Category: Uncharted Worlds

Let me start with this: I love Uncharted Worlds. I find it a departure from some of the typical stuff found in a PbtA game that both simplifies it and makes it more freeing to play.

But I have three problems I can’t seem to solve on my own:

1. Debt. I get it, conceptually. I see how it works. It just doesn’t seem to engage in play. I think this actually needs some mechanics wrapped around it, or just more direction in the book on how the GM is supposed to use debt.

2. Career flags are a bit difficult for me to keep reminding myself of. By this I mean – if a player has an explorer career, the skills and advancement triggers fall within some umbrella of things they probably expect to see – these are flags for the GM to bring into play. But there’s just so many careers that it’s hard to figure out all the time. Some sort of cheat-sheet or list would go a long way here. This could even be included in the Threats chapter to make that section more concrete too – go through each career, list some types of threats that the career should be going up against.

3. Advancement seems to peter out after a bit. You end up with enough skills to make your character playable the way you want, and then you have to choose another skill. But they don’t always make sense. I think some alternate non-skill advancements (maybe even Gain a Favor, Pay off a Debt, Gain a Class 3 asset, etc) could go a long way toward helping here. I have also added a “Retire to safety if you have 0 debt” in my current game, which I think is pretty solid.