fools-pyrite

computer toucher; RPG enjoyer


The last few games I've run (Armour Astir, Fellowship, Whitehack 3e) and one I'm a player in (Starfinder) suffer from number-too-high-itis: players can push a stat so high that it entirely obviates some section of gameplay for them. Maybe they can never miss an attack, or they have a 95% chance to succeed a roll to convince someone, or they literally always succeed at all driving rolls. in my experience it's fun for a session or two and then it gets old fast.

as a result I'm appreciative of and anticipating Icon, the next game my group is playing: the numbers just don't go up when you advance1. You don't get more health, you don't get more chance to hit, you don't get more base damage. Instead you get more options: either horizontally improving (more versatility) or vertically improving (cooler abilities) without straining the core math of the game.

probably going to adopt that approach when I'm designing or hacking things. getting more toys is more fun than the number going up, and way less likely to make the game's core engine explode


  1. Only in the "Book of Battle", ICON's d20 skirmish combat system. You do increase your action ratings in the "Book of Tales", ICON's out-of-combat Forged in the Dark system


You must log in to comment.

in reply to @fools-pyrite's post:

Something I enjoyed about Icon is that how position narrative play against tactical play can set the tone of the game. Shifting into Tactical play can make it special if only down when the belligerents can find no other recourse, or when one belligerent is a monster and that’s important. I used tactical combat to represent how involved and dangerous of an effort it is to kill someone.