Thread 96305219

I'm fairly new to traditional gaming, learning about card games, board games, war games, ttrpgs, etc. And spending some time offline having fun wasn't something I thought was possible until recently. Maybe its because my beard is turning grey, who knows?

I've noticed quite a few games are very piratable, basically download a pdf, buy some dice or print some paper standees, maybe map and a deck of cards, and you're good to go.

Here are a few I've discovered:
Dungeons and dragons (late to the party, I know)
Battletech
Space/sword weirdos
Grups
Fist full of lead

Anyone know any more? Feel free to include classics from your childhood with 52 card decks too

RISUS

>>96305249
I second Risus. At first glance you'll think it too simple and like you'll never use it, but it's a good system to build upon, and it does a good job of providing a system to run in the background of "Freeform" games.

My personal favorite free game is BFRPG. It's a very simple revision of classic oldschool D&D. It's all completely free on their website with tons of books and adventures to go with it.

My group is currently on session 44 of my BFRPG campaign. So... it's pretty good!

Maybe as silly as it is, Dungeons: the Dragoning 40,000 7th Edition. It's one of the few really good examples of "/tg/ gets shit done", and some excellent gentleman had recently updated the core rulebook this very year to include the expanded rules from the 1st splat.

>>96305219 (OP)
Pathfinder and Starfinder resources are available online and free from Paizo themselves.

The books are for art and lore. You also need a physical rulebook to play in official organized play settings.

Rules, bestiary, splats, all of it save lore, art, and adventure paths.

I'm partial to FUDGE, the game is free and available on the Grey Ghost press website. It's a very flexible system that can fit any genre/style you want to run, it's rules light but there are lots of optional rules and "builds" for the system. The only real barrier to entry is the game using fudge dice (they are same as Fate Dice but Fudge used them first) with each side being marked with a plus, a minus or a "blank." But you could swap them out with regular d6 dice and call it a day if you really wanted to.

>>96305219 (OP)
Daggerheart is free, it's on their website, as well as modules, printable cards, I think even printable NPC standees.
https://www.daggerheart.com/srd/
https://www.daggerheart.com/downloads/

>>96305426
Has anyone actually played this? I have a PDF and wonder if I should give dungeon the dragoning a go?

>>96308535
It's definitely on the sillier end of things, but more in the 'everything 2010's nerds would think is cool' rather than 'intentionally turning everything into a joke'. But if you can go for the tone and setting buy in, its pretty fun. Depending on the specifics of the campaign, could end up doing all sorts of things, but most of my campaigns with it have ended up being Rogue Trader in setting melting pot.

There are so many free games that it seems pointless to try and list them. And that's just the ones that are intended to be free: most games that aren't incredibly obscure are available with a tiny bit of effort.

>>96308876
It's not really about listing them, more about highlighting your personal favorites. Maybe having a discussion about a game you enjoyed for free and why

>>96305219 (OP)
Call of Cthulhu for horror, Lancer for mech shit. I haven't actually played Lancer myself but my friend loves it.

>>96305219 (OP)
WEG d6 should still be free for the core book. Which is basically everything you need to start. Supplements just give you ideas and ready solutions for their own settings/genres. It's perfectly fine for running classical fantasy or action movie style games with a decent amount of optional rules and adjustment suggested by the books to tweak the game into the direction you want (more or less lethality, availability of magic and so on).

Heavy Gear RPG 2nd edition for some old school sci-fi games that is still way less work than running GURPS. Includes vehicle creation rules in side books, so that you could build a gear or strider of your dreams and go murder everyone. Think Votoms style game with pretty grounded tech and enough factions to satisfy everyone. Including blue skinned soldier babes that can pull out your heart through your ass with bare hands and very much intend to do so.

>>96308859
I see, thanks anon.

>>96305426
It is so god damned long. It's genuinely impressive.

>>96305219 (OP)
I've seen people play risk on a physical area map before

Look into ADnD and DnD 3e/3.5 if you haven’t. They are what made DnD what it is. If you only read 5e stuff, it’s pretty shit.

>>96308876
>Everyone just wants the same games.

>>96305219 (OP)
There you go, Anon: https://freewargamesrules.fandom.com/wiki/Freewargamesrules_Wiki
which period are you into?
My personal advice:
>Grunt II
>Road Wolf (best Mad Max vehicular combat, bar no one)
>War Engine
>Star Breach
>No Quarter

>>96308990
OpenD6 is all free, as is Mini Six (modern interpretation, crams a lot of game into under 40 pages). There are lots of free resources for it too.

>>96313998
This is a great link, thanks anon

Anyone have recommendations on naval themed wargames?

>>96305219 (OP)
Darkshire free RPG list
Pdf share thread