Hello everyone and I’m glad to have been able to become part of the community. I’m former eternal GM of my group and I do lot of homebrewing on my campaigns and games and thus its no surprise why I’ve gotten fond of Index card rpg, even though I’ve played so little of it. I’m currently working on two homebrew campaign settings which both contain lot of “plug-in” rules that, at least I hope, can be detached from campaign and used in other games. I’d like to hear input for these rules so I can shave and polish them for final form so I’ll pop them here time by time for you folks to check on. I hope someone finds these helpful or useful.
First plug-in is “snowflake’s special table”, random table I used in my games. Idea is that character’s gain some small boon (or bane to balance things out), which set them apart from other player characters and npcs.
Snowflake’s special table
Following table contains list of small boons which can be used to add flavor to character and make him little more special. Only one boon is given per player character and it must be chosen or rolled randomly during character creation.
| d8 | Boon description |
|---|---|
| 1 | Stat bump : Your physique or mentality varies from your normal bioform. Gain +1 bonus to one attribute of your choosing or let fate decide and roll for it. However, this bonus cannot be placed onto attribute that you already gain bonus from your bioform. Random d6; 1: STR, 2: DEX, 3: CON, 4: WIS, 5: INT or 6: CHA |
| 2 | Effort bump : You have learned to place your effort into right place. Gain +1 bonus to one effort of your choosing or let fate decide and roll for it. Just like with attribute bumb, you cannot take this bonus on effort to which you already gain bonus from your bioform. Random d4; 1: Basic, 2: Weapon, 3: Magic or 4: Ultimate. You can also choose to gain bonus on your Armor instead of rolling or with dice result of 1. |
| 3 | Came with money: You have come from the rich family, own a small business or you just cheat with cards. Either way, you have more cash than average peer. You start game with additional 50 coins and way to earn more. This could be by owning a small business, having depts, which you collect, or other small but steady supply which gives you 1d6 coins every now and then. Work with the GM for details. |
| 4 | Heirloom or that’s my favorite gun : You favor single item above all else and it is truly special to you. This could be something like great-great-great-father’s magical sword or that funny ring you found from skeleton on your first adventure. This item is special, either it gives +1 bonus to certain type of effort or it has some unique property but with odd drawback. For example, the magic sword starts to glow faintly when orcs are present but hates them so much that it gives -1 penalty to attempts to attack them. Or the ring could be a key to secret lairs left by master thief but its sought out by every other master thief throughout the world. Work with GM for details. |
| 5 | Natural weapon: Your body consist means to harm someone in a way no one expects. You have natural weapon such as sharp teeth, razor claws or big tail for slamming people. This allows you to use weapon effort for unarmed attacks and your natural weapon has its own keywords depending on type of the “weapon”. |
| 6 | Unnatural physique: Are you sure your father wasn’t a dragon? Your body possesses strange qualities left from heritage better left untraced. This could be numerous things from thick scales, wings that let you fly, unnatural size etc. Work with GM for details. Rule of thumb is that your unnatural body gives you a small boon but also a penalty. |
| 7 | Natural gift: You aint a wizard but that was impressive. You possess ability to cast single tier 1 intelligence or wisdom spell. This spell is more of a natural power to you and thus it doesn’t count towards loots or equipment. Choose the suitable spell with GM. |
| 8 | Companion: It’s dangerous to go alone. You have a loyal companion, a npc character who follows you around and helps you on your journey. This could be anything from loyal dog to that strange old man who you met in cave. Work with GM but usually companions are two hearth npcs with knack of specialization in obscure fields but not for fighting. |
Next one is “Rule of three”. I’m fond of keeping the magic mysterious and strange and while I find both standard system in Index card rpg and its magic supplement useful, I wanted to make little twist for my own game. In essence, idea is that there are three universal laws of magic, to which all spellcasters must obey. Using the Spellburn dice, these laws slowly come into play during the game session, draining the caster and forcing him to eventually rest to regain their powers. However, spellcasters get to choose which law they evoke, giving them little flexibility over the arcane forces.
Magic rule of three:
Spellcasters possess spellburn dice as explained in core rules. When casting spells, spellcaster must combine spell’s level and power adding both to spellburn dice. Addition to rolling check when spellburn dice reaches 4, if combined level of the spell and its power would exceed spellburn dice, counting previous points on the dice, excess points are reduced from caster’s Hit points as the magic strains their body. For example, if spellburn dice is set to 2 and caster casts level 4 spell with 4 power, he would suffer 6 points of damage. This damage occurs before Int or Wis check is rolled to see if spellburn dice resets or not. Rolling Int or Wis check when its full is Easy if caster is near source of power or under light of the dragonstar. System also uses spell failure rules but not spell burn rules form the magic book as the magic is too fickle for to be casted nillywillingly, nor the spellcaster has to pay hp when casting spells. Furthermore when spellcaster fails the Int or Wis check of the spell burn dice, he also must choose and evoke one of the following rules of three. Once all rules are evoked, he has strained himself too much and cannot use magic until he has rested a while in safe place or removed effect via other means. Resting this way revokes all rules of three on him but if rules are revoked by other means it is possible that only some of them are revoked at the time.
1.Character cannot cast the spell he used last until rule of three has been revoked.
2.Character strains himself. All further spellcasting attempts or checks are Hard until rule of three is revoked. If spellcasting would already be or become Hard, spell fails automatically.
3.When rolling duration for spellburn dice, roll d8 instead of d4 until rule of the three has been revoked. This does not increase the size of spellburn dice, only duration of how long caster cannot use magic.
New loot
• Thrice folded metal (Consumable, 3 uses). Strange metal item forged in source of magic. Spellcaster can spend action holding the metal to revoke one Rule of three from himself. Once all uses have been spent, metal unfolds completely, revealing something from inside it.