OGL Fantasy Lite: Basic Player's Handbook

[The Sigil]

Quicker. Easier. Streamlined.

Remember when playing fantasy role-playing games was "quick and easy?" Remember the nostalgia you first felt at playing in a game? The "kinder, simpler" rules that make the game accessible even to younger minds? When plots were simpler and the story was heroic - "protect the kingdom, slay the dragon, rescue the princess?"

Simplicity is back. While trying to introduce someone to a role-playing game can overwhelm them with options and rules, this work is designed to keep things simple and presentable. You can drop this work into the lap of an 8-10 year old who has never played RPGs before and get him an understanding of and an ability to contribute to a game, completely by the rules, in an hour or less. More experienced gamers will already be familiar with the material in this work, but may wish to use it to introduce their friends into gaming. Show them that gaming is fun!

This product is intended to bring to the table a "core" system compatible with the World's Most Famous Role-playing Game that is so simple and streamlined that you can drop it into the lap of an 8-10 year old who has never played RPGs before and get him an understanding of and an ability to contribute to a 3/3.5E game, completely by the rules (albeit with less tactics since I have deliberately excised some of the options in favor of simplicity) in an hour or less. That's a tall order, but I think it can be done.

Note that this is focused on players, not GMs, so you will need to have an experienced GM to run things, but this is very much an "introductory" product designed to get the newcomer to the game up to speed in a minimum of time and with a minimum of effort.

 

[Messageboard Golem]

To begin, this product was given to me as a courtesy copy. I have not yet playtested the product, but have given it thorough review.

When I first heard of the Basic Player’s Guide, I was intrigued. There has been a perceived need in the d20 gaming community for an introductory d20 fantasy product for a long time. People have looked to products like the 2000 D&D Adventure Set, Troll Lords’ Castles & Crusades, and the upcoming D&D Basic Set to provide a basic rules set that can be picked up anyone quickly and easily.

What a lot of players have requested, however, is a return of a product like the old 1981 Tom Moldvay Basic Dungeons & Dragons Set. A generation of D&D gamers once got their start with this and similarly written Basic sets in the early 1980’s – a simple set of introductory rules, containing the simple core of the game, which could be learned by anyone, young or old.

Enter S.T. Cooley’s Basic Player’s Guide. This 64-Page PDF has taken the Revised (version 3.5) System Reference Document, pared it down to the core of the system, removed the more complicated rules such as Attacks of Opportunity, certain complex feats, and several classes and races, and has come up with a workable whole, still enormously fun, still wide-open in character choices for all new players, and well worth the cost.

What results from this work is something VERY much similar in flavor to the old Moldvay Edition Basic D&D set. Races include Humans, Dwarves, Elves, and Halflings, like in Moldvay’s work, as well as the original D&D game from 1974; Classes include Fighter, Cleric, Wizard, and Rogue, again similar to the original 1974 D&D games’ Fighting Man, Cleric, and Magic-User. Many feats have been simplified; skills have been abstracted to assume max ranks in each skill – a fighter, for instance, picks two skills plus INT modifier; if the skills he picks are non-class skills, the modifier is half its normal value, as if buying cross-class skills in 3rd Edition.

When reading the Basic Player’s Guide, I was very much taken back to my youthful days of learning D&D with the Moldvay Edition of Basic D&D, and Cooley’s book was very reminiscent of that style. The tone is simplified, without talking "down" to the reader. Artwork is perfect for the tone of the piece – traditional fantasy with no spikes or unusual armor designs. Some art is computer generated, which would be a draw or at least contribute a familiarity, say, to a younger player used to computer fantasy games.

Plenty of care is made to simplify, but without altering existing rules. Where possible, things are removed rather than re-created. A player using this work as their training ground could more easily pick up on full 3.5 Dungeons and Dragons by treating them as "Advanced" rules of same.

The GOOD: Everything is here. This is a player’s guide, not a DM’s work, and has all the things needed for a player to learn the basics all the way to 4th level. Included are equipment, masterwork rules, spells, basic combat information, and basic role-playing information on the races are included.

The BAD: It is indeed a player’s guide, and not a DM’s work. It is assumed that the person DM’ing the novice player will be proficient with the 3.5 rules, and while this is often true, it is not always true. No monsters, challenges, traps, or information on how to grant experience or why, and therefore a group of nothing but novice players will be somewhat at a loss to use this to learn how to play. Given its target audience and medium, this may not be an issue, but it would be nice to see a guide containing the complete package in 64 pages; Moldvay could do it, and even with the greater choice and variety in the new D&D, it may well be possible here too. Certain information could theoretically be cut or drastically simplified due to irrelevance to new players – wizards’ spellbooks and basic spellcasting info have a whole page devoted to the subjects, as one example – and some topics can be simplified in class descriptions. At worst, I’d love to see a 96-page combined book with the extra material going to a DM’s section, with simple monster stat blocks, a couple dozen treasure items, some "running the game" advice, and maybe a 2 to 4 - page sample dungeon. A complete package (for, say, $9.95) would be an excellent gift to give a precocious 10 or 12 year old to start him or her and friends on a path to adventure.

SUMMARY
The OGL Lite Basic Player’s Guide is an excellent product for introducing new players to the game. Its feel of going "back to basics" and its ability to pare down the rules to a simple core make it a vital gift to a new gamer in a wide d20 world.

Henry Link