I wrote a new, non-OGL, 30ish page fantasy tabletop RPG:
It’s class-and-level-based roguelike dungeon crawler game, reasonably compatible with other leading brands – and designed to be expanded, extended, and made their own by anyone who wants a free (as in freedom and beer) RPG.
The Hack is inspired by the 1989 open-source gameNethack, and to a lesser extent its predecessors Hack (1984) and Rogue (1980), and is released under CC BY-SA 4.0. It’s got a lot of Nethack DNA. Play as a wizard blowing up ghouls or a rogue backstabbing dragons; identify mysterious potions and learn spells from scrolls. You know, Nethack stuff.
I’ve got the character guide here. If people are interested, I can work up the game-runner-side rules (rules for my beloved procedural dungeons, and a bigger bestiary and magic treasure section)
This is excellent! I would love to see more for it!
Kudos for The Hack! and yes, definitely interested in the referee rules and dungeon/treasure generation.
Great! Making more RPGs is a good thing.
I do have a pet peeve, though, and it is the use of one die (usually d20) for things like attacks and skill checks. They’re linear – 5% of the time, you’ll get a 20. Same chance as a 12, a 15, a 7, whatever.
I much prefer mechanics with a bell-curve involved. Replace any d20 roll with 3d6, (adjusted a bit), and then when someone throws an 18 or a 3, it’s truly heroic – (or catastrophic!). Make the oddball successes (and failures) as rare as they should be.
(Okay, okay, I should go design my own RPG – with heat-resistant books, too!)
Thanks, A.
Would love the game-runner-side rules! Please, make it a reality!