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A jam submission

The Knacker's YardView project page

An adventure for Knave 2e
Submitted by Sam Worthington — 12 minutes, 53 seconds before the deadline
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The Knacker's Yard's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Fun: Is the adventure fun to play in an OSR playstyle?#84.2634.263
Writing: Is the adventure original and fun to read?#144.2634.263
Overall#144.0534.053
Usability: Is the adventure easy to use on the fly?#483.6323.632

Ranked from 19 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

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Comments

Submitted(+2)

Great stuff here, Sam!  Your layout is top notch, and your clever use of public domain art elements is simply a masterclass in achieving 110% output with very little.  Color me impressed. 

I'll be honest and say that from your setup, I wasn't quite sure what to expect.  Your hooks and rumors section, however, is really where it all came together for me.  Your random encounters are bespoke and evocative of the setting, but leave just enough to the imagination for the GM to fill in the blanks, which I appreciate.  Your character work is fantastic, and each one feels worthy of a novel all their own.  One of my regrets with my adventure is the lack of a fleshed out town, so the fact that you've managed to include both a city and a dungeon serves as inspiration for my own future revisions. 

Cheers - and beware the Knacker sign!

Developer(+2)

I greatly appreciate this. I thought a lot about how to get the bare playable essence of Ellucid across in just one page. I've been reading The Valley of Flowers lately and find their parenthetical duos/trios of NPC adjectives do a lot of heavy lifting for minor characters. I realized that the hooks, rumours, and encounters are doing a big part of subtly establishing the flavour of the city too.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read it.

Beware the Knacker sign indeed, friend! I got an audible "eww" from my wife reading the phrase "pulped herd of barrow pigs" so I know I did something right there ;)

Submitted(+1)

whew, the unbridled creativity on display! i don't know if I've read any other submissions that took so readily to the random setting generator and d100 tables. correct me if I'm wrong, but surely so much of this was constructed from odd names and interesting art assets, right? like doodling while overhearing surreal arguments one apartment over, putting dramatic faces to dramatic names. the wordy bits are so dense with names and goings on that my eyes are a bit crossed (anyone else still reviewing down to the last moment??), but i kinda want more already. on top of all that, the maps and character art are blessedly easy to navigate. lots of lessons to take away for anyone looking to be more knavely in their osr adventure. great job!!

Developer(+1)

You're quite right. For me, creating the character art is usually a big part of the brainstorming. Then the question: so, who is this? What's their deal? 😅 

With the exception of Sulak, all the names came from Knave tables, but most of them selectively. "Ione Swineling" was the only truly random one, and that really helped connect some dots between "eldritch slaughterhouse dungeon" and "city of (dueling and) livestock." 

I thank you for your kind attention.

Submitted(+1)

This is simply wonderful to read! The ideas are evocative and straightforward in addition to being easy to throw players into thos scenario! The adventure theme in design alone artistically and mechanically is something every designer could take note of in this game jam! My favorite part has to be the physical pages and the Rumors Table! Read this!!

Developer (1 edit) (+1)

Much appreciated! The rumours table really came together at the 11th hour, but I think that actually enhanced the looser conversational tone of the entries.

Submitted(+2)

This might be the best use of public domain art that I've seen! Incredibly stylish, dripping with atmosphere. The Phasing City of Dueling and Livestock is just begging for a full setting guide!

Developer

Much obliged! My process is very rudimentary, but as an inveterate kitbasher of minis I think I've got a good eye for head swaps and such :)

Submitted(+1)

This is great, I love the layout and art.  There is so much here.  Interesting characters and monster.  Well done.

Developer

Thank you! The Knave tables are certainly unpredictable when it comes to monster generating. I would never have dreamed up a "roc-like creature with cricket legs" out of the blue!

Submitted (1 edit) (+1)

Wow, really a professional graphic design here. You managed to add a visual treament to all the spot illustrations so to enhance consistency. Clearly, this collection of npcs is enriched by being accompanied by a good selection of pictures. Great work!

Developer(+1)

Much appreciated, Francisco—especially coming from an actual professional designer like yourself! As an aspirational dabbler, I am both flattered and encouraged :D

Submitted(+1)

Extremely well laid-out, with (as others mention) a really cohesive and elegant visual style.

In the film version, Halfwatch really needs to be played by Matt Berry.

Developer(+1)

"Have none of you knaves put any points into charismaeeeeee?"

Submitted(+1)

So many NPCs!

A simple yet elegant visual style, makes this easy to read and find all the important information.

A great addition to the Honeypunk genre!

Developer(+1)

Many thanks!

#HoneyPunkJam2025 ;)

Once I start making characters, I find it hard to stop...

Submitted(+1)

This has such a strong sense of place, culture, and madhouse zealotry, it's intoxicating. The signature of Knave's prompts is worn proudly, and you made everything weave together so believably with the background lore and characters! It takes a lot of effort to make this sort of world-building feel effortless. Absolutely one of the Knaviest adventures in the whole jam, and an unforgettable micro-world. Once the jam is over I'd love to see you give this text a few more pages to breathe; the density of ideas is clearly yearning for it! Great work.

Developer

Thank you so much. Yes, I don't think I'm done with this one yet :)

Submitted(+1)

Truly great, It's a great set of things to drop into a campaign setting or as the starting point for a game, with a clean layout, and plenty of usable content. good readability and evocative writing with a great tone! The only things that would enhance it are some links on the map and some breathing space between paragraphs ( based on the constraints of the Jam that's understandable though :) ). Aside from that minor stuff you've truly done a great job with this!

Developer(+1)

Thanks for those suggestions! Yes, I certainly admit to sacrificing clear spacing in order to jam in more content 😅 With more time I could have made it work with a line break between rooms, but so it goes.

I appreciate your kind words and feedback!

Submitted(+2)

Of all the fantastic works in this jam, The Knacker's Yard stands out for the ease at which it achieves its vision: exactly what Ben Milton is asking for. Clear, concise, and evocative. This is a tasty little morsel of OSR underneath an evocative vision of dark fantasy roleplay. 

Developer (1 edit) (+1)

I think we were reading each other's adventures simultaneously—Kismet Games indeed! :) Thank you so much for your kind words.

Submitted(+1)

That's awesome! Just trying to do my part~

Submitted(+2)

The moment I opened this I actually said out loud, "wow, that looks great!"

Absolutely inspired use of artwork. The whole document is beautifully laid out and I enjoyed your conversational tone and a lot of the ideas you presented.

Developer(+1)

My sincere thanks! I am very fond of my weird little collage guys.