Stuck at home? Many publishers and game designers are offering free digital editions of their roleplaying books, to help keep people occupied during the pandemic.
Even if you can’t get a group together to play RPGs in person, you can always meet up virtually, or even just keep busy by reading through a few of these roleplaying books at home during quarantine.
So, here is a list of free roleplaying games, expansions and adventures, plus a few RPG-themed colouring sheets and activity books.
This list is a work in progress. I will be updating it as I continue to find more games available for free (last updated May 29th, 2021).
Note: If you are looking for non-RPG tabletop games I’ve also put together a list of over 300 free print and play board games, card games, etc.
Free Roleplaying Books & Add Ons, Sorted by Publisher
77 Studios
77 Studios is offering Movie Night, a family-friendly RPG, as Free / Pay What You Want.
The Basic Fantasy Project
The Basic Fantasy Project is offering the PDF edition of Basic Fantasy RPG 3rd Edition.
Chaos Factory Books
Chaos Factory Books is offering Dark Fantasy Places, a collection of tables and short essays to inspire the creation of fantastic places suited for medieval dark fantasy games (Free / Pay What You Want).
Gallant Knight Games
Gallant Knight Games is offering Sagas & Six-Guns, a Savage Worlds Adventure Edition setting that mashes up the Old West with the Old Norse (Free/ Way What You Want).
Geist Hack Games
Geist Hack Games is offering Augmented Reality: The Holistic City Kit For Cyberpunk Games (Free / Pay What You Want).
Knight Owl Publishing
Knight Owl Publishing is offering Invasion of the Tuber Dudes, a Weird Fantasy / Western OSE compatible one shot adventure meant for first level characters.
Mantic
Mantic is offering Dungeon Saga Rise of the Shadow King, a choose your own adventure style solo RPG, in digital format for free.
Modiphius
Modiphius is offering an Elite Dangerous Role Playing Game standalone adventure, The Worst Intentions (with quick start rules and pregens).
Onyx Path Publishing
Onyx Path Publishing is offering the Pugmire Core Rulebook as a Phone PDF.
Pinnacle Entertainment Group
Pinnacle Entertainment Group is offering two of their most popular Deadlands Reloaded books in PDF format; Deadlands Marshal’s Handbook and Deadlands Player’s Guide (you will need the Savage Worlds core rulebook to be able to play).
Portal Games
Portal Games is offering a free sample edition of the book Play Smart: Insightful Advice on how to be a GM, from Ignacy Trzewiczek (not the full book, still quite substantial).
Posthuman Studios
Posthuman Studios is offering Eclipse Phase: A Time of Eclipse as a free eBook (intro to Eclipse Phase, includes over 100 pages of the Eclipse Phase first edition core rulebook).
R. Talsorian Games
R. Talsorian is offering Anglers from Planet X, a free fishing minigame supplement for Teenagers from Outer Space (this was put out for April Fools Day, but is indeed a fully fleshed out book).
Sine Nomine Publishing
Sine Nomine is offering the free edition of Godbound: A Game of Divine Heroes(core RPG rulebook).
Steve Jackson Games
Steve Jackson Games is offering The Fantasy Trip: Melee as a free PDF, billing it as “the perfect way to learn The Fantasy Trip roleplaying game”.
Thunderegg Productions
Thunderegg Productions is offering Kaigaku Premium Edition (Samurai RPG based on Black Hack rules, Free / Play What You Want).
Troll Lord Games
Troll Lord Games is offering a Castles & Crusades Players Handbook & Fiction bundle, which includes Castles & Crusades Players Handbook, 7th Printing and A Houseless God and Other Tales short story collection.
They are also offering the 3rd Printing of Castles & Crusades Monsters & Treasure.
Solarian
Solarian is offering the PDF for the Top Secret: New World Order core rulebook for free. A mission book, The White Queen, is also available. And you can also print off agent dossiers, vehicle cards, dice mats and the administrator’s screen (basically everything that comes in the box set, in printable form).
Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast has released a ton of free D&D content thus far (all available for a limited time, so if you see something that catches you eye I suggest downloading it ASAP).
D&D Adventurers League:
Dungeons & Dragons 5th Ed:
- Starter Set Rulebook
- Starter Set Pregenerated Character Sheets
- Essentials Kit Rulebook
- Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount Adventure Preview (includes everything you need to run the Frozen Sick starting adventure including the full adventure text, and the Palebank Village section from the Wildemount Gazetteer)
- Icewind Dale-Themed Character Sheets
- Iceroad Trackers: A Rime of the Frost Maiden Adventure
- Infernal Machine Rebuild (adventure for levels 5-10, from Extra Life 2019. Free / Pay What You Want)
- The Wild Sheep Chase (single-session adventure)
- First Blush (1-on-1 adventure, Free / Pay What You Want)
- The Secrets of Skyhorn Lighthouse (adventure for level 5)
- A Night of Masks and Monsters (adventure for level 3)
- A Chance Encounter (adventure for level 1, Free / Pay What You Want)
- The Executioner’s Daughter (solo adventure, Free / Pay What You Want)
For Kids:
- Monster Slayers: Heroes of Hesiod adventure for younger gamers
- Monster Slayers: Champions of the Elements adventure for younger gamers
Independent
Designer Christopher Grey is offering The Happiest Apocalypse on Earth (Free / Pay What You Want).
Designer Shawn Tomkin is offering Ironsworn: A Tabletop RPG of Perilous Quests (core book, has a solo mode).
If you visit the page for Andy Hopp’s most recent Kickstarter you can download his Low Life RPG for free, along with two Low Life adventures.Gaming Themed Colouring Sheets & Activity Books
RPG Themed Colouring Sheets & Activity Books
- The ABCs of RPGs Activity Book (Free / Pay What You Want)
- D&D Adventure With Muk Activity Book
- Shadowrun: Sixth World Activity Book
One Response
hi,
Can you add Conspiracist: the game they don’t want you to play?
thanks,
https://cannibalhalflinggaming.com/2017/09/30/the-independents-conspiracist/