The "Review my Campaign" thread

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  • Abersade
    Abersade
    Posts: 417

    Looking for some feedback regarding the campaign I have in planning, Forbidden Empire. Especially interested in feedback on the RP Points page and the Runic page as these have both received a lot work recently. There is still a huge swath of content that I need to create but I'm still at the point where I'm trying to get the systems out of the way first. The more I work on this campaign the less it looks like D&D 3.5 with a facelift and the more it looks like a custom campaign setting and system.

    Anyways, let me know what you think. Thanks!

    https://forbiddenempire.obsidianportal.com/

    https://forbiddenempire.obsidianportal.com/wikis/roleplaying-points

    https://forbiddenempire.obsidianportal.com/wikis/runic

    GM of Rise of the Durnskald: Wrath of the Fallen Goddess - February 2016 CotM

    GM of Core: The Ashes of Alcarna - April 2020 CotM

    GM of Stream of Kairos

    Need CSS Help? It may be covered here: Abersade's CSS Hub

  • Conan_Lybarian
    Conan_Lybarian
    Posts: 240

    Just simply wow! The amount of content is fantastic, and the detail is impressive. The runic and rp points/rule sets are very thorough. It seems pretty well balanced, but my concern is the rp point distribution. It sounds like it can take A LOT of sessions to build a meaningful amount to spend. I know a lot of these are really powerful, but even 3 points can take quite awhile. 

    The rune system is super solid. 

    I'm excited to see what else you develop!

  • GamingMegaverse
    GamingMegaverse
    Posts: 2,998

    I agree- really Wow!

    Just trying to help out.

  • Conan_Lybarian
    Conan_Lybarian
    Posts: 240

    I did notice one thing @abersade. The campaign fits mobile just fine, and so maybe it's just my browser at home, but the right hand menu overlays the main text and makes it hard to read the right side. Anyone else having that issue?

  • Abersade
    Abersade
    Posts: 417

    Interesting, I'm betting it's due to the 1600px width of my main content section. Is your monitor running at 1600x900 or less resolution?

    GM of Rise of the Durnskald: Wrath of the Fallen Goddess - February 2016 CotM

    GM of Core: The Ashes of Alcarna - April 2020 CotM

    GM of Stream of Kairos

    Need CSS Help? It may be covered here: Abersade's CSS Hub

  • Conan_Lybarian
    Conan_Lybarian
    Posts: 240

    You're site is good, it was just my settings. Looks great when adjusted!

  • Gianca1
    Gianca1
    Posts: 7

    Meh... I've been censored... Sad that we need to confirm.  

  • UselessTriviaMan
    UselessTriviaMan
    Posts: 546 edited November 2019

    There are kids using this site. No further explanation should be necessary, and it certainly shouldn't come as a surprise.

    Post edited by UselessTriviaMan on

    Ptolus, City by the Spire - 2016 Campaign of the Year

    "Please pay attention very carefully, because this is the truest thing a stranger will ever say to you: In the face of such hopelessness as our eventual, unavoidable death, there is little sense in not at least TRYING to accomplish all your wildest dreams in life."  - - Kevin Smith

  • gastoff
    gastoff
    Posts: 136

    Looking for some constructive criticism on my current campaign. I'm new to CSS and have been working my tail off trying to figure everything out and push the limits of what I can do. I am hoping things are visually striking without it being gaudy (horrible flashbacks to MySpace pages...)

    What alterations do you recommend? Are all the fonts legible and sized appropriately? Anything overdone and need toned down? General commentary?

    image

  • GamingMegaverse
    GamingMegaverse
    Posts: 2,998

    On first glance some of this is truly awesome- love the character page!

    You should put in the option to add it to favorites.

    Will revisit when I have more time.

    Just trying to help out.

  • gastoff
    gastoff
    Posts: 136

    I hid that side bar that contains the favorite and comments section in order to clean up the visual, but I'll have to add it back in on the front page. Thanks for the suggestion!

    image

  • eyelessgame
    Posts: 6 edited December 2019

    Hi - brand new-to-Obsidian-Portal GM here.  (I've been GMing .... a long time.)   My latest campaign - Pathfinder v1, Monte Cook's Ptolus - started a month ago, and it's as I say my first time doing something hosted here: https://ptolusfourbyfour.obsidianportal.com

    I'm still a Basic, non-Ascendant, member - mostly since I'm new to the site and it'll take a while to make the decision to spend money on it - but everything I've seen here so far I've liked.

    I came to Obsidian Portal largely by accident: I was websearching for other Ptolus campaigns and found https://ptolus-city-by-the-spire-by-bryan.obsidianportal.com/, a marvelously detailed campaign (and one that won Campaign of the Year a while ago). I decided to log my own campaign here.

    Of course, like everybody who blogs their campaign does, I'd love for interested people to check it out. I suspect getting more followers/fans/favorites would make the decision to upgrade to Ascendant easier, but honestly I'd love feedback (and of course the ego-boo of knowing others read and appreciate your work). If I were running this a decade ago I'd have dozens of other contemporary Ptolus GMs to share stories and ideas with, but it's an older setting now, and it's harder to find people invested in the world.

    Post edited by eyelessgame on
  • Conan_Lybarian
    Conan_Lybarian
    Posts: 240

    @eyelessgame- It's looking like it'll be a pretty cool campaign. We're all here for support or answers, so make sure to reach out! I'm excited to see where this goes. I think once you play with Ascendant you'll definitely see the benefits, especially for what you're planning and running.

  • Kallak
    Kallak
    Posts: 1,090

    Hey @eyelessgame - I read over the introductory material on your page, and I think it'll be interesting to see how the whole 'four by four' concept goes. I've considered doing a multiple-characters storyline before, but I've always ended up talking myself out of it. Seeing it in action might reignite the idea.

    All the best,
    - Kallak
  • UselessTriviaMan
    UselessTriviaMan
    Posts: 546

    It makes me very, very happy to see your campaign here @eyelessgame.  Thank you very much for the mention, and your campaign site looks like it's off to a great start!


    Ptolus, City by the Spire - 2016 Campaign of the Year

    "Please pay attention very carefully, because this is the truest thing a stranger will ever say to you: In the face of such hopelessness as our eventual, unavoidable death, there is little sense in not at least TRYING to accomplish all your wildest dreams in life."  - - Kevin Smith

  • gastoff
    gastoff
    Posts: 136

    I've made a bunch of new changes to my main campaign and feel like it is now in a good place visually. Any suggestions or features you all think would take it to the next level?

    Thanks in advance for any input.

    image

  • Jynx001
    Jynx001
    Posts: 80

    @gastoff - Dude! Those transitions from sepia-tone to color in the Character Portraits are exceptionally cool. I don't know what you could do to add to that -- it's already fantastic! I just want to see more of your craft in action. Well done!

  • GamingMegaverse
    GamingMegaverse
    Posts: 2,998

    I agree, very impressive!

    Just trying to help out.

  • gastoff
    gastoff
    Posts: 136

    I've shamelessly borrowed tons of CSS tricks from other great campaigns (mostly the previous CotM winners...) and made tweaks to fit my campaign style:


    • For the character image zoom on hover and sepia shift, I dissected the CSS from Bortas's Morwindl campaign but then altered the animation so that the portrait mimicked a slow heartbeat. 

    • The sidebars felt to cluttery so I applied an opacity filter to them that hide them until hovered over. They are still a bit wonky on page placement, but better than being a constant eye sore. I borrowed the nav-bar CSS customization from both Bortas and Conan_Lybarian.

    • The fade from black transition between pages is something I came up with on my own to try and soften the page loads and add to the Lovecraftian feel of the campaign. I want everything to feel fluid, amorphic, organic, etc.

    • I stole the parchment sheet background CSS from Thorvaldr's Tyellador and Bortas's Morwindl campaign, but changed the parchment to match that of Ikabodo's A Tale of Blood and Honour.

    I feel like I have borrowed so many different elements here and there that I should add an acknowledgement page soon...but trying to remember where I got things from may be difficult.

    image

  • Conan_Lybarian
    Conan_Lybarian
    Posts: 240

    That's a big part of why I really enjoy OP. Besides just having a place for the campaigns, I've taken portal design as a hobby itself. Being able to find the code to customize, and to reach out to them and a whole community of like minded enthusiasts is just awesome. And honestly, I don't think any of us would be where we are with our portals if we didn't do some stealing.....

  • HumAnnoyd
    HumAnnoyd
    Posts: 298

    I have taken so much from others sites on the Portal and gotten so much good advice on the forums over the years. It really is amazing what I have learned over my time here.  With that in mind I finally got a new laptop and have been updating my Emerald City: Requiem site.  Any suggesions or ideas for improving it are welcome.  

    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

  • Bronn1
    Bronn1
    Posts: 6

    I recently re-upped fo Ascendant after many years away and really enjoying being back on OP.  I've started a site for my D&D Ravnica game (https://thefelicityfiascootherstoriesofravnica.obsidianportal.com/) and to host my buddy's Warhammer 4th Edition game (https://gatheringdarknesswfrpg4e.obsidianportal.com/) as he's a grognard and doesn't get half this stuff. ;) 



    I'm not the most savvy at code to change up the sites, but we're both working hard to whip things into shape.  Welcome any and all advice!  :)

  • Kallak
    Kallak
    Posts: 1,090

    Looking great for just getting going again. Keep it up!

    All the best,
    - Kallak
  • gastoff
    gastoff
    Posts: 136

    @Bronn1 There are some amazing people in the community on here that are very experienced with the coding to make a campaign look polished and eye catching. I had zero CSS or HTML coding knowledge and was trying to blunder my way through using HTML and inline CSS with the free service, but couldn't get the results I wanted.

    @Conan_Lybarian was able to talk me into becoming an Ascendant to gain access to the custom CSS options. I spent 8 months teaching myself CSS and combing through the forums looking for answers.

    Feel free to message me with any questions about what you are trying to achieve with your coding and I would be more than happy to help you dive into it. 

    image

  • UselessTriviaMan
    UselessTriviaMan
    Posts: 546

    @Bronn1 you're off to a great start! I was in your shoes when I started here on Obsidian Portal, and I still know far less CSS magic than most of the other veteran GMs around here. Though I did borrow a few choice bits of cool CSS stuff from peers, the vast majority of my campaign is done with plain ol' Textile.



    I do have a couple of constructive suggestions on your Ravnica site:


    • The light gray you've selected for links is pretty hard to read; you may want to adjust that under Settings > Style to change it to something easier on the eyes.

    • The wiki Main Page isn't too big yet, but if you plan on adding more links you might want to consider making a table or some other type of easy navigation setup. First Blight, The Last Parsec, and Ptolus *ahem* are a few examples of good main page layouts.


    Ptolus, City by the Spire - 2016 Campaign of the Year

    "Please pay attention very carefully, because this is the truest thing a stranger will ever say to you: In the face of such hopelessness as our eventual, unavoidable death, there is little sense in not at least TRYING to accomplish all your wildest dreams in life."  - - Kevin Smith

  • Bronn1
    Bronn1
    Posts: 6

    I appreciate the suggestions.  I will definitely look into the various options and its awesome to know there's very helpful people out there for advice and assistance!  Thanks!

  • Conan_Lybarian
    Conan_Lybarian
    Posts: 240

    So I just realized I've been dumping this into the wrong thread, and wanted to get some advice/reviews on what I've come up with. Made some mechanics changes and gave it some flavor that I think clarifies and and makes it a little more inviting.

    https://fantasyfantasyleague.obsidianportal.com/

    And also- There are some really great Portals going up and being worked on! I know it's been offered by a bunch of people before me, but I'm always happy to answer any questions or lend a hand.

  • Dropbeartots
    Dropbeartots
    Posts: 96

    I'd like to submit my campaign for review.

  • GamingMegaverse
    GamingMegaverse
    Posts: 2,998

    Wow, really like this one!  Especially like the secondary navigation.

    My only complaint is the white writing is difficult to read when it is over the white solar system- which is often- other than that, great job!  Nominating you for CotM!

    Just trying to help out.

  • Dropbeartots
    Dropbeartots
    Posts: 96

    I changed the background just a bit ago because partially that, and partially I felt the previous was too "busy" with the rotating motion.

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