RPG A Day 2019--August 8--Obscure

Today I wanted to talk about a fun game that I picked up this last year that is becoming less and less obscure all the time. This game is Index Card Role Playing Game--ICRPG from Runehammer Games. I'll post the link to Drive Thru, but since you are the converted you probably already know.

Essentially, ICRPG is D&D 5E stripped down and refined into just the real essentials. It's somehow not dumbed down by any means and fans of the system and the author himself continuously add to it..yet, it's elegantly simple.

I won't spoil everything, but there are gimmicks like: timers, loot, difficulty settings, and milestones that simplify everything. Players are always in initiative. Action is always happening. Even measurements have been refined by using a bannana. Aside from making notes about some of the wild loot you can get and possibly your magic spells, you really don't have to look up anything, and you can easily convert any D&D5E character or monster in a few minutes.

What makes it even better is the it helps out other systems as well. Aside from D&D, I've modded Ryuutama and Cyberpunk as well with varying degrees of success by using the gimmicks. If I wanted to teach a new player about RPGs and they've never played before, I'm going with ICRPG over any starter set or "kids" game that's out today.  I plan to give CP2020 another go this year using even more of the ICRPG material--if Roll*20 works in China that is. There is also a wrestling game that I converted that I'm all set for, but haven't tried out yet. You'd be surprised at what you might get into using the GM's Tool Kit...and the book is actually pretty small.

Speaking of using the tools, conversions are not as time consuming as you might think, and it's actually fun for me. The ICRPG book has helped me to understand game design better than I ever have before and I've been playing for 30+years. Even if its popularity does grow--and I hope it does--it will still be obscure in my mind as one of the few games that has really taught me something. Again, that's ICRPG found here:

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/212262/INDEX-CARD-RPG-Core-2E

...among other places. You can even get a free quick start without resorting to piracy.

Tomorrow's word is Critical...

RPG A Day 2019--August 7th--Familiar

I'm having trouble with this one. Should we talk about systems we're familiar with or familiar situations we've been in? In any case I'm not going to spend a lot of time with thinking about it as there are many days and prompts ahead.

When it comes to RPGs and familiarity, I think we tend to stick with the games and even the people that we are familiar with. It's sometimes hard to move from the familiar because we feel safe and contented there. In particular, if you've invested a bunch of time or money in a game or particular edition, it's hard re-invest in something new. Almost every time I go to a Mexican Restaurant I get steak fajitas and a margarita. I might want to try something new, but at the end of the day, if I go outside the familiar and I don't like it, well, I feel like I missed out. Gaming is like that on a much larger scale. There is only a finite amount of money and time. Scheduling a session is rough. We tend not to want to waste that time learning a system we might like to play and would rather jump right into playing something that everyone is familiar with. That's okay, but sometimes you miss out on better by sticking with good.

Tomorrow's word is the opposite direction--Obscure. I'll be talking about a fairly obscure game I enjoy and that I feel is worth stepping away from the familiar for-Index Card Role Playing Game.

RPGaDay 2019--August 6--Ancient

Today's word is 'Ancient' which is sometimes how I feel if I'm playing with a 20-something or younger. It's hard to believe that I've been playing RPGs in one way or another for over thirty years.

Back in my day we didn't have any of these Elec-Tronic dice rollers...we actually had to roll dice and sometimes you had to color in the numbers and you were lucky to have more than one set.

We didn't have any of the fancy virtual table tops and applications--if you didn't have friends to play with you had to come up with a way to run solo or else play the Fighting Fantasy, Choose Your Own Adventure or  Wizards Warriors and You books.

And forget about video games, they were all text-based and you had to either play Adventure on the Atari 2600 or Gauntlet in the arcade.

Plus, if you did manage to find a group you'd all be pegged as Devil Worshippers anyhow and may make the news as a local coven.

And you wouldn't let any girls play with you and if they did show up, they were already attached to the one "cool guy" in your group, and you'd do your best to run them off and teach them a lesson.

That's the way it was and we liked it... We loved it!!

I was trying to channel Dana Carvey's old man character from Saturday Night Live but even the reference to that comedian and his skits dates me as being more ancient.

In gaming a lot have things have improved for the better since those "Ancient" times in the 1980's--maybe '70's for those more ancient than me--and I'm not a politically correct/SJW kind of guy, far from it, but wouldn't it be nice to go back to the time when kids playing Dungeons and Dragons--and other RPGs--was the biggest problem parents had to worry about.

Tomorrow's word is Familiar

RPGaDay 2019--August 5th--Space

Todays word is "space" as I stare at the blank space of this page and try to use the empty space between my ears to fill it. My idea about space today is the great amount of it between me and my gaming groups...and how it's not so big of a problem anymore.

I don't want the whole month to be about Roll*20 and other virtual table tops, but they truly are a godsend. For years and years I had no game to play at all because even a couple of hours travel time removed from the main group made it virtually impossible to attend regularly...and I can't be the flake.  Nowadays--especially if you are willing to run it--dozens of games are available and just a click away.

I still have problems getting together with old friends in the States and I'm sure the UAE group is done in as far as my participation in it is concerned~lots of space means different time zones~. I'm not clear how this year's effort will go as I relocate to China. Will I have access to a live group out there? Might I be able to recruit my new students or create a role playing club? Will my virtual table tops even work on their strictly regulated internet? Who knows?  However, there is no doubt that the world is a whole lot smaller thanks to our technology and the space between us is a smaller hurdle to participating in the hobby than it has ever been.

Tomorrow...'Ancient'

RPG A Day--August 4th--Share

I'm cheating a bit in this entry by SHARING one of what I hope is one of my funnier news reports. So many funny ones to choose from, and while these reports are 100% pure Markham, the campaign was the classic "Thicker Than Blood" module and the actions reported on were based on those taken by the players

Setting up the Clip:

It's from a Roll*20 session of a Cyberpunk 2020 campaign I ran around two years ago. I can't imagine any of you not knowing what Cyberpunk is, but just in case, it's a near dystopian future setting wherein we have progressed well technologically speaking, but maybe not so much socially. Some have called it hi-tech low-life. It's kind of like Bladerunner or Alita: Battle Angel.  I play as Cocoa Lopez AKA COLO she is a young media personality employed by Network 54 to report on the exploits of a team of edgerunners--the players--which she is embedded with. In these reports are her boss, anchor man, Lyle McClellen, her co-worker and rival, Bobbie Blake, and a few other NPCs.

The Broadcasts:

    This is Lyle McClellen with breaking news out of South Night City in the area known as the Hill. Earlier this afternoon an explosion decimated one of the many mill houses in the area resulting in the death of one Marta Anders. The 80-year-old, long-time resident was said to be a pillar of the community to the many undocumented workers that populate this area.  NCPD forensics had this to say on the matter:

“Well,  one thing’s for sure, it’ll have to be a closed casket funeral. Had to have some of the low-level tech boys blot what was left of her up with handiwipes—hope they get enough to take down to the morgue, so we can try an’ identify her officially. 

Of course it was booster gangs…but in a neighborhood like this “Nobody didn’t see nuffin’”…gets worse every year the freakin’ animals. What’s this supposed to be—some kind of accident? What did she do mistake a KG of military grade C6 explosives for Cake mix?  What kind of a sicko blows up an old lady anyway? That’s what I’d like to know. 

In what is surely an incredible coincidence, our own Coco Lopez, who is currently embedded with a group of “special investigators” for the hit show ‘Night City: Ride Along’ seen here each night on Network 54, was on the scene only a short time before the tragedy struck. Miss Lopez is there any insight that you can give so that the people of this city can make some sense out of this senseless act?

I didn’t see nuffin. 

I'll share another one...but they keep getting smaller...

If you have your jeweler's glass handy, you just might be able to check out one more...

 I wish I could make them bigger for you but I think you get the general idea. Tomorrow's topic...SPACE.




































and the report...if I can post it...

RPG A Day 2019-- August 3--Engage

It's time to Engage with the entry for today's RPG a Day: Engage

We'll go with the definition that means to take hold or to interact. While we're doing these RPGaDay exercises one can't help but to relate the topic to the activity. Engaging--especially with people outside of your normal circles, but also with different settings and systems--is very important for growth. As a lot of us are getting older--I can't believe that I have better than 30 years of role playing experience--it is important that we don't stagnate or separate ourselves from the community at large if we want to keep playing. Also, if you are particularly fond of an older system or edition, engaging new, younger players with those rules is always a possibility. With the advent of Roll*20 and other virtual table tops as well as the recent groundswell of interest in RPGs, there is no reason to be without a game. Engage with the community at hand, use the technology we have available and who knows what new adventures you may find.

Tomorrow we have "Share"

RPG A Day 2019--August 2nd--Unique

I believe that RPGs--while possibly not unique in this regard--are at least on a short list of past times that manage to stimulate both sides of our brains at the same time.

When we're playing an RPG--even a computer or video game version--we're using our imaginations to picture settings, characters, battles, and proper dialogue choices. Meanwhile, our left side is doing the number crunching, measurement, problem solving and resource management. Other mental activities such as: expressing emotions, showing empathy, use or lack of use of logic, and enjoying reciprocal feelings of camaraderie and respect are all happening when we play...and happening at the same time whether we realize it or not.

What's happening at the table doesn't even take into account the mental gymnastics required outside of the game to make a campaign a success. You are always planning for the next session, managing your schedule and hopefully showing up for said session, researching new products and engaging with the broader community of hobby enthusiasts--such as during RPG a Day and maybe most importantly, navigating the "unique"  personalities one runs into at any given table.

Personally, after most sessions, my mind is still racing and I often need a melatonin or something to slow it down. I don't get this feeling from anything else I do...let's just hope it's good for us.

Tomorrow...Engage