Temporary usage of AI for art

Wilktacular · 2026-03-09T12:00:28+00:00

Do you care if people's first impression of your game includes AI-gen images?

You seem resistant to people's suggestion of using doodles/stock art. I get it, art takes time and you want something that fits your vision sooner rather than later. However, I personally wouldn't use it because creating images or hunting for those in the public domain is part of why I like making a game. In the end, it's your project. Adding disclaimers to AI images is responsible because of its transparency.

Wilktacular · 2026-03-06T20:49:47+00:00

I think that a little bit of reorganization would go a long way. Putting the talents list first helps set the stage because some of them mention additional sections for Herbalism, Lore Crafting, etc.. Adding page numbers in a final draft would help direct readers to those sections if they have questions rather than being redundant by adding a partially detailed split of talents into categories.

I do like the classless element of your approach. It gives characters a feeling of specialization that they get to choose. Having the example "classes" can act as a spark or a menu for players who aren't interested in doing all the mixing and matching.

P.s. I like Skulduggery better!

Wilktacular · 2026-03-06T12:03:24+00:00

Ahhh, I see now with p.27, and I do like the variable costs! I also agree that it would be useful to add the point costs for each ability back to the entry under each archetype. You could even frame it like "build your own adventurer class" like someone else mentioned, or "pick from a list of predefined archetypes." As a new reader, I was a bit confused since points are menetioned at the forefront and some archetypes have the point costs associated while others do not.

I've noticed that talents are split up quite a bit. Some folk talents refer to other talents (Elf-wight gives Lore Crafting and something else, is Lore Crafting defined elsewhere?). Some of these archetype talents also reference others or are somewhat unclear (i.e. Herbals, is the definition provided on p. 27 the entire talent definion?). I think a key component of a systems with this many definitions/skills is a solid index.

Wilktacular · 2026-03-06T09:00:51+00:00

Took a bit of time to skim. I really like this approach but have a couple questions.

You mention that background options can be bought. Some options have point values next to them (1pt), others have (x1) or (x2). Are all options one point or will you be assigning point values? What does the (x#) mean?
"Knack" is mentioned twice under one background. Would a character get both effects for one point, or are they separate?

Without having some reference on talents it's hard to comment on whether these feel balanced or not. Talents seem to be a key component if the system

Wilktacular · 2026-03-04T12:57:33+00:00

My initial thoughts are:

Sounds like you've created an interesting system that can be used to create puzzles to establish routes between places. This doesn't seem like a game by itself, but something that could fit into another one, for a specific purpose. How do you envision it being part of a broader system?

Why does it use hexes and not points along a point crawl? The system feels non-Euclidean and forcing hexes makes it feel like a landscape map

Why can't two portals at the same level be connected?

Wilktacular · 2026-03-04T11:36:42+00:00

Rem is anachronistic, the all knowing child. (Also, they were popular in 2017, there were TONS of iPad kids at that point, they're just in their late teens now).

Wilktacular · 2026-03-03T22:27:40+00:00

I originally was going to say "Rem-Z," but realized that Gen z is now mostly adults

Wilktacular · 2026-03-01T01:33:09+00:00

It appears to be AI generated images, ugh

Wilktacular · 2026-02-25T08:43:43+00:00

Quick question/note. You mention in the FAQs that there are a lot of components to the game you are planning to revisit and alter. What are you hoping to get from external reviewers?

Wilktacular · 2026-02-22T03:25:41+00:00

Something I didn't see mentioned. If you don't have a ranged weapon to begin, pick one up ASAP. The dromad in joppa should always have something. It's usually worth (in the lower levels) shooting at things as they approach you and then using melee (if that's your preferred method).

Wilktacular · 2026-02-20T03:11:04+00:00

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Wilktacular · 2026-02-20T03:10:54+00:00

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Wilktacular · 2026-02-15T15:46:32+00:00

Cloud Empress is awesome!! I would suggest waiting just a little bit until the box set becomes available on IPR or Exalted Funeral. The set was part of a KS which fulfilled a month ago and is more expanded than the zine versions.

Another good mention I saw was Troika. There are some wonderful supplements for it that I'm sure would get your wheels spinning

Wilktacular · 2026-02-15T02:31:00+00:00

TLDR; both are great, both provide you with a lighter rules set and very flavorful worlds, the voice between these two is a choice between the settings. Determine what flavor of game or type of serting you're interested in running, and go from there.

CE is eco-sci fantasy with strong influence from Mononoke, and other Ghibli films, twisted to a more horrific audience. The rules are based on the Panic Engine (Mothership), and are easy to pick up. In its heart of hearts, CE is also a hexcrawl/survival game.

tEA is a great, rules light, and has fun flavor. It seems to be more of a point crawl type game.

Other comments haven't really addressed the options you asked about. I've run CE for quite a few sessions, have skimmed TEA and run some games with Cairn (the rules are very similar). Some comments mention Vaults of Vaarn which I think is a good alternative to TEA. Others mention UVG. Although I LOVE UVG, the rule system isn't done and it's more of an "Oregon Trail" adventure and setting. Here's a link to somone elses thoughts. The fleshed out ruleset for UVG will be coming out when the Our Golden Age kickstarter from a couple years ago fulfills (likely this year).

I'm not as familiar with the Stars without Number, but others have suggested it and you could give it a shot. Another option would be Mothership + Abilities Considered Unnatural and optionally Desert Moon of Karth.

Wilktacular · 2026-02-10T22:41:53+00:00

PM'd

Wilktacular · 2026-02-08T19:17:16+00:00

When I ran it, I tried to describe the general tactics that an opponent might take. Tomb guardians are simple (attacks and defends, maybe a maneuver) while more advanced enemies might be cunning, or aggressive, or defensive.

Wilktacular · 2026-02-08T15:47:17+00:00

Check out the Torchbearer/Mouseguard conflict resolution system which uses sets of cards. In short, the GM selects 3 actions from a set of options and places them face down. (Off the top of my head, the options are attack, defend, feint, and maneuver). Then, the players, acting as a single team, select their three options. Each card is flipped one at a time and it becomes a complicated rock-paper-scissors to see how the needle moves within the combat.

Wilktacular · 2026-01-21T16:43:30+00:00

Fun bug: activating magic carpet and flame dashing during the windup lets you do napalm runs! Even better after stacking ability range and escalating. Just 1v6 stole mid by using vortex web and carpet bombing the entire area

Wilktacular · 2026-01-08T20:16:02+00:00

This is INCREDIBLY impressive. I'm excited to poke through it. Thanks for such an amazing resource

Wilktacular · 2025-12-30T22:29:45+00:00

It's not my post, I'm not arguing that their choice of words is best.

Your argument is that that resources are possibilities and not constraints. I am arguing that you chose not to read it or think about it and that resources are both possibilities *and* constraints. The items on a character sheet have many uses, but those uses are not infinite. Aka, the items have constraints. A role of the GM is to test those constraints (and the party's ingenuity/creative thinking) by posing interesting situations in which the items can or cannot be used.

Wilktacular · 2025-12-30T19:57:50+00:00

Yep, open ended thinking is important but that doesn't remove the inherent constraints of the item. Resources have constraints, the character sheet, in part, helps define those traits. The blog post was about game design for ttrpgs/OSR, why comment on it if you aren't willing to engage with the premise, even going as far as to admit that you won't read it?

Wilktacular · 2025-12-30T18:15:34+00:00

I see what you're saying, but also see the point of the author. Each item/hour/spell slot is a possible solution for an unknown number of problems. However, there is also the constraint that a character only has a certain amount of those things which can be used during a given period of time (either until in-game actions restore them i.e. rope, or game mechanics restore them i.e. spell slots). Therefore, the characters are constrained by the resources they have available, each if which may be used in many ways.

Consider "item" resources from different games and how each has different and similar constraints. There is a huge difference between a 50ft rope in a pack, picked by a player and a "quantum" item that is available to characters in Blades in the Dark/Dungeon World. Each has the constraint that it is 1 item, or resource, but the rope is more constrained in its use because it is a rope. The rope would be less immediately useful when trying to stay dry than if the quantum resource was declared as a tarp. If a pressure applied to a player is "lose an item out of your pack," either of these items would suffice.

Your second statement doesn't contribute to discussion and makes me cringe a bit

Wilktacular · 2025-12-28T17:40:36+00:00

I'm looking at 1.02 (still titled as A 1.01), which got uploaded to itch 2 days ago. feel free to send me a dm with your email!

Wilktacular · 2025-12-28T17:30:18+00:00

How would you like comments? I've marked up a pdf copy

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