One Ruleset to Rule Them All

I was away from home for a few days recently. During this time, I was itching for a game but did not have anything with me. It got me thinking about a travel game set.

When I got home, I started planning it out.

The Box

I haven't used it in a while, but I do have one of these Tiger Tuff boxes lying around. It is slim, under an inch in depth, so it is perfect for traveling. 

The Supplies

As shown above, I'll supply the box with a flip mat and some dry erase pens. That will take care of the battlefield and terrain.

I'm planning to go with blocks for the miniatures, as shown here

I would also like to be able to do skirmishes. I'm thinking of using meeples.

The Rules

Now this is where things are really getting crazy. I'd like to make a generic, universal kit. Big battles? Skirmish? RPG? I want to do it all with one ruleset. Impossible, right?

Well, recently I was struck by an idea for a light solo RPG ruleset. They key concept is what I call the Res (i.e. Resolution) Test. It always works the same - roll 4+ on a D6 to succeed. Specific conditions like PC level, enemy armor class, etc. will determine if the test is advantaged (bonus to attack) or disadvantaged. What makes this system so flexible is that I can assess advantages or disadvantages on the fly without a lot of math or stats.

Then it dawned on me. I already came up with this system - it's the same core rule for the latest incarnation of my MicroBattle rules.

So now I am expanding on that core, developing guidelines on how to apply the Res Test to different types of games. We'll see how that goes.