Help me find a system for my (somewhat inexperienced) friend to run

[supermonkeyjoe]

Hi all, I currently run a 3.5 Eberron campaign which my friend plays in, he's not the best when it comes to the rules but just about manages to get by.

Trouble is he wants to DM a game when the Eberron campaign is done using a "simplified" version of 3.5, fluff-wise it sounds really fun but I think his lack of grasp of crunch will be a problem (he thinks a spell doing 5d20 damage would be an awesome level 9 spell :s).

The main question is; are there any systems that are free or very cheap, easy to pick up, offer a good sense of character progression and are pretty easy to customise/homebrew for DMs? It seems most simple systems are only really good for running one-shot adventures and not long running campagns.

[TroubleBrewing]

CoC and nWoD are both relatively easy to learn. It helps that they have a) single-die systems (d100 and d10 respectively), and b) excellent flavor and concepts, as well as interesting source material. Plus, they're easy to find.

[kamikasei]

The main question is; are there any systems that are free or very cheap, easy to pick up, ...and are pretty easy to customise/homebrew for DMs?
Yup!

...offer a good sense of character progression...
It seems most simple systems are only really good for running one-shot adventures and not long running campagns.
Hmmm! Not sure what you mean here. Most systems I think of in response to your question assume you're making a character with a certain core concept and that you don't want that concept to change too much over the course of play. That doesn't mean they're good only for one-shots, though. If you feel that a campaign isn't a campaign unless you do the equivalent of going from 1 to 20, though, the ones I can think of probably aren't for you.

For what it's worth, the free systems I would suggest are Risus and FATE/Fudge, while the non-free one that I have the most experience with is Mutants & Masterminds 2nd Edition (though that's not particularly newbie-friendly as there are a lot of options to wade through). M&M is a d20 based system and my two longest-running games took over a year each (granted, of PbP) to progress from the equivalent of level 10 to level 11. The fact that the characters didn't become drastically more powerful over the course of the game has in no way made them less enjoyable games (quite the opposite, actually).

[supermonkeyjoe]

CoC and nWoD are both relatively easy to learn. It helps that they have a) single-die systems (d100 and d10 respectively), and b) excellent flavor and concepts, as well as interesting source material. Plus, they're easy to find.

I know nWoD is new World of Darkness but what's CoC? I'm guessing it's not Christian outreach Center as google would suggest :p

Also It'd be better if the system was fairly fluff-light as I believe the setting will be medieval fantasyish with some typical fantasy stuff (dwarves, fighters mages etc.) plus homebrewed races and classes and such.

I'll have a look at Risus and Fudge/FATE but the more I look at this the more it seems like the best solution will be to try and get him to learn the 3.5 rules :s

[potatocubed]

I'll have a look at Risus and Fudge/FATE but the more I look at this the more it seems like the best solution will be to try and get him to learn the 3.5 rules :s

Fatescape still needs testing. *points at sig* I intended it for just this kind of situation, when you want D&D flavour but a simpler ruleset.

...why yes, I am blatantly self-promoting.

Although I'm not sure if a noob GM should cut their teeth on an alpha-playtest system.

[wayfare]

Aberrant (i kid, i kid).

4e is somewhat simplified in terms of how challenges are laid out.

The dresden files rpg (using fudge/fate) might be a fun if he reacts well to sudden changes in play.

Honestly, though, d20 modern is very nice as it requires development on the part of the character, and doesn't veer very far away from 3.5.

Then again, I cut my teeth on exalted, and fund that my experiences arbitrating that crazy game really developed my gming abilities...