Hello, I have a background in old-school dnd rpg, but no longer have enough time to play in-depth versions of rpg. My lifestyle allows for 1 Saturday a month with friends, and we can run from 4-6 hours. As I have searched for something I would describe as “RPG-Lite”, I found/purchased 3 boxes from the D&D Adventure System games:

  • Castle Ravenloft (August 2010)
  • Wrath of Ashardalon (February 2011)
  • The Legend of Drizzt (October 2011)

There are other boxes available in the series too, though I have not run them yet:

  • Temple of Elemental Evil (April 2015)
  • Tomb of Annihilation (October 2017)
  • Dungeon of the Mad Mage (April 2019)
  • Ghosts of Saltmarsh (Q3 2021)

Here are two places where you can read more about the series:

As it turns out, no only are they a good fit for me and my group out-of-the-box, but the original designers encouraged fans to create their own Adventures and Campaign Systems, taking advantage of the fact that most of the game assets in each box are interchangeable, and the base rules are simple and easy to adjust for special adventure scenarios.

Along those lines, I would like to post a list of material for these games that I have published and run with my group:

Also, here are some BGG blogs that list other fan based material:

Q: Has anyone else out there found/played a good RPG-Lite system?

  • jjjalljs
    1·
    2 years ago

    Depends on what you mean by rules-lite, I guess.

    I had an old group that was fond of a stripped down CofD ruleset. Stat + skill dice pool. Pretty fast. Can add on other systems if you want magic or whatever. It’s written for modern day but it worked for scifi and fantasy just fine.

    • old_dnd_fan_2023OPM
      1·
      2 years ago

      CofD ruleset

      Thanks for the pointer - I’ll investigate more.

      For Rules-Lite RPG, I mean, a group of friends get together on Saturday, and if one or more have never played this game before (and may even be new to rpg/fantasy), no problem you learn as you go. and in 4 to 6 hours we have enjoyed an epic fantasy adventure with good story intro and definite episode ending. So, no prep time outside the group needed. Learn, play, enjoy a good fantasy story, all in one 4 to 6 hour session.

      Now, if there is an extended Campaign system, that is just the next “chapter” that we can enjoy the next time we get together, but it is distinct and there is no need for scheduling multiple sessions to fully enjoy a single episode from start to finish.

      • jjjalljs
        2·
        2 years ago

        You might also want to check out Fate or Fate Accelerated. They’re fast. I honestly think they’re closer to how people imagine RPGs are than DND is. Ironically that can make it harder for DND veterans to get into it because they have to relearn some creativity.

        A lot of my newer players have basically tried to invent Aspects as they are in Fate without realizing it. But unfortunately a lot of systems don’t really work that way, and players learn that “I attack” is the optimal move.