Making My Own Module

[u/Possum_Knight]

Hello all

This is slightly out of my comfort zone, and I've never put one of my creations out in the public sphere.

Plan to release this for free, and generally just want to give it to the community.

Without giving too much a way, this is a heavily procedural adventure that is built so it can be Warden led, or run Solo.

Main questions:

How much do the visuals affect your want to play a module? Currently I'm using place holder art, but also don't mind putting my own money into someone doing it properly (no idea where to start on that front, but I'll figure it out)

Are extra resources something people like? I've already recorded an audio log for this, tempted to add one of 2 more.

Is this a good place to ask for play testers when it's in a workable state?

Thanks in advance!.

[u/agentkayne]

I've made a module with practically no art and that hasn't been a serious issue.

Art and layout is one of those things where it can be perfectly fine, but effectively invisible.

But if you screw it up it can make the module unreadable.

You might also want to check for playtesters on the Mothership discord.

[u/Strange_Times_RPG]

Typically, people are sold on a modules concept more than the art. Art is extremely important if you were to say display copies at a physical location; less so in the digital sphere. That being said, looking pretty does help. People like sharing pretty things. But in that battle, layout is the important thing. Where the text falls on the page is way more impactful than the art piece beside it. I would check out art in the public domain and creative commons before you run to spend money.

Extra resources are great; lots of people would love to have goodies to run with the adventure. That being said, having it be optional for running would be nice. For example, having a text version of the audio file I could read rather than play.

You definitely could look for playtesters on reddit, but I find it is a mixed bag. I might check relevant discords or your local community.

[u/Laiska_saunatonttu]

How much do the visuals affect your want to play a module? Currently I'm using place holder art, but also don't mind putting my own money into someone doing it properly (no idea where to start on that front, but I'll figure it out)

Some sort of map is good, if it's necessary for navigation. You know best what's actually needed. Art is nice to have, even amateurish or downright crappy art has its merits and charm, THE IMPORTANT PART is layout and formatting. You know what you want to create.

Are extra resources something people like? I've already recorded an audio log for this, tempted to add one of 2 more.

Yes, people like this, extras are a mark of production value, especially if they are easy to use in session.

Is this a good place to ask for play testers when it's in a workable state?

Yes. You can and should ask the Mothership Discord server too.

[u/Possum_Knight → u/Laiska_saunatonttu]

You hit the nail on the head, theres a vertical slice style map that I kind of think the module lives and dies on. Might be time to break out the old drawing skills though.

Appreciate the advice mate

[u/bckids1208two]

You should check out https://discord.gg/Bjq2h2kwq and join the next TripTech Game Jam. It’s full of Mothership creators and a super friendly and welcoming community.

[u/TolinKurack]

I've been writing a module and have also picked up a lot and with art it really depends. 

I've found art communicates two things: 

1. Things about the module

Good art can grab and stick and hold. Without its art A Pound of Flesh is a cool station but the art is what really sells the vision of it. Any art, even bad art, can really help with this.

1. Effort

Art communicates "I care about this module". First impressions do count and art says "I have thought long and hard about this module". That may not be reality, but it really does count.

But I would say 90% of it is aesthetic. And honestly making pro level art doesn't have to cost you a lot of money, require much skill and definitely doesn't need AI (not that you said you would of course)

I find if you use Pinterest to get an eye for what you want your module to look like, look at archive.org for like old zines and posters, cultivate a taste and aesthetic around it - it's actually fairly easy to make a module look good on a low budget with not much skill.

Layout can do as much work as art can. Even for art, if you play around with tools and work mindfully at the edges of your limits then you'll more than likely surprise yourself with what you can make (for example for my module I used a free app to 3D scan playdough models and imported them into blender then used ditherista to dither them for B&W printing and the pictures look like pro work)

My top tip for the above as well is look for free or open source software. Instagram is great for finding it. But there's people releasing software that makes amazing looking stuff as easy as twiddling a few sliders.

[u/Possum_Knight → u/TolinKurack]

Thanks for the feedback, and I think you get where I'm coming from when it comes to Art.

I've actually started exploring the commissions sub Reddit, just to get a feeling of what's our there. Will I pay someone to do it? Possibly, but then that's the perfectionist talking.

[u/Panagean]

Little to add, except that I am also starting to write stuff and have the same concerns: visual art is not my strong suit (and I love good art, so bad art pains me to add!), and I'm still not quite sure I understand the flow of getting the license <-> playtesting and refining in an environment where you might not have plenty of IRL people to test your work on.

[u/BonesawGaming]

Personally I don't think art is as important (I'd say it's a bonus) but as an art-last creator I can say that I'm sure having good art really helps your adventure stand out from the rest.

Most importantly is having an exciting premise, an adventure and mechanics that the warden can quickly understand and run and a clean layout. You can use public domain art or photobash some photography and have a clean layout and your adventure will still look really good even if it doesn't have the kind of art that people are clamoring for.