Monday, October 23, 2023

Science-Fantasy Starter Packages for Into The Odd

The idea was: I wanted to play a little Ultraviolet Grasslands, but bounced quite off the SEACAT system included within the UVG book — some nice flavour there, to be sure, but a modicum too crunchy for my table. Into The Odd is a perennial favourite of mine for its light rules scaffolding and decisive combat — it's like the Crystal Palace of ttrpg systems — so naturally I eventually found my way to Into The Grasslands. This one's got Bastionland-style failed careers (and associated gear packages) which lean into Will's version of the UVG setting, a version inhabited by stoned detectives and souped-up steppe buggies. Lovely writing, but overall a bit sillier than my read of the UVG.

So, necessity (or stubbornness) being the mother of invention and all, I made a thing to fill the void. This one uses the classic ItO approach to starter packages (determined by HP and highest ability score) but the spread is a bit different — see, I don't have as many ideas as Chris, so I had to massage the numbers to make em fit.