STALKER7

Outlining an upcoming game project, I’ve circled back to a RPG campaign I’ve been running for a friend and his kids, Shadows in Greengate Forest.

Now my friend had played Das Schwarze Auge (The Black Eye) growing up in Germany, but his children had never played any sort of collective story-telling adventure game, let alone a miniatures wargame. But, after seeing my converted workshop and asking a lot of questions, they were keen to give it a go.

With no way to gauge any long-term interest at that point, or any desire to sell them on an existing commercial system, I converted the RPG system from Jonathan Hicks’ excellent games ‘Those Dark Places’ and ‘Pressure’ to a standard fantasy setting.

Convert is a bit generous. More of a cobble, really. I swiped four-stat characters along with the super simple ‘D6 + modifiers’ resolution to make a Wizard, a Fighter, a Ranger, and a Druid. (with a rabbit familiar. Mr. Ears. Grand Rabbit McFlop. The Duke of Hop.) I re-labeled sci-fi skills in generic/fantasy terms, then ported a couple spells from Nightwatch Blood and Bone so the casters had some heft in combat.

It worked. The kids picked up on the D6 system in no time, switching between narrative and tactical, the theater of the mind story-telling and tabletop combat with miniatures. (imagination + toy soldiers)

Better, they grasped the RPG concept pretty much right out of the gate. (They’re avid readers, so of course they did.) Good news is they’re coming back for session 3 in a couple weeks.

Too early to pat myself on the back for ‘passing the hobby torch’ but I’m pleased nonetheless.

My point in all this is twofold:

First is to commend Mr. Hicks for his work. The CASE character profile (Charisma, Agility, Strength, Education) plus the ‘1D6 plus modifiers’ is straightforward and brilliant, IMO. Once a character’s core abilities, the skill specialization, and any cool gear are in place, it’s genuinely intuitive.

Both Those Dark Places and Pressure have a lot more to offer, not merely in terms of industrial sci fi role-playing, but as a system offering a breadth of possible complexity in any genre. I will be mining those resources for Greengate and more.

The second reason is more a question concerning the frequency of ‘house rules’ and the stealing, cobbling, and adjusting “official” commercial rule sets to fit your personal/game group’s preferences. How common is that?

Totally understand why that approach is frowned up for competitive games, the tournament scene, or pick-up games with strangers at a FLGS. Everyone needs to be on the same page for good and obvious reasons.

I’m talking about at your home/local club/among friends. As long as any changes are understood and accepted among the members, and the adjustments/modifications don’t undermine the core intent and structure of the game, why not tailor a game to fit?

Now perhaps the answer is evident by the flood of decent/good/great indie pubbed games available through the miracle of the internet. Whether they’re adaptations and variations produced under open licenses, or original inventions, a cursory search turns up new titles every week. Which is excellent, BTW.

I am curious to know if the practice of modifying, mix-n-match is common.Or is there an unspoken prohibition against the practice?

If yes, then why and when do you do it? If not, then what is cause for reluctance?

That’s it for now. Thanks for stopping by. Good hunting.

• In case anyone was interested, here’s a sample CASE profile from one of the Greengate PCs.

Specialty tools/gear would provide additional bonuses to the relevant challenge. IMO, those items would be extremely rare. A quest item or reward for exceptional conduct.

Core Stat	Modifier	Related Skills	Bonus
Charisma	2	Persuade/Lead	0
		Bargain/Trick	1
		Discern/Perceive	1
		Resolve/Courage	0
Agility	3	Ranged Attack	0
		Stealth	1
		Dodge/Defend	0
		Climb/Jump	1
Strength	2	Melee Attack	0
		Carry/Push/Pull	0
		Grapple	0
		Endure	0
Education	1	Logic/Science	0
		History/Lore	0
		Reason/Debate	0
		Medicine/Navigate	0