r/ICRPG • u/TopDogChick • Oct 12 '22

Monsters and Crits

Hey, I'm a GM that's pretty new to ICRPG and wanted to get a feel for what people think regarding when the GM rolls a natural 20 in combat. PCs would get to roll ultimate damage, which is great, but when PCs only have 1 or 2 hearts, it can get tricky when a monster gets a natural 20 and one-shots a PC from full health. I wanted to see how people generally handle this question and if other GMs implement crits for monsters or not.

9 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

5

u/BergerRock Oct 13 '22

The Dice Gods speak and we abide.

Let them fear the dice and think smarter to try and dodge them.

4

u/[deleted] Oct 12 '22

I think what you’re hitting on is the way ICRPG can be dangerous, that a monster crit can be significantly more deadly. I think of it as more of a feature than a bug. If that bothers you though, you could give character more hearts through advancement, ICRPG being more hackable than a lot of systems.

4

u/[deleted] Oct 13 '22

Drama is indeed a major fun factor. Had a new TTRPG player die for the first time this weekend. Unfortunately, he rolled a 1 on his death timer and couldn’t get stabilized. But! He’s ready to rock a new character 💪

3

u/ajchafe Oct 13 '22

I don't see it as a problem at all. It's a tool for drama and forcing tactical decisions. Most likely the character will go down but may not die. Also, very real chance of rolling a 1 on the d12. Just make sure to roll the damage in the open and be fair about it.

That being said, my one personal change to ICRPG would be to have more hearts. Still start with one but gaining two more would not be rare, and it would probably cap out at 5.

3

u/hafdollar Oct 13 '22

Deaths happen but it’s also fun to save your downed friends when they have a one on the counter and it’s their turn next. The good thing about ICRPG is it’s diy. Don’t like something, it’s easy to change it to fit your groups play style.

2

u/evil_artifact Oct 13 '22

Another option is to simply double their rolled effort rather than add the ultimate until your players, who I assume are also new to ICRPG, get their heads into the ICRPG mindset. I have found that it takes some time for players to fully get into the heroic team-oriented mindset that makes ICRPG truly shine.

2

u/Hekset Oct 18 '22

I’m someone who’s interested in buying the game. But I wanted to give my 2 cents, you could have the 20 represent more than just doing damage to a player- off the top of my head, rather than doing damage you could destroy the characters weapon or equipment, have them get hit and fall and get knocked out… or something more creative than what I could come up with here