Taking a Peek at QUERP - Quick Easy Role Playing

I picked up QUERP years ago on a whim about the same time I was grabbing all the PDQ system driven games I could find.  The price was right (5 bucks) but I think it got lost in all that PDQ noise at the time.  Now, as I look for a game system to run on a fairly regular basis,i find myself expanding my world view past the OSR.  I jokingly brought up QUERP in last night's blog post, but after giving it a read through (straight through on the Player's section, haphazard on the GM section and poking about on the adventure - skipped the included solo) it's actually a pretty tight and rules light game (Quick Easy Role Playing)

The player's section is about a dozen pages in length.  It includes six character classes, a small amount of spells, a weapon list, item list, armor, rules for melee, casting spells, character advancement - it's all here.  In twelve pages.  About the only thing missing is a skill list, which I think could be grafted on fairly easily.  Heck, it might be in one of the other books for this system.  I'll have to do some research.

The default character generation method isn't really a generation method - starting stats for all members of a certain class is the same for everyone.  So, all Priests start with the following Characteristics: Fighting 1, Magic 5, Strength 3, Charisma 6, Stealth 2 and Knowledge 4.  If you notice the spread, it's 1-6 inclusive.  There are rules in the GM section to allow players to play around with this.

Pretty much everything is resolved with a "characteristic roll".  Roll 2d6 and add your stat.  Equal or exceed your  target number and you succeed.  Lower and you fail.  It's actually a pretty elegant system.

Interestingly, the rules cover "bribery" situations.  Too bad "interrogation" and / or "torture" aren't ;)

Only humans are covered in the core rule book.  Other races are added in later books it seems.

The monster section covers many of the usual fantasy tropes, including the missing demihumans (but without enough info to run them as PCs).  I do like the minimalistic stats for adversaries.  Just what you need and little more.  Descriptions are a paragraph or two, perfect for flavor without going overboard.

Overall, I'm very impressed.  Impressed enough that I ordered the core rule book, the players expansion and the monster book in dead tree format.  You can find them at Lulu and surprisingly at Amazon.  At Amazon they ship free with Prime and are discounted.  With Lulu, you can snag a 25% off coupon (RETAILMENOT25) but shipping ain't free.  You might want to do the math to see what works out better for you.  Oh, and of course you can find them at RPGNow. (maybe they should add this to the list of dead tree books available at RPGNow)