Imperial Dragons of Eastern Fantasy; 5E's Mists of Akuma Setting Preview

A couple of weeks ago, I shared a preview of Mists of Akuma, the Eastern Fantasy Noir Steampunk setting for D&D 5th Edition coming soon from Storm Bunny Studios. That preview showcased a bunch of feats from the setting. The preview I have today is all about dragons - giant snakelike Imperial eastern style dragons! We have the Hakanokishi (man, autocorrect does not like that word!), and underworld dragon, in its wyrmling, adult, and ancient forms. The Kickstarter for this 5E setting is coming soon, so be sure to check out the previous preview. I have a couple more to share between now and then!

 

[Mike Myler]

Is... is this setting basically 'The Legend of Korra' with the serial number filed off?

Because that would be amazing.

I haven't yet seen Avatar the Airbender or Legend of Korra yet (but I know they're in the same universe! Right?).

If that world is like Eberron + Rokugan + Warhammer 40k or Afro Samurai + Sin City + Ravenloft, then yes.

We may have an elementalist stretch goal (like the Kineticist from the Pathfinder RPG Occult Adventures book) but that's the only intended nod to the AtA stuff.

I guess I need to watch it now?

 

[Halo_ov_fire]

Aesthetics!

No worries! Your point was valid either way and I imagine that you weren't the only person thinking it.

If things go as well as I'm hoping they will we'll have a very, very big book with custom artwork (all the images you see here are literally from ancient Japan but my goal is to get enough funds for original illustrations by modern artists so we can maintain a visual theme throughout) and I'll have more than ten minutes to put together each page.

I'm with Mike on this one. We both understand how important layout (ie... the visual presentation of such awesome content is) and it's something we discussed at length. 5e, in general, as an open, flowing feeling. The same could be said for a product with a clear Eastern-inspired aesthetic, which is generally balanced, open, and symmetrical. In fact, the literal layout of a product can be used to convey meaning to the reader; something cramped and dense might feel dangerous (think caves, darkness, ect) while something open and flowing might feel safer. Both could potentially be misleading, as well.

But all in all, worry not. This is something the whole team has been continually addressing.



Cheers,
Jaye

 

[pdegan2814]

Im really intrigued by this setting but man these layouts are dark and dense. I find myself getting really picky with layouts these days when I see more and more small publishers investing in that element of the project. When the layouts seem thrown together or clumsy thats a big turn off because I know it can be done better even on small projects.

I would have to agree with this. Content-wise, it looks very impressive. Layout-wise, it seems like they're trying to cram too much onto each page. Or maybe it's the ratio of font size to spacing, I dunno. But the pages feel a little cramped.

 

[pdegan2814]

One *minor* issue that stuck out to me is this: the above pages describe a Wing Attack, where the dragon beats its wings and forces character to make a Dex save. All well and good, standard dragon-y thing to do. The problem is, in all of the dragon artwork on those pages, I don't see a single wing. Am I missing something?

 

[Mike Myler]

One *minor* issue that stuck out to me is this: the above pages describe a Wing Attack, where the dragon beats its wings and forces character to make a Dex save. All well and good, standard dragon-y thing to do. The problem is, in all of the dragon artwork on those pages, I don't see a single wing. Am I missing something?

Indeed! I should've caught that and apologize for not doing so -- I've addressed that in the revised draft and have made the ability unique from your standard winged lizard of legend (Spectral Wings; see below). I think only one imperial dragon will have proper wings (if a backer goes for the Imperial Dragon reward and picks Sky Dragon that'll be up to them) but by then I'll get to make art orders so don't expect any visual-based logic errors.

I would have to agree with this. Content-wise, it looks very impressive. Layout-wise, it seems like they're trying to cram too much onto each page. Or maybe it's the ratio of font size to spacing, I dunno. But the pages feel a little cramped.

These are previews of promotional PDFs for when the Kickstarter launches, but limitations on available artwork, my budget, and my time for constructing these are contributing factors to the layout.
That said, two voices is more than enough to reach my ears! I've scoured the internet for two more underworld dragon-appropriate images, cleaned them up, and spanned it out so each statblock is on its own page.

Thank you for your considerations and if you have any other feedback, let me know! I probably can't toss any more serious time at this individual PDF, but all the critique you offer up will definitely be of use when the playtest period is over and Mists of Akuma heads to layout (and hey -- keep your keen gaze ready for the rest of the preview articles).

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[vecna00]

Yep, I'm down for this. Even if I'm just picking out feats and archetypes for my own campaign, this will be worth putting some money towards. This is seriously damn awesome.

 

[Mike Myler]

The Kickstarter has launched!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/verantheacodex/mists-of-akuma-eastern-fantasy-noir-steampunk-for

 

[Gnarl45]

Good luck Mike!