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Pen & Paper Roleplaying Central => Pen and Paper Roleplaying Games (RPGs) Discussion => Topic started by: Pat on March 22, 2020, 08:22:34 PM

Title: Coronavirus quarantine freebies
Post by: Pat on March 22, 2020, 08:22:34 PM
Aglondir has separate threads for two specific offers, but so many publishers are releasing their stuff for free (or massively discounted) for all the people in lockdown because of the shelter in place or stay at home orders, that a consolidated thread probably makes sense.

There are a bunch more, this is just a few highlights.
Title: Coronavirus quarantine freebies
Post by: scottiemick on March 26, 2020, 03:58:18 PM
Oh nice, thanks for these! Grabbed quite a few!
Title: Coronavirus quarantine freebies
Post by: Eric Diaz on March 27, 2020, 04:16:17 PM
A couple of titles I'd like to add (both OSR):

* My own Dark Fantasy Places (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/288289/Dark-Fantasy-Places)

* Dark Streets & Darker Secrets (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/266741/Dark-Streets--Darker-Secrets)

There are a few more, I made a compilation here:

http://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2020/03/list-of-free-rpgs-for-reading-at-home.html
Title: Coronavirus quarantine freebies
Post by: Pat on March 27, 2020, 05:42:55 PM
More:
Title: Coronavirus quarantine freebies
Post by: Aglondir on March 28, 2020, 01:23:32 AM
Quote from:  Troll Lord Games
There is light at the end of the tunnel, and we'll be through it sooner than you think, of that there is little doubt. In the meantime, we must all do our part and stay out of the public sphere. To help you through this, for a limited time you can download the Castles & Crusades Players Handbook for free. It's everything you need to run and play a game of Castles & Crusades. Also, enjoy A Houseless God and Other Tales, four short stories of Eurich Gunshoff and Ava, a ranger of some renown.

https://www.trolllord.com/tlgstore/

Thanks, Troll Lord Games!
Title: Coronavirus quarantine freebies
Post by: Pat on March 28, 2020, 11:19:13 AM
^ Good find! Troll Lords also made the C&C PH free at DTRPG, for those who want a central location for all their downloads:

RPG-themed activity books (coloring, games, dolls, etc.) for kids. If you want the Drive Thru versions of the last two, make them a separate order because the Fiction and RPG carts don't always play well together:
Also, see this blog post (https://medium.com/oneblogshelf/home-is-where-the-games-are-998460baa6cf) from OneBookSelf (DriveThruRPG etc.), which lists all the products on their site that are free because of the coronavirus, at least as of the 18th. Highlights include a bunch of RPGs and skirmish games, Capes & Cowls, FATE Core, a Sean K. Reynolds Pathfinder supplement, and a ton of digital maps.
Title: Coronavirus quarantine freebies
Post by: GeekEclectic on March 29, 2020, 04:37:31 AM
Quote from: Pat;1125105
  • Apocalypse Prevention 2E RPG (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/150480/Apocalypse-Prevention-Inc-2nd-Edition) from Third Eye is PWYW.
This makes me so happy! This is one of those games I've wanted to play for a while now. I have the 1e stuff already but had no idea a 2e had even been released, so this is like an extra helping of yay! Thanks!!!
Title: Coronavirus quarantine freebies
Post by: Pat on April 02, 2020, 03:08:35 AM
Title: Coronavirus quarantine freebies
Post by: Pat on April 02, 2020, 03:36:46 PM
The Helpin' Hands Bundle (https://www.peginc.com/store/helpin-hands-bundle/) from PEG has the Savage Worlds editions of both the Deadwood Player's and Marshall's Guides, for free.
Title: Coronavirus quarantine freebies
Post by: Pat on April 08, 2020, 12:42:46 PM
Title: Coronavirus quarantine freebies
Post by: Pat on April 17, 2020, 10:53:35 PM
Quote from: Pat;1126098
  • Daily free stuff (https://dnd.wizards.com/remote/freematerial) from Wizards of the Coast. Basics include the Starter Set, Adventurer's League guides, and a kid's adventure, but
Another week's worth of modules/etc. is up, and probably expires this weekend.

And:
Title: Coronavirus quarantine freebies
Post by: Pat on May 03, 2020, 03:02:26 PM
I think it's silly to change money for promotional material in the first place, but Onyx Path Jumpstarts (http://theonyxpath.com/onyx-path-jumpstarts-free-this-week/) are free (this week). Includes Scion, Cavaliers of Marks, Dystopia Rising, Pugmire, V20 Dark Ages, Changeling: The Dreaming 20th, Exalted 3, Vampire: The Requiem 2, and Changeling: The Lost 2.
Title: Coronavirus quarantine freebies
Post by: Pat on May 07, 2020, 09:41:43 PM
Not free, but the three bundles from DTRPG work out to about 97% off:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/featured.php?promotion_id=DTRPG-Cov19-May2020

Mostly crap. The Docs without Borders bundle has a FATE game by Phil Masters about the fey, and nothing else that jumps out at me. The Food Programme one is also slim pickings, though it does have RuneQuest 2e (1980). The Hungry Kids one seem to have the most interesting things with HarnWorld, FantasyCraft 2e, Hero Kids and a supplement, the Majestic Wilderlands, the Morrow Project 4e, and Thrilling Tales 2e for Savage Worlds.
Title: Coronavirus quarantine freebies
Post by: Pat on May 17, 2020, 10:31:35 AM
Ulisses Spiele made the Quickstart, Drama Deck, and 4 adventures for the new edition of Torg either free or PWYW:
https://www.ulisses-us.com/stay-at-home-and-play-torg-eternity/

The 3 corebooks for ENWorld's What's Old Is New (WOIN) are part of a free bundle:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/313864/WOIN-CORE-BUNDLE-BUNDLE

And another week's worth of free stuff from Wizards of the Coast should be up through the weekend:
https://dnd.wizards.com/remote/freematerial
Title: Coronavirus quarantine freebies
Post by: Pat on June 09, 2020, 10:17:28 PM
Itch.io has a bundle of 1,427 (!) games from 1,125 (!) creators, and that's just the current counts (it's been growing in size). The bundle includes computer games, board games, and I don't know what. This is a partial list of all the RPGs (including story games). (https://itch.io/c/910776/ttrpgs-from-bundle-for-racial-justice-and-equality-selection) It's not free, and many are microgames, but $5 for all of them works out to 3 per penny. Proceeds are split between the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and the Community Bail Fund (a collection of 70 related charities), which aren't bad choices whatever you think of the riots:
https://itch.io/b/520/bundle-for-racial-justice-and-equality
Available until 6/15 midnight, PST.
Title: Coronavirus quarantine freebies
Post by: RPGPundit on June 19, 2020, 03:43:41 AM
Quote from: Pat;1133355
Itch.io has a bundle of 1,427 (!) games from 1,125 (!) creators, and that's just the current counts (it's been growing in size). The bundle includes computer games, board games, and I don't know what. This is a partial list of all the RPGs (including story games). (https://itch.io/c/910776/ttrpgs-from-bundle-for-racial-justice-and-equality-selection) It's not free, and many are microgames, but $5 for all of them works out to 3 per penny. Proceeds are split between the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and the Community Bail Fund (a collection of 70 related charities), which aren't bad choices whatever you think of the riots:
https://itch.io/b/520/bundle-for-racial-justice-and-equality
Available until 6/15 midnight, PST.

Given the site, how many of those 1427 games be absolute garbage?
Title: Coronavirus quarantine freebies
Post by: Pat on June 19, 2020, 08:31:41 AM
Quote from: RPGPundit;1135030
Given the site, how many of those 1427 games be absolute garbage?
Over 1700, before the bundle ended. I'd guess at least 99% are throw-away garbage, and even fewer would have any chance of appealing to you. I debated even mentioning it, here.

Another week of 5e stuff from Wizards of the Coast is up, though: https://dnd.wizards.com/remote/freematerial. Friday's not up yet, but they missed Tuesday, and it appears to turning into Pay What You Want instead of free, so it might be winding down.
Title: Coronavirus quarantine freebies
Post by: GeekEclectic on June 19, 2020, 05:40:46 PM
Quote from: RPGPundit;1135030
Given the site, how many of those 1427 games be absolute garbage?
So many. For that price, I figured it wouldn't hurt, and I've been going through page by page writing a list of the stuff that looks remotely interesting for later download. I did come across Blades in the Dark, but that's something that would really only appeal to someone who'd probably like Powered by the Apocalypse, which I don't think is particularly popular around here. But for anyone who is a fan, a $5 copy of BitD with a bunch of other optional stuff attached to it isn't bad. (I also didn't see anything objectionable about the particular charity, so I had no qualms about participating. I do read up on charities a little before supporting them. I might have missed something, but I tried.)

ETA: If you go into the video games, the value goes up exponentially. You've got Celeste, which is like an award-winning platformer that is highly demanding but also very fair and approachable due to the way it almost entirely eliminates downtime. Night in the Woods is a little indie darling that's basically you going around your old hometown making decisions that affect things visual novel style. A slice of life thing. Pyre is an RPG from the guys behind Bastion and Transistor, so worth a look I'm sure. And Ganbare! Super Strikers is just an unholy combination of jRPG and soccer, which at least sounds interesting. And I'm only a few pages in, so . . . yeah, definitely not a bad value for your $$$.