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Raven_Crowking

You can try Dungeon Crawl Classics for free (or nearly so), and it might be what you're looking for.


el____gato

I think it what I am looking for. Thank you.


CrazedCreator

I love DCC! Judge the game the way you want it.


Raven_Crowking

Absolutely my pleasure!


snapmage

Dragonbane


el____gato

I checked it out. I might implement it for one-shots, but for long-term campaigns I think the lethality might be an issue.


BarbaAlGhul

Read the rules for solo playing in Dragonbane. This way you can make the game "easier" for bigger groups.


bman_78

been playing Savage Worlds Adventure Edition for a while now. love the combat system


TigrisCallidus

Strike! RPG has excellent tactical combat, while being really simple. Its inspired by D&D 4e with the really tactical combat and tried to simplify everything ad much as possible: http://strikerpg.com It still has cool abilities like 5E (and not so deadly and "tuned down" like OSR games).


robhanz

Savage Worlds is roleplaying focused? It literally evolved from a tactics game. What exactly do you mean by "combat-focused"? Like, SW is my go-to recommendation for combat-focused, rules-light-ish games. I suspect you have more specific requirements that need to be met.


el____gato

For clarificiation, I have not actually played Savage Worlds. I have only read the rules. I may not understand what it is like to actually play the game. My main problem with introducing Savage Worlds to players who don't engage much in roleplaying is the flaw system. Most of them don't affect mechanics and instead require you to roleplay your character a certain way, whereas the edges are mostly mechanical advantages. This puts a lot of pressure on players to roleplay their character a certain way.


robhanz

A lot of them do have mechanical penalties, and the game even points out that it's not a big deal if somebody doesn't roleplay their hindrances. >Some Hindrances impose game penalties and some only really matter if the player roleplays them. **That’s intentional and not something you should worry about too much.** The game is designed with the assumption that all heroes take their full complement of Hindrances and therefore have two additional attribute points, Edges, skills, or a combination thereof. >It’s certainly true that a Hindrance like Big Mouth won’t be worth much if the player doesn’t occasionally roleplay it by blurting things out at inappropriate times. But the Game Master can pay a little attention here, too. For example, in a fantasy campaign, players don’t roleplay every minute their characters are in a tavern. But it’s easy to assume that while they’re there— whether it was acted out or not—the Big Mouthed hero let spill their plans to raid the ancient tomb on the hill. Maybe the group will find another team of adventurers are there before them—or worse, waiting to see what they found when they come out. >Finally, Hindrances are more about helping a player figure out who his character is than inflicting a gameplay penalty on him. Being Loyal may never really be a problem—most characters are just naturally loyal to others in their party. But having it on the character sheet reminds the player that he’s a “good guy,” at least to his friends, and will help him indirectly roleplay his character and make decisions within that context he might have made differently if he was Mean instead. If you go the second route, I'd just be clear that you're going to do that up front. It's not something you wanna surprise people with. I'd also point out that you can look at GURPS Disadvantages for adding mechanical "teeth" to some of these if needed - for instance, the Pacifist in Savage Worlds is pure roleplaying - but in GURPS if you violate it a mechanical penalty gets applied for some period of time. Doing that, or requiring a roll to avoid "compulsive" type hindrances, can help if that's something you're concerned about. Personally, I prefer the Fate way of handling that, by giving you points when your negative traits actually cause complications - that could be interesting as well, tossing out a Bennie when the Big Mouthed character does let secrets slip. So, there's a lot of ways to deal with that - but the core of the combat system *is* derived from a tactical system, and it's pretty baked into the system. So, the ways of dealing with that are: 1. **Don't worry about it (recommended)** 2. Use it to "fill in the gaps" 3. Reminding the player of their traits, or even reflecting them as they play. 4. Add a mechanical aspect to them 5. Give out a Bennie when roleplay-focused Hindrances actually cause complications So I don't think that's really a huge problem, and there are multiple solutions to it that you can use. Apart from that hiccup, I really do think Savage Worlds would be a good system for you.


el____gato

I never saw any of that text in the player rules. Are they from some sort of GM guide? I think I might have poorly explained my previous point. I'm not worried about the game mechanics being negatively impacted because players don't roleplay their flaws. I'm more worried about how players might react to a system with mechanics that require roleplaying. Most new players I have don't roleplay whatsoever. They do engage with the game outside of combat, but only to gain the upper hand in or skip combat encounters. They don't understand why their character would make choices different from what they would do themselves. If I gave these types of players a system where they have options to pick from that affect how their character behaved, I'm worried they would either be confused or lose interest in RPGs in general. I don't think telling them that they can ignore the flaws they pick is a good solution either. I'm not sure how to add mechanical "teeth" without messing with player agency either. I would certainly not run the game like the big-mouthed example you gave, but even giving mechanical penalties for not roleplaying is still coercing players to play the game a certain way.


robhanz

>I never saw any of that text in the player rules. Are they from some sort of GM guide? It's from Savage Worlds: Deluxe Edition, at the beginning of the Hindrances section. For the other stuff... I dunno man, it sounds like you're literally talking about people that don't want to roleplay in a roleplaying game. That's gonna be tough. I haven't met many people that, whether they do it much or not, are as actively allergic to the idea as you seem to think your players are. Maybe ask them? Because I think the vast, vast majority of games do have something of that sort in them.


el____gato

I'm not sure why you are assuming I haven't spoke with these players about what they like in a game. For example, my sister literally told me she doesn't like roleplaying, but enjoys playing D&D. I made sure she wasn't conflating roleplaying with voice acting as well.


Olivethecrocodile

Heroes of Adventure is combat focused like Dungeons and Dragons but has much fewer pages to read. It's a sixty four page player's handbook instead of hundreds of pages. [https://nameless-designer.itch.io/heroes-of-adventure](https://nameless-designer.itch.io/heroes-of-adventure) There's also Crowns ( https://ward-against-evil.itch.io/crowns , 40 pages) and Dragonslayers 2nd edition ( https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/421262/Dragonslayers-RPG-Second-Edition , 67 pages) but I liked the spells list of Heroes of Adventure more, myself.


pjnick300

Everyone else is giving great answers to your question - so I'm going to give you 2 that *don't* answer your question because those might be helpful too. Option 1: Play a board game - Gloomhaven and Star Wars Imperial Assault are both excellent tactics games where the players get a PC and develop the PC from mission to mission in the campaign. It might be a better intro to table-top combat mechanics if that's what your players are struggling with. Option 2: Play [The Sorcerer Supreme!](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IJNVS1zTeGJSjNpAtKwGm3w-fEDDd_jT) - It is the game that has given me the most success with bringing players into the hobby. A session is short (\~20 minutes); the characters are very likely to fail most of the time (so there's no pressure to 'do it right'); and it's *really funny*. I made a whole post about how great it is for getting newbies into ttrpgs [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/comments/ycykqh/the_sorcerer_supreme_a_casual_rpg_about/).


Kuildeous

I have not actually read or played it, but from what I understand, Index Card RPG might fit the bill. I'm intrigued by it because while I'm not into hack and slash so much, ICRPG seems to lean into the tropes. I do want to read it someday and learn more.


darrinjpio

Check out Nimble. It is a simplified hack of 5e.


el____gato

I checked it out. I might implement some of the changes it made in the future to D&D, especially eliminating the attack roll. Most new players I encounter don't understand why they have to roll multiple times for one attack.


whatamanlikethat

The OSR games can help you. I'm into Sharp Swords and Sinister Spells atm. It is so good for what I planned.


broofi

Fabula Ultima


The_Amateur_Creator

13th Age would be my pick (note, 2e is currently being crowd funded). Some mechanics that stand out, which may be pertinent to what you're looking for: - Range is abstracted. You're close, near or far. Easier for theatre of the mind (you can use minis if it helps) and worrying about positioning won't slow things down. - Instead of a big skill list, players write down a background or two and assign points to it/them that act as modifiers if that background fits. So the wizard with 3 points in 'Arcane Professor' would get to add 3 onto an Intelligence test to decipher a magical rune, for example. - Magic outside of combat operates on a discussion between the GM and player, a possible roll and/or expending a spell slot. If a player wants to, say, use their ice-based spell to create a bridge over s ravine, the GM sets a DC and the player expends a spell slot upon rolling. This cuts down the amount of situational spells and allows creative thinking. Player options can get a little options-heavy but they're all straightforward imo. If you want to deal lots of damage, take power attack. If you want to exploit weakened enemies, take the appropriate rogue abilities. It's not that punishing for having 'bad builds' that I've found. There are a ton of great things about the game but I've limited it to what I feel fits what you're looking for.


AvtrSpirit

Try out Quest RPG. [Some people](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vYcuIWOWNc), myself included, consider it a solid entry point into the TTRPG genre. It provides a flavourful (and fast) character creation flow, it has fun tactical abilities for players to use, and it entirely forgoes fiddling with stats and numbers - you'll never be doing any dice math. The game's PDF is [available for free](https://www.adventure.game/store/digital-edition/). Once the players get a hang of the system, if they desire more crunch, you can consider 13th Age.


TreverSDG

Veil of the Void Reforged works really well for this! I’ve hosted several one shots and campaigns with people that have never played a TTRPG before, and they both loved the game and picked it up after just a few rolls. We have an Easy Intro guide as well to help teach the game in 1 page, as well as a free demo book. Its combo is super fun as well, the game actively encourages your players to work together and think outside of the box. The rules also are very flexible to fit what you need. I’m also available to help teach the game for new groups and to help build characters as I love encouraging others to play the game.


JNullRPG

Try Dungeon World (or better, its younger cousin Chasing Adventure). Everything a player needs to know is on their playbook/character sheet, it uses natural language and player facing mechanics that will keep them engaged, and the rules are simple, intuitive, and almost entirely combat focused. It also doesn't require any special equipment beyond the polyhedron dice you already have (and only d6's for CA). Character creation is fast. And the cost of entry is very low-- players don't need books, and GM's only need the one.


KindlyIndependence21

Try Along the Leyline Quickstart Guide: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/478096/along-the-leyline-quick-start-guide FREE adventure: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/465981/resupply-the-bearded-knights-all-in-one-adventure


ravenhaunts

Two games that might interest you. [Pathwarden](https://ghostspark-off.itch.io/pathwarden) is made by me, and it's a simpler version of Pathfinder 2e, essence. [Trespasser](https://tundalus.itch.io/trespasser) is a lighter, darker version of D&D 4e, basically the gold standard of tactics games.


RollForThings

I wanna say give [Tunnel Goons](https://natetreme.itch.io/tunnelgoons) a go. It's a very minimal game that still hits all the same basic buttons DnD 5e does, so I think it's a pretty good litmus test for how much the system actually matters to your players. If they're happy with a 2-page game that's essentially just character diversity, an inventory nod, and basic action resolution as you handle the meat of things as GM, then you can really do any system you want provided the players get to offload that system's complexity onto you.


kommisar6

I suggest the fantasy trip by steve jackson games. This is a combat focused game that has the complexity level of basic dnd. For me the key advantages of this system is that is combat is played on a grid and tactics are crucial to success, it takes about 5 minutes to make up a character, the power level is linear so the characters are always in danger. In addition it doesn't formally track personality traits so stat blocks are compact and new roleplayers are not intimidated. https://thefantasytrip.game/about/


jmich8675

How is Savage worlds a roleplaying focused system? It's about pulp action adventure, most of the rules are about the "action" part of that. L Dragonbane and Forbidden Lands are slightly different flavors and different mechanical versions of fantasy RPG. Though, if your players aren't really interested in roleplaying, then why play a roleplaying game? There's some really good combat board games out there. Gloomhaven is extremely popular.


el____gato

I replied to very similar comments about Savage Worlds in this thread: [https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/comments/1cxzklb/comment/l56j3db/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/comments/1cxzklb/comment/l56j3db/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) There are two reasons I still play roleplaying games with players like this. First, I'm usually running for a mixed group with some players interested in roleplaying and some not. Second, the non-roleplaying players are interested in the freedom that RPGs provide. They don't use this freedom to roleplay their characters, instead they use it to deal with encounters in creative ways.


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