide quick directions as to where to find the answers. This is an improvement over an FAQ at the beginning or end of a book, as it responds to things a reader might naturally wonder about that are related to the section's main topic.

The tables are many and quite useful.

My only lament is that the table of contents is not linked, although the available thumbnails do the trick more slowly. Mind you, I'm a Luddite who hasn't yet learned how to hyperlink any documents myself, so I can't really complain.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Warrior Heroes Adventures in Talomir
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Friday Night Fights 2nd Edition
by Lucas D. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 06/08/2022 18:51:17

I must admit I approached this title with reservations after the first read, but it has pleasantly surprised me. The step of creating a boxer is pretty exciting, with many random traits being disadvantages that will affect your strategy. Granted, some are worse to cope with than others, but all in all it gives you the feeling that you are creating realistic boxers. You may even be a charismatic devil that gets points just out of charm!

As a dice chucker, it has a lot of impredictability. It is indeed easy to lose control of the fight if you are not careful with the bonus dice. It will force you to calculate carefully every move, especially during the first few rounds, which can be vital for the development of the rest of the fight.

The only weak point for me would be that the AI will sometimes eat through these dice like candy, leaving the reminder of the match entirely to pure luck, with mild advantages over your stats, though this is easily fixable with some house rules (in my case, I just refill the bonus dice at the beginning of each round, substracting one from each fighter's pool).

All in all, a very solid boxing game, fun, quick to set-up and play. Very addictive. Recommended!



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Friday Night Fights 2nd Edition
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Swordplay 2015
by Olivier S. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 08/24/2020 13:47:42

"Swordplay 2015" is a "skirmish" free rulebook by Ed Teixeira. (you also download it with Swordplay 2018 on the author's website). Like his other products, these rules are meant to manage your small team of warriors and to pit them against opponents (randomly generated as "Potential Enemy Forces" = PEF). Most of the system revolves around one characteristic, Reputation. I've already written in another review that the problem with a one-stat system is that you cannot develop a strategy with it :you're either doomed to failure or you become near invulnerable. Fortunately, Swordplay 2015 includes the possibility of different weapons for your warriors and a nice rudimentary "battlefield" generator : if you fight with a team, you can then decide if you split your squad or keep it as one. Three linked encounters are given : explore/raid/defend (I just don't understand why the terrain in "Explore" doesn't have Buildings in Square 2 while this same terrain has them for "Raid" if you successfully explored it). So, even if you don't catch on to the combat rules, this free PdF is still useful for any medieval RpG system of your choice. Of course, you can use it with other medieval settings of Two Hours Wargames.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Swordplay 2015
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Talomir Tales: Distant Shores
by Olivier S. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 06/10/2020 01:14:17

"Talomir Tales - Distant Shores" is a "skirmish game" by Ed Teixeira, i.e. a mix between a tabletop wargame and a role-playing game, where you can manage a small group of adventurers and have them face different challenges. Ed Teixeira wrote many other games of the same category in his collection "Two Hour Wargames". The book is 70 pages long and contains approximately 29 pages of rules, 24 pages of encounters and the "scenario", Distant Shores on 9 pages. The rule system is quite simple and revolves around one Stat : Reputation, which can increase or decrease following the outcome of the Encounters, i.e. scenes where you face a challenge like "exploring", "carousing", etc. Similar systems are used in other titles of the collection and the issue with that "one-stat" is that you're either doomed to defeat, or that you can become near invulnerable after two encounters (and that's what happened to me in another title of the collection) if you're lucky. But worse, developing a strategy is what makes the gist of wargaming, and even of tabletop RpGs; here, the boiled-down rules and the one-stat don't let you much space for strategy and you end up throwing mechanically the dice until you grow tired of it. The fourteen encounters are the sole interest of that PdF even if they are of different qualities : the abstract dungeon generator does work, and the employment encounter can help you start some short adventures. However, on the contrary to his other works, Ed didn't bother/forgot to give us a random encounter generator. OK, you can start by carousing at the local inn, meet a potential employer and go wandering or delving into a dungeon. But there are no links to other encounters like "Explore"; that's why I suspect that Ed Teixeira just took back some material from his previous works ("Mission St Mary" ?), turned it into something medieval but forgot to fix the loose ends. The "scenario" doesn't help under such conditions : what's the point in having encounters artificially strung together and filled with heaps of enemies whose stats are desperately similar ?

My reply to Ed Teixeira's comment :

  • OK, there are secondary skills, but they don't help much. "People" just helps you when you Interact with character (so : does the other guy attack me or not or does he accept to join my party, we are not in "Legends of Araby"); "Savvy" is just when YOU decide to have a challenge ("gain some info/solve a puzzle/find a person/object")... all of this is decided by the player himself and not the story, and these "challenges" are completely abstract, their sole impact is that you gain Decreasing/Increasing Rep.
  • About getting a job by carousing, that's what I write just above : you can start by carousing at the local inn, meet a potential employer and go wandering or delving into a dungeon . But you don't answer why you didn't give an Encounter Generator as in others of your books, nor why some of the encounters are not connected to this job generator. (ex: Explore)


Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Talomir Tales: Distant Shores
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Creator Reply:
Check page 16 - Skills. You can add People Skill for interacting with NPCs and Savvy Skill for figuring out mental challenges. That would be three stats. As for being invulnerable, not with the melee system played as written. Let's say you are an "Invincible Rep 7". And you run into two trolls, probably Rep 6 and Rep 5. You fight the first round of melee and the odds are very, very high that everyone passes 2d6 - rolls their Rep or less with a d6 - even though you roll 3d6 as a current Rep 7. You drop down to Rep 5 because you lose 1 Rep versus EACH opponent. Now you're Rep 5, one Troll is Rep 5 and the other Rep 4. Fight another round of melee and you're probably going to drop to Rep 3. Not to mention that if you roll a 6 it is ALWAYS a failure. Plus once you drop under 7 in the fight, your extra d6 is gone. As for Carousing, the Employment Encounter tells you to spend 1 PEF while Carousing and you can roll for a job (page 38). I'm not going to go into too much more detail and hope this helps. If you do have questions on how to play the game you can always go to the THW Forum. Thanks!
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Friday Night Fights 2nd Edition
by Ian R. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 12/11/2017 18:25:28

If you're in the mood for a boxing game, this is a great way to fill the time.

Up front, If you're going to play solitiare matches you need lots of dice. A whole lot of dice.

The rules themselves are fairly quick and easy to pick up. Once you've got the core loop the play is extremely quick and exciting. Due to the way the stats function, even AI boxers tend to fight differently.

Special notice should go to the Bonus Dice mechanic that allows players to gain advantages on any roll. These work really well during multiplayer matches because they add a real stategic aspect to the dice-chucking fight.

This just fall a bit short in solitaire because the AI tends to blow their energy in the first couple rounds. It feels a bit easy to exploit this fact, though it hasn't dulled my enjoyment at all.

I'll just likely house rule some things to let the AI recover between rounds. This will keep it fairly unpredictable and hopefully work as well as the multiplayer fights.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Friday Night Fights 2nd Edition
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5150: Fringe Space
by Scott T. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 10/03/2017 01:42:37

Well, I have to say that this is quite unexpected. I actually found a RPG that I like! And best of all, it is a solo experience!

I was looking around for a game system that I could use to flesh out my out of cockpit adventures in Elite: Dangerous. I really like that game, but it leaves something to be desired when it comes to experiencing all the stuff that must go on outside of your ship, as do 99% of most space games, sadly. So, I wanted something to give me an easy to use gameplay framework for resolving stuff that could happen stationside and plantside. After reading the description for the game, it sounded exactly like what the doctor ordered.

The rules run 75 pages or so (plus extra pages for charts, etc), but the promise that it is the type of game you could explain to a friend in 10 minutes is largely true because the core mechanics are simple to grasp and highly abstracted. I particularly appreciate this because I am at that age where I just don't have the patience to read 200-page rule sets that get bogged down in tedious minutia that have me counting individual screws on a rifle. Fringe Space's mechanics are sort of chess-like in that they have a simple to grasp overarching mechanic that revolves around a "reputation" score and a xd6 rolling mechanic for the bulk of actions. Once you get that down, the rest flows easily.

The solo campaign generator seems to be nicely simplistic but still loaded with story-telling possibilities. Case in point: my first test game involved me trying to unload some contraband cargo at a starport. It played out in a hilarious fashion. I initially found the dealer in a restaurant stationside. His name was Russe Powash, was 33 years old. Oh, and a drunk. Using my "talk the talk" skills, I convinced him to buy the contraband from me. He agreed, but told me to meet him at a motel the next day to do the actual exchange. As I am playing a low-level pilot, I had no backup and went alone. When I got there, I met the dealer. I also met his bodyguard, Josuha Jenka, a 42 year old man who packed a pistol. Yeah, I didn't like the way this was going. Long short, the deal fell through, and Powash flew into a drunken rage and started swinging at me. Even though he was tougher than me, somehow I got the better of him and beat him to death with my bare hands. At this, his bodyguard took out his pistol and took a shot at me. I ducked behind cover, drew my own pistol, and fired back. The bodyguard ducked behind cover and then decided to beat a hasty retreat from the motel, no doubt off to find a new employer.

That took about 10 minutes to resolve (not including the time it took to generate the NPCs). Awesome. Just awesome.

Yeah, I like this game. A lot! I have never said this about a board game or RPG before, but I think I will definitely be picking up one of the follow on modules, probably New Beginnings: Urban Renewal that I understand adds some groundlevel chrome.

I need to play it some more to really get a feel for it, but based on my first test encounter this seems like a fun RPG made for solo gamers who want to have some simple fun in a sci-fi environment. Recommended.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
5150: Fringe Space
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NUTS! - Final Version
by Tony B. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 07/17/2017 20:07:55
Great Game and Great Support From The Author! Buy It!!

After searching high and low for a WWII ruleset, I decided that I would buy Nuts! Final Version as my game of choice.

I was swayed primarily by the forums on TMP to make this purchase. In most "what ruleset should I buy?" threads within TMP, Nuts! had come up over and over and over again.

The thing that stood out most to me is the ability to play solo. I don't often get to have games face to face, so I was looking for a ruleset that would support a single player. The very same ruleset also allows ,ultiple plays to play on the same side versus the ruleset. And finally you can play head to head. At first I thought it was too good to be true, but again thread after thread spoke highly about the game.

With the ability to play solo, comes the Reaction System. And to me, this was the clincher as to why I should buy the ruleset. How many times have you played a game where you know exactly what you're going to do? Probably all the time. This ruleset allows you to throw all of your free will out the window (should you want) and let the mechanics dictate what you will do.

Example: I get spotted by an enemy unit. He has a SMG and I have a rifle. He then fires on me first. Because I am out gunned, the mechanics will either force my unit to duck and cover or run off the battle field.

For those that would rather not have the mechanics dictate what your unit does, you can make turn your figures into "stars". This allows you more flexibility and control. I personally like the randomness.

Another great aspect of this game are PEFs (Possible Enemy Forces). These are counters on the board that move around and try to hone in your own units. You don't know what they are until you come across them. They could be anything from a single light machine gun team holding a defence to a full platoon to a tank.... or it could just be nothing at all. The PEFs add a high level of realism (and stress!!!) to the game.

The PDF also comes with a Campaign System and even has an optional ruleset within the PDF that allows you add RPG elements into the game.

I've spent the past few weeks toying around with armies (primarily Germans vs Americans) and I really like how the game plays.

I did find a number of the rules difficult at first to compresend. I by no stretch am a technical writer myself, but some rulings (to me) were not worded well. Maybe I just didn't get. There was also a few typos and (again, to me) misstated rules. So I registred at the Two Hour Wargame forums and posted a few questions. Within two hours, I got a direct reply from the author himself. He took my question and broke my query down step by step being sure to address each and every point. He was clear and he answered my question to the utmost satisfaction. I even pressed my luck a bit more and posted MANY more questions to which again he took my question and broke my query down step by step being sure to address each and every point. Not once have I ever been able to ask a question and get a direct response from the author. WOW!

At first I was put off by the $20.00 cost of purchasing the PDF. Thats because most PDFs I've ever bought on Drivethru / Wargame Vault are usually half that price. And the ones in this price range are usually full colour and have lots of art within them. For full disclosure, this PDF is primarily in black and white (with the exception of the front and back covers) and has a few diagrams within it. I was very hesistant to drop close to $30 Canadian (yes I have to deal with exchange rates) on this. But again, I looked at TMP and saw how highly people rated this rule set, so I took a leap of faith and bought it. Looking back, IT WAS A GREAT DECISION I MADE!

Yes it can look like a lot of money for a "plain looking ruleset", but I assure you that 100+ pages within it is worth every penny. I also don't mind paying up for quality content. The bonus is that the author is engaged with the community on a daily basis. As he said to me "this is what I do for a living". So I don't mind paying a bit more knowing that the the proceeds of the sale go directly to him and renumerate him for his hard work and effort. Also, even if all you play is a total of 5 games and put the ruleset away, you're cost per hour to play works out to being $2.00 per hour (5 games at 2 hours each = 10 hours. $20 into 10 hours). Where else can you get entertained for such a minimal amount of money?

The Bottom Line: Buy this ruleset. You will not be dissapointed!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
NUTS! - Final Version
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Mission St. Mary
by Richard S. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 01/09/2016 12:25:12

As a supplement for Larger than life this a good book.

However, I was saddened by the lack of detail on the setting. I'm afraid you'll have to make that up. Also if you are thinking that this will be great for some Steam Punk fun then you will probably be disappointed. Yes you can play a Steam Punk character but there is very little in the rules that help you to build a unique Steam Punk character

Anyway, enough griping. What's the good news? Well, you have an entirely new country to explore filled with lots of new NPC's. Lemuria is a tropical locale and as such this supplement really enhances your Jungle and Lost World adventures. Of note are the dinosaur rules. Ever fancied hunting a Dinosaur? I wouldn't recommend it unless you are awesomely brave!

The core of this book is the idea of hanging out in a bar in Mission St. Mary, looking suspiciously like Indiana Jones and meeting various NPC's who can hire your services to go on many and varied expeditions. Real good Pulp fare.

Also there are rules for you to play a Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle story. Edgar Rice Burroughs would be proud!

So. Let down in regard to Steam Punk and background info on the campaign setting. Somewhat small for its price, yet I find it a very worthy add-on to my 'Larger Than Life' games.

I would love to see an expansion that covered a setting like E.A. Burroughs John Carpenter on Mars books!



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Mission St. Mary
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Larger Than Life
by Richard S. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 01/09/2016 12:04:44

This game is awesome if you want to solo roleplay some over the top pulp action. I love Warrior heroes Legends by the same company (see my review for it) and this does for Pulp what WHL does for fantasy.

If anything, it does it better! There is a great system for clue gathering and it has a really great adventure generator. You'll find yourself hopping from location to location hunting lost treasure and foiling evil masterminds in no time.

Highly recommended!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Larger Than Life
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Warrior Heroes Legends
by Richard S. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 01/09/2016 11:56:43

I love WHL. I have been trying to find a way to solo roleplay that I like. It never really clicked with me until I bought Warrior Heroes Legends. It is a meeting ground between miniature skirmish rules and roleplaying. The numerous tables help you to roll up a character, recruit some hirelings and go on many and various high adventures around a sizeable map. There are even some simple rules for character advancement.

If there is one thing I have learned whilst trying out various systems its that simplicity is paramount when solo roleplaying. The author understands this and keeps the rule set very tight.

I wish there were more monster stats but it would be fairly easy to create your own. You can play a monster if you wish. I have designs on playing a dim witted Troll who goes on a rampage!

I have marked it only 4 out of 5 because the layout of the book could be more intuitive. I find myself flipping backwards and forwards throughout the document a lot! I'm sure this could be improved. Also I found the dungeon delving rules somewhat irksome. I have followed somebody else's lead in this regard and use the rules for 2Hour Dungeon Crawl by the same company. A fairly simple fix albeit one which involves spending more money...

To summarise. I'm very impressed and will be playing this game a lot!!



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Warrior Heroes Legends
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2 Hour Dungeon Crawl
by Richard S. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 01/09/2016 11:37:55

Excellent dungeon crawler that takes up very little space to play. Recommended.

Yes, its rather expensive but THW is a small indie press.

The rules aren't complicated. I'm not sure why the previous reviewer got so confused?



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
2 Hour Dungeon Crawl
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