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(1 edit) (+2)

saw that you were leaving detailed reviews in this format on other games, and i really respected that, so i decided to return the favor!

Why you should check this out: an incredibly genre-savvy super story with an interesting mechanical base for narrative & lots of random tables to make GMing easy

Style: it’s an ashcan! i don’t think this is where it’s aiming to compete, and that’s ok 😅 

Structure: very well laid out. i love the glossary right at the beginning, it’s very helpful. the use of diagrams, even simple ones, makes it really easy to understand the structure of mechanics at a glance. 

Content: the progressively built villains based on player discoveries and additional random elements is fantastic. Powers are a great take on FIST’s traits, and Origins and Drives are a fantastic take on FIST’s Roles. i love the “you can/sometimes/[mechanical bonus]” structure of Powers—the “sometimes” communicates so much narrative so concisely. having story beats determine advancement in a way that changes specific attributes related to the story beat is so compelling—and i love that they can subtract attributes as well. in general, all the trait/role equivalents are very flavorful, and GM tables are perhaps even more flavorful. this would be an incredibly easy game to drop into and immediately start playing a genre appropriate story with very little prep!

What might I change?

Structure:
1. you mention “ Instead, they slowly emerge as the Supers make a Discovery”, but haven’t yet mentioned Discoveries outside of the glossary—consider a brief definition of the term when you first use it, and some indication you’ll find out more below
2. you do such a great job defining most terms in the glossary, or using capitals to indicate it’s a Concept, but “beats” or “story beats” aren’t defined anywhere, just referenced informally when talking advancement & listed with Origins/Drives—i was a bit confused when i got to Origins and assumed i’d missed the definition for beats, so i’d maybe give them their own subhead?
3. consider introducing “Help” after Grit & Stress, so that those terms mean something (mechanically) to you when you’re reading the helping mechanic. i had to go back and reread at the end to process how helping works (and why Stress matters)

Thank you so much! That is such a thoughtful review + some really handy feedback, we’ll look into those definitions. Definitely one of those where we’ve talked about it so much that it seems obvious to us, but you need fresh eyes to remind you that it isn’t.

I love writing the more detailed reviews for jams. It’s meant so much anytime that someone has taken the effort to read out stuff and leave their thoughts so happy to motivate others to do the same (especially when they’ve clearly got what we were going for!).

Can’t wait to check out Planet Fist! :)