The "Review my Campaign" thread

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Comments

  • murphoid
    murphoid
    Posts: 2
    This is my second major campaign using Obsidian Portal. Can someone review https://godc.obsidianportal.com/ and let me know what they think?
  • davidrourke
    davidrourke
    Posts: 1 edited January 2014
    bq. This is my second major campaign using Obsidian Portal. Can someone review https://godc.obsidianportal.com/ and let me know what they think?
    I'm just learning obsidian portal myself, but here are a few comments:

    * The overall structure seems clean and well-organized. If I were a player I think I'd be able to find information easily.
    * The map is very nice.
    * You seem to write by hitting the return key once between paragraphs. The system expects two (i.e., a blank line between paragraphs) and thus treats each entry as one giant paragraph. This creates some odd formatting issues and makes long text hard to read.
    * The header graphic is a little blurry.

    Overall, quite functional and serviceable.

    I hope that helps.
    Post edited by davidrourke on
  • Beaumains
    Beaumains
    Posts: 132
    Pro-tip: @"mycampaign":MyCampaignURL@ will link to your campaign here on the Portal directly, or anywhere else for that matter, so long as you're enabling Textile down below.
  • HumAnnoyd
    HumAnnoyd
    Posts: 298
    Just started a new Star Wars campaign. I based the art on what is found in the books.

    "Star Wars: Edge of the Empire":https://star-wars-edge-of-the-empire-legacy.obsidianportal.com/

    November 2012 CotM:  Dresden Files RPG: The Emerald City

    June 2016 CotM:  Star Wars: Rise of the Infinite Empire

    JUNE 2020 CotM & 2020 CotY:  Mass Effect Accelerated

    FEBRUARY 2022 CotM & 2022 CotY: Dresden Files Accelerated:  Emerald City-Requiem 

    Current Campaigns:  Traveller Osmium Buccaneers: Pirates of Drinax, Cyberpunk 2077 Accelerated

  • HumAnnoyd
    HumAnnoyd
    Posts: 298 edited January 2014
    Oh and thank you Beaumains for the review of my Mass Effect site. I have made a few of the changes you suggested. Although I am not sure I understand what you mean about the character creation section. I just pretty much followed the DFRPG template for characters. I appreciate the insight. So thanks for that. :D
    Post edited by HumAnnoyd on

    November 2012 CotM:  Dresden Files RPG: The Emerald City

    June 2016 CotM:  Star Wars: Rise of the Infinite Empire

    JUNE 2020 CotM & 2020 CotY:  Mass Effect Accelerated

    FEBRUARY 2022 CotM & 2022 CotY: Dresden Files Accelerated:  Emerald City-Requiem 

    Current Campaigns:  Traveller Osmium Buccaneers: Pirates of Drinax, Cyberpunk 2077 Accelerated

  • Bookscorpion
    Bookscorpion
    Posts: 58
    Our "Shadowrun: The Rat's Nest":https://ratsnest.obsidianportal.com/ campaign is pretty much how we want it again after the Reforge. If someone found the time to review it, that would be cool.

    Shadowrun: The Rat's Nest - COTM  November 2014

  • Beaumains
    Beaumains
    Posts: 132
    You're welcome HumAnnoyd; as for the character creation bit, I just meant that the initial language was unclear and didn't seem to match up is all.

    Regarding "Star Wars: Edge of the Empire":https://star-wars-edge-of-the-empire-legacy.obsidianportal.com/,

    There is not much to comment on, but what I sees I likes. That first (and to date, only) Log entry is superb, in fact I commented on it there. My only other suggestion is to leave the character & ship links off the main wiki; instead, link to them generally, e.g. a "Player Characters" link, and a "Ship" link, especially since you're making use of the Items & Characters sections. I would use the main wiki page of a Star Wars campaign for general campaign data, which would mostly be points of interest. Other than that, zero complaints, love the visuals, especially that background, and hope you guys have a lot of fun.

    .
    .
    .

    Regarding "Shadowrun: The Rat's Nest":https://ratsnest.obsidianportal.com/,

    1) Home Page: Paragraph #4, 1st sentence should be moved to the end of paragraph #3. Other than that, excellent start (though I'd be sorely tempted to call the denizens 'Cyclers). 2) Suggest uniformity in tags & page names as far as capitalization, e.g. "gang" tag is not capitalized. Also a few spelling errors cropping up here and there (e.g. "save" vs "safe"). 3) Suggest finding a way to introduce the fantasy element as early as possible; when I think of Shadowrun, I don't automatically think of elves or dwarves or dragons, especially the way your Home Page is set up and the real-world banner you have; an image of a dwarf scrapper/'cycler on the front page would go a long way. 4) Great artwork, especially for the 'Nest. 5) didn't get to see but a few logs (the top ones), which look pretty good. 6) Consider a rating sticker or other warning on the front/home page - I don't know OP's policy on allowing minors to use/view the site, but better safe than sorry.

    7) The links & wikification is generally well done. 8) The setting is extremely well developed. 9) "Commit some music", if intentional (i.e. music is a crime), is hilarious and fits perfectly. If that sort of thing is intentional, you might want to make and/or link to some note about it, otherwise you might want to rephrase. 10) The maps seem generally hard to find; consider tying them together on the main page (i.e. a "Maps" link on the main page to a wiki-page menu that links to map references and/or the maps themselves). 11) Mein deutsch ist nicht sehr gut, so I can't offer much from that perspective. 12) Overall I find it to be a very well done, especially in light of the sheer magnitude that has gone into it; I could spend days if not weeks combing through it all, and am tempted to try.

    Hope this helps!
    -Beaumains
  • Bookscorpion
    Bookscorpion
    Posts: 58 edited January 2014
    Thank you for the review!
    * The tags...I've been procrastinating on that. OP doesn't seem to be case-sensitive any more, but we do want it uniform, so yes, good point.
    * A link to the maps on the Wiki front page is a good idea, we'll do that.
    * Commit some music is not intentional, more a 'English as second language'-result, as are some of the other typos. I try and proof read everything, but I didn't even see that one. Considering the questionable talent of some musicians who try and play at the pub, it fits. But I think I'll rephrase that anyway.
    * Introducing the fantasy element: another good point. We gave up on finding good character images for our orks, elfs and trolls and just tag the characters accordingly, but having an ork scrapper as a tour guide for the front page is a cool idea.

    I'm happy to hear that you enjoyed spending time in our little corner of the Shadowrun universe. Come back any time you like, grab a beer (or some moonshine) at the Rusty Barrel and we'll tell you some more stories.

    Edited to add: okay, consider yourself part of the process - you just made performing music without a license illegal. This is just too fitting for the setting to let it pass.
    Post edited by Bookscorpion on

    Shadowrun: The Rat's Nest - COTM  November 2014

  • Dungeon_Master_Loki
    Dungeon_Master_Loki
    Posts: 358
    Okay, I've been buried in retooling my OP stuff and cranking out Pathfinder conversions. The result, albeit with a good chunk of work yet to finish, are here https://planejammer-setting.obsidianportal.com/

    This is the central hub for the entire campaign series so it has a metric ton of data. I'm not looking for a "ready for prime time" review, but I would love some input on how it looks right now.Trying to put in an hour a day on getting it all in order for the Crisis on INfinite Oerths campaign later in the year.

    Any feedback appreciated, especially if you're looking at it on a tablet as well as a laptop/desktop.

    Thanks all!

    Game Designer, Pro GM, multiple ENnie Award winner

    GM of Planejammer: The Spelljoined (Pathfinder 1e) Campaign of the Year 2011 and still going strong!

    GM of The Planewalker's Guild (Pathfinder 1e) 

    Need a GM? Book me today!

  • Savannah
    Savannah
    Posts: 188 edited February 2014
    DungeonMasterLoki:

    Okay, let me start by saying I did not read all of it, but I really liked what I read. This means I'll pretty much just be talking about appearance, not content, but if I understand you correctly, that's what you want. Also, I can't guarantee I'll catch any odd errors that appear only on one or two pages, as I haven't seen all the pages.

    Oh, and for the record I don't have a tablet to look at it with, but I am using a laptop that tends to not play well with super fancy alterations to width and layout.

    *General Appearance*
    I really, really like the overall appearance with shades of blue and the starry background. The blue for your links is just dark enough that they are easy to read (I definitely wouldn't go any lighter, though), and the whole thing has a clean, unified feel.

    However, there are a couple of places where I feel that the default color of Obsidian Portal doesn't really fit into your color scheme. The very top navigation bar is the main offender -- I think a nice blue background with white text would fit in much better (I do have the code to change all of it to a different color but otherwise leave it untouched, if you're interested). Additionally, the grey date sidebars on the adventure logs seem a bit out of place (and the text is hard to read on them).

    Unfortunately, your banner also seems slightly out of place in the color scheme as it is a warm brown while everything else is in cool blues and white. That being said, it doesn't appear nearly as out of place as the other things I mentioned above.

    *Text Issues*
    I tend to have trouble reading long text online, but yours is quite nice to read (and I like your use of tables of contents and other navigation links). The only thing that would make it better might be to make the headings slightly bigger than they are so that they stand out from the text more. Also, there are a couple of places where the header is actually smaller than the text, most notably on the character and item pages.

    There are quite a few places where the first paragraph has noticeably narrower line spacing than the rest of the page (the first page of the wiki is one example, but it's been there on most of the pages I've looked at). I had a similar issue once and I feel like it ended up having to do with how many blank lines I was/was not putting between the header and the first paragraph when entering text, but it's been a while so I can't promise that's the issue.

    Hope this helps -- overall I really like it!
    Post edited by Savannah on
  • Dungeon_Master_Loki
    Dungeon_Master_Loki
    Posts: 358
    Thanks Savannah! The differences in spacing and font size are something I wish I could get rid of but OP seems to be doing that spontaneously. My code is clean.

    Thanks for the input on the color scheme, still working it out so the feedback is well timed.

    I'd love to see the code for the navbar you mentioned as well.

    Off to the dilitium mines! See y'all soon.

    Game Designer, Pro GM, multiple ENnie Award winner

    GM of Planejammer: The Spelljoined (Pathfinder 1e) Campaign of the Year 2011 and still going strong!

    GM of The Planewalker's Guild (Pathfinder 1e) 

    Need a GM? Book me today!

  • Savannah
    Savannah
    Posts: 188
    For all your top bar styling needs (now with added comments!):

    bc. /*Top bar formatting*/
    #top-bar {background-color:black; border-bottom:2px solid #073704;} /*This and the line below turns everything black with a dark green bottom border*/
    .top-bar-section .dropdown li a {background-color:black !important;}
    #top-bar .welcome-user, .top-bar-section li a:not(.button), .quick-link, #campaign-search-container, #top-bar #sticky-toggle
    {
    background-color:transparent !important; /*This and the line below gets rid of the ugly color*/
    background-image:none;
    color:white; /*This turns your text white*/
    }
    #top-bar li.divider {display:none;} /*This gets rid of the light grey lines between sections*/

    Obviously adjust colors as needed.
  • HumAnnoyd
    HumAnnoyd
    Posts: 298
    Thanks again Beaumains for reviewing my Star Wars: EotE site. I do disagree a bit with your assessment of the wiki. Now that characters aren't categorized by PC and NPC on the character page I think it is important to showcase them on the main wiki page. Plus it allows for a summary of the characters that is concise and hopefully interesting.

    The game is so new at this point that we don't really have much information on our corners of the galaxy. That will change with time I suppose. But the ship seems important enough since it is the center of our universe so I figured I would make it a part of the main page.

    November 2012 CotM:  Dresden Files RPG: The Emerald City

    June 2016 CotM:  Star Wars: Rise of the Infinite Empire

    JUNE 2020 CotM & 2020 CotY:  Mass Effect Accelerated

    FEBRUARY 2022 CotM & 2022 CotY: Dresden Files Accelerated:  Emerald City-Requiem 

    Current Campaigns:  Traveller Osmium Buccaneers: Pirates of Drinax, Cyberpunk 2077 Accelerated

  • Beaumains
    Beaumains
    Posts: 132
    @BookScorpion: Thanks for the invite, and glad I could help! haha! If spelling/grammar isn't your thing, consider typing your pages up in a word processor (e.g. Word), and then copy/pasting into OP.

    @HumAnnoyd: That's cool, and makes sense when you put it that way; I would still lump them all onto a sub page called "Player Characters" or something like that though. For me, I like to have a 1-to-1 relation between links/pages and material as much as possible. But my way certainly isn't the only way, and as I (and others) have said before, as long as you and your players can find what they need to make the game run smoothly, everything else is secondary.

    -Beaumains
  • NikMak
    NikMak
    Posts: 379
    @ Savannah

    I tried you code in my practice site, and OB portal said no ('we dont do Java script' yadda yadda...)

    cant quite see what the problem is; any suggestions?
  • Savannah
    Savannah
    Posts: 188
    Weird, I've got it (or a variant of it) in multiple campaigns, and I just copy/pasted exactly I put above into my test campaign to see if I'd made an error somehow when I put it here, and it worked just fine. This isn't really the thread for code stuff, so if you want to PM me exactly what you put in your CSS when it rejected it, I'd be happy to see if I can't track down the issue, 'cause right now I've got no clue.
  • NikMak
    NikMak
    Posts: 379
    ok, thats odd; just went to paste the code in again, and this time it let me!

    not sure what went wrong when i tried it yesterday... lets assume a 'too many fingers on keyboard' malfunction!

    OK, move along, nothing to see here folks, nothing to see...
  • GuyKilmore
    GuyKilmore
    Posts: 36
    Alright. New user, new to CSS and all that jazz, but I have been browsing some interesting Campaigns and reading some threads and I figured I would try my hand at it.

    Here it is: "Spirit of the Century: The Centurion Chronicles":https://campaign-75666.obsidianportal.com/

    Thoughts and feedback would be appreciated! Also, I have been trying to find away to get kind of a thanks to others and copyright acknowledgement on the bottom of my pages, but I have been sucking that up and my google-fu has been failing in finding steps on doing it.
  • Basileus
    Basileus
    Posts: 585 edited March 2014
    Some first impressions, I like the overall composition, good colors and textures, they set the atmosphere for the campaign well.

    One problem I immediately ran into was that the main content on the main wiki page is pushed to the right and pushing the sidebar down below. I think this is usually caused by an open tag with no corresponding closing tag. Do you have anything like that in the content of that page?

    This isn't a full review, just wanted to alert you to that.

    ---

    Also, if you are wanting to do footnotes with numbers in the text that link to the bottom, use this formatting:

    @Content that needs a footnote or reference[1]. More content that needs to be referenced[2].
    fn1. Details on the first footnote or reference.
    fn2. Details on the second footnote or reference.@

    This should create small superscript numbers that link down to the corresponding footnote at the bottom of the page, similar to what you see on Wikipedia. Just use matching sets of "[#]" and "fn#." for whatever number you want to use.

    Not sure if that's exactly what you are looking for, but might help.
    Post edited by Basileus on
  • GuyKilmore
    GuyKilmore
    Posts: 36 edited March 2014
    I will take a look at my CSS text, maybe I am doing something unintentional there. I am doing no special formatting on that page in particular. I noticed this issue on my work PC, all other computing devices are fine, so I wonder if it is a browser specific issue.

    Not looking for footnotes per say, but it is always nice to get more information. That is something I could use in the future very easily!

    Thanks for the suggestions!

    ETA: Checked for the open , I found an earlier thing I was trying to do, but thought I erased it all. Very good catch and thanks for the heads-up, I think that should have fixed it. (I will have to check from work as it looked fine on my end both times.)
    Post edited by GuyKilmore on
  • Kallak
    Kallak
    Posts: 1,090
    @GuyKilmore, no time to do a full review right this minute, but I just thought I'd give some first impressions from a quick glance. The background image is great, and sets a tone that you can definitely build upon (I recommend coming up with some sort of "theme appropriate" edging to put on your section graphics to enhance the theme/blend). The implementation of the character page layout looks good (if I do say so myself :D), though I did spot a few things worth consideration/mentioning.

    -The padding value on the link styling is slightly smaller than it needs to be for the adjusted sizes, so there's a small gap at the top of each character's clickable area (easy fix)
    -I'd recommend seeing if you can tweak the sizing/spacing a little so that the right side edge of the characters area lines up with the right side edge of the filtering box for symmetry purposes.
    -I noticed that the "Deceased" tags are part of the actual images. Nothing wrong with that, but I think it might be worth the investment to use layered backgrounds to make them a separate image that is added via CSS where necessary. This way when you click on a character and go to his page, you can see the unaltered image without the tag on it (not mandatory obviously, but stylish. If you'd like to do it let me know and I can help out).
    -Adding a border color change on hover to match the reddish coloration of the campaign title text and side menu would help to tie in the theme in my opinion (again, not mandatory, but might be worth trying out to see if you like it).

    Anyway, just a few quick thoughts. All the best,
    All the best,
    - Kallak
  • GuyKilmore
    GuyKilmore
    Posts: 36
    Kallak

    Thanks for your input and yes, I really liked the character layout that you posted. (I have that thread bookmarked). I would appreciate any advice as I am new to CSS and textile and I might shoot you a message to ask some questions. (I would love to see how to add Deceased as a layered background. I looked through your code and couldn't quite see the HOW you got the words there.)
  • Lazarus1219
    Lazarus1219
    Posts: 7
    Hey there fellow Obsidian Portal users. I've just found this forum, and I'm looking to get some reviews/tips on what I can do to clean up and make the campaign look better. There's a ton of information, but I feel like it isn't very clear and would be difficult for people who aren't players to figure out what's going on. The page has little to no CSS, but I'd definitely be willing to add it once I can figure it out. Any reviews would be greatly appreciated.

    https://athos-the-return.obsidianportal.com/wikis/main-page

    Thanks a bunch in advance.
  • Keryth987
    Keryth987
    Posts: 1,047
    *Review of Lazarus1219’s “Athos: The Return”*

    *Main*- Nice Video, gives a good overview of the world, the characters, and the Campaign. Text beneath it could use some spacing between paragraphs, and I'd recommend a different color for the links, the yellow is rough on the eyes and hard to read on some monitors. Also, might want to add a link from the Main Page to the Wiki Page itself, makes it a bit easier on users.

    *Journals*- Basic layout, no complaints. I'd recommend getting Sam's Journal 2 filled in or dropped however.

    *Wiki*- Main page contains info on the characters and alot of links, some of which really could use some explanation as to what they go to (The Realm of Athos link for instance. Nothing fancy, just maybe something that states this is the way to the main information depository or something). There's ALOT of information contained in the wiki as a whole, but it could use some streamlined navigation.

    *Characters*- Alot of information on the characters. Some missing pictures. No real criticism here.

    *Items* - Nothing on this page at the time of this review

    *Maps* - Well done World Map.

    *Overall* - There is A TON of information in this campaign, and it looks like alot of imagination and thought was put into it. I'd recommend however, adding some more imagery. Every page is just a Wall of Text. The text needs to be cleaned up a bit, mostly line breaks between paragraphs. I'd also recommend a streamlined navigation through the Wiki, not necessarily something like I have for "Shadows Over New York":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/shadows-over-new-york , but at least something similar to "Tyellador":https://tyellador.obsidianportal.com/wikis/main-page or even something a bit more simpler that links to the various sections of the wiki.

    Anything I can do to assist, feel free to msg me.

    Keelah Se'lai,
    Keryth
    "Shadows Over New York":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/shadows-over-new-york
    "2013 Campaign of The Year":http://blog.obsidianportal.com/2013-coty-shadows-over-new-york/
    "Campaign of the Month July 2013":http://blog.obsidianportal.com/shadows-over-new-york-julys-campaign-of-the-month/

  • GamingMegaverse
    GamingMegaverse
    Posts: 2,998
    Thanks to all the recent reviewers!! I have been rather slammed, and will be for a bit- your efforts have been truly appreciated!!

    Just trying to help out.

  • GuyKilmore
    GuyKilmore
    Posts: 36 edited March 2014
    First a self-serving post. I wanted to say thank you for the comments and suggestions on my site. I finished it up to the point where I am "happy" with it. (It is sooooo easy to let the perfect be the enemy of the good.) Anyway, just wanted to show it off again and say thanks. "The Centurion Chronicles":https://campaign-75666.obsidianportal.com/ I think some of those technical skills with translate nicely to the next campaign my group wants to start. (Yes, the Centurion Chronicles is still ongoing, but more of a session here or there. Spirit of the Century is hard to maintain as a long term game because of its structure.)

    "Dresden Files:TBA":https://dresden-files-under-construction.obsidianportal.com/
    "The Centurion Chronicles":https://campaign-75666.obsidianportal.com/
    Post edited by GuyKilmore on
  • GuyKilmore
    GuyKilmore
    Posts: 36 edited March 2014
    *Review of Lazarus1219’s “Athos: The Return”*

    I am new to Obsidian Portal and have very little CSS or textile experience, but I also know how nice it is to give feedback, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to add my voice to things.

    *Main*- I like the video, it is fun and evocative. It looks like you broke some things up into paragraphs which made things easier.

    *Characters* - You have some great names here. I like the color of some of the stories. The Character Bios are long, you might want to put a link on the bottom of each one that either brings you back to the Character's Page or the Home Wiki Menu or where ever.

    *Wiki* - I like the artwork on the bottom. There is some good color, but you do have a lot of information. You would probably benefit from a "Return to Main Page" link or something at the bottom of each Wiki, to make navigating go smoother.

    *Adventure Logs* - It looks like you guys are having some fun sessions! They are pretty well written and the couple I read I really enjoyed. I know in the latest one you added an image which really added to that entry. Again a Navigation button at the bottom of the Log would be nice as they are quite long.

    *Map* - I agree with the above, that's a nice map.

    *Overall* - There is a lot of stuff here and the written parts are really creative. The white background that Obsidian Portal uses can be harsh on the eyes, at least it is on my older ones, so you might benefit from changing the color and tie it more in with your background image (which is excellent by the way). I also liked your video and I hate to say something negative about it, but when I first watched it and then started reading I got really confused for a moment. As the actual setting and the character introduction setting are different (modern vs. fantasy medieval.) There might not be anything you can do about it though, just figured I would share. I think if you added some more imagery and direction people will find the creativity you have going on.

    Good Luck and Happy Gaming!

    "Dresden Files:TBA":https://dresden-files-under-construction.obsidianportal.com/
    "The Centurion Chronicles":https://campaign-75666.obsidianportal.com/
    Post edited by GuyKilmore on
  • Blackmoons
    Blackmoons
    Posts: 4
    Just saw this topic after posting elsewhere :( Anyway here is my submission for review.

    https://valcarnum-drums-of-war.obsidianportal.com/
  • GamingMegaverse
    GamingMegaverse
    Posts: 2,998
    Review of Blackmoons' "Valcarnum":https://valcarnum-drums-of-war.obsidianportal.com/
    *Start Page-* Love the background, the banner, and the overall darkness. Good description of the differences of your world vs a typical D&D world. I would increase the font size- tiny type is hard for us old folks to read. The music is a cool touch.
    *Adventure Logs-* None yet. This is where campaigns stand out, imho.
    *Wiki-* Some good stuff in here- but the wiki itself is dull. I also would encourage you to move away from the base red (even dark red is fine). The plain red designated dead links in the old Portal. Really like the detail on some of the pages- War of the Hand, and the calendar is especially cool. Again, change the font size via css please.
    *Characters-* Love the layout- make sure you credit where you stole it!! No way to tell who the PC's are vs the NPC's.
    *Overall-* A good start. Liven up the wiki, get those logs going, and you will be on your way.l

    As always, my 2 cents...

    Just trying to help out.

  • Cultureshock007
    Cultureshock007
    Posts: 3
    Hi everyone!

    So, last time I tried to utilize obsidian portal years ago I was already midway through a campaign that had so much backlog (2+ years) that I gave up trying to use it to keep track of my giant paper stack of several years worth of crazy. This time I am factoring it in from the ground up. It's a bit of an experimental campaign based on medieval civic planning using DnD 3.5 . The world is a complete homebrew and I haven't uploaded my maps yet (Hand sketched) . So far we are two sessions in and I was hoping someone would be willing give my pages a look over and tell me if there is anything that strikes them as being an improvement on my general layout of information. Web page design isn't something I'm awesome at so I'm working with basic themes.

    It can be found here >> https://an-odd-sort-of-town.obsidianportal.com/
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