Have you ever wanted to play a tabletop roleplaying game like Dungeons and Dragons or Call of Cthulu? Are the endless pages of rules housed in expensive rulebooks stopping you from trying? Maybe you already play DnD semi-regularly, but someone in your group always flakes last minute. You might even want to convince your non-RPG playing friends to give it a shot, but the buy-in for creating a character is too high.
5-Minute Adventures is an RPG that looks to solve these problems. The rules are simple, sessions require no prior preparation, and characters can be made in under five minutes. In this booklet are the basic rules required to play, examples of how actual sessions might go, templates for character sheets and adventures, and additional rules for those who want more complexity. Is building a character too much to ask of your group? Then try one of the pre-made adventures with accompanying character sheets at the end of this booklet to get going right now!
All you need to start playing is some paper, these rules (which you will memorize very quickly), and some six-sided dice (the ones that come with boardgames). Enjoy!
If you’re going to be the GM, go ahead and skip to the “How to be a GM.” For Players, continue below to “How to be a Player.”
Your character has 4 abilities: Skill, Suave, Smarts, and Strength.
If you want to build a more complicated character, check out the Optional Rules section for how to add “Times I’m Great In” and something that means everything to you. Examples of how to use these are included in the Play Examples section.
Running the game in 5-minute adventures aims to be an easier experience than any other system out there. If you’ve never GM’d any system before and are not sure how its done, there is a plethora of How-To videos and articles on the internet. Matt Colville is a DnD focused youtube channel but a great place to start. You might also consider watching or listening to TTRPG shows to get a feel for how it goes at a real table. The best way to learn is by doing, however, and this section should help you go from nothing to a prepared adventure in no time.
Your job as the GM is to describe a world the players can interact with and have fun inside of. The dangers, characters, and random events you wrote down previously are helpful guide-rails for determining how the adventure progresses. If you’re new to running RPGs and not sure how this should work, check out the Play Examples section further on.
As your players interact with the world, they will want to do non-trivial things. An example of a trivial thing is pulling a phone out of your pocket, an example of a non-trivial thing would be breaking down a door. To determine if a character can do something non-trivial, the player does an ability check. To do an ability check:
| Difficulty | Required Roll |
|---|---|
| Trivial | 2 |
| Simple | 3 |
| Easy | 6 |
| Manageable | 9 |
| Challenging | 12 |
| Complex | 15 |
| Herculean | 18 |
| Impossible | 21 |
| Roll | Setting |
|---|---|
| 1 | Fantasy |
| 2 | Sci-Fi |
| 3 | Cyberpunk |
| 4 | Steampunk |
| 5 | Post-Apocalyptic |
| 6 | Horror |
| Roll | Setting |
|---|---|
| 1 | Noir |
| 2 | Historical |
| 3 | Pirates |
| 4 | Modern |
| 5 | Urban Fantasy |
| 6 | Superheroes |
| Roll | Situation |
|---|---|
| 1 | A Heist: The party must break through heavy security to retrieve something valuable or important. |
| 2 | Escort Mission: The party must guide an important person or object through perilous territory to safety. |
| 3 | Jailbreak: The party must escape from a heavily guarded place where they are trapped. |
| 4 | Investigation: The party must solve a mystery or uncover the truth behind strange events or crimes. |
| 5 | Assassination: The party is tasked with eliminating a high-profile target without getting caught. |
| 6 | Defend the Fort: The party must defend a location from waves of attackers or a siege. |
| Roll | Situation |
|---|---|
| 1 | Diplomatic Mission: The party must negotiate with different factions to secure alliances or prevent war. |
| 2 | Rivalry: The party must compete against a rival group in a race, contest, or other competitive event. |
| 3 | Survival: The party must survive in a hostile environment with limited resources. |
| 4 | Monster Hunt: The party must track down and defeat a dangerous creature terrorizing an area. |
| 5 | Undercover Operation: The party must blend in with a hostile group to gather intelligence or sabotage from within. |
| 6 | Rebellion: The party must lead or support a rebellion against a tyrannical regime or overlord. |
| Roll | Character |
|---|---|
| 1 | A former mentor who now sees a player as a threat. |
| 2 | A rival who wants to beat a player to the punch. |
| 3 | An outlaw partner who encourages a player to embrace their darker side. |
| 4 | An explorer who urges a player to leave their comfort zone. |
| 5 | A sage who provides a player with cryptic advice. |
| 6 | An innocent who believes in a player’s inherent goodness. |
| Roll | Setting |
|---|---|
| 1 | A lover who doesn’t approve of a player’s goal. |
| 2 | A jester who uses humor to hide their true intentions from a player. |
| 3 | A ruler who demands a player’s loyalty and service. |
| 4 | An everyman who reminds a player of what they left behind. |
| 5 | A trickster who helps a player out of trouble but often causes more problems. |
| 6 | A destroyer who tempts a player with revenge. |
GM: “You’re in the most decadent ball room you’ve ever seen. Gold leaf lines the rims of glasses and designer silks drape over the shoulders of every rich businessman and debutante present. The governor you’re assigned to kidnap is at the back of the room, surrounded by private bodyguards with earpieces.”
Wren: “I want to try and poison the punch so we can get closer to him in the chaos.”
GM: “Awesome! Make a Smarts check. This is an easy task so I’m looking for a 6 or higher. Make me a Suave check as well to hide what you’re doing.”
Wren: “I have a level 2 in Smarts so I rolled 2 dice and got snake eyes. I’m good at poisoning things so I’m going to re-roll. Okay I rolled 2 dice again and this time it added up to 8! I only roll one dice for Suave and I got a 2.”
GM: “You successfully poison the punch but you draw the attention of a nearby wait staff in the process. He’s rapidly approaching you with a sour look on his face.”
Mike: “Defusing tense situations is one of the times I’m great in, can I intercept?”
GM: “Absolutely! Give me a Suave check. This is manageable so you have to beat a 9.”
Mike: “I have level 3 Suave and one additional dice from the time I’m great in. A total of 13!”
GM: “You crush it! What do you say to this worried employee as your friend is dropping chemicals into the punch?”
Mike: “Hey buddy no need to worry, we were hired to provide additional security here. This is a harmless liquid that will only discolor the drink if it’s been poisoned. Totally standard stuff.”
GM: “He crosses his arms and says ‘Well, if you say so. But I got my eye on you!’. Looks like you’ve managed to poison the punch without too much trouble!”
GM: “The skeleton swings its sword at you with the intent to slice off the hand that made such an insolent gesture. Give me either a Skill check to dodge this or a Strength check to shield it. I’m looking for a 6 on either.”
Trevor: “I’m going to try and dodge. I have a level 2 skill so I’m going to roll 2 dice. A 2 and 2, not enough. I have 2 XP though, so I’m going to turn those both into 6s and level up my Skill.”
GM: “You got it. That won’t help you this time but maybe it will save you next time.”
Elle: “I’m not only good at protecting but I’m great at protecting my friends in desperate times. Can I jump in between them and throw up my shield?”
GM: “Of course! Go ahead and roll an extra d6 and roll with advantage since you’re both good and great at it. I’m looking for Strength of 9 or higher here.”
Elle: “Ok so with a Strength of 3 and the bonuses I’m rolling 4 dice. 15 total on the first roll. Only 8 on the second roll though, so I’ll keep the first. 15 total.”
GM: “You heroically dash in-between them and throw up your shield. The skeleton’s sword weakly clinks off of it and sends it reeling backwards a few steps. Above you, a full moon begins to rise and cast an eerie glow upon the graveyard. Bony arms shoot up from the earth, grasping at the dirt and dragging themselves out of their shallow graves. Their ranks are complimented by none other than a werewolf in at the top of the hill who lets out a ferocious yet pained howl, silhouetted by the light of the moon.”
Matt: “I’ve got this one! I’m a werewolf and protecting my people means everything to me. Can I try and communicate that we’re friends and need their help to take out the skeletons?”
GM: “Amazing! You let out a powerful howl that catches their attention. It’s been a long time since they’ve seen one of their own. They’re trepidatious about letting intruders onto their turf, but connecting with kin is enough to subdue that conviction for the time being. They let out an affirmative growl and begin slicing down the skeletons on their side of the graveyard.”
In this section you’ll find a number of optional rules. Feel free to apply as many or few of these as you desire to add complexity to your games.
Increased Character Complexity For more complex characters, you can start by adding more things you’re good at up to a total of three. You can also add up to two “Times I’m Great In”. Times you’re great in are a situation plus an action: picking locks in a military complex, telling jokes at a funeral, etc. When you’re rolling in a time you’re great in, add an extra d6 to the roll. If you are rolling for something you’re good at and a time you’re great in, the bonuses stack. Finally, you can add one “means everything to me”. This is a goal for your character that is separate form the main plot. You can invoke this once per game to do anything you want as long as it furthers your character-specific goal (at the GM’s discretion).
Contests If two characters or a character and an NPC are competing with each other to do something, have both parties roll and choose the higher roll.
Aid If one player wants to help another, they must describe how they will help. The player who wishes to provide aid must then make a check that is one level easier than the check they are trying to help with. If they succeed, the difficulty of the check they are helping with is reduced by 2.
Aid Failure When playing with Aid rules, increase the difficulty by 2 if the aid check fails.
Limiting XP For players who are prone to abusing the system, limit XP to the first check in each sequence of checks. If a player is negotiating a deal, for example, only one XP will be awarded for the entire conversation.
Multi-session Play To expand this system to multiple session play, use feats. At the end of each session, each player is awarded a feat based on something they succeeded on in the session. This feat provides some advantage for future play. Reset ability levels in-between each session if they are too close to max.
Party checks For situations where all the players are participating, have each player make a relevant check and take the lowest or highest of the rolls.