I've mentioned before that I'm running C&C for my friends. We're doing a hex crawl through a heavily modified Blackmarsh (I threw in a bunch of my wonkiness into the mix). Didn't have a lot of players and decided that instead of having them run multiple characters or npc's, I'd try Black Stream: Solo Heroes (http://www.rpgnow.com/product/114895/Black-Streams-Solo-Heroes) rules from Sine Nomine. Have to say that so far, they work really well for us. Also made for less paperwork on my end.
A brief rundown of the rules. You just overlay them on whatever D&D/clone game you are using. Damage dice are read different- roll of 1=0 damage. 2-5 = 1 damage, 6 and over = 2 damage. A creatures hit points now becomes it's HD. So a 3hd creature has 3 hitpoints. There's also a fray die, by default a d6, that gets rolled in addition to the d20 whenever they are fighting creatures their hit dice or lower. The fray die always hits and if it kills one creature, any remaining damage goes to the next closest.
There's a couple things more with the rules that I am forgetting.
Yeah, they mow through stuff, but they are having a good time. I don't have to roll for creatures hp and if I roll an encounter of 15 orcs, so be it:)
No, but I've done a few sessions using Scarlet Heroes, which is the fleshed-out game that grew from those solo rules. It's fantastic. The rules (fray die, modified damage, etc.) have actually seen use in several of SN's games and are used in their new Godbound game, actually, so they'v proven to be fairly popular. They do an amazing job of creating extremely powerful characters while still allowing for compatibility with a wealth of already published material.
For another free ruleset from SN using a lot of those rules to make really badass characters, check out Exemplars and Eidolons.
Quote from: RunningLaser;899994A brief rundown of the rules. You just overlay them on whatever D&D/clone game you are using. Damage dice are read different- roll of 1=0 damage. 2-5 = 1 damage, 6 and over = 2 damage. A creatures hit points now becomes it's HD. So a 3hd creature has 3 hitpoints.
This sounds alot like the basis for TSR's Cardmaster system. I dont have it handy but the basics was monster HD now functioned as HP. It was also the damage dice rolled. PCs rolled a die type based on their class and hit on a certain range. No AC or THACO. So a fighter rolls a d10 and hits on a 7 to 10. One die per level. PCs had HP though so were sturdier than monsters. Neet little system meant for quicker play.
huh. I have Black Streams actually. Totally forgot. Think I ended up dismissing it as Cardmaster did much the same and smoother in some ways. Will have to go back over it now and see.
Quote from: Brand55;900011No, but I've done a few sessions using Scarlet Heroes, which is the fleshed-out game that grew from those solo rules. It's fantastic.
This, except I think the Solo Heroes appeared after Scarlet Heroes already existed;).
Quote from: AsenRG;900139This, except I think the Solo Heroes appeared after Scarlet Heroes already existed;).
Afraid not. Solo Heroes appeared in the middle of 2013, and the Kickstarter for Scarlet Heroes launched at the beginning of 2014. It was much how Exemplars and Eidolons appeared as a rough, free product last year and now we have Godbound coming as the polished version.
Actually, I just did about 20 minutes ago, and I ran a scenario that should have killed this single PC (a converted 5e level 1 Fighter) through a camp of Orc and Hobgoblin ravagers, whom I named the 51st Legion "The Laughing Skulls", cuz I'm an idiot and wanted to add 'story' to it. And of course, I named the 'PC'. Also, I ran those scenario three times.
I like the idea of damage 'spilling' over to the next target in reach. It actually helped the hero 'Red Cloak' survive. The Fray die, I'm not too sure on. The first run, didn't use it. Didn't need it, as the dice rolls were favourable in the PC's favour. The next run, he died like a dog, but that's because his die rolls were horrible. The last try, I got to use the Defy Death trick, and still managed to kill the Hobgoblin Witch-Priest and Orc Chief anyway, after decimating the troop of 22 'troopers'.
I have ZERO interest in running this kind of thing. I guess it may be of some use for the helpless cases where you can't find people to form a real group; but down here I have waiting lists of people desperate to get into my groups, which are always full to capacity (as I define 'capacity' per each campaign, that is).
Quote from: Brand55;900249Afraid not. Solo Heroes appeared in the middle of 2013, and the Kickstarter for Scarlet Heroes launched at the beginning of 2014. It was much how Exemplars and Eidolons appeared as a rough, free product last year and now we have Godbound coming as the polished version.
My PDF copy of Solo Heroes has the Kickstarter for Scarlet Heroes linked inside it, so yeah, Solo came first.
Like Pundit, I often have a backlog of people wanting to join my main games - that could be because I'm good, but it could also just be because there's almost no chance other expats in Saigon are going to find someone else doing it - even badly. For those games, I use 1st edition AD&D with lots of my own stuff, 2e Gamma World or Stars Without Number and don't pull any punches. That said, I have used SH when I play with my kids. We're gradually moving into the full game (1e AD&D) but using Solo Heroes mechanics to lighten the load along the way. It would be hard, if not impossible, to keep them enthusiastic about a game that required them to roll new characters nearly every session. It would be hard for me to want to run a whole series of low-level dungeons with only 10 orcs inside. So yeah, with Solo Heroes, they get to survive and win (mostly) and I get to present them with different stuff every session.