Fanmade Sourcebook Draft Complete: 200+PAGE, NEEDS FEEDBACK!

[ThatWidescreenGuy]

OKAY I finished and wow that was a fantastic read. I did mhy best to try and absolutely destroy your theories and even then so much of what you put in there was just clever as hell. Here are a couple of thoughts about more basic lore I can't really assign to a specific line or paragraph:

Are you sure the Other Side is all there is? The way you describe it it seems like everyone who dies ends up there, but I always thought of it as an abandoned place "between nowhere and forever", "the place you go when you have no place to go". Given how many times Hell is referenced as a different place (probably), and knowing that the Other Side is canonically Limbo, it seems to me that only certain types of people would end up there. The Soul Rangers are a clear canon example of this: Their deeds in life were so unspeakable that nobody wanted to deal with them, so they ended up there via paperwork. The Harbingers and other Legends were too notorious (and terrible) to move on after death, so they remain tethered to existence, in one way or another, as long as they're remembered. Maybe everyone who dies in a nightmare or as a result of a terrible murder ends up here too. So on so florth.This would also help make a bit more sense of the numbers assigned to each character, since they should be in the sextillions for even the oldest of them.


"The Game" is a brilliant concept, but as a whole, it strikes me as a bit forced. It doesn't account for the expansion games either, and its timeline contradicts the one you already established when talking about the keys. Keys! The Gatekeeper calls them "My keys" in the original game and at least once more, so wouldn't it make more sense to think the Harbingers are harnessing his power instead of recovering their own? It'd also be a better fit for the Black Key (You dare steal my stuff? Fine, I'll curse it!) and for the change in mechanics in TSR (The Soul Rangers got all the keys during Harbingers, used the power to banish The Gatekeeper and now that he's in the Black Hole they're affecting them negatively).


Structurally, I think you can lose the game descriptions and rules. It's already a long read and they're essentially paraphrasing already existing material. The book as a whole could easily triplicate in size once it's properly redrafted and formatted, with all the pictures and stuff added in. But hey, that's just my opinion and I am no editor.


I really look forward to discussing some of these either here, in the subreddit or somewhere else. All in all, a great diamond in the rough I definitely want to see more of.

[BonsaiTreehouse]

Thank you for all of that comprehensive feedback in the google doc! I've already placed them in a revisions note document and made notes about possible revisions and clarifications and I look forward very much to implementing them. My mind wants to go over and explain everything all at once NOW, but that would take far too much time, but I will answer one:

The reason all the game rules are included here is simply because that's what the real life Prima guide sourcebook was advertised as including (Advanced Harbingers Rules and a CD-ROM game guide). For the sake of completeness and clarity, I thought it best to have them all in one place.

As another aside, I'm also thinking of giving every contributor a little "Proofreader" credit at the beginning for their troubles. If that sounds like your bag, would you be comfortable with being credited with your full name? ("I must have missed your middle name...")

[ThatWidescreenGuy]

Thank you for all of that comprehensive feedback in the google doc! I've already placed them in a revisions note document and made notes about possible revisions and clarifications and I look forward very much to implementing them.

Ah, being a lore lawyer is so much fun! I wanted to ask, how do you feel about people tackling the expanded lore bits(You know, those that don't contradict anything or can't be proven wrong, but may not feel juuuust right)? I understand there is a LOT of headcanon involved in any discussion about this universe, and if you want this to be your baby you may not be a fan of people sticking their dirty boney fingers where they shouldn't.

The reason all the game rules are included here is simply because that's what the real life Prima guide sourcebook was advertised as including (Advanced Harbingers Rules and a CD-ROM game guide). For the sake of completeness and clarity, I thought it best to have them all in one place.

Alright, can't argue with that. (Proceeds to argue with that) I just don't picture people sitting down and reading the rules. It's way less engaging than the story part and there's no point unless you've got the game and want to learn how to play it... in which case you already have the rules as well. The official Sourcebook never was so we don't know what it'd have looked like in the end.

As another aside, I'm also thinking of giving every contributor a little "Proofreader" credit at the beginning for their troubles. If that sounds like your bag, would you be comfortable with being credited with your full name? ("I must have missed your middle name...")

Sure! I'll never say no to being mentioned in stuff! If that's what tickles your fancy, just put me as Tommy from Widescreen.


I look forward to reading your take on the other concepts

[BonsaiTreehouse]

I wanted to ask, how do you feel about people tackling the expanded lore bits(You know, those that don't contradict anything or can't be proven wrong, but may not feel juuuust right)? I understand there is a LOT of headcanon involved in any discussion about this universe, and if you want this to be your baby you may not be a fan of people sticking their dirty boney fingers where they shouldn't.

I don't have much of a problem with it; with some of the questions you yourself raised and the interpretations you went with, I took it to mean that I probably didn't clarify and establish certain things as well as I could have. SO definitely something to amend in rewriting and revisions.

I just don't picture people sitting down and reading the rules. It's way less engaging than the story part and there's no point unless you've got the game and want to learn how to play it... in which case you already have the rules as well.

Personally, I find the way that rules are written and explained for many board games (some of the Atmosfear ones included) to be kind of cluttered for newcomers. I learned that the hard way when I tried playing the DVD version during one fateful Christmas and it felt like I was reading everything back-to-front even though I was reading everything in order. My aim with the rules section was to re-arrange them in a more coherent and understandable manner while clarifying some of the more vague aspects (what DOES happen in a game of Harbingers when you hit a dead end and you still have some spaces left to move?).

After that, I figured I'd also try and offer something new by leaning into the "expanded rules" promised in the Prima guide adverts by offering "House Rule" modifications. For example: before play starts for the Harbingers, take one coloured key from each province and mix them all up to see how that changes the overall game plan. That's another thing I wanted to see some people proofread over and see if those house rules hold up in practice or even if they had some of their own they'd like to offer.

[ThatWidescreenGuy]

Weeeelp, I guess that means I gotta go through it again. How terrible...

And yes, I agree with you on the rules thing. That's why I love the instructions video from Harbingers, it's very linear and clear, even if there's a lot to take in. It'd have been nice to get something like that for the other editions as well (idea for a project question mark?).