More Than Just Dungeon/Hex Crawl

question

#1

So I’ve been looking into ICRPG, watching videos, reading posts here and listening to podcasts. I haven’t been exhaustive in my research, so I apologize in advance if this is a repetitive question.

Having said that, can ICRPG be used for non-dungeon crawl, non-hex crawl games / campaigns? Wondering what insights the shield wall has on the subject.

Thanks for taking the time.

Kevin


#2

Absolutely. The official material alone provides tons of variety and if you add on the hackability of ICRPG, you’re options are really only limited by your imagination and what you want to play.

What are you wanting to play?


#3

Not to out too find a point on it, an ongoing campaign that may last a year or two. Something low-fantasy and relatively rules light. Which is why ICRPG is such an appealing system. But but most if not all of the references I’ve seen so far to the kinds of campaigns that can be run talk about dungeons and hex crawling. And I wasn’t sure if that was a limitation of the system, or a preference of those who created the videos/posts/reviews I’ve seen so far.

Thanks for the insight. And I’m glad to know it can be used for more wide-ranging campaigns.


#4

The loot-centric character progression makes the system lean into the dungeon-crawl style a bit, but anything is possible, really. @GMagnus has been posting for a long while about his ongoing final fantasy hack of ICRPG (more about it here: World Anvil and my Final Fantasy).

My own take is that the base ICRPG system lends it self really nicely to mid-length campaigns: somewhere between 10-30 sessions is my own sweet spot. From what I can tell GMagnus has taken his Final Fantasy game even further by heavily using TAGS, which were introduced in Blood & Snow, but also featured in Vigilante City and Altered State. Tags are basically feats from D&D; bite-sized bonuses and mechanics not tied to loot. That way players get some progression that isn’t tied to loot.

If you want even more player-centric progression for long-form games, You might steal the class feature trees from Pugmire (a really cool take on D&D 5e) or Pathfinder 2e’s talent trees.

There are some GMs around here that let players pick abilities from any game system and they just adapt it to fit the ICRPG style. So maybe you have a player picking abilities from D&D 5e, one from Pathfinder, one from Burning Wheel, etc.


#5

I ran an icrpg campaign for over 2 years to completion and am now I’m knee deep in my 2nd icrpg campaign. It’s such a good system in how adaptable it is to the needs of the players and to the GM.

the reason you see ICRPG mostly related to dungeon crawls is because of the system is all about keeping the action and suspense coming and coming. a few turns of “safety” is felt by the players and that to me is why ppl want to play rpgs, that thrill of over the top danger around every corner.

My advice is when even running towns where players can shop and chat with npcs is still a slave to the suspense dice that is the d4. The timer is at 3? great lets hit the shop, the blacksmith, and the tavern on each round. At 0 the town guard appears and tells the players that the mayor seeks an audience with them immediately pushing the story forward. If that timer was a 1 instead of a 3 well then the players must decide what to prioritize with their 1 Round.

Not being able to do everything they wanted leads to more story in the long run. “crap i never did repair my sword, guess I better find something else asap.”

ICRPG changes how you play RPGs forever once you learn what it has to teach.


#6

Thanks for that! Makes total sense. I was concerned about how sustainable the system is for a game/group who prefer sandbox campaigns.

My current DM has been running our 5e campaign for near on 2 years. I want to give him a similar timeframe as a player before he goes back behind the screen. So I’m glad others have successfully run a long term campaign with icrpg.


#7

As mentioned above. The use of TAGS makes people more comfortable that they can’t have their sneak ability destroyed by acid like if you had sneaking boots. Tags are great. You make an archer… Rather than a quiver that let’s you fire again on a 15+, you get the archer tag. Does the same thing. This would give a more traditional feel.
But one of the core things of icrpg is do what is best for your table. If your group want to chill out in town and talk to the locals and all that just let them. But if you see someone getting bored, or you are, then bust out the D4 timer.

You could also just introduce a very simple level up system. Every 3 sessions or so players can choose a new tag (skill) or equipment . You can have them do quests to get somebody to teach them. Like helping the master wizard with a task to teach your lowly Harry Potter wannabe a new spell.