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A jam submission

The Anvil of WinterView project page

OSR-PointCrawl through a frozen land. With dead gods and aliens.
Submitted by Seba, Rackhir_rpg, SimiOfDoom — 16 days, 16 hours before the deadline
Rated by 75 people so far
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Comments

Viewing comments 64 to 45 of 64 · Next page · Last page
Submitted(+2)

with such a good art pathways from a point to another are unnecessary.

Cunning use of godhood .

Submitted(+2)

Really dig the art! Wish there was a bit more detail about characters and factions but I really enjoy the freezing rules. Fun little adder to make travel a more meaningful choice.

Submitted(+2)

The art and layout are great and really evoke that "cold" feeling throughout. The different factions are very interesting and could make for a lot of post-adventure interplay depending on character choices. I like how The Ship looks like an upside down castle of sorts. If it crashes, I wonder what exploring it would look like. I wish I understood more what would happen if Kieran got their way in Greenleaf.

Developer(+1)

If Kieran got his way the villagers would form a trek and pretty much freeze to death I guess. Or some adventurers help them and somehow find a way to safety.

Developer(+1)

I recommend playing up the isolation and paranoia in Greenleaf. They haven't heard from Whitepine and the Omyakoi in weeks. The scouts they send out to seek news and firewood do not return. Their resources are running low. Kieran argues that Whitepine might still be in a better spot; failing that, the caves at the base of the mountain might also prove better shelter than the buried and collapsing houses in the village.

Submitted(+1)

Ahh yes, that's good. Hadn't considered the implications for them if they didn't know about the other community. Thanks.

Submitted(+2)

Lovely art here. The map is an absolute joy, and I like little touches in the layout like having different header colors for the Temple, the Shrine, and the Ship. I'm impressed by the density of the content here, with multiple approaches available for taking the hammer to the anvil and multiple points of interest within each location. The lightweight warmth mechanic is also a great addition to the point crawl procedure.

I do wish the characters within each faction were detailed just a bit more to make it easier for a GM to flesh them out at the table beyond their straightforward factional goal. Whenever a short adventure has a larger ensemble cast, it's nice to have those shortcuts for more nuanced characterization.

The spaceship is cool, and it's sold well by its art on the map. I could see it being fun to let players find scattered parts of it, fallen off during the battle, throughout other locations as they explore, letting them wonder where this strange heat-sapping metal comes from. 


Developer

Thanks for the kind words and the great suggestions for expanding and preparing the game. Love the idea of finding debris scattered around the map before revealing the strange flying fortress.

Submitted(+1)

great artwork, good color choice, very good map so fits the theme perfectly.

Developer

Thank you!

Submitted(+2)

Map: stunning artwork/map, absolutely beautiful. Great choice of colour palette.

Concept: nice interpretation of the Appendix N Title. In a few words and images you have created a coherent and evocative setting. I love the weird science angle of location X.

Gameplay: The point-crawl adventure with warmth as a resource that gets depleted is simple but effective. Several interesting factions and challenges to overcome: resource depletion is an issue not only for the players but also for the village. There are many ways that the adventure could play out.

Locations: The number order of the locations on the map didn’t seem completely logical to me: I connects to II,III,IV; II connects to IV… why not number them sequentially around the points?

Each location is simply explained with an effective use of subheadings and colour. You could help the reader by labelling the cross-references between locations (e.g. “weakens support for Kieran Mason (II)”).

Layout: The map page is perfect, with key information easy to find. The unlabelled version and print-friendly version are nice touches.

The location descriptions are also nicely laid out with effective use of fonts and colour. The only thing I would change would be to right-justify the text (especially as you are using hyphenation).

Very nice work, visually appealing, sound theme and concepts, well developed. I can imagine a fun evening playing this adventure.

Developer(+3)

We switched the connections around a lot, thats why it may not be perfectly neat. I doubt that is gonna cause any issues, though.

Thank you for reading!

Submitted(+2)

Stunning design and art. The adventure is well-made with excellent information presentation for locations. Also, Space Harpies!

Developer (1 edit) (+1)

Definitely better than Space Herpes! But no less lethal.

Submitted(+2)

Such a good point crawl adventure. Love the quest and the lil bit of sci-fi; y'all cooked on this one for sure!

Developer(+1)

Thank you so much! We got lucky on the prompt and ran with it.

Submitted(+2)

This went straight to my “Appendix N Gems” collection! What a fantastic adventure. The art is gorgeous, the competing factions work really well together and with the heatwaves going on, it’s a very refreshing entry 🤣

Developer(+2)

Yeah we loved thinking about frozen wastes :D

Submitted(+2)

This absolutely rules! Total finalist contender material, from the beautiful map art to the layout!

Genuinely, if this were an actual written novel, everyone in the OSR would know of it, and half would say it’s part of their favorite series.

Developer(+1)

Oh wow, you're too kind! Thank you!

Submitted(+2)

I have no notes. This is a fantastic piece of work, well done team!

Developer(+1)

Thanks, very kind of you!

Submitted(+2)

Absolutely beautiful visuals, honestly I thought that was Pinhead at first but overall an amazing design with amazing writing! I love the mechanics of this game

Developer(+1)

Thank you so much! And there is a definite Pinhead resemblance there...

Submitted(+1)

Would that we could all have point-crawl map spreads this beautiful. Awesome, awesome, awesome. 

The freezing/heat mechanic is well considered with routes for exploration likely ending in a tough question as to whether players should return to Greenleaf or not - a fine line for lock and key design that often nullifies the effects of things like cold instead - and that means crucially, that they will actually be used and seen and players will take at least some damage, experience the cold, and consequences. 

That's the win from page one onwards in my book.

Developer (1 edit) (+1)

Well, if you want a map this awesome, you need to work with Simi! We were so lucky to have her on the team.

Also a great observation re: the freezing mechanic. Players have to make choices where to go and what risks to take. The most likely outcome is several return trips to Greenleaf which allows the GM to escalate the political situation from one visit to the next.

Submitted(+2)

This slaps! Well done!

Developer

Thank you!

Submitted(+2)

This is phenomenal across the board. The writing is engaging from the start, the setting is interesting, all mechanics and game progression are clearly presented without being overwhelming, and the theme is woven throughout. This module is, if you’ll forgive the pun, extremely cool. I might try running it sometime

Developer

Please tell us all about it, if you end up running it :)

Developer

Let us know if you run it! We'd love to hear how you brought it to the table.

Submitted(+3)

This submission understood the assignment. The art evokes classic swords and sorcery (and sandals) with a strange, bald warlock and a point crawl through strange lands. The cartography is rich and dense, immediately evoking a feeling of frigid cold and danger. GMs and players alike know what to expect.

For the limited space, the adventure is packed with content. Random encounters as you traverse the region and unique rules for battling the frigid elements included alongside ten unique locations that promise rich adventures. The GM will have to do some light work to expand upon these locales, but the bones are solid and strong as presented. In the hands of the right GM, this adventure could be a one shot or short multi-session campaign. 

Fantastic job Seba, Rackhir, and Simi!

Developer(+1)

Thank you for the very kind words and the detailed assessment.

Submitted(+2)

Layout and visual design are excellent. The module oozes atmosphre and thematic vision. Love it! 

Developer

Thank you! Conveying the atmosphere was really important to us. And Simi knocked the visuals out of the park!

Submitted(+2)

Amazing art, sublime layout, interesting and original mechanics, it's actually the first submission I saw for this jam and the level of polish just blew me away! I really want to play this.

Developer

Thanks! Let us know if you end up playing it. We'd love to hear a tale from the table.

Submitted(+2)

Lovely design and visuals. Strong writing as well!

Developer

Thank you very much!

Submitted(+2)

Feels like I could run this with no prep. “Stats as X” is so powerful for a jam-sized work. The art is obviously undeniable and I’m digging the elemental conflict!

Developer(+1)

"Stats as X" also saves us from having to decide on a system...

Viewing comments 64 to 45 of 64 · Next page · Last page