5E Hardcore Mode by Runehammer

#1
#2

Looks at the price…

And I was about to buy this too, until I noticed that Hank was a 500 feet tall crustacean from the paleolithic era.

#3

Best D&D read ever. This short book has all the feels.

#4

Lots of good ideas in here, but some ambiguities. Spells so a fourth level Cleric has access to all 4th level spells, great been arguing this is the correct way to go since 1983. So is it 7 spells from those four levels of your choice?

#5

I read it like all spells

#6

Me: I have ICRPG now why go back to 5e…

Also me: but hard core mode sounds so awesome…

Me: I have enough books and no time to read them all…

Also me: To late you already bought it…

#7

HARDCORE is a shooooort read.

#8

It does look like a short read, and wow this art is amazing!

#9

This is amazing. Clean. Simple. The bridge I wanted to help my 5e friends cross over to ICRPG land!

#10

I havent picked it up yet, but a lot of the preview looks kinda like… I dunno… the way D&D used to be.

#11

It’s $3.50. Bite the bullet and ditch the morning coffee; you won’t regret it. Not only is the layout clean, it will de-clutter your 5E sessions to get more done in less time.

#12

Lots of goodies in here for any system! And the art is beautiful. One of Hanks best in terms of production I think.

Have some thoughts/questions I’d love to hear other views on.

  1. Death save seems so harsh, damn.

  2. Theoretically could Zymer’s Candle be used almost every time a character dies? What are the implications?

  3. I was a bit confused by spells as well. So no more slots, no more casting spells at higher “power” levels. So now you have no limits on how many times you can cast? Can anyone confirm?

#13

That looks correct. You have to roll to cast though, and critical failures mean bad news. Also, short sentence notes that spells are only lost if you successfully cast. So that’s interesting!

#14

ok. bought and read. Who is making the customized character sheets now? WHO??? :grin:

#15

  1. Death is the fairest thing in the universe. Death is life’s Oprah.

  2. Yup, if it’s in a safe place and one can call upon its power. BUT, distorting time does not come with unforseen consequences. As a GM I would change a few details, and if they use it too often, start to change their timeline >:D

  3. Roll to cast. Gain access to all spells of that level. Is what I take from it.

#16

I think there is an updated version that clarifies spells a bit. I didn’t see before 1.4 though, so have nothing to compare.

  • At level up you have access to choose 3 new spells of current level
  • Roll to cast
  • Frequency limits on spells do still apply (crit success do not expend frequency count; crit fail do not expend frequency but do something… else)
#17

Cool. Well I know veeery little of D&D in general so never trust me.
What is this Frequency?

I see he hasnt updated the Immortal pooo… ok scratch that

#18

While each gm will probably make their own ruling, from a design standpoint Zymer’s Candle works through the rule of “lame”. That is: you can always place it someplace safe, and return back to that place, but at some point it’s going to be really tedious (as players) to go back and recover the candle. To avoid being lame, it’s in your interest to bring the candle as far as you can, not because of any mechanical penalties but because you want to progress (and definitely don’t want to die backtracking).

#19

Great point!
Didnt think of that one

#20

Grabbed it. SKILLED AND UNSKILLED poses a small challenge for 5e Bards’ Jack of all Trades, ,but perhaps giving the Bard something to compensate could be worked out.