So today, I followed in +Tim B’s footsteps and ran a one-shot of The Indie Hack today.
My personal goal was to do a short, very old-school type Dungeon Crawl, and see how the system handled it.
Here’s a review in brief:
1. Is the game easy to pick up? Yes!
Character creation + teaching the system over hangouts took took about 1 hour and 30 minutes. Not too bad, but I wish I had allotted more time for this.
2. Can you run an OSR module using this system? Absolutely!
You can do it quite well. Traps, monsters, and mystical dangers can be done easily and in a satisfying way. I do not know how a “Big Boss” combat would go. I have yet to try that out in-game.
3. Is it fun? Heck yes!
The dice mechanic is super good. No matter which way the dice swing, it’s exciting! Also, the aid/interfere is AMAZINGLY FUN. It’s flexible as well, in that it can be played well in lieu of planning, but also can reward having a layout/dungeon map/pre-planned home-brewed content.
4. Who would it not be fun for?
People who are looking for the true-blue OSR experience complete with crunch, experience tracking, in-depth advancement, and complex spellbooks.
Also, people who don’t like story games, adding to the fiction themselves, and looser rules which can be somewhat re-interpreted on the fly.
In summary:
It’s a great system! I imagine it would be difficult to NOT enjoy yourself while playing.It’s really fun to GM. The players seemed to enjoy themselves too. (Though, my time management was not perfect this time around.)
I get the feeling that a full multi-session adventure would do well in the system.
Thanks Slade Stolar for making the game, and all who gamed with me; new friends Christian Hundahl and Andrew Fish and veterans Jim Cummings and Jennifer Erixon
yeah it was really fun, i feel like the dice mechanic is really nice, you can get some swingy rolls, but all and all, i felt it was pretty fun.
yeah it was really fun, i feel like the dice mechanic is really nice, you can get some swingy rolls, but all and all, i felt it was pretty fun.
I’m glad you enjoyed it! In our sessions, character creation was about 20 minutes, and then we jumped right in. Did you spend a lot of time discussing the rules?
I’m glad you enjoyed it! In our sessions, character creation was about 20 minutes, and then we jumped right in. Did you spend a lot of time discussing the rules?
Is there a link to the ruleset?
NM:
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/192215/The-Indie-Hack
Is there a link to the ruleset?
NM:
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/192215/The-Indie-Hack
Slade Stolar Kind of. I think we could have cut that down by a bit retrospectively. Also, yes, next time, chargen could be done in like, about 30 minutes because I have the familiarity now, and know where things are in the PDF.
Slade Stolar Kind of. I think we could have cut that down by a bit retrospectively. Also, yes, next time, chargen could be done in like, about 30 minutes because I have the familiarity now, and know where things are in the PDF.
I read your other comment elsewhere, it all makes sense now. If each player has access to the pdf, it’s much faster.
I read your other comment elsewhere, it all makes sense now. If each player has access to the pdf, it’s much faster.
Thanks for the review. Im still new at story game style rpgs so Im sticking with Dungeon World for the moment but the Indie Hack is definitively on my “to try out list”. Its also a great move to have made the rules open content. Its gonna help spread the interest in the long run.
Thanks for the review. Im still new at story game style rpgs so Im sticking with Dungeon World for the moment but the Indie Hack is definitively on my “to try out list”. Its also a great move to have made the rules open content. Its gonna help spread the interest in the long run.
Maxime Lacoste Oh, you’ll like it. Spells are a lot of fun, since they are very flexible, based on how you define them fictionally.
Maxime Lacoste Oh, you’ll like it. Spells are a lot of fun, since they are very flexible, based on how you define them fictionally.
Awesome! Good to hear.
Awesome! Good to hear.
I found it a little difficult to pull an old school dungeon crawl mindset out of the closest and add to the fiction at the same time. I imagine that may be idiosyncratic.
I found it a little difficult to pull an old school dungeon crawl mindset out of the closest and add to the fiction at the same time. I imagine that may be idiosyncratic.