Little Bones is a minimalist tabletop role-playing game (RPG) designed by my good friend Numbered Works. It distills the essence of classic fantasy RPGs into a concise, double-sided A5 sheet, making it ideal for quick sessions, casual gatherings, and introducing newcomers to the hobby.
I’ve been experimenting with genre hacks of Little Bones, largely inspired by whatever groan-inducing puns I can think of based on the Bones title. You can download these to play/test for free here:
- Cross Bones: Yarr! Pirate adventures! A rum-fuelled swashbuckling hack.
- Lone Bone: A lean, mean Weird West hack where gunslingers and ghosts ride dusty trails.
- Elder Bones: A mythos-drenched world where doomed investigators face unknowable horrors.
Core Mechanics and Gameplay
Generally, Little Bones is designed to enable quick, engaging sessions for people with no rpg experience. The game uses a simple 2d6 system, only because it was assumed it that most people would have a couple of standard dice somewhere around the house. There’s another variant that uses a giant d12 that Numbered Works picked up from K-Mart. This straightforward mechanic ensures that gameplay remains fluid and straight-forward, allowing players to focus on storytelling and character development.
The Little Bones template provides pre-rolled characters, a spell generator, and guidelines for creating creatures and non-player characters (NPCs), providing a comprehensive toolkit for both players and game masters.
Design Philosophy
Inspired by games like Maze Rats and Tunnel Goons, Little Bones aims to capture the charm of old-school role-playing while stripping down complex rules to their essentials. The game’s design encourages creativity and improvisation, making it suitable for both children and adults. Its compact format is perfect for spontaneous play sessions, such as picnics or parties, where time and preparation might be limited.
The House of Nerdery and Curios 