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Taking off Judge Hat, putting on Publisher Hat"
If you wanted to expand this a bit (or even if not) I would be very down to help with a physical release post jam.
omg hello, thank you so much for your interest! yes, an expansion is indeed in the plans. will reach out to you soon :)
The art looks SOOO GOOD! And the backstory is totally my cup of tea. Can't wait to play it!!
Whatever dark magic you used to make a whole ass PbtA game for a jam needs to be bottled and sold. Nice cohesive visual design, crazy premise and intensely gameable. Love it.
Not an easy prompt, but you delivered. The stunning visuals really drive home the Métal Hurlant vibes I get from the writing.
Wow, Métal Hurlant was an absolute blind spot to me. Thank you for bringing it up, it's absolutely rad! And what a compliment it is; thank you so much for your kind words!
Wow! this is so good! The playbooks were cool as hell, the art is amazing, and the punk-metal aesthetic is a cherry on top.
Thanks so much! Means a lot that you like the aesthetic!
yeah this uhhh pretty much rips. killer concept, art, and vibes. just bristling with energy. y'all were in sync on this one. incredible that it's so packed with text but the visuals still have room to breathe and even charm with little details - i like the little cutout indicator on the playbooks. impressive that you took this balls-to-the-wall premise and still left room for emotional intensity in the roleplay. i do think there's some sneaky difficulty to GMing this that's hidden under the tight presentation - players can't die or really be stopped until the end, so adding non-damage complications with that in mind and keeping the pace up seems tough. good complications are the hardest part of basically everything but OG apocalypse world though, so, not a big deal lol
high: the playbooks are standouts and are so slick they make most PbtA books i've seen feel absolutely bloated in comparison. the martyr's line nails the atmosphere harder than anything else here IMO. to lay down your life is to return what you only borrowed. goes crazy tbh
low: this is just personal preference, but i wish the questions for going to a new floor had a little more heat behind them. they feel low-energy to me. "what kind of world is it?" feels less like i'm asking about a layer of a sickass apocalyptic machine tower and more like i'm asking about a new super mario 64 level lol. if i run this i might replace that with something like "what purpose does this floor serve?" in general, i think it's possible to punch these up with more evocative phrasing while still getting similar info from the players
in-between: i really dig the move name "Taste Blood in the Water". it's punchy, vivid, and carries some intense force behind it. however... it kind of feels out of place in a dry, desert-and-fire based post apoc setting?? i can't help but wonder if there's a vibe-appropriate name out there that still keeps this same energy lmao
overall: incredible work. please make more stuff together!
YOOO thanks SO MUCH for such a thorough feedback!!! really appreciate you being out here doing the lord's work ❤️🙏
Again, thanks for taking the time to leave such thoughtful review!
looove that an expanded version's potentially in the works 👀👀👀 tbh, i've been chewing on alternatives to Taste Blood since writing this and haven't come up with anything good. even the potential energy and feeling of like, a looming frenzy is just hard to match. going with the cool first thought was the right move i think!
Exceptional; fully-realized and very playable. Amazing work.
Very kind, thank you so much ❤️
Really incredible entry. A whole PBtA game wrapped up in 4 pages, with narrative structure that’d actually get my group excited and thoughtful. I love the metal aesthetics. Unique, useable, high production value. Rock on!
Thanks, friend! That's high praise coming from you. (Love your entry!)
This fucks so hard. I am so impressed that something this polished can be made in the time and space given for this jam. This has so much sauce yet still allows for so much creativity from those playing it. I really love how the "Heroic Instincts" and "Earths Fury" really incentivise players to overcome the adversities instead of just ripping and tearing through them as cool as that may be, and how much the doomsday move really solidifies this design in a perfect way.
"Polished" is an incredible praise, and I'm absolutely flattered that you thought it had so much sauce. Big, huge, thanks.
Love the political commentary in the introduction. Stay punk! Theme comes through in every line that sizzles on the pages.
Design-wise, this is a complete package. It has stunning visual presence and countless details such as the custom icons used in the text, page borders, and grid layout. Fellow designers, make sure to check this entry out.
High praises! Thank you so so much! I agree, I do think masova has truly outdone himself here. I'll make sure he reads your kind words.
You had me at "Metal". I'm impressed it includes its own game system! Quite to the point, enough gameability for parties to spin an epic story of their own, and it promises to run quickly and smoothly.
Thank you so much for checking it out and for your kind words!
Hell yeah! 🤘
Love everything in here; the art, the layout, the Playbooks, the writing, the anti-corporatist messaging- all phenomenally well-done! I also think this may be the 1st PbtA entry I’ve read so far this jam
Hell yeah! Many many thanks, friend! Here's hoping we'll see more PbtA entries next year!
Wonderful! The only heavy metal adventure I've seen this jam. Beautiful design, immaculate layout, and the GM guidance shows how much thought has gone into not just the adventure, but how it will be processed and run.
Thank you so much! Gotta set the players up for success - I'd love nothing more than for them to have the utmost fun :D
Eff-ing great!
Much gratitude!
Okay, that cover? Metal AF! I love the layout and I am a sucker for the tattered edges.
Creating a self-contained PbtA game in this kind of space is pretty ambitious! I really admire the way you took that extra mile.
Glad we delivered on the metal vibes! It was quite an undertaking but gotta go where the idea goes :D Thank you so much!
Work of art, love the layout, use of symbols and clear text with some really nice border dressing! Great outline of the stakes and what is happening on the back cover. The playbook cards are just so neat with their icons. I really like where this adventure leads plus Doomsday move just sounds very cool to say at the table - Awesome module! 🔥
These are high praises and mean a lot for me to hear, thank you so much!
Absolutely rad. So much momentum and energy but the way information is presented makes it all super clear. Fire indeed.
Love your module SO MUCH so this means a lot to me, friend! Thank you kindly!!!
It's super impressive how you managed to fit a narrative system such as pbta into 4 page spread while still keeping a strong theme of the kind of story the game is telling as i can only imagine the struggle of balancing between maintaining the theme and still having the system gameable at such a small space. Truly impressive, looking forward to see what an expanded version looks like!
it was really a struggle, but once i cracked the half-page-character-sheet it became so much easier (still not easy, just easier lol). thank you so much for your interest in the (gulp) expanded version!!