Hello everyone. Im looking for a simple system that can be played by something like 3-5 people, which is simple enough to be played by an 11 year old. My sister is in her Harry Potter phase so magic and fantasy wizard setting is really helpful. I need it to be simple enough where I can teach it to my family in a night, and we can get right into whatever story I end up DMing (for the first time) for them. I really want to spend some time with my sister over the summer engaging her imagination.

Suggestions please :D

Edit: you people are wonderful, I’ll check all your suggestions out for sure!

  •  AwkwardTurtle   ( @AwkwardTurtle@beehaw.org ) English
    1•1 year ago

    Tunnel Goons might be a good fit. Extremely easy to pick up and play, endlessly mod-able and flexible. No wizards or magic out of the box, but would be easy to hack in (could even steal from my next suggestions).

    Maze Rats is another super simple, quick to pick up system. If you choose to have magic at character creation, you get to a roll a random spell name each day and then decide what it actually does when you go to cast it.

    The Black Hack (or a physical copy) is a nice, rules light take on classic d20 fantasy adventuring, complete with the traditional classes of Warrior, Thief, Cleric, and Wizard. Traditional DnD-ish spell memorization and casting.

    Macchiato Monsters is a more flexible, open ended game based on the above suggestion (with some Whitehack mixed in). More flexible magic where you can create your own spells to do whatever you can imagine. A bit more work on the GM’s side (although I’ve actually written a little guide to help with that).

    And if I can briefly self promo: Brighter Worlds (or the online SRD) is my own game, in part based on games like Cairn and Electric Bastionland, designed to have a simple core system and modular add-ons for each of the different character classes. It’s got a whimsical, magical, vibe and a lot of different options for what players might want to be doing (including several different ways to engage with magic). Might have a few more moving parts than you’re currently looking for though.