Super evocative weird fantasy (?) setup. I like that the forest itself is the quest giver. Great encounters and locations too. This would be an excellent one shot.
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A simpler layout that is quite legible, with little, but very well-chosen public domain art straight from the atomic comics age. I loved Taipan, the irradiated creatures, and the idea of the forest wanting to protect itself from the storm/dead. Cool stuff that doesn’t try to over explain itself. Good job!
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Living Idols of the Gloam-WasteThe text above the title says you can communicate with the dead by calling upon the Bright Blizzard so I went inside the Forest expecting to do just that (for fun!) and now I have a hulking nuclear abomination hot on my ass and there are cats eating me alive as I try to run from it. Not making it out alive fam 10/10 though
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When the Earth Sang Firei think the radiation angle is immediately gripping. you sell the eerie feeling behind it with some simple but potent visual choices. i read the design diary post on your blog and love how much the robot art shifted some gears for you. it would've done the same for me, but more than that it's such a clear showing of how easy it is to be moved and inspired by other folks' work. taipan rocks and is the biggest win of the module IMO - the thing i look at that makes me say "oh, i've gotta see this guy at the table." peep the name, but i am a little biased there 😌 i like the faux-handwriting on the map, just one of those human touches that would add interesting flavor if this were on a handout.
in general, i think the thing this module wants is More Energy. take what you've already got and go even bigger with it! some thoughts:
- on the night cat's crit, 1d4 damage from an intelligent pack hunter is measly. crits are your chance to swing hard! rip a chunk out of their leg so they can't get away, make the damage recurring as the cat latches on and needs to be shaken off, just go bigger with it. if you only want damage, i would double or even triple the size of that die
- brother, why is taipan not on the map. you gotta put that guy somewhere. you're really gonna leave a party running into the sickass necromantic cancer machine up to random chance? be so for real. if this is at my table, i'm putting him in the mist in area 6. i also wouldn't mind some kind of trigger to bring him in once the party grabs the uranium - maybe the forest is shielding it from him, but once it's out from that spot he hones in fast.
- the environment table is a shining star and a great showing of the undead stuff which otherwise feels underutilized. i think you could have given this more mechanical grip by hooking into cairn 2e's established wilderness weather rules - adding fatigue or increasing the number of watches between points would sell the vibe even more, i think
- i like the use of radiation as a long-term poison, although i have no idea how your average cairn character is going to cure it lmao. weirdly, this made me consider where my line is on sci-fi stuff in a fantasy RPG. the big robot feels fine, mostly because it's very bold and also unexplained. but the nuclear bomb fliers in area 3 feel firmly out of place. like it pushes everything into more modern territory and turns Taipan from a bizarre relic into something that makes a little more sense. aura loss! spiritually i would say this feels more like an Into the Odd module, but that's minor tbh.
high: big robot........... i also dig the random gruesome horror show in area 9. one of those places where the intense cold of the mountain setting can be felt the most. very cool area to hide away on the map like that.
low: hate to be this guy but there are enough typos that it does stand out. a few here or there is fine, but calling the title phenomenon the Bright Blizard in your intro text is demonic work lmao
in-between: the angle of the forest withering under this uranium and deciding to lean into that as if acclimating to snake venom RULES. your current implementation doesn't shine though, because like... the uranium is already in the forest. like it's just in the woods' control. you can't even touch it unless the forest lets you. i think this would've felt less off if the uranium were protected in some kind of rigid structure that the forest couldn't sink its tendrils into (or something similar)
overall: keep making stuff!! i really like your vision and just want to see more. great work!
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The Gravity PlagueLove the atomic robot and the art for it! Very cool adventure.
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In the Shadow of the Tomb-ShipGood layout and information design, the whole thing is very readable and easy to understand. I also really liked the encounter and environment tables. Great work! Did you use any of the Cairn forest seed tables?
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Shadows on the Spiral RoadThe various ways you’ve used the irradiated green colour in both the art and the text is such a nice touch - I can imagine seeing the green glow in the forest and it really communicates a lot of vibe and atmosphere in a very subtle way. Loved this.
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Rays of Beleth's BolideThanks! I got the art from a public domain collection here on itch. /c/7741613/public-domain-illustrations-packs
I really like your point crawl! The art you have in it is nice, however I wish there was maybe one more piece for the point crawl, this feels more like looking at a state machine. I really like the world you've created here.
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The Way to Wellerman SquareGreat work. I really enjoyed this one. Some thoughts:
The location keys are short but sweet. I can see them working in a more zoomed out roleplay style, but I do wish there was more to interact with at each location. Maybe a random table at the back could do this, so the descriptions don’t get too long.
Would like to see more interaction with the NPCs, like the injured night cat, what might it offer in return for healing it? Or the unicorn, what might it warn us of in the forest? Maybe a lost pilgrim or a druid ghost to speak with.
The escalating weather is nice atmosphere. This is a great vehicle to ramp up the tension.
I’m confused at what the difference between the line paths mean, e.g., what’s a dashed line vs solid mean? I do like the path descriptions.
This is set on a mountain but there is a opportunity for any locations that require climbing or negotiating great heights, especially with the fog. Especially with the escalating weather. Climbing across a rocky outcrop is now too treacherous now that the wind has picked up.
Also, would be great to add in some kind of effect for carrying or holding the enriched uranium.
Overall through, I much prefer your decision to keep content light in exchange for great readability, as opposed to cramming in more content and then shrinking the font down to size 6 or something.
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Bread for the BukavacI would definitely like to revisit the location descriptions, I probably could have squeezed a little more in. My focus was more on practising layout than writing. I also tried to use Taipan as an opportunity to introduce light radiation mechanics but it would really rely on a discerning GM.
The dashed lines according to the Cairn wardens guide are hidden paths. I just used them to differentiate without bringing in extra colours 😅. More material for a revisit.
Finally got the time to read this: Super runnable, very Cairn. I love the Taipan, gonna steal it and the irradiation mechanic for my home game!
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Into the Viridian PitI love the atomic angle and the Taipan art and stats. A radiation clock on the Players would fit well!
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The Alchemist's Hollow BrideLove the forest crawl, I did something very similar. The art is fire too.
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The Quest for Koschel's DeathThank you. I coloured in some art from some public domain art packs I found on itch. Mark is a great curator of public domain art /c/7741613/public-domain-illustrations-packs
Haven't had a chance to get to this yet, planning on it tomorrow! But I'm excited, we need more Cairn forest crawls! :)
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Into the Viridian PitI love the Taipan description: Ancient 12ft tall atomic robot puppets by the ruler of the land of the dead. Pretty juicy stuff.
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Desert of Despair
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