CINCO! Table-Talk Odyssey
A downloadable game
CINCO! Table-Talk Odyssey is my homebrew heartbreaker which isolates and streamlines the character-driven dynamics of the world's biggest role-playing game (or, at least, how it has been received and how it is played in one context) without reproducing its cruft. Featuring gorgeous art by Norn Noszka!
- Characters are defined in terms of freeform aspects. You decide what your character is good at, and why they're good at it!
- Inventory management is simple, with enough crunch to pose a challenge, but not so clunky or restrictive as to be frustrating.
- Procedures for travel, exploration, and combat emphasize decision-making and resource management over devilish details.
- Over a campaign, players are encouraged to befriend NPCs they meet and recruit them to help populate their own paradise!
The current rulebook is the 'dry' version. My 'sauced' home version has all my setting-specific campaign prep, but I'm waiting to share that until I feel like it's fully useful for y'all. Please enjoy until then!
Download
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Development log
- Update: Inventory & TravelAug 06, 2025
- CINCO Released!Jun 28, 2025
Comments
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I really love Cinco and its compact but complete rules light nature. This is more of a quality of life question, but do you think you'll ever make a 6x9" or Half Letter version of the Rules Book? The smaller format makes a more compact and travel-ready size that's more convenient to read as well. Just a thought! :)
hi anais, thank you so much! :D i actually tried before to put the rules into something digest-sized, but i both couldn’t get the vibes right and i liked having the character sheet on the back of the letter-sized print. i’ll keep experimenting with it in case i get the feel right!
Loving this! I'm currently prepping a one-shot, and I have some questions:
- Regarding aspects, how do you deal with the broader/more niche ones? I mean, a "swashbuckler" and an "acrobat" could be both applied to "swing from a chandellier", but acrobat is clearly more restricted in its possible uses than swashbuckler, an aspect that almost implies being an acrobat, a fencer, and a charming rogue. Another case could be a "ranger" and an "herbalist" that "forage medicinal herbs". Again, it's almost implied for a ranger to be an herbalist, an archer, a scout, etc.
- Regarding readied and equipped items, if I get the text right, armor should go into the equipped part if it's worn. So, in the example at page 6 the cuirass is simply carried, but not worn, correct?
- Regarding weapons, I don't understand the example at page 9. At page 6, the rifle does 3 damage because it's large and needs to reload (even if it's not written, I assume). But why does the revolver at page 9 do 3 damage also? A +1 is for the reload (as written), but where does the other +1 come from?
I'm eagerly waiting for the final draft with all the world info!
hi daniele, thank you so much for your kind words and questions! :)
that’s a really good conceptual question, and one that haunts freeform things like this. when i run, i tend to analogize aspects to skills, even though they’re described as nouns. this means i think rangers and swashbucklers are too general since they have many “jobs” (unless you interpret swashbuckling as swordfighting), whereas being an herbalist, an archer, or an acrobat are specific “jobs”.
yes, both the cutlass and cuirass are just carried! in practice i think it’s unlikely that someone will carry so many equippable items without actually equipping them, but i wanted to show a variety of items that one might have or come across.
that’s a typo, thank you for catching it! revolvers should just do 2 damage.
thank you again, and hope you have fun + keep me updated! :D
hi again! i both wanted to let you know that i cleaned up the PDF some and, if you’re prepping a one-shot, you might find my own short prep useful: https://traversefantasy.blogspot.com/2024/08/turtle-island-zombie-affair.html
have fun and thank you again for your interest! :)
Thank you! You're really kind! I'm familiar with your blog, and some time ago I actually put together a "Frankenstein Cinco!" using your various posts about it. XD
ofc no worries! also oh my god i’m kinda curious to see 😂 i love when people piece things together from incomplete descriptions, i feel like it’s how a lot of us learn d&d!
Aspects sort of disappear in the text. "Hey, you get points to assign to your Aspects" and then no further discussion. No tools descriptions, no fields of expertise.... Or am I just missing something?
aspects are free-form; you decide when you make your character when you want to add bonuses to D20 rolls, and you add an aspect’s bonus when it applies.
i may include examples of characters in a longer version, but i don’t want to give the impression that you should pick aspects from a closed list.
Ah, OK. That sort of description would be quite useful. As long as there's discussion as to what they are, when to assign them, how broad they should be in use, and so forth, I don't think a list is necessary.
yes, for sure! :)
I couldn't wait to read this! It's a great project!
thank you so much! :)