I really like the mechanics and theme of this book! Its less Dungeons and Dragons and more Dungeon Meshi. Where wounds or equipment do not matter as much, but social interactions and taking care that you don't overexert yourself matter much more. Like there really is a mechanic for when two PCs sit down and talk about their feelings!
The Playbooks (character classes) also feel nice. Everyone is an expert at their own little world of feats. This way the PCs can tackle the adventures from different angles, and maybe help each other. Its somewhat asymmetrical as well. The magic a druid uses is fundamentally different from the magic a magus uses. Its not using the same spells or spell slots or something.
I like the corruption mechanic. You only get corruption from things you yourself do (not even by hurting people, just by HURTING people for example). It never vanishes, so you must be careful not to dive too much into the deep end. And it puts a soft limit on the shelf life of heroes. You have to be really careful in your adventuring career if you want to make it to the other character limit, where you max out your EXP and retire as an NPC. That also means that Heroes are mortal and somewhat temporary, always (which is a good thing in my book). Even the goodest of bois have to retire some day.
One possible downside is that Dungeons are more of a set-dressing now. Unless you really really mutate what a Villain NPC is, and how they act. And while dungeons already can look and feel like anything, theres just something to exploration mechanics with like traps, hazards and some encounters, all for some loot. But thats also kinda fine. In Dungeon Meshi the dungeon(s) are also just a cool setting with lots of lore. We never see Marcille open a loot chest and equip a better staff of fireballs or anything. Rather the few Artifacts they find have unique properties - and that is indeed a mechanic in this book!
Now take all this with a grain of salt. I am mostly a DM and I have not run this game yet. Might be a while before I can open a new group for this. But I am very much excited.
Thanks for all your kind comments! I really like Dungeon Meshi, but I wrote AtO way before the anime came out and my sources/inspiration are much older xD
That’s why there’s really no design around “dungeons” as such. I do feel that Dungeon Meshi does feel like something that you could play with AtO, especially if you allow Bards to cook as a performance art. Senshi’s a Bard in my mind!
If you get to run and/or play it, I’d love to read your reaction/feedback. Especially if you fill out on the surveys especially created for that purpose and linked in the game’s description ;)
I'm trying to load this as part of the bundle but some of the files are on Drives and won't let me save them to my computer. Additionally, one has been deleted entirely.
It went super well! We're trying out different systems before settling on one to use for the next long-term adventure in our fantasy setting. Everyone enjoyed AtO, and we're going to do another adventure with (most of) the same characters next month. If that goes well, it may end up being our new game!
I’m reading through this game and very much enjoying the romance heroic fantasy you’ve created. I really like the removal of HP, the corruption track, and the Heroic Sacrifice. As I read through, I may make more comments in this thread…
Figure Someone Out: I like this move applied to NPCs but for PCvPC “they must answer honestly” steals some player agency. What about allowing a choice and providing mechanical bonus if they cooperate? For example: if they refuse or lie, they mark Fatigue or Corruption.
I really really like this. The moves and playbooks are very straightforward and everything just oozes drama and hard choices. So heroic and dramatic! I hope I'll be able to get it to the table soon, because it just reads so *intense*. If I do, I'll make sure to get my players to answer the survey.
By the way, I like the playbooks a lot, but I'm kinda inspired to try my hand at making some custom ones, if you don't mind?
Aw!🥺🖤 Thank you so much for your kind words! I’m really happy you liked the game, because it seems you’re the perfect player for it! 😁
As to create custom playbooks, please do! And link them here if you feel like it 😉 I’d love to write many more playbooks (and even supplements) for AtO, but that’s in future. And even then: I love to see what other people come up with!
Thanks again and I hope you and your players have a great time playing when you do!
That’s my plan. Sadly I don’t know how to do layout but, if there’s enough interest, I’m willing to pay someone to create some beautiful (and useful, of course) play materials 😉
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I really like the mechanics and theme of this book! Its less Dungeons and Dragons and more Dungeon Meshi. Where wounds or equipment do not matter as much, but social interactions and taking care that you don't overexert yourself matter much more. Like there really is a mechanic for when two PCs sit down and talk about their feelings!
The Playbooks (character classes) also feel nice. Everyone is an expert at their own little world of feats. This way the PCs can tackle the adventures from different angles, and maybe help each other. Its somewhat asymmetrical as well. The magic a druid uses is fundamentally different from the magic a magus uses. Its not using the same spells or spell slots or something.
I like the corruption mechanic. You only get corruption from things you yourself do (not even by hurting people, just by HURTING people for example). It never vanishes, so you must be careful not to dive too much into the deep end. And it puts a soft limit on the shelf life of heroes. You have to be really careful in your adventuring career if you want to make it to the other character limit, where you max out your EXP and retire as an NPC. That also means that Heroes are mortal and somewhat temporary, always (which is a good thing in my book). Even the goodest of bois have to retire some day.
One possible downside is that Dungeons are more of a set-dressing now. Unless you really really mutate what a Villain NPC is, and how they act. And while dungeons already can look and feel like anything, theres just something to exploration mechanics with like traps, hazards and some encounters, all for some loot. But thats also kinda fine. In Dungeon Meshi the dungeon(s) are also just a cool setting with lots of lore. We never see Marcille open a loot chest and equip a better staff of fireballs or anything. Rather the few Artifacts they find have unique properties - and that is indeed a mechanic in this book!
Now take all this with a grain of salt. I am mostly a DM and I have not run this game yet. Might be a while before I can open a new group for this. But I am very much excited.
Thanks for all your kind comments! I really like Dungeon Meshi, but I wrote AtO way before the anime came out and my sources/inspiration are much older xD
That’s why there’s really no design around “dungeons” as such. I do feel that Dungeon Meshi does feel like something that you could play with AtO, especially if you allow Bards to cook as a performance art. Senshi’s a Bard in my mind!
If you get to run and/or play it, I’d love to read your reaction/feedback. Especially if you fill out on the surveys especially created for that purpose and linked in the game’s description ;)
I'm trying to load this as part of the bundle but some of the files are on Drives and won't let me save them to my computer. Additionally, one has been deleted entirely.
That’s weird! Let me check the links
P.S.: I just checked and you were right! The original link was missing. Everything else (including that link) should be workign right now.
Sorry for the inconvenience!
Playing this tomorrow morning. So excited! We have a Strategist, Bard, and two Mystics.
Oh, that sounds exciting! Let us know how it went 😁🖤
It went super well! We're trying out different systems before settling on one to use for the next long-term adventure in our fantasy setting. Everyone enjoyed AtO, and we're going to do another adventure with (most of) the same characters next month. If that goes well, it may end up being our new game!
Wow, that sounds amazing! Thank you all and keep me posted in case you have any feedback/questions/comments/etc. I really appreciate it! ☺️ 🖤
I’m reading through this game and very much enjoying the romance heroic fantasy you’ve created. I really like the removal of HP, the corruption track, and the Heroic Sacrifice. As I read through, I may make more comments in this thread…
Figure Someone Out: I like this move applied to NPCs but for PCvPC “they must answer honestly” steals some player agency. What about allowing a choice and providing mechanical bonus if they cooperate? For example: if they refuse or lie, they mark Fatigue or Corruption.
Hmm… I hadn’t thought about that. I’ll think about it for 1.2 or even some independent A-B testing 😉
That’s awesome! It makes me happy that you seem to be really liking it. I’ll appreciate any comments! ☺ 🖤
I LOVE the heroic sacrifice mechanic! Everything I want and need from a dramatic storytelling game. Can't wait to test this out some time!
Thanks so much for commenting! I’m glad you liked the Heroic Sacrifice and I hope you get to play the whole game soon! 😁 🖤
I really really like this. The moves and playbooks are very straightforward and everything just oozes drama and hard choices. So heroic and dramatic! I hope I'll be able to get it to the table soon, because it just reads so *intense*. If I do, I'll make sure to get my players to answer the survey.
By the way, I like the playbooks a lot, but I'm kinda inspired to try my hand at making some custom ones, if you don't mind?
Great job!!! Thanks for sharing it!
Aw!🥺🖤 Thank you so much for your kind words! I’m really happy you liked the game, because it seems you’re the perfect player for it! 😁
As to create custom playbooks, please do! And link them here if you feel like it 😉 I’d love to write many more playbooks (and even supplements) for AtO, but that’s in future. And even then: I love to see what other people come up with!
Thanks again and I hope you and your players have a great time playing when you do!
I really like what you've done here. Hopefully at some point you'll be able to create some at-the-table reference materials?
Thank you so much for your kind words!
That’s my plan. Sadly I don’t know how to do layout but, if there’s enough interest, I’m willing to pay someone to create some beautiful (and useful, of course) play materials 😉
Even something simple would be great. :)
I'm still learning to try to do real layout too. If I ever get done with all my own projects, I'd be happy to help out. x.x
Hi there! In the last update (1.2) I finally added some printer-friendly play materials! I hope these are useful to you :)
Hi! I'd be more than happy to help! Hit me up on discord/e-mail if you'd like! :)
https://writey.carrd.co/
Hi! The colour you chose for the page links make them nearly unreadable.
Oh, you’re right! My web browser deceived me. I’ll change it right away. Thanks for commenting about it! ☺