I found the EASIEST D&D-like RPG (and it's FREE)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 ก.ค. 2024
- This d20 fantasy RPG has no barrier to entry. It's extremely easy for new or experienced players and GMs, and the PDF is FREE! ▶️ Link below! ⏬
💥 Cairn RPG (affiliate): www.drivethrurpg.com/product/...
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00:00 why this rpg is great for everyone
01:58 main ideas of Cairn RPG
03:33 easy character creation & basic rules
06:24 silly story about equipment...
07:03 Cairn's intuitive core rule & combat
10:04 summary of combat rules
11:33 almost-too-simple spellcasting!
#opendnd #ttrpg #dndosr - เกม
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Pretty nice, would have enjoyed a quick demo of combat.
Hey have you actually tried Maze Rats? I picked it up with my roommates recently and although we've only played one session so far we've been loving it! Fast character creation much like Cairn and very whacky magic. But the best thing imo is it's got the perfect tables for instantly generating the entire adventure before or during play if your players are a little tiny bit patient.
Brigandine can look like leather armor, but it is actually relatively advanced flexible steel armor made of a series of overlapping steel plates sown to the inside of an overcoat. It's really cool stuff.
It's assumed to be the type of armor that studded leather is supposed to actually be in D&D. Just don't tell that to people using shocking grasp.
Brigandine effectivenes is on par with plate armour. In Cairn it should be changed to Gambeson - realistically.
Isn't it better than chainmail? Because the metal plates and leather block stab attempts, where the rivets in mail would let it through to some degree, but is still able to block shear force (slashes) just as effectively as chain?
I own brigantine for my larp. It is the coolest stuff
@@FireallyXTheories I have the impression that brigandine is nearly as effective as plate armor, while being much easier to mass produce for an army. I could be wrong, though. I haven't looked up any tests on it.
"Crying* thank you! I work at a library I been trying to figure out what campaign to run for a group of teenagers who never played a game I think this works! Thank you!
How did it go?
@Justin Gould I haven't started it yet. I was looking for games systems for the summer, and I definitely going to try it out and I definitely have some outlines for this but nothing solid quite yet. But if I do Run it I'll make comment here to let you know.
@@ariv9 Yes please i want to know how it went.
@ariv9 ok....now how did it go? 😊
if they like this check out d6 systems. the matrix and star wars table top rpgs were fun and ive been interested in Lancer table top rpg for ages @@ariv9
10:22 Small correction: Monsters *do* lose Strength after running out of HP, and they make Critical Damage Saves just like PCs. It’s a common enough misconception that I believe it’s addressed in Cairn’s online FAQ.
My group has been running Cairn for a long time, we have a pretty solid core group but frequently have very new gamers sit in for a session or two. Cairn is great, it's so simple that new players aren't intimidated by the rules, but deep enough that it handles any amount of luck or chance. It's a great system! Love to see it getting more coverage!
It's great to hear that you're using it for a long-running group! I think there's a misconception that lighter systems like this are only good for one shots.
@@BobWorldBuilder I'm so annoyed by this. Usually the same guys that tell you after a very low dice / high rp session that it was sooo awesome and great. And I'm always like dude you could have this all day with a system that doesn't get in the way (like cairn for osr feel or EZD6 for more mayhem)
Any particular reason to go for CAIRN over INTO THE ODD?
@@titusgroen We play in a fantasy setting and Cairn has an magic system that doesn't exist in Into the Odd IIRC. It's pretty neat if you haven't played, anyone can cast a spell, but when you do it affects your inventory, you replace an inventory slot with a fatigue, which leads to a nice in world reason that spell casters aren't decked out with weapons and armor, because you need to have open space to spend for "spell slots". That being said, I also really love the world that Into the Odd sets up, it's just made for more of an industrial/modern setting.
@@KJMB Rad! I'll take a look. INTO THE ODD has been my go to minimalist system for a while but I know some people dislike having to rely on Arcana/equipment for magic. I've always loved ITO's feeling of fantasy STALKER so it worked for me :)
Fun microcolab! It's awesome to hear your thoughts on one of my favorite games. ❤❤
Woo!
Shout out to Yochai Gal for the awesome game!
Microlab
No! Brigandine is very effective metal armour! You made me cry out in anguish when you said that it was leather!
i smile everytime I see lindy in the comments, thanks for existing
God bless you, Nikolas.
Your version of "someone is wrong on the internet" is so much more entertaining and fun than... most people. This is inspiring to me. Thanks, Lindy!
I was hoping one of you guys would be in the comments to mention what brigandine really is. 😂 Lo and behold.
Indeed folks check Shadiversity for a very good look at Brigandine style armour, he wears it a lot and has done some videos on it
Cairn is a damn fine game. Glad you enjoyed it enough to highlight it on your channel. It pulls ideas from some of the best TTRPG and mixes them with a pinch of magic! The author is a influence for good in the community as well.
Shoutout to Similar Games
- Into the Odd
- Electric Bastionland: Deeper Into the Odd
- Mausritter
- Maze Rats
- Knave
Yeah after reading and playing Skate Wizards and Cairn, then reading Mausritter, I'm realizing how many systems use these core mechanics!
@@BobWorldBuilder
It all started with Chris McDowall. His Bastionland blog and Into the Odd started it all. We wouldn’t even have Questing Beast if it wasn’t for Chris. Low key humble and brilliant chap. I recommend everyone check it out.
@@BobWorldBuilder Also check out Into The Dungeon: Revived (google it!). It came before Cairn, and is pretty old school.
It's not the most important thing in the world and rpg's have taught you that brigandine is studded leather (as that's what inspired studded leather) but historically brigandine is plate.
Brigandine is a series of plates attached with studs to a fabric or leather outer coat.
I love your work and enjoy using the dice every time I can, keep it up Bob.
Thanks for the clarification, and thanks a lot for getting a set of the BWB dice!! :)
I cannot emphasize enough how much I’ve been diving into Cairn in the four days since you posted this video. This is why I subscribe.
I've read it a couple of times but I always find myself in the pages of Knave. I like it better. But I do like how Cairn makes combat feel fluid and action-packed.
I've been meaning to give Knave a more thorough read. At this point I'm waiting for Knave 2e!
@@BobWorldBuilder Haha yeah. I'm super stoked about that. Honestly, between ShadowDark, Knave 2E and my own work in progress, I think I have all the RPG systems I'll ever need.
Mausritter combines Cairn and Knave in a satisfying way. Both have lots of hacks.
@@shaylic3795 Oh really? 🤔
@@BobWorldBuilder Since the Kickstarter is coming soon, I'm sure Ben would appreciate a review by the time it kick(starts) off.
To elasticity: yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, uh gimmie a dex check, and 1 day
Thanks, GM! :)
The thing I love most about Cairn is the subtle genius of calling HP "hit protection." Literally the only way I can imagine tolerating HP bloat at my table is if it is just a measure of how long you can keep avoiding auto-damage.
Cairn does so much right in such a simple, efficient manner.
That's from Into the Odd, AFAIK.
@@drillerdev4624 Correct!
Older versions of D&D share some of the qualities you highlighted here: Less defined, relying more on rulings, death is possible, etc. Also 40 ft/round is the base unarmored unencumbered move rate in B/X D&D.
It's interesting to see how some OSR games lean in to some OSR principles more and some less. For example, the spells in Knave/Cairn are very open (by the way, in Knave they last 10 minutes per level of caster - not sure about Cairn). But at the same time Cairn and Knave aren't really quite as deadly as B/X D&D. I think a cautious party could always avoid a death unless they got sloppy or careless or bit off a bit more than they could chew.
That's how it should be in any game
It's very cool to finally see Cairn (and Into The Odd) reaching a wider audience.
Thank you so much for sharing this, my kids love this system! My oldest even felt confident enough to try out playing the role of Warden and we had a fun few hours playing our very first session.
Where is the hair?? It's a cool new look.
Thank you! I was over due for a change. Very long time viewers will know I started the channel with short hair haha
PS: I cut it myself -- homebrew for life!
Such is getting older..... the hair is the first to go.... .
@@BobWorldBuilder beard + short hair on man = medieval respect. Lol
Was scrolling through comments waiting to find someone mentioning it 😂 It looks really awesome!!!
Rambo, Commando, Rambo, Commando, where did the hair go?
Damn, that's a fresh cut.
Whoah! The Hair!
New times call for new looks!
... I just can't stop staring at Bob's hair...
Man you look downright hireable with that new cut!
I like the death not being random, in the TTRPG I’m making there are sounds which characters take whenever their health bar hits 0 (characters usually have between 4 and 7 HP at lvl 1). And some of these wounds go away at the end of combat. Others don’t, some of them are tied into each stat, and while you have them, every time you suffer a wound, you make a check with a dc equal to the total wounds you have. If you fail, you start to die. So death doesn’t feel random, once you get one of yhe wounds that can lead to death, there’s this encroaching feeling of dread til you can rest for 8 hours straight to attempt to get rid of it
Thanks for the great summary. I bought this for an upcoming youth “D&D” event we’re planning. It’s so digestible. Hardest part was realizing we don’t have all the crunchy skill check stuff I’m used to from 5e.
With your hair back and your beard trimmed, I can see that you clean up pretty well, hippy boy. Good video today.
Haircut looks great Bob!
I noticed at 7:50 something interesting. Every attack always hits, but you subtract the armor value. If the armor value is high and you roll low, it still does no damage, so it's similar to a high AC in DnD. Pretty cool way to simplify it!
Your voice is clear and pleasant, and you explain everything at a good, easy to absorb pace. Keep up the good work!
Props to the Runehammer sticker on the flask in the background.
Thanks! I had my bottle there as I was setting up and was going to move it, but then I thought, nah someone out there will appreciate this :)
Cairn is dope! Can't wait for Bob World Builder indie TTRPG arc
Yay! I am glad you took some of the suggestions for games from previous videos and played and ran Cairn. Great video. I used this to introduce some people to RPGs and it was a lot of fun. The one page Temple of the Moon Priests is a fun one to play with Cairn.
I can't thank you enough for this video. I've been looking for a system like this where equipment can really shine. Thank you!
Yes! I was hoping this would be about Cairn! One of my groups has tried a couple 1 shots using Cairn and it is fabulous. I’m really looking forward to the kickstarter for the new edition
OSR games are just so creative and interesting. Love this movement exists and is making the rpg space ever evolving.
Cairn looks like an awesome and simple system. I'm gonna have to try it out! Also, love the hair!
Cairn is great. I especially like how it has PbtA/FitD-like principles of play for the GM and players.
Really enjoy seeing you talk about all the lovely variety of RPGs out there!
Great video! With the upcoming state of D&D looking as rocky as it is, finding indie RPGs and smaller systems like this are a great thing to have in your back pocket! Definitely picking this up!
Cairn is such a fun and easy to house rule game and I use to run it as One-Shots if one or more players can't make it to our D&D campaign.
There is a nice plug-in called "Cairn Adventurer's Guide" by Adam Hensley for dungeon and wilderness procedures, leveling up, carousing and advanced combat options etc.
Definitely worth checking out for longer campaigns.
Very cool. I had never heard of Cairn but will jump over to DTRPG and pick it up. I appreciate you covering lesser-known games; even within the OSR community, we tend to hear about the same dozen games over and over.
Great video! Also, love the new hairstyle! 👍
Another Into The Odd variant I would love to play is Mausritter! It adds some great little mechanics to the system, and the setting is just such a charming, inspiring concept
I couldn’t stop seeing Mausritter in this video >
I recently read Mausritter! I feel like it's a fantastic game and resource. It's concise, it's built on these simple mechanics, and it adds a lot of brilliant ideas and advice for GMs.
@@BobWorldBuilder I love it as well! 2nd favourite system behind D&D, you should make a video about it or something! :D
I love the inventory system in Mausritter. I got to run it in a local con and folks were blown away by the simple/fun system.
@@jeffreykershner440 Ye this, I ahree
Brilliant, straight forward summary
Great review! I hadn't heard of Cairn. It looks like a great intro to RPG gaming or for a quick streamlined session. Thank you for the review.
Cairn is something out the darkest, damp, obscure, forest and it is amazing
Great review! in fact I think this is the first time I feel I could run a session of a truly DnD-esque game without getting repulsed by the mechanics in just a few minutes.
Thanks for this coverage! I would love to hear more of your experiences with this system!
Literally just picked this and Knave up. I definitely had dnd brain for the spells too, but your explanation helped me see it for the fun it can be. Thanks!
This is my favorite rpg and I am so happy you covered it!
Great video! I'm happy to see more people branching out of the strict rules to more open styles of playing. It can be a great time.
One of the most fun times I've had gaming, was playing All Outta Bubblegum with some friends. No prep, no idea what was going to be the inciting incident to kick off the game. It was a blast
Glad to see more people discovering Cairn! It's an amazing game that I've started running a campaign for some new players and it's going very well. I've supplemented the rules with some additional rules for hexcrawling, random tables, and an oracle, but I spend almost no time on rules and mostly just let the players do their thing. Great video Bob!
Nice Haircut!, Bob! Looks good.
I don't like when I have to be the backbone of all spells as the GM because it makes me have to make a list of what spells can and can't do during session 0 so my players know how the magic works at my table or I risk blindly shutting them down when I say elasticity can't make you a flying squirrel for a day, not knowing that was the whole reason they took the spell in the first place and ruining part of their fun. But at the same time, if they ask me "what can this spell do?" I have to make up an answer, setting up those parameters weather or not I'm realizing it. And in that situation, every table is a different system based on how the GM interperated the rules as written.
It's GM-interpretation-dependency that made me have a falling out with Worlds Without Number (another indie ttrpg, anf what used to be my favorite system.) It was simple and easy to grasp on the surface, but as a GM I had to determine the fine rules of everything and entire classes and builds were made or broke by my rulings and I didn't quite realize it until I talked with a fellow GM of the system. Here's an example from its skill check system alone:
A skill check calls for a skill + ability score combo chosen by the GM, based on what a player wants to do.
A skill like "Administration" became worthless in my game because I figured it only worked for knowing laws and regulations as an intelligence-predominant call, when later a fellow GM of mine let players use Administration/Intelligence to forge, or just make, legal documents and Administration/Charisma was how you "sold" it to the guard or whomever and "Know/Intelligence" was for knowledge of how the town's regulations/laws and Administration/Wisdom was for spotting flaws, holes, or forgeries in documents, scrutinizing them. That same player who built around being a legal weasel with a high investment into the Administration skill, would not exist at my table simply because I interpreted the rules differently from the start and had no guidance to offer something like that to my players until the other GM blew my mind with his ruling.
I still, to this day, do not know how the designer intended Administration to be used or what pairings he uses for it most often.
tl;dr if the GM has to do all the fine details, two tables are more akin to two seperate ttrpgs than different flavors of the same ttrpg
the fast play character creation I made for Mechwarrior (battletech), which easily converts to fantasy play. it literally takes less than 2 minutes to make a complete character ready to step into the game. there are 6 die rolls (2@2d6 and 4@1d6). now pick a name and a faction... ready to play!
we made 16 characters in less than 10 minutes in order to play a 4 lance free-for-all.
From the blurred cover, and from the title of the video, I knew this was gonna be about Cairn right away. 👍👍👍
Like the fresh new look! Great channel. Thanks for the great info!
I finally ordered a copy! Should be here tomorrow!
This sounds sweet! Thanks for sharing :)
Cairn is an absolute blast! I really love it and there are a ton of great mechanical siblings be it sci fi, cyberpunk, horror etc.
Yeah I after Skate Wizards, Cairn, and reading Mausritter, I'm realizing how many systems use these core mechanics!
@@BobWorldBuilder Yep, thanks to into the odd. I really love this mechanic and going back to other D20 systems makes them feel really slow. The only roll damage mechanic is awesome and makes games flowing much better imho
@@BobWorldBuilder Yep. Check out Liminal Horror for a very popular horror game with an interesting "insanity" mechanic that's less problematic than usual insanity mechanics and more interesting.
Thank you for this video. I'm going to use that in my gaming group. ^^
First of all, nice hair and beard.
I would really love seeing Cairn being played, and maybe playing it myself!
Thanks! I'm thinking about recording audio of a Cairn session for my other channel. If it happens, I'll make a post about it on this channel!
This one is definitely on my ever-growing list of systems that I want to give a shot at some point. Knave is great! I appreciate the thorough insight on your experience with the system, because I have been considering an automatic hit mechanic for my table.
Thanks for covering this, sounds like fun.
Yes! i knew it was Cairn from the thumbnail and holy hell is this game rock solid, as are its many OSR constituants
Huzzah! Welcome to the club Bob! Great to have you :-) (psssst, now go check out the Escape the City module by Jim Hall) Cheers!
My Young Adults group runs a game night every other Monday.
Having recently had it told to me that people weren’t interested in playing a D&D game due to how long it takes to learn, I’m beyond ecstatic to discover this exists!
I’ve actually started developing my own RPG due to the situation, but I’ll stop by and have a look at this first!
Funnily enough, I bought this a few weeks ago. I'll have to give it a go.
Thanks for the review
Thank you so very much for this video! This seems absolutely perfect for a noob like me, that wants to start playing TTrpgs with his noob friends.
I've been wanting to run a very simple to use, easy to learn TTRPG for some of my less nerdy friends, (and hopefully convince them to try 5e of PF2e) and Cairn is PERFECT for that! Super stoked to get my hands on the PDF & book and start playing!
I can do it in 10 or less. First give me a map, my empty chessex map. The characters take a portal to another world. I start grabbing miniatures, based on the ecology. Once characters achieve the heroic goals, they have to return thru the portal back to the ordinary world. That is authentic hero's journey adventuring in actually less than 5 min. D&D is easy and for everyone!
Big fan of these simpler RPGs to get into. This sounds like a great thing I could pickup and try for a weekend like Skate Wizards. Thanks again Bob!
I kind of love the character not knowing the limits of there spells until they try and the DM tells them, like the bit in supper hero movies where they are testing out there new powers.
Thanks for showing this, i just bought it as i watched you review. I know my friends will love this game
I'm just happy to hear more things referencing Into the Odd.
Great vid! Nice visual of highlights as rolling during game mechanic example.
And flexing that Bob World Builder genuineness with the fellow creator callouts and links, nice.
Plus, non-relevantly and no one asked: nice haircut! More flex.
Love these explorations of alt-systems, especially ones that were played.
The idea that 10 players could all make a PC in an hour of game time is honestly so optimistic lmao. Id be happy to get everyone to pick a race and class in that time with 10 freakin players.
Just got my softcover in the mail, thanks Bob!
I'm definitely downloading the PDF and hopefully trying it out in the future!
Great recommendation, thanks
Thanks for this, I am going to probably implement it into my westmarch server!
This is super cool. I love the idea of everyone rolling up a character quickly and just going with whatever they get. I feel like 5e players always want to build something super weird for a first session and it adds extra difficulty to running the game.
Just bought the pdf and soft cover book! About $8 in total with shipping. Very much worth it! Thanks Bob!
Cairn is good, the character creation reminds me of Mork Borg. Character creation is about the same speed for both games. For starting out games I have to say that Index Card RPG (ICRPG). It is system agnostic however it does Fantasy very well. Its rule system is light BUT it gives clear tasks for the players to follow. 1. solve the encounter 2. Do something that makes the difficulty numbers easier for everyone 3. Prevent the next complication in the encounter from happening. I have played with new and old players and they have found it very clear and easy to learn.
That’s dope, I like how your strength is your hp! Definitely gonna use that
Thanks for this combo wombo collab with Baron. Both Cairn and Maze Rats both sound like excellent recommendations and I'm planning to get both now
Gonna try it out! Ordered a print copy too.
Good video, I agree Cairn is a gem!
This is pretty cool! I can actually see myself playing this.
Go download it! It is super easy to understand and play. Then Baron's video should help with planning your session! :)
Heck yeah! I was hoping for a Mausritter video when I saw the announcement but I'll take any Into the Odd adjacent system. Skipping straight to rolling for damage instead of rolling to hit beforehand is something to understandably be skeptical about for people coming from other systems, but I ended up loving it when I gave it a shot. When you think about it, rolling to hit often just wastes time, being mainly anticlimactic for the GM and the players, and ends up mostly evening out over time anyways. You can still effectively "miss" in these games since you could roll damage low enough to be fully mitigated by damage reduction, but it's not as common and excludes the extra step.
Great video! and I like the haircut!
I'm intrigued!
This sounds like tons of fun!
Loved this, would like to see more alternate ttrpg reviews
Thanks for showcasing this game. I’ll give it a go with my home group.
Yep, all you need it the PDF (a few copies of the tables is handy for the players) and a short adventure!
I came from Baron's video where he told me to watch this one but this one tells me to watch that one and now I'm in an endless loop watching two videos about Cairn!
Definitely wanna check Cairn out now
You know, I kept seeing Cairn online... and admit that I was curious... but I never checked out. Looks like now is the time!
It's never too late!
@@BobWorldBuilder definitely. I downloaded the game and printed it off into a little booklet already!! Three, actually.... as I have to always have some player copies. LOL.
Great video!
Saw video posted 4 minutes ago and never clicked so fast.
I appreciate your enthusiasm! :D
Thank you! CAIRN needs more support.
thanks for the video :) think i might switch to it for my group until daggerheart is out haha
Ooh yep I'm very excited to see what Daggerheart will be like!
I'd really love to see you do a mini campaign or a one shot of this, to help those interested in trying this out get a better grasp of how it runs, how the players get to grips with it, and to show how to DM this. That'd make a great set of videos. Cheers, James
Cairn sounds rad. Thanks for the video
My pleasure! It is rad!