Cairn, the simplest system to start playing tabletop RPGs

Want to get into tabletop RPGs with friends but don't have a wizard to guide you through this niche world? Do the Dungeons & Dragons guides leave you more confused than before? Are you a creative person but all the numbers make your head spin? I've got the answer for you because, as a matter of fact, I am that person.

Dungeons & Dragons tends to be the most recommended rule system for a good reason: it's the most widely used. Its popularity is justified by its versatility, years of development, balance, and a massive community. But none of that makes it any easier to get through the 320 pages of its rulebook. And even though there's plenty of content out there to help you understand the system's rules, the truth is that the challenge for a young Dungeon Master is a big one. Another system, Pathfinder (the one used in Luquitas Rodriguez's PAREN LA AVENTURA) has a rulebook of 577 pages! If you're like me and the thought of running a game you don't fully understand gives you vertigo, I have the perfect answer: Cairn.

What is Cairn

Cairn is a tabletop RPG rule system created by Yochai Gal in 2022. It has two features that make it stand out. First, it's simple. In fact, it's about as simple as a tabletop RPG similar to D&D can get without sacrificing its key features. At just 32 pages, it has a rulebook (available in Spanish) that you can easily read cover to cover in one sitting with your players and -- very importantly -- that you can print cheaply. The best part is that its simplicity doesn't sacrifice depth: you can run compelling, complex stories without any issues.

Second, Cairn stands out for being a narratively driven game. This means that the most important thing is, always, that the story makes sense and unfolds in interesting ways. Its mechanical aspects (when to roll dice, the combat system, its inventory) are all just excuses for the story to move forward and for the players to interact with the world.

In fact, combat is so violent and dangerous that as a player you have to approach it very carefully. The result? A huge part of the session depends on your story, its characters, the interaction with the world. And since YOU are the Dungeon Master, you can literally do anything. Create treacherous NPCs, have horseback chases, make your players improvise during a storm or escape from prison -- whatever you want. The world is YOURS.

Dice rolls in Cairn

Cairn is a rule system, not a world in itself. This means that when you're putting together a session, you need to pick an existing world (you can play Cairn in Middle-earth, in the world of The Witcher, anywhere you like). Or you can -- even more interesting -- invent your own world. The rules apply just the same. Want a dark, violent, magic-free world? Go for it. Want to throw magic into a detective story? You can do that too. All of this thanks to its dice roll system: unlike D&D, where rolling a 20-sided die (a d20) always means aiming for the highest number, here the lower the roll, the better.

There are only three attributes: Strength, Dexterity, and Willpower -- the latter being the attribute for magic and intelligence. And as the Dungeon Master, you're the one who decides when a player has to roll. Want to break down a door? Roll a d20 for Strength. Want to sneak past? Roll a d20 for Dexterity. Want to convince someone with a lie? Roll a d20 for Willpower. And if the die lands on or below their attribute score (for example, if they have 12 Strength and roll an 8), they pass. But if it's higher... then it's up to you to come up with the trouble they just got themselves into. That's the fun of this system: you, as the Dungeon Master, decide how to handle every situation.

The rules are just an excuse

You've got the rulebook, the character sheet, a chosen world, a group of players, and it looks like everything's set to go... but you're still nervous? Jitters, the urge to do absolutely nothing, whatever it is. Don't sweat it -- that's completely normal. Starting these things without someone experienced tends to be overwhelming, and not knowing "how things should be" always breeds anxiety. Watching videos of actual sessions can help you get an idea, but that didn't work for me at all. I felt like I was on my own. That's where Cairn really helped: it's a system packed with resources.

On its official website there are bestiaries so you can add monsters, pre-made adventures, a Discord to chat with other GMs, weapons and magic items already designed for you to use -- everything you could need. The system even has a dungeon crawler, meaning an automatic dungeon generator in case you want to try playing solo and see how combat works. All of these things help you feel more prepared, but the important thing, always and at all times, is that you're pumped to play.

My first session, with no one to guide me, was kind of a disaster. The players didn't follow the one quest I'd prepared and I had to improvise the entire session. Most of their rolls came out bad, so I had to keep inventing catastrophes the whole time. I misunderstood the HP system and made a mess of it, I got the damage wrong several times, they nearly died on multiple occasions because I misjudged how strong the monsters were. A thousand things went sideways and I thought it was the worst session in the world. And you know what? I got plenty more chances to play with them because the players had a blast and asked me to continue that story. And me, behind all that stress, I had a ton of fun too.

That's the most important thing about Cairn: its core is narrative and, therefore, the rules are just an excuse. Adapt them as you go, improvise until the very end. Because in the middle of all that chaos lies the fun of living in another world for a while and making up stories on the fly. If that appeals to you, this is the ideal game for you. And if you have any questions, you can always reach out to me, Gopnik, the Cairn Discord, or any of the RPG nerds who inhabit this world to get your questions answered and set up online sessions, which is an incredibly fun thing this system lets you do. Playing with a mic, a notebook, a pen, and two dice.

So you've got no more excuses: set up a session already. Let's go.