5imp.md

5imp

SRD5-based rules you can play with 3-year-olds (or drunk adults)

5imp is intended to be a set of lightweight guidelines to introduce tabletop roleplaying games to new players. A game master (GM) can use 5imp to run Systems Reference Document 5.x (SRD5)-compatible adventures with players of varying ages and/or math skills.

This does not mean 5imp is a stand-alone set of rules for new game masters; on the contrary, introducing new players is often best done by an experienced GM who is familiar with the spirit of role-playing games. Most of the below is very mechanically-focused, but the magic of role-playing games is often the narrative flavor, not the raw number-crunching. That said, if 5imp is helpful for you as a new GM, by all means make use of it.

Inspiration

5imp was borne from a desire to adapt Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition for my son to play as soon as he could recognize numbers on dice (about 3 years old). My previous thoughts (more prose than mechanics) are collected in D&D 5th Edition "Kid Mode" Suggestions and Variants, which pre-dates the availability of SRD5.

"Kid Mode" and 5imp take their primary inspiration from Monster Slayers: Champions of the Elements by Susan J. Morris and seeks to create mechanics that blend its simplified style of play into a subset of the SRD rules in order to slowly sprinkle in "real" rules. The conversion formula for monster hit points also takes a note from D&D creative director Mike Mearls on twitter. Note neither of these authors is in any way associated with or endorses 5imp.

Major Changes from SRD

• Primary mechanics are mostly reduced to a single d20 roll
  • All modifiers are removed (that's right, no math needed)
  • Damage rolls are removed in favor of "hits"

Player Characters

Below are some sample/example player characters; the GM may allow players to choose one or adapt them as appropriate.

Human Fighter

Armor Class: 13

Hit Points: 10

Adventuring Advantage: Strength

Combat Ability: Make 2 attacks each turn instead of 1.

Halfling Rogue

Armor Class: 10

Hit Points: 8

Adventuring Advantage: Dexterity

Combat Ability: On hit the target takes 2 damage instead of 1.

Dwarf Cleric

Armor Class: 11

Hit Points: 8

Adventuring Advantage: Wisdom

Combat Ability: Give a creature advantage (roll two d20 and use the higher) on their next attack roll, or heal them for d6 hit points.

Elf Wizard

Armor Class: 7

Hit Points: 6

Adventuring Advantage: Intelligence

Combat Ability: On hit either the target takes 1 damage and has disadvantage (roll two d20 and use the lower) on its next attack roll, or it and every creature next to it (including allies) takes 1 damage.

Advanced Play

Create a player character using the process specified in the SRD.

Armor Class: Subtract 5 from AC after equipping armor and/or shield.

Hit Points: Highest value on the class's hit die (e.g. d8 = 8, d10 = 10).

Adventuring Advantage: Use the class/character's highest or spellcasting ability score.

Combat Ability: Try to distill down what distinguishes this class/character from others into a simple mechanic.

Adventuring

The Basics

1. Each player tells the GM what his or her character wants to do.
2. The GM may ask a player for an ability check, which has two components:
   • An appropriate ability for the character to use:
     • Strength
     • Dexterity
     • Constitution
     • Intelligence
     • Wisdom
     • Charisma
   • A Difficulty Class (DC), using the below as a guideline:
     • DC 5: Easy
     • DC 10: Medium
     • DC 15: Hard
     • DC 20: Very Hard
3. The player rolls a d20. If a character has "Adventuring Advantage" for the ability, the player rolls two d20 and uses the higher number.
4. The GM describes what happens based on the outcome of the ability check.

Advanced Play

See "Using Ability Scores" in the SRD for additional adventuring rules and guidelines.

Combat

Initiative and Turns

At the start of combat, one of the players rolls a d20, and the GM rolls a d20 for the monsters. All creatures on the side with the higher number take their turns first (in any order), then creatures on the other side takes their turns (in any order), and so on until combat ends.

Attacks

Each time a creature attacks, roll a d20. If the number rolled is equal to or greater than the target's AC, the target takes 1 damage (losing 1 hit point).

Critical Hits

If a "20" is rolled, the roll is a critical hit. The target takes 2 damage (losing 2 hit points).

If the game master wants to make critical hits more dramatic, a critical hit may instead deal 1d6 damage.

Getting Knocked Out

If a creature reaches 0 hit points, it is knocked out until it is revived (e.g. via healing) or for the rest of the combat.

Advanced Play

See "Actions in Combat" in the SRD for additional actions beyond attacks in combat.

Monsters

Each monster has an armor class (AC; the number to hit it) and hit points (HP; how much damage it can take). Additionally, some monsters can make multiple attacks in a single turn. Below are some sample/example monsters; the GM may use or adapt them as he or she sees fit.

Bulette

AC 12, HP 9

Chimera

AC 9, HP 12, 3 attacks

Imp

AC 8, HP 3

Tyrannosaurus Rex

AC 8, HP 13, 2 attacks

Adult Red Dragon

AC 14, HP 19, 3 attacks

Ghoul

AC 7, HP 5

Frost Giant

AC 11, HP 12, 2 attacks

Gnoll

AC 11, HP 5

Goblin

AC 10, HP 2

Grick

AC 9, HP 6

Grimlock

AC 6, HP 2

Hobgoblin

AC 13, HP 2

Kobold

AC 7, HP 2

Kraken

AC 13, HP 27, 3 attacks

Mummy

AC 6, HP 9, 2 attacks

Ogre

AC 6, HP 7

Orc

AC 8, HP 2

Skeleton

AC 8, HP 2

Troll

AC 10, HP 8, 3 attacks

Xorn

AC 14, HP 7, 4 attacks

Zombie

AC 8, HP 3

Advanced Play

See "Monsters" in the SRD. Convert any SRD monster by subtracting 5 from its listed AC, the number of hit dice becomes its hit points. The monster's number of attacks remains the same.

Adding simplified versions of special abilities will also make different monster encounters unique. Subtract 5 from DCs for saving throws.

Legal Information

5imp is licensed under the Open Game License v1.0a, the above text is Open Game Content.

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System Reference Document 5.1 Copyright 2016, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, Chris Perkins, Rodney Thompson, Peter Lee, James Wyatt, Robert J. Schwalb, Bruce R. Cordell, Chris Sims, and Steve Townshend, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.

5imp 1.0 Copyright 2016, Kevin Worth

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