I was on DTRPG this morning and I came across the Index Card RPG. I remember reading a review about this game a few years ago and thought it was a brilliant idea.
I came across the game again today and it all looks a bit sad.
From the product description:
>>The coolest RPG community on the planet: How-to videos, online play sessions, and the ever-expanding updates that have made Runehammer a GOLD best seller! This is just the beginning, so look for tons of ICRPG content on youtube and facebook ALL YEAR.
>>Google+ Community: Join the fun as it unfolds at https://plus.google.com/communities/113794869422304907451
Index Card product description on DTRPG
The publisher, Runehammer, is not a GOLD best seller, they are an ADAMANTINE best seller, but even that outstanding achievement didn’t prompt a mention.
Google plus died a couple of years ago now, but the flagship community is still listed as G+.
It all just feels like because the game is Print On Demand it will never go out of print, but the game is effectively defunct, and that is a crying shame.
At first glance Runehammer’s website looks like one of those domain parking pages with a block of Google Ads, but it actually points to all the other stuff that Brandon Gillam has been doing, but is also a few years out of date.
I think this is sad.
Part of what prompted that click on ICRPG in the first place was a discussion on the Troll Lord Games community. It was about how I use the common post-it note as a GM aid. There are five common colours and it is easy to jot down encounters on one colour, important rules (like drowning or fire damage, that sort of thing) on a different colour, NPCs on a third and locations on a fourth. Before you know it you have an entire adventure on little peel and stick notes.
You can stick them around the edge of your map or stick them to the right place in your campaign notes. If you players bypass an encounter or a really cool trap, it is unused so you can just peel it off and move it further down the session. When it does happen it will still be fresh and new to your players and their characters but you haven’t wasted all that prep in creating it.
PinPoint Process
I always like to see connections. If we connect my re-awareness of ICRPG and my post-it note GMing style I can bring the two together and create something that makes ICRPG look a but rules heavy and crunchy by comparison (joke).
The use of post-it notes does something special to your game mastering. As you read this series you will see that every single thing that you write on a sticky note get used. The days of creating entire adventures just to have the characters stroll on by will be behind you. You create it, offer it up and if it isn’t used it goes back in the file to be used again. You will be creating things, locations, encounters, NPCs as discrete objects that you put down in the characters path. Literally pin point accurate. There will be no need to map every room, create every NPC and plot for very eventuality. The pinpoint process should be breadcrumbs leading your players and characters deeper into your game world.