VSGMR: Where Do We Begin?

A Very Simple game should have very simple rules, and in an effort to be comprehensive, I'm including everything I can think of in the game's rules. That's a conflict, of course, but here's the solution: a one-page summary of the necessary dice rolls, with detailed information on those rules, and following that a big section of optional rules, like points values, special abilities (one of the things the Yahoo Group really got a lot of enjoyment from), and scenarios.

We start with an introduction and the materials needed to play. I called the miniature figures "guys" because that's what they're most often called, especially when they're not actually hobby gaming miniatures (i.e., LEGOs, action figures, even dolls). The girlfriend of a friend used to call them "your little people," but I'm not going to use that term in the rules.

The current version of the rules also mentioned a measuring tool. As in most miniatures battle games, that refers to a ruler. For VSGMR, where "twisting and turning" the measuring tool is suggested, try a flexible ruler, like the ones used for sewing. It's basically a ribbon.

Like this, but you only need one (mine is yellow). (image: aliexpress.com)

Dice, a playing surface, and markers of some kind should be easy enough to come by. Coins are great markers, though make sure they're all the same size, since using a large coin as an objective marker makes it a little easier for figures to touch.

That leaves terrain, which at its most basic (its Very Simplest), is stacks of books or old boxes, maybe decorated a little bit. There's also print-and-fold terrain out there; finding good resources is the subject of another post.

So here's where we start, with what you need to play. It hasn't changed, and it will be part of the basic rules of the new VSGMR. It's is one of about a dozen games, or game variants, I'm playtesting and revising now. They'll all eventually be on my website, though some have work-in-progress versions available now.

VSGMR: Updating For A New Tomorrow

So, a long time ago my game VSGMR (Very Simple Generic Miniatures Rules — I wanted a placeholder name, and it kind of stuck. Hey, it worked for GURPS) was popular enough that it earned its own Yahoo Group. I was just there this morning; you can still find a number of expansions written by several participants, everything from cavemen to "Star Wars."

Speaking of old miniatures games... (image: Pinterest, uploader unknown)

But time has passed and VSGMR is a little out of date, especially given the growth of simplified miniatures games like One Page Rules and Games Workshop's own "Age of Sigmar" (much, much easier to get into than the older versions of "Warhammer"). There's room for plenty of games in the world, and so I will be bringing VSGMR back. I revitalized my own Domino Writing-style USR roleplaying game with an ongoing series here on this blog, and I'll be doing the same with VSGMR.

First, it needs an update, if only to actually keep to the "Very Simple" part of its name. Every gamer knows how easy it is to keep adding rules to a game, and looking through the most recent version of 2013 I see rules for buildings, for special abilities, for using a sheet of paper to make measurements, and on and on. I'll be streamlining the game, with the basic rules in one place, then some official expansions after that. "Very Simple" needs to mean very simple.

Here's the core rules: 

• Use any figures you have, any size. Their equipment and abilities are whatever you say they are.
• Roll 1 die (a d6) per figure, on a 4 or better (sometimes higher) it's a success.

That's it! Look for the revised rules soon. If you have any suggestions for the revised version, let me know.

USR Wednesdays: Miniatures Rules

Rules light games are known for being played "theater of the mind" style: everything is described by the GM and the players, including the stuff more crunchy rules sets use miniatures and maps for, like combat positioning and movement. Instead of moving a small plastic figure six spaces, then counting another few spaces to make sure your character is in range of a target, you just say, "I'm near the door, can I hit him?"

But if you're like me, and you want to use all the miniatures and maps and terrain and stuff you use in other games and have spend years collecting — and at the same time you want to play USR — you need another option. So I'm borrowing from my own Microlite 20 rules for USR miniatures rules.

A recent game - elves and humans vs wolves and rats standing in for wolves.

If you have miniature figures (about 1 inch or 25 to 28 mm tall) to represent the characters and their enemies, you’ll need a ruler or a battle map covered in spaces (squares, hexes or 1 inch measurements). One space equals 5 feet or 2 yards, and the average human-sized character and monster moves 6 spaces per turn, even diagonally. This is the character’s movement rate.

Small characters (like halflings or gnomes) move 5 spaces per turn, while characters wearing heavy armor (splint mail, banded mail, half-plate, full plate) move 1 space less each turn. On older-style (i.e. OSR) maps, where one space equals 10 feet, the average character moves 3 spaces per turn.

Characters can move through the same space as another character or enemy, but cannot end movement in the same space as another figure. Rubble, darkness, heavy growth and other difficult terrain “costs” 2 spaces of movement per space moved by the character. Moving up and down is the same as moving horizontally (a character does not have to “spend” extra movement to climb or fly). Moving just 1 space is considered a “free” action, as long as the character does not move any farther that turn.

If there’s a question whether a character could see an enemy to hit it, draw an imaginary straight line from the center of the attacker’s space to the center of the target’s space (or one of its spaces, if it takes up more than one space on the map). If there is no major obstacle or enemy in the path, the character can make the attack. Allies of the attacker do not block its path. Characters can attack through windows and other partial obstacles at a -1 penalty to hit.

To avoid calculating attack ranges each turn, melee attacks must be made against an enemy in a space adjacent to the character. Thrown and short-range weapon attacks can be made against an enemy up to 10 spaces away. Long-range weapon attacks can be made against an enemy up to 25 spaces away.

There you have it, simple rules for miniatures. I've used them in several games I've written over the years, and they seem to be a good starting point. A character with a high Action stat or Specialisms related to agility and dexterity might move a space faster, and the difficult terrain and obstacles rules could get much, much more detailed (Action rolls to move through terrain? 1/4 cover?).

Do miniatures play a part in your USR games?

Revisiting VSGMR

For the first time in about four years, I took a look at VSGMR (Very Simple Generic Miniatures Rules). There are other good simple miniatures games available (One Page, Two Hour, Brikwars, even Age of Sigmar), but I like the option of using all the standard roleplaying dice and different scales of figures. I'm going to revisit it, as there are still people in the Yahoo group.

Some of those other games are even simpler than VSGMR, and as I have less and less time to set up and play games (jobs, family, the same issues as everyone else), I lean more and more in that direction. I also want to make use of the figures I already have: 28 mm fantasy characters, 10 mm characters from wargames, and standees, the cardboard flats with a small plastic base.

These are standees.

I don't think the rules need a revision, since they're pretty smooth right now (move 6 inches, roll 4 or 5 to hit, roll 4 or 6 for defense if there's armor). There are a few special abilities, and options for using figures of different scales. I'd like to add more custom-made armies, since there are new miniature games available since 2013, with new options. So look for that soon (really!).