The Best RPG for Megadungeons and Casual Players

Good megadungeon play has to be brisk if you want to make any progress. Rules have to be easy if you want your ADHD players to get into them. Thus it was that I asked the players of my drop-in-drop-out (you are welcome to join the Discord) mega dungeon setting (a town between Stonehell, Tegel, and a mega-forest) to put aside their FAGE RPG PCs and start rolling new murderhobos. FAGE is fine… for another kind of campaign, but lemme tell you about Icosahedron Cult.

It’s basically one page of rules, one page of items, and a page of extraneous DM stuff. 

The central mechanic is that you roll a pure, unmodified d20. You just need to roll as high as the DM says. So simple.

You don’t get any of the traditional D&D ability scores, and your rolls aren’t modified by any scores anyways. Instead, there are stats like gregariousness, greed, insanity, and psionic potential. 

There are a dozen classes to keep it interesting, and everyone is given character making prompts so they play someone ostensibly interesting and unique.

The weapons are random, but damage is by-class, so we don’t spend all session shopping. Armor is also as per class. 

For magic, I went with a risk-reward freeform system. 

So I’mma put the current version of ISOC RPG below. You can visit the Google Doc if you want to keep up with changes I make as we go along playtesting some more. Also, two columns for printing ease on the doc.

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Icosahedron Cult

Try to do things. The GM calculates the odds based on your class, level, methods, and if Saturn is in retrograde, then asks for a number or higher to be rolled on a d20.

Armor Class makes it easy for the GM

The number to hit a monster or PC is its AC+situational difficulty. When running a published module, convert descending AC to ascending and cap all ACs at 20 (if you try to shoot Smaug or the Demogorgon, you’ll need to roll a 20 with disadvantage).

The AC for PCs is 10 plus Tough Rating. Raise AC by 1 per five levels gained if not a Wizard.

Name your weapons

All PCs start with some gear. You can carry three ready items and ten backpack items; fill empty slots with rations, bandages, or lamp oil on your first outing. They also have armor that is responsible for their TR-AC. The armor has to be taken off to sleep or be sexy effectively.

Damage is class-based rather than weapon-based

If you hit with a weapon, deal damage equal to a roll of your class’s HD. If you crit (hit w/nat20 or LKYN, you deal an extra d30 damage.

Classes (you can choose after seeing your gear)

1. Fighter: d12 HD, 5TR. Gets to roll d24s instead of d20s when attacking, and 21~24 count as a 20.

2. Dungeoneer: d8 HD, 3TR. Basically a thief, so they have much better odds with locks and such. They know the Dao of dungeons and Gygaxian Naturalism.

3. Dwarf: d12 HD, 6TR. Autistically insist that they can smell gold and sense sloping passages.

4. Wizard: d6 HD, 0TR. Can risk HP to cast spells.

5. Elf: d7 HD, 2TR. Can cast aspersions. Great at bushcraft. Walks on snow. Sees far in daylight.

6. Catman: d8 HD, 3TR. Great reflexes and eyes. Amazing fashion sense.

7. Dogman: d9 HD, 2TR. Good at smelling and hearing. Needs walkies at dawn.

8. Half-succubus: d7 HD 1TR. Very good at seduction, but keeps fellow PCs in the friend zone. Learn one spell per wizard seduced.

9. Idolator: d7 HD, 2TR. Can ask their patron deities for miracles, racks up DCCish Deity Disapproval.

10. Half Orc Barbarian: d14 HD, 0TR. Has no patience to listen at doors. “LET’S GO! YAWP!"

11. Loathsome Gerblin: d6HD, 4TR. Okay at skulking.

12. Monk: d6HD, 5TR. Other PCs have harder rolls for unarmed or improvised weapon attacks, but not monks. Armed monks are cool too.

Name Your Spells

When you cast a spell, describe the desired effect to the GM and get your difficulty target. If you fail to cast a spell, take damage equal to the amount you failed by. If this knocks you to zero, you don’t die, but probably will if you take any further damage.

Six Scores (roll 3d6 for each one)

1. Lucky number: If you roll exactly this number when passing a check, you do a crit. LKYN score can be burned down to reach a crit range, or to change a die rolled by, for, or against you in your favor by an equivalent amount. Burn is permanent and a low LKYN is less useful, but you may get Luck rewards for being excellent, dudes or carousing.

2. Plot Armor: This number is the minimum HP you start with. Roll your HD at character gen and have that many HP or the plot armor number, whichever is higher. 

3. Gregariousness: Purely a roleplaying suggestion in stat form. Has no bearing on checks in and of itself.

4. Greed: as per GREG.

5. Insanity: A stat that raises when you see or do crazy things and fail to cope. If it reaches 20, you go AWOL-NPC.

6. Psionic Potential: Chance on a d100 that you are special and then the GM groans and adds rules for psionics to this game.

Finishing touches that you can get around to

Pick a former career. Decide how you know another PC in the party. Decide something that pisses you off and something you fear. Name a regret and an aspiration.

 

Title each level you gain; it’s an accomplishment

The surviving PCs should level up every once in a while, and maybe gain some luck too. Each level gained lets you roll your class HD and gain that many HP. After level five, you only gain TR in HP per level. After lvl 10, no more HP gains. 

You can survive beyond 0HP–albeit unconscious, slowly dying, and vulnerable–up to negative HP equal to your level.

Healing and comfort eating

Roll your HD with each ration spent to regain that many lost HP. At dawn, if you slept 6 hours, had breakfast, and shared a bit of backstory, you get lvl×HD rolls of HP back. 

Monsters and Combat

Do crits only on a 20 (no lucky number unless a well statted NPC), which are usually just horrible things instead of the d30 extra damage that PCs use.

Unless monsters surprise the PCs, the PC attackers go first. Have attacks checked before spells are cast. Monsters get a chance to hurt a spellcaster before the spells go off, in which case it can’t be cast that round, so keep those wizards protected!

GEAR

Warrior types (one of these d6):

1. Sword (d10 subtable):

1. Katana edgelord

2. Zweihander

3. Browdsowd

4. Gladius

5. Short sword

6. Falchion

7. Scimitar

8. Sabre

9. Sword-cane

10. Double sword

2. Ax (d5)

1. Bearded

2. Throwing

3. Broadaxe

4. Sickle

5. Adze

3. Smasher (d10):

1. War hammer

2. Mace

3. Club

4. Morningstar 

5. Cudgel

6. Flail

7. Mitre

8. Crowbar

9. Quarterstaff

10. Nunchaku

4. Polearm (d5):

1. Poleaxe

2. Halberd

3. Pike

4. Scythe

5. Billhook

5. Brass knuckles

6. Spear (d6)

1. Trident

2. Bident

3. Pitchfork

4. Spear spear

5. Quiang

6. Javelin

Priest types (d3):

1. As per warrior (roll on their table), but base your god on the weapon.

2. Whip

3. Giant Cross

Granola types (d8):

1. Falcon 

2. Bow

3. Doge

4. Longbow

5. Sling

6. Bola

7. Boomerang 

Spirits
Mage types weapon is a (d10):

1. Cultist dagger

2. Staff

3. Caduceus

4. Imp (like a falcon)

5. Psychokinesis

6. Evil eye, bad luck (foe bonks into walls and stuff)

7. Heavy tome

8. Pew pew wand

9. Just a gun

10. Sparkly fingers

Thief types (d10):

1. Dagger (d5):

1. Sax

2. Stiletto

3. Dirk

4. Main gauche & short sword

5. Kris

2. Blackjack

3. Blowgun

4. Garrote

5. Rapier

6. Flintlock

7. Ninja star

8. Straight razor

9. Crossbow 

10. Kabong

D12 additional gear:

1. A dutch oven, a frypan, some garlic bulbs, a bedroll, a voodoo doll, a cane, 20’ hempen rope, reading lamp, and a dictionary

2. A bedroll, an area guide complete with restaurant reviews, some small scissors, a dagger, a comb, a long flute, and an ass

3. A little, indentured servant; a book of fantastical voyage accounts; four small daggers; spidersilk cloak, and a matryoshka doll-set

4. Mom’s sword, 10’ chain, a box of mummy-dust, a mirror, a bone-straw, a letter from a lost-love

5. A wool cloak, a bedroll, straw shoes, flint and tinder, and a celt (stone ax)

6. Some incense cones (six aromas), a shaving blade, a large, straw hat, a felt mat, a book of sutras

7. d3 holy statuettes, a whiskey flask, a jar of glow-worms, a walking-stick, a pamphlet of sensual-massage techniques, a hand-puppet, and a linen blanket

8. A necklace of ears, a macuahuitl, white face-paint, three wigs,20’ rope, a lantern, a handcart as long as a tall man

9. A looking-glass, a book of constellations, a jar of space-slugs, a stiletto, a ruff, pantaloons, and a leather blanket

10. A hand mirror, some prayer-beads, a treasure map, a giant wrench, thirteen porcelain doll heads is a sack, 20’ rope, and two blankets

11. A chess set, some bandages, a bow, a quill full of arrows, a lamp, 20’ rope, a foppish hat, a shepherd's dog, and a chastity belt

12. A sling, seven blessed sling stones, the bronze skull of Dungid-kin in a sack, a tattooing-kit, a wicker fish-trap, LKYN feet of rope, a fleece.

This page is just to help the GM

Chance and its difficulty number

Slim chance in hell

1~4% 20 despite disadvantage

5%: 20

6~10%: 19+

11~15%: 18+

Unlikely

16~20%: 17+

21~25%: 16+

26~30%: 15+

31~35%: 14+

36~40%: 13+

Okay sure

41~45%: 12+

46 ~50%: 11+

51~55%: 10+

Likely

56~60%: 9+

61~65%: 8+

66~70%: 7+

71~75%: 6+

Cakewalk

76~80%: 5+

81~85%: 4+

86~90%: 3+

91~95%: 2+

Don’t need to roll

96~100% 

Spell considerations

Base            10-[½LVL]

Pure utility        -5

Target has higher

HD than caster        +1/5HD imbalance

d4 dmg            +0

d6 dmg            +1

d8 dmg            +2

d10 dmg        +4

d12 dmg        +6

d20 dmg        +10

Multiple targets        +Total HD 

they have 

collectively 

more than 

the caster

Duration 10 mins    +0

An hour        +1

Days            +3

Year and a day        +5

Permanent        +7

Slow spell/ritual    -3

Valuable reagents used    -1~-5

Luck Rewards

PCs were heroes    +1LKYN

PCs had heavy losses    +d3LKYN

PCs stopped a big bad    +d10LKYN

Carousing Table

PC player individually decide what die to roll from a d4 to a d30; great risk=potential Luck reward. We’re gonna repurpose my Montage Table for the good and bad results.

• 1~5: d3 Luck gain, and an adventure rumor.

• 6~12: d6 Luck gain, roll on the good Montage Table results.

• 13~15: d8 Luck gain, roll on the good results.

• 16~22: d10 Luck gain, roll on the bad results.

• 23~29: d12 Luck gain, roll on the bad results.

• 30: d14 Luck gain, roll on the bad results.

  
  

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Naw, 2d6, Blam!

Yesterday's post was written by a dullard, a real skimbōn. Here's a better OSE/Lamentables/B/X check system. For awesome people, not nerds.

Roll 2d6+ability mod+skill points, aim for 10 or more to succeed. Snake eyes always fail.

Example: Percy searches a room for secret boudoirs. She has 1 skill point for finding doors, but a -1 Wis mod. 2d6+0 rolled, five is the total, and that's a fail.

Yeah, we can do success at a cost on 7~9, rolledbydapocanerds. Geeze.

This system should keep specialists relevant. And it keeps the snake eyes rule for hyper-competent skillsmen. 

Traveler uses target 8. Maybe this is a not too hard, not too easy number?

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There's a d6 Chance in Hell

Was recently running that edgelord RPG about princesses and it may have been the first time I had, because I wanted to adjucate a check, but realized I didn't have any way spelled out to do so in the actual rules. This is probably very intentional. Old school game; rulings not rules.

What it does have is the x-in-6-chance-to-do-things type of skills for just a few specific actions that hearken back to 0e D&D. I'd like to adapt that to kinda keep things consistent. After all, if I did the d20 at/under ability score thing, some things would feel too competent or incompetent when compared to d6 skills and rolling d20 high to hit but d20 low to do everything else will confuse my players every damn time.

In the following system, you don't even have to say if they are rolling high or low or what number to roll. You can even roll your own meaningless DM dice behind the shield to so as to be extra mysterious. Click-clack!

So, before they ask for a d6 roll, the GM secretly rules what the base percent chance to do a thing is, considering the action doer's class, level, species, and ability scores (you could add numbers on top or whatever). This ad hoc figure is then converted using the table below:

1 in 6: 1~16%

2 in 6: 17~33%

3 in 6: 34~50%

4 in 6: 51~66%

5 in 6: 67~83%

If the secret chance is higher that 83%, ask the player to roll anyway, just to be a little dramatic. 

Example: Percy wants her warrior to climb a wall. The Judge thinks most people would have a 40% chance of doing this. Warriors are good at using their bodies, so +5%. Lvl 8? +8%. A dwarf? stubby arms and heavy ass is -5%. Net of 48% is a 3 in 6 chance. Percy rolls a 5, and the judge rolls three dice just for dramatic effect. Percy didn't pass, but her girlfriend just broke up with her. She needs this. The judge sighs in high-maudlin, then grins, "You got lucky this time." That's right, the judge fudged it. 

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Don't Shop for Weapons, Roll for Them! Diagetic Rando Weapon Fun

Sometimes the shopping of session zero runs a bit long. This should speed things up. Everyone gets one weapon.This kinda stuff is good for RPGs where all weapons do the same damage or damage is based on class, &c.

 

Mage types (d10):

1. Cultist dagger
2. Staff
3. Caduceus
4. Imp (like a falcon)
5. Psychokinesis
6. Bad luck
7. Heavy tome
8. Pew pew wand
9. Just a gun
10. Sparkly fingers
    

A onepageRPG where d8s are the only dice

I was imagining a world with the skyline dominated by a Hellraiser II Leviathan type god-thing. 

The cool parts of this RPG:

• The play group gets to decide what five eighths of the ability scores are called.
• Easy target 10 system.
• Tactical choices with the combat action costs.
• HP is called Luck. We all know the term hit points is misleading, and luck begs to be spent.
• Fellow players encouraged to be interested in you to get good mutual feels around the table. If you are the only guy not finding excuses to help your fellow players level up, that’s a bad look.
• No classes, so you choose your own path to booty.

The original google doc is here, and will be updated after play-testing.

D8 Dungeoneering

By d8 Claytonians from killitwithfirerpg

In the beginning of all things, there was the d20. And the d20 was good, but it was usurped by the Dark Octahedron, and forever lost. 

To generate your mods for your Thews, Guile, Wizardry, and five other things the group brainstorms, roll a d8.

1    -2 mod        5-6    +1 mod

2    -1 mod        7    +2 mod

3-4    ±0 mod        8    +3 mod

When you want to do something, the target number is always ten or more on a 2d8 roll, but the roll will be modified by the difficulty you face and advantages you have. For example, climbing a wall might get modified by the relative smoothness of the wall and how fast you want to climb, but also should probably take your Thews into account.

Combat

To melee, roll 2d8+[Thews]+[circumstances, such as allies flanking target]-[Foes armor] and try to get 10 or better. To throw into combat, do the same thing, but the circumstances will be -1 more against you for each ally you have flanking the target. To shoot, use +Guile instead. All hits deal d8 damage to the foe’s Luck.

Combat costs

Each character has Level points to spend each round. Play starts to the DM’s left and goes clockwise, with an NPC going after each player’s move. When no one has enough points to do anything, the round ends.

• To move costs one point per hex. You may also skirmish someone you just attacked successfully or not, moving them one hex per point you are willing to spend.

• To attack costs one point.

• To charge costs point per hex traveled and must end with a (free) melee attack.

• To defend costs one point per desired penalty point to foe’s roll (you can defend out of turn when someone attacks you).

• To take a breather and regain 1d8 Luck costs one, plus one point per adjacent foe.

• To switch hand items costs one point.

• To prepare an interrupt action (I shoot the next guy to come through the door!) costs one point to set up and another to cancel (I don’t shoot my friend who just came through the door!) and fails if you don’t have the points to actually carry through on the action.

• To focus, you spend one point plus one per +1 mod you want on your next roll. 

• To add an extra d8 before you attack or roll damage costs three points.

Starting Level and Luck

Well it sounds like being level one would be Nintendo-hard in combat, so everyone starts with Guile+d8 levels, or at least one. Luck, the game-stuff that keeps you alive, starts at Thews+1d8 or at least one. BTW Luck can be spent on any roll. Luck regenerates at a rate of LVL points per session.

Getting Better

At the beginning of the game and whenever you level up, roll a d8 to see how many Deeds of Renown you have to do before you can level up again. How do we know they are renowned? Because your fellow players will mention them in their session reports. 

When you do level, you gain one more point for combat costs and d8 more Luck.

Dying 

If you get knocked to less than 0 Luck, you will die without magical intervention at the end of ½×d8 rounds.

Crits

Rolling double 8s deals max damage and gives you d8 extra combat cost points to spend this round. If a crit knocks someone to less than 0 Luck, they are dismembered, dead on the spot.

Armor & Encumbrance

All armor mods your foe’s difficulty to hit you and takes up weight slots equal to its modifier. You can carry up to 10+Thews things (any more than that is -1 point to rolls per thing). Armor mods max out at 4, but a shield can take them to 5. 

Weapons

Two-handed weapons deal the better of two damage rolls. One handed weapons give +1 to-hit. Punches have their damage reduced by the foe’s armor rating.

Spells

One can attempt to memorize any spells they come across (found in librams). Each spell takes one hour to memorize and requires a +WIZ roll, modified negatively by spell level,  to enunciate successfully (shot and forgot either way). Retaining spells is draining, reducing the casters available weight slots by one per spell in the brain. For each point of Luck a player is willing to permanently sacrifice at character gen, they can have already found a spell of d8th level.

Foes

Baddies have an 𝓍 in d8 chance of going first each round.

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ICRPG Gerblin Guns & Funky Flintlocks

This is attempt to patch a glaring hole in the rules of ICRPG, which probably shoulda had two more pages of weapons, one for gerblin gun priests, and another for all the polearms. Ew, my Gygax was sticking out.. We need old fashioned guns, that's for sure!

If you roll a nat 1 with any gun, you have exhasted an ammo slot unless you roll a second 1, in which case there is an explosion.

Trusty flintgerb: only does d6 effort at up to near range. Reload as part of a move.

Bermstick: d8 effort, 2 cartriges, one action reload.

Blerkperder Rerfile: d8 effort, easy to hit far targets, 1d4 rounds reload time.

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Of course, there are futuristic ray guns out there somewhere, with better stats.

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Filcho, Drayno, and Wizzo Enter a Bar

I had a sads when I saw how the Twitter algorythm treated my last post. I shouted, “WHAT DID THEY DO TO MY BOY?” Here's a play example to get those rookie numbers up, cuz I’m telling you, the post had some good ideas.

So the titular trio waltz into a watering hole and scope the seats. Filcho and Drayno decide they want to jump into the game of Groat my Gryphon they see at one of the tables, introduce themselves under fake names, and sit down. Meanwhile Wizzo spies a trollop at the bar that doesn’t look too expensive. Oh, you thought Wizzo was a dude and I’m being sexist? Pfft. No, Wizzo is a lady, so that’s on you and thousands of years of patriarchy. 

Filcho and Drayno, rogues that they are, both decide to cheat. Filcho is 3rd level thief, so he has a 3 in 6 chance of thieving. Drayno is a 4th level fighter, and so only has a 1 in 6 chance. Guess who is going to screw this up.

Meanwhile, Wizzo find her own hair in her drink right in the middle of a line about how the Gamete Hills are beautiful this time of year. What the hell? She uses her wizard eyes—she’s 2nd level— to try to find out if magic is afoot. She has a 2 in 6 chance. The player rolls a success. Ah, the culprit is a toxically possessive leprechaun on the whore’s lap. “I see you! Time to taste my Ensquirrelating Beam!”

But just then, a brawl breaks out behind Wizzo. Drayno has fumbled his cheating roll. He attacks an angry gambler with his club. The attack doesn’t hit, but the club damage roll is a 1, so Drayno’s player announces that he kicks the table up on its side to give some cover. 

Filcho wants to do a ambush with his blackjack, and so waits for someone to poke their head around the side. He rolls an attack and hits, but his damage die rolls a 6, so he doesn’t get any extra damage.

Wizzo is like, I just want to get out of here, and runs for the exit. 1 in 6 chance for that, as a wizard. She rolls a 3 though, so someone intercepts her--NO! The DM just had a better idea. Leprechaun chicanery has tied her boot laces together. She takes a pitch forward.

That was round one. Their adventures will continue, but I think I’ve shown how the system can work.

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