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Author Topic: Please Suggest a Ruleset  (Read 2249 times)

Offline ulfhednar101

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  • Posts: 1
Please Suggest a Ruleset
« on: January 21, 2021, 08:16:50 PM »
Good day to you all, I have experience with playing games like Warhammer Fantasy Battles, Dragon Rampant and Kings of War which are all very enjoyable but I also enjoy board games like Heroquest and Dungeon Crawls and games where there is some sort of narrative involved.

Can anyone suggest a ruleset (apart from Frostgrave) that sort of combines both a skirmish wargame and a dungeon crawl and/or where a narrative can be introduced?

So far, I have come across Thud and Blunder and Otherworld Skirmish rules, both of which sound promising but wondering if there is anything else worth a look before I buy.

Just to confirm, I am looking for something I could use with both a Dwarven Forge type set up and a standard fantasy table with usual hills, woods and buildings scenery or even better, have both set up on one table at the same time.

Many thanks.

Offline Citizen Sade

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Re: Please Suggest a Ruleset
« Reply #1 on: January 21, 2021, 08:24:47 PM »
I’d use Mordheim myself, but then I’ve been a fan since it’s release way back when. Added bonus is that it’s free and everything is online.

http://broheim.net/

Offline Sir_Theo

  • Mastermind
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Re: Please Suggest a Ruleset
« Reply #2 on: January 21, 2021, 08:46:41 PM »
Song of Blades and Heroes has a dungeon delving supplement. Or old editions of WHFB had more of a role-playing bent. Get a copy of 3rd edition and just use it as a tool set.

Or how about using a role-playing game ruleset? I know someone on LAF has a long running Black Hack game, those old school type games translate really well as miniatures games. Or you have the much maligned D&D 4th edition, that was basically a minis game anyway (a reason a lot of roleplayers disliked it) and you can probably buy the stuff for it pretty cheaply nowadays.

Offline Elbows

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Re: Please Suggest a Ruleset
« Reply #3 on: January 21, 2021, 08:50:55 PM »
Hmmm, that's a tough one.

Rangers of Shadowdeep?  It's by the Frostgrave author but it's more aimed at cooperative adventure gaming.  To get both, maybe lean toward a light RPG instead of a typical wargame perhaps?

PS: While I don't enjoy D&D personally, it is definitely really a "tabletop" role-playing game...and often makes heavy use of maps/grids.
« Last Edit: January 21, 2021, 08:53:45 PM by Elbows »
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Offline has.been

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Re: Please Suggest a Ruleset
« Reply #4 on: January 21, 2021, 08:58:04 PM »
Fistful of Lead, a great set of rules by the way,
is close to releasing a three volume set of rules
for fantasy.  I will be getting a set for my dungeon
adventures.

Offline Hobgoblin

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    • Hobgoblinry
Re: Please Suggest a Ruleset
« Reply #5 on: January 21, 2021, 09:13:12 PM »
Song of Blades and Heroes is terrific. For a dungeon-crawling game, you could combine its system with the random dungeon generation of the same author's Four Against Darkness. That's a pen-and-paper game, but it allows you to explore a randomly generated dungeon, complete with inhabitants and treasure. If you were using dungeon tiles or - perhaps easier - a gridded mat and dry-wipe pens - you could generate rooms and stock them very quickly, then play out the encounters with the Song of Blades rules.

One question: how many people will you be planning to play with, and do you want an opposed game or a cooperative one? For a cooperative game, Sellswords and Spellslingers has you covered (from Ganesha Games, publishers of Song of Blades and Four Against Darkness), or there's Rangers of Shadow Deep (I haven't played that one). The more player you have, the more likely it is that Fistful of Lead is the answer: it's the best skirmish system for more than four players, I think.

Another suggestion: Pulp Alley gives a very fun and colourful game whatever the genre. If you had a few players, you could stat one 'league' out as an adventuring party and have the others each create a band of monsters.

As others have said, an old-school RPG could work well too, regardless of the number of players. If you play something based on 1974 D&D, with hit points as potentially as low as 1 for each character, combats will be quick and bloody. You can get Swords and Wizardry, a very good 'retroclone' of the original D&D here. It's free - and it's very nicely written and laid out. You could generate a full party of adventurers in about 10 minutes all told, and then just play out dungeon crawls as a wargame, whether opposed or solo.

Offline Mammoth miniatures

  • Mad Scientist
  • Posts: 565
Re: Please Suggest a Ruleset
« Reply #6 on: January 22, 2021, 12:29:06 AM »
I suppose i should recommend Planet 28 - it's D10 based and meant for small scale sci fi skirmishes but it's written for open play and tinkering, so has been used for fantasy nicely. There's also a fantasy ruleset based on the core rules coming out next month or so :)

Offline Onemanworkshop

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Re: Please Suggest a Ruleset
« Reply #7 on: January 22, 2021, 01:46:19 AM »
Sellswords and Spell Slings has become my light fantasy solo game of choice lately. It does dungeon delves as well.
WHAT do you mean I lost!!! I had MORE fun!

Offline AdmiralAndy

  • Scientist
  • Posts: 203
Re: Please Suggest a Ruleset
« Reply #8 on: January 22, 2021, 03:48:20 PM »
Depends how Skirmish/dungeon delving or narrative based your wanting more of and or the balance between them..

Looking at your list of games and wants list, as you presently like the company sized sort of games:

Recently released Oathmark has a built in campaign system from which could build a narrative I imagine. I don't own that one presently, but its on the radar so to speak.

For out and out Dungeon Delving, Mantic did do there own take on Heroquest in the last few years. Though like much mantic games it had a splash release and don't think anything added beyond the core game and a few expansions. Though old Heroquest scenarios would probably fit with a bit of tweaking.

But for Skirmish Dungeon delving with a narrative and company sized battles. have you thought about GW's Lord of the Rings, you can go from the Fellowship at Mines of Moria, literally a dungeon! to a siege of Helms Deep and Minas Tirth with the same guys but at the level of a game you seem to enjoy.




Offline Darksider

  • Bookworm
  • Posts: 71
Re: Please Suggest a Ruleset
« Reply #9 on: January 22, 2021, 08:22:03 PM »
I suggest Nightwatch. It's a skirmish game, that can be played solo or cooperative. You can choose your members from four different guilds and can hire hirelings to help them during their hunts (missions).
You can make your own scenarios pretty easy, as the system is not very complex, but nontheless really fun to play.

You also can look into song of blades and heros, rangers of shadowdeep as some others suggested above.

If you want to try the rpg route, that is something I have also done a few times and it is also really cool.

I would suggest that you look at drivethrurpg and download the labyrinth lord rpg without art (should be free) and than download blackstream solo heroes it's a supplement made for labyrinth lord, so that you can play it solo or with very few other players.

It converts the Hitdice of creatures into actual hitpoints and reads the weapon damage dice in another way.

You can also download scarlet heroes or the quickstart for scarlet heroes (but it will cost you some money), it's made for solo play or play with only 2 or 3 other players and a gm.

They say we come from nothing and to nothing we will return, but in between is gravity and bridges left to burn.

They worshipped, so they said, the Great Old Ones who lived ages before there were any men, and who came to the young world out of the sky.

Offline amunptah

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  • Posts: 73
Re: Please Suggest a Ruleset
« Reply #10 on: January 22, 2021, 10:45:45 PM »
I can recommend Cavern Crawl https://www.scribd.com/document/138099755/CavernCrawl2-5
Or it’s successor Trap Door https://www.scribd.com/document/412053743/Trapdoor-PDF

Nice, clean simple rules with melee, missile fire and magic. Either can easily be played with dungeon tiles and battle maps, or using a ruler if playing without squares, so very flexible for dungeon and overworked skirmish. Observation rolls handle non-combat tasks, with either varying task numbers and bonuses, or an advantage mechanic, depending on which version you use.

Plenty of sample monsters and enemies to fight, with guidance on starting up enemies. Very quick to do, so you can play with any miniatures you have.

Includes all of the usual gubbins you want from an RPG experience, such as traps, magic items, spells, potions etc. And the basic system is so solid, you can easily house rule something in if you really need it.

I’ve been searching for the ideal skirmish game for ages, and keep coming back to these.

Offline Dark choda

  • Bookworm
  • Posts: 63
Re: Please Suggest a Ruleset
« Reply #11 on: January 23, 2021, 01:00:41 AM »
Lots of great suggestions here that I'll be taking some time to try out.

Personally, like some others,  I suggest Song of Blades & Heroes.  As simple as it already is, it gets even more streamlined in a dungeon setting when you can disregard special abilities and rules that don't apply to dungeon settings like Forester or environmental effects.

Offline spacecowsmith

  • Librarian
  • Posts: 186
Re: Please Suggest a Ruleset
« Reply #12 on: January 23, 2021, 07:09:25 PM »
Bladestorm is worth a peek as is Goal System Delves!
http://talesfromfarpoint.blogspot.co.uk/

An Adventure in small scale gaming and 2nd Edition 40k!

Offline SotF

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Re: Please Suggest a Ruleset
« Reply #13 on: January 23, 2021, 07:51:08 PM »
Song of Blades and Heroes is one of the better options that lets you bring pretty much anything you want to for your minis.

If you have the additional cash and want a random dungeon, the Paizo Dragon Compendium from the D&D 3.5 era actually has a great generator in the book along with some other decent things for it with a single player dungeon crawl...but it kind of requires a lot more work to have it happen

Offline mweaver

  • Scatterbrained Genius
  • Posts: 2683
Re: Please Suggest a Ruleset
« Reply #14 on: January 23, 2021, 09:17:48 PM »
I second Citizen Sade's suggestion of Mordheim.  Originally written for competing bands of 8 to 12 models, we have played it collaboratively for ages and find it scales up well to larger, company-sized engagements.  I have never played a really big battle with the Mordheim rules, though - 40 to 50 models per side is about the largest game (multiple allied warbands vs. a wave of orcs).

For our most recent RPG, we have been using Savage Worlds for the RP elements and a modified Mordheim for the fights.  It works well.

-Michael

 

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