The Indie/Zine RPG Review Part V: Into the Odd

Into the Odd (Free League Publishing)

$39.99 (give or take for the SK to USD exchange rate) print plus PDF

Before reviewing Into the Odd, it is worth mentioning the history of this particular game system as I have stitched it together. Into the Odd's mechanics appear in the original game, and the one we are looking at is the revised version published through Free League Publishing. Into the Odd is a sort of prequel to another, larger game with the same core rules called Electric Bastionland, which takes place in the future of Into the Odd. In addition to these two titles, we see the mechanics pop up in a trilogy of games by Old Skull Publishing, including Screams Amongst the Stars, The Dead are Coming, and Running out of Time. Into the Odd's core mechanics are also the driving ruleset of Liminal Horror from Exalted Funeral, which is where I first ran in to it. I was initially thinking to myself of Liminal Horror "these are some bold choices for a horror game, I like it," but when I got Into the Odd and discovered that it stems from this more pragmatic decaying arcane steampunk universe, I found it utterly fascinating, for the intent and feel of the rules unique in how it likely drives player engagement, as you shall see below.

What it is: Into the Odd  is a game about an old world, with an ill-defined past that is either forgotten or best not spoken of; things called the arcana, curious devices and relics of either a forgotten age or another realm, are sought after by the adventurers of this world, which centers on one specific corner: the city of Bastion and its environs. Bastion runs on a steampunk pseudo/quasi-Victorian age of unusual technology with a bit of magic fused in, creating a not-quite-19th century and not-quite-D&D universe feel to the setting. It is its own beast. The adventurers of this world the power of these mysterious arcana, and find them in expeditions. When not on expeditions they build up their power base and reputation within the city. All of this is handled in about 57 pages total including the referee section, and the next 100 pages are setting, scenario locations, and an appendix of interesting optional rules and nonhuman player character options. 

An important thing to note about Into the Odd is its layout: this is a game system and scenario set which is deeply entrenched in a modern aesthetic using the economy of design to both get to the point of what you need to know and evoke the sense of the exotic without overwhelming you with unnecessary detail. This game, similar to Mork Borg, Mothership, Death in Space and Old-School Essentials wants you to play it and build on it; it does not want to dictate unnecessary information to you, or hamstring your ability to creatively expand the world as you see fit. 

The System: Into the Odd's system is dirt simple. Players roll three stats (strength, dexterity and willpower), determine Hit Protection (a different concept from hit points), and some equipment. if they are lucky the PCs get an arcana. Determining your starting powers is done by cross-referencing your highest ability score against your hit protection. Interestingly, you will only get unique powers or arcana if your highest ability score is low or average; the game assumes a high stat is reward in itself to start. This will cause no end of angst to players who seek to min/max things.

Arcana are things of various natures with short descriptors, ranging from utilitarian to incredibly potent. Some negotiation is expected, and this is the point of the system, to get players and referees thinking outside of the box. Arcana are effectively Into the Odd's magic system, and anyone can benefit from it.

Combat in the system is going to be a make-or-break for some gamers. It is readily one of the most interesting approaches to combat I have seen, and worth noting that it fundamentally changes the core conceit of many RPGs: within Into the Odd, when you engage in battle there are no rolls to hit, you just do. When you attack something, you go straight to rolling your damage dice, and your enemy must roll any armor or protection dice. If damage is dealt after subtractions, then it applies first to hit protection and then to your strength for physical damage or willpower for mental damage. When you take any damage to a stat you must make an ability check against the modified stat, and if you fail you are critically injured and will die eventually if not tended to. If you take a critical injury against willpower you are mentally broken until you get proper rest. If strength reaches zero you die right away. It is a simple and elegant approach, but it also means that because any engagement is almost certain to lead to harm for the combatants, one may consider carefully whether the combat is worth it. Luckily, recovering most damage is fairly quick....but surviving long enough to have time to recover is hard. 

The rest of the rules include the basic mechanics, which are roll-under for saves, and various basic spot rules. Samples of useful things including a handful of weird monsters, traps and lengthy rules for broader engagement and social buildup of the characters during downtime. Worth noting is that the rules provide plenty of information for new players and referees, so this book, while minimalist, has enough information (including play examples) to help new players figure things out.

One oddity is the level up mechanic, which starts at a novice rank and goes through several levels that require adventuring and later engagement within the city to advance. On the one hand it is neat in that it prompts players to do stuff outside of exploration, giving them a motive to build up a reputation and power base in Bastion or elsewhere. On the other hand, the "meat and potatoes" of the book is the exploration, and while there are rules for this downtime engagement, it is not quite as exciting as the exploration part, meaning some players may be facing a lower rank cap if they don't want to build a stronghold/go to war/engage in mercantilism or what-not. YMMV I suppose. 

The Setting: The bulk of the book is detailing the world in a series of regions written to provide exploratory crawls. Surprisingly little information is given on the city of Bastion, though Electric Bastionland which is set in the future provides a vast amount of information, but by virtue of its future setting point that won't be overly useful here. 

The book outlines a series of scenario locations. The format is concise and to the point, within the barest minimum of exposition. This sort of scenario is closer to an outline of an adventure than an actual adventure, but it is the sort of design that works extremely well for gamemasters who wish to riff on what is provided. If you are the sort of GM who prefers to have this exposition provided for, this is probably not going to work for you.....but if you much prefer to have the important elements up front and the exposition left to your own devising, then this is going to be a very comfortable format.

Lastly an appendix provides mechanisms for running mutants, simple folk, unhumans and alternative gear packages. This is a welcome addition worth adding once players are comfortable with the basic stuff, or right away if you have experienced players. 

Supplements: none so far as I am aware, though many other games as mentioned earlier use exactly the same rule system. 

Who Should Get This? Honestly, Into the Odd is a tight book which provides enough material for a lengthy campaign of exploration, and a surprising amount of "down time" reputational/power development for character position and status in Bastion. It is still very skeletal in its setting, despite having so much evocative imagery and descriptors. Much of the flavor will come out of the unique organic experience of play and interpretation....a thing which I rather admire and like, thus why I have this high on my list of game I would like to play with my group. 

I do not recommend this game for players who wish for deeper mechanical contrivance, elaborate exposition, and clear and unambiguous goals. If, however, your group likes setting their own goals, exploration for its own sake, and mysteries aplenty where the GM can riff freely, then yeah, try this one out. In fact....I'll talk about Electric Bastionland at a later date, but its really interesting contrasting Into the Odd against its successor. Into the Odd is, in my opinion, the better of the two books in so many ways, and maybe down the road its sequel can get a revision that brings it more in line with Into the Odd's economy of design.