RPG Encyclopedia: I
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ICONS: Superpowered Roleplaying
1st ed by Walt Ciechanowski, Morgan Davie, Steve Kenson, Gareth-Michael Skarka (2010) Adamant Entertainment
Assembled ed (2014) Adamant Entertainment
A superhero RPG using a simple original system. There is no setting although there are sample characters. Action resolution is based on attribute + 1d6 - 1d6 (adding a positive and subtracting a negative die) compared to difficulty. Only the player rolls to resolve contests. Character creation is random-roll including origin, attributes, the number and type of powers, and specializations. The attributes are Prowess, Coordination, Strength, Intellect, Awareness, and Willpower. There are over 70 powers in the core rules. In addition, characters and the team of player characters create freeform positive Qualities (such as Secret Identity, Connections, or Motivation) and negative Challenges (such as a Fear or Vulnerability). Characters can spend Determination Points to gain advantages through Qualities, and gain Determination Points by invoking Challenges. Advantages can make small changes to the world, boost die rolls, recover lost Stamina, and generate Stunts with your powers.
Idyll: Romantic Fantasy
1st ed by James Stubbs (2007) Heyoka Studios
A romantic fantasy mini-RPG (14 pages), that emulates the fiction popularized by authors such as Tamora Pierce, Mercedes Lackey and Tanith Lee. It uses a licensed variant of the "1PG" system from Deep 7, Inc. -- whose basic rules fit on one page. Resolution is roll a d6 and try and get under your attribute or skill. The basic game also includes custom character sheets, magic rules and sample spell list, referee advise, six adventure scenarios and custom genre rules specific to the genre.
Imagine Role Playing System
1st ed by W. Michael Tenery III (1998) Imagine
A universal RPG system, based on the "Players Guide" (348pp). It uses a percentile skill-based system except for combat which is d20 based. Skills are broken up into class skills, racial skills, and social skills. Character creation is class-based (warrior / rogue / priest / mage), with random-roll attributes. Character advancement is level based.
Immortal: The Invisible War
1st ed by Ran Ackels (1994) Precedence
2nd ed (1999)
A modern-day-magic RPG about shape-shifting immortal beings from a long-past mystic accident which created them, fighting other immortals. It uses a step-die system, with limited point-buy character creation.
The Imp Game, Mischief & Mayhem
1st ed by Nate Petersen (2005) Neo Productions Unlimited
A humorous fantasy RPG where the player characters are imps -- tiny bumbling demonic henchmen working for a fiendish wizard played by the GM. It uses a simple system where the player must roll under a target number on 2d6. This is not based on the difficulty of the task, but rather is an absolute number which is independent of the player and circumstances. The target number is raised only by players spending "Guts Points," which are a sort of hero points for the game. The target number starts out at 2, is raised one-for-one by spending Guts points. After a successful roll, it is reset to 2. Character creation is class-based, including classes such as Big Dumb Imps, Smart Imps, Devious Imps, and Crazy Imps. Successful missions or quests can earn "Praise Points" from the Imp's master. The Imps can use Praise Points between sessions to purchase new traits and abilities, which range from firebreathing to kleptomania and pacifism.
Imperium 3000
1st ed by Torbjørn Lien (1993) Lovehulen Spilldesign
A Norwegian-language diceless sci-fi RPG. It is set in a chaotic future where intelligent machines are threatening human existence in the whole galaxy.
In a Wicked Age
1st ed by Vincent Baker (2008) Lumpley Games
A sword and sorcery fantasy role playing game, with abstract mechanics that include random situation-generation mechanics to create characters and create dramatic conflicts for them. A game begins by generating four entries for each of the four Oracles (16 total), with the Oracles being predefined as "Blood & Sex", "God-kings of War", "The Unquiet Past", and "A Nest of Vipers." It uses a step-die system, where the attributes are the six Forms, namely: "Covertly", "Directly", "For Myself", "For Others", "With Love", and "With Violence". Each is rated from d4 to d12, and player-defined particular strengths are added as modifiers. Resolution is handled by highest die of two Forms plus modifiers, and the winner may impose penalties on the loser -- but the result in-fiction must be agreed on by both players.
Incursion
1st ed by Richard Tucholka (1992) Tri-Tac Games
A sci-fi RPG about humans abducted from Earth who escape their alien abductors. Set in the present, PC's are part of the masses who hardly realize that thousands of people are vanishing every year -- until they are woken from cryo sleep by a 4 foot tall cockroach and was asked "Help us!" The characters are lost in a fallen alien empire of a hundred million inhabited worlds, including 40 different alien races.
Inferno
1st ed by Gabe Ivan (1994) Death's Edge Games
A fantasy/horror RPG set in Hell -- with characters ranging from a priest hunting through Hell for souls wrongly imprisoned to a vile necromancer to a Hellspawn. Action resolution is roll under stat on 1d20. Character creation is by choosing race (mortal, shade, hellspawn, or imp); randomly rolling attributes with modifications for race; choosing a class (priest, layman, or necromancer for mortals and shades; demon for hellspawn and imps); and finally determining skills by a mix of class and point-spending. Class also determines faith status: Faithful, Doubtful, or Infernal. The game includes two types of magic: divine (for priests) and sorcery (for necromancers).
Inferno
1st ed by Andrea Sfiligoi (1993) Nexus Editrice
An Italian-language horror RPG, based on the French system Simulacres. The player characters are angels or demons (generally demons). It includes a list of major demons based on traditional western demonology, and rules for witchcraft (to be used in games set in the Dark Ages or in the contemporary world).
Infernum
1st ed by Gareth Hanrahan (2005) Mongoose Publishing
A fantasy game set in hell, where the player characters can be demons, fallen angels, mortals, or damned souls struggling to conquer and become lords within the Pit (as it is known). It uses a variant of the D20 System of third edition D&D.
Infinite Legends Roleplaying Game
1st ed by Jason Broadley, Robert Frey (2004) Darkharbor Games
A universal RPG system, including an involved combat system emphasizing realism, and a generic effects system for representing magic, psionics, cybernetics, and so forth. It uses a target number dice pool resolution -- roll a number of d10s equal to stat / 2, and each roll higher than difficulty (1-9) counts as one success rank. There are 18 attributes divided into Physical, Mental, and Spiritual -- where each category has six functions: fortitude, force, aptitude, interface, martial, and structural. For example, the Physical Force attribute is Strength. Character creation is open point-based, buying attributes, skills, and positive and negative traits with Development Points.
Infinite Powers: Superheroic Action Role Playing Game
1st ed by Levi Mote (2011) Bonsai Games
A superhero RPG using a simple dice pool system. The player rolls a number of d8s equal to stat (attribute + skill) and compares the total of all dice to difficulty or opposed roll. There are eight attributes (rated 1-50: Fighting, Agility, Intelligence, Reflexes, Willpower, Presence, Health, Durability. There are also 19 skills (rated 1-3) and over 50 talents - similar to advantages or feats, as well as over 150 example powers. There is no setting, but there are 4 sample heroes and two teams of sample enemies.
The Infinity System
1st ed by Derrick Charbonnet, Terry Podgorski (1978) Threshold Games
An universal RPG movement and combat system (36 pages), intended to encompass vehicles and weapons from the stone age to the future including fantasy. It was a skill-based system using d20's for hit and damage. Character creation was random-roll attributes (3d6), but had no classes or levels. The original rulebook included a very limited magic system. There were no supplements.
In Flames
1st ed by Greg Saunders (2011) Fire Ruby Designs
A sci-fi RPG that draws from Haitian Voudoun mythology, where reality includes both the material world (the Flame Worlds) and the spirit world (the Understar). The player characters are exiled Loa - godlike beings from the Understar who are now trapped in human bodies as punishment for their crimes. It uses the "Mini 6" system, a variant of the OpenD6 system that derives from West End Games' D6 System. It adds in two scales for Guilt and Dislocation. Guilt shows how close a character is to forgiveness for their crimes, while Dislocation shows how strongly they are connected to their host body.
In Harm's Way: A Napoleonic Naval Role-playing Game
1st ed by clash bowley (2010) Flying Mice LLC
A historical RPG set in Napoleonic era Europe as romanticized in the fiction of authors like Forster, O'Brian, Parkinson, Lambdin, and Pope. It uses a dice pool system, the StarPool dice mechanic, also used in the Starcluster RPG.
Inner City
1st ed by Chris Clark (1982) Inner City
A humorous modern-day action RPG, based on playing cops or crooks in a universe modeled after the really bad police shows of the 70's. It has 3 supplements: "Peacekeepers", "Pavement Pounders", and "The Mug Book".
In Nomine
1st [French] ed by Croc (1989) Siroz
2st [English] ed by Derek Pearcy (1997) Steve Jackson Games
A modern-day-magic RPG about the ongoing War between angels and demons, where both sides can be ugly and treacherous in trying to win the battle of intrigue over men's souls. The original French-language game came in two parts ("In Nomine Satanis / Magna Veritas"), and was much more tongue-in-cheek than the American game. The mechanics of the English game are a fixed roll of 2d6 versus skill, with the quality of success determined by a third die (dubbed "d666").
Inquisitor: The Battle for the Emperor's Soul
1st ed by Gav Thorpe (2001) Games Workshop
A "narrative wargame" set in a horrific future in the 41st millenium. This is a miniatures wargame played on a table-top with miniatures for each PC, but it requires the part of a game-master and has added narrative elements. It uses a percentile based system.
In Scolare Laboris / Magna Delirium
1st ed (unknown) Frères-Dragons Éditions
A French-language horror RPG about school boys and girls (about college age) stuck in a demon-operated school. Formerly known as "Compte à Rebours".
InSpectres
1st ed by Jared Sorensen (2002) Memento Mori Theatricks Wicked Dead Brewing Company
In a modern-day setting unabashedly owing much to Ghostbusters, the supernatural is on the rise and publicly acknowledged. The public's reaction certainly is: ghosts, vampires, werewolves, and other horrors are a source of embarrassment rather than widespread panic. The game is about InSpectres, Inc. -- a franchise operation dedicated to "fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to", and willing to employ just about anyone to do it. It uses a narrative dice-pool system where a roll determines whether the player or the GM narrates the results. Impairment can occur in the form of Stress Dice. There is also a "Confessional" mechanic, which allows players to narrate changes to the scene by narrating in-character as if from a later time. PC's have four broad Skills (Athletics, Academics, Technology, and Contact) which are point-allocated, plus a freeform Talent. The PC's franchise also has stats which affect rolls.
Interstellar Elite Combat
1st ed by Dave Miller (1990) Game Masters Associated
A sci-fi roleplaying line, including one supplement dealing with artic combat. Reviewed in White Wolf #28. The line may have been sold to Wizards of the Coast in 1994, but as far as I know they did not publish anything for it.
Invaderz
1st ed by James Desborough (2008) Postmortem Studios
Pocket ed (2011)
A humorous game where the player characters are low-level footsoldiers in a massive invasion of Earth. These can be warrior clones of the planet-sized Jerkian Emperor or various slave races to the Jerkian invaders. They are frequently given peculiar orders from high command, and often survive only by betrayal of their fellows to rise in the ranks. It uses a variant of the "Beer and Crisps" system from the Urban Faerie game.
Ironclaw
1st ed by Jason Holmgren (1999) Sanguine Productions
An anthropomorphic fantasy-genre RPG, in a neo-Elizabethan fantasy setting dealing with the rise of technology and the middle class. It uses a loose skill-based system, where attributes and skills are rated on a step-die system (d4, d6, d8, d10). Roll (attribute die) + (skill die) vs difficulty.
Iron Gauntlets: Heroic Fantasy Roleplaying
1st ed by Brett Bernstein (2004) Politically Incorrect Games
A simple fantasy-genre RPG aimed at beginners, using a variant of the "Impresa" system. Action resolution uses a d10 dice pool, rolling a number of dice equal to your attribute, with each roll under skill counting as one 'step'. Difficulty is expressed as number of steps required for success.
Ironhedge
1st ed by John Brooke (1987) Empire Wargames
2nd ed (1989)
A fantasy system with supplements for other genres: "Ganghedge" (inner city gangs), "Starhedge" (space opera), and "Westhedge".
Iron Heroes
1st ed by Michael Mearls (2005) Malhavoc Press
The core book of a fantasy genre RPG, a variant of the third edition D&D Player's Handbook that focuses on warriors and weaponed combat more than flashy magic.
It Came from the Late, Late, Late Show
1st ed by Bradley K. McDevitt, Walter H. Mytczenskyj (1989) Stellar Games
A bad-movie parody RPG.
It's Complicated
1st ed by Elizabeth Shoemaker (2008) Dissolute Games
Revised ed (2010)
A storytelling game about convoluted, messy, compelling, and occasionally one-sided relationships - designed to facilitate play in the style of movies like The Royal Tenenbaums, and television shows like Ugly Betty and Pushing Daisies.
It Was a Mutual Decision
1st ed by Ron Edwards (2006) Adept Press
A story-oriented game about romantic break-up, with the possibility that one is an evil were-rat.
John H. Kim <jhkim@darkshire.net>
Last modified: Mon Jul 2 09:15:53 2018