SimpleQuest was the original name for OpenQuest when I started developing it in 2007. Before the game’s release in 2010, I changed its name to OpenQuest to reflect the fact that it was entirely open gaming content under the OGL at the time.

OpenQuest today is much bigger than the short system that was SimpleQuest, since it grew due to customer feedback. But I always had the desire to present a shorter version of the game. D100 systems back in the 80s were very short and direct, one very famous ruleset had an edition that had 23 pages of rules!

The copy of SimpleQuest I had made for my holidays.

So just before my holidays in August, I very quickly threw SimpleQuest together from colour art I already have from being a Patreon of Jeshields for the good part of a decade, and a gorgeous wrap round cover by Jon Hodgson that last was seen gracing OpenQuest 2nd Edition.  SimpleQuest combines rules from the main OpenQuest rulebook plus bits from the OpenQuest Companion (Deities list and One Magic System). It also has new concise rules for Religions and their Ranks, and also for Patrons who watch over adventuring parties and dole out one use magic if they please them (think Hera in Jason and the Argonauts). Also if you are wondering how I got a good portion of OpenQuest’s creature section in, I created a new concise version of the stat block that has all the essential bits for reference at the gaming table.  Finally, It’s 100% compatible with OpenQuest and its adventures.

Here are the first 36 pages and the character sheet to give you an idea of what the book is like.

• SimpleQuest Preview – Pdf

And here’s the cover by Jon Hodgson.

SimpleQuest cover by Jon Hodgson

The plan is to Kickstart this in a two-week campaign, starting on Monday 28th November until Monday 12th December. As soon as funds clear the pdf will be issued, and the book will go to the printers for a mailout sometime in January.

The stretch goals for the Kickstarter include adventures and adventures and a setting guide for a setting called Darkvale, written specifically for SimpleQuest. The plan is to do more settings/adventures for SimpleQuest in the future. I’m certainly planning to redo Life and Death (an out-of-print OQ adventure setting) for SimpleQuest, since it’s more a direct sort of fantasy setting than say the Empire of Gatan.

Darkvale, cover by Jon Hodgson

If you’ve already invested in OpenQuest, don’t feel you need this book. Its main selling point is that it’s a shorter full, colour travel-friendly version of OpenQuest, which I wanted for my holidays. There are a few new bits (see the SimpleQuest vs OpenQuest pdf link below), but it is 95% OQ that is available between the OQ main rulebook and the OQ Companion. Going forward I’ve already got plans to use SQ as a base for standalone games, and the relationship between SQ and OQ is similar to Fate Condensed/Accelerated and Fate Core or Basic/Expert D&D and Advanced D&D. Ie. they are essentially the same game, but do some things slightly differently.

If you are interested in the differences between the two games, check out this comparison pdf.

• SimpleQuest Vs OpenQuest – Pdf

If you’ve not come across OpenQuest before, it’s a good playable version of the game that doesn’t have the complexity that OpenQuest’s three magic systems bring to the table.  When the Kickstarter opens in a couple of weeks, you can also pick up OpenQuest (at a discount) as an add-on if you fancy having the big book version and the existing adventures and supplements.

Update: The SimpleQuest Kickstarter opens next week, Monday 28th, for two weeks. Sign up to the notification page and back on the first day, to get bonus content https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/645319106/simplequest/