Review & Commentary On TSRPG (Travel-Sized RPG) & The 'On the Plane of Magma' (A Fantasy Scenario for TSRPG)

 "TSRPG (Travel-Sized RPG)! This improv storytelling game designed for a storyteller and one or more players can easily be played anywhere, from the airport waiting area you are stuck in, to the overnight in some hotel where there is nothing to do (and also, of course, in your own home). "
I don't normally handle storyteller games but there are two reasons why I'm looking at this. One is the situation with the OGL & Cowards of the Coast. And two Skirmisher Publishing are good friends of mine. TSRPG (Travel-Sized RPG) is a dollar & the rules fit on one page of the pdf. The task resolution system is simple,quick, & reliable. 

And TSRPG (Travel-Sized RPG includes the rules, sample PC's, & enough to get a group of four or five players started a mini one shot. And the system for this?! The TSRPG (Travel-Sized RPG  reminds me in many ways of the Storyteller system but in a completely different direction;"
Characters are the players’ in-story representatives and have individual names and concepts associated with them. Each has two stats, Physical and Mental, and has 5 points to distribute between them. Physical, or “hard stuff,” is anything that uses the character’s body. Mental, or “soft stuff,” is anything that uses the character’s mind. Each character is also given at least one piece of equipment that can conditionally grant a +1 to either stat if it narratively fits the Challenge (and Storytellers can opt to allow them to start with two or more pieces if they think their scenario is sufficiently challenging to warrant it). Equipment can be consumable (e.g., a potion, a bandage) or permanent (e.g., a multitool, a cattle prod). Characters can also acquire additional equipment during adventures, particularly in appropriate areas (e.g., a shovel might be found in a garden shed). Challenges Challenges are any situations a character has to respond to in which the outcome is not guaranteed. These Challenges are based either on a character’s Physical prowess or their Mental faculties. Conflict with opponents (i.e., combat) is resolved as a challenge, or a series of challenges, that characters must overcome. Breathing or walking, for example, are generally not considered to be a Challenge, while weightlifting or taking the SATs generally are. Challenges are also contextual (e.g., breathing suddenly becomes a Challenge when the character is sick or under water). Challenges are what stand between the player characters and their goals. How Challenges Work To adjudicate a Challenge, the storyteller picks a random number within a difficulty range and communicates it to the players. The size of this range determines how difficult the Challenge is (e.g., 1-5 is very easy, 1-15 is average, 1-30 is extremely hard). These may be easily described as a “5-point Challenge,” etc. The player whose character is trying to overcome a Challenge must attempt to guess the Storyteller’s number, and if they guess it +/- the stat picked by the storyteller, they succeed (e.g., a Physical stat of 2 would mean that guessing anything from 3 to 7 with a target number of 5 would be a success). Otherwise they fail." 
And that's really it & as an alternative to dealing with the chit chat of 5th edition D&D 's BS TSRPG (Travel-Sized RPG is an alternative storyteller style rpg. And from here if I were the DM then I'd pivot into  “On the Plane of Magma” . This is a twelve page adventure that pits the PC's against the forces of the plane of magma. 
There's a solid adventure on the plane of magma that can be played in one session & Skirmisher has even done an expensive video here On The Plane of Magma .  “On the Plane of Magma”  has solid maps, really solid encounters, and some really solid twists & turns. 

Is TSRPG (Travel-Sized RPG a replacement for the fifth edition of the world's most popular fantasy rpg?! No but is it a fun rpg storytelling system? Yes it is but this isn't the game for me as an OSR player & DM. “On the Plane of Magma” is a great little one shot for the DM to run with the TSRPG. However that being said this isn't a game I'll be running anytime soon.