RPG A DAY 2020: Day 11--Stack

 RPG A Day 2020: Day 11—Stack

Another short one today.

There is a stack of new games—new to me at least—that I have yet to play. For better or worse it always seems that I end up playing the latest—and hopefully the greatest—edition of Dungeons and Dragons. There’s nothing wrong with that. Most adults really don’t have enough time to learn different rule systems, and the young whippersnappers usually don’t have the attention span needed to learn one system let alone multiples. Personally, I like reading them, but even I don’t have the time to read as much as I’d like. We have new platforms like Roll 20 and other virtual tabletops and meeting places, but if the players don’t have the material and are not willing to learn it, we never get very far into the stack.

One game from the stack is Index Card Role Playing Game, and I guess you could also include the sister supplement for D&D 5E called Hardcore Mode. They are both by the same author, Brandish Gilhelm, at Runehammer Games and can both be used to add very cool house rules and flavor to the D&D game. In fact, the former can help freshen any RPG, and is also a stand alone in its own right heading for its 3rd edition.

It’s the D&D Hardcore Mode that I’m most intrigued by for our purposes today because through various rule tweaks and refinements it does exactly what it’s supposed to and breathes new life into the familiar 5th edition game. It is a game—supplement if you prefer—that you can pull from the stack with little effort. The changes are minimal, but huge. The same is true of ICRPG itself and it’s amazing to me the way that Gilhelm is able to accomplish this. It doesn’t feel dumbed down in the least, and yet it has refined the gameplay and “fixed” a lot of what some find lacking in 5E. However, because it essentially remains 5E it becomes an easier sell for players that don’t want to try something completely new. Which do you think is an easier sell, Do you want to play ICRPG—which relatively few have heard of or Let’s play D&D but use the prison rules. I think that would get one game out of the stack. I don't think you can go wrong with any game or supplement from Runehammer Games, so check them out. 

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/10923/RUNEHAMMER-GAMES