Guys, sorry if there have been threads like this before, but I didn't see a sticky or anything of the sort.
I'm looking for a quick, easy an relatively cheap If not free system I can use to host a game for my friends.
These guys are the absolute most entry level people on earth, having mostly played video games and watched a few fantasy movies. We all moved all over the world, for reasons that are too long to into, but we are looking into an activity to do online once a week and PnP games came up.
Basic requirements.
>System has to be easy and simple enough to play a few games with minnimal set up on the players' part >Fantasy based is preferred, even more so if it's high fantasy. >Materials should be easily obtained online and be able to cover a good 12 hour campaign.
We all grew up poor in a third world shithole, but now that we are all grown up with our own families and lives we kinda miss the simplicity of hanging out at a table. We mostly played video games, and always dreamed of Dungeons and Dragons, but a single core book was literally worth more than a Ps2 in our country.
We looked into GURPs, but a lot of them seem like major hassles to set up, and we only count on a couple hours a week every Saturday.
Just play Pathfinder. The mentally damaged here hate pathfinder because they are contrarian.
If you do go the pathfinder route, just go core to start with then slowly expand from there otherwise it becomes too much to handle not just for players but also DMs.
Shit is free and generic DnD fantasy that has a lot of options if not too many once you expand outward.
Joseph Cruz
And it's super easy on the player side they definitely won't be overwhelmed by the options in the core book alone. Oh wait.
Jackson Clark
The 5E D&D Starter Set is literally one of the best beginner RPGs in a generation.
Christopher Collins
How complicated is this then? I have played on a bunch of homebrewed games and dealt with DnD on a very basic level. The players here are looking gor minimum effort and maximun payout. I don't mind having any extra books, since I'll be the DM.
Are we good to go with a corebook or do we need Bestiaries, Magic compendiums, etc? A few encounter guides would be okay.
One problem we have is that one of the players is "all aboard" with this, but loses his shit if he has to deal with more than 30ish pages of core content.
Ayden Mitchell
Lady Blackbird and it's offshoots Any AD&D clone One dice Pretty much any RPG if the GM preps characters ahead of time.
Playing RPGs is easy. Making characters is offputting if you don't already have a frame of reference for what everything means.
Noah Evans
That looks promising, I'll give it a good look if I can find a good digital copy or system to play it online, thanks user.
I'll check these out as well, thank you!
Lucas Martinez
If you have a tablet/laptop I would say just download the monster manual + player's handbook for 5e. Or as this guy said, get the starter set if you can find it and/or afford it.
AD&D clones tend to also be simple but far less "heroic" than your friends might be used to, since that's from back in the day when getting murdered by basic monsters was seen as totally legitimate.
There are other games of course but it really depends on what kind of availability you're looking for and what digital tools you can rely on.
As well as dice types.
Jacob Wilson
We would be getting together through Skype and were looking into using Roll 20. I'm currently looking at getting a few digital copies of the starter set, since that seems simple enough.
Only one of our circle is all about being a hero, he's coincidentally the guy who wants to have as little reading as possible given to him.
What AD&D clone would you suggest?
Hudson Martinez
I like Pathfinder a fair bit, but it's not the easiest system to learn. It is learnable, and you can learn it fairly quickly (especially if not playing a caster), but it takes some effort. That 30 page limit guy/girl might have a bit of an issue, make sure that if you do play PF he is on a simple combat character like a barbarian. Barbs are PF on simple mode: be strong, hit hard, and when in trouble, get angry.
On the other hand, practically all the mechanics ever are freely available online, so you don't need any extra books. There are some free adventures too.
If you want faster or cheaper, google Star ORE, it is a one roll engine derivative. IT is originally about star wars, but a friend used it for Wuxia with some fantasy elements and it worked fine.
If you want traditional fantasy, DnD 5E is tolerable, though I just can't warm up to it after the choices of 3.5 and PF. By the way, there is a humble bundle sale with various 5E adventures going on right now
Liam Taylor
If you had to pick between the 5th Edition Starter Kit and PF, based on their cost, online availability, time and effort needed to set up and their overall enjoyment, which would you take?
I'll check Star ORE out, though if it needs too much customization on our end it may just fall through.
Appreciate the tip on the bundle, checking it out now!
Charles Williams
God I want to punch that bitch right in her generic mobage waifubait face. Solomon is mine bitch, back the fuck off.
Christian Gomez
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I don’t know if this game’s setting would hit too close to home, but Paranoia (XP or the new Red Clearance edition) is good for first timers if a) they are fine with stupid fun that involves backstabbing your teammates, b) if your GM can be quick and clever enough to adapt to your group’s antics, and there will be antics, and c) you and your friends-soon-to-be-enemies are fine with a more narrative game, since the rules are good but optional at the GM’s discrection.
Sebastian Myers
Whoops, forgot pic. I’ll see my traitorous self to the nearest Confession Booth.
Lucas Watson
>implying
David Morgan
Perfect.
Hudson Torres
Kind of obscure but I'd recommend Shadow of the Demon Lord, it's a lot simpler than Pathfinder and better than 5e. It's also not (legally) free but you can find it in the pdf share thread.
Wyatt Sanders
I will second Shadow of the Demon Lord and Paranoia, and add Ryuutama to the list.
Stay away from Pathfinder and D&D 5e. Pathfinder is an abortion of game design that takes about a year of failed games to achieve basic competence in, because the rules are incongruent and the system hides its assumptions, so that everyone ends up playing a different effectively houseruled version of the system whose merits are unrelated to the original system and invariably include Stockholm Syndrome/sunk cost. D&D 5e is only beginner-friendly if you compare it to Pathfinder and its ilk. It has much of the same problems, but is less egregious about it.
Adam Ward
>GURPs How far have you look into it because Lite is 38 pages, free and tells you that the "S" stands for "System", not some plural.
Andrew Brooks
Barbarians of Lemuria is a very rules-light swords & sorcery game. Characters take only a few minutes to create and fit on an index card.
Barring that, Risus. Look up the Evens Up variant.
Logan Nguyen
Just pirate a copy of DnD 5e rulebook you dolt.
And if you don't want to do that, there are literally free rules for it online ...
GURPS Lite is a good starting optoon, and it is entirely free.
Zachary Brooks
Depends if money or accessibility is the bigger issues. PF is cheaper, 5E is more accessible.Then again, you are on TG, pirating everything released is super easy. Also, it depends on your style. To me, Warhammer Fantasy RP 2E is a great game and fairly easy to boot, but some people disagree. Again, it like 5E and PF is seen as a somewhat heavy game.
If 5E is still too much hassle, I've played a bit of Dungeon World and it looks okay. I've read Dragon Age RPG and Barbarians of Lemuria and both seem reasonably simple and okay at what they do, but I have not actually played them so I cannot give you any direct feedback.
Grayson Bell
You are an anime fag, so play something shit with support for furfaggotry like pathfinder
Gabriel Hall
>anime fag >easy rpg system >Players dont want to read >quick setup, maximum payout If you are all atleast a wee bit weebish, play fucking MAIDs. You can basically play anything with it, its easy, its fun and fast as shit. Its our go-to rpg to have fun
Nicholas Cruz
Seconding the recommendation for Ryuutama. It's entry level for both GM and player (specifically designed for newbs, in fact). My personal fav. rpg there is, desu. Also has only one official book. (Supplements on the way, but not required. Plus there's tons of fan content.) Available in Japanese, English, French, and (iirc) Spanish.
Also seconding Lady Blackbird. Free. Only a few pages long, and honestly, only the GM has to read all of them to understand what's going on. Haven't actually played this one, but I've seen a couple handfuls of LPs, and it seems simple to pick up and a great deal of fun. On the downside, it's played for either oneshots or short campaigns, though the game is perfectly replayable with new players or everyone rolling new roles. Plus there's a prequel (and a sequel?).
Justin Cox
Ask them if they like overcoming challenges (like Dark Souls) or if they like the feeling of adventure (Uncharted games).
If challenge: Microlite D20 and any D20 adventure modules / free SRD material.
You want the players to say what they want to do and you can ask them to roll, you don't want them staring at the skill list and pressing them like buttons. Level up with any cool material you want to provide to them.
To buy stuff: Dungeon Crawl Classic and its level 1 adventure modules.
If adventure: Dungeon World, you just roll and say that cool stuff happens, some people seem to like it.
Jacob Thompson
I will have to agree. I tried out Pathfinder and it was too confusing for all of us, due to lack of an experienced player.
However, we all quickly picked up on 5e with little problem. It was quick, comprehensive, and easy to understand.
Matthew Mitchell
People always say they want Dark Souls and Game of Thrones. People don't know what they want.
Adrian Rodriguez
>Uses Midrash Caster from fate as a bait Image.
Man of culture.
Nathan Taylor
I have to second these recommendations. Barbarians is quick and easy to learn yet is a really solid game.
Risus is even simpler and is actually free, though it is a generic system not specifically designed for fantasy.
Christopher Clark
Literally anything but DnD. I would personally recommend FFG Star Wars, or DoubleCross.
If 5e is too much for you, I reccomend looking at an OSR game, which is basically a clone of super old D&D. I personally reccomend Swords and Wizardry, easy to understand, very little rules, and making a character takes 3 minutes max
GURPS is not that hard, don't bother with the basic set yet, It'll just confuse you. Take a look at GURPS lite, and if you really want magic than you can look at the magic section of the Basic rules.
People will give me shit for recommending it, but Dungeon World is amazing, free and tons of fun to play
or you could not care about free shit and just look at the PDF thread
Carson Garcia
I love me some paranoia as much as the next guy, but I would absolutely not recommend it as a first time game, generally not a good idea to introduce first time RPers to a game where you're enforced to betray eachother
Brayden Taylor
Ryuutama doesn't cover point 3, but is meant for new players (and especially new GMs).
OSR of any sort would also be a god pick, if you can stomach pic related.
Jeremiah Price
>OSR of any sort To that effect, here's Holmes "Basic Dungeons and Dragons" renamed by editors, he wanted to call it "Dungeons and Dragons for Beginners"
Christopher Williams
Do note, there's ONE (1) super screwy rule in that book where weapons do the same damage but some get more attacks than others. If you don't want everyone going around exclusively with daggers, there's a fix in pic related.
Charles Baker
GURPS Dungeon Fantasy with the new box set is legitimately what you are looking for. It is actually well formatted and character creation takes like twelve minutes. It is very much an out of the box experience.
Aaron Baker
>"Need an easy system? Let me just suggest a bloated convoluted dnd bastard child chalk full of trap options and needlessly complex mechanics."
Fucking first post, worst post.
3.5 single handedly killed any chance of playing PnP with my IRL friends a decade ago, and Pathfinder is basically the same shit.
Brandon Thomas
Barbarians of Lemuria. Everyone can understand the rules and the setting. Everyone likes swords & sorcery. Everyone can start playing this very evening. Win/win.
Anthony Morris
Another recommendation for Ryuutama. There's little else suggested besides Barbarians of Lemuria that fit what you want for new players.
