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[Theodolus]

So one of the young women at my church asked my wife and I if she could join one of our role-playing games. We aren't currently playing anything but I'm more than willing to GM a game for one reason; she's never played a role-playing game before. She's apparently really interested, and prefers story over mechanics. All that said, I need a list of simple role-playing games. I'm trying to put out a good impression and the last thing I really want to do is bury her in rules just to create a character. I was debating running a Savage Worlds campaign as that is the easiest system I've played. Dark Heresy is an option as well, but only because I know the rules fairly well so it wouldn't be as difficult for me to explain things to her. I would probably gloss over any back story or at least make it so she doesn't need to really know anything about the universe there to enjoy the game. Alternatively, I was thinking about running a real life RTD campaign with house rules to flesh out the more important parts of combat like damage and whatnot. Suggestions get a bonus if the ruleset is freely available.

TL;DR suggest super simple PnPRPGs!

[freeformschooler]

FUDGE. Free, simple, mildly frustrating in some aspects but only for the GM, slightly confusing at first yet very workable dice requirements and dice rolls. As rules-light as you need it.

[Viken]

I don't know about free, but Vampire: The Masquerade is a fairly simple system.  We usually ended up tossing most of the rules out the window anyway. 

Another new system would be Scion: Hero, which is another D10 system that's vastly more intuned for the storytelling side than the rules side, which are almsot dreadfully simple. 

[Krelian]

I heard that FATAL is pretty good for playing with church people...

[Wravburn]

Well, my personal opinion is that you've answered your own question already. You knowing the rules of one by heart is a very important factor. It's easy to slide in if everyone -except the new one- knows what's going on. You can help her create the character to alleviate some of the strain. Explain the setting, give a small example of things that might happen. Then just ask her a couple of questions to get decided on what she wants to play. Let her make a character in her mind, and you can (help)translate it to paper.

It's what we did when someone joined our D&D group. Explain you will be visiting the Dungeons under a city looking for the McGuffin. The new person will want to be Legolasz. You can point towards the Ranger, etc. etc. Some help is needed with the combat, but stuff like 'tactics' will be talked over in the group anyway. "If you shoot the little kobold with fiery hands in the face, it would be awesome."

Also, if she's comfortable with a certain setting, I'd say go for it. People getting into World of Darkness because they've played Vampire the Masquerade.

If you really want something simple, I heard Risus is. And it's free. But it might be too simple for the rest of you and not entirely what the rest of you are looking for. http://www222.pair.com/sjohn/risus.htm

[lordcooper]

I heard that FATAL is pretty good for playing with church people...

Beat me to it.

[thatkid]

Warrior Rogue and Mage is always good. It only makes use of the d6 IIRC, there are no actual "classes" and there are only, like, five stats. Those being "Warrior", "Rogue", and "Mage" (which are attributes) and then health and I think mana or something. You also have, like, incredibly simplified "skills" that add 1 or so to certain rolls but, like I said, they're incredibly simplified.

[nenjin]

I don't know about free, but Vampire: The Masquerade is a fairly simple system.  We usually ended up tossing most of the rules out the window anyway.   

That's not exactly a casual introduction to role-playing. The mechanics themselves may not be complicated, but there's a lot of them.

So one of the young women at my church asked my wife and I if she could join one of our role-playing games.

It's also got a fairly......risque world and philosophy behind it. That's as much as I'll stereotype though. Changeling is set in WoD, but doesn't ooze WoD from every single pore. It's probably the "nicest" of all the genres in WoD, a term I use very loosely.

Cylcopedic DnD wouldn't be bad, but it's DnD and will have all the base level mechanics like stats and yadda yadda. That's where I started so its hard for me to make suggestions below that level. I'm not a big fan of free-form, rules light RPG gaming.

You might just want to cook up a very simple RPG system yourself, picking and choosing from systems as necessary. That will free you up to do more story and spend less time trying to explain mechanics.

[Theodolus]

I heard that FATAL is pretty good for playing with church people...

Beat me to it.

..... not a moron over here, thanks.

Vampire is a possibility, though I'm about to start a campaign in that setting for a different group of friends, so probably not. Thanks for all the suggestions though, I'll take a peek at all those and see how easy it would be to run a game with them. The only reason why I'm not jumping all over Dark Heresy is that my wife is going to play and she's not a huge fan of that universe. But I might be able to swing her around to my way of thinking...

[thatkid]

Changeling is set in WoD, but doesn't ooze WoD from every single pore. It's probably the "nicest" of all the genres in WoD, a term I use very loosely.

This...this is a joke, right? Changeling gets pretty damn horrific.

[BigD145]

She should probably try LARPing instead.

[Krelian]

I heard that FATAL is pretty good for playing with church people...

Beat me to it.

..... not a moron over here, thanks.

woah! it was a joke pal

[AntiAntiMatter]

Microlite20, perhaps?

[lastofthelight]

As weird as it sounds, I would honestly just go straight d&d. Why?

1. You'll know the rules by heart.
2. She will be instantly familiar with the setting if you make your own up. "Alright, your an elf. He's a dwarf, and he's a human. Your chasing after your two halfling friends who were captured by orcs..." or WHATEVER. Even the basic bar scene works. Stock fantasy is stock fantasy for a reason. No matter what you choose, she won't get the rules right away, but at least -every last person- playing the game can explain them to her by heart.

3. She'll know what to expect and have plenty of options, even never having seen or played d&d.

If you ignore that, I'd suggest fudge.

[Farce]

Changeling is set in WoD, but doesn't ooze WoD from every single pore. It's probably the "nicest" of all the genres in WoD, a term I use very loosely.

This...this is a joke, right? Changeling gets pretty damn horrific.

Maybe he was talking about oWoD Changeling?  That's the really fluffy one about being fairies clinging to their fairyness, rather than the really creepy one about being kidnapped by fairies, and trying to deal with having their old place in the world stolen, isn't it?