Speak With Dead Trees: The Most Basic Fantasy Tabletop RPG? Probably Not, But It's What I Came Up With

It’s about time that I finally posted the homebrew rules I mentioned.

These rules are meant for parties of 3-5 adventurers and a referee. I use these for solo games I play with my partner, however, by combining these rules with those for solo adventurers from “Black Streams Solo Heroes.”

This isn’t the full ruleset I developed with the Dolmenwood campaign my online crew played. That game is about four times as long. This is an ultra-light version I adapted from that homebrew ruleset, sort of like a “demo.” It bears some similarities to the full thing (which I will post later), but really this version is meant as a game for one-shots, short adventures, and first time-players.

This game owes significant debt to the following games, and I am thankful to their creators:

Maze Rats
In Darkest Warrens
The GLOG
Mouseritter

A quick overview of the rules:

· Everything is d6’s.

· Player characters have four Abilities: Strength, Dexterity, Will, and Charisma. Modifiers for these Abilities range from -2 to +4, though a character will never start with a stat higher than +2.

· Character class comes from a single template chosen at character creation, which does not change. Other elements of character generation (ex. equipment, personality) are supposed to be quick, to let you start the game as soon as possible.

· Magic system is from the GLOG: casters choose [dice] to spend when casting a spell, and the spell’s effect depends on the [dice] invested and [sum] of the dice when rolled. Mishaps and dooms occur on doubles and triples, respectively.

· HP and damage are meant to be fully compatible with B/X and AD&D, as well as products compatible with those (ex. Labyrinth Lord, Old School Essentials, or Basic Fantasy RPG). Rules for monster conversion are included.

And a couple of disclaimers, as well:

· You need a bestiary (and probably a separate treasure generator) to run this game. I would recommend the ones from Basic Fantasy RPG or Old School Essentials, as they already have ascending Armor Class. You could use a bestiary from a system with descending AC by simply converting it to ascending, however. Just subtract descending AC from 19 or 20, depending on how mean you want to be.

· The math is not a perfect reflection of the d20 systems this ruleset emulates. For example, I know the chance of getting 12 with 2d6 is not the same as getting 20 on 1d20, so the conversion chart listed saying AC 20 becomes Defense Rating 12 is not mathematically perfect. I know 1d6+3 is not the same as 1d12. However, it is “close enough” for my tastes. The goal here is to achieve a “feel” of old-school gaming, not the mathematical probabilities of it… if replicating the mathematical probabilities of B/X or AD&D is your jam, you might be happier with something else.

· The Death and Dismemberment table is forgiving. A player character will probably only die if they make poor decisions and roll poorly.

· Character progression is short and limited. Player choice in character progression comes from which Abilities to increase and when, though a lot of character advancement should be in-fiction. For example, magic-users should learn new spells through research and exploration. Characters are meant to retire around level 6 or 7… again, this is meant for short adventures. Using the XP guidelines provided, characters will be ready to retire after 15 - 30 sessions, depending on how successful they are and how generous the referee is.

And now, for the rules. If you enjoy them, please let me know.