2400 & 24XX: a Beautiful, Three-Page, Micro RPG

[ProfessorDetective]

Its a wonder what you can squeeze onto three pages.

I've been recently binge reading a growing series of tiny Indie RPGs from one Jason Tocci, simply titled 2400. These 15+, three-page-plus-cover, books are all settings for a very elegant system.

Roll a 1d6.
If hindered: downgrade and roll 1d4.
If skilled: upgrade and roll 1d8, 1d10, d12, or d20, depending on skill level.
If assisted: roll 2dX, X depending on the above.
1-2 is failure, 3-4 is success with drawback, 5+ is full success.

That's the system. Each setting adds elements (gear and traits, mainly) that can tack on bonuses or penalties to these Skill rolls, but that basic equation is unchanged. This makes it dirt simple to learn and run.

Of course, that'd be just a bare framework if not for the setting books. Including (quoted from Tocci's Itch page):

Cosmic Highway: space truckers trying to keep their rust bucket flying
Inner System Blues: cyberpunk freelancers in a grainy retro-future
Orbital Decay: a space-horror scenario generator
ALT: uplift, AI, and clone operatives in a world without death
Zone: exploring an area where known science no longer applies
Exiles: twenty weirdos surviving in a xenotech-riddled quarantine world
Xenolith: an alien crew faces threats from ancient relics
Eos: human marines fight for the common good in the galactic community
Project Ikaros: rogue psychics flee—or fight—elite agents
The Venusian Job: a casino heist above the clouds on another world
Codebreakers: reality-hackers elude daemons to escape The Simulation
Data Loss: memory-corrupted clones collect SOULs on a ruined world
Resistors: activist hackers take on corps in a cyberpunk dystopia
Habs & Gardens: community responders on an idyllic (?) space station
Tempus Diducit: timeline-bending mashup setting for all 24XX games

Each gives you just enough to build out adventures and campaigns while also adding new traits and gear for PCs to utilize. There is also the Emergency Rules, basically a GM's Guide that expands the system just a bit, in case you want to interpret/improv as little as possible.

And, if you want to write your own setting or build from the system, there's even an SRD (the aforementioned 24XX).

The series is available on itch.io (2400 by Jason Tocci) or DTRPG (DriveThruRPG.com). Each book (exempting Inner System Blues and Emergency Rules, those two are Pay-What-You-Want) will run you about $2 each, or $6 for all currently released materials (new books are added fairly frequently). The 24XX SRD is also available for free from the same pages.

(Look, I've been fascinated by this system for a few weeks now. I've been in love with rules-lite games since Fate Core/Accelerated with Mothership 0E being a close second. I also exploited DTRPGs bundle system to grab the last three books for under $1.50 combined, so I wanted to give back with a signal boost. Plus, no threads had been posted about it, couldn't let that stand. Hope I can actually PLAY these, eventually.)

 

[Haiku Elvis]

I was just looking at these on itch. The art always grabs my attention I just doubt I'd ever use them. I suspect they'd be more inspiration for other things. But then $6 isn't a lot and I like to reward people making interesting things....

 

[TheAlkaizer]

I just bought them on Itch.io on creator day and sent to to get printed at my local print shop. Bought a couple of micro-RPGs too. Should be receiving them on monday.

 

[Malmuria]

I got the 24xx SRD a few months ago because it was being discussed among examples of rules lite "free kriegspiel" type games. Predictably, I have not had time to play it, or any of the associated games, but it is near the top of my list!

 

[dragoner]

I was looking at those, as I just started an itch page also, they look cool.

 

[GMMichael]

Roll a 1d6.
If hindered: downgrade and roll 1d4.
If skilled: upgrade and roll 1d8, 1d10, d12, or d20, depending on skill level.
If assisted: roll 2dX, X depending on the above.
1-2 is failure, 3-4 is success with drawback, 5+ is full success.

There's gotta be a little more, right? I mean, even if hindered, "I flatten the mountain" has 50/50 odds of some sort of success?

I'll say, having three die-roll outcomes is fully 50% better than succeed/fail.

 

[overgeeked]

I got the 24xx SRD a few months ago because it was being discussed among examples of rules lite "free kriegspiel" type games. Predictably, I have not had time to play it, or any of the associated games, but it is near the top of my list!

I absolutely love the FKR stuff I've seen. You can't beat hyper-light games where "roll 2d6 opposed, higher roll wins" is the sum total of the rules. Stop worrying about the rules and get on with playing the game.

There's gotta be a little more, right? I mean, even if hindered, "I flatten the mountain" has 50/50 odds of some sort of success?

I'll say, having three die-roll outcomes is fully 50% better than succeed/fail.

Well, it's an FKR game so things like common sense and genre appropriateness are assumed limits rather than word count being wasted explaining things like why a normal human standing on the earth holding up a finger and pretending its a gun cannot shoot the moon out of the sky.

 

[GMMichael]

Stop worrying about the rules and get on with playing the game. . .
Well, it's an FKR game so things like common sense and genre appropriateness are assumed limits rather than word count being wasted explaining things like why a normal human standing on the earth holding up a finger and pretending its a gun cannot shoot the moon out of the sky.

Well yeah, that's a waste, but it's supposed to illustrate the point - not be the point.

The problem that you might run into is this: the player wants to do something, but the GM thinks that it defies genre appropriateness, so she doesn't allow it - although it seems perfectly reasonable to the player. It might be better to tell the player, "roll, but the failure bar is 5 instead of 2" rather than, "no you can't do that because I said so."

I agree with getting on with the game, but you can use rules to increase agreement between PCs and GMs, which actually facilitates playing the game.

 

[overgeeked]

The problem that you might run into is this:

Might. So avoid that problem by talking to the players up front. Establish media that is “in genre” that the game is going for. If all that fails, go along with the Referee in the moment and talk about it after the game. Still zero need for wasting page count with hyper-detailed rules dictating exactly what is and is not in genre.

the player wants to do something, but the GM thinks that it defies genre appropriateness, so she doesn't allow it - although it seems perfectly reasonable to the player.

Then the player stops arguing with the Referee and rolls with their decision. Conversation about it can happen after the game. If they can’t agree, it’s the Referee’s call to make. If the player cannot accept that and chooses to die on that hill, the game moves on without them. Still zero need for wasting page count with hyper-detailed rules dictating exactly what is and is not in genre.

It might be better to tell the player, "roll, but the failure bar is 5 instead of 2" rather than, "no you can't do that because I said so."

If the Referee wants to, sure. But it’s the Referee’s call to make.

I agree with getting on with the game

You’re the one arguing for extra rules that will inevitably lead to more arguments, not fewer.

but you can use rules to increase agreement between PCs and GMs, which actually facilitates playing the game.

The player understanding their role facilitates playing the game. The Referee understanding their role facilitates playing the game. Everyone involved discussing things and not arguing and playing nice facilitates playing the game. Rules don’t. The more rules you have between you and the fiction, the less players focus on the fiction, and the more rules lawyering you get and arguments about RAW vs RAI vs fiat, etc ad nauseam.

Anyway. Wow. 2400 and 24XX are awesome. Love me some rules ultra-light games.

 

[TheAlkaizer]

I received the order today! As I mentioned, I printed a ton of other TTRPGs, but the cover of the 20XX stuff are gorgeous. Here's a picture.