I've been feeling an OSR, light weight RPG kind of mood lately. Cairn, first edition, is exactly that, providing a spare and concise system. Clocking in at about twenty pages of rules and content, it is an easy system to jump into, with faster character creation.
Let’s build one real fast:
Character Traits: Brawny, elongated skin, long hair, rat-like face, droning speech, filthy clothing, virtue: disciplined, vice: rude, dangerous reputation, disowned.
Age: 24
STR 11
DEX 9
WIL 7
HP: 3
Gear: three days rations (1 slot), a torch (1 slot), metal file, quill & ink (1 slot), tinderbox (1 slot), 9 gp
Weapon: Battleaxe
The mechanics for Cairn are as simple as the character generation. You get one action. Attacks hit automatically, and you roll the damage die for your weapon, subtracting it from HP. Anything exceeding HP is taken from the Strength score. When Strength equals zero, the character dies (this is like other games that use stat damage, such as Classic Traveller). Additionally, fatigue takes up gear slots, diminishing how much you can carry.
There are a few other nuances, but the rules are fairly simple, focused on narrative, and make combat lethal. The classless system and lack of level advancement means that you become more powerful by finding better treasure, but never become as powerful as our heroic, power fantasy characters.
I don’t know that I would use Cairn for an extended campaign—I much prefer Shadowdark for that type of game. But I think it’s interesting and worth checking out. I can certainly see myself using it for a one-shot, or to introduce OSR-style play or even as a simple intro to roleplay. Just make sure you have lots of extra character sheets ready. You’ll use them.
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