Simple, Fast, Free RPGs

[GryffonDurime]

So, I'm staring down the west-side of Hurricane Gustav, and we've got a solid block of time coming up wherein...well, suffice to say, we're going to be in a hall without power. So I come to you, my friends of the Playground, in search of a simple, fast, and free game system that would allow me to run something interesting.

Any suggestions/guidance?

[RTGoodman]

The two that come to mind are Wushu (which is free and online, available here), which can be used for a very cinematic game of any genre and doesn't look to difficult (though I haven't played it yet), and Minimus, supposedly the world's shortest RPG (it's one page front and back). The rules for it are here in this handy PDF.

Or, if you're into it, I guess you could just do some free-form RPing, but a lot of people aren't into that.

[CASTLEMIKE]

So, I'm staring down the west-side of Hurricane Gustav, and we've got a solid block of time coming up wherein...well, suffice to say, we're going to be in a hall without power. So I come to you, my friends of the Playground, in search of a simple, fast, and free game system that would allow me to run something interesting.

Any suggestions/guidance?

Well if you can print out some pages before hand and bring say the 3 core books and some dice some of the low level adventures could be fun:

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/oa/20030530b

A Dark and Stormy Night and a few of the other low level adventures.

If you are really pressed on what you can bring consider printing out the SRD Generic Classes, a PHB and some dice.

A Deck of cards always a nice staple and fit in a pocket.

If you have an extra or old dueling decks like MTG.... they could be nice for a change of pace.

[Grynning]

Haven't tried this myself, but someone else linked it here a day or two ago, and I found it intriguing. It's called Minimus and it's probably the shortest set of RPG rules ever made.
http://www.adastragames.com/forums/v...d24421fbcf22c0

[Waspinator]

Various fast-plays and whatnot:

http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.p...s_id=2979&it=1
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/files/ADND_Fast_Play.pdf
http://www.wizards.com/starwars/arti...fastplay_intro
http://www.wizards.com/diabloii/Diablo2FastPlay.pdf
http://www.white-wolf.com/downloads.php?category_id=20
http://www.white-wolf.com/downloads.php?category_id=75
http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.p...s_id=1868&it=1
http://alternityrpg.net/downloads/so...lay_Player.pdf
http://alternityrpg.net/downloads/so...Gamemaster.pdf
http://alternityrpg.net/downloads/so...DarkMatter.pdf

[bosssmiley]

There's always D&D 4E, if you know where to look.

[Bryn]

Risus would probably be great for this. The rules are about as simple as you can possibly get without going freeform (or, uh, playing Minimus, which I just noticed is even simpler ).

[Thane of Fife]

While I've never actually run it, The Sun Never Sets looks interesting.

Stickguy the Roleplaying Game also looks fun.

[Raum]

You can pick up Savage Worlds Test Drive from here. While you're there print out a few copies of the "Training Wheels" character sheet and the Combat Survival Guide. There are also several free "one sheet" adventures available.

Hope Gustav passes through with minimal damage!

[Lord Tataraus]

Risus would probably be great for this. The rules are about as simple as you can possibly get without going freeform (or, uh, playing Minimus, which I just noticed is even simpler ).

Awww, you beat me to it. I always suggest Risus, even though it was originally designed for comedic games, it does very well in serious games.

[Prometheus]

Persona has more RP in it than RPG compared to the other games mentioned but it's a great system that requires absolutely no reference material or character sheets once you learn how to play the game.

[Knaight]

Fudge. Sure you normally require a character sheet, but a note card is more than enough. Heres the link:
http://www.fudgerpg.com/
I've seen the rules distilled into as few as 4 pages. Plus there is the whole fudge on the fly thing where you fill in the stats as you go, a nice option that was mentioned by other games mentioned here.

[turkishproverb]

Time Lord: Being the second Doctor who RPG (from the ninteis). The game designers placed it on the net legally after their option allowed them to do so.

Rules can be found here
http://www.geocities.com/sege1701/TimeLord/tldload.htm


or, for more updated rules and extra suppliments, they can be found

http://www.torsononline.com/hobbies/timelord/main.htm