Is there a free download anywhere that goes into the basics of Ubiquity? Something that I could post or hand out to people w/o copywrite violation?

Or even a post that goes into the basics?

Not officially.

Over in the HEX forums, there have been a few fan-created rules summaries offered, but they were (obviously) slanted towards HEX.

Exile came out with a Free RPG Day adventure (available for PDF download at their site) that included a quick intro to the system, again focused on the specific game. I could see using it as a template for generating either a generic Ubiquity or Desolation-focused intro.

There was a quick-sheet making the rounds at GenCon that I assume the Greymalkin folks whipped up. Don't know if that's what you're asking for, but I could try scanning it in and sending you an image. Or Matt, Stephen or Jamie could put the file up for download (hint, hint).

Hope that helps.

What does HEX mean exactly? I assumed it was...just another name for Ubiquity. Like a pet name or something. But I only see it when I'm on the Exile boards and never here.

Yeah. I just want a quick sheet. Now there is a cool sample scenario on the Desolation website available for down load. But I was looking for something simpler than that even. Just an explanation of success and failures, and the basics.

If that's the sheet that was passed around Gen Con, it would be perfect.

HEX stands for Hollow Earth Expedition.

I am not sure what cheat sheet we used at Gen Con... I will have to check into that.

Hrmmm....

OH!

I would have never gotten that. Not to make the acronym any less cool, just saying that it wasn't intuitive for me.

I use Hero System all the time, and they use Hex maps, and measure in Hexes... So... That's all I could think of when I saw HEX. That shape!

This should cleanse my brain's pallet to the word HEX so I don't dislike it so much anymore.

Matt beat me to it, but, yeah, it's our shorthand for the Hollow Earth Expedition RPG. Yes, technically it should be HEE, but just doesn't sound as cool.

HEX uses the Ubiquity system and is what I guess you could call the system's flagship game. Until Desolation, it was the only RPG using it.

I'll dig through my GenCon swag for the sheet. I also recall photocopying a bunch for JohnK while I was there for one of his games.

I could even use it a starting point and compose a new one. Let me know what info you'd want and I'll make sure it's in it.

I have a new project!

Seriously? You rock dude!

ok...

I want something that explains the Ubiquity Rules, nice and simple up toppish. And then maybe an example or two towards the bottom.

Just between you and me...I don't really know the rules. Unless the rules are really as simple as what I played at GenCon, which really is hard to imagine.

I also particularly need to know...successes, how to rate the difficulty of a success. How many successes would be considered doing the impossible, versus accomplishing a mundane task...and kind of a table that list the scale in between the simple and the impossible.

Also, maybe an idea from a GMs perspective of how many points to give for character creation. Depending on how heroic or a game they wanted to run. --- Eh. Scratch that. That can just be a question in the forum. Nobody but me would likely be interested in that anyways.

I dunno. Just something that someone can look at and immediately see, how simple and usable the rules are.

Sorry for taking so long to get back on this. Real Life(tm) reared its ugly head and kept me from focusing on the important stuff.

I found the sheet I was talking about. It listed States of Being (dazed, exhausted, unconscious), Combat Maneuvers, Style point usage, stuff like that.

Now, for what we'rte talking about, let me put out a list of options and you can telll me which ones sound right for the sheet:

• Attribute descriptions
• Task resolution (how to count dice, Taking the Average)
• Difficulty Levels
• Style Points (how to get them, how to spend them)
• Combat Maneuvers
• Damage Resolution

That's what I have so far just off the top of my head. If y'all think of any additional ones, please let me know.

The plan is to have something that will fit a page (maybe two if I make the sheet two-sided).

Hey Nestor,

Great idea and thanks for taking it on as a project. All of those items sound great, I can't think of any others off the top of my head. I'm thinking this would be an awesome hand out at the table for Con on the Cob. It will give the players a quick reference sheet while I explain the rules and when going through encounters. I wish I had this when I ran the demo last year (my notes weren't all that usable being spread over multiple pages). A single sheet or even double sided with the basics would be much appreciated.

This looks like a great start!

...maybe an explanation of how burn works, too? A tiny one. Which brings up magic and the basics of how that works.

Yes, indeed.

If that's all right, I may format the magic section to a second page. That way, you can hand it out only to those who actually have magic-using characters.

It also allows me to make the first sheet more generalized.

Not to be a giant kill-joy, but we need to slow down on this particular project.

While, I certainly appreciate the idea and can see the benefit - especially at cons and such - I have some concerns.

I know there has been a HEX quickstart rules included as part of the free-RPG day, but we are only licensing the system and I don't want to overstep any boundries by having a Desolation version created without express permission. Plus, to be honest, I am not sure how I feel about the Desolation secret sauce (magic and burn) being spilled so soon.

I can't tell you not to create the document. But I am going to ask you not to post it publicly - at least not for now.

Sorry to rain on parades, be a party pooper, and all that rot.

Hopefully you all understand and it won't dampen your enthusiasm for the game.

No worries. I can understand any concerns in terms of licensing and such.

If you don't mind, I'll put this on my "putter around" list. And when you guys are ready to release something, hopefully I can offer what I have as a submission.

*smoochies!*

Not at all unexpected really. I can totally see where you're coming from.