I think this is a good alternative to D&D/OSR that keeps things simple, fast, and keeps the essence of D&D/OSR-style gameplay.
There's a YouTube channel called Runehammer that goes into detail behind the design philosophy of the game, so I'm simply going to present bullet points.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZ1Lg1l1pHY&t=1080s
- Six classic stats, listed as their modifier to the d20 roll
- Different effort dice (d4 basic effort, d6 weapon damage, d8 magic damage, d12 Ultimate dice)
- Six points to distribute to stats and/or effort dice
- No classes. Instead, your loot determines your special abilities
- Static difficulty per encounter (usually between 8 and 16). Roll over to succeed.
- Easy or hard tasks increase or decrease target number by 3. No stacking Easy or Hard modifiers.
- The game session is always going by rounds, and something always happens in 1d4 rounds to keep the pace moving forward. What each round represents time-wise depends on the context of the narrative (1 combat round may equal 10 seconds, while 1 round in the city may equal 6 hours).
- Each character starts with 10 hit points and can only get more hit points by getting a piece of loot called a Heart Stone (think Legend of Zelda). Very rare to have one heart stone, let alone multiple.
- Tasks are either simple (no roll required), standard (beat the target number to succeed), or complex (task essentially has hit points that you must whittle down to zero through effort dice to succeed).
- Magic is loot-based, requiring INT or WIS rolls to achieve spell effect.
- Loot-based progression allows for fluctuation of character progression (loot is randomly generated and can be taken away; max of 10 pieces of loot).
- The game has a DIY spirit, so creating new loot and monsters is a cinch.
That's about the long and short of it. Let me know what you think.
I've looked at the game. Interesting concept, but I feel like it simplifies the system too much.
It does seem over-simplified, but some of the ideas are interesting. But I'm a sucker for games with very short rules.
I'm not clear how points are distributed to effort dice, but I think that introducing random variation in characters as a result of loot (outcomes of adventuring, but presumably distributed among characters as the players agree) is better than initial rolls for stats.
Have you actually played it?
It sounds interesting, but I'm not sure which book(s) I need to start out with it - probably something I can figure out with some effort, but I just don't wanna. :)
Besides, I'm kinda swimming in a pool of possible OSR/D20 rules I could use for dungeoning. If I'm going to consider a new one, it's got to really wow me.
I downloaded the Quickstart from https://www.icrpg.com/ (https://www.icrpg.com/).
Some of the bullet points of the original poster seem incorrect, but may be out of date or not correct in the Quickstart.
- It does seem to have classes; the Quickstart has six classes for Alfheim (one of the game settings).
- I didn't find anything about requiring something to happen within 1d4 rounds (multiple of the relevant time scale of moments, hours or days).
- Since the character sheet shows eight Hearts (80HP), it is not clear to me that getting an additional Heart (10HP) is expected to be that rare; it's a Milestone Reward for two of the six character classes.
- Progression is not entirely loot based, since the GM can declare a Milestone Reward (unclear whether those two classes could take the extra Heart more than once as a Milestone Reward, but it's apparently limited by the limit on Gear).
- I see Equipped Gear (Max 10) and Carried Gear (Max 10) and a limit on armor bonuses, but WIS Powers explicitly take no gear slots.
I had mixed feelings or outright dislike about a few things:
- Abstract distance - things are close, near or far. This may in part be because they want to use the same terms for each time scale, but I'd rather they just measured in some abstract unit (yards or meters for moments and leagues/whatever for hours, etc.)
- HPs for tasks - this is good for "how long to pick the lock while an enemy is fighting other party members", but just tedious for situations where there is no counter threat, since you'll eventually succeed.
- There seem to be meaningful things listed in the Quickstart that are not explained; a weapon list with properties such as Sharp and Sturdy. This is presumably explained in the actual rules, although it seems a careless thing to put it in the Quickstart without any explanation.
My impression was that the game was fairly simple, so I was surprised that the Quickstart rules were 33 pages (the Core book is 218 pages, according to Amazon), and not much from random tables or lists. It also has 18 reviews on Amazon, all 5 stars; that suggests to me either a marketing campaign or an obscure game loved by a fairly small group.
The 1d4 thing is somewhat overdone, however, I did use the mechanism in a recent Beyond the Wall game when my players were trapped in a room with two walls closing in. Just placed that d4 on the table showing a '3'. Meaning: everybody now has 3 actions in order before they are going to get squashed. In this case, the mechanism totally made sense, because the time-span is assessable and it enhanced the experience.
But ICRPG goes beyond that, even using the d4 for a "looming threat" while shopping in the nearby village. At that point, it goes too meta for me. Using it for an audible, approaching random dungeon encounter? Totally!
I like that it plays quickly, and the roll20 sheet is all on one page, which is very easy/quick to access.
It is a little too simple for my tastes, however, and the always on a timer feels artificial. Good for one shots and casual gamers. Recommended.
Quote from: rawma;1044353I downloaded the Quickstart from https://www.icrpg.com/ (https://www.icrpg.com/).
Some of the bullet points of the original poster seem incorrect, but may be out of date or not correct in the Quickstart.
- It does seem to have classes; the Quickstart has six classes for Alfheim (one of the game settings).
- I didn't find anything about requiring something to happen within 1d4 rounds (multiple of the relevant time scale of moments, hours or days).
- Since the character sheet shows eight Hearts (80HP), it is not clear to me that getting an additional Heart (10HP) is expected to be that rare; it's a Milestone Reward for two of the six character classes.
- Progression is not entirely loot based, since the GM can declare a Milestone Reward (unclear whether those two classes could take the extra Heart more than once as a Milestone Reward, but it's apparently limited by the limit on Gear).
- I see Equipped Gear (Max 10) and Carried Gear (Max 10) and a limit on armor bonuses, but WIS Powers explicitly take no gear slots.
I had mixed feelings or outright dislike about a few things:
- Abstract distance - things are close, near or far. This may in part be because they want to use the same terms for each time scale, but I'd rather they just measured in some abstract unit (yards or meters for moments and leagues/whatever for hours, etc.)
- HPs for tasks - this is good for "how long to pick the lock while an enemy is fighting other party members", but just tedious for situations where there is no counter threat, since you'll eventually succeed.
- There seem to be meaningful things listed in the Quickstart that are not explained; a weapon list with properties such as Sharp and Sturdy. This is presumably explained in the actual rules, although it seems a careless thing to put it in the Quickstart without any explanation.
My impression was that the game was fairly simple, so I was surprised that the Quickstart rules were 33 pages (the Core book is 218 pages, according to Amazon), and not much from random tables or lists. It also has 18 reviews on Amazon, all 5 stars; that suggests to me either a marketing campaign or an obscure game loved by a fairly small group.
After checking the core rulebook, there are classes, but they serve two very interchangeable functions: 1) starting equipment and 2) Milestone Rewards. Both serve to maintain an archetype's theme. It's like saying Dark Souls has classes: yeah, but not really, as they serve mainly as starting points.
As for the rarity of Heart Stones, some classes get ONE as a Milestone and others do not. On the loot tables, there is, at best, a 3% chance of getting a Heart Stone from loot.
WIS Powers take no gear slots but can't be traded.
If the situation has no counter threat or time limit, then there's no need to make it a complex test and give it Hearts.
Some weapon properties have mechanical effects, but most have narrative effects. Sharp objects are effective against rope, cloth, or wood, while Sturdy objects can be walked on, used to pull a vehicle, or brace a crushing door.
The Quickstart probably didn't contain the section on Timers, which starts at pg 85 of the 2e core rulebook.
Quote from: ronwisegamgee;1044599After checking the core rulebook, there are classes, but they serve two very interchangeable functions: 1) starting equipment and 2) Milestone Rewards. Both serve to maintain an archetype's theme. It's like saying Dark Souls has classes: yeah, but not really, as they serve mainly as starting points.
As for the rarity of Heart Stones, some classes get ONE as a Milestone and others do not. On the loot tables, there is, at best, a 3% chance of getting a Heart Stone from loot.
It's not clear that a given Milestone Reward can only be taken once. Since a Heart Stone consumes a gear slot, I would expect that it would sometimes be passed up, but I expect the melee tank characters would really, really want multiples.
QuoteWIS Powers take no gear slots but can't be traded.
The various spell effects seem under specified, at least in the Quick Start. Can the same spell stack on one target?
QuoteIf the situation has no counter threat or time limit, then there's no need to make it a complex test and give it Hearts.
...
he Quickstart probably didn't contain the section on Timers, which starts at pg 85 of the 2e core rulebook.
It has four pages of classes which you say is unimportant, but omits the game rule that makes most of the Attempts (rolling effort to overcome something) meaningful. (I did find a SESSION END die in the Quickstart, but no explanation; by context it's the number of rounds to avoid the Agnar riders.) So the Quickstart at least was not well done.
If you have the core rulebook, why haven't you played the game and told us about your experiences with it?
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As a brief aside, I think I'm bothered by the phrase "dice-rolling fun" in the sidebar on page 8:
Quote from: ICRPG QuickstartMost games only track DAMAGE in this way, but that leaves out so much detail! ICRPG treats all tasks with the detail and dice-rolling fun that is normally isolated to players dealing damage.
Fun is
despite the die-rolling. I like rolling dice for attacks and damage round after round because it gives room for each side to adjust strategy (run away, use a spell or scroll, etc); even with a time limit, opening a chest or whatever is just a long sequence of die rolls.
Quote from: rawma;1045639Fun is despite the die-rolling. I like rolling dice for attacks and damage round after round because it gives room for each side to adjust strategy (run away, use a spell or scroll, etc); even with a time limit, opening a chest or whatever is just a long sequence of die rolls.
You are only supposed to roll dice when time is of the essence. They use effort for all sort of tasks (hit points for tasks) but the idea is if someone is doing a task whilst the rest of the party are holding off the enemy or the time is ticking down.
ICRPG bring some nice concepts in which you can use with many other rulesets. No initiative just work around the table, turns are seconds hours or days (this can stop analysis paralysis by players) and the D4 timer brings in some excitement and makes players hurry along. You can plug or unplug these elements in your games as you see fit.