I cannot believe you managed to give us: - a dangerous exploration-adventure location with a concrete goal - lore which characters must work and take risks to uncover - an item with concrete, limited supply, which can progress the setting's central conflict (the desire of Sleepers to purify the world) - hints towards a greater and more ominous force behind the curtain (the Old Ones)
This takes all my favorite elements of November's Sleeper Farm and February's Catacombs, plus it contributes more of a Deerington-like sense of overarching mystery. I recognize that comparisons to Deerington may not be wholly appropriate as Deer Country is meant to stand alone, but Deerington's plot-heavy early-2020-to-endgame run was the highlight of my dwrp experience. So, to speak from that baseline:
imo, because it shares so much of itself upfront instead of requiring Sleepers to struggle for lore or resources, Deer Country has felt notably slice-of-life instead of adventure-oriented.
For all that Deer Country's calendar seems more built for it, I feel that Deerington was prone to longer-term and heavier-impact setting shifts, with more emphasis on survival horror and resource scarcity. I loved scrambling for magic items or CR to get through recurring months of "surprise, the air is toxic" or "only magical light works in this darkness" etc. It encouraged Sleepers to band together to solve major problems. In Deer Country, I'm delighted every time a certain Blood Type or Blessed Item has recurring and consistent use, because slowly building a toolkit or CR team makes it feel like characters are "leveling up" in a hostile world.
Even if you don't intend to write a linear metaplot progression for Deer Country, I'd love a feeling of increasing setting mastery and setting impact— like a recurrence of purification Orbs, or more permanence to event locations. If Sodder was worshipped as a god who reshaped reality in her image, and we are her legacy, it feels satisfyingly thematic to see Sleepers reshape the world. I think there's untapped thematic potential in the "belief magic" of Pthumerians and Deerington's central questions about agency, legacy, and self-identity. If we're demigods, what kind will we choose to be? What parts of ourselves and the world will we nurture or destroy? etc.
(I recognize Deerington's permanent event changes got really unwieldy, but that seems like good reason to build on already-introduced elements. Like: what's the Sleeper Farm doing right now? Can somebody still get into the Catacombs? Can I do something with Tethers mid-year? Adventure- and lore-oriented prompts seem the most versatile for reuse.)
In general, my main point of uncertainty has been regarding the boundaries of the setting. In Deerington, we were used to Story Clues: a very active player could cash in their AC to access prewritten secrets or adventures. Here, it's not wholly clear how players should access new content. Should players construct stuff totally solo and just get it signed off? Should players be working with mods to pitch ideas? Should we build off elements introduced by events, to maintain consistency? I feel like we'd benefit from a revamp to the Player Plots page to give guidance on the boundaries of the setting.
Similarly, I've seen NPC interactivity discussed, and think we might benefit from interaction guidelines: where the NPCs hang out, how they respond to hostility, and how they respond to friendship. I feel like the Patron Pthumerians page could be revamped to highlight this info in a quick and uniform format. That way, their cameos in TDMs and events would feel like an exciting spotlight or deviation from a norm, and could build on existing headcanon relationships.
THIS GOT VERY LONG I AM SORRY. Overall: Simcha, I am super stoked to see what you do with the game, because it seems like you've done a fantastic job thus far. Milk has had an amazing run and built something really cool. Thank you all for your hard work!
Game Feedback
I cannot believe you managed to give us:
- a dangerous exploration-adventure location with a concrete goal
- lore which characters must work and take risks to uncover
- an item with concrete, limited supply, which can progress the setting's central conflict (the desire of Sleepers to purify the world)
- hints towards a greater and more ominous force behind the curtain (the Old Ones)
This takes all my favorite elements of November's Sleeper Farm and February's Catacombs, plus it contributes more of a Deerington-like sense of overarching mystery. I recognize that comparisons to Deerington may not be wholly appropriate as Deer Country is meant to stand alone, but Deerington's plot-heavy early-2020-to-endgame run was the highlight of my dwrp experience. So, to speak from that baseline:
imo, because it shares so much of itself upfront instead of requiring Sleepers to struggle for lore or resources, Deer Country has felt notably slice-of-life instead of adventure-oriented.
For all that Deer Country's calendar seems more built for it, I feel that Deerington was prone to longer-term and heavier-impact setting shifts, with more emphasis on survival horror and resource scarcity. I loved scrambling for magic items or CR to get through recurring months of "surprise, the air is toxic" or "only magical light works in this darkness" etc. It encouraged Sleepers to band together to solve major problems. In Deer Country, I'm delighted every time a certain Blood Type or Blessed Item has recurring and consistent use, because slowly building a toolkit or CR team makes it feel like characters are "leveling up" in a hostile world.
Even if you don't intend to write a linear metaplot progression for Deer Country, I'd love a feeling of increasing setting mastery and setting impact— like a recurrence of purification Orbs, or more permanence to event locations. If Sodder was worshipped as a god who reshaped reality in her image, and we are her legacy, it feels satisfyingly thematic to see Sleepers reshape the world. I think there's untapped thematic potential in the "belief magic" of Pthumerians and Deerington's central questions about agency, legacy, and self-identity. If we're demigods, what kind will we choose to be? What parts of ourselves and the world will we nurture or destroy? etc.
(I recognize Deerington's permanent event changes got really unwieldy, but that seems like good reason to build on already-introduced elements. Like: what's the Sleeper Farm doing right now? Can somebody still get into the Catacombs? Can I do something with Tethers mid-year? Adventure- and lore-oriented prompts seem the most versatile for reuse.)
In general, my main point of uncertainty has been regarding the boundaries of the setting. In Deerington, we were used to Story Clues: a very active player could cash in their AC to access prewritten secrets or adventures. Here, it's not wholly clear how players should access new content. Should players construct stuff totally solo and just get it signed off? Should players be working with mods to pitch ideas? Should we build off elements introduced by events, to maintain consistency? I feel like we'd benefit from a revamp to the Player Plots page to give guidance on the boundaries of the setting.
Similarly, I've seen NPC interactivity discussed, and think we might benefit from interaction guidelines: where the NPCs hang out, how they respond to hostility, and how they respond to friendship. I feel like the Patron Pthumerians page could be revamped to highlight this info in a quick and uniform format. That way, their cameos in TDMs and events would feel like an exciting spotlight or deviation from a norm, and could build on existing headcanon relationships.
THIS GOT VERY LONG I AM SORRY. Overall: Simcha, I am super stoked to see what you do with the game, because it seems like you've done a fantastic job thus far. Milk has had an amazing run and built something really cool. Thank you all for your hard work!