Tired of the slow, methodical pace of Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition combat? Many players and Dungeon Masters seek to inject more speed, urgency, and unpredictability into their games. While some enjoy a chess-like approach to every battle, a significant portion of the TTRPG community craves a quicker, more dynamic experience. If you’ve tried various tricks to speed up your 5e sessions with little success, then Nimble RPG might be the solution you’ve been searching for. This fast, tactical, and 5e-compatible tabletop roleplaying game aims to transform the drudgery of combat into an exhilarating part of your campaign.
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What Makes Nimble RPG Stand Out?
Nimble offers a fresh take on the familiar 5th Edition framework, simplifying many aspects while introducing exciting new features. The core rulebook, a concise 53-page guide, is exceptionally well-produced. The art is visually appealing, the books are intuitively organized, and critical information like monster stat blocks and character sheets are presented clearly and efficiently.
Character creation in Nimble RPG is straightforward, featuring the classic five stats (Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma) and ten skills. Each skill is linked to a stat, and players receive 6 skill points to customize their proficiencies. Skill checks operate similarly to 5e, with a touch of simplification. A notable difference is how advantage works: it stacks. If multiple situations grant advantage, you gain multiple extra dice, adding to the excitement of critical moments. The game also includes familiar elements like initiative, a streamlined inventory system (heroes can carry 10 + Strength items), proficiency, and hit dice, all presented in a concise and easy-to-understand format.
Streamlined Mechanics and Legendary Battles
Nimble introduces simplified rules for long and short rests, with long rests requiring a designated safe place for full benefits. The equipment section is equally efficient, providing handy tables for standard melee and ranged fantasy RPG weapons, armor types, and adventuring gear.
Running monsters in Nimble RPG is also simplified. Most monsters are unarmored, meaning damage dice plus modifiers are directly applied. Monsters with medium armor ignore damage modifiers, while those with heavy armor only take half the die roll in damage, with modifiers excluded. For quick encounters, rules for minions are provided, along with concise tips for improvising encounters and monster tactics.
One of the most exciting additions is the concept of Legendary Monsters. These are your boss battles, equipped with special abilities that make them truly terrifying. Unlike regular monsters, legendary monsters act after each hero’s turn, dramatically increasing the stakes. They also possess Legendary Resistances, allowing them to negate damage or succeed on a failed save, maintaining their formidable presence. For example, Grimbeak the Unyielding, a legendary monster, can use her legendary resistance but must skip her next turn. Furthermore, legendary monsters gain new special abilities when they reach half their HP and again when they drop to 0 HP, creating dynamic and challenging encounters. Imagine the surprise on your players’ faces when Grimbeak’s Savage Screech recharges at half health, or she gains the ability to move and attack on each turn at 0 HP!
The game also includes a tight and concise page of rules for magic items. Crucially, Nimble offers incredibly simple rules for converting DnD 5e monsters, spells, magic items, races, classes, and skill checks/saves. This means you can easily play any existing 5e adventure, whether it’s a published WOTC module, a third-party creation, or your own homebrew, with Nimble RPG mechanics. Even new adventures based on the 2024 5e core rules will be readily compatible.
The Game-Changing Combat System of Nimble RPG
The true brilliance of Nimble shines in its combat system. Inspired by games like Pathfinder 2e, PCs gain three “heroic actions” per turn, which can be used for attacking, spellcasting, skill checks, or movement. Reactions are also available when it’s not your turn, including familiar options like helping others or making opportunity attacks, as well as new ones like “Defend” (reducing damage) and “Interpose” (pushing an ally out of the way to take the hit yourself).
Initiative is rolled as in DnD, but instead of determining turn order, it dictates how many actions you get on your first turn. Heroes always go first, but a low initiative roll might limit you to one action, while rolling over 20 grants all three.
Perhaps the most radical and exciting change in Nimble combat is the absence of a d20 attack roll. In Nimble RPG, heroes are inherently skilled. To attack, you simply roll the damage die for your weapon, ability, or spell, and that’s how much damage you deal. A roll of 1 is a miss, but otherwise, you always hit. There are no critical misses. For attacks with multiple dice, the leftmost die determines hits, misses, or critical hits.
And yes, there are critical hits! Nimble incorporates an “exploding damage dice” mechanic, similar to Zweihander. When you roll the maximum on your damage die, you get to roll again and add the result. If you roll the maximum again, you keep rolling and adding to the damage. This system leads to exhilarating moments of massive damage, sure to delight your players.
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Nimble truly delivers on its promise of fast, tactical, and fun 5e combat, offering a streamlined yet robust experience that maintains the spirit of Dungeons & Dragons while eliminating common pain points.
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