1974 Style (2014)

From the introduction:

1974 Style is a set of free, familiar, and easily modifiable role-playing game rules suitable for Fantasy, Pulp, Horror, Western and Sci-Fi Adventures.

A typical old-school RPG module stats list for a monster looks like this: AC6, MV9', HD 1, hp 4, #AT1, D1-10 by halberd. The 1974 Style rules use these same stats for player characters.

web page blurb:
1974 Style™ is an homage to the World’s Oldest Fantasy RPG. The core rules clock in at a single, one-sided page, with an additional page of optional setting-specific rules to emulate Sci-Fi, Western, Horror and Pulp settings.

Another couple of pages of monster stats give a GM a minimalist bestiary to run a variety of adventures.

Download and use 1974 Style for free:

1 Page Rules plus GM Resources — print page one for players; the rest is usually for the GM’s eyes only. After you’ve created a character, you won’t even need this sheet.
4×6″ Card Character Sheet (with rules summary) — feed blank 4×6″ cards into a photo printer tray, and print these off as character sheets and player cheat sheets.

Why use 1974 Style?

It’s a simple, minimalist and familiar way to run a quick pick-up game, Con game, or introduce new players to the tabletop RPG hobby. For those who don’t care for extensive rules or deep character customization, the rules are complete enough to run entire long-term campaigns.

How Can 1974 Style Be So Minimalist?

A typical old-school RPG module stats list for a monster looks like this: AC6, MV9’, HD 1, hp 4, #AT1, D1-10 by halberd. The 1974 Style rules use these same stats for player characters (PCs) .

Character stats can fit on a 3×5″ or 4×6″ card, and all the rules for a given game and setting can fit on a single sheet of paper.

1974 Style™ was inspired by Nicolas Dessaux’s Searchers of the Unknown and Ed Green’s Searchers in Spaaace!!! rules, as well as the original 1974 fantasy role-playing game.