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Ran this module as a one-shot (4.5 hours) with Cairn 2E playtest, though easily could have stretched it to two sessions as we rushed it a bit at the end. Almost all the players were new to the system and this provided an engrossing environment and looping dungeon to explore. Between trying to brain through the nature of the automatons to disgust (in a good way) at the half-wasps, we had a blast playing this. I was a bit generous with Satur no wake, but otherwise the characters were skirting death and “failure” at every corner. Plenty of space for a Referee to improvise if desired or just run this module strictly as written.

My only (minor) gripe was it could use a little more of why the adventurers would care. In a region of a thousand temples, what’s the consequence of one tiny temple dying? Treasure? Sure, but might need to raise the stakes or explicitly tie them to an NPC/mystery. I ultimately got lucky with my players rolling items and omens I could twist to drive them toward the adventure.

Again super minor critique. Overall this was a great time and I intend to use this again to introduce new players to OSR/NSR style gaming. Probably the best short-form adventure I’ve read/run in years. Can’t wait to see more from you!

DO judge this book by its cover, which immediately transport you to the Universal Century. Susanah Grace’s CHVLR builds on the tragic tales of youths at war popularized by the Mobile Suit Gundam franchises, but also Chris Bissette’s delightful tumbling block resolution system that leads your Pilot to their inevitable end. They blend perfectly into this zine-length solo-RPG, giving you just enough structure to explore the challenges of a mecha pilot drafted into another forever war. Between the content warnings and your character sheet, the destination is clear. Your pilot will die in action. But what they face, what they give up for “victory” is yours to find out.

Literary review language aside: this will rock your socks off if you are a Robotech or Gunpla fan. Even if you are not though, there is plenty of inspiration and flavor to CHVLR to get you in the right headspace. Loved the game and am constantly pushing it on my friends.

The change is chef’s kiss. It is just disruptive enough to force the stunned player (or GM) to re-evaluate their plan and make a tactical decision, rather than going passive and watching the round go by. “How can I make the most of this action or get away from trouble?”

Loving the updates! I was digging into the Statuses this time and honed in on STUNNED. Knowing how debilitating and fun-sucking stunned/paralyzed is in other d20 systems (e.g. 5e) has me a little concerned there’s no way for GM or another player to prevent this, even stronger effect.

1. In the long-term, do you plan for anything else to cause this status beside Crushing Stone on a hit or Crits for Staffs? Alternatively, will support classes have any counters? The only one I see on first glance is a successful Parry, since everything else just prevents damage, not turn the hit/crit into a miss.

2. Not sure if intentional but I think getting Stunned technically lets you still use your reaction during the round.

3. Since you have fast and slow turns you can choose from, I wonder what it would be like if Stunned (or another status) instead forced you to take your next turn as a Slow Turn. Some fun support class shenanigans could be had controlling what type of turn a target you hit takes next.

Related to reactions, might need to tweak Parry a bit, compared to Counter Attack and Withdraw. The play example indicates you can choose to Parry after you know what the attacker rolled (and whether they hit)–just like Counter Attack and Withdraw. But I could use it against a hit or miss.

• If the triggering attack is already too low to hit, it is probable the Defender would have a better chance of landing a hit against the missed attack than the attacker’s Dodge.
• Parry also doesn’t trigger any subsequent reactions because every other reaction only triggers against an Attack. Downside being, no opportunity to Crit or use of techniques that require you to make an attack.
• Compared to withdraw, you don’t get to move, but worst-case you take damage and miss. Failing at the check with Withdraw, you take damage and the next attack is at +5 against you.

I think if you made the PC use the reaction when the attack is declared (before knowing hit or miss) or only usable when you are hit, it might mitigate some. But probability wise Parry is a much better deal. Especially because it can also mitigate damage from an attack against you.

I absolutely can’t wait to run this! Art? Stunning. Characters and factions? So flipping flavorful. Additional rules and procedures? Probably being slotted into near all my games moving forward. Can’t wait for my physical copy to come in.

Any chance you can add the Maps zip to the download package from the Prismatic Wasteland website? It wasn’t included in the download link for the physical+pdf bundle I was gifted.

It is purple, but honestly don’t mind the color over blue.