http://www.icar.co.uk This is the main rss for Icar, the free sci fi roleplaying game. Includes the main news page, recently uploaded files and the latest cartoon. For more feeds, visit the website. roblang@icar.co.uk PHP written in Programmers Notepad v2.0 http://www.icar.co.uk/news.php The small and manageable tasks are being knocked out at a considerable pace. I have completed the new Botchery Clipper model - which was surprisingly difficult because I don't normally do renders where the object is caked in muck. The Botchery Clipper has been weighing on my mind heavily for some time. The old model (seen on the front cover of the version 3 scavenger setting book) was a shocker. I've vowed never to put out something I'm not happy with ever again! The much maligned Dr. Sorex now has an Automaton sheet and I have improved some of the descriptions in the rules. The next steps are to include some more description on the Gaian (the Gaia News organisation) and a bunch of cheat sheets. Once they are done, I'll do another Alpha release. Rob Lang2011/11/14 http://www.icar.co.uk/news.php An updated release for the Icar core rules is now on . After stripping a lot of technology out of the equipment index, it needed to be re-rendered, better explained and added into the core rules. I've also included stat blocks for weapons and vehicles. There is more left to do but this update was important because the equipment and bionics sections were a massive hill to climb and now it's over, the remaining tasks are smaller and more manageable. I thought it was only going to take me a few months but I changed jobs twice and this make it difficult to spend any spare time doing anything else but getting into the groove of my job. I'm in the groove now so I have time I can spend on Icar again. And it feels great. I am a little concerned that on my next full read through of the rules I will want to change a lot. This is because I've been writing a guide to writing a free RPG for my and by doing so I've uncovered a lot of excellent advice I didn't know before. By distilling ideas to share with others I will no doubt become very critical of my own work. One piece of advice I've not been able to follow is one of continuous delivery: release small and release often. By using continuous delivery, I think I will try and do more updates and end up working more on it. I've started sketching a new website too. This one is long in the tooth and is a nightmare on mobile devices. I'll be doing a responsive design for it so that it moulds to whatever device you're using. If you've got any questions or feedback on this release then is by far the best way to communicate with me. I'm all over there like a rash. A nasty rash. One you can't scratch without making it worse. You know what I mean. Rob Lang2011/11/06 http://www.icar.co.uk/news.php I had a very productive day today and managed to turn out no less than three new weapon models and the Automaton sheet for the new Equipment Index. An update like this demands a PDF update! You can download the updated PDF from . The Equipment Index is still missing a few images but I think all the major ones are there now. Rob Lang2011/02/26 http://www.icar.co.uk/news.php Something of a milestone has just been hit! All the re-renders for the new Equipment Index have been complete. You can download it from . It has been something of a struggle to replace old models and re-render them with shiney new textures but now they are done, I'm thrilled with the end result. The new equipment index is compatible with the old one but you'll find the statistics have changed along with the pictures. Also, I have replaced all the discs with simple numbers. Numbers in circles, naturally but numbers nonetheless! I am now working on the Technology section of the core rules - which is actually a quick reference for the equipment index for those people who don't want to print out all the hand-outs. Although I think that's a bit sad, I understand that some people just want to write down the statistics. Now that all the models are remade and skinned, it is a much quicker process. I hope to have another version of the core rules Alpha out in the middle of May. Rob Lang2011/02/26 http://www.icar.co.uk/news.php Hammering away at the Equipment Index has been a long slow slog - and it's not over. However, I feel that I have completed enough of the images to make it worth a look. This Equipment Index is designed for use with version 4 of the rules. Download it from . Thank you to Byrn for donating some models and weapon ideas to the book. To make things more obvious in the future, I have numbered the Equipment Index version 4 - the same as the core ruleset it goes with. If purity is your game, then feel free to scrub out the 4 and write an 8 in instead. No doubt my players will - when they see it. A good question to come from the was about which version is best to play. Version 3.5 Elements, Society, Scavenger Setting and Equipment Index 7 are the solid play-tested version of Icar. The system is clunky in places but it does work. If you are keen to stay on the bleeding edge with an untested, unplayed version then you want 'Version 4', both Core rules and Equipment Index. There are no other books for Version 4 but those two together should be enough to play. Be warned that version 4 is not finished and might well change!Rob Lang2011/02/05 http://www.icar.co.uk/news.phpI've been hammering away at the new version of the equipment index (to go with version 4 of the core rules) for months now. I have made a before I release version 4 and the items are slowly getting done. I am currently working my way through remaking some of the old 3D models. Some were lost in a big hard-drive mess up a few years ago and some are just too old and rough to fit in. Here is the new Hellhound. You can see a lot of the new models in the . The next milestone I want to hit is to release the alpha version of the equipment index by the end of February. There are five things left on the list to do and although each one does take a while to complete I think this is achievable. The new equipment index will be in high resolution (300DPI) and is not intended for printing out as one big lump. Instead, the aim is to pick and choose the weapons used in play. The next milestone after that will be a new version of the Core Rules alpha, which I want to have complete by my birthday in mid-April. I like using my birthday as a deadline because it focuses the mind. On top of all that, I am also writing the Fleet setting so that I can run it with my group. It's a very easy setting to write because a lot of it is right there in the forefront of my head. I can spew it out at great speed. I won't release it to everyone until version 4 of the core rules is complete. The community over at have been wonderful in helping me solve problems and motivating me. Questions, thoughts and comments go a long way to keeping my energy high - especially after a long day at the office. Please keep the questions, comments and ideas ! Rob Lang2011/01/17 http://www.icar.co.uk/news.php It's taken me a few years to get into a state that's releasable: the of the Icar Version 4 book is now (there's no preview for big PDFs on Google just yet, you have to download it). It's far from finished and the Alpha tag is there to warn you that it's still in a shoddy state but there is something to review. If you are keen to read Icar and give a little feedback, please come over to the . There you will find to feedback on. Don't worry about reading everyone else's feedback, I will sort through it all together. There is a , so check that out first. Rob Lang2010/06/05 http://www.icar.co.uk/news.php I've been beavering away on Version 4 now for what seems like an age and it is coming together very nicely indeed. I might even go as far as to say I'm proud of it. Before I launch Version 4, I will be putting out an 'Alpha' version, which will contain most of the text and some (but not all of the images). Hopefully you can get a feel for the game from that. For those hankering for a sneeky peek, the best place to check is the . I have posted examples of from the GM Guide, changes to the horrifically out of date and a big list that acts scope for what I am creating. I post new art into my and also the . I am proud to say that there is a player group on the now too. They are playing Version 3.5 (that you download now) and the feedback I am getting is pure gold. I love feedback of this kind because I can go straight to the Version 4 document and change it there and then. Rob Lang2010/04/09 http://www.icar.co.uk/news.php Version 4 is cutting along at a pace. It's grown, shrank and grown again. I have dumped the Hacking and Space Combat rules (hated them), replaced hacking with a series of action that can be performed in and out of combat with Skill rolls and a new Space Combat system. The look of the book is slightly changing, I will be using a full border image a little like I did for The background section (formerly Society book) is expanding at a huge rate too. I am taking a lot of the detail I generated from my last campaign about societies drop outs and including them too. The Scavenger Setting has been fleshed out and I'm including a series of example adventures. The book is going to be massive. Due to the rule changes and changing of the discs into easier-to-read discs, I will be releasing a new high resolution equipment index at the same time. It's absolutely necessary to do so as the sections of the rules that refer to items in the equipment index need to be in high resolution too. If I didn't, it would ruin the book - most pictures being sharp and then some being fuzzy. This means I will also have to remodel some items because the 3D models were lost in the great deletion balls up! The work never stops. I am not sure if a preview is a good idea as I am likely to change things again before release. When I get some new renders, I will post those up. When's it all going to be ready? I have no idea. My son is due today (and is late, typically) and being our first child, he's bound to suck up a lot of time. Rob Lang2009/10/11 http://www.icar.co.uk/news.php I have moved the Icar forum over to to bring Icar into the Free RPG community a little more and to generate more traffic. It also gives me one less place to Administer. The 1KM1KTers are a friendly bunch and the forum ebbs and flows like any other. I have already of the new Equipment Index. The old forum link should redirect you. Please update your bookmarks. I have not lost any of the content from the old forum, I have backed it up locally and have copied it all into a big XML file that I can use for reference. Thank you to everyone who posted there, I hope you find the new Icar Forum home as agreeable as I do. Rob Lang2009/10/11 http://www.icar.co.uk/news.php The previous character sheet two (the one with the skills and equipment) was knocked up in Photoshop in an afternoon and I was never really happy with it. I liked the layout, skills on one side and equipment on the other. It fitted its purpose but it was not nearly as pleasant as the front character sheet. It didn't really fit - neither did the body/armour sheet (that's next). I lived with it because there were more pressing issues. Doing graphics for Version 4 means doing them in high resolution for print. I redid the character sheet one (or front character sheet) in August last year in high resolution and I think it's much easier to read. When printing on a home laser black and white, the increased DPI makes a huge different. The same goes for character sheet two. Of course, you can't download it at the moment because it is embedded into the Version 4 document. If you're desperate for the new image, let me know and I'll upload a low resolution JPG version. The next step is the body/armour sheet, which will probably return to a outline-body shape with armour rating (AR) and hitpoints (HP) written by the relevant areas. As usual, I'll test against my poor player group and see what they think. Not that they get into any combat, ever. :-) Rob Lang2009/01/27 http://www.icar.co.uk/news.php My apologies for blatting your feedreaders with two updates today but I've had a stupidly productive time and I thought I'd share it with you all. This is the new character sheet three (or body/armour sheet in old language). In beautiful high resolution (in Version 4, where this shot was taken from). When folded down the middle, armour appears on the backside. For each section, the Armour Rating (AR) is in the smaller disc and Hit Points (HP) in the larger disc with original value above the line and current value below it. When printed on A4, I've found that the HP discs are fine for writing up to 99,999 and as AR is only two digits so there is plenty of room. Psychotheatrics have disappeared off the sheet because there was never really enough room. I will state in the rules that they can be put at the bottom of the Character sheet two on the equipment side. Some (noteably one of my players, Fish) likes to put images from the web in his character. For that, I will provide a massive PSD (which is a layered graphics format made famous by Photoshop but usable with GIMP) template without the outlines or lines-with-spots. That way anyone can put whoever they like in the background. No doubt there will be people who prefer a grid, and I appreciate that more than most but this sheet must be in keeping with the game itself, which is important. If you're using it a lot, you'll soon get used to it. If you don't, then it won't bother you. I don't think it's so very new that it will act as a barrier to entry (as the dials were) but instead a worthy improvement. No doubt, I'll keep fiddling with this and the other character sheet but I doubt the layouts will change much. The only addition in the rules will be specially prepared pages that can be printed onto the back of the character sheets that have a rule quick reference. This will be like those pictures and lists in the back of the book but compressed into more helpful sheets. Not needed for everyone but might help the newer players. Rob Lang2009/01/27 http://www.icar.co.uk/news.php Writing has been a very valuable experience for me. Not only have I felt like I am not alone in my internet philanthropy and that every other amateur designer wants cash for their games but I can now see what is good and bad about free games. There are mistakes I don't want to repeat. The biggest mistake free RPGs make is the lack of accessibility. An RPG can be unsurprising. It can be old school. It can even be D&D cloned for the 8 millionth time. What it cannot be is difficult to understand. Every system has its own statistical oddities and rulings, which is fine, but to depart from ease of understanding without good reason is unforgivable. If you're writing a roleplaying game to play between you and your mates (which I have essentially been doing) then you can do whatever you like, as long as you keep consistency within the group and everyone has agreed to the rulings. I think I am guilty of the biggest barrier to entry ever: the dials/discs. By putting triangles, circles and squares onto a dial, you are essentially departing not only from roleplaying canon but from numeracy. Spreadsheet character sheets still make me wretch, grids of numbers beckon insomnia plagued nights. I'm reminded of dear old Gainesy, who after playing the game for years, still finds it easier to write the values next to the disc. He's no fool and yet there is a brutal honesty there: the discs are nice but I find numbers easier. So, I am considering getting shot of them. The discs will remain but the dials will be gone and people will be urged to write the actual number in. It's easier to understand. For everyone, from the word Go. Simplifies the rules. Easier to read straight off the character sheet. It's not different anymore. Have to redo a lot of resources. Version 4 won't be backwardly compatible with version 3.x. The benefits hardly need discussing. The drawbacks do need some attention. Icar is, and always will be both different and familiar. Its genes are rooted so deeply in Star Wars, Star Trek, Asimov, Iain M Banks and Gibson that I will never be able to truly extract it from popular culture. Icar, like tea, is a blend and it's the blend that supplies its original taste. No one has blended quite in this way before. Do I need dial trickery to provide that individual aroma? Perhaps - but I don't think it's going to change what makes the game different. As for redoing a lot of resources, yes there is a lot but (not surprisingly) I am having to redo a lot anyway. I have received comments that it's rather odd to have a mix of 3D and flat imagery for character sheets. Wouldn't it be nice to have just 3D? Yes it would. As I am updating to print at approximately 200DPI (from 72DPI), I will have to update everything anyway and as the Equipment Index now uses a PDF with a handy templating system, it's less work than you might imagine. As for compatibility - if you're already using 3, going to 4 won't make much difference. You're used to dials, numbers are hardly going to be a shock to the system. If you come to 4 and want to use version 3 resources then you might wander what the hell is going on. This means that the Equipment Index and Core book will need to be released concurrently. Well, I say concurrently but that might be a fib. Chances are, there will be a Chom Isis shaped gap between those two releases. Will you weep when you see a character sheet without them or will you not be bothered? Is it something you've been expecting for some time? Let me know Rob Lang2009/01/12 http://www.icar.co.uk/news.php I have been reading and downloading other Free RPGs for quite a long time now and it occurred to me that there was no blog for reviewing and commenting on these free RPGs. So I have created . A place to collect and highlight all the philanthropic goodness out there. Please do check it out and give comments where need be. While on the subject, another blog I rather like to read called the by Zachary Houghton, a rather well respected sort of fellow. The post "Quick 6: Games I Never To Get Play" listed Icar as one of its posts, to which he said: I do hope he manages to run a game and let me know how it might be improved! Many thanks, Zach. Rob Lang2008/10/04 http://www.icar.co.uk/news.php I had a wonderful time at , played loads of games and made some great new friends. This is a brief report of what went on, what I learnt and what I'm going to do about it. The RPGA (Roleplaying Games Association) people did a really good job booking in players for all of the games and it looked like I had two fully booked games. Unfortunately for the first game I only had three pre-booked players turn up. Many thanks to Erno, Mark and Magnus for showing up! I drafted in Fish and Byrn, who were old hands at Icar and who hadn't played the scenario. Being the raving idiot I am, I left the character sheets at home, so I ran and drove to get them. God only know what Fish and Byrn told them while I was away. Once settled, the players got on very well. I was concerned that the combat would slow due to explaining the rules and although it did, I don't think anyone really noticed. Rather than constricting, I gave the players the usual level of freedom and they used it well. Deviant wheels were used sparingly and there were some skill rolls too. Lots of laughs and smiles all round too. I left the table with that joyous adrenaline high. Unfortunately, I had to cancel the second session because only 2 of the 5 booked people turned up. A big disappointment as I had some great feedback from the guys after the first slot. I nearly ran a random game on Sunday but was just too knackered. I am glad that I collated some over at theRPGsite. A lot of the points people raised were very helpful to make sure I was completely ready and that I could run the best game that I could. Some of the tips were particularly useful about getting the players to customise their characters a bit (without the chore bits) and getting them to introduce themselves. I think it was notably missing in some of the games I played. It became immediately obvious that I needed to see what other people do when they GM. I got in a game of Spycraft and D&D (3e) to see how other GMs ran their games as well as watching a few games purely as a third person. I can't draw too many parallels as the Con game is only ever a snapshot of the game as a whole but it certainly felt that there was a disconnect between combat and description. Roleplaying was something generally (with exceptions, naturally) kept outside of the combat, which leant more towards a wargame (especially in AD&D). I was satisfied that you could play Icar like that, so it was a good affirmation. A fellow called Will who played in the Spycraft game said he had downloaded Icar but couldn't be arsed to print it out. Had it been in a book form, he'd have paid for it. However, playing from laptop is not ideal and printing is a pain. This is something I've felt for a while now and it was nice to have someone repeat it back to me. I shall be persuing a print option for those without snacky Laser printers. This leads me nicely on to... A founder of who's name I can't for the life of me remember (Matthew Sprange?) gave a fascinating talk on ways to start an RPG company. He outlined all the pitfalls, the costs, the woes and how things work in the industry. It was great. He had numbers, facts and figures (although no marketing information due to the lack of industry wide data) and gave real examples of things that do and do not work. He definitely came from within the hobby and I got the feeling that he wanted to help people who wanted to do what he did. At the same time, he was trying to sell the Flaming Cobra brand, a way for independent publishers to get their books out there. The money side was particularly interesting and I will certainly not be giving up my day job! A few interesting points came out of the talk. Firstly, as I suspected, is very expensive and other POD services might be worth a look. Secondly a full colour book is rare because the cost. I had my suspicions about that, seeing the lovely Elements sitting in my hand was heart warming but I did worry about how much each book would cost. The POD book will have to be black and white on the inside, making it much more affordable - even through a simple POD service. The last thing that became obvious was one of amalgamation and reshaping the books. I do wonder how many people download just the Elements and wonder where the damn setting is. I only kept the PDFs separate because bandwidth was a pain. Most people are now on a reasonable bandwidth, so I think I will be pulling a load of the books into a single one, rationalising some of the graphics, reducing the font size and then uploading that to whichever POD service I want to use. For the forseeable at least, Icar will remain a free PDF download. I game the Mongoose fellow an Icar moocard and asked for feedback. I doubt he'll have the time but I had to try! Si Crocker played Icar back when it was still learning to fly. Being a couple of years older than us, Si was part of the inspiration of the close combat system. His descriptions of fights (the one where he cut his thumb in particular) often involved flying headbutts, kicks, punches, glass, bosh, claret flooding etc. Subliminally, perhaps, I tried to make the close combat system feel like one of Si's descrtions. Si, in progress of taking over the world is currently doing some great work over at the . I also caught up with . A fellow I knew way back in the days of running Icar at the and at . Angus and the peeps over at Cubicle 7 are doing a great job bringing the Dr Who RPG out (when it's good and ready) and keeping my second favourite RPG in print: SLA Industries. Many thanks to all the people who played and said nice things. If you want to discuss this or anything else, please do go over to ! Rob Lang2008/08/31