[+] Rules light RPGs

[Fenris-77]

Cthulhu Dark is a lot if fun. Are you using it for Cthulhu horror or switching up the genre?

I've used it for a handful of one-shots that are all Mythos-adjacent (pretty straight up all told I suppose). I'd happily use it for just about anything for which it was at least somewhat tone appropriate though. It would probably suck for Anime-pop high school shenanigans for example, at least without some reskinning. It's a marvelous one-shot rules set though, as is Trophy Dark (as you might expect as the latter is at least partially a hack of the former). For rules-light longer-form stuff I tend to hack Trophy Gold.

 

[Jer]

For the absolute lightest of rules light my group loves the various Lasers and Feelings hacks. Not good for campaign play, but perfect for one shots on nights when a few folks have to cancel at the last minute. Can't get too much lighter than a single page of rules for players and GMs.

(The original game)

Lasers & Feelings

(More hacks than anyone will ever be able to play)

Lasers and Feelings Hacks

In this context, a hack is an alteration of a game. All of these games are based on Lasers & Feelings, which is is a free, one-page game system by John Harper that creates science fiction stories much like campy Star Trek episodes (fan-made character sheet 1, fan-made character sheet 2). Because Las

writingalchemy.net

We also quite like Icons as a rules light supers system, and it's basically a FATE hack. My group isn't that big on FATE but they love FATE when it's been tweaked by Steve Kenson into a supers game that uses attributes whose names are legally distinct from Marvel's FASERIP system.

 

[overgeeked]

Not good for campaign play, but perfect for one shots on nights when a few folks have to cancel at the last minute.

This is one of those things about rules light games that kinda grates on me. They don't have mechanical support for long-term play, that's true. But that doesn't mean they're limited to one-shots or short campaigns. Most of the advancement in rules light games can easily be handled diegetically, that is with in-fiction rewards and advancement. Things like titles, resources, allies, contacts, land, castles, ships, soldiers, mines, fictional positioning, etc. It's all still up for grabs. These games only lack extra +1s to throw at PCs to show "progress"...while pretending that the math on the monsters' side doesn't also improve.

 

[MichaelSomething]

Now that I think of it, 5E can do rules light pretty well. Fighter class only with no feats!

 

[Jer]

This is one of those things about rules light games that kinda grates on me. They don't have mechanical support for long-term play, that's true. But that doesn't mean they're limited to one-shots or short campaigns. Most of the advancement in rules light games can easily be handled diegetically, that is with in-fiction rewards and advancement. Things like titles, resources, allies, contacts, land, castles, ships, soldiers, mines, fictional positioning, etc. It's all still up for grabs. These games only lack extra +1s to throw at PCs to show "progress"...while pretending that the math on the monsters' side doesn't also improve.

I think rules light games without character mechanical improvement can be suitable for long term series play - but you need to have players who buy into the idea that dramatic/narrative rewards are equivalent to character buffs and leveling up. It takes some work to untrain that kind of thinking in players who are into it. But I find that supers games (like Icons, really) are good for that kind of approach - our Icons "campaign" has had no mechanical character advancement but has had subplots, short term goals achieved, recurring villains, etc.

But in our group Lasers and Feelings hacks don't lend themselves to long term play because the way we use them they tend to be really focused around a single scenario that's intended to be a one-off and I'm not actually sure how suitable the game would be beyond that. Even when we go back to our legally distinct from Star Trek crew of L&F characters it's less of what I'd think of as a campaign and more of an episodic "Original Series" vibe where things from previous "episodes" aren't really referenced. But it might work (I actually have the controversial opinion that Lasers and Feelings hacks do what a number of PbtA hacks try to do, but better because they have less jargon and get to the game quickly, so it might work).

 

[Fenris-77]

This is one of those things about rules light games that kinda grates on me. They don't have mechanical support for long-term play, that's true. But that doesn't mean they're limited to one-shots or short campaigns. Most of the advancement in rules light games can easily be handled diegetically, that is with in-fiction rewards and advancement. Things like titles, resources, allies, contacts, land, castles, ships, soldiers, mines, fictional positioning, etc. It's all still up for grabs. These games only lack extra +1s to throw at PCs to show "progress"...while pretending that the math on the monsters' side doesn't also improve.

Trophy Gold is my go-to for this. It's still rules light, but it supports campaign play very well. Naturally it might not be what anyone needs in particular, but it's a great example of rules light campaign play generally. All you really need is some kind of meaningful downtime loop and you're probably good to go.

 

[Morrus]

Note this is a [+] thread. Keep it positive or keep out.

I'm a huge fan of rules light RPGs. The lighter the better. But I don't see much talk about rules light RPGs on here, so here's a thread.

Me too! I've written a couple of them.

I would hazard a guess that because discussion round here tends towards the technical, rules light games don't promote the same types of conversations.

 

[JohnF]

Most of the advancement in rules light games can easily be handled diegetically, that is with in-fiction rewards and advancement. Things like titles, resources, allies, contacts, land, castles, ships, soldiers, mines, fictional positioning, etc. It's all still up for grabs.

I can't underscore this enough.

I've lost players on Fate because they can't at all understand that revising their Aspects to reflect the narrative evolution of their PCs' places in the world (thanks to the actions they've taken during sessions) means as much as - if not more than - a mathematical bonus to a stat or stunt (especially considering the permissions Aspects provide to PCs...).

Those who get such a thing fall in love with the most rewarding depths of the "R" in RPG.

My regular group (in which I'm a player) worships spreadsheets, probabilities, and min/maxing, despite the fact that they insist that story matters more. However, any attempt at a rules-light, narrative-driven session bounces hard off of them. I won't even try 5e with them (still "too lite," they believe).

Many of the games mentioned in this awesome thread so far have been those that promote less of the mathematical war-game-y characteristics that are the predominant hallmarks of the hobby (whether players realize it or not) and, instead, have found ways to leverage experiences that are more social/conversational while integrating sporadically randomized resolutions.

I'm thinking that's what "rules lite" has become for me...

 

[aia_2]

I am still wondering whether or not the need of a light set of rules is the answer to:
1. The search of a game where the DM (if good enough) can replace all the holes in the rules (i.e. the fun for the game is safeguarded)
2. The need to set aside tons and tons of pages of detailed rules (if not micro-rules!) because both players and GM are not going to pass an entire night for a fight only...
3. Pure lack of time in this stressful life (or laziness if you live a stressless life!)

 

[jdrakeh]

I've designed a few rules-light RPGs that have been well-received. Of those, my favorite is Yarnmaster, which you can currently grab a community (free) copy of over on Itch thanks to the generosity of somebody who bought one for $100. Cthulhu 476 AD, a Cthulhu Dark hack made with Graham's blessing, is popular enough that another publisher has translated it to French.