Summary
Tabletop RPGs have been around for decades now, and come in all shapes and sizes. Their rules can range from too simple and vague, to overcomplicated and hard to read; rulebooks can range from small, straightforward booklets, to coffee-table books packed with gorgeous art and witty writing.
Arguably, the game’s rules are its most important element, but how those rules are explained to the player, and how easy the book is to use and reference throughout a potentially long campaign, can have a huge effect on a player’s enjoyment of an RPG.
8Mork Borg
Mork Borg is notorious for its over-the-top, Doom-Metal aesthetic and creative graphic design and layout. Its rulebook focuses more on its vague,evocative grim-dark setting, which fans of the worlds ofDark Soulsare sure to be at home with, and even includesa great starting adventureto ease players into the game.
Mork Borg’srulebook is dripping with style and creative ways of laying out its lightweight rules, but sometimes its focus on its aesthetic can get in the way, making the book harder to read and use. As a result,Mork Borg’srulebook can be fun to read, and there are some creative and easy-to-use rules on its pages, but its practicality is questionable.
7The Black Hack
The Black Hacktakes inspiration from Old-School TTRPGs(like the originalDungeons & Dragons), featuring plenty of crunchy mechanics (hit-dice, limited resources, encumbrance, situational rules) and unforgiving gameplay.
Although there are plenty of Old-School RPGs on the market,The Black Hack’srulebook manages to be one of the most straightforward without sacrificing mechanical depth or ample description. Furthermore, the game’s essential rules come at the front of the book, helping players to fully understand the core concept of the game before moving on to character creation, which also remains simplistic. The book also has a tendency to cover topics with one or two-page spreads, making the rules very easy to peruse.
6Blades In The Dark
Using a “Powered By The Apocalypse” system,Blades In The Darksets players ina dark, steampunk citynot dissimilar toDishonored’sDunwall. The game’s mechanics are focused on players carrying out various heists throughout the city, and features a unique flashback system that nods to heist films.
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Blades In The Darkhas a relatively thick rulebook, focusing fairly heavily on its dense setting full of gangs, characters, and lore. However, the game’s rules are fast and easy to learn, and its flashback system stops players from over-planning and stalling the game. In fact, the game has GM’s cut straight to the action after players decide on the heist they want to pull off, refusing to grant players the opportunity to plan ahead.
5Mausritter
Based heavily on the popular RPG system,Into The Odd,Mausrittercould be considered a “hack” of several systems (where a system is built using another as a foundation). In the game, players take control of personified mice adventuring in a fantasy setting, similar to games likeMouse Guard, but with a simpler system; the game’s rules mash together mechanics from various other systems, creating a unique blend.
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Mausrittercomes in a small booklet, with its “How To Play” section being covered by a two-page spread, making it extremely easy to read. The game’s rulebook is also dotted with artwork of personified mice, though the game doesn’t feature much artwork. Furthermore, the booklet features plenty of dice-tables to roll on for various situations, making the Game Master’s life a lot easier.
4Fiasco (Classic)
This GM-less role-playing gameis designed to take around two to four hours to play, and all it requires is 3-5 players and plenty of six-sided dice.Fiascohas a brief but descriptive rulebook that gets straight to the point in explaining how to play, with its length being attributed to the amount of advice in creating a safe and enthusiastic environment for role-playing, as well as advice on role-playing inFiasco.
Fiascohas players creating their own characters, developing relationships, and essentially acting out their very own film on the fly. As such, the game is very rules-light, and while there isn’t much artwork in the book, the writing is light and fun to read. The rulebook also contains several “playsets” that provide players with the necessary tables they’ll need to roll on throughout a game, which are extremely easy to read and use. Furthermore, the book is very easy to reference and makes sure that the most important information is immediately accessible for quick, mid-game referencing.
3Troika! (Numinous Edition)
This surreal RPG depicts a multiverse fantasy setting, in which the only limit to its whimsy is the imagination of its players. The game’s rules are largely a modernized version ofFighting Fantasy, and are fairly simple, with a lot of the book’s space being taken up by its thirty-six quirky character classes.
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Each character class in the book gets its very own page, with its own individual portrait, depicting each class with beautifully whimsical artwork. Every class inTroika!is unique and imaginative, providing players with an insane amount of variety and incentivizing role-play. Furthermore, the game’s classes are easy to read and understand, and make role-playing a character easier. Just by creating a party using these thirty-six classes, the game’s intended quirky and whimsical tone immediately shines through. The latter half of the book is taken up mostly by its introductory adventure, which does a great job of easing the GM into running the game.
2Into The Odd: Remastered
Created by renowned tabletop RPG designer Chris McDowall,Into The Oddis a fast and simple system that is so effective it’s been hacked and used in other systems several times, especially in the Old-School RPG scene.Into The Odd: Remasteredis a higher quality, fleshed out version of the originalInto The Odd, a system that is famous for having no to-hit rolls (weapons go straight to dealing damage) that make combat fast and deadly, and its fast character creation.
Into The Odd’srulebook explains its core systems clearly and concisely, and includes a large table of “Starter Packages” that give players a set of starting items. These starting items vary in strength depending on how high players rolled for their abilities, with lower-ability score characters starting with better equipment. The book also features unique, odd artwork that fits the game’s tone beautifully, and teaches the rules in a succinct bullet-point style. Furthermore, the book includes a plethora of “Arcana”, magical items that are more thematic and vague than they are mechanical (making them easy to use in other systems), a superb example of play that helps players understand the intended flow of the game, Chris McDowall’s GM advice, and a well-crafted introductory adventure that eases players into McDowall’s setting.
1Mothership
This sci-fi horror RPG aims to recreate the atmosphere and tension fromsci-fi horror films likeAlienandEvent Horizon. The game’s rules manage to be both evocative and simple, and the rules-booklet even includes a cheat sheet on the back that makes referencing the rules a breeze.
In a stroke of genius,Mothershipalso manages to double its character sheet as a flowchart that subtly takes players through character creation without needing to read the rules or ask the GM countless questions, provided they have played a tabletop RPG before. This fast and efficient character creation system is necessary forMothership, considering the high lethality of its system which means players are likely to lose their characters often.
