Just like everybody else I grabbed up the PDF of the BareBones Fantasy RPG at Drivethru RPG.
I got to say that guys over at DWD Studios have a good one here. A simple % based RPG. I like games with simple and intuitive rules. It’s make playing and running them more fun. Who the hell wants to sit around and debate the grammatical nuances of the wording of a rule? Yeah, I know some people do. I don’t. And BareBones gets you going quick. The Skills are kind of neat. It’s not the usual list. It’s basically classes. So having a skill pretty much means you can do everything for that class. Character generation should just be a snap that includes shopping for gear. You know have one person in the group who will spend two hours just shopping. Play should be really quick and easy. No fiddly little this and that things modifiers and such. And GM prep should be breeze. There’s a damn good GM section that includes a kick ass adventure generator.
The other thing that makes BareBones neat is that it’s own beast. It’s not another d20 clone of any edition of the “World’s Most Popular Fantasy RPG” but if you like old school type dungeon crawls and a little bit storytelling power mixed in with some nifty abilities then heck pick this little game up. So go check it out. I’m betting there’s going to be a bunch of support for this one.
Chuck on 
Philo Pharynx on 
How suitable are these rules for use as a 75% skirmish/25% role play group of gamers? I have been searching (for years) for a simple set of rules where most of the play is about the action, but characters still advance in capabilities over time. Would this fit the bill?
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Personally, if you’re 75% skirmish then I’d suggest Savage Words. If you don’t want to pick the core book and Fantasy Companion then you can down load the Test Drive Rules and the Wizards & Warriors Supplement to give it a try without laying down any hard earned cash.
http://www.peginc.com/product-category/free-downloads/
Chuck recently posted..The BareBones Fantasy RPG
Glad you like it! This product has been a blast to create and play. Thanks for the kind words, and game on!
Bill Logan recently posted..BareBones Fantasy
The GM calls the shots, so he can add as much or as little combat as he likes, and choose his own way of handing out DP (XP). So this game can do 99% combat/1% roleplay or 1%combat/99% roleplay.
Very true. But it also depends on how one defines skirmish game. For me, that means mini’s, terrain, fast play and a somewhat abstract combat system. YMMV
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@Chuck – Funny you should mention Savage Worlds, as that is the last thing I found that closely fit the bill. And indeed, our definitions of skirmish match. I will pick up the Test Drive Rules as you suggest. The mere fact that test drive rules exist is possibly my favorite thing about how the RPG hobby has evolved since I starting playing oh so many years ago.
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Question: most of the reviews of BareBones are very good. The most common negative point in the game says the (only) damaging spell (offensive strike) is overpowered compared to its melee/ranged counterparts.
For example, it is ranged, unlimited uses, bypasses armor, and generally causes more damage.
What is your opinion on this?
Well, it seems a bit over powered. But it can be resisted (so everybody essentially has Evasion) . For melee and ranged mundane attacks characters can get a damage bonus. Not so with spells. The character would still have to use a Skill Check to cast the spell. And they put it on a weapon, that weapon attack still has to hit. Sure you do more damage and have a better chance of casting at high levels but there’s also a better chance the target will resist it.
To compare it to Pathfinder, (we did some informal number crunching), we figured out that at higher levels were still needing to roll about the same numbers for Saving Throws, it’s just that the DC and the Modifiers were bigger numbers.
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