I'm thinking of running an IRL game soon because I found a group playing D&D 5e, but I'm not sure which system to run or which systems would be appropriate for players that might not be experienced. I don't want to run D&D/PF partially because I don't prefer it and partially because I don't want to feel like I'm copying the 5e DM.
Current Ideas are >Mage: The Awakening >Demon: The Descent >Changeling: The Lost >Mutants & Masterminds >Shadowrun >Dungeons: the Dragoning One of the 5e players said he'd be interested in something in space so I've also been thinking of Eclipse Phase and Dark Heresy.
I've also been thinking of Anima but I'm 80% sure it would fall apart at chargen.
Nathan Morales
OD&D, Bx, and AD&D are all extremely light weight; especially on the player side of things. They also play nothing like 3.5 and 5e, whether mechanically or thematically.
Nathaniel Murphy
What the other guy said. D&D Basic is the official rules light version of D&D and is super easy to get started with. I would recommend Mouse Guard if you don't want to play D&D. It is a simple version of The Burning Wheel made for Newbies that should be great for your purposes.
Aiden Butler
Thanks for the suggestions, I'll look at the Mouse Guard RPG. What do you think of introducing one of the RPGs I listed in the OP to beginners?
Kayden Rogers
WFRP 2e
Brandon Allen
Why not SWN?
Matthew Garcia
Anima is.... a special case. You can pitch it into the group but unless EVERYONE is onboard I wouldn't try it too.
If you don't want to run a campaign right from the start, why not getting the others player into the mood of testing different systems? Play some rules-light stuff first. Many DnD players aren't comfortable with dipping their toes into other systems at first, so not bothering them with a bunch of rules can help a lot. I can recommend Dread for that.
The WoD games are great, but rather complex. Shadowrun is cool but the rulebook is a chaotic mess, easy if players have some experience with but (comparativly) hard to get into. The FFG games are a nice compromise of complexity/simplicity, at least with some guidance from the GM.
Eli Ward
I was going to make a similar thread, but I prefer hijacking this one rather than spamming the board
I'm going to a con where pretty much every still-supported rpg is represented and I'm looking for something new to try. >I mainly run CoC 7e >but I don't like Delta Green because the whole shadow organizations thing screams edgy pre-teen to me >I like systems where PCs are always humans, or at least not customizable races, because I don't want any snowflakes in my game >I normally prefer GMing because it's challenging. In systems I've played, there's a bit too much downtime and not enough engagement on the player side >I want to steer clear of fetishized settings and anything that attracts weirdos (magical girls, steampunk, furry, etc) What should I play?
Landon Fisher
I can't believe that shadowrun is on that list. If that is your plan, look at Shadowrun:Anarchy. I haven't used it myself, but it seems like most compact one atm.
Owen Ortiz
lmao yeah who needs rules just make shit up!!!1
Ian Russell
Literally B/X.
2nd worst PbtA.
Jordan Smith
>Dungeons: the Dragoning All the best ideas were stolen straight from Spelljammer.
>Mage: The Awakening >Demon: The Descent >Changeling: The Lost Aren't these the same system? Along a similar vein, how's One Roll Engine?
Isaac Nguyen
Conan
Jaxson Morales
>2nd worst PbtA. And what's the worst one?
Andrew Turner
New player doesn't mean mentally handicapped user. Ask them from 1 to 10 how much rules they want.
Tyler Hughes
Tremulus by a fucking landslide, it's supposed to emulate Lovecraftian investigation-horror.
Hunter Allen
>Ask them from 1 to 10 how much rules they want. I doubt a new player knows enough about RPG systems to know rules heavy/light a game they want.
Anthony Morgan
New to tabletop RPGs doesn't mean new to games with rules user.
Literally ask them >From 1 to 10, 1 being "I say I shoot thing, roll vs number if higher I win" and 10 being "I say I shoot thing, then count all of my many modifiers, even including such things as distance, weather, elevation, aiming time, weapon, etc... and then roll"
Kayden Long
I've been on a Dungeon World kick lately, and just got introduced to Shadow of the Demon Lord as well.
Both could serve as easy to learn introductory games, and as a litmus test to see what direction your players wanna go in regarding rulesets or systems.
Jackson Clark
>Dungeon World 2nd worst PbtA.
>Shadow of the Demon Lord Sell me on this.
Aiden Martinez
Tbh it's my fist apocalypse engine game. I really want to try out Masks though,.
Demon Lord is pretty cool. It's hard, thematically Brutal, and rules are simple and straightforward. D20+d6, combat is like the fastest version of d&d. Character options a plenty and balanced as far as I can tell. There's a spell called Hateful Defecation.
Cameron Reyes
13th Age is my favorite for that because the mechanics are fairly simple for a D&D-esque experience. The classes vary in complexity, so players can pick according to the mechanical depth they prefer (though on the other hand you can't really get a super simple wizard or a highly complex barbarian). It also has an emphasis on narrative which can help foster collaborative storytelling. You WILL need a good GM who is willing to play ball with player ideas while also milking them for input rather than taking everything on himself.
Thomas Wood
Fantasycraft.
Robert Walker
I saw a couple folks ask about ORE: gonna say that it may not be the best intro system. I fucking love it, but explaining it can be a bear.
Adrian Mitchell
>>Mage: The Awakening >>Demon: The Descent >>Changeling: The Lost These need players with more experience who understand the RP side of TTRPG better. You know your friends better than I do for how much adult or edgy content they would like. I would not use these unless they are already into gothic content. >>Mutants & Masterminds Yes for the simple rolls, no for the character building. This will work if you use premades or make characters they want for them. Even the latest book is not great at explaining the correct way to build powers. >>Shadowrun Complected character creation again. Same solution as M&M. If they like CyberPunk go with it. >>Dungeons: the Dragoning If you just want a stupid fun game this is great. I would make it clear that other RPGs tend to be more serious but your group dynamic is go more comedic that works. If they play computer RPGs they should start to grasp the combat quickly, but treat your game too much like they are playing a video game and forget to RP. If they don't be prepared to answer questions about combat constantly. Either way patience is your best tool for now. At minimum you should help each of them build their first PC if you don't go with premades.
Anthony Taylor
Have you thought about running Warhammer Fantasy 2nd edition?
Leo Thomas
SotDL is what 5e was trying to be, except also edgy as fuck (but in an amusing, self-aware way).
Kayden Murphy
Risus
Charles Cruz
Strike!, if your players like gamey games.
Blake Parker
>Mage Quite mechanically challenging, for players and GMs. There's way too much content that you *need* to simultaneously keep in mind. You need to either have a lot of experience or an IQ of like 150 or something to play this effectively.
>Demon Mechanically manageable, but especially in the case of Demon you're asked to roleplay as something with a mindset that stretches the limits of human vision and comprehension. Save it for when you have more experience.
>Changeling I actually think this is doable. If you yourself know the content well, that's good enough. Changeling is tough on the GM, but it's really quite accessible for players. Probably run a session 0 with them as humans though.
Speaking anecdotally, this was *my* first system I played in, barring two dungeon crawling oneshots of 3.5 and 4th D&D where I was handed pregens.
>M&M >Shadowrun Refer to . Chargen isn't easy, and indeed is dizzyingly complex in the case of Shadowrun, but playing is okay.
>Dungeons the Dragoning I wouldn't personally recommend this since they won't "get" it without having experienced some of the games it references, but eh.