The Artifact 3rd Edition Rough Draft

[Onix]

Just released the via the blog. I'm excited about it! Things really fell into place with a lot of concepts to improve the game. This is also more or less of the announcement that eventually I'll be doing a kickstarter to get some professional art and editing. But don't worry, the game is staying free.

[Onix]

If you ever need someone to punch holes in your instructions, get a 9 year old to try and follow them.

[Rob Lang]

WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Congrats! Once I'm done judging, I'm all over this.

[Onix]

Can't wait rob!

[vulpinoid]

If you want some art...and if you're using crowd-funding for it...I'll do some cheap professional work for you.

I've been doing a bit of that lately.

Anything to help out the indie community.

[kylesgames]

Entirely unrelated: Can you do dark low-fantasy stuff with twisted abominations and unhappiness? (Basically, not that far from splatterpunk, but perhaps a mite more family-friendly.)

[Onix]

[DmofAlterak]

Sounds great. Way to go, Onix!

Is there a thread somewhere with a list of the changes you're including in the 3rd edition (I have the 2nd right now)? Or perhaps on the blog?

I'm a game designer, writer, and author of Challenger RPG (free) so if you're looking for any advice/tips/recommendations or whatever; feel free to give me a shout out!

Would you recommend I download the 3e rough draft or stick with the 2e full rules? I was thinking about running them by a friend, but didn't know how 'complete' the 3rd draft was so I downloaded the 2nd.

Anyway, it's totally awesome you're putting out such a great game (and for free). I hope the kickstarter does awesome!

--David L. Dostaler
Author, Challenger RPG (free)

[Onix]

[DmofAlterak]

Thanks, Onix! Sounds good. I'll have to download the 3e version.

Hmm, as to layout, I'm probably worse at it than anyone else in the industry! Ha ha, luckily some very fine people helped me out over the years. I found people really appreciate bookmarks in the PDF of any rulebook (you may have already done that). Also, TOCs and Glossaries are highly helpful, but I noticed you already had a TOC.

The list of abbreviations at the start of the book is awesome. I was wondering if there's a list of weapon/item abbreviations in that section of the book? When I checked through I ran into a couple of abbreviations I wasn't familiar with, but that could just be because I wasn't reading thoroughly enough. Basically, if you had something at the start of the equipment section explaining the common abbreviations I think that would be helpful. If you already have that, some navigation to that point in the document would be cool. If you already have both those things, then I'm just being silly.

I really liked the artwork and double column layout. It's very cool. Over the years I've found people 'really' appreciate good artwork in their books so it's awesome you have so much. Also, the world lore is amazing! The lore of Artifact is probably one of the coolest things. I also like all the different occupations and the tables at the back of the book (very handy!).

Also, the GM advice is top notch (a lot of games miss the ballpark) and the character sheet and rules are nifty. I especially liked the 1/4, 1/2, 1/8 rule and distances on leaping and such. A lot of d100 based games just have success or failure and leave it at that. Players always like to know how 'awesome' they did at something.

So yeah, layout wise, you're probably way ahead of me. I do a lot of e-book publishing and most formatting is totally nerfed in that medium so it's a whole different ballgame.

I hope the above helps in some small way! If you'd like feedback on anything else in the game/recommendations, feel free to let me know.

Best Regards,

--David L. Dostaler