Reddit reviews Fantasy AGE Basic Rulebook

Cortex Classic is great for doing whatever you want, with slick character creation and easy rules. A great system all around, honestly!

Fantasy Age is also a good generic RPG system that has some fun unique elements, such as stunt points in combat instead of crits.

Buy some dice.

Buy some books.

Honestly, it depends what kind of game you want to play. I think here you're going to get a lot of weird niche games suggested but for starters you're better off sticking with the a more 'traditional' experience. D&D is an excellent starting point if you want to play a fantasy game, you can even pick up one of their adventures if you don't want to write your own material.

If you're unsure about spending that much just to get started you can pick up this starter set that will include the basic rules, a set of dice, some pregenerated characters, and a short adventure. From there, if you like the game, you can pick up the full rulebooks and some more dice and whatever else you like. Alternatively you can try out the free basic rules by downloading them from the Wizards of the Coast website. All you'll need is a set of dice to get started.

If you don't like or don't want to play D&D you can check out a bunch of other systems that will let you play other games or settings. [Edge of the Empire] (https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Edge-Empire-Rulebook/dp/1616616571/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=edge+of+the+empire&qid=1563883870&s=gateway&sr=8-1) is a really cool Star Wars game, but it requires custom dice. My personal favourite sci-fi rpg is Traveller though, and it has the advantage of only requiring six sided dice.

A lot of people really like Savage Worlds, it's fun, it's cheap, and it's generic enough that you can run almost any setting you like with it. Unfortunately there's a new edition due out really soon so take that in to consideration. If you want a more in depth generic system then I can recommend GURPS, although you'll also need the Campaigns book. This system is absolutely not beginner friendly, it slaps you in the face with tables and rules for all sorts of scenarios, but I adore it and it's not really all that hard to figure out.

If you want an alternative to D&D Green Ronin has the "Age" series of games, starting with Fantasy Age, continuing with Modern Age, and the recently released The Expanse RPG covers Sci-Fi. I will admit that I've not actually had a chance to play any of these games, but I've read the rules and like the system.

Honestly you can find a game to cover practically any genre you want, whether it's Grimdark Fantasy, Martial Arts, Space Exploration, Lovecraftian Horror, Anime Cyberpunk Space Opera, or almost any other thing you can think of.

Don't fall in to the trap of playing a game because someone suggests it's 'easy', play something that really grabs your interest and inspires your imagination.