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Obscura

A TTRPG set in the world of The Magnus Archives · By lonelyashtree

Thoughts

A topic by Chilroy created Apr 10, 2021 Views: 389 Replies: 1
Viewing posts 1 to 2

As I continue to delve over this wonderful game, I'm hitting a few roadblocks

1. Effort — Is it a resource or a static number? Multiple instances in the document interchangeably use apply and spend, which is confusing. Do you accumulate effort and spend it? Or is resource that increases, is spent, and replenishes after rests? Is there a time in which you can use Effort without losing points from a pool, or does it always cost, even with the 1 Effort gained from Character Creation? It would benefit to have some clarity here, otherwise I think most GMs will ignore this very player-friendly mechanic.

2. Areas of Knowledge — This is such an interesting way to have Character traits that aren't conferred necessarily through a background. However, there's no mention of them in Character Creation, and whether or not one can start with a specialized AoK or they must take a regular one. Is there a number of AoKs, a character can have? Do they gain one (or two) at Character Creation, or is it earned through play? I think this would benefit from a small suggestion list that displays different AoKs and what they relate to, and display how a player can make their own if none of the pre-made options fit their character concept. I would also suggest the same for Skills.

3. Conditions Inflicted By Objects — Anything under 10 minutes, should probably say "Whenever a character uses this item [x] happens" or "When a character uses this item, they gain [x] condition (stunned, feared, vertigo, etc.) until the end of their next turn (or as long as the item is their possession)." I would also suggest that the Cursed condition, has an additional requirement that an item cannot be removed from a character's possession unless they roll a d20 equal or less than current pool of an associated stat [perhaps worded as Cursed (Body) or Cursed (Spirit)]. This kind of gamifies the idea that weakened characters are more reluctant to relinquish cursed objects once it has a "hold" on them. But besides the suggestion, there should be a list of temporary conditions a GM can inflict on players and NPCs in the Toolkit, such as stunned, feared, vertigo, etc. that allow GMs to shake up encounters without too much fiat.

Developer(+1)

Thank you so much for your feedback! For some now I have been thinking about remaking this project from the ground up, and now that the series has concluded and we have a fuller picture of the story, now might be a good time to do so. Unfortunately, my day job has been keeping me very busy so I don't expect to get much done for a little while. If people would be interested,  I could start making progress logs and release playtest materials periodically. I hope to make this new edition a more engaging and streamlined experience that stays true to the themes of the podcast. Thank you again for your feedback and I hope to use it as I work more on the new edition.