Bodo Heye
Polyhedral NonsenseRPGaDAY2025 – Day 20 – Enter – Entry-Level RPGs
What’s #RPGaDAY2025 ? See the details here.
Day 20 – Enter
What’s the best game for new players to enter the RPG hobby?
The obvious answer is D&D. It’s the only one anyone’s heard of. However, I think the grand old elfgame is a little too complex for a lot of beginners – Saving Throws, Stat Modifiers, Feats, etc. I think something a little simpler might be a better introduction. Here’s my criteria for a good entry-level RPG:
- Simple to learn: There should be a basic mechanic that’s easy to remember.
- Cheap or free: If you’re trying to recruit a new RPG enthusiast, make it easy on their wallet.
- Multiple genres: Fantasy is great, but they might more interested in something else.
- Uses six-sided dice: This isn’t essential, but some new players might be intimidated by or loath to spend money on polyhedrals. Everyone’s cool with six siders.
Here’s a few possible contenders:
OneDice System
This is a simple generic system from Cakebread & Walton. Each character has 3 ability scores – Strong, Clever, or Quick (occasionally Weird)
To resolve tasks, you roll a single six-sided die (hence the name), and add the appropriate ability score, plus any skill levels. The result must beat a particular Target Number set by the GM for the player to succeed.
There are multiple setting books: Cyberpunk, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Pulp, Etc. Each book contains the complete OneDice rules.
Tiny D6
The Tiny D6 system has a pretty simple mechanic. Roll 2d6; If you get a 5 or 6 on any die, you succeed. You can roll 3d6 for advantage or 1d6 for disadvantage. Characters will have advantage based on the various Traits they have.
Like OneDice, TinyD6 has a lot of source books, each containing all the rules you need. My particular favorites: Tiny Cthulhu, Tiny Supers, and Beach Patrol (a thinly-disguised Baywatch).
The Black Hack
If you wanted to run something D&D-like, I think the Black Hack is a good option. It’s similar to D&D, but it’s a lot more streamlined. It uses the same stats as D&D, and uses them for pretty much everything.
Black Hack is a D20 roll-low system. If a player is attacking someone with a sword, they roll a D20 and try get lower than their Strength score to succeed. They’d roll Intelligence to cast spells, Dexterity to sneak around, and so on.
Black games will require the full set of polyhedrals (D4, D6, D8, D10, D12, D20)
The basic Black Hack game is a dungeon-crawling fantasy system, but there many hacks for other genres including sci-fi, horror, espionage, etc.
Here’s a list of short reviews I made of some post-apocalypse Black Hack games.
Nomad
One of my favorite RPG systems is the Cepheus Engine, which is an OGL open license version of the Traveller RPG. There are multiple versions of Cepheus, from different companies, with varying levels of complexity.
To keep things as simple as possible I’d recommend Faster Than Light: Nomad by Stellagama Games. It’s got much simpler character generation than other Traveller/Cepheus games.
To carry out any action you roll 2d6, add your skill, and try to beat a target number (usually 8). Dice can be added or removed from the roll for various difficulties or advantages.
The Nomad system is centered around sci-fi, but there are a lot of other Cepheus-compatible games you could pull things from.
Did I miss any? Of course I did. I probably missed hundreds of games. Feel free to put your suggestions in comments.
#BlackHack #CepheusEngine #OneDice #RPG #RPGaDAY2025 #TinyD6 #ttrpg
Norton Glover
Wilderwhim
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