If you are familiar with the Index Card RPG from RUNEHAMMER, you will probably recognize the node layout from the image here. ICRPG has a distinctive artistic style that indie writers are not allowed to emulate, for fear of a third party book being mistaken for an official publication, so In place of the regular map cards, I have been using Game Icons with my ICRPG Solo rules.
I have a natural affinity to the ICRPG, you must be familiar with my love of the humble post-it note. It feels to me that Hankerin Ferinale and I were kind of on the same page with the desire to strip away all the necessary stuff.
My favourite quote from the rules is leave no content behind. The idea of moving anything unused back infront of the characters is dear to my heart.
Roll that d20
The solo rules the ICRPG are d20 based. I don’t normally use too many reference tables but in this case it felt like the right solution. The problem I wanted to solve was adventure creation. The joy of ICRPG is that you can deal out a new adventure almost at will. The harder part is integrating the location, goals and obstacles. Locations are easy, you deal them out. The goals and objectives are the harder parts. What I wanted to do was preserve as much of the unknown as possible.
I like the discovery aspect of roleplaying. That is part of why I like the sandbox style of play, adventures that can go anywhere and anything can happen.
ICRPG has Location/Obstacle/Goal at its heart. Without the obstacles this isn’t going to work. That is why I needed a mechanism to be able build obstacles on the fly.
Once you start down a particular design road, it is better for the player if you make everything work the same way. It keeps the player in the same headspace.
ICRPG Solo
ICRPG has very few game mechanics, and that suits my own rules light approach to solo play. This game has been an absolute joy to play and create for. What is strange is how many revisions this book is taking. I need to refine this until it is right. However many rewrites it needs.
I think you are going to see this one turn up on the blog a fair few times before it is ready.
Definitely work in progress.