What TTRPG Is Perfect and Complete In One Volume?

[Thomas Shey]

I feel like the majority of games outside D&D are usually good in one volume. They may have supplements but you can often play the game with the rulebook alone. Call of the Cthulhu, Feng Shui, Savage Worlds, GURPS, etc. And for D&D you can always use the rules Cyclopedia if you want one volume.

With at least Savage Worlds and GURPS I'd say you can play selective kinds of campaign with just the core book (though I should note modern GURPS is two volumes) but not the full range of their extended use.

 

[GypsyCowboy]

Shadow of the Demon Lord

 

[Reynard]

Shadow of the Demon Lord

It sure does have A LOT of supplementary stuff, though. I have not played it to know whether it works as a completer game just with the core, but I will take your word for it.

 

[Thomas Shey]

It sure does have A LOT of supplementary stuff, though. I have not played it to know whether it works as a completer game just with the core, but I will take your word for it.

I personally wouldn't want to play it without access to the additional Paths material. Its playable, but I'm not sure I'd call it complete.

 

[Joshua Randall]

It’s at least as complete as any other D&D alike on this list.

 

[Thomas Shey]

It’s at least as complete as any other D&D alike on this list.

I believe I objected to at least one of those, too.

 

[ProfessorDetective]

Left-field picks:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Advanced Double D6 (Itch, DTRPG, Etsy).

Covers everything from from Characters to Creatures to... Quests in forty-four pages.

Can't speak to it's actual playability (Forever Alone!). However, it READS like Basic D&D but using only 2d6 rolls and replacing the Core Four classes with four skills (fighting, sneaking, prayer, and spells).

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Moonlight on Roseville Beach (Itch, DTRPG).

A simple mystery game about archetypical young people (with a few ATYPICAL ones, as well) saving your new home from supernatural evils.

Pick your Origin, your Job, your eye-opening Event (if applicable), your Troubles, your Allies, you Comforts, and Boom. Now, go figure out why folks keep disappearing or why this monolith keeps humming in your dreams.

This one is a bit different from other examples in that it IS locked into it's genre (Disco-Era Cosmic Horror) and setting (an LGBT-friendly resort island with a LOT of bad mojo).

 

[Dumnbunny]

Shock: Social Science Fiction: A gm-less story-telling game focussed on the sub-genre of social science-fiction, "... a pen-and-paper indie RPG about the effects of the shock of cultural change on the individuals who make up that culture." Social science-fiction is fiction like Blade Runner. Logans Run and Children of Men. It might be hard to get ahold of though; I'm not sure if the author has walked away, but I just noticed that the SSL cert on his website/storefront expired three weeks ago,

 

[Eyes of Nine]

Shock: Social Science Fiction: A gm-less story-telling game focussed on the sub-genre of social science-fiction, "... a pen-and-paper indie RPG about the effects of the shock of cultural change on the individuals who make up that culture." Social science-fiction is fiction like Blade Runner. Logans Run and Children of Men. It might be hard to get ahold of though; I'm not sure if the author has walked away, but I just noticed that the SSL cert on his website/storefront expired three weeks ago,

Shock was a great read, and Joshua AC Newman I'm sure feels that it is complete in it's single volume. Not sure I'd call it perfect; and having read it, I'd want to consult some blogs and other resources to actually understand what's supposed to happen at the table. But it's got a cool vibe, and I can tell what Newman's going for.

 

[Simon Miles]

Osric. Although there's plenty of other stuff if you want it...