TheRPGSite
Pen & Paper Roleplaying Central => Pen and Paper Roleplaying Games (RPGs) Discussion => Topic started 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.
- A bunch of stuff from a bunch of old school publishers (https://www.exaltedfuneral.com/collections/free-pdf) is free, at Exalted Funeral. Even if you've downloaded them already, look again, because they've been adding new things. It's up to 18, including the 4 separate issues of the zine. (Ends tonight 3/22.)
- Everything from Daring Entertainment (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/2604/Daring-Entertainment) is free, including their entire War of the Dead, Apocalypse, Superpowers Unleashed, and Daring Comics RPG lines (90 products).
- Top Secret / New World Order (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/238053/Top-Secret---New-World-Order) by Merle Rasmussen, the creator of the original Top Secret RPG, is free.
- Teenagers from Outer Space (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/25121/Teenagers-from-Outerspace), the 1980s RPG inspired by the Urusei Yatsura anime, is free. (Until the end of the month.)
- The Fantasy Trip: Melee (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/306835/The-Fantasy-Trip-Melee) by Steve Jackson Games is free.
- The Dark Eye and two solo adventures (https://www.ulisses-us.com/stay-home-and-play-the-dark-eye/) from Ulisses Spiele are PWYW.
- Call of Cthulhu Coloring Book (https://www.chaosium.com/blogstaying-in-color-in-at-home-with-chaosium-weve-made-call-of-cthulhu-the-coloring-book-a-free-download/) by Chaosium is free.
- Fantasy AGE (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/153066/Fantasy-AGE-Basic-Rulebook) by Green Ronin is free.
- Power Outage (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/266133/Power-Outage-Core-Guide-Book) seems apropos. A kid's RPG by Go Nerdy, PWYW. (For three weeks+.)
- The phone version of Pugmire (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/272533/Pugmire-Core-Rulebook-Phone-PDF) from Onyx Path is free.
- ICONS (https://www.facebook.com/steve.kenson/posts/10157333904118871) is free, if you enter your DTRPG email into a webform put up by Steve Kenson. (Until 4/1.)
There are a bunch more, this is just a few highlights.
-
Oh nice, thanks for these! Grabbed quite a few!
-
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
-
More:
- The Travellers on a Red Road (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/287534/Travellers-on-a-Red-Road) RPG by Lukas Sjöström is free.
- A bundle of digital maps (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/307403/Avant-Noviss-NO-to-covid19-Bundle-of-worlds-BUNDLE) from Avant Novis is free.
- Grudge Immortal (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/230052/Grudge-Immortal), a Japanese-themed adventure from Rooster Games for Lamentations of the Flame Princess is free (until the end of April).
- Invasion of the Tuber Dudes (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/245866/Invasion-of-the-Tuber-Dudes), an Old-School Essentials compatible adventure that was part of the now-expired Exalted Funeral freebies, is PWYW. Other Knight Owl PWYW products include the Puppeteer (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/225324/The-Puppeteer--A-New-Bard-Class-for-Your-Favorite-OSR-Game) and Pusher Gnomes (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/180313/Pusher-Gnomes) character classes.
- Ordinary Towns (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/272380/Ordinary-Towns), a system-agnostic supplement from Legendary Pants, is PWYW.
- Legion of Liberty: Superheroes of 1776 (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/290223/Legion-of-Liberty-Superheroes-of-1776) for Savage Worlds from Happy Monster is PWYW.
- Purgatory House (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/237058/Purgatory-House), a simple horror RPG with 8 starting scenarios, from Wicked Clever, is PWYW (until the end of April).
- Improbable Tables (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/307439/ICONSImprobable-Tales-Pirates-from-Beyond-Time) for ICONS from Fainting Goat is PWYW "through the extent of the current coronavirus crisis".
-
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!
-
^ Good find! Troll Lords also made the C&C PH free at DTRPG, for those who want a central location for all their downloads:
- Castles & Crusades Player's Handbook plus fiction (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/307737/Castles--Crusades-Players-Handbook--Fiction-BUNDLE) from Troll Lord is free.
- Frostgrave and Dark Alchemy (https://ospreypublishing.com/blog/free_frostgrave_ebook_2020) from Osprey are free (with the FGV2020 coupon).
- Tagger Magic (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/301305/Tagger-Magic) for WaRP (aka OGL Over the Edge) from Truly Rural is PWYW.
- Apocalypse Prevention 2E RPG (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/150480/Apocalypse-Prevention-Inc-2nd-Edition) from Third Eye is PWYW.
- Deadball RPG (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/208817/Deadball-Baseball-With-Dice) (for those missing the start of the baseball season) from Akers is PWYW.
- Comrades RPG (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/260813/Comrades-A-Revolutionary-RPG) (are commies worse than Apocalypse World?) from Akers is PWYW.
- Altais: Age of Ruin RPG (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/221667) from Parhelia is free (for a week more?).
- Dark Fantasy Places (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/288289/Dark-Fantasy-Places) (mostly systemless) from Chaos Factory is PWYW.
- Strays! RPG (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/169261/Strays) (for kids) from Worthsmith is PWYW.
- Three Savage Worlds setting supplements from Aegis (Citizens Divided (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/233724/Citizens-Divided), Choe Pho (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/265883/Choe-Pho-Savage-Adventures), and Contagion (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/198324/Contagion-Savage-Edition)), plus a d20esque version of Contagion (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/117625/Contagion-Second-Edition), are PWYW.
- The Darkest Age (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/117485) (Black Plague RPG) from Great Lakes Games is free.
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:
- ABCs of RPGs Activity Book (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/200770/ABCs-of-RPGs-Activity-Book) from Hunters is PWYW.
- Shadowrun Activity Book is PWYW on DTF, (https://www.drivethrufiction.com/product/307656/Shadowrun-Sixth-World-Activity-Book) or free on Catalyst's website. (https://store.catalystgamelabs.com/products/shadowrun-sixth-world-activity-book)
- Battletech Activity Book is PWYW on DTF, (https://www.drivethrufiction.com/product/307657/BattleTech-Activity-Book) or free on Catalyst's website. (https://store.catalystgamelabs.com/products/battletech-activity-book)
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.
-
- 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!!!
-
- Anglers from Planet X (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/308382/Anglers-from-Planet-X) was released for free by R. Talsorian Games on April Fool's Day, which is a complete coincidence, of course. It's a supplement for Teenagers from Outerspace (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/25121/Teenagers-from-Outerspace), which is also still free as of this posting (grab it quick, that was supposed to expire at the end of March).
- The Dungeon Hero Volume One (https://lonespelunker.itch.io/dungeon-hero) and Volume Two (https://lonespelunker.itch.io/dungeon-hero-volume-2), an RPG with a total of 5 supplements, each designed to printed out as 8-page zine-style booklets, is PWYW from the Lone Spelunker.
- The Mud, Blood, & Glory (https://gumroad.com/l/M-B-G), a Western RPG from Black Hat Games, is PWYW (for as long as the dev team is in quarantine).
- The beta of 25 Cent Tales (https://sixteentonpress.itch.io/25ctales-beta), a super hero RPG from 16 Ton Press, is PWYW (until the end of April).
- Crystal Heart (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/281539/Crystal-Heart), a Savage Worlds supplement for the Up to Four Players webcomic (https://www.uptofourplayers.com/), is PWYW.
- The Friendly Distance Bundle (https://jackrose.itch.io/friendly-distance-bundle) is a set of 14 RPGs from a variety of authors that are PWYW. Without checking, I'm guessing most of them drift more toward the storygame side.
-
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.
-
- An OSR bundle (https://shop.swordfishislands.com/a-bundle-for-quarantine/) from Swordfish Islands and DIY, including Hot Springs Island, Silent Titans, and Lapis Observatory, is free.
- 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 it looks like there's going to be an Adventurer's League adventure and a coloring page (for kids) each day thru Friday, and more next week.
- Myriad Unbound Bundle (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/308734/Myriad-Unbound-BUNDLE) from Sanguine is an an RPG apparently inspired by Heavy Metal, and is free (until 7/31).
- The RuneQuest Coloring Book (https://www.drivethrucomics.com/product/308611/The-RuneQuest-Coloring-Book) from Chaosium is free. And if want a copy in your Drive Thru library, the Call of Cthulhu Coloring Book (https://www.drivethrucomics.com/product/308613/Call-of-Cthulhu-The-Coloring-Book) mentioned in a previous post is also free on Drive Thru Comics.
- Star Fleet Universe Coloring Book #1: Starships (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/194641/) from Amarillo Design is PWYW.
-
- 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:
- The Scarred Lands Player's Guide (for 5e (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/197803/Scarred-Lands-Players-Guide-OGL-5e) and Pathfinder (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/193014/Scarred-Lands-Players-Guide-Pathfinder)) and The Wise and the Wicked Supplement (for 5e (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/204371/The-Wise--the-Wicked-2nd-Edition-5e-OGL) and Pathfinder (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/202523/The-Wise--the-Wicked-2nd-Edition-Pathfinder)) are PWYW (until 4/20).
-
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.
-
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.
-
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
-
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.
-
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?
-
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.
-
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 $$$.