Microlite20 : the smallest thing in gaming

[Technomancer]

Greywulf,

Just from reading it over once, why would anyone play a rogue? Fighters have more armor choices and get the bonus to attack and damage, wizards and clerics get their spells, but the rogue gets nothing but a +3 to one skill, which all the other classes get as well in addition to their other abilities.

 

[Nadaka]

Greywulf,

Just from reading it over once, why would anyone play a rogue? Fighters have more armor choices and get the bonus to attack and damage, wizards and clerics get their spells, but the rogue gets nothing but a +3 to one skill, which all the other classes get as well in addition to their other abilities.

because the DM lets the rogue get away with a lot of stuff using that skill that might not seem obvious?

Its one of the reasons I suggested adding class features to the fighter and especially the rogue.

 

[greywulf]

Greywulf,

Just from reading it over once, why would anyone play a rogue? Fighters have more armor choices and get the bonus to attack and damage, wizards and clerics get their spells, but the rogue gets nothing but a +3 to one skill, which all the other classes get as well in addition to their other abilities.

I've covered this already in this thread:

/snip
: Regards balance, Rogues do look to be short-changed, but in play, they're not. That +3 Subterfuge is just too darned useful, as it covers a huge gamut of "core" adventuring skills including Hide (Sub + DEX), Move Silently (Sub + DEX), Search/Spot (Sub + MIND), Disable Device & Open Locks (Sub + DEX), even knocking out a guard (Sub + STR) and others. In one version of the rules I put that Rogues also get +1 to Initiative too, to reflect their quick-thinking, work on your feet nature. I'm still tempted to include it. What you think?

 

[Wik]

I really like the simplified skill system - that's awesome stuff, there.

 

[Technomancer]

I've covered this already in this thread:

/snip
: Regards balance, Rogues do look to be short-changed, but in play, they're not. That +3 Subterfuge is just too darned useful, as it covers a huge gamut of "core" adventuring skills including Hide (Sub + DEX), Move Silently (Sub + DEX), Search/Spot (Sub + MIND), Disable Device & Open Locks (Sub + DEX), even knocking out a guard (Sub + STR) and others. In one version of the rules I put that Rogues also get +1 to Initiative too, to reflect their quick-thinking, work on your feet nature. I'm still tempted to include it. What you think?

Sorry, missed that. I guess they are the skill monkeys in this game too.

And I too love the simplified mix-and-match skill system.

 

[kroh]

Spectabulous! Nice set of rules ya got there.

Regards,
Walt

 

[bytor4232]

Very nice! I'll probably run a few dungeon crawls or Dungeon Mag adventures off this ruleset. I love the fact that its compatible with existing d20 stuff.

I'm putting this in my Monster Binder, where I keep all my customized and converted monsters. At best, it may be usefull for generating quick and dirty NPC's.

 

[greywulf]

Wow! I'm glad y'all like it.

As a GM, what I enjoyed was just how easy it is to create monsters on the fly. Want a 2 HD tough critter (a hobgoblin guard say) - that'll be HD2, +4 club d6+2, +5 physical and other skills @ +2. And all straight off the top of my head, no table lookysee stuff at all.

What the players liked was the fast pace of play. The advancement rules kept things flowing too; there was no stopping to calculate XP after combat to break the atmosphere. I just totted up the ELs for the adventure at the end, and that was that.

 

[greywulf]

Many, many thanks to Mark over at Creative Mountain Games who's fixed the license for d20 Microlite and made it all nice and compliant for us. By us, I of course mean me. Thanks, Mark!

It's hereby renamed to Microlite20 and avialable here:

- Microlite20.pdf
- Microlite20.rtf

Ain't sharing stuff grand

 

[bytor4232]

Wow! I'm glad y'all like it.

As a GM, what I enjoyed was just how easy it is to create monsters on the fly. Want a 2 HD tough critter (a hobgoblin guard say) - that'll be HD2, +4 club d6+2, +5 physical and other skills @ +2. And all straight off the top of my head, no table lookysee stuff at all.

What the players liked was the fast pace of play. The advancement rules kept things flowing too; there was no stopping to calculate XP after combat to break the atmosphere. I just totted up the ELs for the adventure at the end, and that was that.

I like how compatible it is with existing D&D stuff. I tried a little playtesting tonight. I rolled up three characters in about five minutes. Fought a dire badger from the srd. Then I fought three orcs. It went great, no compatibilty problems at all. If anything, the party was a little "too" powerful.

 

[bytor4232]

I passed the word about your ruleset over at DNDOG. Its getting very positive reception so far.

Congrats on the great little system!

 

[greywulf]

I like how compatible it is with existing D&D stuff. I tried a little playtesting tonight. I rolled up three characters in about five minutes. Fought a dire badger from the srd. Then I fought three orcs. It went great, no compatibilty problems at all. If anything, the party was a little "too" powerful.

Great!

We found that at lower levels the party was a little more powerful than your typical 1st level characters. That's mainly thanks to the higher starting Hit Points. The jury it still out as to whether that's a bug or a feature though.

Two of the players liked that (the Fighter and the Mage, mainly because Hit Points fuel his spells), the other two - the Cleric and the Rogue - want to play more before they decide. So, we'll see.

As has been suggeted before, that does make it a good system for introducing new players as they're less likely to die at lower levels because of silly tactical errors ("I charge the Umber Hulk!").

Thanks for sharing

 

[MeepoDM]

Greywulf, this is very cool! Nice work, indeed.

Any future plans for iddy-biddy character sheets or pint sized adventure modules?

 

[greywulf]

Any future plans for iddy-biddy character sheets or pint sized adventure modules?

Now you're just being greedy!

Actually, I have thrown together a character-generator spreadsheet in Gnumeric (it's a Linux spreadsheet app).

Here it is , and here's the file converted to Excel. There's no guarantees about the Excel version, so you might need to hack it around a little to suit.

I like the idea of pint-sized adventures. Hmmmmmmmmmm...............

 

[MeepoDM]

Greedy? Nah...

Seriously, I just really dig the idea of a complete RPG that can fit in your back pocket (minus the dice - ouch!) and whipped out for a quick one-shot session any ol' time.

But besides the tiny (read: cute) and portable nature of this game you've created, I happen to think it is a really solid idea. True to the nature of D&D, 98% compatible with d20 products, and surprisingly well thought out for something you created in an hours time. Something about it just screams "play me on the fly" like the game we played a long time ago.

Anyway, I think you have a real winner here...I do hope it isn't a one-shot product!

 

[MeepoDM]

Oh, and while I'm thinking about it - the links in your signature are incorrect. There is a '/' missing between files and Microlite20.*

 

[greywulf]

Thanks, Meepo. I Did think about re-arranging the rules into a single 3x5 card, but that would just be silly.

As to adventures and add-ons - what do folks want? I guess a one-page Quick Critters bestiary would work. Pull a map from James' Random Dungeon Generator and you've got a night's gaming.

Heck, I might even continue and work Microlite20 into my (on hold) WikidDungeons project........

Any other thoughts?

 

[greywulf]

Oh, and while I'm thinking about it - the links in your signature are incorrect. There is a '/' missing between files and Microlite20.*

Gaah! Well spotted. Fixed

 

[MeepoDM]

Well, I plan on having a few playtest battles myself tonight. I'll try a few at higher levels as well, just to see how it goes.

A single page (or two) Monster Guide would be very cool product. I'm visualizing something akin to the Monster selection in the OD&D books or the 1st ed. DMG, basically a big table of vital stats with a sentence or two description afterwards.

Modules could be a single page tops, map(s) on the backside. Something to be played in a single evening. A brief description paragraph detailing the hows and whys of the adventure. Minimal references to statblocks to keep it short with 1-2 sentence descriptions for each room in the dungeon/area.

Did I mention that I really dig this system yet? Of course, I've always been a big fan of the "less is more" ideology. And with a 2 page rulebook...a single printed front/back rulebook...well, you can't get much less than that without just making up a game on the spot.

Edit: Oh yes, and spells - gotta have the spells so you dont have to lug around the PHB! Maybe two pages (one for Arcane, one for Divine) and only include "the essentials". Since everything is pretty much "in your head", a single line description of the spell would work out well.

 

[bytor4232]

What I would like is a more detailed description on skills. I'm still shakey on some of the standard skills, mostly the Charisma based ones. I guess that would be a judgement call on the part of the DM I suppose.