This idea came to my while considering how to use 4e to run a Magic: the Gathering inspired game, and was refined some in discussion with Gamefiend (Quinn Murphy). The problem, of course, is that 4e is not open enough to allow something like this, and there is prettymuch no likliehood of a M:tG RPG […]
Some Space to Think
Magic as a Failure of Fiction
The 5 minute workday[1] in the dungeon rotated back into discussion again recently. I’m not sure if the context was 5e, Dragon Age or what, but this is one of those things that pops up from time to time in discussion. I’m not going to delve too deep into this issue itself for one simple […]
Rules Blindness
Jared von Hindeman dropped a phrase in twitter today which struck me as a very good way to describe an idea that’s been running through my mind a lot lately – “Rules Blind.” Running a game rules blind means that the players need not know any of the rules to play. Jared proposes it in […]
When I Use Dice
Dice are, to me, an answer to a question. If I already know the answer to the question, I’m not sure what dice have to offer. If I don’t know the answer, then yes, dice are great. Where it gets weird is when I have one answer to the question and another player has […]
Secrets of the World
One fascinating thing about real history is the nature of knowledge. I was having a big nerdy talk with a friend today where she was recounting some history about ancient classics that had been lost and the variety of really interesting people who recovered some of them and what that meant. It’s the kind of […]
ICT: The Black Mage
Sorry about the hiatus, folks. Work is into a crunch and I am lucky to get to the end of the day with enough energy to watch TV, much less put pen to paper. Still, trying to wrestle this beast to the ground, since I don’t want this idea to wither on the vine. So, […]
ICT: Classes Part 2
Ok, so you’ve got a nice shiny die representing your class. That’s all you need, right? Well, sure, we could leave it there, but that would be kind of dull. Instead we’re going to jazz it up with a little bit of crunch that really shines a light on what a class does. At the […]
ICT: Classes Part 1
Classes in ICT are explicitly designed to carry a lot of weight. They have their own rules, with the idea being that you need to learn the core rules, but beyond that you only need familiarity with the rules relevant to your class or classes. In this sense, it’s a bit like 4e, but unlike […]
ICT: Distinction, Plot Points and Gear
DistinctionsIndex Card Tactics made use of distinctions – 3 per characters. For the unfamiliar these are descriptors without die values. Some of the ones we had in play included “Poor sense of direction” and “Very good at WANTING to be a knight”. Players may add a single distinction to a roll: if the player […]
Index Card Situation
This is not technically part of Index Card Tactics, though it’s related, in that another part of ICT is that it uses situation generators like Two Guys With Swords. This is another such tool (and don’t worry, I’ll be getting onto classes and equipment and so on). This trick works best for a group of 4 or […]