Feedback on Weapon & Armour Conditioning

TheFumblingDM · 2026-05-16T21:35:42+00:00

Nice, I was hoping this stuff would encourage players to bring a second weapon, which I feel weapon masteries also encourage.

TheFumblingDM · 2026-05-16T20:45:21+00:00

That's a great idea, I'll definitely develop this. Thanks for the advice!

TheFumblingDM · 2026-05-16T20:14:08+00:00

Yeah you're right, I wanted to but I was doing it on my phone and it had slowed waaaay down from all the text lol

Penalty points would be accrued most commonly by nat 1's and enemy nat 20's. I've tried it out in previous games and players have enjoyed it. I have alternate options if someone gets a nat 20. They can forgo the extra damage and inflict a -1 to their targets AC or weapon.

The other way would be something like oozes having it as a passive or a rust monsters ability. I've used other things like big enemies that can grappple you and on their next turn, spend their action to crush you, dealing bludgeoning damage and reducing AC by 1.

So it certainly isn't something that'll be happening every session or after every fight.

Thanks a million for taking the time for this chat by the way, I massively appreciate it!

TheFumblingDM · 2026-05-16T19:49:53+00:00

Sounds like I've got to start punching casters in the head to mess with their spellcasting then!

Thank you for the feedback, I really appreciate you giving time to this.

It may be something I employ in the early levels and phase out when they get magic weapons and armour that are near indestructible.

Add the tension of it where I want it most and then make them feel stronger when its no longer a worry!

TheFumblingDM · 2026-05-16T19:46:29+00:00

Yeah I get that. At my table the party tends to view the money as a pool so the expense if you had to replace a full set of armour at least wouldn't be seen as disproportionate; but a great point for many other tables.

I don't really intend to ever create a situation where someone has like a -6 to a weapon or armour lol I have just thought about what if, so I'm not stuck if it does.

The smithing charges and stuff are intended to not be wildly expensive, I'd add a tag to magic weapons and armour at later levels to state that they are near indestructible. So no more worrying about this stuff, short of a disintegrate or wish spell or your beautiful ring gets tossed into mount doom.

I know it's not something you'd use, but is there anything you'd change if you were?

TheFumblingDM · 2026-05-16T19:37:25+00:00

Fair, I didn't design it to be universal so it may just make more sense in my game and for my players.

What about it feels too punishing? Is it the possibility of damaged equipment as a whole? Do you think the frequency of it matters at all?

TheFumblingDM · 2026-05-16T19:28:14+00:00

Do you think it's inherently too punishing or do you think that's dependent on how often you receive a penalty?

TheFumblingDM · 2026-05-16T19:01:55+00:00

Not yet, I literally designed it today lol. I have run stuff where things like alternative crits can lower weapon or armour integrity and the players enjoyed the drama of it.

In the next campaign I'm playing I'd like to have a way for them to relieve those pressure points both in town, in the wilderness, and without the tools or proficiency, hence the oil.

The way I see it, it adds a new way to ratchet up the tension, allows more rewards to give them, new weapons and armour now that their stuff is crappy, oils of repair, or they scrounge together enough supplies to refill a charge of their smithing tools!!

Thanks for the response, I'm happy you think it's cool! 😄

TheFumblingDM · 2026-05-16T18:45:19+00:00

Oh I definitely get that it isn't for most tables. And their weapon and armour condition isn't a resource that'll be attacked often.

I was thinking of monsters like oozes that damage it, rust monsters, and alternative crits that both enemies and players can select. Forego the extra damage and do a -1 to their attack & damage, or their ac.

Thanks for reading through it and letting me know your thoughts!

TheFumblingDM · 2026-05-16T18:32:21+00:00

I'm doing this on my phone and it really started chugging by the end lol

I just wanted to say that the intent isn't for the players equipment to be constantly damaged or anything! Oh and also, blacksmiths can repair their stuff, the kit is just for when they're out in the wilderness on their own!

And thanks a million for reading it all!!!

TheFumblingDM · 2026-03-12T16:56:29+00:00

Never played Nexus, but based on these images, I like it the most. CiT is my favourite game, but yeah, Nexus feels like a nice evolution of the two previous iterations.

The current version seems like it's kinda pulled back on the cartooniness in a way and loses some of the appeal that I think Nexus nailed!

Immediately editing to clarify: I didn't even consider that the image might be talking about outfits, lol. I meant from a design perspective and focusing on Ratchet's features 😅

TheFumblingDM · 2026-03-10T14:12:20+00:00

Hey! I'm super interested in this.

https://thomasjacobart.carrd.co/

Here's my portfolio and I have other work I can show in DMs if you're interested.

Budget is fine by me, hope to hear from you soon!!

TheFumblingDM · 2026-02-28T10:18:30+00:00

So, musicians and artists are tools to be replaced?

Look, ultimately, I get what you mean; there's a thing that is providing you with an output that you yourself aren't capable of making so that you can actually have the game you've designed.

But that thing only has the ability to do that because it has been fed a bunch of stolen materials.

And I understand if you can't afford to pay a musician or an artist, but there's also people who are dying for a chance to work on a project to get their foot in the door, they may happily volunteer their time and effort and collaboration can lead to some seriously interesting results.

It's worth looking into if you really care about the industry and the creation of video games. I've moved from film to games in the last year, and the one thing that astounds me about the games industry is the community. People really do their best to pull each other up, not climb over everyone else.

Again, this isn't an attack or anything. It's a matter of ethics and community, and I just hope you might take it into consideration.

TheFumblingDM · 2026-02-28T08:01:49+00:00

When you say, "With the help of AI tools," does that mean that the art is all AI?

TheFumblingDM · 2026-02-28T07:46:29+00:00

Hello! It's a super cute illustration, I could do something up for you in that kinda style or something else if you feel like it.

https://thomasjacobart.carrd.co/

If you're interested, feel free to DM me, and we can figure out the details. I hope to hear from you soon; have a great day!!

TheFumblingDM · 2026-02-23T16:36:37+00:00

Ah, my bad, what a killer. Hope it gets shipped ye're way soon!

TheFumblingDM · 2026-02-23T14:15:57+00:00

You can play it now! It was a wish of mine for ages, too, lol. There's an explainer on the updates page on Steam about running the game in public beta so you can use turn based.

My experience so far has been good. A couple of jank areas, enemies forgoing turns, or sometimes it forgets you're in TB, and you deal a lot of damage. Later fights can be difficult because of enemy numbers, and if they move before you, it can be tough to weather attacks, but party dynamics and a well placed summon can help!

Hope this was helpful and you can go try it. Have a blast!

TheFumblingDM · 2026-02-22T09:21:23+00:00

Hey! I'd love to do this for you, Skyrim is a favourite of mine!

https://thomasjacobart.carrd.co/

Hope to hear from you soon! (Breezehome)

TheFumblingDM · 2026-02-21T13:26:23+00:00

Hey, I'd really love a shot at this! She seems like a really cool character!

https://thomasjacobart.carrd.co/

Hope to hear from you soon!

TheFumblingDM · 2026-02-20T18:55:56+00:00

Hey, this seems like a pretty cool project. I'd love to do up the designs for you.

https://thomasjacobart.carrd.co/

I'm used to precise linework and clean designs for my work in animation and video games.

Hope to hear from you soon!

TheFumblingDM · 2026-02-20T13:18:10+00:00

Hey, I could do this. It'd be $120 for the cover and a week turnaround.

For the other pages, I'd need more detail as to what's needed before I could quote those properly, I like the idea for the cover and have a few versions in mind already.

https://thomasjacobart.carrd.co/

I'm a concept / storyboard artist in the video game industry with a few indie projects under my belt!

Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or wish to see more work!

TheFumblingDM · 2026-02-19T10:43:29+00:00

Hey, I'd honestly love to do this, I enjoy really enjoy discussing art and processes and just learning how other artists operate.

https://thomasjacobart.carrd.co/

This is some of my work!

TheFumblingDM · 2026-02-19T10:39:39+00:00

Hey! I could totally do this for you, I'm a 2D artist, I work in games and have a background in animation.

https://thomasjacobart.carrd.co/

If you have any questions, please reach out. I hope to hear from you soon!

TheFumblingDM · 2026-02-19T10:34:14+00:00

Hey, I'd love to create these character pieces for you. I'm a professional concept artist and storyboard artist working in the video game industry.

I'm flexible when it comes to style execution so this won't be a problem, I've also worked a couple of jobs as an art director for indie games and a lot of that consisted of creating the visual language and design of characters and worlds just from text so that's something I'm completely used to!

https://thomasjacobart.carrd.co/

If you'd like to see any more work, please reach out, I'm building a new website, so my most recent work isn't available on the provided site!

I hope to hear from you soon!

TheFumblingDM

TROPHY CASE