We Were Mentioned on Episode 154 of Nerdcognito!

There are other topics, and I recommend listening to the entire episode (and other episodes if you like what you hear). The full thing is just under an hour, anyway.

Some commentary. You might need to listen to the podcast to get full context on some parts. And just to make things clear, I enjoyed their talk, and even if it sounds like something bugged me, I take absolutely no issue with anything they said.

There can be a lot of crunch, but when it comes to your character we did try and create simpler options that weren't inherently worse. A common example I use is the fighter: yes, you can just Exploit talents, which is something you'll need to keep track of since they can trigger on different d20 rolls, but you can also just stick with passive stuff like Slayer and Improved Critical.

This supports the statement that it is accessible for players of all skill levels. Beginners can take simple options, and as they become more familiar can go with the more complicated stuff (if they want to). They don't even need to make a new character, as unlike 5th Edition you're never locked into a talent tree or concept/subclass.

None of the options are set in stone. Shouldn't have to mention this in the book, and mostly I do to set player expectations, especially if they are under the misconception that they should be able to choose from every single "official" option (or even unofficial ones), regardless what the DM thinks, or even if it's appropriate for his campaign setting.

Dungeons & Delvers is going to be on sale until at least the new year. After that, it'll end whenever I remember to change it back to its normal price of all of $17.99.

For Exhaustion, you can keep pressing on without resting (and you might need to, especially if you only have a handful of 10-minute duration torches available), you just gotta succeed on a Constitution check to avoid picking up a level of Exhaustion. I would expect most characters to be able to shrug off the first check or two, but it gets increasingly harder as you go.

Here's a stat block example so you can see what they're talking about in regard to the "offense" block:

For Ganging Up, it's not just a cumulative +1 bonus; saving throw DCs are also increased. This adds a simple-yet-effective tactical layer to combat. Characters can surround a monster, stacking up the Ganging Up bonus, and then a wizard can hit it with a spell, which will then be harder to resist. In our games we typically have the warrior go first so that the other characters have better chances of landing a hit.

It's funny that one of them said they didn't like it at first, but as they read the book it grew on them,  because Bruce (Lombardo) had the same reaction.

The style of the art is still influenced by Mike Mignola (and some other comic artists, so calling it "comic" art is pretty apt). When we started writing RPG material I was essentially copying his style, but as we kept going I gradually put my own spin on it (and it's still changing as I find things that I like, and generally improve), but you can still see the Mignola influence with the heavy use of shadow in many illustrations we do.

Case in point: there's a part where one of the guys mentions an archer and her eyes are blackened. I'm pretty sure this is it:

Bruce thought this was makeup, but it's not (I think makeup is gross in general), it's just the heavy/exaggerated "Mignola-esque" shadows.

I'm cutting down on it because aside from the obvious people not knowing what the heck I was trying to draw, it can conceal details to the point where things look off, or it would logically hide a detail that I want to showcase (such as the cloud giant's wings, which should have been blacked out due to where the lighting is coming from).

And yes, it's not like WokeC trash because we at least try to make the women appealing, and don't do the fake diversity crap.

The link to our DeviantArt gallery is here (I saw "we" because Melissa does all the coloring), though we're in the process of moving to ArtStations since they don't have a pronoun field and let you put in a NoAI tag in an effort to stop image generating software from "learning" from you.

Here's the ochre jelly art that was mentioned:

It's supposed to be the male human fighter. Don't worry, he gets better after the cleric brings him back to life. At least, that's what I assume happens. This isn't 5th Edition, so he can't just long rest himself back in one piece!