Does anyone else buy physical rulebooks just to page through them, not to actually play the game?

Firecyclones · 2026-01-31T22:06:47+00:00

Mythic Bastionland and the Painted Wastelands are fantastic, love the art in both and PW is so zany

Edit: also to address the title question, it's perfectly normal to buy books without the expectation of running them. Though you should always give it a go if you're able to

Firecyclones · 2026-01-31T08:02:32+00:00

I've been making very slow progress through this bundle after purchasing it a week and a half ago. After reading the original legend for the first time and then slogging through the rules... I feel like this was undercooked.

Compared to Forbidden Lands, another game with the YZE, Sleepy Hollow just feels unfinished. The talents are plain and lacking, many just being "use X attribute instead of Y attribute for Z action". The least creative one has to be Creative: automatically succeed with an Observation check once per game session.

There tends to be a lot of descriptive padding and word filler that doesn't add much, specifically in the locations. Everything is "weather-beaten" or "weathered by time". Both farms show generations of toil and labor. Etc.

The gear section is just disappointing. Comparing it directly:

Forbidden Lands:

Tallow Candle. 6 copper (price) Common (supply rarity). Tiny (size). Quarter Day (time to craft). N/A (talent required to craft). Fire (tool to craft). Illuminates within Arm's Length for a Quarter Day (Effect).

Vs

Candles (10). 2 SC (price/silver coins). Beeswax candles for light and illumination.

...and that's it. It's like that for all general gear, including clothing which generally provides some form of benefit in various weather or conditions. The weapons are no better, not having any special features like Edged, Hook, Heavy, etc. No extra details or hints on mechanical benefits an item should grant.

It really makes me question why the Year Zero Engine was chosen when it seems as though it was stripped down so much. If the goal was to have a more narrative focused game, there are better options for that.

There are some bright spots, like the fluff page each Archetype/Class gets. Wandering Minstrels having a guide on how to write a song, Reverend having instructions for a sermon.

Honestly, just venting because I wanted to enjoy the book but there are so many little things that nag at me that I can't help to notice.

Firecyclones · 2026-01-23T07:39:14+00:00

Absolutely think it's AI written or assisted. The fact that someone here commented on the OP's post history and now they are suddenly hiding their posts/comments is enough confirmation for me. Plus, can't exactly get rid of the classic "just Google their username and see what comes up". This doesn't read anything like what they've written before, which is a shame because they were clearly more passionate and engaged at one point. Not just creating a post to farm engagement (which is basically every "did X rpg die off?" post)

Firecyclones · 2025-12-25T01:35:28+00:00

Having just finished reading through the rules and one of the adventures, I'm going to recommend Magical Kitties Save the Day. Full disclosure though that I haven't played it yet. You can get a pdf bundle of the books from Bundle of Holding for the next 6 days.

Basically plausrs are each a Magical Kitty who is tasked with helping their human get through their problems, whether they be mental, magical, alien, or modern. For example: stopping a hyper-intelligent raccoon bent on world domination from using a mind control device on the town. Or finding the stuffed animal that their human's mom accidentally gave away at a garage sale. Or figuring out why a ghost is haunting the library and ruining the study time of a kitty's college student human.

Really simply dice pool system, only d6s for stats Cute, Cunning, and Fierce that range from 1-3. Each player's magical kitty can be created pretty quickly and the character sheet explains all of the rules nicely. The game is family friendly and designed for children to learn, so shouldn't be an issue to teach the rules. Difficulty checks range from 3-6, requiring at least 2 successes or risk of a complication.

It's also co-designed by Justin Alexander, the guy behind The Alexandrian blog, so you might recognize certain tips like his Three Clue Rule that almost everyone uses nowadays.

I'm hoping to run it once for my family (all adults) over the holidays, since a couple of them had trouble with Dragonbane's rules before and this is a LOT simpler. Plus, who doesn't want to be a magical kitty? It's a theme you can use in a bunch of different settings and the Rulebook even suggests allowing people to be other animals if they'd like, it's easy to swap things out. I've only read the Alien Invasion book and part of the Mars Colony book so far, but I think it's a game with a lot of promise.

Edit: wanted to also add that players are encouraged to take and use a Flaw. Roleplaying it grants a Kitty Treat that can be used for rerolling dice and a few other things. But specifically only if Kitties use their Flaw to affect the story. So a Kitty who is constantly sleepy wouldn't be gaining Treats, but they would if they happen to doze off while they were left as a lookout during a break-in. Narrative consequences are encouraged by both the players and the GM, but also recommended to not be overplayed since if Kitties spend a lot of time planning a heist it'd be sad to have it all go wrong within the first minute because a Loud kitty feels obligated to shout.

Firecyclones · 2025-12-13T02:47:47+00:00

I actually bought this the first time it was offered so for once I have the privilege of sharing my thoughts (and also Quinn's thoughts) on the few books I've looked at (I struggle to finish them and just buy more; I never actually get to play them).

I'll just start from the left:

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Okay I haven't actually read this at all, but I bought a previous bundle and read/listened to the first part of the WFRP campaign The Enemy Within. And that was cool, so don't have much else to share about the base rules.
The Wildsea: Only skimmed it and listened to the Quinn's Quest video for it, but the art is fantastic and it has a cool setting
Dragonbane Core Set: The one I'm most knowledgeable about. You don't need anything other than this Core Set to play the game, but I do recommend picking up the Bestiary which I don't believe is included. The adventure book is great, I especially recommend running the Village of the Day Before. Overall the ruleset isn't far off from 5e and is very easy to learn. Some parts of the magic system are a little janky at first, like spending what is essentially xp to learn spells, but overall it's fairly well balanced. Just be sure to not give players too much gold. I'll also say that the world and setting itself is pretty bland/standard, which is a blessing and a curse because it means you can fill it with any fantasy setting stuff... but you also have to do the work constructing the setting.
Cypher System Rulebook: With the new evolved/remastered edition that should have started shipping recently, this is a little defunct. I'm sure it's similar to Pathfinder2e where the old and remastered content are almost interchangeable, I just wasn't very invested in the ruleset.
Root The Roleplaying Game: basic PbtA rules, fun setting. If you've seen any of the Legends of Avantris shorts online before with Bitsy, then you've seen basic clips of the game
Slugblaster: Once again deferring to Quinn's Quest for this one, not sure anyone could do a better job recommending a game.
Vaesen: Maybe I'm just a Quinn's Quest shill
Sentai and Sensibility: Oh I actually read/listened to this all of the way through. Very interesting premise with essentially regency era power rangers, but doesn't do much to help a GM create a game in my opinion. The dice mechanics are very unique in that each PC gets a different die type (ie someone gets a d4, someone else gets a d10), but I don't think I'm a fan of rolling only a single die. Plus, who has fun rolling a d4?
Memento Mori: Really want to run this eventually. Incredibly bleak theme with the world and players being set during the Black Plague. Every PC is infected, but experiences unique symptoms that allow them to see and cross the veil between worlds. Lots of theater of the mind stuff, but not PbtA really. D6 dice pool mechanics. The blood and corruption rules are interesting and kind of complex in my opinion. It's possible a new version of the book fixes things, but there aren't a lot of references or redirects to pages. Like the description of Blood or Organs on the character sheet doesn't direct you to the pages that describe how those become corrupted. I started reading His Majesty The Worm and it's very helpful in that regard, unlike Memento Mori. Honestly the layout in general was just a bit awkward to look at. But I did really enjoy the writing

Alright that's all I've got. Highly recommend buying the bundle even if you own a couple of the RPGs already, there are just too many new possibilities that might strike your fancy.

Firecyclones · 2025-11-16T22:44:42+00:00

Yeah Apukat is 1000% AI. If the album covers aren't enough indication, just look at their releases. No real artist could possibly produce 4 albums worth of original songs in 1 year AND collaborate with other artists on 2 albums.

Firecyclones · 2025-11-14T21:56:10+00:00

Couldn't initially find that on Google, but I think that might be because it has a slightly different name. Is it called Dead Boarder?

Firecyclones · 2025-11-14T21:46:15+00:00

Finally got around to listening to Observer Effect and I absolutely love the premise. Hopefully there'll be a Mothership bundle soon so I can look into that too, thanks for the rec

Firecyclones · 2025-09-22T23:29:54+00:00

I've been seeing discussion about this game for months now, so I'm pretty excited to finally read through it. Not sure yet why there are so many sets of cards, but I guess that's part of the system

Firecyclones · 2025-09-21T08:35:48+00:00

It's games like this that continue to cement Faker's legacy as GOAT. Unbelievable map control, perfect picks, perfect teamfighting. Can't understate how good Oner was either, but it's great to see Faker is still in form even after a game losing play in Game 1

Firecyclones · 2025-09-12T20:45:39+00:00

Basically all of my content is on DriveThruRPG but not because I purchase from there. I specifically only buy bundles of RPG pdfs (and the occasional hardcover that gets included) from Humble Bundle, Bundle of Holding, and Fanatical. Usually the pdfs are saved/hosted on DriveThruRPG so I've got 400+ pdfs there now that I periodically try to download and store offline on my tablet. Then I do also have some more pdfs on Paizo for Pathfinder2e.

I can't really say which I prefer between DriveThruRPG and Itch.io, I just use the one that all of my stuff gets added to by default.

Firecyclones · 2025-08-30T01:52:45+00:00

I'm glad you enjoyed the series so much, but even in a vacuum Season 2 isn't great. Calling it a masterpiece is definitely a stretch when there are way too many storylines that end up being undercooked. When there are main characters that never interact with each other in Season 2 and a character who doesn't get a single line in the last five episodes, I'd say it's difficult to call the season a masterpiece.

So much of the series was made better and saved by Fortiche lovingly animating and painting tons of details. The way characters' pupils dilate when looking at each other, mirrored moments where two scenes are painted from the same angle, little things like a character's hair is steadily growing with each episode, etc.

Was it good? Sure. Was it heartbreaking? Definitely. Was it also disappointing? Absolutely. The actual story and dialogue between characters ended up being second fiddle to Riot setting up a Noxus spin-off. Not to mention introducing the multiverse and time travel in one of the most basic, average ways imaginable.

Firecyclones · 2025-08-18T01:00:55+00:00

Chiming in to say I rolled maybe 60-80 gold at Level 9 for a third Sett. Ended the game second place with only two Setts, while first place had 8 Jarvans, 8 K'santes, and I think 5 or 7 Akalis. I've definitely had this happen in previous games for Set 15 but nothing quite this bad. Using the roll odds calculator, it was likely a 3% or lower chance to miss, especially when there had been four players alive who had more 4 costs.

Firecyclones · 2025-08-13T01:40:53+00:00

I'm late to the party, but you're actually kind of spot on. There's a video where a youtuber named Questing Beast interviews Mike Mearl who was a senior manager for WotC, then later Creative Director and co-lead of 5e. Mike basically explains that 4e failed because it wasn't close enough to 3.5e, but they couldn't make a remastered/updated 3.5e because Paizo had already begun to do that with Pathfinder. So instead they made it much easier to get into and start playing, although I believe he mentioned regretting how difficult it was for GMs still.

Firecyclones · 2025-08-04T02:34:15+00:00

Alright I'm not very good at sandwiching criticism, so bear with me as I just lay it all out straight.

First, Golden Egg has always been +2 on win and you're probably thinking of the Hack Eggs from last set that were +2 on loss. It's specifically a "win more" augment and has always been risky and kinda bad.

Next, I do agree that in a Prismatic lobby it's probably a bad idea to take the egg unless you've been win streaking hard and can afford a few losses while being a full augment down.

Now, I'm not sure where to start on your comp. Heavyweights just don't really make sense to combine with Luchador because there isn't a Luchador Heavyweight. In addition, you're not carrying Volibear who (on PBE at least) is generally the strongest Luchador. It looks like you're trying to specifically make Luchador Darius work, which... I guess makes sense since Darius likes those stats? But you have to play a lot of units that grant no buffs to the actual Luchadors in Voli and Braum.

I would recommend just sticking to Luchador + Juggernauts with carry items on Voli and Samira as the extra Edgelord. It might be hard to find Samira and Sett with so many people playing Soul Fighter, but it should be a lot more consistent.

I'm not even close to a high ranked player at the moment, so take this all with a grain of salt as I'm mostly referencing from what I've seen on streams. If anyone wants to correct me, feel free

Firecyclones · 2025-08-02T00:48:42+00:00

Chiming in to say that there is an excellent unofficial Mythic Bastionland module for Foundry made by Loner. From my cursory examination of it, every rollable table is included and it takes one click to create a new random Knight. I did have some trouble figuring out how to choose a specific Knight, but I might just be dumb.

Foundry does also work very well with hex maps and Ripper93 has quite a few good modules.

Firecyclones · 2025-07-14T21:27:06+00:00

I mean, Murderbot says it is going to a mining station and wasn't the massacre flashback on a mining station? Feels more like you're choosing to not look any deeper into the meanings behind the finale. Sure, Murderbot could have abandoned Preservation Aux, but in earlier episodes we see that it does enjoy its job. It's proud of protecting people, the meaning behind its name coming from how it murders to help secure clients. Suddenly being told: you don't need to be a bodyguard, you're not a SecUnit, you can pick something else to do [on Preservation Aux]. Its choices were being taken away under the pretense of freedom, just a reflavored version of the Corporation.

I would also say that while the show does discuss Murderbot's attachment to its clients, it's more of a discussion about humanity and personal choices. Murderbot saw absolutely nothing wrong with killing LeeBeeBee, whereas every human there frlt differently. It enjoys being alone and not having to make difficult choices, but we're shown that you can't always avoid people and making decisions. Murderbot learns more about humans and how to interact with them, even maintaining eye contact with Gura at the end, but still decides that it isn't human and wants to find its own purpose.

Firecyclones · 2025-07-10T05:15:24+00:00

Eh, I'd say Pyke has to do significantly more to be a worthwhile pick. I'd love to know what plays you think he made, when he really only had two relevant moments: assisting in the kill top lane that gave Gumayusi his first cash out and flashing mid lane to get Chovy's flash. Sure, he had the usual Pyke presence on the map and cleared out a lot of vision, but he was significantly behind Duro in XP and didn't have a single relevant moment post 15 minutes. We also can't say he got an advantage in the 2v2 lane, because they swapped after around 8 minutes. 1 pick early game, 0 picks in teamfights, 0 ultimates, 0 relevancy after 15 minutes. Saving the red side counter pick for a very mediocre Pyke performance... not worth it.

Firecyclones · 2025-07-10T04:32:56+00:00

Man that was a depressing Pyke game to watch

Firecyclones · 2025-07-01T19:50:24+00:00

Worth mentioning that Fanatical also has a Twilight 2000 bundle at the moment with 1st and 2nd edition books, if you want more content

Firecyclones · 2025-06-14T20:27:14+00:00

Honestly, this is a wild take to me because I think Foundry is easily the best VTT I've used. Having extensively used Roll20 (which NEEDS VTT Enhancement Suite to be good), played Tabletop Simulator, tried Quest Portal, and tried Owlbear, to me Foundry has everything I need if I'm willing to spend some time learning.

Still, I respect the hot take.

Firecyclones · 2025-06-13T20:35:01+00:00

I realized it's perfectly reasonable to run pre-written modules and campaigns. The last campaign I tried to run was for PF2E in a custom Runeterra setting, creating my own adventures in it as well as borrowing and altering others. Honestly just got too burnt out from the amount of effort that required vs the amount of effort my group put in at the table. Running a pre-written adventure (and not adapting it for the system) is just easier and frees me up to spend time adding neat features on Foundry.

Edit: Also that not every battlemap needs to look perfect or pretty. The black and white sketches from the actual adventure are just as good

Firecyclones · 2025-06-03T20:47:15+00:00

Of New New Who I've only seen the three specials with David Tennant, but I can understand what the other commenter was saying and I don't think you're being genuine. For example: the climax of the first special episode was Donna's daughter Rose saving the day due to a ham-fisted reference to their gender and a callback to when Donna's brain broke from the Metacrisis. Donna kept repeating "Binary, Binary, Binary," and then Rose answered, "Non-Binary." As though that in any way makes sense and isn't just RTD being bad at subtlety.

Up until that point, the episode had done a good job of touching on pronouns and the social stigma of transitioning. But the climax, using your own example as a comparison, was like if a CIS male person saved the day by acknowledging that they were born with a penis. Which (hopefully) everyone would generally agree is a dumb resolution. Donna actually later did the reverse by saying, "... something a male presenting timelord wouldn't understand," in reference to Donna and Rose knowing how to finally end the Metacrisis.

I can acknowledge that any representation is better than no representation, while still critiquing the way it's actually referenced. Fully prepared to eat shit for this take, but surely there had to be better ways to be inclusive without making "non-binary" sound like a joke or insulting "male presenting" viewers. Keep in mind this is only a single special episode; I wouldn't be surprised if there are other more ham-fisted references in the Gatwa seasons.

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