Playtesting Report - April 2018 (Patreon)

I'm running an offline group of ttrpg newbies through the UVG, and testing various subsystems as we go. As a rule, the sessions are great fun and I've been happy with several things:

- using weeks and abstract resources to create long voyages through the wilderness is working well. There are some kinks to iron out, but overall: satisfied.

- explicitly giving XP for exploring strange locations in the wilderness AND giving XP for setting up new trade routes between towns creates real tradeoffs for the players

- the players are enjoying the weird points of interest in the wilderness. Sometimes "just to see them" because they sound fun and weird.

- many of the players are enjoying the subsystem for "learning new stuff" by exploring and investigating weird things they discover. They are pressuring me to expand on that.

I've also found elements I should polish more:

- I need more artwork for the points of interest. It makes a huge difference when I can point to the Lonely Cathedral or the Divine Tree of Golden Pears and say, "this is what it looks like, those are the monk-lings that inhabit it."

- I need to put the "travel actions" (forage, explore, etc.) on action cards, so each travel mini-game is explicitly spelled out (generally "invest X for a chance to Y").

- a multi-column d100 table of "other people voyaging in the wastes" is essential.

- as are similar encounter tables for "wilderness animals" and "horribly weird things".

- I need to adjust the party sheet a bit more. Party henchmen need more details, pack animals need tweaking.

- I need to make a trade goods handout, with artwork, so the players can imagine what they're hauling better.

- and I need to put the long-ass map onto multiple pages, so it's ready to print and the players can draw on it.

Art and Content Update

And coming up soon - two new regions: the bone massif that are the Ribs of the Father and the gruesome reminder of Spectrum Satrap power that is the Cage Run.

Also: an illustrated crawling factory location and the near moon.