Micro Chapbook RPG

In these times where FtF roleplaying is banned, we switched from our usual pen & paper table RPG to a virtual RPG using a server, a headset and Skype. D&D4 is a good choice for this as it is more or less all about combat and tactical movement, less about roleplaying. But its only a cheap substitute for real FtF gaming.

However, recently I stumbled upon this little game: Micro Chapbook RPG Deluxe Core Rulebook Updated Edition, which cost me a whooping €6 - not the PDF, the whole book! I didn’t expect much from it, but it was advertised as a solo RPG in the spirit of Dungeonquest (if you know that boardgame, you might also know that it has a character mortality rate of about 85%). So I bought. I did not expect much for that price tag.

This is a very easy, and very stripped down game (I even dare call it an RPG …). The deluxe rule book comes with 5 ready-to-use dungeons, each following a different theme (undead, goblins, vampires, …). After you rolled up and equipped your character, you enter the dungeon, and you roll for everything: size of the room, type of the room, number of doors, type and number of monsters. Then you follow a simple combat procedure and - if you survive - find some loot and enter the next room until you find the boss monster. Kill it and you’ve not only survived, but you can leave the dungeon with some gold in your pocket that buys you better equipment or levels.

And that’s it. Nothing fancy, just a lot of six-sided die rolling. I played a couple of solo games, then I played coop with my wife and then with wife and daughter. They all enjoyed it (although both prefer our usual meaty RPGs much more, but hey, it’s pandemic-time, better play what you can get). Also, because nearly everything is randomly determined, you can play each Dungeon as often as you like (or you can create your own - it’s pretty easy and quick).

There are also books/PDFs with more meaty adventures available, but I haven’t tried them out yet. Some well-known online-RPG store offers simple dungeons for download at a “pay-what-you-want” price, suggesting 43 Eurocents for a single one (which is only 4 pages, but comes with all rules and tables necessary to play).

Thought this might be of interest to someone here. At least, as long as we have these Covid restrictions.:slight_smile:

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