What I Like About Nimble 2e (So Far) — A Partial Review

[Velocitree]

Been reading Nimble 2e and wrote up a short partial review (part 1, “the roses”):

Big standouts so far:

• Tense combat: No-to-hit rolls, exploding damage, miss on a 1
• Tactical 3-action turns with real choices
• Monsters look easy to run, yet tricky to fight
• Open license to develop content

Link: Nimbler: Reviewing Nimble 2e, part 1

If you’ve played it, curious how it held up at the table.

 

[HatWearingFool]

I played it a bit over the holidays. I like it quite a bit.

I’ve only run it at low levels, but so far it’s faster, easier to run, and I find combat much more interesting.

Solo bosses and minions are great.

 

[Velocitree]

Excellent! Running a few one shots with it is my plan for the spring. The solo bosses do look like fun.

Did you find that PCs freeze up at all with so many action options, or folks tend to find it intuitive after a bit?

 

[HatWearingFool]

Excellent! Running a few one shots with it is my plan for the spring. The solo bosses do look like fun.

Did you find that PCs freeze up at all with so many action options, or folks tend to find it intuitive after a bit?

I used the action cards which seemed to keep things flowing really well. The players really liked the action cards and found "you have 3 actions to use per round" much more intuitive than D&D 2024's Bonus action, Move action, Action action, Reaction action deal.

Even my son, who doesn't want to play anything but D&D, admitted he loved the action cards and they made things much easier for him.

As a side note to show how confusing "actions" are in D&D, this weekend I participated as a player in (all adult) D&D game in which another player got really upset because she couldn't use their Shield Spell as a reaction since they had already cast a level spell on their turn earlier in the round. At first I thought the DM was wrong, but with a little thought I realized he was probably right since WOTC went out their way to ensure that you can only cast one levelled spell per round. And a quick internet search seemed to confirm.

In contrast in Nimble you get 3 actions you can use at any time for anything, and they get refreshed at the end of your turn. That's pretty simple. And if you use the cards you don't even have an issue tracking how many actions a person has used in a round already.

For me it fixes (so far) many of the issues I have with D&D 2024 and is simpler. I think it will be my default system for "D&D style" games in the future. Although I'm hoping to run Draw Steel when I get a change to run another campaign.

I'm currently running Welcome to the Hellfire Club! starter pack for my son and his friends. They love it because of the stranger things tie in, but you can see how difficult the system is for them (10-11 age range). But when I ran nimble over the holiday's my son participated and it was obviously easier for him. And he currently plays in 3 D&D 2024 campaigns a week, but to be fair he just started this past Fall so he doesn't have a ton of experience with the system.

 

[Arilyn]

I love running Nimble and players really enjoyed the system. It didn't take very long at all to gasp the rules.or to keep track of actions.

The solo monsters are really cool and very challenging. The fact that they take an action after every player turn had my players on edge. These guys can actually be run solo without the need for minions or legendary actions/resistances.

So far, great game. Looking forward to more class's and monsters which have been coming.

 

[Zaukrie]

We've run it about seven times now. It's easy for the GM and players. The characters have interesting things to do, but not so many they can't recall them.

The classes feel distinct. The monsters are easy to run. Three three actions per round are great. Big fan.

 

[HatWearingFool]

The solo monsters are really cool and very challenging. The fact that they take an action after every player turn had my players on edge. These guys can actually be run solo without the need for minions or legendary actions/resistances.

Yes, I find it funny/sad how well--and easily--nimble solved the solo boss issue.

I think that Nimble is the direction D&D should move to, although the lack of world breaking utility spells is an issue if you want the "D&D Feel". In that regard it sounds like DC20 might be more D&D version of Nimble, as I understand Nimble shares a lot of ideas from DC20. But I haven't looked at or used DC20 I'm just guessing based on reviews and comments I've seen.

So far all of my issues with Nimble exists simply because the designer consciously chose to keep the game 5e compatible. And to be fair that is one of the reasons I was willing to invest into the system. I think I can actually get some D&D players I know to try it without a big fight.

Edit: as I was typing this out, my copy of the Hexbinder book and cards arrived!

 

[HatWearingFool]

I know some people would really like more monsters, but I'd really like to see some adventures published for the system. I know I can convert but I'd like more stuff created for the system from the ground up.

I've been looking at using some quarter shot stuff and a couple of other light system agnostic adventures/scenarios I have on hand.

Has anyone converted modules/campaigns with successes? If so which ones?

 

[djotaku]

I know some people would really like more monsters, but I'd really like to see some adventures published for the system. I know I can convert but I'd like more stuff created for the system from the ground up.

I've been looking at using some quarter shot stuff and a couple of other light system agnostic adventures/scenarios I have on hand.

Has anyone converted modules/campaigns with successes? If so which ones?

they have a backerkit or something planned in Feb - maybe then?

 

[djotaku]

Nimble sounds really awesome. I'm going back and forth on it, but the 5e table I run is perfectly fine with Tales of the Valiant. No issues with any of it. (13yo, 10yo, 10yo - and playing for the past 18 months).

If I were bringing in a newbie, probably Nimble.