Here at EN World, I’m looking at all-ages tabletop role-playing games, board games, and card games. Do they engage the players at the kids' gaming table? Would they cut it at the adults' table? Are they genuinely fun for every age? The Pip System Corebook is a multi-genre RPG designed for adults, yet streamlined enough for children. From ENnie Award-winning creator, Eloy Lasanta, this rulebook features 143 pages of genre creation, character creation, skills, enemies, and guidelines for how to present this game to both adults and kids.
The Pip System offers easy to understand rules with options to simplify them even further for your audience, yet it’s designed to work in a variety of genres. Each player selects an archetype that gives their character their starting skills, special ability, a hindrance, base Physical Health (PH), and Mental Health (MH). The game uses two damage counts to determine the character’s health. You use build points to buy more skills as well as qualities (specializations and powers). Near the end of the character creation chapter are quick reference charts and example characters that help to speed up the process. For accessories, armor has an Armor Rating (AR) that increases the number of black dice that act as your character’s defense against being hit. Weapons have Weapon Ratings (WR) that add to your white dice and special properties. Vehicles and their armor and weapons are addressed as well.
But what are these references to black and white dice? That’s the Pip System’s mechanic – rolling against yourself. Your white dice pool represents your attempt to attack or perform a skill check, while your black dice pool represents your opponent’s defense against the attack or the chance you’ll fail at a challenging task. You roll both dice pools simultaneously then compare them to see which had more successes (fours and higher) and that determines the result.
Dice pools for kids. You’re going to need 10d6 of one color of dice and another 10d6 of another color of dice. You *might* be rolling up to 20d6 some rounds and each player will need that number of dice. This system cries out for community dice (mentioned in the book) and a dice tower and, as EN World’s Jeff Duncan discussed with me, twenty dice is a lot for an eight-year-old to hold all at once (small hands).
Does the Pip System win the kids' table? Yes. At the end of the book, there’s a modified ruleset that reduces the system components and math to make the game move faster. Using this, the Pip System can scale with its audience. It’s customizable in every way from rules to setting and allows the players to enjoy a game they’re comfortable with.
Would the Pip System work at the adults' table? Yes. The system is easy but not so simplified that players will become bored due to a lack of variation. The Pip System is an outstanding game for young, and, new, and experienced players to role-play in.
Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links.
The Pip System offers easy to understand rules with options to simplify them even further for your audience, yet it’s designed to work in a variety of genres. Each player selects an archetype that gives their character their starting skills, special ability, a hindrance, base Physical Health (PH), and Mental Health (MH). The game uses two damage counts to determine the character’s health. You use build points to buy more skills as well as qualities (specializations and powers). Near the end of the character creation chapter are quick reference charts and example characters that help to speed up the process. For accessories, armor has an Armor Rating (AR) that increases the number of black dice that act as your character’s defense against being hit. Weapons have Weapon Ratings (WR) that add to your white dice and special properties. Vehicles and their armor and weapons are addressed as well.
But what are these references to black and white dice? That’s the Pip System’s mechanic – rolling against yourself. Your white dice pool represents your attempt to attack or perform a skill check, while your black dice pool represents your opponent’s defense against the attack or the chance you’ll fail at a challenging task. You roll both dice pools simultaneously then compare them to see which had more successes (fours and higher) and that determines the result.
Dice pools for kids. You’re going to need 10d6 of one color of dice and another 10d6 of another color of dice. You *might* be rolling up to 20d6 some rounds and each player will need that number of dice. This system cries out for community dice (mentioned in the book) and a dice tower and, as EN World’s Jeff Duncan discussed with me, twenty dice is a lot for an eight-year-old to hold all at once (small hands).
Does the Pip System win the kids' table? Yes. At the end of the book, there’s a modified ruleset that reduces the system components and math to make the game move faster. Using this, the Pip System can scale with its audience. It’s customizable in every way from rules to setting and allows the players to enjoy a game they’re comfortable with.
Would the Pip System work at the adults' table? Yes. The system is easy but not so simplified that players will become bored due to a lack of variation. The Pip System is an outstanding game for young, and, new, and experienced players to role-play in.
Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links.
