I'm thinking on infecting my young nephew with some TTRPG goodness and in need of a suitable system for that. It's most likely going to be one GM (me) plus one player, maybe I can lure the missus in as well. I have okay experience as a player myself but, admittedly, not nearly enough experience as a GM, so I'm looking for something reasonably uncomplicated and easy to get into. Also not very brutal to start with. I have my own setting in mind (it's more or less your general fantasy), so I just need a system to build upon.

I found Scarlet Heroes, which seems to me designed exactly for my situation here and I like it a lot, but I would like some more options before I start hacking at stuff. Any advise?

You already said Scarlet Heroes...or just White Box and just make starting hit points CON+D6, give enough money to buy platemail. Also there is a Holmes D&D supplement that has a ton of 1 hit point monsters that was pretty whimsical and fun, makes single PC combat extremely viable.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-rvuyIrPEBCNUpTVUhCVERxSTQ/view?resourcekey=0-sdtLj5NN_G2x2LLTb510bw

EDIT: Actually this doc has that page along with a ton of other Holmes stuff which is more than enough for an extensive campaign: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-rvuyIrPEBCMTlpSE5xNndDaDA/view?resourcekey=0-_l-63AcuvBRRjFdns-xPJw

I started my son on Dragon Warriors but he really got hooked playing a Mentzer Classic MU 4 riding a white dragon

Quote from: S'mon on April 21, 2023, 01:31:07 PM
I started my son on Dragon Warriors but he really got hooked playing a Mentzer Classic MU 4 riding a white dragon

You are in the UK, aren't you...

Quote from: Brad on April 21, 2023, 02:29:40 PM

Quote from: S'mon on April 21, 2023, 01:31:07 PM
I started my son on Dragon Warriors but he really got hooked playing a Mentzer Classic MU 4 riding a white dragon

You are in the UK, aren't you...

Yup

Quote from: Klava on April 21, 2023, 10:21:19 AM
I'm thinking on infecting my young nephew with some TTRPG goodness and in need of a suitable system for that. It's most likely going to be one GM (me) plus one player, maybe I can lure the missus in as well. I have okay experience as a player myself but, admittedly, not nearly enough experience as a GM, so I'm looking for something reasonably uncomplicated and easy to get into. Also not very brutal to start with. I have my own setting in mind (it's more or less your general fantasy), so I just need a system to build upon.

I found Scarlet Heroes, which seems to me designed exactly for my situation here and I like it a lot, but I would like some more options before I start hacking at stuff. Any advise?

Before I give an answer is this a genre specific request (Like only fantasy) or all rpg genres?

Ok so an interesting case. Not only a new player, but a small group and new-ish GM. A few recommendations. Let's break this down into new player and new GM recommendations.

Here are some criteria I think are valuable for new players:

-Based on or least related to D&D: If a new player does get into the hobby, they're likely to end up playing D&D, so it's an asset for them to already be literate in its fundamentals.
-Standard Elves-Dwarves-&-Wizards Fantasy: Probably easier for people coming from outside of the hobby to imagine the setting and their character.
-Simple Math and minimal Derived Statistics: For a new player, it's easier to just say "this number on your sheet is what you add to an attack, or a strength roll or whatever" rather than giving them multiple places to cross-reference.
-Quick and simple character creation: New players should get the experience of building their character, but I've seen more than one person put off of the hobby because they showed up to play a game and spent half the time building characters.
-PCs still need to have a "cool factor" and a feeling of power to them: Personal belief of mine, but I don't think a new player, especially a young one, is unlikely to vibe with the "I'm shit; you're shit; the whole world is shit" attitude of some of the more Grimdark games.
-PCs should not be too fragile: Related point, but still different. There are light-hearted games where you can die very easily, and dark/gritty games where you're actually extremely resilient. 
-Simple spell or ability descriptions: Nobody wants to spend their first game session looking up what their spells do.

Under those criteria, the kings are games like Index Card RPG or the Black Hack (and it's many derivatives). I particularly think that ICRPG is a great first game, because it has no class levels, no derived stats, but still a lot of "cool factor" in the flavor of the character options. It does have the factor that by the RAW PCs only have 10 HP, but you can literally just raise that to 20 or 30 without it affecting anything else in the game. As a bonus, it also has a really good DM advice section. Standard OSR games like OSE or BFRPG score reasonably well on these criteria, but they often have a lot of derived stats, and the characters can be quite fragile.

Now, some criteria that I think are good for a newer GM:

Unified Mechanics: It's much easier for a GM to just pick which of the six attributes their players should roll for each situation, rather than have separate rules for different types of activity.
Simple, easy-to-use monster stat blocks: Probably obvious, but if you're not experienced with a game, it's better not to have to stop at the table and read the entry in the monster manual.
Facilitates theatre-of-the-mind play: Contrary to some people, I think games that rely on grid-based tactics are actually harder to GM than free-form ones.
Easy to obtain and run adventures/modules: Certainly not necessary, but for a less experienced GM, it can be useful to have examples of how a particular game might be run, especially as regards to the underlying math of a game (i.e, target numbers for checks, monster group sizes, etc.).

Here's where the bigger OSR games come out better. While they often don't have unified mechanics. They tend to have large, easily available libraries of monsters and adventures. Dungeon Crawl Classics and OSE in particular have huge amounts of published material available. ICRPG has really good monster stat blocks, but it doesn't have many monsters, so you'll have to start homebrewing pretty quick. Same is true of the Black Hack. As far as I know neither of them have much (if any) in the way of published adventures.

There's also the unrelated issue of price and availability of the books. ICRPG and the Black Hack you'd probably have to get as print-on-demand orders, so while they're not expensive, there will be a time delay. OSE and Dungeon Crawl Classics are more quickly available, but both run kind of pricey. The King of Cheap and Available is Basic Fantasy RPG, where not just the core rulebook, but the monster manual and most of the other supplements and adventures are available for $5-10 each on Amazon. I often recommend it to new players or groups just on those grounds. You could buy your nephew his own rulebook, and have lost almost nothing if he promptly loses or throws it away.

EDIT:
This might counteract everything I just said, but it's worth mentioning that most of us just started with whatever the current edition of D&D was at the time, usually as kids, and often with other kids as DMs. I played my first game of D&D with the 3.0 starter set. I think I was around 12 years old, and playing with a DM of the same age. All of that is to say that to some extent the game you pick doesn't matter. People who are going to get into RPGs are going to see the potential and want more.

(Accidental repost)

Scarlet Heroes powered by Old School Essentials, Basic Fantasy, or Advanced Labyrinth Lord should do the trick for you.

Quote from: ForgottenF on April 21, 2023, 03:44:23 PM
Here are some criteria I think are valuable for new players:

-Based on or least related to D&D: If a new player does get into the hobby, they're likely to end up playing D&D, so it's an asset for them to already be literate in its fundamentals.
-Standard Elves-Dwarves-&-Wizards Fantasy: Probably easier for people coming from outside of the hobby to imagine the setting and their character.
-Simple Math and minimal Derived Statistics: For a new player, it's easier to just say "this number on your sheet is what you add to an attack, or a strength roll or whatever" rather than giving them multiple places to cross-reference.
-Quick and simple character creation: New players should get the experience of building their character, but I've seen more than one person put off of the hobby because they showed up to play a game and spent half the time building characters.
-PCs still need to have a "cool factor" and a feeling of power to them: Personal belief of mine, but I don't think a new player, especially a young one, is unlikely to vibe with the "I'm shit; you're shit; the whole world is shit" attitude of some of the more Grimdark games.
-PCs should not be too fragile: Related point, but still different. There are light-hearted games where you can die very easily, and dark/gritty games where you're actually extremely resilient. 
-Simple spell or ability descriptions: Nobody wants to spend their first game session looking up what their spells do.

Hm, based on this I'd recommend Dragonbane - https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/409397/Dragonbane-Quickstart - unarmoured PCs can be fragile, but you can play a knight in plate.

@here: great suggestions all, thank you very much. there's much of this stuff around, i'd never be able to navigate through it myself

Quote from: GhostNinja on April 21, 2023, 03:25:41 PM
Before I give an answer is this a genre specific request (Like only fantasy) or all rpg genres?

no, it's not genre specific. i'm going to have to mangle whatever system i decide to use in the end anyway to fit my own setting. and translate/rewrite it in my native language. so it can be anything that mechanically fits the purpose i described.

Greetings!

Klava, I would also suggest that you get ShadowDark. It is simple, straightforward, quick character generation, and yet, also modular so that you can easily add or change things.

Also, all in one book!

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Quote from: SHARK on April 22, 2023, 03:40:04 AM
Klava, I would also suggest that you get ShadowDark. It is simple, straightforward, quick character generation, and yet, also modular so that you can easily add or change things.

Also, all in one book!

yes, SHARK, i've been considering that one as well. it looks solid, and, as you mentioned, i'd only have to buy a single book - which, taking into account my limited capabilities to purchase anything from any company in so-called "civilized world" (which is to say, asking friends in other countries, basically), is a big plus.
i don't exactly understand some of it's parts though.

- You must have tension building in your game!
- Well, duh...
- Here, use these torches! And no dark vision!

doesn't that feel kinda... arbitrary?

anyway, good stuff, i'll give it a more thorough read. thank you

Quote from: Klava on April 22, 2023, 06:45:07 AM

Quote from: SHARK on April 22, 2023, 03:40:04 AM
Klava, I would also suggest that you get ShadowDark. It is simple, straightforward, quick character generation, and yet, also modular so that you can easily add or change things.

Also, all in one book!

yes, SHARK, i've been considering that one as well. it looks solid, and, as you mentioned, i'd only have to buy a single book - which, taking into account my limited capabilities to purchase anything from any company in so-called "civilized world" (which is to say, asking friends in other countries, basically), is a big plus.
i don't exactly understand some of it's parts though.

- You must have tension building in your game!
- Well, duh...
- Here, use these torches! And no dark vision!

doesn't that feel kinda... arbitrary?

anyway, good stuff, i'll give it a more thorough read. thank you

Hating on darkvision has been a bit of an OSR talking point for a while now, and it appears that Shadowdark decided to really lean into that as a selling point. The truth is that the presence or absence of Darkvision is really only as much of an issue as you choose to make of it. Most RPGs don't even have it as an option. It's a thing in D&D because D&D is one of very few games that operate on the (honestly kind of silly) premise of a game world which is not only full of large subterranean complexes, but where the occupants of most of those complexes can see in absolute darkness. If you're not running that kind of world, darkvision matters a lot less. If you don't have lots of traditional dungeons, there won't be that many places with no natural light, and if the monsters can't all see in the dark, even the dungeons are going to be lit.

Personally, I prefer the game without darkvision, because I like absolute darkness to be a tool I can use sparingly, but I'm pretty lenient with my characters' light sources. The only thing I really hate is when half the party can see in the dark and the other half can't. It's just a pain in the ass to always have to describe every situation twice to account for the different vision levels.

The emphasis on torches is a product of a certain group of people who want D&D to be more of a resource management/survival game. I get the appeal of PCs being able to run out of torches/fuel/ammunition/food, but I've always found that the same thing always happens, even in old school groups. People start out with the best of intentions when it comes to tracking resources, and then quickly realize that it's a big hassle which rarely ends up mattering in the game. Over the course of a campaign, everyone just tapers off of tracking their resources out of a kind of unspoken agreement.

Others will of course disagree, but I'm firmly in the camp of abstracting resource management (such as by the Black Hack's "usage dice" system, or using inventory slots rather than weights, etc.). I find it has the best balance of keeping the possibility or running out of a crucial resource in the game, while still keeping the paperwork down to a point where players will actually do it.

Quote from: ForgottenF on April 22, 2023, 12:19:10 PM
Hating on darkvision has been a bit of an OSR talking point for a while now, and it appears that Shadowdark decided to really lean into that as a selling point.
...
The emphasis on torches is a product of a certain group of people who want D&D to be more of a resource management/survival game.
...
Others will of course disagree, but I'm firmly in the camp of abstracting resource management (such as by the Black Hack's "usage dice" system, or using inventory slots rather than weights, etc.). I find it has the best balance of keeping the possibility or running out of a crucial resource in the game, wile still keeping the paperwork down to a point where players will actually do it.

yeah, i get it. as you say, resource management should, imo, be an instrument to create tension where applicable - not a persistent nuisance to constantly deal with. and it looks to me like in Shadowdark it's leaning more towards the latter