Barbarian, Thief and Sorcerer - Lite Edition

All Vibes, (Almost) No Mechanics

In the distance you see it: a horde of axe-wielding barbarians, silver-tongued thieves and cunning sorcerers commanding Magics headed your way. You freeze, not knowing where to run.
While you wait for them to arrive, their forward force rushes you head-on: a miniature version of the main horde, literally knee high, surround you. You can see the resemblance, but can't tell how one gets one from the other. You grab a mini-barbarian off the ground, laughing and wondering how this can be considered a threat.
Then the bastard bites your finger off.

Barbarian, Thief and Sorcerer - Lite Edition is an attempt to hack my 100+ page long game into a single sheet, a "one-page RPG" as one might say. You can think of it as a quick start, an advertisement, a creative exercise or a jam entry. The result is the same: 6 columns of writing telling you to play and have fun.

Since this is a concentrated version of the game, let me first describe what to expect before you take your first sip: BTS Lite is a sword-and-sorcery game where swords are deadly, magics are maddening, men and women violent and passionate; where the roads sing a siren song to the hot-blooded who won't get to grow old.

What's In

1. How to create your character, including arms and armor to equip yourselves with
2. How to play the game, including a rudimentary spellcasting system
3. How to trade blows in a field of battle, including recovering from surface blows and suffering from debilitating ones
4. How to describe the world, including secrets forgotten to mankind
5. How to create opponents for players to face, including otherworldly monstrosities
6. How a BTS adventure might look, with an adventure fragment as an example

Oh, speaking of playing the game, basic rule is just one line:

Roll 1d12 and add your attribute. You succeed on 12 and above.

What's Out

Remember the part about the original game being 100+ pages? That means there is a lot of it left out, including but not limited to:

1. Skill descriptions, Talents and Advancement
2. Tens of weapons with different properties
3. More rules on exploring the world like Skill Encounters
4. Build-your-own combat tricks
5. Detailed magic system where you can improve basic features of a spell at the cost of making it harder to cast
6. GM guides to create detailed NPCs and monstrosities, including Hordes and Battle Companies
7. GM guides to handle treasure, both material and social
8. Much, much more GM guidance on running sessions and preparing campaigns
9. An index

If all these sound interesting to you, you can pay-what-you-want to bring the original BTS closer to publication.

---

Cover art by Melih Yılmaz, used with permission.