I'm definitely considering additional ways to interact with the dice-obelisk, as others has also said similar things. Will be revising post jam for sure.
Lovely core idea for the setting, with a solid set of rooms at the location to explore.
The game design approach is effective, sticking to what works in the existing mosh modules, and adding a new dimension with the lightsource aspect.
I think it might be good if the photoreceptor grafts gave some benefit, as well as incurred new problems for the players. That way it could be a worthwhile trade and an interesting story point for an ongoing character? Something like having the grafts give advantage in well-lit combat etc etc. Overall I like the stark b+w approach as it looks neat and is easily readable, but I would really appreciate more visual material for the walking plant creatures. Players are going to be very interested in them, and a picture to show might really set the mood.
Highly based "90s rts box art" feel to the visual design, which I really appreciate. Another great factor is how scalable this adventure is, and adaptable into an existing campaign. Another quality piece from the creator of one of the best from the last jam.
Ok so I agree that getting the most out of the novel mechanic of dice stacking is a good idea, and I like the notion of allowing the players to interact with them. I'm not sure I quite follow your idea of rotating though, perhaps if you have the time you could explain it a little more?
Yeah I used the obvious cliches because I think it makes it easy for everyone to immediately get what the scenario is, and for the warden to improvise. It does bring the risk of feeling stale, so I'm glad that you think this has been avoided. I will reconsider how to improve those endings- appreciated.
Not off the top of my head, and to be clear I don't think it's automatically a bad thing. Maybe some way of escalating the stakes each time or making the frustration deliberate and part of the fun?
I think the ideal situation is when the players are highly entertained by the disastrous nightmare they have gotten themselves into, so don't be afraid of embracing "hahah you will suffer!" so long as it's fun and solveable.
Really nice application of mythological monsters into a SF context. Excellent visual design with endearing illustrations for the NPCs, creatures, and map. The resetting concept is ambitious, which I respect, but might fall into a stale condition for the players. I would be interested in hearing about how this resolves in play testing. Overall, lovely stuff.
I welcome all feedback and value it greatly! I think you are completely right that I could broaden it out- and may do so if I can think of a good way to avoid making it pages longer. Very much noting all of this for post-jam finalising- appreciatd.
All fair comments, and I think it's clear that in some of these cases it's driven by my personal taste and preference, which will not be for everyone. In my play test what I found is that my players were mostly interested in learning about the alien race that (perhaps) built the ruin they are investigating, and they spent a lot of time in-character trying to work out who these creatures were and why they built this, and trying to interpret the various artefacts etc. Completely agree that this won't appeal to every kind of player, but I don't mind that at all.
The reason I have the dice being inverted is twofold: 1: it elides the balancing mechanic, hopefully enough that it won't be obvious to players.
2: Ties in with the theme and setting- opposite numbers on a standard dice totalling seven, seven stars above etc. Originally I thought to have seven chambers as well to reinforce this but decided it would be too long for a intentionally short scenario.
I also saw your comment about the obelisk's wounds vs ap- thanks for that very useful. I will be implementing advice on this for the polish pass.
Thanks! Yeah I have to be honest and say I used that font because it best stood the printer test for legibility! Noted on copy, will be doing a full polish pass once the jam is over.
Despite being a touch unfinished, I think the concept is so good that I don't care. It's like a port of FTL into mosh, which imo could use improved rules for spaceship stuff in general. Very much want to see this filled out, it could easily be a full zine.
Rich setting that could bear a much longer adventure, and well presented in a visual aesthetic that supports the 'feel' of the huge Cathedral/Pyramid structure, Very cool complexity available with the various rooms, hooks, and random encounters. Decoherence mechanic offers an interesting new way to punish players :D
I feel this would benefit from spread out a little more over another page, I know that's not the competition etc, but I would definitely buy this spaced out with a bit more art to show the interiors or maybe what being decohered does to someone. Good stuff.
Love the central premise of a flying dutchman-type PRISON, immediate fun kerb appeal. Appealing action focus as well, lots of stuff to obliterate hapless player crews :D I would love to see more lore about the prison- maybe myths and tall tales about it, the rumours that very few have heard. I can imagine seeding those in a space station bar for my players to overhear...
1: I had considered making the Obelisk's AP some kind of formula (e.g. AP=10 x [number of players]) or something, but after some consideration I decided that since there are ways to depower it, or freely run away, it works better as a serious threat if the players go in gung-ho without planning. I did playtest this, and my players defeated the Obelisk on the final round of combat. Interestingly they had two broken gadgets AND had interpreted the verses to mean ''obelisk is vulnerable to electricity', so they used the gadget as a club to chip into the Obelisk and then connected the power generator to it. I decided this would both deactivate the Obelisk as well as give them a d10dmg roll (times two hehehe) which blew it up. However in the interest of finetuning the balance, I do think you are right and that I could hide a broken gadget in one of the rooms...
2: I think the roll tables will return an encounter with a cultist or trap (miasma, irradiated, vision or evil) three times vs two non-dangerous events. In my view this is enough for a one-session, but of course the warden is free to add *more* enemies or another npc scientist, who is driven near-mad but has survived to warn the players...
This achieves what is perhaps the highest compliment I could pay a short module: it inspires entire storylines. Would be so easy to propel a campaign into entirely new territory by having a battle=weary crew arrive at a space station, only to get caught up in any number of plots the various faction groups have kicked off. Wonderful.
I love the randomisation capacity of tables! Maybe it is just my style but I'm always keeping additional modules etc to hand when running mosh so I can easily generate stuff by borrowing tables... :)
I favour a "corporate hellscape" flavour in my regular mosh game, so this kind of horror-satire setup would fit in quite easily with minimal prep as my players now expect untrustworthy companies and shoddy businesses. I do agree with comments below that the trifold favours a layout stunt over fleshing out the scenario more...BUT for me personally that's fine as this approach gives such a sense of the atmosphere that I'd feel confident riffing on it as warden.
Very clear and accessible adventure. Main enemy is interesting and I could see it making a comeback down the line should any unsuspecting crew survive this encounter.
Thanks for the feedback! I can certainly take the opportunity in polish to make the 4 clues clearer (maybe breakout the explanation) and remove some vagueness about the winning condition that perhaps only becomes apparent to me when someone else points it out- e.g. yes following the path in any directions always connects you to the next room.
I very nearly made the puzzle *harder* after my play test group solved it and said it was too easy! The second group did not though, they died in the darkness :)
