Jump to content

Easiest system game


quozaxx

Recommended Posts

I would go with BRP as everyone understand the chance to do something.  The key problems for most systems come during combat or magic use because everything else is hand-wavy or very clear.  BRP has that simple hit parry chance - very easy, though it has strike ranks and other stuff.

 

I would also proffer WEG Star Wars.  Everything is a bundle of D6, if you have 5D6 Blaster and want to shoot three times, then you drop a dice for each additional shot you want to make.  If you want to dodge an attack, you roll the D6 and compare the sum of the dice you roll with the sum of the dice the other person rolled.

 

Multiple skills work the same, you want to fire, dodge AND hack your way through the locked door?  Fine, drop all the skills by 2D6 and go for it...

 

It is VERY simple to learn.  And it has a great theme for Star Wars, I have not tried it for other genres, though the core D6 books are very cheap on Drivethrurpg - about $3 for D6 Space, D6 Fantasy or D6 Adventure and only $2 for D6 Powers (superhero rules).

 

Doc

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, IndianaJoe3 said:

 

Fate Accelerated is more compact. I've seen those rules condensed to two pages.

 

I have both. My advice is to avoid Fate Accelerated and get Fate core. Acceleration in the wrong direction is not progress.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Of course who takes advice from a guy on a palindromedary?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Iirc from reading Fate when it was free on the net before they even had dice, you had to choose which and how many characteristics and what values among other things to determine. So for a beginner game, I don’t see it as being easy friendly. It’s one thing to look at a system that’s defined and after learning it may not like parts of it but coming into a completely blank game that you have to build up from scratch is a different beast altogether.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think that the heavy use of D&D among new gamers (and how resistant they often are to moving to other systems) shows that while rules-heavy games can be perceived as 'difficult' there is a certain comfort in having a rule for everything and that anything not covered by a rule is not possible.

 

FATE is seen by many experienced gamers as easy when actually it is rules light.  I think there is a lot going on there that is unwritten and while, with a good, experienced GM it would be a breeze to play, I think for a new group it might prove a nightmare.

 

 

Doc

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, Doc Democracy said:

I think that the heavy use of D&D among new gamers (and how resistant they often are to moving to other systems) shows that while rules-heavy games can be perceived as 'difficult' there is a certain comfort in having a rule for everything and that anything not covered by a rule is not possible.

 

FATE is seen by many experienced gamers as easy when actually it is rules light.  I think there is a lot going on there that is unwritten and while, with a good, experienced GM it would be a breeze to play, I think for a new group it might prove a nightmare.

 

 

Doc

 

This.  Rules Light ≠ Easy, but so many people - particularly experienced gamers - think the two are the same.  Rules Light games tend to rely heavily on tropes and concepts that are "understood" by experienced gamers but completely opaque to newbies.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/21/2018 at 7:22 AM, Lucius said:

 

I have both. My advice is to avoid Fate Accelerated and get Fate core. Acceleration in the wrong direction is not progress.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Of course who takes advice from a guy on a palindromedary?

 

I disagree. Both FAE and Fate Core have something to offer. They are the same game with different dial settings that tailor them to different styles of play. Of the two, I find it easier to add things to Fate Accelerated than to remove things from Fate Core.

 

These are some design notes from a FAE hack I did back in the day which was well received. It goes into some finer details on choosing one over the other for that particular project... http://www.killershrike.com/Fate/Fae/Pathfinder/meta/DesignNotes.aspx

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My objection to Fantasy Trip was ... only one stat mattered, and that was Dex.  In combat, the entity with the highest dex won, barring gross imbalances imposed.  Might be easy, but too limiting to hold my interest after the first session.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Honestly, I know this will sound passe, but B/X.

Grab the old Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (Red) and Expert Set (Blue).

For all the populist derision that surrounds it there is a reason people got started with it.

I was 7 and a half years old and I was able to figure it out and was hooked for life.

Yes, for a modern D&D player it can feel archaic and restrictive, but it works.

It is also has a certain "anything is possible" old school romance to it.

And, once the players have the feel of it you can switch them to something crunchier or more modern.

That's my 2AP and I'm sticking to it.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Vondy said:

Honestly, I know this will sound passe, but B/X.

Grab the old Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (Red) and Expert Set (Blue).

For all the populist derision that surrounds it there is a reason people got started with it.

I was 7 and a half years old and I was able to figure it out and was hooked for life.

Yes, for a modern D&D player it can feel archaic and restrictive, but it works.

It is also has a certain "anything is possible" old school romance to it.

And, once the players have the feel of it you can switch them to something crunchier or more modern.

That's my 2AP and I'm sticking to it.

 

 

This. Whenever I run a D&D game nowadays, I usually use B/X. It has been my favorite version of the game for the last decade or so.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/19/2018 at 8:48 PM, Lucius said:

 

The Fantasy Trip, aka Melee/Wizard.

 

Just about as simple as a role playing game can be and still function.

 

And after many years out of print, I understand it's soon to be available again.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Taking a palindromedary into the labyrinth

Here: The Fantasy Trip Kickstarter

 

It's got a lot of stretch goals done and yes, very quick and easy system.   It's what I played before Champions.  (Hexes and points, but way simpler)

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On ‎7‎/‎31‎/‎2018 at 11:00 AM, Cancer said:

My objection to Fantasy Trip was ... only one stat mattered, and that was Dex.  In combat, the entity with the highest dex won, barring gross imbalances imposed.  Might be easy, but too limiting to hold my interest after the first session.

 

That's not the way I remember it.

 

But you wanted either a DEX of 12 or more, or of 8 with high STR and heavy armor. Then the DEX 12 guy keeps going "tink, tink" doing little to no damage, as you wait for the lucky break when you roll a hit and go "POW!"

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The Palindromedary Trip

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

In terms of modern, easy-to-run games that are fun and well-supported, I recommend going with one of the D00Lite games (BareBones Fantasy, Covert Ops, FrontierSpace) or one of the TinyD6 games (Tiny Dungeon, Tiny Wasteland, Tiny Supers).

 

As far as the classics go, the TSR boxed games are mostly pretty good for this purpose, as are many of the D6 System games (Ghostbusters, WEG Star Wars, Mini Six, etc.).

 

Toon is also excellent for beginners, but it helps to be familiar with classic cartoons.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...