Taking 20 Podcast - Ep 221 - Rules Light RPGs

Episode Date: April 28, 2024

Sometimes we want a break from the rules heavy games and want to play something light and easy.  Sometimes people we know are interested in playing RPGs but we don’t want to throw them into the deep end of a complicated RPG with 1,000 pages of rules.  Rules Light RPGs can be a nice break from the usual routine and can introduce some people we know to the hobby that we love. #dnd #5e #pf2e #RulesLight #dmtips Resources: Clay-O-Rama:  https://media.wizards.com/2017/dnd/dragon/D15_Clay-O-Rama.pdf Mork Borg - https://www.morkborg.com/  Fiasco - https://bullypulpitgames.com/products/fiasco  Lasers and Feelings - http://www.onesevendesign.com/laserfeelings/  The Witch Is Dead - https://gshowitt.itch.io/the-witch-is-dead  Bark Against Evil - https://thebigtabletop.itch.io/bark-against-evil  Routers - https://clutterarranger.itch.io/routers

This week on the Taking20 Podcast. Rules-like RPGs by definition have fewer rules to learn. Most of the time the mechanics of the game are quite simple, not very crunchy to use an industry term. Fewer rules makes for an easier and faster game. And the rules that are there are generally built for fun first and rules adjudication second. Music Thank you for listening to the Taking 20 podcast, episode 221, taking a look at some rules light RPGs. I want to thank this week's sponsor, and I'll say this carefully, Dex.

I added an outdoor extension to the back of my house and took a lot of time to decorate it. I guess you can say it's all decked out. We have a website, www.taking20podcast.com. While there, you can listen to and comment on old episodes and find out more about me. Come on, stop by and say hi. Sometimes I love a gritty, complicated RPG where there are rules for everything and players have to keep a massive number of tables around them at all times just to hold all the books

you need to play the game. But sometimes, it's nice to run or play a game that isn't complicated and leaves a lot to the imagination, improvisation, and GM interpretation. Rules-like games are a great option for new players who want to get into tabletop RPGs without having to learn a lot of rules. They're also popular with experienced players like me who sometimes want a more streamlined experience. This topic was a suggestion from Burak Çetin, a listener from Turkey. He's actually written a Rulz Light RPG called Routers and asked me to review that and some of my favorite rules light RPGs that are out there so I am happy to do so. Now let's get this out of the way first. Chances are if you've played some rules

light RPGs you'll undoubtedly think of a great one that I don't talk about in this episode. For that all I can do is beg your forgiveness. I only have a certain amount of time each week to research, write, edit, record, and sound edit each episode, so I had to limit this episode to mostly light RPGs that I've actually played. If you have an idea for one that I didn't mention, please send it to me, feedback at taking20podcast.com

or direct message on social media. I'm always down to learn new games and I'm always looking for new ones so please send it my way. Since this episode focuses on rules-like games let's define what that means. A rules-like game is a game that emphasizes storytelling and improvisation over having lots of rules and mechanics. They don't have a 600 page rule book. The rules are light and general and sometimes can fit entirely on a single piece of paper. I'm old and the archaic term for these games used to be lightweight RPGs, but the terms mean the same thing. You may be

asking why I'm covering rules light RPGs in this episode. Well, because that's what the episode is titled. I mean it wouldn't make sense to call the episode rules light games and then cover my favorite way to make chili. By the way if you're putting meat in your chili cook it on a smoker then put it into the chili. Trust me on this. The main reason I want to introduce you to some rules light RPGs is because they're easier for new players to get into. If you have a friend who's interested in playing an RPG but they don't want to spend time poring through five rulebooks to do so,

a rules-like RPG may be the introduction that gets them into the hobby for good. Yes, because that's how we get ya. The first one's free, but when it's over you just want more and you keep coming back because you can't stop and you spend the rest of your life chasing the dragon of that high you get playing RPGs and being a big damn hero. Meanwhile, we're dragging you slowly, imperceptibly into the tabletop RPG lifestyle until one night you wake up in a cold sweat at 3am because you're desperate for another one of those sweet D20 hits. Soon you're going to conventions, watching live streams, going to friendly local gaming stores, arguing with other gamers about rules as written versus rules as intended.

Before you know it, you've been playing for almost 40 years and you're putting out a weekly podcast that, um... What is wrong with you? That's all purely hypothetically, by the way, and I'm just doing this to introduce people to my favorite hobby. Yeah, that's it. Anyway, rules-like RPGs are easier to learn, especially for newer players. Why?

They're not math-heavy. Let's start there. They're not like the old D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder 1E where roles could have like 7 different kinds of modifiers, some stack and some don't. They don't have to do a lot of addition and subtraction under pressure. There's no THACO, thank god. Those that even have die rolls at all will mostly be a single roll, sometimes adding or subtracting a very small number. That's

it. It reduces the intimidation factor of playing an RPG. Rules like RPGs by definition have fewer rules to learn. Most of the time the mechanics of the game are quite simple, not very crunchy to use an industry term. Fewer rules makes for an easier and faster game. And the rules that are there are generally built for fun first and rules adjudication second. Another reason is that rules-lite RPGs tend to be more creative in general,

and they grant a lot of flexibility and creativity. Character, adventure design, that type of thing. Do you wanna make a FurBog in Pathfinder 2E or an Android in 5e? Okay, well you're home brewing that stuff. A lot of rules-like RPGs have character categories or themes that you could make almost whatever you want to think of.

Adventures and sessions of rules-like RPGs tend to be faster. It's not going to be an 11-month slog to find Strahd. Adventures may be one evening or just a couple of hours, maybe even 30 minutes long. It allows for a lot of variety in the adventures and even game systems that you play. There was one night I played three different rules-like games in a single night at a local RPG store.

There are a ton, and I mean a ton, of rules-like RPGs available on, well, Reddit, itch.io, Pathfinder Infinite, DriveThruRPG, DMs Guild, and various websites that are out there. Many of these Rules Light RPGs are free, or at least the rules are. If you'd like to know more about them, I'd strongly encourage you to check out the resources in the description of this episode, as I've provided links to the homepage for all of these that I'm going to talk about. Trust me, rules light doesn't mean light fun. Some of my favorite times around a table have been using games that are very rules light.

I want to start with the oldest one on my list, Kleorama. Kleorama was the very first rules light RPG I ever played and it was originally published in 1987 in Dragon Magazine issue number 125. It's been updated and expanded a couple of times since then and it's a very simple all-ages RPG where all the players create their monster called a Kledonian out of a single container of Play of play dough or whatever equivalent you have to mold with Creatures can be made with as many or as few arms legs or whatever appendages that you want Please keep your thoughts clean right now Players have 20 minutes to make their claydonian and after that the DM assigns stats based on some simple tables and the game is on

It's a simple 2d6 game or all you need are two six-sided dice and the rules are linked down in the description. It is actually a lot of fun especially with kids who can make some really out there monsters. I played it in college early 90s when it was a family weekend and so we couldn't play a lot of our traditional RPGs with family around. There were a bunch of younger siblings running around, but my DM at the time, Rob, suggested playing Kleorama since it's family friendly and easy to play. So we spun up a game with a bunch of the kids around us and we all had a blast. We loved it. There's a lot of laughing when we played and I think everybody played for

the family had fun too. Another rules-like RPG is Mork Borg, which I've been told I think everybody played for the family had fun too. Another rules light RPG is Mörkborg which I've been told I think I'm pronouncing incorrectly. Someone told me it's closer to Merkborg so if I am butchering it by the way I apologize profusely and I will try to remember to pronounce it correctly going forward. If someone from Sweden wants to reach out to me and let me know if Merck Borg is correct, I would greatly appreciate it. Anyway, Merck Borg... and I did it again, sorry. Merck Borg is a D20 game inspired by heavy metal music and when I heard that, I'm in. I'm already bought in. I love it. I want to know more about it. I may be cheating in calling this a rules light because the full

rule book is about a hundred pages, but most of that is creature descriptions and sample adventures. All the important rules can be summed up on a single sheet that I'll link to in the description. Merck Borg is fast-paced and extremely lethal, you know, like heavy metal music. Classes are optional and it's built around the character attributes of strength, presence, agility, and toughness, and modifiers to these are determined by a 3d6 roll. I think they're in a different order in the game and on the character sheet, but the DM who showed me this kept calling it the SPAT system, strength, presence, agility, and toughness,

which fits Merck Borg to a T since the game is built to be difficult. Attempts to do a thing, whatever that thing happens to be, are set against a DC where you roll the d20 and add the appropriate modifier. The game is built around failure by the way and you are going to fail a lot. If I remember right, the standard DC is 12 and it can be modified up or down depending on what you're trying to do. You want to jump over a low fence? That's probably a DC 8 or 10 agility check. You want to wrestle an ogre to the ground? Probably DC 14 strength. You get the idea. Initiative by the way is a single d6 roll and the game is on. I'm not gonna dwell on any game

very long so I can get through quite a few in the episode but Merc Board can be very cinematic, quick and fun. The next game I want to talk about is Fiasco. Now I'm going to grant you Fiasco isn't really an RPG in the traditional sense. Characters don't have abilities, there aren't really any checks per se. The game's like 20 to 30 dollars if you want to buy the set with physical cards and play board, or you can just get the rules for free online. The best way I can describe the game Fiasco is to ask if you've seen the movie Fargo, where spoiler alert, everything goes wrong for the people involved.

If you have seen the movie then you probably know what to expect playing Fiasco. Someone else I know compared it to the movie Burn After Reading where similarly everything goes to shit for almost everyone involved. But actually, not everyone. Almost everyone. My wife, who genuinely is incredibly smart and needs to be doing a podcast herself about something, pointed this out to me after we watched Burn After Reading. We went to the theater and okay, what follows is a brief, so if you don't want a movie from 16 years ago spoiled... Jeez, that was 16 years ago. Ugh, sorry.

Skip ahead about 35 seconds. Okay, so if you've seen the movie, did you notice that all the female characters get what they want while almost none of the male characters do? Linda, played by Frances McDermott, gets plastic surgery that she always wanted. Katie, played by Tilda Swinton, gets her divorce. Meanwhile, the guys get, oh let's go through the list, arrested, killed with a hatchet, shot, rebuffed by the person that they love, and caught while trying to escape the country. To be fair, Harry's later released and allowed to go to a non- extradition country, but that's about the limit of positive endings for the guys. Welcome back! If you haven't seen the movie, I do encourage it for no other reason than Brad Pitt's constant dancing,

Frances McDermott's amazing acting, and a great cameo by J.K. Simmons as a CIA director. This has been Jeremy's Film Corner. Tune in next week when I'll discuss a complicated, headache-inducing time travel movie called Primer. Anyway, that was a long rabbit trail. In Fiasco, players play ordinary people with poor impulse control. Adventures are defined by decks that you can buy and define relationships between characters, objects in the story, secrets that they may have, and of course, the character needs that they're trying to accomplish. Fiasco is played by three to five players who resolve multiple scenes in two acts, with a tilt that shakes up the story in the middle.

There's no game master per se, each scene is set up by one player and resolved by a different one, and I had a lot of fun playing this game with two other local DMs who set up great scenes and we messed with each other in the resolutions. Creative outcomes always make Fiasco better. Plus, the game can be played with players of all ages, with a let's not card in the middle that asks the players to take the game in a slightly different direction.

It's a lot like the X card that I've talked about in RPG game safety to allow players to silently ask for something different because what's being discussed is making them uncomfortable. For example, see previous discussions about my wife and swarms of insects. Not her thing. So if you're looking for a break from a rules heavy RPG, Fiasco may be that game to still scratch a creative itch for you. The next game I want to talk about is Dread.

And I have a confession. I love Dread. I've played the game three times and it has gone completely off the rails in the best way every single time. My characters have been bitten by a werewolf, fallen off a train and died, and arrested by customs trying to steal a valuable statuette. Again, it's not a traditional RPG in that there aren't ability scores, but the game is no less interesting. The game is played with a Jenga set, which is how conflicts or unsure situations are resolved instead of rolling dice. If they want, players can take a bit of time to set up their character, but that's really

not required. The host sets up the situation, players describe what their characters are doing, and you're off. Based on the player declaration, the host determines whether that's probably beyond the character's capabilities, and if it is, the host will ask the player declaration, the host determines whether that's probably beyond the character's capabilities, and if it is, the host will ask the player for a pull, where they have to remove a block from the Jenga tower. If the tower falls, then your character is removed from the game. They die, they're imprisoned, they're possessed.

They just aren't involved in the game anymore. Now, here's where it gets interesting. If the tower falls accidentally, then the host picks your fate, but if you knock it over on purpose you pick your own fate. Dread's a lot of fun even for people like me who suck at Jenga. Everyone's probably going to die, know that going in, and you'll have a lot of fun with Dread as well. The next rules-like game I want to talk about is Lasers and Feelings. It's a one-page RPG made by John Harper. It uses D6s to resolve your action. While making your character, you choose a style and then you choose a role. You're an android doctor, an alien psychic, a savvy pilot, or whatever you'd like.

The game has suggestions for these choices, but you can freeform this selection to whatever. It helps determine your character's skills, which again are pretty freeform and open to GM interpretation when actions are declared. You pick a number for your character between 2 and 5 to determine how good you are at lasers, a high number, or feelings, a lower number. Lasers defines your skills at things like reason and logic, science and technology. And a lower number means that you're better at feelings. You're good at diplomacy or seduction or people skills. So in short, your character can't be great at both.

You can be great at one and sort of bad at the other, or kind of pick something towards the middle. The better you are at one means the worse you are at the other. So then you'd pick your character's goal, then you pick ship strengths, and whatever problem you're trying to solve. Whenever you have a problem, resolution is determined by rolling a number of D6s depending on your character's skill, what the problem and how prepared your character is. Trying to close a wound in a hospital setting means that you're probably much more prepared than you would be trying to close that same wound on a battlefield in a dirty alley.

Remember that lasers and feelings number you picked earlier? You'll need to roll under or over the number depending on whether you're attempting a lasers check or a feelings check. If you roll exactly your score then you can ask the GM a question and you might learn a secret that you otherwise may have missed like the government agent looks like he has alien technology built into his arm. The alien's been infused with some sort of DNA or whatever. No matter what, the situation changes for the better or worse after every roll. All the rules for Lasers and Feelings can fit on one page and it's simple to run and play.

I've played it exactly once and had fun playing an adventure on a remote planet where we interrupted a weapons deal gone bad in the back of a bar. The next rules light RPG I want to talk about is Honey Heist by Grant Howitt. In Honey Heist you're a bear. Yep, furry, love, honey, occasionally seen going through people's trash, a bear. That's the honey part of Honey Heist. The heist part is that you have to execute a complex plan that requires precision and timing, but you know, you're a bear. Bears have two stats, each of which starts at three. Bear, yes that's a stat, which you use to attack, move, scare others, resist damages, and as rules

basically say, generally do bear stuff. The other stat is criminal which is used when you're not doing anything directly related to being a bear. You roll 3d6 to create your character. The first die tells your bear's descriptors, second die tells you what type of bear you are, the third d6 tells you your role. So are you an unhinged panda hacker or a rookie honey badger who's the face of the group? You attempt actions and either roll 1d6 or 2d6 and pick the lowest if the actions related to your skill. That panda hacker would be better at using the human's computer than the honey badger face would be.

If you roll equal to or under your bear or criminal skill depending on which one's relevant, you succeed. If the plan fails and you run into difficulty, you can start moving points from criminal into bear and when the plan goes off without a hitch, you can move points from bear to criminal. Plus you can voluntarily move numbers between scores based on flashbacks and your character leaves if they ever get to six at either criminal or bear. What makes it fun is that the bears can talk to each other, but they can't talk to humans. There are tables for sample heists, side missions, twists, secrets, etc. I think Critical Role played it for a few sessions, all of which were run by Marisha

Ray, so go check those out. It was fun, it was very quick, I played like 20 minutes tops. Plus, who doesn't like the idea of a group of bears trying to sneak into a truck convoy run by a ruthless and corrupt organization who are trying to steal all the honey at a convention? It was ridiculous and I am here for any ridiculous RPG. The next one I want to talk about is The Witch is Dead, also by Grant Howitt. You're a magical creature, cat, fox, magpie, or whatever type of animal you want. Your witch was killed by a witch hunter and you're out for revenge. I know, I know, every good story starts with a murder. You have four ability scores based on

the type of creature that you are and the scores are clever, fierce, sly, and quick. The game is D10 based so when you attempt an action you roll a D10 and add your relevant score. Like 5e and Pathfinder 2e the DM determines what number you need to meet or beat on your roll. Failures can accumulate danger score and if you ever roll under your danger score something really bad happens like you get captured or you get lost or what happened to my toad while I was playing I lost all of my magical ability and reverted to be in a non magical toad again.

In the interest of full disclosure, these next two games that are coming up, I have not played but I really want to. The first one is Bark Against Evil by Joel Salda. In this game, you're a dog. That's not right. I'm sorry. You're not just a dog. You're a good dog. Yet you are. Who's my sweetie? You're such a good boy. I'll get your ears and I will love on you, but I will. But daddy's gotta work for a bit, okay? Daddy's gotta work for a bit, okay? Okay? Oh, good boy. Sorry, my dog came running up to my desk because he heard the voice. Anyway, you're a dog and have stats for strong, speed, and smart. All stats start at minus one and you get eight points to allocate among them. My dog Sanders, for example, is, and smart. All stats start at minus one and you get eight points to allocate among them.

My dog Sanders, for example, is fast and smart, but not the strongest, so I'd probably make his zero for strong, two for speed, three for smart. These stats can't go higher than three, and if two stats ever reach minus three, then your dog runs away. Roll a D8 to see what kind of dog you are and d20 to determine who your owner is. The dog master or dm clever, I love it, rolls 4d20 to determine the corrupted groups in town and the game begins. So when you try something a human might stop you from doing or something that might be difficult for a dog You roll 2d6 with bonus dice if you're doing something related to your type You can also get an additional die to help you succeed and so forth. Critical successes give you a

bone and you can use that bone when other good dogs make their roles to help them succeed on theirs. The full game rules are like two pages and two sentences long. Again I'll put a link down in the description of the episode so please check it out. The last game I want to talk about is Routers by listener Burak Chetan. Routers heavily focuses on collaborative storytelling aspects of a tabletop RPG which of course is one of my favorite parts. The dice system is just rolling a d6 and rolling more times if character has experience with the topic. There aren't ability scores defined by

characters so it's just a straight D6 role. The main gimmick of the game is changing the person with the GM role at each location, so each new visit along the route feels different because someone else is describing it. Which is exactly by the way what the game was designed for, giving that feeling of exploring new places and going where you haven't been. It's a clever setup for an RPG and it looks like it'd be a lot of fun to play. Everyone gets to be the GM or Routemaster at least once and it's nice to see a rules-like game that isn't focused on combat but instead exploration and challenges. All the rules in the character sheet fit on four small pages

and the rules are printed in such a way that you can fold them and open them up like a travel brochure. I've put a link in the description, so please go check that game out. This episode could easily be another 10 or 20 minutes long, just containing other rules like RPGs, like Roll for Shoes, Easy D6, this one time at Bard Camp, Stravagante,

and Sherlock Holmes is an asshole. There's another one called Cooking Show, which sounded insane when I saw it being played at my local game store, so I'd love to give that one a try too. Like I said, there are tons and tons of rules-like RPGs out there. The list of games I provided barely scratches the surface. If your group is getting tired of chasing Strahd around for the last nine months, consider a session where you play one of these rules-like games instead. They're generally easy to learn and easy to run and light on rules doesn't mean light on

fun. Try being a bear, a dog, an alien doctor, or exploring a travel route for a night in a completely new rule system. If you give them a try, I bet you and your fellow players would have fun doing it. Please check out the links in the description to find out more about some of these great rules-like RPGs, and if you haven't already, please like and subscribe to this podcast wherever you happen to find it. Tune in next week when I want to talk about the last session of a long campaign, specifically how to end your campaign with epilogue scenes. But before I go, I want to thank this week's sponsor, Dex.

My new outdoor edition is huge and I'm always proud to show it off. I guess you can just say I have big deck energy. This has been episode 221, encouraging you to take a look at some rules-like RPGs. My name is Jeremy Shelley and I hope that your next game is your best game. The Taking 20 podcast

is a publishing Cube media production. Copyright 2024. References to game system content or copyright their respective publishers.