Now in its nineteenth year, Free RPG Day for 2026 took place on Saturday, June 27th. As per usual, Free RPG Day consisted of an array of new and interesting little releases, which are traditionally tasters for forthcoming games to be released at GenCon the following August, but others are support for existing RPGs or pieces of gaming ephemera or a quick-start. This included dice, miniatures, vouchers, and more. Unfortunately, it did not take place outside of the USA due to US customs issues, which means that none of the physical content has shipped to the UK. It is hoped that with the generosity of Waylands Forge in Birmingham, Reviews from R’lyeh will able to get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day for future reviews.
Quick-starts are a means of trying out a roleplaying game before you buy. Each should provide a Game Master with sufficient background to introduce and explain the setting to her players, the rules to run the scenario included, and a set of ready-to-play, pre-generated characters that the players can pick up and understand almost as soon as they have sat down to play. The scenario itself should provide an introduction to the setting for the players as well as to the type of adventures that their characters will have and just an idea of some of the things their characters will be doing on said adventures. All of which should be packaged up in an easy-to-understand booklet whose contents, with a minimum of preparation upon the part of the Game Master, can be brought to the table and run for her gaming group in a single evening’s session—or perhaps two. And at the end of it, Game Master and players alike should ideally know whether they want to play the game again, perhaps purchasing another adventure or even the full rules for the roleplaying game.
Alternatively, if the Game Master already has the full rules for the roleplaying game the quick-start is for, then what it provides is a sample scenario that she still run as an introduction or even as part of her campaign for the roleplaying game. The ideal quick-start should entice and intrigue a playing group, but above all effectively introduce and teach the roleplaying game, as well as showcase both rules and setting.
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What is it?
The Wizard Riders: Quick-Start Rules is the quick-start for Wizard Riders, the post apocalypse roleplaying game of (mostly drunk) wizard bikers riding maguscycles they are bonded to across the world in the very future of Orth under a red sun.
The Wizard Riders: Quick-Start Rules is a thirty-nine page, 10.28 MB full colour PDF.
How long will it take to play?
The Wizard Riders: Quick-Start Rules includes the scenario ‘The Vanishing of Dotshire’. It can be played in roughly a single session.
What else do you need to play?
The Wizard Riders: Quick-Start Rules needs a standard set of polyhedral dice per player.
Who do you play?
The Wizard Riders: Quick-Start Rules includes six pre-generated Player Characters or Wizard-Bikers. They include a lucky Wizard-Biker, a Natural Wizzer Wizard-Biker, a Wizard-Biker who likes to plan, a perceptive Wizard-Biker, an ace maguscycle-riding Wizard-Biker, and a threateningly ambidextrous Wizard-Biker.
How is a Player Character defined?
A Wizard-Biker in the Wizard Riders: Quick-Start Rules is defined by his name, and then six attributes, which are Brawn, Twitch, Daring, Brains, Presence, and Fortune. Of the six, Twitch is a Wizard-Biker’s dexterity and agility, whilst Fortune is his Luck and points that can be spent to activate special powers. Each attribute also has one or more associated skills. Each attribute and skill has is represented by a single die type, typically ranging from a ‘d4’ to a ‘d12’. An attribute or a skill can be marked as having an ‘Upgrade’, for example, ‘D8+Upgrade’. This means that a die in the Feat Pool for any action involving that attribute or skill can be upgraded to a larger size. A Wizard-Biker has a Gift, an advantage which grants him a bonus under certain circumstances. For example, ‘Juryrigger’ allows a die to be re-rolled for a Repair Feat whilst ‘Ambidextrous’ lets a Wizard-Biker make attacks with both hands in one round and only suffer a single Downgrade to each attack. This also includes ‘Wizzer Power’, which can be taken multiple times, each time granting the Wizard-Biker a spell-like power.
How do the mechanics work?
The Wizard Riders: Quick-Start Rules uses what it calls the ‘Dice Core’ system. When a Wizard-Biker wants to attempt an action, it is called a ‘Feat’. His player assembles a ‘Feat Pool’ of three dice consisting of a Skill Die, an Attribute die, and a Feat Die. For Standard Feats, such as breaking down a door or punching someone, the Feat Die is a ‘D8’, but is a ‘D6’ for Complex Feats liked a called shot or attempting trauma care. The player then applies any Upgrades or Downgrades to any of the dice in the ‘Feat Pool’. Upgrades can come from the skill or attribute, or from the situation, as can Downgrades. The dice are rolled and totalled, the aim being equal to or beat a Difficulty Rating, which can range in value from four or ‘Rookie Rider’ to twenty-two or ‘Ace Rider’, with thirteen or ‘Standard’ being the median Difficulty Rating. If the result is exceeded by three or more, a Critical Success has been achieved and for every three-point threshold on the roll after that, a further Critical Success is achieved. A roll of three on the Feat Pool’ indicates a Critical Failure.
A Wizard-Biker also has Plot Points. In the Wizard Riders: Quick-Start Rules, these can be spent to perform a ‘Counterstrike’, ‘Defy Physics’ when the Wizard-Biker is riding his maguscycle, ‘Doubletime’ to move extra fast in combat, ‘Interfere’ in the actions of an NPC or other Wizard-Biker, or trigger ‘Natural Healing’.
How does combat work?
Initiative is determined by a simple roll, but after the first round, a player can spend points of his Wizard-Biker’s Daring attribute and then roll a die to change his Initiative value. The more points spent, the larger the die size can be rolled. This will come at a loss of Focus, especially on a given target. Attacks are opposed rolls between a ‘Feat Pool’ of a Weapon Skill, Attribute Die, and Feat Die for the attacker and a ‘Feat Pool’ of the Armour plus the Twitch and Daring attributes. Weapons inflict a base value in terms of damage, but this increases the more Critical Successes a player rolls. Three Critical Successes will also damage the defender’s armour, inflicting a Downgrade to future Defence rolls.
Damage can come from an attack in combat, suffering too much Fatigue, and so on. Wounds are recorded on a Wound Track with each Wound suffered applying a Downgrade to skills and attributes, and ultimately Feats, before the Wizard-Biker is knocked out or killed.
How does magic work?
A Wizard-Biker has a number of Special Powers which can be freely cast. They include Aether Lance, which gives him a lighter-than-air lance he can wield whilst riding his maguscycle; Deadeye’ grants a random number of Upgrades to apply to ranged attacks; Fireball does exactly what you expect; Ghost Hand gives a Wizard-Biker an extra hand to control at range; and Special Powers such as Smoke Cloud and Oil Slick give effects that can be used on the road. Every Special Ability has five Power Levels, so a Wizard-Biker can improve and specialise. In addition to extra effects, increasing the Power Level of a Special Power also increases the size of the Feat Die that a player adds to the ‘Feat Pool’ he rolls for the Special Power. Some twenty-one Special Abilities are detailed and all six sample Wizard-Bikers have three or four Special Abilities.
Do Wizard-Bikers Get Bikes?
Yes. A Wizard-Biker in Wizard Riders has a maguscycle. It has stats for Handling, Build, and Zoom. These are when a Wizard-Biker wants to do something extra with his maguscycle than simply go at top speed. A basic Riding Feat roll is done in two stages. First, a Riding Feat roll to gain Upgrades, and second, the Vehicle Feat roll to do the desired action, modified by the Upgrades previously generated. The rules for chases are supported by a good example of play and they also cover vehicle damage and passenger damage. All of this requires a Bond between the Wizard-Biker and his maguscycle, the process of which is also detailed. This Bond has multiple levels and each level grants a bonus to the bonded rider.
What do you play?
The Wizard Riders: Quick-Start Rules includes the scenario ‘The Vanishing of Dotshire’. The Wizard-Bikers’ club is running low on supplies. The beer is flat, the snacks stale, and the power coils for the members’ maguscycles are running seriously low. When they ride to the village of Dotshire in search of new supplies, they discover it swirled with fog. The Wizard-Bikers must ride into the fog to reach the village and find out what is happening and what caused it. It is a short, single-session scenario.
Is there anything missing?
Yes. The Age of Vikings Quickstart has everything that a Game Master needs to run the included scenario, but it could have done with some more examples, especially of combat.
Is it easy to prepare?
No. The Wizard Riders: Quick-Start is a different ruleset and will be unfamiliar to most players, so it requires a higher degree of teaching. Also, the Game Master will need to copy out all of the Player Character Wizard-Bikers onto character sheets.
Is it worth it?
Yes. The Wizard Riders: Quick-Start feels a bit underdeveloped in places, but it is a solid introduction to the rules and world of Wizard-Riders. Its combination of setting, Player Character type, and themes manages to be both silly and surprising given the usual gaming content that the publisher releases, but all the more fun for that.
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