Rules-light RPGs that can run a satisfying session in an hour?

[kyoryu]

You could probably do Fate Accelerated, assuming everyone knew and was comfortable with the genre/setting. Character creation is then "describe your character in a short statement" and "what adjective would you describe your character as, quick, forceful, clever, careful, flashy, or sneaky?"

By avoiding Conflicts you can get a lot of "story" done in that period of time.

[Pauly]

Possible downsides include

2) making the Jenga tower fall could be offputting. Also, a student might knock it down out of boredom and kinda ruin the tension.

So another game is probably better, but I thought I'd mention it in case it fits perfectly for your group.

Easy solution to this is to count the levels of the jenga tower. Give them a set goal (27 levels is a tough target, 24 is easy) to reach. Then each time they play after that they have to beat their previous high score. That will also help play into the horror side of the RPG as it will help raise the tension as the Jenga tower goes up.

Also you can have the players instruct the next player (no pointing must verbally describe the target block and its new location). If you have an odd number of players it can help you cycle through the game more quickly, leading to less “down time” where players are inactive.
Player A describes their RPG action the instructs player B
Player B moves the block
Player C describes/instructs player D
player D moves
Player E describes/instructs player A
Player A moves
and so forth around the group.

Using Jenga in ESL is double plus fun when the students are engineers.

[TripleD]

Easy solution to this is to count the levels of the jenga tower. Give them a set goal (27 levels is a tough target, 24 is easy) to reach. Then each time they play after that they have to beat their previous high score. That will also help play into the horror side of the RPG as it will help raise the tension as the Jenga tower goes up.

Also you can have the players instruct the next player (no pointing must verbally describe the target block and its new location). If you have an odd number of players it can help you cycle through the game more quickly, leading to less “down time” where players are inactive.
Player A describes their RPG action the instructs player B
Player B moves the block
Player C describes/instructs player D
player D moves
Player E describes/instructs player A
Player A moves
and so forth around the group.

Using Jenga in ESL is double plus fun when the students are engineers.

Nothing new to add. Just wanted to say that that sounds like a great way to practise spatial words (over, under, next to, etc.) and, although I may not have time this semester, I’ll definitely be adding this to my bag of tricks for the future.

[PandaPhobia]

Any suggestions for rules-light RPGs that can run a session in an hour or so?

Genre doesn’t matter. Anything from space battles to farmers in ancient China is fair game.

I recommend numenara, with the cipher system. the entire thing is very easy to figure out. and the numanera setting is extremely interesting, with lore and backstory galore that surprises even the most jaded players.

[1of3]

Inspectres - Comedic Monster Hunter game. Chargen 2 minutes. Lots of player empowerment.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17891/InSpectres

[Pauly]

Nothing new to add. Just wanted to say that that sounds like a great way to practise spatial words (over, under, next to, etc.) and, although I may not have time this semester, I’ll definitely be adding this to my bag of tricks for the future.

Also things like “my left or your left”, “closest to the whiteboard”, “it’s stuck”, “it’s too risky” as well as “how about ...?”, and “from the top or from the bottom”.

Jenga’s my go to tool for spatial references and instructions. It needs to be Jenga Ultimate (three colors of blocks) not the regular Jenga. Regular Jenga is too hard to differentiate the blocks.When I hear the students counting levels in sotto voice I loudly go “one, two, three!”

The other one I use for instructions is blindfolded pacman. Set up an obstacle course with chairs/tables in the classroom. One student is “pacman” and has to be guided from one side of the room to the other and 2 “ghosts” who try to catch pacman before they cross the room. Each pacman and ghost is blindfolded and has a controller who gives them instructions on where to go. You tell the pacman who their controller is but the ghosts don’t know who their individual controller is. Or you can have one ghost controller trying to control two ghosts.

[gmatht]

As I recall, Puppetland games always take an hour, because after an hour the puppet show ends and all the puppets go to sleep.

If you are interested in Werewolf/Mafia (as suggested previously), you could also look at One Night Ultimate Werewolf. Much like regular werewolf, in a One Night game a character gets lynched at the end of the day. However there is only one night and day lasts exactly 10 minutes, so you you know exactly how long the game will run and can fit multiple games into a hour. In One Night the game ends as soon as someone is lynched so you don't have players who can't participate because they were lynched at the very beginning of an hour long game.

[Mutazoia]

I suppose I should throw Teenagers from Outer Space into the ring.

[GreatDane]

For a one-shot that lasts an hour, I can only recommend SPIDER-MAN.

The premise is that each player character is a Spider-Man from a different universe. (A cosmic kerfuffle or villainous plot brought them together.)

Each player can describe their Spider-Man however they like, but each character has only one statistic. Each player chooses a number between 2 and 5. Whenever a character takes an action, they roll a d6. Actions can be classified as SPIDER (web-slinging, crime-fighting, etc.) or MAN (going to class, talking to Aunt May, hiding your secret identity, etc.).

For SPIDER actions, you succeed by rolling under your number. For MAN actions, you succeed by rolling over your number. Thus, players can choose how good their Spider-Man is at being SPIDER or MAN.

The outcome of a roll determines how well an action goes. If a character is trying to get some extra cash from J. Jonah Jameson for their photos, and rolls well over their number, Jameson should pay up and be downright non-toxic about it. If the player rolls far under their number, Jameson might assign them extra work or threaten the character's job. Rolls right on the number should be success, but with some complication. (Maybe Jameson pays up, but lets the character know that work will be light for the next few weeks.)

As the game master, all you have to do is pick a villain or three, give them a nefarious plot, and task the players with solving it. It's important to include obstacles that challenge both the SPIDER and MAN aspects of the characters.

This mini-RPG has the benefit of tying in with the upcoming Into the Spider-Verse film.

[kyoryu]

For a one-shot that lasts an hour, I can only recommend SPIDER-MAN.

So basically a Trollbabe/Lasers&Feelings reskin?

[Martin Greywolf]

I'd recommend FATE, but not FATE Core. Try FATE Accelerated.

I normally wouldn't recommend it, since I found it way too easy to cheese it and always use your top skill and not very mechanically interesting as a result, but in this case, it works perfectly. All you need are approaches, aspects and stunts and you're free to go, and stunts can slide in a pinch.

That said, any system will do here provided you decompose it properly. DnD 3.5 is, at its core, rolling d20 versus a target number, so use that and you're good to go. Skill based systems are obviously a lot easier to simplify, I've introduced a complete TTRPG virgin to FATE Core in a session that lasted for about a hour and a half, complete with character creation and slow rules introduction.

[Rhedyn]

Any suggestions for rules-light RPGs that can run a session in an hour or so?

Genre doesn’t matter. Anything from space battles to farmers in ancient China is fair game.

Context: I teach ESL to university students. For my advanced class I’ve experimented with board games (Diplomacy and Catan) with a lot of success. I thought an RPG session might be a good continuation of that trend. Problem is that I only have 1 hour for a group of five, and I’ll probably only be able to run it once.

Most of the games I play are rules-heavy, multi-hour affairs, so I’d love to hear suggestions for alternatives.

I would use Savage Worlds but focus more on Quick Encounters, Dramatic Task, Chases, Mass Battles, and Social Conflicts more so than tactical combat. But I would still use the tactical combat for dramatic "end of the adventure" boss fights.

I tend to run Savage Worlds for hours at a time, but man do we get through a lot each session.

[TripleD]

Had no idea this thread was still going!

Sadly did not get a chance to run the game this semester. End of year crunch just got too intense and planning time shrunk to the bare minimum.

Still wanted to say “thank you” for all suggestions people threw out. I will definitely bookmark this thread for the future.