This was a really fun read. The theme of the book comes through really strong every step of the way, it's obvious you had a clear picture in mind when it came to the concept. All of the art is very charming and feels like a great fit. The description of each of the guilds really gave me a good picture of the culture. I quite liked the bit where "children" was crossed out when it came to things the gnomes traded for, that got a chuckle.
The title page says that it's written by gremlins, but most of the book seems to be written by gnomes since they refer to "we" many times.
I did notice that the Gnomovoi were called Domovoi in their actual description.
I like Grief as an idea, but I am not sure when I should give that our or let players resolve it as a GM. I could just wing it, but it seems a little amorphous compared to the other rules.
Overall, a really great read! I think this would be a lot of fun to run for a group tired of the solution in games being to beat something up.
Reading through this went so fast; all of the rules felt like prose, they were so charming to behold (Gname and Prognouns really got me). The thematic elements and tone of the game are so clear that I feel like I could write a one-shot in it without any further prompting. The mechanic of glamour is a great addition (and clever use of the d12), that elegantly gives space for a bit of leniency but keeps things moving - and the tension increasing as time goes on!
It does look like there's an error underneath the description of Spelling, where it says you succeed on a 1, 3, 4, or 5, while I think it should just be a 1. And, though I may be biased by my own foray into Polymorph, the game feels light without any Edges for the Gnomes to choose. But overall, this was truly a delight to read, and seems like it would be a ton of fun (and a bundle of hijinks!) to play.
Well, thanks for the nice comments! I was originally thinking about adding a selection of ability options, but I ended up using too much time for illustrations and other tinkering. Maybe if I revisit it.
As for Spelling, the first sentence mentions that it allows another action to succeed on a 1, in addition to its normal results. So, the example of Scouting using Gnomish spells increases the results from a "3, 4, or 5," to "1, 3, 4 or 5." But yeah, I'll see if I can word that better later.
I was enjoying your entry, btw. I deal with a lot of kids who are slowly moving from Pokemon to RPGs, and this will definitely be something I'll direct them towards!
Oh, that's nifty! It makes it so that the Gnomes can use spells more often, but it preserves the proportions (d4 gets to use them the most, d6 the second-most, ect). And the illustrations are very fitting (especially those that incorporate the Gemstones), so it feels like a good use of time.
Thanks for directing kids toward Perch and Rescue! I run RPGs for a lot of young people in the prime Pokémon-card-collecting age group, and that interest bleeds into our games a lot, haha.
Comments
This was a really fun read. The theme of the book comes through really strong every step of the way, it's obvious you had a clear picture in mind when it came to the concept. All of the art is very charming and feels like a great fit. The description of each of the guilds really gave me a good picture of the culture. I quite liked the bit where "children" was crossed out when it came to things the gnomes traded for, that got a chuckle.
The title page says that it's written by gremlins, but most of the book seems to be written by gnomes since they refer to "we" many times.
I did notice that the Gnomovoi were called Domovoi in their actual description.
I like Grief as an idea, but I am not sure when I should give that our or let players resolve it as a GM. I could just wing it, but it seems a little amorphous compared to the other rules.
Overall, a really great read! I think this would be a lot of fun to run for a group tired of the solution in games being to beat something up.
Reading through this went so fast; all of the rules felt like prose, they were so charming to behold (Gname and Prognouns really got me). The thematic elements and tone of the game are so clear that I feel like I could write a one-shot in it without any further prompting. The mechanic of glamour is a great addition (and clever use of the d12), that elegantly gives space for a bit of leniency but keeps things moving - and the tension increasing as time goes on!
It does look like there's an error underneath the description of Spelling, where it says you succeed on a 1, 3, 4, or 5, while I think it should just be a 1. And, though I may be biased by my own foray into Polymorph, the game feels light without any Edges for the Gnomes to choose. But overall, this was truly a delight to read, and seems like it would be a ton of fun (and a bundle of hijinks!) to play.
Well, thanks for the nice comments! I was originally thinking about adding a selection of ability options, but I ended up using too much time for illustrations and other tinkering. Maybe if I revisit it.
As for Spelling, the first sentence mentions that it allows another action to succeed on a 1, in addition to its normal results. So, the example of Scouting using Gnomish spells increases the results from a "3, 4, or 5," to "1, 3, 4 or 5." But yeah, I'll see if I can word that better later.
I was enjoying your entry, btw. I deal with a lot of kids who are slowly moving from Pokemon to RPGs, and this will definitely be something I'll direct them towards!
Oh, that's nifty! It makes it so that the Gnomes can use spells more often, but it preserves the proportions (d4 gets to use them the most, d6 the second-most, ect). And the illustrations are very fitting (especially those that incorporate the Gemstones), so it feels like a good use of time.
Thanks for directing kids toward Perch and Rescue! I run RPGs for a lot of young people in the prime Pokémon-card-collecting age group, and that interest bleeds into our games a lot, haha.