1KM1KT Free RPG Community

In this game the players are dead heroes of the Elysian Fields with nagging issues related to their former lives. In order to deal with these issues, they volunteer to aid Persephone and the other gods in preparing for a wedding in the underworld and perform a play as part of the entertainment during the wedding itself. By gaining the gods’ favor, they may put their issues to rest.

REVIEWER NAME: Eric J. Boyd

1) CREATIVE AND EFFECTIVE INCORPORATION OF RULES (1-10): 4
Feedback: The time constraint is loosely used at best; there are two sessions but no way of ensuring they take around 6 hours each and no structural purpose for the duration either. Law and actor are used solidly, but team is tacked on as a term for the group of characters.


2) CLARITY (1-10): 6
Feedback: The writing is clear and the few mechanics are well-explained. The example provided does its job.


3) COMPLETENESS (1-10): 5
Feedback: The game is basically a skeleton with no meat. We’re given standards and some themes to feature in scenes, along with a single die mechanic to accrue points. But there is no guidance on how to structure play and no real sense of how play will progress throughout a session.


4) ESTIMATED EFFECTIVENESS IN PLAY (1-10): 4
Feedback: This is a role-playing game, but with almost no guidance on how play should progress. The players are left to their own devices in how to proceed. Furthermore, there is no real chance for meaningful player choices in the die mechanic — it’s a simple matter of playing the odds to maximize score with no room for influencing it by what’s happening in play.


5) SWING VOTE (1-10): 6
Final Feedback: I like the concept of the quest portion of the game quite a bit, and I could see playing a game based on gaining the favor of the gods by doing underworld quests using their gifts. But the second section on performing the play seems at odds with the first section, and it’s not something I’m as interested in. Maybe this should be two games rather than one.


TOTAL SCORE (add items 1 through 5, above): 4 + 6 + 5 + 4 + 6 = 25

Mendel, I'd be happy to discuss the game further with you if you have any questions or comments.

Hi,

This was one of my assigned reviews, and give that I found it hard to follow but rated it very highly for the 'Swing' vote, I think it certainly is worth reading.

8) The Marriage of Persephone

REVIEWER NAME: Sandy Antunes (sandy@rpg.net)

1) CREATIVE AND EFFECTIVE INCORPORATION OF RULES (1-10): 9
Feedback: Definitely nailed the time constraint (the 2-week
gap in particular) and the ingredients were well used.

2) CLARITY (1-10): 3
Feedback: The Forward was incomprehensible, a minor point.
The die mechanic writeup is a bit muddled ("no virtue gained
on d12 for performance" clashes with summary, for example).
Overall, very hard to read, follow and understand.

3) COMPLETENESS (1-10): 5
Feedback: While technically complete, I didn't feel there was
enough to let me actually play the game. Several concepts needed
to be made more explicit. It felt incomplete, akin to an improv
piece or a description of a game, rather than a game itself.

4) ESTIMATED EFFECTIVENESS IN PLAY (1-10): 5
Feedback: The game relies heavily on player understanding of the
specific style, but with many things undefined, it seems hard
to get it started. It also puts a very heavy burden on the GM-figure,

5) SWING VOTE (1-10): 8
Final Feedback: The "2 weeks and meet 3 new people" connection
between the game and the real world is brilliant. Also, it'd make
a nice LARP. Bonus for making a GM-less game.

TOTAL SCORE (add items 1 through 5, above): 30