Many of us geeks love our tabletop role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons or Pathfinder, and we often love recruiting new people to play with us whether it be friends, family, or our own kids. The thing is, these games take quite a bit to learn and master to the point where they can be really overwhelming for some people. Local gaming stores are known to run “how to play” classes for Dungeons & Dragons, I know someone who had to get help to learn how to play her character when she got started in an online group, and this past weekend I needed to help some of the middle schoolers that play with my oldest because they were missing things on their character sheets (they didn’t have their own Player’s Handbook because they’re the only player in their house and those books are not cheap). While that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to learn how to play, there are a number of hurdles that sometimes need to be jumped over.

Some of these issues were the very things Tim Beach was considering when he decided to design an tabletop role-playing system that would act as a much better bridge to systems like D&D. He’s also very much in a position to know about these challenges, as he has a long line of industry credentials including having written AD&D 2nd Edition full time for TSR, and being the first game designer Wizards of the Coast hired from TSR. He’s also been published in over 75 RPG products over the years. Tim’s answer for these issues was Start Here RPG from Beach House RPGs.

What is Start Here RPG?

Start Here RPG is a tabletop role-playing system from Beach House RPGs that acts as more streamlined approach to learning how to play a tabletop role-playing game, which can be enjoyed on its own or used like training wheels before throwing players into the full complexity of Dungeons & Dragons. The game was successfully launched via Kickstarter back in August. A full set of corebooks (Beginning Player, Experienced Player, Campaign Sampler) runs at $25 dollars for a digital copy or $50 for a physical copy for pre-orders with prices going up to $30 and $60 at release. It it currently on schedule to be released to backers in June. Pre-orders for non-backers can be made here. GeekDad Paul Benson and I were recently given the opportunity to play a demo of the Zombiesaurus Rex Campaign lead by Tim Beach along with some of the other members of the creation team.

Start Here RPG Gameplay

So how do you simplify such a complex game into something that runs smoothly, doesn’t feel too watered down for experienced gamers, but still teaches enough of the concepts to help learn other games? It seems like a daunting task, but Tim Beach has spent a lot of years fine tuning this. Here are some of the sample rules that were shared with us. Again, this is not the full set of rules but enough to start giving you a feel for the system.

Character Creation

Character creation is way more simplified. It keeps the six attributes (Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma, and Constitution) with 5 being an average person and 9 being your max. You start with a 4 in everything and have 13 more points to assign out. If keeping track of that overwhelms you, they even offer a selection of arrays you can pick from which I loved the simplicity of. I have seen players lose track of point buy math, but I’ve also been the player cursed with bad dice luck on stat rolls. If I try to roll 4d6 and drop the lowest, I inevitably get something like 6, 5, 1, and 1. These numbers are added to rolls and also act as part of calculating Target Numbers (TN).

There is a selection of character races, but they don’t mess with your stats so much as they add flavor to who you’re playing. They include the following:

• Humans
• Elves
• Dwarves
• Florins (Gnome of Half-ling based)
• Minotaurs
• Troons (Evolved Dinosaur species)

Beginning Players get to pick from the following Archetypes:

• Warrior
• Rogue
• Mage (Sorcerer or Wizard)
• Believer (like a Cleric but could be a principal or code instead of a religion)

Players might pick a style like a martial artist (no weapons) or swashbuckler (speed and wit) to shape how they play their character, but is doesn’t change the math the way a sub-class would.

Spells are also included but a Believer or Mage starts off by choosing two from a list that’s a lot less overwhelming than the PHB. Which stat your Casting ability is depends on your Archetype. Believers use Wisdom, Mages use Charisma (Sorcerer type) or Intelligence (Wizard type). To resist a spell, the TN you are looking to roll against the Casting ability plus 10. 

Armor adds bonuses to your Saving Throws against Strength Damage (d20 + Strength + Armor). A weapon attack also has a TN to overcome. For Strength based Weapons, it’s (10 + Strength + Weapon Bonus). Ranged Weapons have a set TN. 

Skill Checks

In a player versus NPC situation a skill check works as follows:

• Player rolls d20 and adds relevant Ability (such as Charisma for Bluff, Dexterity for Sneaking).
• Compare to TN of NPC. TN is 10 + relevant Ability (like Wisdom against detecting a lie or noticing stealth).
• If the Player rolls higher, they succeed.

Combat

Initiative

Done with a d20 plus Dexterity to determine order.

Attacks

All Attacks use a d20 + Dexterity versus the opponent’s TN (10 + Dexterity). If you hit they, try to resist by rolling d20 + Strength versus your weapon’s TN (10 + Attacker Strength + Weapon bonus, or Ranged Weapon TN, or 10 + Casting ability). Failing to resist means your Strength goes down by 1.

A Natural 20 is an automatic success, while a 1 is still a Critical Failure.

Why You Should Play Start Here RPG

Elizabeth MacAndrew, GeekMom

The origin of my DM story is that I’m a former Forever Player who decided to take on being a DM so that I could teach my kids to play. Next thing I know, my middle school kid can join a group at our FLGS and a school club, but our younger kid did not have either option. I offered to run a group for elementary school kiddos at our FLGS, and now I run that group and the other middle school group. I know how tricky it is to teach new players how to play such a complex game first hand, and I’m pretty sure pulling it off had been due to my background as a former classroom teacher and each group having at least one Parent Player that can help me out.

I was certainly curious as to what this game was all about and found myself pleasantly surprised at how quick it was to jump in and begin playing. I also felt like there was still enough game to play that not having detailed skills or new abilities upon leveling didn’t dampen my experience of the game any. It was incredibly easy to catch on while playing, and I couldn’t help but to think of the situations where this sort of system would be perfect.

I’ve seen a lot of questions from my D&D groups online about new players who want to become new DM’s so that they can create a group or educators looking to more easily set up a club with limited time and resources. We’ve also had friends super intimidated at how to get started playing. Every situation that caused Tim Beach to create this is something I’ve seen. While this may not be the game for people who love the thrill of stacking complex abilities and optimization, those aren’t the only players that exist either. There’s a fair number of people that just want to go on a fun storytelling adventure with their friends, and this is the game for them. This is the game for people overwhelmed at how many rules and numbers D&D has, this is the game for school groups with limited time and a bunch of new players, this is the game for “I want to run a birthday session with a bunch of new players,” this is a game for I want to learn to be a DM without being overwhelmed, this is the game to teach your younger kiddos on. I also felt like this system would also adapt much easier to groups who use more Theater of the Mind or are having to play online instead of in person.

The price point absolutely makes it accessible to get started in, and I feel like players that don’t have their own handbook are not at such a huge disadvantage the way a lot of my middle schooler’s friends are. If any of the situations I described sound familiar, then this is the game you should look into. 

Paul Benson, GeekDad

I’d like to believe that I’m a fairly experienced RPG player. I’ve been enjoying games like Dungeons & Dragons, Starfinder, and Call of Cthulhu for years, both as a player and as a Game Master. I’m currently Dungeon Mastering two separate D&D campaigns: one in person, and one online using Fantasy Grounds, a VTT (virtual tabletop). So I wasn’t sure what to expect when trying out Start Here, which is designed for players just getting started with roleplaying games.

As it turns out, I was pleasantly surprised as to how easy the system is to pick up on, and how engaging the setting would be. We played in a modern-times setting of “Erth,” which is a world similar to our own world except fantasy species and magic also exist. Our game world, Zombiesaurus Rex, blended Jurassic Park with a zombie outbreak, though with an additional twist that music is an effective weapon against zombies. As such, I played Jose, a guitarist slash mage who goes on missions for the CDC. All of what you just read probably sounds a little crazy, but it all worked.

One of the things that makes such a wild setting work is the simple and accessible ruleset of the Start Here system. While we played the session with premade characters, creator Tim Beach afterwards showed us how simple it is to create a character from scratch. The process took just a few minutes. Not only is Start Here easy to understand and pick up for players, the elegance of the system is welcoming for someone just starting out as a Game Master.

With its streamlined mechanics, Start Here definitely focuses on using the game’s systems to facilitate storytelling. While the focus is on newer players, the system and settings are still enjoyable to more experienced players. That said, if you’re someone who wants a comprehensive ruleset that encourages number crunching, you’re probably not going to be drawn to Start Here. But then again, if you’re that type, you’re definitely not the target audience. But for those looking to get their feet wet in tabletop roleplaying games, Start Here is an excellent place to, well, start!