User summary:
MCB RPG is a rules-light and generic, universal system that uses standard decks of playing cards shuffled together, with one deck for every two players, rounded up.
Characters have standard demographics determined by player fiat, and have four Attributes (Brains/Spades; Brawn/Clubs; Style/Diamonds; and Substance/Hearts) with Scores assigned from a 4, 3, 2, 1 array. Characters have Areas of Expertise defined by player fiat, and also have a secret Flaw.
Players draw six cards. Cards count at face value and suit which can Trump, except for "Face" cards which count as 10 but have no suit that can Trump. Whenever a non-trivial action is attempted, the GM secretly assigned a Difficulty Rating and publicly identifies a Trump Suit that best characterizes the action. For example, in combat the suit would be Clubs. Players play a number of cards from their hand corresponding to their Attribute Score denoted by the Trump Suit. The card values are summed and if they exceed the Difficulty Rating the player is successful. Playing Trump cards allow for immediate draw-and-play. After playing, success or failure, players draw two cards into their hand. Opposed actions use a hand-to-hand comparison method.
Opponents are rated as Grunts (1 card), Knights (2 cards), Princes (3 cards), and Kings (4+ cards). The number of cards are drawn on opposed actions. Characters may cooperate on an action (if logical) and pool played cards. Characters may attempt multiple action and split played cards. Wounds cause characters to discard cards; running out of cards results in the inability to perform any actions. Jokers have special rules. Characters gain experience and occasionally will "level up" (so to speak) and start each session with one additional card in their hand.