What is a GOOD rules light system?

[doghead]

I'm about to give Iron Gauntlets from Politically Incorrect Games a go. It used a d10 system and seems fairly straightforward. Here's a character:

[bq]Name: Jon Harrison
Race: Male Human.
Background: Mountainfolk (2 for 1 with Survival, 1 for 3 with Streetwise, Gimmick - Resistance to Cold.)
Gimmicks: Resistance to Cold, Good Reputation (+2D bonus to Influence checks with people familiar with his reputation).
Vocation: Constable/Forester (responsible for the husbandry of the manor's forests.)
Abilities: Fitness +4, Creativity +2, Awareness +4, Reasoning +3, Influence +2.
Luck: 3
Skills: Archery +5, Brawling +3, Duelling +2, Stealth +5, Geography +5, Observation +4, Survival +6 (cost 3), Composure +3.
Equipment: Compound Bow, 10 arrows, Short Sword, Leather Cuirass, Lantern.[/bq]


I haven't put it through its paces yet, hopefully kick off on Monday.

 

[Gundark]

I know that Savage Worlds gets a lot of love. But I'm gonna go against the grain here and say that I didn't like it. Yes it's rules lite and easy to generate NPCs. But I found that with the main book it was a little too cookie cutter with characters. We played a fantasy genre and the 2 weapon fighting talent was sooo good that everyone took it. I know that there are other options out as far as character builds go but after buying book and playing a few sessions I wasn't satisfied.

Can't comment on WHF 2 but I'd like to try it. True 20 is a nice rules lite system. I've wanted to try Castles and Crusades.

 

[Turjan]

I agree heroquest is a good game and rules lite in comparison to 3E, but C&C is easier IMO, and just as strong, if not stronger, on the rules mechanics.

Well, HeroQuest is a little bit bogged down by Gloranthan details, especially in the magic sector. If you just wanted to go the D&D way, though, you might just pick Theism (mechanicstically) and be done with it.

 

[Turjan]

It's incredibly easy to strip it of the Glorantha connections (at least Hero Wars was, I haven't picked up the Heroquest update).

HeroQuest is just a bit more organized than Hero Wars, the rest is the same. More organized unfortunately doesn't mean well organized . It's still sort of a mess. The difficulty of getting rid of Glorantha arises in the magic sector for me. But, maybe, I'm just a bit overwhelmed by the details .

I agree with your assessment of tactics and combat in HeroQuest. That's what I meant with "abstract". You don't have to think about combat tactics, but a bit of mathematical understanding will help you with your betting strategy; which is a bit beside the concept of "roleplaying".

 

[librarius_arcana]

D6 Fantasy, it's a very solid easy to learn system

 

[Rothe]

....
What are the other options? Something that gives the player a chance to have his or her character shine as they execute actions during combat. But which doesn't have the high level of complexity and details that feats give in d20. Classic D&D was an option but maybe something else would work better?

Ideas? Suggestions?

You might be interested in The Fantasy Trip (TFT). Three stats, very lite system but able to provide or build a lot of detail from it. It has "skills," which are kind of like feats-lite or proficiencies. The combat system can provide a lot of tactical options without complexity. (TFT is a good example that more "realistic" combat does not need to be more complex. Even more striking considering the time when it was released, circa 1980). Here's a good place to start: http://www.jgimmigration.com/tft/index.htm

 

[Aus_Snow]

Tri-Stat might be worth a look too. You can get Tri-Stat dX as a free download still, I think. At drivethrurpg, if I'm not mistaken.

Not sure exactly what level of support there is for it, but I know there are a numebr of genre books already in print that use its basic framework. I've heard good things of a few of them, and I can attest that Dreaming Cities is quite nicely done.

 

[Odhanan]

A good rules-light system is a system that appeals to the imagination of the players and DM. If everyone's excited about the system the imagination can run the game in places the system cannot. This gives more of an illusion of freedom, so the end result would be more satisfying.

 

[Dragonhelm]

I'm going to throw my two steel in for Castles and Crusades as well. What's appealing to me is that it's not only a simple system that's kind of old school in feel, it also can be house ruled to the heart's desire. I've heard people talk about adapting rules from 1e, 2e, 3e, the Rules Cyclopedia...just anywhere you can think of.

True20 is also more rules-lite. It doesn't use archetypes as much, but it is a d20 system. I've mined it for ideas before and it's great.

d6 was a great system when I played Star Wars. Never used it for other systems.

Best of luck finding the right system for you.

 

[ValhallaGH]

I'll second True 20 as a light set of rules that allow for flexible, interesting and exciting adventures in whatever setting or genre you prefer to play in. It's a stripped down, simpler and more consistant form of the rules that govern most d20 systems, without all that pesky AoO stuff and with Roles that allow a character to be what they are supposed to be and nothing else.

I've been very impressed with it, as it's filled all my needs for both rules light systems and for systems that support many of the wacky things that OGL d20 does horribly (giant mechs, super powers, etc). The only die ever used is a d20 and the only points that are ever tracked are skill points when you level up and the qualitative, not quantitative, health levels.