With the final few hours before it Infinity’s Edge the “LitRPG” RPG is a sure thing to succeed as it has doubled it’s success threshold. Still, this is one I’ve been wanting to talk about for a bit and just haven’t had the chance both due to other commitments and my own continuing state of being a creative burn-out.
Infinity’s Edge as the kickstarter implies is a new ground-up, skill-based Roleplaying game based on the LitRPG genre. What is LitRPG? Here is a loose definition from Wikipedia:
LitRPG, short for Literary Role Playing Game, is a literary genre combining the conventions of RPGs with science-fiction and fantasy novels.[1] Games or game-like challenges form an essential part of the story and visible RPG statistics (for example strength, intelligence, damage) are a significant part of the reading experience. This is in contrast to GameLit, which involves game-like worlds but does not typically provide visible statistics. At least some of the characters in a LitRPG novel may understand that they are playing a game or are in a game-like world: they are ‘meta-aware’.
I’ve been a fan of the genre for awhile going back to anime such as .hack//sign and the much newer (and far more popular) Sword Art Online. In terms of novels, the only ones I can truly recommend are the Awaken Online series by Travis Bagwell.
As for Infinity’s Edge, the concept looks good. It is a percentile-based system – and honestly I cannot see any other save d6 working
well with mimicking an MMO – where skill usage not chosen class matters most of all.
From the Kickstarter:
The most important aspects of a character in Infinity’s Edge are the three Meters: Health, Stamina, and Mana. Health is used to measure how much damage a character has taken, Stamina is spent to take actions, and Mana is used to fuel magic or supernatural effects.
One of the aspects of the game designed to emulate an MMO is the process of Skill acquisition. In Infinity’s Edge, characters gain Skills through use. The first time a character attempts and successfully executes a Skill, they gain that Skill at rank 1. After that, they increase in rank through using it successfully. Five successful uses achieves rank 2, then ten successful uses grants rank 3, and so on. For those who prefer less bookkeeping in their games, we included a couple of alternative Skill progression methods suggested by our playtesters so you can customize to suit your preferences! One is based on overcoming challenges (such as battles), while the other is a straight experience point expenditure system. 
The kickstarter’s rewards are a little funky in my opinion, hearkening almost back to the early days of crowdfunding in how they are set-up. Still the $20.00 digital bundle isn’t a bad choices and is the one I bought into … hopefully, turn around of the no-art copy will be quick as this is one I’d like to try out on Myth-Weaver or Roll20.
My biggest fear however is crunch. While I like a certain level of crunch personally those I game with at this point do it more out of pity for me than any actual desire or love for the culture. As such the less crunchy the better … fingers crossed.
