1KM1KT Free RPG Community

Hey guys it's free RPG day! What are you offering for free. . . today? Oh, wait . . . um yeah.

It's kinda hard not to feel like the guy who was doing it before it was cool.

I always felt this should be the day we go out and pimp the site!!!..."oh you like free games, weeeelll....."

So what should we do to promote 1KM1KT today. It's kinda late to the party to be planning now. What's something simple we could all do?

Some unprompted 24 hour games could be a possibility, though once again, a little late in the day. How about share either a short story about a time we were playing a free RPG , or a quick review of one you have recently read?

So to start us off - there are four main free games I've read recently - "Wyred", "Chrome Strike", "The Magical Land of Yeld" (development version 0.4), and "The Beat Goes On". The latter two came from a somewhat unexpected source - namely the comments section of a webcomic ("Modest Medusa" and "Leftover Soup", respectively). Since reviewing all four might get a bit too verbose, I'll just focus on the first and last in the list. (Correction: the review of "The Beat Goes On" is extremely verbose and the others were growing to multiple paragraphs as well.)

you have probably all heard of - it is a variant of the "Warrior Rouge Mage" system covering cyberpunk, and presented in two pocket mod books. I really love its two-book approach, because the first contains the main rules and character creation while the other has the fancy gun and cybernetics we now expect of the genre. Thus one person can make a character while the other is picking out toys, resulting in less waiting and faster preparation. Given the short form its not the most exhaustive list of cyberware, but all the major ones like implanted armor, weapons, neural interfaces, and reflex boosters are there so it certainly doesn't feel lacking either. Implants are bought with edge points, which can be normally spent to avoid damage or alter the game world, and are only gained by taking big risks, so it can be a tough choice. Over all, Wyred is quick to start, simple to play, and easier to acquire than thirty year old Cyberpunk-2020 books, making it well worth a try.

was supposedly written as a collaboration between two of the characters within Leftover Soup - its front page even lists "Max Hellenberger" as the author rather than "Tailsteak" the pen-name of the comic's creator. Regardless of which fake name you wish to attribute it too, the game is a fairly simple d20 based (die roll + one of ten stats + modifiers) with some perks and flaws chosen at character creation in a fairly standard "Take a negative to pay for a positive" manner. Mayhem points can be earned for crazy stunts and give a boost when used. Damage is usually rolled with d6s, but no other dice should be needed.

As mentioned above, the work is a presented as designed by a character, and this shows in its formatting. "Max" hasn't written technical documents before, so most of the usual mistakes like centered headings, and no variation in font size are present. All the text is in a handwriting style font like its a rough draft, and carries a conversational tone. Although there is no cover, table of contents, nor illustrations, a long and quite helpful four page example of combat and the various abilities is provided as well as a simple character sheet. Even with the very basic layout and odd font choice, it is still readable and clear enough. If this is endearingly in character and meta-fictional or a poor use of format is a personal decision. I lean towards the former in this case, despite my technical training.

Moving on to the setting, the game takes place in the modern era, though with a movie action style bent, and the presence of a music based functional magic. Everywhere a universal beat is found, and the characters can hear and interact with it. They can either choose to augment their actions by going with the flow and using downbeat abilities, or cause negative effects by by disrupting the rhythm with back-beat abilities. Two notable limitations exist on these powers. First, every time the characters attempt to interact with the beat however, there is an escalating chance of being caught and affected by it (usually be either losing their hearer status or by being forced to dance). Secondly, they can only use one type at a time - ie during combat you can use either back-beat or downbeat but can't combine them.

The combat system continues the musical analogy and operates in 4/4 time. Each turn a character has four "ticks" that may be spent on various actions - the more complex, the more ticks used. Generally speaking, an attack is two ticks, a multi-step process like reloading is four, and simple things like flipping a switch cost one - but speaking is free. There are a number of ways to adjust you actions, including borrowing ticks from the upcoming round to defend against unforeseen problems, "pre-progamming" ticks to react to a specific stimulus (which lets you act out of turn) and of course downbeat abilities to gain extra actions. Healing can be enacted in combat by taking a breather. Cribbing from D&D, combat takes place on a five foot grid.

Everything you need to play is set out in twenty-one pages - sixteen if you don't count the example and character sheet. Not much is said about a setting, but it goes by the usual "like reality unless otherwise noted" principle, so how much is needed? Personally, I think this would this system would lend itself to some very good kung-fu oriented games. Although strictly coached in musical terms, the universal beat concept reminds me of Taoist "go with the flow" philosophy. The measured movement and chaining combat also reminds me of fighting videogames.

I would highly recommend reading "The Beat Goes On." As to the comic it comes from, I like it a lot, but it may be more hit and miss for others and is not always work or child safe.

(Yes Rob, if you need a guest article to fill in a deadline on your blog, you can copy and paste this.)