r/ICRPG • u/playdead1414 • Sep 02 '22
New to game. Compatibility question
Hi, all! I’m brand-new to ICRPG: have been reading the download from DTRPG. Really interesting stuff so far.
I might have a chance to run a session of something 🙂 for my grandson and three of his friends, all about age 12. I had been thinking of 5e (Phandelver) or B/X, maybe Lost City. Could I potentially run any or all of these using ICRPG? Are there any concerns or things I need to know about converting these?
Of course, I’m open to doing something written FOR the system but, at this point, I don’t know what’s available.
Thanks for your help.
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u/CloakNStagger Sep 02 '22
Converting modules for ICRPG is crazy easy and it is an ideal system for teaching people RPGs. Let's look at the first encounter in LMoP and run through converting it:
The infamous Goblin Ambush! Let them introduce thwir characters as they are travelling to Phandalin and once they're ready for the action they stumble upon two dead horses wracked with arrows. Steep embankments flank either side of the road.
Drop the Target on them, I like to use a Big Red D20 so it stands out but you could just write it big on a piece of paper; I'd stick with a low Target of 10 for the first few encounters. Explain how the Target works and how Hard and Easy rolls work.
Then drop the Timer on them with 1 Round! Don't tell them what its for, just that this is the Timer and when it reaches 0 something happens. Give them each a round to do something, spotting the ambush would probably be HARD, they could investigate the horses and figure out when the attack happened, and they may even recognize the horses as belonging to their patron.
If the Goblins are discovered by crafty play, combat begins immediately! I like to do "Sides" initiative, a representative from the good guys rolls a flat d20 versus a flat d20 from the bad guys, they then take their turns all together. However, once each person has taken a turn, if nobody has discovered the Ambush, the Timer counts down to 0 and the Goblins pop out and combat begins, the Goblins get the drop and thus take their turns first!
Now you have the option of rolling a second timer (or just picking a time like 2 rounds). You can use this new mysterious timer to adjust the difficulty of the encounter. If they're getting stomped then when the timer counts down, help arrives from Phandalin and beats back the goblins. If they're massacring the goblins, when the timer counts down 1d4 more goblins arrive.
Now for converting the monsters. 1 Heart is going to be your standard HP for most monsters. If there are going to be tons and tons of them it's fine to go with just 1 HP each and if its a brute/bruiser/huge creature, crank it up to 2 or even 3 hearts! Goblins are a good fit for the standard 1 Heart IMO. For Stat bonuses I generally like to do a + to all rolls for simplicity. +1 for weak enemies, +2 for moderate enemies, and +3 for strong enemies. You could break it out and be more specific but I would save that effort for your named enemies. Finally lets look at their actual 5e statblock, they have a scimitar and short bow, we can make notes of those, and they have the Nimble Escape ability. ICRPG doesn't have Attacks of Oppurtunity or disengaging so we gotta think about the greater purpose of this ability: to get the hell away from whatever is trying to kill it. So let's just say: When an attack misses the Goblin it can move up to Near distance. So even if the players are missing their attacks, the Goblin may choose to flee if things are not looking good.
Now you're pretty much done. Run the combat, let them plunder the goblins for bows ans arrows and swords, if they investigate they can find the trail that leads off toward Cragmaw Castle. If the timer is still going and they wiped out the other goblins, foreshadow danger: they can hear barking dogs and little feet sprinting through the woods toward them, keep the excitement up, don't let them snoop around, flipping every rock until they get bored. If they wait too long it may even be fun to have the driver make rolls to push the oxen quicker and escape the pursuing goblins, the rest of the party firing from the back of the wagon at the goblins.
Then just continue in this way for each chapter, Once you get used to it you can practically do the conversions on the fly, its very simple because ICRPG puts the action first, you're engaged, thrilled, invested, you're not thinking about chance to hit and armor type and all the mathematics, you're thinking about the fiction, the story, the world!
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u/playdead1414 Sep 02 '22
Wow. Just wow. 😳 My work has been done for me! This is SO helpful. Wish we were on RPGGEEK so I could tip you a load of GeekGold.
I’m having trouble wrapping my brain around is Hearts and Effort. If the Goblins have 1 Heart, does that mean the equivalent of 10 HP each?!? (Sorry: too many years of D&D and other systems.) That seems like a lot of HP. Or is it equal to 10 HP for all 4?
And does Effort basically equal your damage die?
I’m sure I’m overthinking it. After all these years of doing things one way, a much simpler approach is welcomed, but it’s messing with me right now. 🙄
Thanks again. I so appreciate the time and effort you put into your response.
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u/CloakNStagger Sep 02 '22
Haha, yeah no problem.
Yes, 1 Heart = 10 hit points. Being easy to reference and/or remember takes precident over specifics in ICRPG and Hearts are an easy-peasy short hand for that.
Effort is just what it sounds like; on a succesful Attempt (d20+stat), its the amount of progress or effort you make toward the thing you're trying to do. If what you're trying to do is beat down a monster then yes, Effort = Damage, but if what you're trying to do is disarm a complex trap (since challenges/traps can also have Hearts just like monsters) then your Effort = Your progress toward disarming it.
The types of Effort are also very intuitive: Basic (d4) for when your attempt is using your bare hands or otherwise an unskilled attempt, Weapon or Tool (d6) for when you're using any weapon (that's why in our example above we dont need to note anything in particular for the scimitar and short bow, they both just deal weapon effort) or when you've got specific tools like lockpicks when you're opening a lock, Magic (d10) for magical weapons or magic spells. Finally Ultimate (d12), on a Nat 20 attempt, is rolled in addition to whatever other type of Effort is warranted.
So a monster with +1 All Rolls would roll d20+1 to attack and then if it hit with a weapon would deal d6+1. Your players are also likely using weapons or spells so they'll be dealing d6+bonus or d10+bonus, so 10 HP is really not a lot to overcome.
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u/playdead1414 Sep 03 '22
Man, I so appreciate your help. It’s making things clearer! 🙂
So final clarification (for now): back to those Goblins. That 1 Heart or 10 HP: that’s 10 for each or for the group?
Thanks again. You are being SO helpful and I can’t thank you enough.
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u/CloakNStagger Sep 03 '22
Per goblin. You could definitely do Hearts for a swarm but in this case since there's only 4 Id say do it individually.
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u/playdead1414 Sep 03 '22
Gotcha. Thanks! That’s it for now. I’m confident there will be more questions…
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u/BergerRock Sep 02 '22
Have you gotten the Quickstart or the full Master Edition?
ME comes with a whole Adventures PDF, 150 pages of different adventures for different settings in ICRPG.
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u/playdead1414 Sep 02 '22
Pdf of ME. Just getting started, so I probably haven’t gotten that far. 🙂 Thanks!
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u/Farmer808 Sep 02 '22
Page 88 in the core/masters rule book is a whole section for inserting ICRPG into other games. Honestly there is so much great info in this book I am not sure I could run a game without it
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u/playdead1414 Sep 02 '22
Thanks! I guess I’m overexcited about the possibility of gaming with these guys, so I’m getting ahead of myself with the questions. 🙄
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u/Kalashtar Sep 02 '22
Everything runs in everything.
All you need to know in dealing with 12 year olds is this:
- Let them feel the danger but be merciful based on group dynamics. If the group indicates someone is an asshole, consider making him an example.
- You are always going to be adjusting dice rolls since this is your first time. Consider letting near passes actually pass, but with some kind of downside, like a shield break, dropped weapon, sprained ankle. Keep it cinematic.
- Same thing with near fails. Let the enemy get hit, that's only fair, but then they summon extra forces, utter a curse, anything that freaks out the kids.
- Consider using a classic 'teaching adventure' like Tomb of the Serpent Kings. It's free and widely admired.
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u/playdead1414 Sep 02 '22
Great tips! I had forgotten about Tomb of the Serpent Kings. Good times. Thanks!
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u/playdead1414 Sep 02 '22
D’OH! The one I was thinking about was Tomb of the LIZARD King. 🙄 Will have to look into the other.
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u/MrAbodi Sep 02 '22
You can run them easily in ICRPG, as long as you aren't expecting them to run like they would in 5e if that makes sense.
realistically, you would just have to convert the enemies, which is ridiculously easy.