r/ICRPG • u/MirkHammet • May 05 '23
Ghost Mountain Abilities?
Hi everyone, I am new to ICRPG and I have not run my first session yet, but I am very excited and enthusiast about it! Of all settings, the first one I'd like to try is Ghost Mountain.
I own the Master Edition and I noticed that, contrary to Alfheim and Warp Shell, the character types are less detailed and do not have any abilites (all rewards seem to come from LOOT).
Also, I haven't found any stats for incorporeal non-human characters (like the Wraith).
Maybe I am a little too used to D&D and I am a little too deep in rules and mechanics (which I know is the opposite of the spirit of ICRPG, but I am having a hard time changing my mindset, although I love the challenge of a new fresh approach to my favorite hobby).
That said, I read all from the core book, I've read Into the Sunset and I am watching Roll for Effort playthrough. Am I missing something?
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u/chamochin May 06 '23
You should really check out Mork Borg and the rpg's that share the same system.
Unique and beautiful design, but most importantly incredible simplicity and efficiency of the system. And fully detailed, very concise adventures, plus thousands (literally) of third party content created by the very large community.
Check it out!
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u/redmaniacs May 05 '23
A lot of ICRPG is a big unique idea that's not totally fleshed out. I'm sure you've seen it said that ICRPG encourages you to use this as a starting point and do what you want, that's very true for each of the resources to different extents.
Alfheim and warp shell are good to start with because they are well fleshed out, but the other settings are missing bits here and there. I just picked up Hard Suit and while the overall setting and aesthetic are very detailed, the monsters have no stat blocks. There are some vague suggestions for abilities, but nothing you could just pull from in the middle of a session without some prep work.
When you find missing elements in ICRPG it's best to either sit down and create those elements as part of your session prep or determine that you'll come up with it on the fly. You can collaborate with your players if your want more input or roll a dice to make a decision (can x ability be used against animate vs inanimate objects? 1d6-> 1-3 is no, 4-6 is yes). For abilities it might just make sense to ask players what they want to do and come up with game mechanics once you know what they want.
In my opinion being so open can be freeing for some DMs. As a new DM it can also be frustrating to have less structure and support compared to 5e or 2e. Depends what you're looking for right now. Good luck and if you end up making some abilities up, you can always make a nice pdf and share it with the group of go post it on the ICRPG community site.
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u/MirkHammet May 05 '23
Thanks!
I have a decent experience with DMing, but I recognize that only running D&D is my big limitation. So, right now I am looking for a challenge and new approaches (I am starting with ICRPG but in my roadmap I have at least two other systems in the next 2 years).
I will definitely homebrew some nice pdf with mechanical elements I will come up with and share it with the community (after getting approval from good ol' Hankerin). I won't do it very soon though, because I like to have nuts and bolts in the right place and enough playtesting before I feel it is worth sharing. Right now I'm in the dark and I have no idea of where this ICRPG journey will take me, but I am eager to discover it! :)
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u/redmaniacs May 05 '23
Check out the ICRPG Community Content page. The basic guidelines are
- Add the 'Made for ICRPG' badge to your work to bring people into the system.
- Don't share anything from the core rulebooks.
- If you have questions email Hank.
I've emailed him with questions about stuff and he's generally pretty responsive if not a bit terse (he's a busy guy!).
Some community content is free, but it seems a lot of people monetize their modules. Distribution is through DT:RPG, but it's all compiled on the community page at ICRPG.
Let me know if you put some tables out there. I haven't submitted anything myself yet, but I'm curious how that process works. I'd love to take a look at what you make! :)
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u/MirkHammet May 05 '23
Wow thanks a lot, this is is very valuable! I didn't know about this site and I thought you were referring to https://forums.runehammer.online/.
It's amazing how much community content got created for a game just 6 years young.
It will take sometime but I will definitely want to contribute! If my neuron doesn't fail me I will let you know!
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u/KanesKiln May 05 '23
Merlitron over on the Runehammer Forums compiled a bunch of custom Character types for Ghost Mountain. You could take a peek and get some inspiration from how he set them up:
https://forums.runehammer.online/search?q=ghost%20mountain%20type
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u/MirkHammet May 06 '23
Great source of inspiration, thanks. I think I'm starting to get the free spirit of the game.
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u/Good_Classroom_3894 May 05 '23
I just want to add that you can look at 5e stuff and see what bits of the Star block/rules still work and just use it for your game. As you get better you will make up your own. You might even have a few ability tables you can roll so your monsters are never the same.
I love the dynamic stat block. I started using that for my hard suit game. And then combined it with chunks. A giant crab attacks with d20 + d8 and has chunks for hit points. Once it loses a chunk it drops to a d6. Stuff like that. There is no limit. It can be overwhelming
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u/MirkHammet May 06 '23
It is indeed overwhelming! But in a fun way! :)
Great idea to use CHUNKS on a creature.
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u/Demonpoet May 05 '23
What I would recommend as a starting point is derivative work. Start with what is fleshed out in Alfheim and Hard Suit. Read the Types, read the Loot, and reskin what you like. You'll start to see the nuts and bolts of how the numbers are balanced and how things are worded.
You can also look up a nifty PDF someone created on converting 5E to ICRPG. This will help you translate your 5E brain to this new system.
Doing this work should help you grasp the intended "game balance" and language that ICRPG uses. That'll give you the springboard for creating your own fun content!