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The Compassionate Algorithm (Stars Without Number)'s itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| How legible and easy-to-understand is this mission? | #1 | 4.875 | 4.875 |
| How well are design principles used to create a fun one-shot? | #1 | 4.375 | 4.375 |
| Overall | #2 | 4.406 | 4.406 |
| How well are the themes utilized? | #4 | 4.125 | 4.125 |
| How stylish does this one-shot visually look? | #4 | 4.250 | 4.250 |
Ranked from 8 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Which RPG system(s) is this for?
Stars Without Number
How did you use the mandatory theme "Side Effects May Include"?
A medical AI on an isolated station goes rogue after receiving two shortsighted directives: (1) all station staff are patients and (2) ensure patient health at minimal cost. The AI flooded the station with knockout gas, transported the staff to the Lab, and induced medical comas. Minimum cost achieved.
Which hard mode challenges did you do?
Single sheet adventure
What do you want comments/critiques to focus on?
Adventure flow and layout design.
How harsh do you want people to critque your submission?
Normal amount
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Comments
Straightforward premise with a nice new take on a 'friendly' doom AI.
Clearly delivered info and 'drive' for the players. Quite simple A>B>C progress, doesn't feel incredibly interactive (though managing the AI's threat level provides some), but extremely functional. I'm not sure if the empty rooms are to my taste, but they fit the setting.
Nicely presented - enough visual flare that it isn't boring to look at, and remains very readable.
Theme as set-up is cleanly deployed.
I really like the two phase escalation mechanic revitalising the room-crawl between the 'explore' and 'fix' stages of play.
I appreciate it would cramp the layout, but if Exploration is the second section header, I'd want to see a bit more divergence from the simple ring - significant access obstructions from Ready Room to parts of Research Ops, Security as a hardened point within the Comms room providing limited secondary access controls, Workshop has mechanisms to move heavy machinery around the station etc.
[I don't see a file download section currently - just the two preview images. Removed, or PEBKAC? I read around it, and I don't think I missed anything key...]Hey thanks for the review!
Yea, the downloads are messed up for some reason. I reached out to support yesterday to fix, so hopefully they get back to me today.
Appreciate you taking the time to review!
If you wanted to grab a copy, the downloads are now fixed. Not sure why it took itch support so long to help, but it is what it is.
Thanks for the notification. I see what the other commenter said about the B&W version - it has a great retro feel in grayscale. Weirdly, the file is much bigger without the colour - I guess the B&Wification maps a bunch of value translations rather just a grey colour.
Straightforward set-up nicely presented and a pretty decent over-all pitch. Always nice to see a non-evil “AI gone wrong” scenario.
I think that the map is a little underwhelming, being very linear in practice. Making it more complicated and presenting some choices as to direction of travel is probably worth the effort.
Great adventure. Very good layout and details, and all fitting in a single screen.
I did not find any spots lacking information, I think it would work really well.
Love the printable layout! It works really well without colors, love it. I actually prefer it personally to the screen version, it's so pretty– though the screen version does work beautifully in full screen.
The screen version seems to have weirdly too high contrast for me? Or the pure white letters end up being relatively so bright they are actually a bit hard to read. This may be screen-dependent, on less bright screens contrast is a good thing. But still an awesome addition to have both versions.
The map being embedded between the two columns works really well here, stylish! Also liking the background, it's not
Flow-wise, is three different encounters a bit on the low side, if I'm reading correctly an encounter is rolled for each room? Also vent oxygen seems really punishing, capable of ending the adventure early quick. But actually playing this might show otherwise. Of course code red provides three more? Maybe it's fine, hard to say without running it.
I really like the rooms and the loop, it's an effective flow, good stuff. I also enjoy the idea of roleplaying the code red escalation, along the lines of "Please don't touch the key card, or else."
Hey Simonides, thanks for the comment!
Great suggestions and thoughts, really appreciate it. I'll look into everything you said in regards to layout and design, especially around the colors. As for the encounters, there are actually 6 different encounters possibilities (three during Code Blue and three during Code Red) and 6 different item rewards as well. The adventure starts in Code Blue, and for every door opened, roll for a Code Blue encounter. Once you go Code Red, you continue to roll on every door open, but on the Code Red chart instead. There is also the first Rec Room and final Lab encounters, making the unique encounter count 8.
As for Vent Oxygen, you aren't wrong that it can be a total party wipe, but it is a bit easier than it appears at first glance. The math for a standard 4 person party (at first level) looks like this:
Hope that math all checks out for you, and thanks again for your thorough review, it's very appreciated!
Okay yeah the math makes sense now! And I'm guessing the apparent threat works to make for tense moments, actually. As in seeing one party member just faint will put the pressure on the rest.
Thanks for the clarification, it seems more harsh than it is, which is good!
Ah I actually missed the rolls only happening on opening doors actually – and that the doors staying open means no more random encounters in those rooms, makes sense now. That also alleviates the issue quite a bit.
Thank you for the thorough answer!
A joy to read and a refreshing take on the AI gone wrong trope. Always a joy to see one who uses their programming creatively and dangerously without boiling down to just killing everyone. The pages look fantastic and the map is a great touch that lets everything intuitive and easy to run. Can't wait to get this one printed and added to the backlog!
Thank you so much for the review! I really appreciate you taking the time. I also love printing out all my adventures - that's why we have a black and white version included as well! Check it out and see how it works for you.
Loved it! It was a breeze to read and it was super clear exactly how to run it. I'm not quite sure what I'm supposed to do with the items rolled in each room? Is that a SWN thing? That was the only real point of confusion.
I'll definitely keep this in my back pocket!
Thanks for the nice comment! The items are a bit of "treasure" the PCs find after the encounter. I imagine them to either be found on a destroyed bot or in the general area in addition to any other items found in that room.
Ah, got it. Totally makes sense.