Request for recommendations

I used to be immersed in paper and dice role playing games, but lately not so much. The social groups I used to play with broke up, then I moved across the country. I expect it would be trivially easy to find a gaming group here in Seattle, but I barely have time to be a writer, husband, and father anymore.


But I'm not looking for help in finding a gaming group. I am looking for help in finding a game. I have the chance to turn some portion of family time to game night. Here are my requirements:


1- Relatively simple game mechanics, esp character creation. If each character has 12 stats and every attack needs six calculations to determine a hit, my 8 yo son (and adult wife) will be bored.


2- Family-friendly. No ultra-violence. No cyborg hookers. No nihilistic grime-topias.


3- It shouldn't have too much moral ambiguity in the setting. My son, he's not a fan of that. When he role-plays, he's the good guy only. His mom will be the same.


4- Nothing too elaborate for the GM, either. I don't have a lot of time as it is, but it will be difficult for me to work up elaborate scenarios for them.


5- Not too expensive. A $45 sourcebook is like a BMW–it may be gorgeous, functional, sexy, and fun, but I can't afford it. It's not a question of value, but one of cost.


Here are my preferences (as in would be nice but not required):


1- Something with monster-hunting or superheroes.


2- Uses lots of different kinds of dice.


3- A setting that is familiar to extremely casual fans of the genre (such as my wife). Modern day, medieval fantasy, old-time space opera will not have a steep learning curve. Fluffy Cthulhu will require a lot of explanation before we start the game.


4- Specifically designed to be played by young kids/newbies.


I wish I could find my old source books for Metagaming's The Fantasy Trip; that's what my friends and I played while everyone else was playing AD&D (yes, I'm old). I'm not even sure I still have them. Most of the old game books I have are Champions (too complex), Call of Cthulhu (not newbie-friendly) and the Pacesetter/Mayfair Games versions of Chill. I'll be using the Pacesetter ed. if I can't find something else. A previous short runthrough of the Chill 1st ed. went over pretty well.


Any ideas?

 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on October 02, 2010 09:44
No comments have been added yet.