What are the best free RPGs for beginners?

I have been hard at work on writing a good, system-agnostic beginner's guide to tabletop role playing. I want a guide that any group of role players can point a prospective player at that will give them a good overview of the hobby along with some starting points. One of the sections in this guide recommends games for beginners and I really want a solid set of free games that I can recommend.

There are a lot of free games out there, many of which are for simple systems. A great example is Microlite20. It is a very simple system, it's 100% free and it's fun. Unfortunately, when I look at Microlite20 with a beginner's eye it is borderline incomprehensible. It is great for someone that knows what they are doing and just needs a few rules on a sheet of paper to keep them on track, but new players deserve something that will engage them as a reader and guide them through a good first experience.

I have found this same problem with a lot of the free games that I have looked at, so many of them assume that their audience knows how to role play already. I guess that is not much of a problem when the majority of the people reading and playing these free games are already familiar with the hobby. Still, I can't direct a prospective player to them if I want them to have a smooth and easy introduction to the hobby.

What a Beginner Friendly RPG Needs

• Straightforward, easy to explain and use rules.
• The basics of actually playing an RPG. It can't assume the players already know the basic structure and flow of play.
• Easily obtainable. There can't be any hoops to jump through to get the rules. The necessary gear should also be minimal.
• A starter adventure and examples of play. Ideally, the adventure would be written such a way as to teach the GM to GM and the players to play.

Finalists

After a lot of looking around and wading through forum posts I think I have found find the a good set of suggestions for my guide.

Open d6/ WEG d6

If you're well versed in RPG news then you already know that WEG's d6 was re-branded as Open d6 and opened up to the community to do with as they will. The great thing about this is all of the core d6 games became available to anyone with an Internet connection.

Open d6 is a universal system with a very simple and easy to understand set of rules. It has three independent and core rulebooks: d6 Adventure, d6 Fantasy and d6 Space. A new player can pick up whichever of the three setting books appeals to them and get started right away. The writing is great and each book comes with an introductory choose-your-own-adventure section which introduces the rules and concepts of role playing with Open d6. I can't think of a better game to direct a new player to.

 On top of all the great things you can find in just the core Open d6 books, a large number of supplements are also available for free. Since the system went open we have also seen a number of fan conversions and reinterpretations of the system. Cinema 6 is a great example of this in action.

Swords & Wizardry

Swords & Wizardry is what is known as a “retroclone” of the very first edition of Dungeons & Dragons. The original rules have been rewritten and re-published so that anyone can enjoy them even though the game went out of print many years ago. S&W isn't the only retroclone available, but of the free options I think it is the most beginner friendly.

S&W doesn't have as much information for a new player as Open d6, but the simplicity of the rules along with the friendly tone and some solid advice for beginners is more than enough to make it stand out among free games. I am also confident that if we could figure out D&D by ourselves all those years ago that a new player ought to be able to manage with S&W.

Warrior, Rogue, & Mage

In the game's own words, "Warrior, Rogue & Mage is a simple, lightweight roleplaying game that allows a group of players and a game master to experience epic adventures in a fantasy world filled with wondrous magic."

WR&M is a very easy game to learn and play and it features a starter adventure as well as great advice for first-time GMs. WR&M is also available as Resolute, Adventurer & Genius, a version of the game set in an Indiana Jones-esque world of pulp adventure. There's really not much else to say about the game. It looks nice, it is free and it provides a good, solid set of advice for new players and GMs alike.

Final Thoughts

Each of the above games could be improved so that they are a better introduction to role playing, but as far as free games that I've looked at go they are a cut above. I think a box set like the Pathfinder Beginner Box is a superior starting product, but I also think there is something to be said for being able to download a game right now to look at and play.  (Speaking of box sets, I will be going over the ones aimed at new players in a future blog post.)

Am I on the mark with my selections? Do you think there is a game better-suited to be on this list? Let me know in the comments.

Categories: Beginner's Guide, Free RPG, New Players, Open d6, Swords and Wizardry, Warrior Rogue and Mage, WEG d6

Won't someone please think of the newbs?

One thing that I've noticed about the role playing hobby is that it isn't friendly to new players. I'm not talking about the community itself, most message boards I've seen are filled with people that are happy to lend their experience. No, I'm talking about the actual state of the hobby.

Despite role playing games being easier than ever to actually obtain thanks to the wonders of digital distribution, it seems like the hobby really caters to existing players. Where are the new player guides? Where are the introductory adventures? Wizards of the Coast and Paizo may have gotten their acts together and finally published some competent introductory products, but, judging from all of the forum threads featuring people looking for a product to start with, they haven't done a great job of advertising them outside of the people that already know how to play.

Not good enough.

WotC and Paizo aren't the only publishers to blame, though. Take a look at the introductory chapter of your favourite RPG. You know, that "What is an RPG" that you usually skip over. These chapters are almost uniformly terrible. They raise more questions than they answer, they assume the reader already knows what they are doing or they explain the wrong things. If you move on from there and into he actual "How to Play" chapters you will find that these are no better. They all assume the reader already understands the concept and structure of role playing games and from the viewpoint of a completely new player are mystifying and unhelpful.

Part of the problem is no doubt how difficult it is to actually explain in writing how role playing games work. Since the birth of the hobby this has always been something that was easier shown than told. Decades ago when TV and Film and Video Games were limited a prospective player would probably spend the time to puzzle things out for themselves, but these days? In the age of the Internet there is very little chance that someone is going to spend more than a little time trying to puzzle out your game. They're going to move on to some other form of entertainment or, if they are set on tabletop role playing, they will turn to the Internet to answer their questions. Why don't you go do an Internet search on how to play? I'll wait.

Back with me? Nothing particularly useful, was there? A few lazily written guides that cover the physical steps but don't really communicate the actual how of it. If you're lucky you will find that an out of date primer from WotC that tries to sell you products that are out of print. This is a problem. Our hobby can not grow if it has too large a barrier of entry. Programs like D&D Encounters and products like the Red Box and the Beginner Box are a good start, but they aren't enough. A new player needs to be able to type a few words into Google and get the answers they need.

What I said about the community earlier wasn't strictly true. Gamers might be willing to offer help in a friendly and welcoming manner, but that help is awful. Many of the threads devolve into experienced players arguing about which game or edition the new player should be playing. The advice is contradictory or just plain unhelpful. I'd be surprised if many prospective players leave such a thread any more enlightened than they were going in, some of them are probably more confused.

The Solution

The tabletop RPG community needs a definitive "Newbie Guide". A guide that the entire online community can get behind and point newcomers at. It should come up in web searches so that people curious in role playing can find it on their own. Ideally, the guide would have a nice CC license that would allow anyone to customize and update it. It could birth a hundred more new player's guides.

This guide needs to be something free of system bias and argument. It should explain all of the most basic elements of role playing and contain system-agnostic advice. The ideal guide will point potential players in the direction of clearly written, beginner-friendly and free RPGs. It should contain overviews of various beginner products, such as the Red Box, and links to quick-start rules for the more popular/well-known games. The very basic play structure should be explained along with advice on creating players and organizing games. All of the most frequently asked questions should be answered. Things like "How can I play online?" or "How do I find someone to play with?" need to be answered by the guide.

I'm probably not the guy to write this guide, but I'm going to do may best anyway. New players deserve something like this and the role playing hobby needs new players to thrive.

Categories: Beginner's Guide, New Players, RPG, RPG Community, WotC