Average 8 RPG
Ver6 Written by Drew Bouchard
Released under a Creative Commons Attribution – Noncommercial 3.0 United States License
This is a basic RPG system designed to be used with kids. It
uses all of the polyhedral dice from d4 to d20. This game
requires very simple, if any, math, that way play can be fast
and confident. I recommend that GM’s have young players
pick a mini to use for the game.
Basics
In order to do something the player tells the GM what they
are trying to do and the GM will tell the player what
attribute to roll. The player then rolls the die for that
attribute and the GM rolls a d8. If the player gets the equal
or higher roll they win the contest. If the GM gets the higher
roll the player looses the contest.
The GM always rolls a d8 for anything that he does
including traps, bad guys attacks & defenses, and any
challenges that the characters might encounter.
Making Characters
Players should decide on what kind of character they want to
play: A nimble archer, a stalwart barbarian, a sneaky thief, a
crafty mage, or any other type of character they can think of.
Each character has five things to worry about:
 Dice – Each player has 5 dice: a d12, d10, d8, d6,
and d4.
 Attributes – Each character has 5 attributes:
Fighter, Ranger, Thief, Cleric, and Mage.
 Hits – Each character can take 5 hits before they go
unconscious.
 Gear – Characters have all the appropriate gear for
the type of character that they are.
 Exp – Characters gain experience points as they
adventure.
To make a character, have players assign each of the 5 dice
to each of their character’s 5 attributes. Then have players
write down 3 of their characters most important pieces of
gear on their character sheet.
The five attribute are described below:
 Fighter – This attribute is used any time a character
wants to attack or defend in melee combat, deal with
armor or shields, or for any knowledge about combat,
tactics and battle.
 Ranger – This attribute is used any time a character
wants to attack or defend in ranged combat, track or evade
creatures in the woods, or for any knowledge about
animals and the wilderness.
 Thief – This attribute is used any time a character
wants to attack from hiding or defend against ambushes,
notice things that are hidden, sneaking, or for any
knowledge about traps, theft or illegal activities.
 Cleric – This attribute is used any time a character
wants to attack or defend against undead or demonic
powers, heal party members, talk to others in social
situations, or for any knowledge about dark magic and
extra planar beings.
 Mage – This attribute is used any time a character
wants to attack or defend in magical combat, pass magical
traps or barriers, or for any knowledge of the arcane arts,
history, or magical items & threats.
Races
If you choose to make a distinction in what different fantasy
races are good at then you can use this rule.
Each race has a +1 modifier they can be applied to one
attribute. Each race also has a choice of what attribute they
can apply their bonus to.
 Dwarf – Gets +1 bonus to Fighter or to Cleric
 Elf – Gets +1 bonus to Ranger or to Mage
 Gnome – Gets +1 bonus to Ranger or to Mage
 Halfling – Gets +1 bonus to Thief or to Cleric
 Half-Ork – Gets +1 bonus to Fighter or to Thief
 Human or Half-Elf – Gets +1 bonus to any one
attribute.
Combat
Initiative – At the beginning of a fight have each player roll
a d20 for initiative. The characters act in the order of highest
initiative roll to the lowest initiative roll. Ties happen at the
same time. Keep this order for the entire combat.
Actions – Each round a character can move and take an
action, by rolling the appropriate attribute, or move and
attack.
Movement – Characters can move before or after their
action. If you are using minis then they are able to move 5
squares in any direction.
Attacking – Attacking characters will roll the appropriate
attribute for the way they want to attack. The GM rolls a d8
for the monster to defend. If the character gets an equal or
higher result than the GM then the character gets a hit. If the
character gets a lower roll then the character misses. If the
character hits, the GM marks a hit on the monster’s sheet. To
shoot or use magic on a monster the character must be
within 5 squares. If the character is going to hit a monster he
must be in a square right next to the monster.
Defending – Defending characters will roll an attribute
appropriate to the attack. The GM rolls a d8 for the monster
to attack. If the character gets an equal or higher result than
the GM then the character successfully defends and takes no
damage. If the character fails then they are hit and they mark
a hit box on their character sheet.
Damage – If a character gets hit 5 times they go
unconscious. Each round on their turn an unconscious
character can roll their Cleric attribute against the GM’s d8
to return to the fight and erase 1 hit.
Healing – In combat one character can heal another
character by 1 hit on their turn with a successful Cleric
attribute roll against the GM’s d8 roll. After combat
characters regain all their hits.
Defeating the Party – If all the characters loose all their hits
then they have been defeated. Since characters can’t die in
this system this is a great way for GM’s to have bad guys
give dramatic speeches or have the PC’s make a dramatic
escape from a dungeon.
Monsters & Bad Guys
Each monster or bad guy has a value from 1 to 5. A value 1
monster is pretty pathetic, while a value 5 bad guy is going
to be the main villain for a game. The higher the value, the
tougher the bad guy. Remember that all bad guys roll a d8
for any action that they do.
Monsters and bad guys have four things the GM needs to
worry about:
 Initiative – This is what number the bad guy acts
on in the initiative order – equal to twice the bad guy’s
value.
 Number of Actions – This is how many times the
bad guy can act during a round – equal to the bad guy’s
value.
 Number of Hits – This is the number of hits it
takes to defeat the bad guy – equal to the bad guy’s value.
 Roll Bonus – This number is added to any d8 roll
the bad guy makes – equal to the bad guy’s value.
Bad guys are able to do any appropriate actions: evil mages
can cast spells and summon demons, black knights can fight
well and have menacing armor, and marauding dragons can
bite warriors in half and breath fire while flying.
Bad guys also don’t have any of the benefits of magical
item, those are reserved for PC’s. The GM should describe
any magical items a bad guy has, but the item is taken into
account mechanically with the bad guy’s roll bonus.
Though if a GM wants to create a really challenging
encounter they can include magical item bonuses at their
discretion.
Magical Items
Magical items are things that the GM can give to a character
as a reward for good role-playing, reaching character goals,
and for doing awesome things in the game. Magical items
might be given to characters as gifts, found in a dragons
treasure hoard, or taken from a fallen bad guy. The form a
magical item can take could be anything from a magical
sword to enchanted boots or a single-use magical potion.
There are three different effects that magical items tend to
have: bonuses, re-rolls, or switching.
 Bonuses – Bonuses are just static numbers that add
to a character’s attribute roll. For example, a magical
sword that provides a +1 bonus to attacks with the
Fighter attribute allows the character to add 1 to any
Fighter roll to hit someone. Bonuses from a magic item
should either be +1 for a weak item or a +2 for a strong
item.
 Re-Roll – A magical item that allows for a re-roll
lets a character re-roll one failed check for a particular
Attribute during the round. For example, a magical staff
that allows for a re-roll could let a character re-roll a
failed Mage attribute roll for attack or defense each
round.
 Switching – A magical item that allows for
switching lets a character roll one attribute in place of
another for a particular action. For example, a magical
shield that allows switching might let a character roll
their Fighter attribute to defend against a magic spell
instead of their Mage attribute.
Strong magical items could have more than one effect.
Artifacts will probably have all three effects.
Some magic items may work only one time or may have a
special effect that isn’t listed hear. For example, a one-use
magic healing potion that automatically brings a character
up to full hits when used, a magical wand that will open
locked doors, or a backpack that will hold anything a experience to a player who did particularly well or performed
character can put in it. particularly heroically during the session.

Advancement For every 3 exp a character gets, that characters receives a

As characters defeat enemies and overcome challenges they
will gain experience that allows them to develop more
power.
Each session that a character plays in they gain 1 experience
point. GM’s should feel free to award an extra point of
+1 bonus they can apply to one attribute of their choice.
If a character already has a +1 bonus to an attribute and
wants to increase it again after they earn another 3 exp then
the attribute looses the +1 bonus but increases to the next
die. This includes bonuses from a character’s race.

Average 8 RPG – Character Sheet

Attributes Dice Character Info
Nam
Fighter
Ranger Gear
Thief Exp
Cleric
Mage
Hits

Average 8 RPG – Character Sheet
Attributes Dice Character Info
Nam
Fighter
Ranger Gear
Thief Exp
Cleric
Mage
Hits

Average 8 RPG – Character Sheet
Attributes Dice Character Info
Nam
Fighter
Ranger Gear
Thief Exp
Cleric
Mage
Hits
