# Recommendations for Rules Light Fantasy RPGs? tags: #thoughts ![[lightweight_fantasy_landscape_delicate_dreamlike.jpg]] There comes a time on a regular basis when putting together [a complete response to a Twitter post](https://twitter.com/squidlord/status/1775663802198921227) turns into something long enough to be put on the garden. Here we go again. In this case, it's a request for *very rules light fantasy RPGs*. How could I resist? This is also another case of the vast number of responses being a complete failure because they don't provide links to what they talk about. If *you* are an active participant in social media and are responding to someone asking a question to recommend systems and you're not putting links into your response in order to direct them to where they can find out more, I'm just going to need you to hurt yourself, please, repeatedly. ---  "Rules light" is a relative term because there are a vast number of things that can fall into that space, most of which go from just a handful of descriptors to some of the lighter weight versions of Forged in the Dark. ## Free Universal RPG ![[Free Universal RPG (cover).jpg]] But if we have to start somewhere, let's talk about **[[FU RPG|Free Universal RPG]]**. Aside from the incredibly and wonderfully awesome name itself which I just enjoy saying, it's extremely lightweight in that the set of descriptors necessary for a character is tight. Four evocative statements about a character. An interesting instinct, attitude, or belief that the character has. A light list of gear. 3 Drama Points. That's it. That's a whole character. But that's only that you need along with the core, streamlined mechanical resolution system. You can probably take the first page of the beta rules and run anything that you want. Oh yes, it's free. The best price. ## Wushu But let's say that's a little too crunchy still. Not impossible; theoretically possible. How about **[[Wushu]]**? ![[Wushu (logo).png|400]] Even more lightweight. A character generally is described by four Traits, each of which is rated 1-5 and you roll 1d6 for each detail you give in describing what you do. That's the core of the mechanics. You're good to go. Again, completely free and available on the website with a ton of discussion and modifiers that you can see and use to cover a variety of settings and intentions. Awesome. One of my favorite systems of all time if I must play something with a GM. But maybe that's too far into the mechanics-light category. Maybe you want something that still has some mechanical meat but still considerably less than a lot, even most, D&D derivatives or OSR games. Maybe you want something that leans into the Forged in the Dark experience a little harder. ## Fantasy World Have you considered **[[Fantasy World]]**? ![[Fantasy World (cover).jpg]] Again, one more time for the people in the cheap seats, this is a game which is available for free in its entirety. There is a quite lovely well laid out and professionally done PDF and printed version available but all of the text is free in the SRD. One of the things I particularly like about it is that it is very much focused on the relationships of the members of the party to each other and to the greater world, which helps drive the integration between gameplay and setting in a much more aggressive way. Plus it's fun. If you want something that leans into classic fantasy with a pre-existing framework to hang it on that retains the traditional GM role while distributing some of the power, this is a good call. ## Ironsworn I'm going to start sliding a little bit up the crunch range here to recommend what may very well be my favorite fantasy RPG – taking into account that I don't really care for fantasy as a setting by and large – and it is one more free option on the table and the only one that is explicitly GMless: **[[Ironsworn]]**. ![[Ironsworn (cover).jpg]] Yes, it is a bit crunchier than the other options that I put on the table, but not by an awful lot. It also comes with the advantage that you don't need a GM. Hell, you don't even need other players; it's perfectly and even advisedly fine playing solo because it's designed to be able to do that. As a design, this is probably the best one on the list. No question, bar none. The layout is gorgeous, the mechanical design is incredibly good, the support from third-party content creators is excellent because the core system is open source licensed. ## Exunt There are a vast variety of mechanically straightforward and lightweight systems available right now and a shocking number of them are absolutely free. It's in your best interest if you have a curiosity to check them out.