General RPG Rules DiscussionDiscuss the rules of any game except D&D or Pathfinder, such as Arcana Evolved, Mutants & Masterminds, Star Wars Saga, d20 Modern, and the like.
I was wondering if anyone could recommend a RPG whose system is primarily based on the use of standard playing cards or, in a pinch, playing cards and normal D6's.
I'm preparing to run a rather oddball wild west game and would love to use cards to keep the western atmosphere. I also would prefer to use something rules-lite as I am not a fan of hardcore, crunchy mechanics.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
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Barking Alien
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Deadlands sounds like a pretty good start. You have playing cards for character creation and spellcasting, though it uses dice for its main gameplay mechanics.
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The old deadlands is probably one of the best for atmosphere. Cards and Pokerchips though it still uses dice. Castle Falkenstein is pretty good also but would need a bit of work to get it to modern western.
I personally really like Savage Worlds, which uses cards for initiative with dice for task resolution and chips for fate points. It is a derivative of the original Deadlands, which used cards for character generation, initiative and magic effects (I think).
But the game you're describing really sounds like Dust Devils:
All Flesh Must Be Eaten has rules for using playing cards rather than d10s. IIRC, everyone gets a hand of 5 cards, and instead of rolling you play a card. The card's value (10 for face cards) is what you have 'rolled'. You can't roll without a good reason, and you have to use all five before you get a new hand. So you'll have to use that 2 somewhere.
Its pretty easy to adapt AFMBE to whatever setting, and they have an old west setting - Fistful o' Zombies. It can be pretty rules light if you don't use the optional rules and keep things simple.
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Still toying around with the options and I really appreciate the ideas given here. I am especially intrigued by those games that are rules-lite and that I was less than familiar with like Dust Devils (heard of it but didn't really know anything about it) and vs. Outlaws (brand new to me - Thanks!). Unfortunately the latter is sold out - Arrggh!
Hmm...All Flesh with cards eh? Curious indeed...
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Barking Alien
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This is something I came up with for my Microlite20 game in which I gave Rogues and Fighters maneuvers from ToBtbo9s.
Spells and Maneuvers are card/deck based.
Every time you gain new spells write them on a 3 by 5 card and add them to your deck, you can simply write the book name, ability name, and a page number if you want. Place them all face down mixed into a deck. If you want to cast the same spell or use the same ability more than once, you may put up to 4 of them into your deck.
After you roll initiative, draw as many cards as you have per point of DEX bonus (minimum 1).
At the end of your turn you may draw one card only. If you roll a natural 20 (during an attack or a counter-attack), you may draw a card (and use it for an attack) immediately.
You may discard a number of cards at the end of your turn to draw different cards.
Start with a number of abilities equal to your MIND Score. Gain a number of new spells each level (Including first level) equal to your MIND Bonus + 1 (Min. of 1).
Although the base system (vs. Monsters) is available via .pdf. It gives a pretty solid idea of how the system would work, though it needs a lot of filling out to actually be played (silly 24 hour rpgs). I'd imagine the not-free version fixes most of those issues.
Quite the enlightening read-through. Thanks for mentioning it, jaerdaph
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Castle Falkenstein.
Completely card based game play, and even has a West supplement.
It's fantasy with steampunk overtones. But can easily be adpated to just a western.
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Aces and Eights isn't considered rules lite, but one of the reasons it is the first Western RPG I have ever fallen in love with is its use of cards and poker chips seriously enhances the "atmosphere". You still primarily use a d20 and damage dice, but you use poker chips to "bid" on various aspects when you have a fist fight, cards are used for chase scenes, and the shot clock is just awesome.
I much prefer it to Savage Worlds/Deadlands. Definitely a taste issue, since I know people who prefer SW/Deadlands over A&8's.
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