This playbook, the Master Artist, has been in production so long but I am so happy that I waited to make it exactly…

This playbook, the Master Artist, has been in production so long but I am so happy that I waited to make it exactly…

Originally shared by Damian “LFGM” Jankowski

This playbook, the Master Artist, has been in production so long but I am so happy that I waited to make it exactly what I want it to be. I am nearing its completion and would like to hear feedback from anyone interested in critiquing it.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B99hPl0o50Y8a05hMzl4bW92a0E/view?usp=sharing

10 thoughts on “This playbook, the Master Artist, has been in production so long but I am so happy that I waited to make it exactly…”

  4. Happy to have a look … and, it will help a lot to be able to print a copy to read and annotate offline (who ever thought electronic documents would eliminate paper?) 

  7. Took a bit to work out what you’re trying to do with this class.  It’s as though you want a Master Artist/Craftsman theme but the core (Starting and Advanced) moves are actually those of a Magical Tinkerer who modifies items to give them extra powers.

    Regarding the moves themselves, there are a lot of prep moves and very few moves to use in the heat of play.  The idea of adding tags to items as required is cool, but abstract, which can make it hard to work with in-game.

    I’d suggest:

    1. Focusing solely on the Magical Tinkerer aspect and getting that to work really well, first.

    2. Building a set of 3 Starting Moves that have concrete effects in the heat of play.

    3. Replacing the ‘prep’ moves with some sort of resource that the class spends to gain additional benefits.  How these resources are acquire should be built into the Starting Moves – you may need a fourth Starting Move for this.

    4. Once you’ve got a solid core class, then you can look at embellishing it with things like your Master Artist ideas.

    If you haven’t already, it would be worth looking at how other magic user playbooks and playbooks like The Collector from Inverse World have woven creation/implementation of powers/effects into the game.

    All the best with this. I’m very interested to see where it goes 🙂

  8. Michael D  I agree it’s a bit of both, but I actually wanted both. A Beautiful Thing is definitely not for heat of the moment situations, but that’s where Manipulate comes in.

    I am surprised, though, that you don’t see Manipulate as being a battle or heat-of-the-moment move. In playtests, it was primarily that, really. It was also a utility for situations outside of battles or if a player was on the run, so I saw it become extremely versatile. Yes, you would think that it would veer the playbook towards a one-trick-pony situation, but with all that you can do with it, I don’t necessarily think it ever felt that way.

    I think an additional primary move might be a good idea, as I am not so certain anymore if “Batch, Please” is really a necessary move to put down. I suppose collecting items could just be performed or associated with other Basic Moves.

    The tinkering aspect is there, yes, but its not the primary focus so not exactly what I want to centralize around. Considering this still is a magical playbook, there is a component of being able to quickly affect items with your craft, but the longer, more patient aspect of the class is really where I think a lot of fun can be had.

    Thanks for taking a look, Michael!

  9. Damian Jankowski I like the idea behind Manipulate – being able to give an item the characteristic you need in a critical moment is cool.  

    As a supporting move this would be great. But as the only heat-of-the-moment Starting Move for the class it is both high risk and limited effect.

    Where other classes get two or three cool Starting Moves that directly affect the action, all the Master Artist can do is change an item that will then require another move (possibly by another character) before it directly affects the action.

    This is also what I meant by too many prep moves – the only moves the class has to directly affect the action are:

    At character creation:

    – Art History (1 of 4 choices)

    – Art of War (another 1 out of the 4 choices)

    Advanced moves 2-5:
    – Signature Mark (very limited use)

    – Still Life (good action move)

    – Muse (observation only)

    – Liberal Arts (very limited use)

    Advanced moves 6-10:
    – A Beautiful Gift

    – Starving Artist

    All the other moves happen in adventuring down time.

    Also, I think Manipulate could be beefed up a lot and opened up more to the creative ideas of the player and the GM.  For example:

    When you use your craft to give an object a temporary characteristic or feature (e.g. illuminating, returning, Orc bane, valuable, etc.), roll +CHA.  On a 10+, it takes on the characteristic you want – the GM will tell you how long it lasts.  On a 7-9, it takes on the characteristic but choose one:

    – it will work once only

    – it has a problematic side effect

    As for the rest, I’d suggest thinking about what the Master Artist could do to get results in the heat of the action, especially combat, exploring and negotiation.

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