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A jam submission

Death, Imprisoned!View project page

A system neutral pointcrawl for the Appx. N jam.
Submitted by StevetheGnome — 8 days, 6 hours before the deadline
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Death, Imprisoned!'s itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Theme: how well would the module have fit into the Appendix N?#724.1934.193
Writing: how clear and/or interesting is the writing?#833.8953.895
Overall#1093.7263.726
Playability: how easy would it be to run this module?#1133.4563.456
Art: how well does the art support the other content?#1203.6673.667
Layout: how easy is it to find all the presented information?#1453.4213.421

Ranked from 57 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

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Comments

Viewing comments 34 to 15 of 34 · Next page · Last page
Submitted(+1)

I love the first page; the text is super flavorful and explains the goings-on well. I also love the style of the illustrations! (Though I’m not clear on what the owl / plague doctor represent.) I think the layout could use a bit more white space to make it easier to read. I also found the bolded text (death/unmortality/etc) to be a bit distracting; I think using the bold more sparingly would make it easier to understand when you’re introducing a new key concept which you’ll explain later.

I personally found the second page to be spread a bit too thin; there are so many locations that you don’t have enough room to provide more information about them. If I ran this, I know I would feel the need to do lots of extra work to flesh out the areas, but I can also see how someone else would enjoy that work! Regardless, I think it’s a great adventure hook and I think it would be a blast to play. Great little module.

Developer (1 edit) (+1)

Thank you for taking the time to give me some feedback, I really appreciate it.

This was the first rpg material I’d cooked up, written out and shared online-when I compare it with the other material entered into the jam I can see plenty wrong. You’re being kind, there’s much more that makes me wince! Still live and learn.  

I’m delighted you got plague doc and owl, at least the art landed. I was trying to drop in something regarding the plague that started the whole mess and the animals which might attack PCs. To be honest, I wanted to break up the wall of writing with pics that meant something (to me at least) in the entry.

Regarding “depth”- I know what you mean. In hindsight, I could have just written about the witch and Death and focused just on the final approach to her cottage- set a clock for players to act against, failure meaning the unmortal state runs wild. The other locations, events and NPCs being set aside.

That’s kind of where I started; the three or four other versions I began were all tightly focussed on an event that created something for players to interact with. With this entry, Ive actually written the bones of the climax to a campaign I’m DMing- so I’ve got to fill in the blanks myself!

Thanks again for your thoughts.

Submitted(+1)

That’s so cool that this is your first RPG publication! Looking forward to more :-)

As for the illustrations, while they didn’t seem to be obviously related to a specific NPC or idea, they did contribute a lot to the overall vibe of the module :-) I would have been disappointed if they weren’t in there! And they did break up the text, like you said.

I hope your campaign continues and/or ends well!

Developer

Thank you Maxim. Have a good weekend 

Deleted 232 days ago
Submitted(+1)

There is a lot stuffed into two A4 (four A5) pages. Much like an overstuffed calzone, it’s ooooooooooooozing with goodness, but is also challenging to digest. This is, for sure, one of the entries that I’d love to see an expanded, fleshed-out version of.

Developer(+1)

Thank you for taking a look and for commenting . Nice analogy.. but now I have a yearning for a calzone for lunch!

Submitted(+1)

The introduction is very atmospheric and set the mood really well. The emphasis on the words DEATH and UNMORTAL grabbed my attention and set a horror-like mood. The tables are extensive and give content for several sessions. I would love a third spread to spotlight some scenes, but wouldn't know what to cut. Guess I just want more :) 

Developer(+1)

Thanks for your comment. I’ve started working on fleshing the area out, just bits and pieces, ideas that I had to discard.hopefully it won’t end up too long and indulgent!

Submitted(+1)

I like the gothic horror feel; the situation is both sad and scary, and the addition of some factions and political intrigue is fun. I like the clue system with rumors as a nice easy way to world build. Overall, a good entry and a lot to play with. Personally I would make it clear that if Death is set free, the Unmortals are also freed to pass on (Thus if a player dies, they have an impactful choice to make). Great idea overall!

Developer(+1)

Hi, thanks for your thoughts. Yes, that’s how I envisioned the player’s predicament . The way out of the situation (either by a lucky rumour roll or if the DM wants to just introduce it), is to follow rumour one and return the UNMORTAL pc to Sanctuary for resurrection before completing the mission. If the party can’t afford the cost, then the Senior Bishop brings them into the conspiracy to assassinate the old Duke as payment for the clergy’s services.

Submitted(+1)

Love the clear objective and overall theme, and the sandbox-y feel of the world-slice described on these 2 A4-sized pages. There is some work left for the GM to fill in the gaps, so ideal to slot into an existing campaign or world, I think.

Also loving the unique art style!

Developer

Thank you for your kind comments, really appreciate them.

Submitted(+1)

Loved the setup and mechanics around that for an OSR game! Fun stuff. 

Would like to see more sentences about the NPCs and some of the encounters. I realize space was an issue bc mine was similar. (4 pages is a fun challenge but really right. )

Your writing is good. I also enjoyed the illustrations. 

Developer(+1)

Thank you for your comments. Looking at it again after reading how everyone else has put their pieces together, I can see how I could have tightened some parts up and freed up space for the situations, NPCs and so on. It’s been a really interesting experience 

Submitted(+1)

You've got a fantastic premise and really packed a TON into the available space!

Developer(+1)

Thank you for checking out my entry and for your kind words 

Submitted(+1)

Solid approach to the prompt.  Ample gamified content and context.  In a small footprint, overflows with material (in other words "you did it to Death").

Developer(+1)

Thank you for checking out my entry, Poor old Death “I was only doing my job!”

Submitted(+1)

The tables to roll on are great and I like the included final paragraph on how to adapt to various genres, good addition. The freeing Death scenario makes it feel like a story from mythology, which I enjoy, and I think fits well for the Appendix N factor. 

Developer(+1)

Thank you for your encouraging words,  I really appreciate them.

Submitted(+1)

As someone who has spent a lot of time looking at mythology, I always loved the stories of deals with death, games to avoid death, and other such concepts. I think you put a really fun spin on that trope here. 

Developer

Thank you for saying so. I agree, the concept is classic, and fun to play with.

Submitted(+1)

Really love this idea! Writing is super clear and easy to follow, and I think this would be easy to slot into an existing campaign or run as a stand alone session (or two!)

Developer (1 edit)

Thank you for saying so and for checking out my efforts. Nowhere near as splendid as your own, but I’m I’m happy with what I came up with.

Submitted(+1)

An wonderfully fantastic premise re: Unmortality, in an absolutely jam-packed module!

I appreciated that the general vagueness allows for it to fit into any other setting with only some tweaking. I concur with many others here that I’d try not to kill the Witch, but also, I imagine my players wouldn’t allow Death to go free without something in return either

Developer(+1)

Than you for checking out my contribution. I hadn’t considered that the PCs might want something from Death, that’s a great thought. Cheers

Submitted(+1)

I really like your writing style. You strike a great balance of directness and detail so it's all super readable while being thematically appropriate. Awesome!

Developer(+1)

Thank you, that’s a really encouraging comment. It’s the first rpg piece I’ve shared online so I’m chuffed that you’re so positive about it.

Submitted(+1)

Very nice. I like the use of fonts and how organized everything is. Gives a Pratchettesque feeling from the start. 

I think that the final fate of the Witch should be an interesting aftermath to a game. Does she end up the last and only Unmortal? Does Death liberate her, because Death is nothing if not professional? Choices, choices! 

Developer(+1)

Thank you for checking my offering out. I agree, I think that there’s more to the witch that meets the eye.

Submitted(+1)

I don't know if it was the inspiration, but I saw a similar idea in a book by Saramago, Death with Interruptions. By the way, the book and your idea are spectacular. I'll definitely save it not only to play, but also to explore the possibility of making a Hexcrawl map (which I think would be perfect) for your adventure.

Developer

Thank you for your comments. I’d like to see your map when you’ve finished it, love a hex crawl.
My inspiration was “Reaper Man” by Terry Pratchett. Death is a very popular character in Terry’s Discworld series, in this book it works as a farm hand and other arrangements have to be made.

Submitted(+1)

Wow, what a coincidence. In the Saramago book I mentioned, death sort of "takes a vacation" and refuses to collect the dead, so they stay alive. A situation very similar to what he created, that's why I mentioned the parallel. A truly great coincidence. In any case, brilliant.

Developer (1 edit) (+1)

I guess there are only so many plots and ideas to go around and lots of good writers! So long as we readers get something out of each writer’s efforts, then the similarities really don’t matter. I’m glad that we’ve both enjoyed the story!

Submitted(+1)

Making some notes to work on a hexmap. The 7 - Joy-in-the-woods is a village in a forest or just a forest? the 15 - St Tomaz’s sword in cave its realy a cave, right? 18 - The Lighthouse is in a nearby island or at the coast?

Developer(+1)

Joy-in-the-woods is a village, so called because it is surrounded by glades filled with abundant beautiful and aromatic flowers- it benefits from an underground heated river. One day a hot spring will appear. Its sister village, Hope, is fairly mundane by comparison.

The  sword is hidden in a cave- I thought a grotto, decorated with religious icons and pictures, sealed away after the saint’s death; I saw the sword as being instrumental in his death as well as in his life, so it was hidden by the clergy because it could be a powerful force for either good or bad.

The lighthouse is on a headland, high up on cliffs. Below, the rocks stretch along the coast just below the surface of the sea and are razor sharp, able to rip the belly of a ship out in a second. There are fortunes to be found on the sea bottom along with countless wrecks. 

Hope my take on the locations are interesting, but please flavour them to work in your game. Thanks for asking!

Submitted(+1)

Wow this is great! Everything is very clearly laid out and the art compliments it well.

Developer

Thank you, I really appreciate your comments

Submitted(+1)

This is very fun! I got strong Pratchett vibes even before I saw your shout-out, and that’s about as good a compliment as I know how to give.

Developer

Thank you, that’s a great compliment

Submitted(+1)

Really great minigame style feel to this. I'm not sure how much this follows Reaper Man, but the central conceit is excellent, and brilliantly aligns with the title. I can imagine running this with a small amount of work making NPC stats. Nice one.

Developer

Thank you for saying so. I took a big detour from the plot of Reaper Man, but each time I’ve read it, I’ve been struck by how Discworld avoided a major calamity once Death stopped doing its job. That’s what really sparked this off, what if the body died but the spirit inside continued on as usual.

Submitted(+1)

This really maximises the amount of content you can fit on just one page. This is brilliant! Well done on creating such a feature rich cursed world. I like that you give just enough information to allow the DM to fill in the gaps.

Developer(+1)

Thank you for saying so. I set myself some rules before I started writing- the first one was try to set this so that anyone could fit it into their campaign and game world.. the lack of space we had to work in helped in managing that.

Submitted(+1)

Absolutly BRUTAL!!! Loved this cursed world. I'll definitely DM it with my players. I just wished it had more art, specially the map.

Developer

Thank you for checking this out. Yes, I agree, it’s going to be a tough ask to get to the witch. Grim at the end of the world! Good luck, I’d love to hear how you get on. 

Viewing comments 34 to 15 of 34 · Next page · Last page