For those times, when I want a quick-and-easy d20 alternative that still feels d20, I feel Index Card RPG is a perfect fit. I say "this room is a 13!" and off we go. Everything in there, goblins, pit traps to jump, runes to decipher, the swinging buckets of lava, it is all a 13 to me and the players. There are simple actions (auto succeed), checks (pass./fail), and the other dice are used for effort and knocking down those "attempts" where you need effort (10 points per heart). The room almost plays like a "Legend of Zelda" game no matter what is in there, and no matter the genre, and that is cool.
Savage Worlds fits a need, almost a GURPS level of character design where you can get into a cool build and spend a long time picking skills, advantages, and disadvantages. The characters feel unique and have a good amount of depth and complexity to them. There is a great initiative system. There is a bennies system. There are a lot of mechanical rules for when you need them. There are times when I love my character builds and rules complexity, and Savage Worlds is still my go-to game for those times.
But there are times I don't want all that structure. With Index Card RPG, I pick up a d20 and roll. I don't want to worry about all those rules, and I trust my skills as a referee and my player's ingenuity that it will all work out. It almost feels like an "anti d20" system that rejects the Pathfinder-level of rules structure and complexity for gameplay. I feel playing ICRPG makes you a better referee, since you are being trained in new ways to think about encounters, difficulty, tasks, and boiling down a situation into "what's fun."
Again, I didn't want to title this article "versus" since "and" is a better comparison, and both are great and fun games, and I am a fan of both. But I am finding ICRPG fills a need for those "pick up the dice and play" games where Savage Worlds is built for a more longer-term game with depth and rules options. With ICRPG, character advancement is done with gear rewords and milestone rewards, which do not fill my "detailed character advancement needs" that Savage Worlds satisfies nicely, but it sticks with that "fast and simple" design goal of ICRPG and works for these types of games well.
And there are times where I do not have the time to dive in that deep. I just want to play something, especially ICRPG solo which is very easy to do, and play something that feels like d20 without all the d20 complexity. Yes, there is also B/X for that need, but ICRPG is even more streamlined than that, and handles anything you can throw at it without the need for the standard B/X structural requirements: classes, genre equipment, genre spells and powers, monsters, and the basic B/X things you need to play.
ICRPG for horror or gritty games? Sure, make some checks "pass or die." Limit recovery. Add a rule for gaining "hinderances" such as a leg wound slowing movement and applying a -3 to any movement based check, or a terrified hinderance that forces the character to flee until it is removed. Just make it up, and these "hinderances" can be thought of as "negative equipment" that needs to be removed in special ways, such as healing, rest, specific checks, or other actions.
I just made that rule up and it works perfectly. Use it for some games, and not for others. Or make up a new rule and do that instead.
That is ICRPG. With Savage Worlds, yes, special rules are needed to make the character choices, skills, and game structure matter. There are times I want that, and this sort of "role protection" for character builds is desired. This is the same in B/X games, though the structure is simpler and defined along the traditional B/X roles and powers.
With ICRPG, you need none of this structure to play d20; you can steal, swap, or make up classes; the gear is easy enough to crib from one of the book's setting or make up on the spot; and you don't need special rules for the flaming pit you jump, the goblins shooting bows, versus a giant rolling boulder chasing you.
Just pick a number for the scene and go.
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