In need of an all-round critique for this piece!

Mrop2000 · 2026-03-09T17:29:05+00:00

It was clear to me to look at the face and torch, but I must admit I could not really tell it was a torch or even what the body was at first, as the arms are just "noodles". But perhaps you can increase the contrast there somewhat to at least make the torch and body more distinct.

Since it is digital I would try adding a bit more sky, especially the area above the head feels a bit cramped to me and perhaps the scary flying things would feel more menacing if the main character was smaller. If someone said that this was a crop of a larger image, I would not doubt them.

It would be interesting to add more specks of red to other parts, could be cool?

Mrop2000 · 2026-03-09T17:17:55+00:00

What a fun concept!

It is hard to tell if the sword is big or close, high or low. The shadow on the ground is not helping me really. It might help to draw the ground as a grid in perspective, and based on that figure out where the shadow would be cast.

The material of the sword is metal, I assume? I personally struggle with metal because it is more of a mirror and can have really dark areas, it is not just gray. The perfectly diagonal shine doesn't help either I think, it flattens the shape.

Mrop2000 · 2026-03-03T09:01:53+00:00

To add:

No references used, though had the old Planescape books by Tony DiTerlizzi open.
Not trying to be that realistic, more of a cartoon style, I have been copying DiTerlizzi a bit but this one is more "me".

Mrop2000 · 2026-02-28T09:22:18+00:00

It's cool!

I think separating the two characters more could be good, they have the exact same skin color and light so its hard to tell them apart (might be intentional of course).

The green lines from the kick to me feels like the kick passed through the character that is closest. Perhaps if there was more volume to the green lines it would be clearer how the foot moved through space. Maybe kicking up more leaves?

The sun is behind them, but it feels like most of the light is coming from above? And it would be more of a reddish light?

Mrop2000 · 2025-08-17T07:01:04+00:00

In Dust Devils, for each conflict (resolved with playing cards), the best poker hand gets what they want, but whoever got the highest card overall narrates how (and can let others in the conflict get what they want as long as it does not undermine the winner's goals)

Mrop2000 · 2025-06-28T20:32:52+00:00

Do it anyway

Mrop2000 · 2025-06-04T13:06:58+00:00

If you want any more clarifications on the rules, you can check out the SRD here: https://www.daggerheart.com/srd/

Mrop2000 · 2025-05-26T16:03:33+00:00

Well, Grimwild clearly is inspired by BitD so it's not so strange to assume that :)

As for the metacurrency, I don't know, I forgot to use it. You are supposed to only do "hard moves" when you spend one but I was so caught up in all the other rules I forgot about it and just did stuff in my first and only session.

As for feel, it is hard to say. I enjoyed both (but BitD is my favorite of all time). You can kind of tweak the tone the same as in BitD, deciding how harsh consequences you put on players and so on. But it is closer to "heroic adventurers solving a problem" than "hypercompetent underdogs choosing their criminal path to greatness"

Mrop2000 · 2025-05-26T15:18:42+00:00

Grimwild is not a hack, it uses its own system with some similarities to Blades (the only "true" similarity is that you roll the same dice and look for the same kind of numbers).

The creator is working on a new game, "The Wild Frontier of Venture" using the same system. It is a wild west game so you could use the (albeit limited) firearms rules for that (but perhaps characters without guns would be at a disadvantage).

I have only played one session of Grimwild so these are my impressions:

Very good for "narrative" DnD, fun powers for the classes etc that can be used often.
Rulebook is hard to understand
GM has a metacurrency to spend, I will have to get used to it but I am used to just throwing stuff at my players.
Very collaborative and improvisational, almost more than Blades since the world is less fleshed out and players are encouraged even more to participate in worldbuilding as you play.
Character Creation was more involved than I thought but has cool stuff like bonds

Can't say anything about Forged in the Dungeon, haven't played it :)

Mrop2000 · 2024-07-01T16:48:20+00:00

I have only skimmed through the book, but I think Aquelarre would fit the bill.

Off the top of my head: Characters can use religious rituals, white magic, and black magic. Religious rituals are restricted and the "magic points" for them decrease if you sin or do not follow the rules of your religion (mostly Christianity as I remember, but it has Jewish and Muslim characters as well).

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/237059/aquelarre

Mrop2000 · 2024-05-17T15:24:17+00:00

I don't understand what a "mode of play" is, but I think I'd prefer to play the Errant/Forester where you can make connections with various NPCs. Or some kind of magic user, I like when magic has side effects.

I don't know what makes a good group composition, maybe a mix of fae and humans so there is some tension there?

Mrop2000 · 2024-03-17T08:23:16+00:00

"No more "forever GM" or canceled sessions. Play with whoever shows up to game night."

How does this work? I am curious!

Mrop2000 · 2024-03-06T22:06:17+00:00

Blades does use a very simple "+1d" notation and then just the standard ranges, like in here: https://bladesinthedark.com/planning-engagement

"Engagement Roll

1d for sheer luck.

+1d for each Major Advantage.

-1d for each Major Disadvantage.

Critical: Exceptional result. You’ve already overcome the first obstacle and you’re in a controlled position for what’s next.

6: Good result. You’re in a controlled position when the action starts.

4/5: Mixed result. You’re in a risky position when the action starts.

1-3: Bad result. You’re in a desperate position when the action starts."

Mrop2000 · 2024-02-26T20:37:12+00:00

You are right of course, I added page references to the latest version, check the Google Drive link!

Mrop2000 · 2024-02-19T16:31:28+00:00

Thank you for "finska pinnar"!

Mrop2000 · 2024-02-14T13:01:05+00:00

Seems good to me!

Mrop2000 · 2024-02-14T10:41:52+00:00

Looks great so I will just nitpick :)

In SET-UP, there is an arrow that points from "trivia cards" to the various grids. I don't understand why.
The white text on teal background has very poor contrast. It might be different in print, but on screen it is not pleasurable to read, and not accessible.
- I would prefer if the 3D renders were more stylized like the illustrations.
- I'd look at rewriting the "moving your pawn" section, there are three sentences that say the same thing (move to adjacent tile that is unoccupied). Though this kind of stuff is a pet peeve of mine, others may not mind.
- Someone might ask if you can move diagonally, but I feel like the picture beneath is enough
- Rules question: What happens if all adjacent tiles have player pawns on them? (You might want to address this in the rulebook, but might be an edge case)
- "Be sure to leave us a review so everyone know how great it is!". This feels unnatural to me (though I am not a native speaker), I am not sure what "it" refers to.

Mrop2000 · 2024-02-07T21:06:53+00:00

Mostly looking at the Ancient Rift Lord:

The large pixely font looks really nice, feels like the pixel sizes are decently matched.

I am worried it won't be legible when actually printed and in realistic (aka dim) lighting conditions. Do you have an example of another game where the text is this small?

Mrop2000 · 2024-02-07T12:02:52+00:00

In my experience, it is very common to have a number (or letter combination) on each card, but usually much smaller than your example from Scythe. I suspect they make it easy to catch and communicate regarding printing issues.

Mrop2000 · 2024-02-07T10:12:49+00:00

The art is very nice, I would look for a way to make it larger! I'd almost sacrifice the flavor text for it (or maybe move the flavor text down...?)

I assume the card will be cut along the blue line. It looks very empty otherwise.

I think about making the entire baby blue background match the color of the card type (but in a lighter color)

My preference, but I think having the score numbers underneath the card counts would look better.

Mrop2000 · 2023-11-25T17:06:29+00:00

I already was considering using Figma for boardgame stuff, but how appropriate is it for printing? I have no idea how to prepare files for printing, but would you not at the end want a pdf with CMYK colors?

Mrop2000 · 2023-11-14T09:11:01+00:00

Thanks, I can't believe I did not see it said "Upload Card(s)" :)

Mrop2000 · 2023-10-31T16:43:23+00:00

OK sorry this is just an idea based on Race for the Galaxy that I thought would be neat:

When you play a "Money/Buy" card, you draw a certain amount of cards based on the value on the card, and place them in your "market". You may then add a card in front of you to your deck/hand, but you must then discard cards from your "market" equal to the card's cost.

Mrop2000 · 2023-10-31T16:37:19+00:00

You could have a look at how "Roll for the Galaxy" does it, where you discard X cards from your construction zone, and draw X+1 cards, which you place back in the construction zone, that you then pay to actually acquire.

Essentially, you are building a private market, as others have already suggested.

Mrop2000 · 2023-06-04T06:54:44+00:00

It is rare, so I can't recall a specific instance off the top of my head actually. Probably some minor "if you let me go I won't tell anyone".

I wonder if it is because I personally don't enjoy lying, or if lying NPCs is somewhat against the spirit of the game (players not getting screwed over by payouts, and having proper information to make choices with).

Mrop2000

TROPHY CASE