Hi everyone!
I successfully converted my DnD group to ICRPG! I gave them a choice to pick from all the great campaign settings and they chose Bearcats!
My questions are: where can I find resources on playing Bearcats with ICRPG?
Are there any actual play videos out there that I can steal ideas from?
Any tips you guys have on running Bearcats would be appreciated! Thanks.
I believe @KaneDriscol loves bear cats and has done some work with it. As do I. But only ever tried it once and my players weren’t feeling the kids. Sadly.
But it is a great little town
As Surf said, Kane might have a bearcats video on his YouTube channel, Kane’s Kiln. That being said, I have played and run Beacats using ICRPG on a number of occasions.
Here are a few notes.
For character creation:
All characters roll easy for any special abilities or skills in which they are naturally inclined.
For weapons, use stats on p.27 in the bearcats PDF (or p.75 in the Sci-Punk Anthology).
Enemy stats:
Jugger
Two hearts
3 attacks
+3 all rolls
Energy cannon, 1d10, multiple targets
Rip sword, 1d12, destroys armor
Missile swarm, 1d4 targets, 1d6 damage
Energy shield, soak/ignore 1d10 damage
Hurl, crush, recover
Explodes on death, 2d12
Spider
5 hp
1 attack
Outmaneuver and surround foes, attacks in mass, very high speed
Rapid fire cannon, 1d4, no roll required, destroys equipment
Can be hacked
Relay
2 hearts
2 attacks
+2 all rolls
Gives a +2 bonus to all allies up to far
Sweeper ray, 1d12 all targets
Sonic sickness, con save or roll hard for 1d4 rounds
Biocide cloud, 1d12 damage, then 1d4 for 1d4 rounds thereafter
Calls reinforcements
Jams all transmissions
Spec Op Soldiers
1 heart
+2 all rolls
Possible Spec ops soldier gear:
Tek50, 2d6 damage
Arc gun, con save. On a success, -2 to all attacks for 1d4 rounds. On a fail, paralysis for 2 rounds
M90, 3d6 damage to up to 2 targets
Tac helmet, +2 armor, +2 gun effort, +1 wis
Arc sword, 1d12 damage, 2d12 against invader armor.
Body Armor, +3
Bicocide paint always does 1d12 damage, plus 1d4 for 1d4 rounds thereafter. Nasty stuff
Tech
Energy cannon, 1d10, emp disables tech, 1d4 rounds to reload
Magnet Gun, 1d8 to up to 3 targets in a straight line
Power arm, +3 str, +4 basic effort, all non-attack str rolls are easy
Atmo helmet, +2 armor, immune to biocide cloud and enough oxygen for up to an hour, +1 int, +1 wis, see thermal
Rip Sword, 2d6 damage, cuts through anything, destroys gear and armor
Shield module, soak/ignore 1d6 projectile damage
Fusion Core, add d12 damage to any weapon. Set as an explosive for 4d12 damage. On a Nat 1, instantly explodes for 4d12 damage. Can be used as a power source for vehicles, etc.
Jump Repulsor, +1 dex, take an extra near move. Once per location, dodge one hit entirely.
After that, just use the sci-fi or altered state loot tables.
That should get you pretty close to a full game.
Holy crap! Thank you so much! I’m still a newish GM so you just saved me a ton of headaches!
Couple more specific questions: Planning on playing on the physical map, how did you judge movement distances?
How did you handle encounters? Did you random roll encounters or were the enemies already on the map hidden by fog of war?
Thanks again.
My pleasure.
That map is huge! If on a VTT, size your tokens to look about right for the school. Then go from there. If in person, or in general, PC’s can move 5 or 6 of their token size for a near move, and double that for a far move.
Both. The way I started was one Jugger at the school. One Jugger should be a huge handful. Remember, it could crush a school bus! Once the players engaged, I rolled a timer, and that represented reinforcements showing up.
Like a zombie apocalypse, players should try to avoid these machines of death at all costs. Being out in the open has consequences. If they can successfully sneak away, they might have some reprieve. But, if they engage, these aliens will show up in force and pour it on them. So, I would have timers going; some enemies hidden in the forest; some enemies stationed at various parts: the bridge, in town, etc. Going around the edge of a building has a chance for players to be spotted. There is always a jugger flying over head or relays landing nearby or spider bots pouring out of the woods. Remember that the aliens are actively searching for survivors. Create traps. Ambushes. Have the enemies post a fake distress signal. Or, it’s a real signal with a nice ally at the end, but the enemies are lying in wait too.
From there, remember, like a zombie apocalypse, there will also be human interaction. Some survivors might be helpful, and others might not. The lady at the store might give them some gas, but the crazy gun store owner might be super dangerous.
Also, remember that the invasion made life super difficult. Cars won’t start because their electrics are fried. Tanks are mostly destroyed. If they can get a tank turret working, it might have one or two rounds, max. Repairs rolls will be necessary. Gear should be sparse. Make players feel like they have to earn every inch of that map, either through stealth or serious combat. If they can just zip around to the heart of town, then bearcats will fall flat. They have to work for answers and solutions.
What Alex said 
But to go along with all that goodness, I do have some resources for Bearcats because it’s awesome!
Video on I how make characters https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=846lUckMjyw
I have a players booklet that I can share with you. I’ll message you on the side.
Working through the “campaign” include in Bearcats is a great way to get a feel for the setting (as is watching Red Dawn).
And whenever I play on the physical map I just use the “Handy chart” but that is for the full scale large map printed out on vinyl. On smaller maps, just establish what is close, near, and far and you should be good to go. Just feel that out.
You guys are literal campaign savers! I was feeling overwhelmed by the conversion to ICRPG.
One more question!
Did you guys use CHUNKS for the bigger Invaders or should is a single HP bar better?
Thanks a million yet again!
When I was in the original playtests, Hank did not run them with chunks, and I have not run them that way in my games, either. Instead, they were just extra tough.
That being said, you totally could use chunks, and the game would be epic. Because every chunk is tied to an ability, it would be super fun as a player to whittle down a large foe in this way. Great idea!
One amazing moment in my game with Hank was our defeating an Alpha, but then the hatch opened, and the Skellie slithered out! We had to hold it off for multiple rounds until it finally suffocated outside of its armor. Making the Alpha “suit” have chunks would be super fun, and then the Skellie could revert back to normal hit points. It would totally reinforce the idea that the Skellies “wear” the armor like a power suit.