Pocket TTRPG Roundup, Part Five (or maybe Eight)
HandiQuest
Publisher: Lester Smith Games
Year: 2022
Dimensions: 2½” x 3½” x negligible thickness for the system alone, or ⅝” for everything you need to play
Players: 1
This unfortunately-named solo ruleset comes with the Bookmark No-HP RPG Compleat Bundle on DTRPG, or can be purchased separately for a couple bucks. The system is printed on four double-sided poker cards, but you also need a copy of Bookmark No-HP RPG (BNHP) and some variety of the Gamemaster’s Apprentice Deck (GMA) to play. That makes this the Avengers of game reviews.
HandiQuest (heh) attempts to marry the random prompts of GMA with the simple play of BNHP to create a solo RPG experience that you can literally play anywhere. The rules don’t mention it, but I’d assume that if you’re playing a genre game (fantasy, sci-fi, etc.) with the BNHP rules, you’re expected to be using the generic GMA deck or a matching themed deck. Though as I think of it, playing e.g. sci-fi with e.g. the Age of Sail deck would certainly give it a unique flavor. Y’know what, I withdraw my objection. Mix ‘em up.
N.B.: The rules assume you’re using physical cards for all this. It can be played very easily with a virtual GMA deck (like you get with Bundle of Holding deals) if you use a card randomizer app or the deck system in your favorite VTT. I’ve been using a free Android app called Custom Image Dice, which works quite well. You just need to figure out your own system to hold and/or count cards.
To start a game, make a BNHP character, then cut the GMA deck. The cut card shows your ultimate goal in its Location spot, and the difficulty getting there in the Difficulty Generator spot on the other side. Take this card, invert it, stick it somewhere in the back half of the deck, and reassemble everything. This gives you a largish but random number of card pulls for your adventure.
From here, the game has a definite rhythm. Pull the top card, select a Location from either side, and take the Difficulty from the other. This is your next waypoint. Draw a second card and use the prompts there to make up what exactly the main obstacle will be on your way to the destination. Then run the encounter. When you would normally roll dice for BNHA, instead draw cards for the Dice Wheel.
If you survive to reach your goal, draw another card and look at the Likely Odds section. If most of the prompts are “No,” it’s an encounter; if mostly “Yes,” it’s a battle. Once again use card prompts within the scene to describe what you’re dealing with. In a battle scene, continue using the cards to make up an opponent and fight them. Encounters are more for imagination and storytelling. You can also rest after an encounter unless any of the prompts on the card are “NO!”
On to the next. When you reach the upside-down card, it’s automatically a battle, but otherwise run it like other locations. Win, lose, or draw, the game ends afterward.
If you want to make it an epic quest, shuffle and run through twice, first to find a quest item which you then use as a Trait or Vocation for your second journey.
Pocket fit: HandiQuest by itself weighs nothin’, but everything you need to play makes it hefty. The minimum set of HandiQuest + BNHP rules + one genre card + GMA is ~70 cards, and a slip case is practically required if you don’t want your deck to get all dog-eared. You’ll need a pencil to keep track of your character too. C-.
Legibility: Quite nice. HandiQuest uses a slightly chonky 11-point-ish serif font with bold sans-serif headers. It’s readable even from arm’s length. A.
Completeness: Hm. Well, literally by itself, this game is F-tier unplayable. With BNHP and a GMA deck, it’s about the same as BNHP itself, so I’ll crib from my previous review and give it a B-.
Final thoughts: HandiQuest gives you the barest, barest minimum to play solo BNHP + GMA. Since it can only generate very standard “go here, do this, go there, do that” stories, it’s not the Ultimate Story Experience by any stretch. I dare say even a minimal story engine like Storytelling Mints has this beat on that front. It’s fine if you don’t mind galumphing around the countryside like a Dark Souls player for an hour or two, but it’s not really built for ultra-memorable, story-rich games.
I appreciate it as a pack-in, but I wouldn’t recommend going out of your way to pick it up. One thumb passionlessly up.