Incarna Gaming Network
Choose your world… and bring your characters to life!
iBase Editor Perspective (changes, etc.)
iBase Modern Approach to Basic RP > Combat | DM / Character | Equip
Do not confuse its simplicity as a critique of it. It is a system with less strict mechanics options to express role playing ideas and pushing a lot of creativity in the “theater of the mind”. It is still enjoyable and even preferable to some people this day. These materials exist because that is true!
Basic DnD never made a show of deep explanations or correlation to underlying roleplaying or creative expressions built in – that was for the theater of the mind to handle. It was balanced and played using few and simple mechanics that had little room for interpretation or variance. There were aspects of it that were intended to represent (not simulate directly) certain things, but on the surface appeared very crude that sometimes didn’t even seem to make sense. A careful analysis of it will reveal that it does make sense, however. The published articles by the game creators and designers filled in many gaps, but the point was to provide a streamlined system that could take high fantasy and present a means of resolving the outcomes in a fun and easy way that stressed role-play over pure mechanics. It is recommended that you track them down and read those articles and the history of the DnD Basic legacy to better appreciate it. The spirit of that and with the intent of advocating for slightly more gritty realism (as if it really was not brutal enough!), these “adventuring guidelines” inject the Incarna approach into gaming without interrupting the simple flow and mechanics that DnD Basic represents.
Kelly Berger