Best Introductory RPGs

[Chainsaw Hobbit]

What are some of the best tabletop roleplaying games for introducing new players and kids to the hobby? Something I'm looking for on top of simple rules is a "What is a Roleplaying Game?" introductory section, good advice for gamemasters, and preferably a somewhat lighthearted tone.

[Saidoro]

Legend is versatile, easy to learn and can accommodate pretty much any sort of tone. Unfortunately, it requires the game master to actually have a decent grasp of the game so it may not be best suited for your needs.(If you're running them through a couple adventures then setting them loose it could probably work, if you're just supervising for the whole thing less so...)

[Arkanist]

Games from the Old School Revival (Dungeon Crawl Classics, Swords and Wizardry, etc.) are generally simple. The Red Box and PF Beginner's Box are great introductions for more complex systems.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Old School Hack is a (FREE!) modern-mechanics RPG that dips into the old-school aesthetic, but with streamlined, clear mechanics. It also has really pretty graphical design.

Warhammer Fantasy RP (3rd Edition) introduces boardgame elements (courtesy of Fantasy Flight Games) and icon-based dice into the RPG paradigm, which makes it very accessible to players who've already played more involved board games.

Fiasco and Burning Wheel are two of the best GM-advice books (and player-advice) that I've ever seen, and I thoroughly recommend them as great books. Fiasco (because its format is akin to "improv with dice") is an excellent beginners' game; Burning Wheel takes a good bit of player experience, and is probably better with more seasoned gamers.

[Gnomish Wanderer]

Mouseguard is GREAT for kids.

[kyoryu]

Mouse Guard, if you can find it?

Possibly Fate Core, though availability will be decreased for a while.

Basic D&D.

Fate Accelerated Edition is *specifically* geared towards this, but won't be available for a while :(

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Oh! Another thought! Mongoose Traveller. The character creation doesn't involve a large amount of mechanical choices (which helps when players don't know the system very well), and the core system is really simple.

[Grod_The_Giant]

FATE games? The basic mechanics are pretty simple, nicely cinematic, and do ta great job of encouraging roleplaying. I can't speak for all products, but The Dresden Files RPG had some of the best writing, including DMing advice, that I've seen in a core rulebook. (Also, hey, Dresden Files, if your new players are fans of the books).

[kyoryu]

FATE games? The basic mechanics are pretty simple, nicely cinematic, and do ta great job of encouraging roleplaying. I can't speak for all products, but The Dresden Files RPG had some of the best writing, including DMing advice, that I've seen in a core rulebook. (Also, hey, Dresden Files, if your new players are fans of the books).

For GMing advice, I'll back up Dresden Files, Burning Wheel (incl. the Adventure Burner), Spirit of the Century, and Apocalypse World/Dungeon World.

[Djinn_in_Tonic]

Old School Hack is a (FREE!) modern-mechanics RPG that dips into the old-school aesthetic, but with streamlined, clear mechanics. It also has really pretty graphical design.

Seconded. The game is simple, rather rules-light, and beautifully done. It's nice, easy, and a lot of fun: feels old school while being as streamlined as modern games.

FATE games? The basic mechanics are pretty simple, nicely cinematic, and do ta great job of encouraging roleplaying. I can't speak for all products, but The Dresden Files RPG had some of the best writing, including DMing advice, that I've seen in a core rulebook. (Also, hey, Dresden Files, if your new players are fans of the books).

Seconded for this as well, especially if you managed to get a copy of the new FATE Core rules from their Kickstarter.

[hamlet]

I would say Labyrinth Lords is your best bet for a starting RPG. You can learn the majority of the rules in about an hour and after that it's all easy. Well, easier anyway.

The rules stay simple the entire way through and there's a very shallow learning curve. But they are fairly simple, so . . .

If you want more complex, any of the above will do, as will OSRIC, whcih is also easy to pick up but a bit more complex.

[snoopy13a]

Cops and Robbers is a good intro-level LARP

[ArcturusV]

I usually like to use Licensed Games as introductions into RPGing.

For example, if someone is a fan of Robotech, they KNOW how Robotech stuff works. You don't have to waste time explaining to them what mecha are, how missile swarms work, etc. They already have that intuitive grasp as fans and you can just smooth out rules details as they come up. And because they ARE fans, they already are interested in playing and living up to the source material, being great heroes and villains of the type, etc.

So I've used everything from Robotech to Dragonball Z RPG, to FF RPG and Star Wars RPG to introduce people into the hobby. And I do usually think that approach works better than choosing a "simple" system just for the fact that it is a simple system.

[Sajiri]

I havent had much experience with any, but I found pokemon tabletop adventures pretty easy to pick up. Everyone knows pokemon! Its easy to make it as a kids game pretty similar to the video games, or some post apocalyptic epic.

Well, thats my addition to everything already said >_>

[Magic Myrmidon]

I think Everyone is John is a pretty great one. It's really loose, and can be goofy or serious (but probably more goofy), and IIRC, it uses d6s, which even non-gamers use. Plus, it focuses on one person, so giving the spotlight and making people feel important is easy, as is explaining things. Finally, it's in the modern world, which is relatable.

[Jay R]

Dungeons and Dragons.

Not Basic, or Expert, or 1E, 2E, 3E, 3.5E, or 4E. The actual original game called Dungeons and Dragons (with the first expansion book Greyhawk, so it's based on individual combat rather than miniatures.).

[Stubbazubba]

I get a good impression from the PF Beginner's Box.

Another thing I might go for is Marvel Heroic Roleplaying; it's different from many games but that's not a problem for new people, is fairly light-hearted, and explains/encourages the concept of role-playing quite well.

The Burning Wheel recommendations I actually don't recommend for beginners. It's quite a bit to swallow, though it's quite good. Definitely want to have it in your library someday, but I wouldn't call it 'introductory' by any means. More closer to 'definitive' or 'state of the art,' y'know?

[hamlet]

Dungeons and Dragons.

Not Basic, or Expert, or 1E, 2E, 3E, 3.5E, or 4E. The actual original game called Dungeons and Dragons (with the first expansion book Greyhawk, so it's based on individual combat rather than miniatures.).

Maybe, but two issues there.

1. The editing of those books was . . . interesting to say the least.

2. Not everybody's got $300 to spend on a set of them.

[ScubaGoomba]

I usually like to use Licensed Games as introductions into RPGing.

For example, if someone is a fan of Robotech, they KNOW how Robotech stuff works. You don't have to waste time explaining to them what mecha are, how missile swarms work, etc. They already have that intuitive grasp as fans and you can just smooth out rules details as they come up. And because they ARE fans, they already are interested in playing and living up to the source material, being great heroes and villains of the type, etc.

So I've used everything from Robotech to Dragonball Z RPG, to FF RPG and Star Wars RPG to introduce people into the hobby. And I do usually think that approach works better than choosing a "simple" system just for the fact that it is a simple system.

I'll second this notion. I started playing with Star Wars d20 (OCR), which was great because everybody understands the basics of Star Wars, so you don't have to wrap your head around either creating a new setting/learning one that's unfamiliar to the group. Obviously some pre-canned settings are easier to explain (Dark Sun, for example), but others, I've found, are much more difficult (Forgotten Realms, surprisingly! "Generic high fantasy" means a ton of different things to different people).

I think D&D 4E is a great game for teaching, as well. The powers system gets players used to the rules with a small number of options in the beginning, with characters developing in complexity along a much more linear path as they level. Say what you will about the system itself, it's a wonderful teaching tool. I've brought a lot of people into tabletop gaming and it's almost always started with 4E.

Likewise, 4E really helped me (and note this may just be me) learn to better DM. Creating Encounters is much more streamlined, which makes it easier to start learning how to cater to players' strengths/weaknesses. Everything is ranked and filed well, so you don't have to decipher which types of opponents you're sending out (Brutes, Controllers, etc.). NPC creation is uniform and easy. It might be a little restrictive to mor seasoned DMs, but it's excellent pedagogy in general to start someone off with more rules/restrictions/crutches and slowly work them off.

Honestly, my biggest leap in DMing skill happened while running through the Keep on the Shadowfell canned adventure. I became more accustomed to running sessions, it included dungeon crawls as well as social encounters, and the players got used to playing their characters. Hell, by the end, my group of 4 new /1 lightly experienced players had even established concrete personalities for their characters and inside jokes amongst themselves that were in-character!

[Winter_Wolf]

I started with the Red Box of D&D in the 80's, but I sense that will probably not be an option for you (unless you have a copy you're willing and able to use/destroy).

Otherwise I'd say it depends heavily on how old the kids are and what kind of game they'd enjoy playing. Fantasy, sci-fi, over the top crazy?

Sorry I can't be more helpful, my pool of players consisted of my cousins, and they couldn't (and still can't) be bothered to learn anything more complicated than card games, drinking games and Yahtzee.

[joe]

My gateway game into RPGs was Hero Quest, though again you run into the issue of cost. On the plus side, the figures are amazing.

I imagine Risus would be a pretty solid game for beginners.