Monday, April 30, 2018
Four Against the Darkness and Ruins of the Undercity both expect the player to make full Labyrinth Lord characters. That seems like a lot of book keeping. I was thinking about trying it with Maze Rats but magic will be wonky.
Four Against the Darkness and Ruins of the Undercity both expect the player to make full Labyrinth Lord characters. That seems like a lot of book keeping. I was thinking about trying it with Maze Rats but magic will be wonky.
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Pretty sure 4AD has their own character rules, which are obviously D&D inspired, but I don't think you need to make full LL characters.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Four against Darkness is its own system, heavily simplified though there is some book keeping involved for a full party for sure.
ReplyDeleteI just double checked. You are right that it's simpler than LL but I'm still curious if anyone has tried other systems.
ReplyDeleteWhile you could use any system with any Oracle, if you're looking more for a one stop solution, I'd suggest Scarlet Heroes. One PC is as powerful as four.
ReplyDeleteWhat I want is "simpler than 4AtD". Scarlet Heroes had lots of neat tables but I don't see myself using it. It's similar to Ruins of Undercity and Mad Monks of Kwantoom.
ReplyDeleteI think "the Black Hack" might be one of the simplest D&D clones if you're looking for a D&D-based game engine. Whitehack is pretty simple as well. Beyond the wall is probably somewhere in between those and LL.
ReplyDeletedrivethrurpg.com - The Black Hack
How simplified are you looking for? Are you looking for simplified RULES in the RPG sense or a simplified Oracle/Emulator. 4AD is pretty thorough for creating a dungeon, but you can skip that with either an online dungeon generator or something like Location Crafter, or just using your Oracle. You don’t need all the tables to develop the “plot” if they don’t help.
ReplyDeleteIf it’s the mechanics of the game (char creation, equipment, task resolution, etc), I’d say check out dieheart.net - die heart. Plenty of barely there/rules lite systems—many of which are free. Or, you can just use an Oracle and skip the RPG mechanics all together if you feel they’re in your way?
Will check out Beyond the Wall
ReplyDeleteI think my problem is that I struggle to understand rules by Reading them. It's easier.to learn through play.
ReplyDeleteThat's the way I am too--it's always better to sit down and run a test of the game before making a final decision. 4AD has some odd layout issues, and it's a bit confusing to read, but plays pretty well with very minimal book keeping.
ReplyDeleteBut, it may not be what you're looking for, still. What do you feel like you want to play, but that 4AD and Ruins of Undercity don't provide?
Sharp Swords and Sinister Spells is a rules-light OSR-compatible game. Maze Rats is another.
ReplyDeleteYou can use 4AD or any other dungeon generator alongside them. RotU is essentially Appendix A from the 1e DMG, which is a little more generic. John Yorio's d12 "no frills" dungeon generator is also fairly simple and available in pocketmod form.
Watching YouTube it's actually not so complicated.
ReplyDeleteI like the dungeon generator in 4AD. I think I'll try to play it tonight rules as written.
ReplyDeleteI don't really like Tolkien Elf Dwarf Hobbit races. I prefer weird science fantasy. Mutants Cyborgs Lizard folk Ape Folk Cat Folk... But that's just alteration of fiction. I'll leave Mechanics alone
YEah, you could easily say the hobbit is a cat person or whatever.
ReplyDeleteI've not tried them personally but there's White Star that's a sci-fi variant of White Box (OD&D) or Mutant Future, which I think is Labyrinth Lord or B/X. But, then you're back where you started with more complex rules.
ReplyDeletesomeone was asking on here before about sci-fi rules for 4AD, so maybe they will chime in with what they came up with or try searching and seek them out.
Once you get the hang of 4AD, it should be simple to plug in the mutant aliens and space ships in place of the defaults.
Anyhow, let us know how it goes!
My cat monopolized my time when I got off work. https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/BPz4j1QMf0fP79lU7Uc2MmNIMbMZHSxVZWhg5hFfR5iWcvtg6O8HWBbaWwPQrWGCc_U1BAoGmFY
ReplyDelete