Play TTRPG Tool Set
Mothermind's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| WRITING — How does this read? does it emanate with horror, humor, drama...? | #13 | 3.818 | 3.818 |
| GAME DESIGN — How good is the game balance or concepts there in? | #14 | 3.636 | 3.636 |
| LAYOUT — How well does the module get across information? | #20 | 3.727 | 3.727 |
| FAVORABILITY — how much do you personally like the submission? | #24 | 3.318 | 3.318 |
| Overall | #28 | 3.461 | 3.461 |
| UTILITY — Does complexity inspire game prep? Or Is it very "Pick-up-n-Play"? | #28 | 3.318 | 3.318 |
| ART — How good is the art/graphic design? | #32 | 3.364 | 3.364 |
| THEME — How well is the jam theme used? | #37 | 3.045 | 3.045 |
Ranked from 22 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
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Comments
Definitely a Leviathan here.
Having reviewed all but ten entries, I only have time to rate the final ten but not provide a written review. If you want detailed feedback like I've given others, hit me up on Discord (xopods) and I'll give you some after the ratings close.
Thank you for the offer! (fellow Leviathan!)
What I am likely to do is make some changes based on the existing feedback, would you be willing to give feedback on a revised version if I can send it to you?
Sure thing.
I really love this, and also really appreciate the dev blog too. As others have said, the table is great, as is all the writing in general. Each entity is really well defined, and just abstract enough to be really interesting, while actually tapping into parts of character/game that will actually come up. I think for the right Warden/game, its pretty much perfect/ready to use as is. I don't really want to give criticism, because I don't want to imply this needs to be something else when the concept is so unique.
That said - I think as it stands, the rolling and tests are a really interesting and productive storytelling/character device, and very useable, but I feel like the entities themselves would be harder to lean into. I kind of like that, but its a weird thing where the more you play into them as non-meta/abstract, the less interesting they become. And so (again, very personal - this may be perfect as is for others), I feel this would maybe benefit EITHER from leaning more heavily into a great prompting mechanic for storytelling/character building, as an even more meta rule supplement, OR the opposite, and leaning into these entities as more tangible things you can learn more about, that also have the utility of providing those prompts (something more akin to the defined entities of Bungie's Marathon's AI Agents?).
Thank you for this lovely feedback!
I absolutely agree that this will (perhaps only) appeal to a certain type of Warden, and that's fine for what this Trifold is trying to accomplish.
I am not entirely sure what 'Bungie's Marathon's AI Agents' refers to (apologies if I'm missing an obvious reference!) - but I absolutely agree that the Meta-abstract vs the in-fiction aspect do seem to be a little at odds with each other - and I'll try to address that in the revision!
This is such a cool idea, I am a little jealous about coming up with it. The contents are great, the layout could use some work though. You have too little margins on the pages, you could probably decrease font size to accommodate for the margins. Also the submission could gain a lot by adding some dividers or boxes to break up the text.
Ahh, it is the highest compliment to have an idea worthy of inspiring a little jealously!
Thank you for the feedback! This gives me some specific things that I can action on the graphic design front, which is something I'll be working on now!
Fantastic supplement.
As others have said, I really think the strongest part of this is the table, and I'm extremely likely to use this. I'm ambivalent about the rest of the it, as it's not quite my jam to track yet another thing. Objectively, this is a very good way to add some much-needed depth to Mothership characters.
Thank you, this is high praise!
I also recognise the concerns raised has been pretty consistent, so my next iteration will definitely look at avoiding give the Warden an extra number to track. It might be much easier to just have players roll using their existing stress scores - in which case this just becomes a more introspective panic check system ^-^
Now that's an idea right there...
The sparse layout works without it seeming like a Word doc. I really enjoy the art as well, especially the rorsach ink blots.
This seems really interesting to me as a narrative device, but to be candid, I don't think I would personally use the tension points/super intelligences. As a Warden/DM, I'm someone who is already struggling to keep track of all of the mechanics while juggling the narrative and often for to call for a panic check or add stress for example (fortunately my players have learned to pick up the slack for me in that area). I really LOVE the table, as I think provides a lot of extremely useful prompts to ratchet up the tension and flesh out descriptions of the place or relationship between characters naturally. As a Warden, I have struggle to create a sense of horror and tend to drift into horror-comedy when coming up with something to say on the spot, so for me, I could see using this table as a stand alone aid In fact, I think I'm going to cut it out and tape it to the inside of my warden screen.
Let me know if you have any specific questions you want me to address!
Thank you!
I definitely take the points around not wanting to juggle additional mechanics, and it means a lot to me that you'd consider adding the table to your Warden Screen! I'd be really interested to hear if it leads into any interesting interactions in play!
Interesting idea, good questions even out of the context of the three characters (though some are a bit too similar).
If this is what a Warden is looking for, then they've found it!
Thank you for the feedback!
Can I ask what you are referring to is to similar? (I'd assume Pandora and Temperance...?) Or you might have meant that some of the questions are too similar?
In either case, happy to do some revisions!
I meant the question table - both between the minds and within each mind's questions. Ah, but looking at it again, I do see that some are phrased to be more player facing (as these will almost always go to players via the higher/lower rule and vice-versa), so that could have been your intent there.
I said this in the discord, but I love this concept and execution I hope you can expand it more after the jam. This could be something really special that I don't think we've seen much before, if at all. If you drew the sketches, I hope you really go all out with art. I'll be following you to see how this develops.
Thank you for your feedback, both here and on Discord! I did make the art - it's nice to find a project / niche that matches my specific style!
I will certainly be doing a revised draft after the jam!
This is a really elegant pamphlet for a very specific audience. The main thing it reminds me of is the Terrors of the Cosmos series by Tempest Tome Games. Those pamphlets are slick, highly produced pieces that bring very overt cosmic horror and ultratech to Mothership which is itself a subgenre of what is the cassettero Alien aesthetic of most other stuff.
The Tension table is my favorite part here as with the right cues from the Warden, players might start to wonder why these questions are being asked well before any consequences come later. Big roleplayers, particularly Wardens that really like to get esoteric with it, are going to love this.
One of the best parts of this design is how these extradimensional beings live in the negative space. A player may never know they're involved if a Warden holds back and only asks their cryptic tension questions. Brilliant.
Very well conceived for when and how to use it in the common Mothership game too.
I think the simple inkblots and hand drawn cover are great but might like to see a little more graphic design identity to tie this one together and evoke the strange.
Thank you for the detailed response!
I will be sure to check out the series you've recommended - at a glance, it's interesting to me that each "terror" appears to have their own pamphlet - it's encouraging to think this pamphlet could possibly be split into three to potentially give each much more depth.
I also appreciate the parallel drawn to Negative Space - this is something that I might emphasize more in a future revision of this work!
The graphic design is also something I'm happy to expand on. For context, this was made about 48 hours before the deadline with just Google Docs (I joined late - but had a flash of inspiration that I wanted to share!). Now that I have the "bones" of the work in place, I feel a lot more confident bringing the aesthetics up - particularly after being inspired by many works in this jam!
The concept is good but in terms of Game Design and Utility, I fear that Wardens already have enough to track in a module without a metatextual level. Art, writing and layout are all functional.
Thank you for this response - all feedback is helpful!