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1st pass on weird familiars

A topic by gary D. Pryor created Jan 15, 2024 Views: 129 Replies: 4
Viewing posts 1 to 4
Submitted(+1)

I am writing some very basic generic devotion rules for welding onto your game if it doesn't have mechanics for that already, and 12 weird familiars for fantasy TTRPG. I asked here before for what people would want to know about a patron to run a game. Here is a mock-up for the least weird patron I have.

Any feedback appreciated. Presentation is going to be weak (at least this version) but I'll still take feedback on that.  I am really looking for what things I could include to make the Patrons useful at the table. It's a niche thing, so I would like to try and make it useful for the rare bird that would actually want to use it.

HostSubmitted

The mock-up isn't public, people clicking on it would have to request approval.

Submitted

fixed. Thanks.

HostSubmitted

Notes

It's a little unclear at the beginning about what favor is. "You view your bond as a curse: 1d4 favor." This feels like my Favor die is a d4, but as I keep reading I think I'm to actually roll the d4 to determine a number of Favor Points.

You might do better to mention the conversion notes at the front, but place them at the back. "See pg 12 for how to convert this to other systems." I say this because you have two readers: one will gladly skip over conversion notes that don't pertain to them and the other will just stop reading. If you can get both of these readers to the back page, you're winning!

I dig the Grimalkin. This setup has a lot of fun and interesting complexities to it. Very cool. Are these Patrons supposed to be physically present?

I think the format could use a bit of clarity. Sections that apply to me and sections that apply to the Grimalkin are all shuffled together, making it just a bit more difficult than it needs to be to parse what applies to my character. Is my character supposed to become fickle? Do I gain slightly acute senses? Will I no longer cross water? I think a little added delineation will go a long way toward making this a clear and fully enjoyable read from the first time someone sees the page.

I like this presentation. It's clean and classic.

This is a great start. I'm into it and looking forward to what comes next. 

Submitted

Great feedback. I'll make some edits for clarity. For example the amount of starting favor is for saying your character already has an active pact, and those are suggestions for how much based on how you would interpret your relationship. Probably needs to be a lot clearer. And separating what sections apply to you, and which are your patrons is probably a good idea.

I'm going to see if I can clarify everything without adding too many words, I'd hate to have to add a glossary page.

Thanks.