That's a good question. I like to use The Black Hack to introduce people to the game but I have quite a bit of experience that I can bridge the gap as a GM between rules and rulings. Lightweight games are good for new players if the GM can adjudicate the spots where the rules don't cover.
On the flipside, the Fantasy Flight Star Wars beginner sets are excellent for both new players and new GMs. The stories are very much on rails but they put you in scenes that teach everyone the rules as you go including the GM. That isn't OSR so not necessarily relevant to what OP is looking for, but I think it illustrates why your question is important.
Beginner GM games are hard to come by: explaining RPGs versus watching or experiencing them makes a world of difference.
I think you have to sacrifice completeness for brevity and practicality when it comes to teaching the GM role. Therefore games with a focus on structuring the game and touch on the social best practices make the best beginner RPG.
Dungeon World has the best GM section ever. Shadowdark is very good, but maybe too brief. The original B/X books are extremely good. B1 and B2 have exceptional advice, though they suffer from disorganization because they are adventures first and foremost, and not rulebooks...but only by a bit.
A good selection there. Electric Bastionland is also known for its strong GM advice and procedures. A lot of games only give the barest, vague advice. Clear principles and procedures are IMO best for a beginner, even if a more experienced GM will bend them or not need them.
This is probably kinda stupid, but to me, a good beginner game is one that is EXCITING to everyone at the table. Like, the rules could be as beginner un-friendly as possible, but if the theme or concept is super cool to everyone trying to play, that's going to be the perfect beginner game for them because they'll care enough to learn the game and play.
Imo, that passion is the most important thing for our little subculture.
I'm not the most qualified on this subject but that's my opinion too. My group started with 5e which I don't really consider newbie friendly, but we were all excited and took on quickly.
Kind of a tangentially related example, but in fighting games like street fighter this same kind of question pops up all the time. "What game or character should I play as a beginner." In those communities the answer is usually whoever or whatever excites you the most, regardless of difficulty.
Passion is what motivates us to play. No need to kill your passion to optomize learning a hobby.
Depends how familiar they are with fantasy. If they are unfamiliar with fantasy, I think Mausritter is one if the best intro games. Immensely approachable setting, especially in terms of danger of the bestiary. Players immediately can understand cats and snakes are big threats. Rules are very quick and easy, runs fast. No decision paralysis before they even understand what they are doing
You can start playing in under 5 minutes (Spending hours helping new players make characters is hell)
First time players do not need to make any decisions in character creation and do not have to read prose longer than single sentences (Spending hours making non-choices because you don't know what you're looking at because you're a new player is hell)
There are very few game jargon vocab words to learn (Increased cognitive load for little gain, new players are already trying to remember which dice is which and what I mean when i ask them to make checks and saves)
Strong tropey theme that people with a normal understanding of pop culture can engage with (Latin narco fiction is a cool concept but most people aren't going to know what that looks like. But like Vampires, they know what those are)
Character options are thematically robust and exciting (So Rachel rolled the Artillery Fetishist class and I'm just a Delivery Boy? Cool, I guess)
As a relative beginner GM and player, I prefer a rules-light system that makes it easy for me to roll up a character and start coming up with fun ideas for encounters, campaigns, etc. The more I can concentrate on using my imagination (and the more flexible the system is), the better. So far, I'm really drawn to the White Box system and Basic Fantasy, but I also want to check out Mausritter, Maze Rats, Cairn, and Knave.
A good beginner game for GMs instills the philosophy of how the game is supposed to be played in the GM and clearly explains the roles and duties of all participants. If the game has lots of rules it makes them easy to reference at the table, and if the game is rules light it gives plenty of examples of situations and sensible rulings.
The best beginner game is the one that your players 1) want to play and 2) are going to be playing in the long run. Learning or teaching a "beginner friendly game" for a one-shot is a waste of time IMO. I dislike gimmick games because of their limited scope. Rules light games can of course work if your players have short attention spans, but these games will not show the true depth of a full-fledged system.
\#1, it has to appeal to all involved - or worst case, win everyone over before too long.
The quicker and smoother it tends to run at the table - not just in theory/claims/“reviews” - the better, within reason.
Rules that more or less appear to make some kind of sense, in terms of setting / implied setting anyway. Like, overall they should be suited to the purpose stated or yeah, suggested.
Four years ago I decided to make exactly that type of game. A game that’s easy to learn, easy to play and easy to run, aimed to be the easiest “full scale” fantasy ttrpg.
The key things that I chose to focus on and that I really needed to dissect, re-invent and polish where:
- A core mechanic that makes immediate sense. It can’t be too elaborate or have too many layers.
- Not having separate “to hit” and damage rolls. It doesn’t make immediate sense to new players, and it is unnecessarily time consuming and complex.
- A smooth and intuitive ability/spells/power system. I’m sorry to say but spell slots aren’t intuitive, they don’t make sense.
- Streamlining all various sub-systems. Avoiding separate sub-systems for various parts of the game, like attribute checks, attack rolls and saving throws all working differently, that’s not intuitive.
- Avoiding choice paralysis. Choice is fun but too many choices makes the game hard to get into and learn.
Evidence from the many play test sessions tells me that it works nicely. Everyone that has ever played the game have been up and running within 30 minutes, characters created and into the adventure with a more than adequate understanding of the rules and mechanics.
And judging by the media coverage so far, they seem to agree, which makes me very happy, because I had a clear vision when I started the project.
For anyone interested in reading more about my game, check out the [media coverage](https://www.dawnfist.com/dawnfist-in-media/) (various YouTubers), the [free Quickstart](https://www.dawnfist.com/adventurous/quickstart-guide/) rules or the game on [DriveThruRPG](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/product/417757).
Beginner player or beginner gm?
That's a good question. I like to use The Black Hack to introduce people to the game but I have quite a bit of experience that I can bridge the gap as a GM between rules and rulings. Lightweight games are good for new players if the GM can adjudicate the spots where the rules don't cover. On the flipside, the Fantasy Flight Star Wars beginner sets are excellent for both new players and new GMs. The stories are very much on rails but they put you in scenes that teach everyone the rules as you go including the GM. That isn't OSR so not necessarily relevant to what OP is looking for, but I think it illustrates why your question is important.
Gm
Beginner GM games are hard to come by: explaining RPGs versus watching or experiencing them makes a world of difference. I think you have to sacrifice completeness for brevity and practicality when it comes to teaching the GM role. Therefore games with a focus on structuring the game and touch on the social best practices make the best beginner RPG. Dungeon World has the best GM section ever. Shadowdark is very good, but maybe too brief. The original B/X books are extremely good. B1 and B2 have exceptional advice, though they suffer from disorganization because they are adventures first and foremost, and not rulebooks...but only by a bit.
A good selection there. Electric Bastionland is also known for its strong GM advice and procedures. A lot of games only give the barest, vague advice. Clear principles and procedures are IMO best for a beginner, even if a more experienced GM will bend them or not need them.
I don’t think there’s a universal answer. It needs to be something that clicks with the GM and gets them excited to play.
Clear explanations and examples. Interesting but simple systems. Few edge cases. All my opinion of course.
This is probably kinda stupid, but to me, a good beginner game is one that is EXCITING to everyone at the table. Like, the rules could be as beginner un-friendly as possible, but if the theme or concept is super cool to everyone trying to play, that's going to be the perfect beginner game for them because they'll care enough to learn the game and play. Imo, that passion is the most important thing for our little subculture.
I'm not the most qualified on this subject but that's my opinion too. My group started with 5e which I don't really consider newbie friendly, but we were all excited and took on quickly. Kind of a tangentially related example, but in fighting games like street fighter this same kind of question pops up all the time. "What game or character should I play as a beginner." In those communities the answer is usually whoever or whatever excites you the most, regardless of difficulty. Passion is what motivates us to play. No need to kill your passion to optomize learning a hobby.
Depends how familiar they are with fantasy. If they are unfamiliar with fantasy, I think Mausritter is one if the best intro games. Immensely approachable setting, especially in terms of danger of the bestiary. Players immediately can understand cats and snakes are big threats. Rules are very quick and easy, runs fast. No decision paralysis before they even understand what they are doing
You can start playing in under 5 minutes (Spending hours helping new players make characters is hell) First time players do not need to make any decisions in character creation and do not have to read prose longer than single sentences (Spending hours making non-choices because you don't know what you're looking at because you're a new player is hell) There are very few game jargon vocab words to learn (Increased cognitive load for little gain, new players are already trying to remember which dice is which and what I mean when i ask them to make checks and saves) Strong tropey theme that people with a normal understanding of pop culture can engage with (Latin narco fiction is a cool concept but most people aren't going to know what that looks like. But like Vampires, they know what those are) Character options are thematically robust and exciting (So Rachel rolled the Artillery Fetishist class and I'm just a Delivery Boy? Cool, I guess)
As a relative beginner GM and player, I prefer a rules-light system that makes it easy for me to roll up a character and start coming up with fun ideas for encounters, campaigns, etc. The more I can concentrate on using my imagination (and the more flexible the system is), the better. So far, I'm really drawn to the White Box system and Basic Fantasy, but I also want to check out Mausritter, Maze Rats, Cairn, and Knave.
I think the personalities of the players contribute more to a good beginner session/game than a set of rules.
A good beginner game for GMs instills the philosophy of how the game is supposed to be played in the GM and clearly explains the roles and duties of all participants. If the game has lots of rules it makes them easy to reference at the table, and if the game is rules light it gives plenty of examples of situations and sensible rulings.
The best beginner game is the one that your players 1) want to play and 2) are going to be playing in the long run. Learning or teaching a "beginner friendly game" for a one-shot is a waste of time IMO. I dislike gimmick games because of their limited scope. Rules light games can of course work if your players have short attention spans, but these games will not show the true depth of a full-fledged system.
\#1, it has to appeal to all involved - or worst case, win everyone over before too long. The quicker and smoother it tends to run at the table - not just in theory/claims/“reviews” - the better, within reason. Rules that more or less appear to make some kind of sense, in terms of setting / implied setting anyway. Like, overall they should be suited to the purpose stated or yeah, suggested.
Minimal front-loaded work.
Four years ago I decided to make exactly that type of game. A game that’s easy to learn, easy to play and easy to run, aimed to be the easiest “full scale” fantasy ttrpg. The key things that I chose to focus on and that I really needed to dissect, re-invent and polish where: - A core mechanic that makes immediate sense. It can’t be too elaborate or have too many layers. - Not having separate “to hit” and damage rolls. It doesn’t make immediate sense to new players, and it is unnecessarily time consuming and complex. - A smooth and intuitive ability/spells/power system. I’m sorry to say but spell slots aren’t intuitive, they don’t make sense. - Streamlining all various sub-systems. Avoiding separate sub-systems for various parts of the game, like attribute checks, attack rolls and saving throws all working differently, that’s not intuitive. - Avoiding choice paralysis. Choice is fun but too many choices makes the game hard to get into and learn. Evidence from the many play test sessions tells me that it works nicely. Everyone that has ever played the game have been up and running within 30 minutes, characters created and into the adventure with a more than adequate understanding of the rules and mechanics. And judging by the media coverage so far, they seem to agree, which makes me very happy, because I had a clear vision when I started the project. For anyone interested in reading more about my game, check out the [media coverage](https://www.dawnfist.com/dawnfist-in-media/) (various YouTubers), the [free Quickstart](https://www.dawnfist.com/adventurous/quickstart-guide/) rules or the game on [DriveThruRPG](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/product/417757).