# Can you recommend any good and yes free pencil-and-paper RPGs out there to download as PDF? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 17, 2013, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-any-good-and-yes-free-pencil-and-paper-rpgs-out-there-to-download-as-pdf/653205 "2013-03-17T22:16:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2013, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-any-good-and-yes-free-pencil-and-paper-rpgs-out-there-to-download-as-pdf/653205/1 "2013-03-17T22:16:56Z")
I just realized that I should introduce my kids to fantasy role-playing games, especially the older one (9 yo) would love I believe, but I wouldn’t like to buy expensive games and plow through hundreds of pages with rules just to sit down and have some easy going role-playing fun with my kids, so I figured I searched the internet for some as a starter. I found this, [Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game](http://www.basicfantasy.org/downloads.html), which looks promising, especially since there are straight forward adventures that go with it, with maps and all. But before I dive into it (I have limited amount of time) I thought I should ask you if you know of any you could recommend. It’s good if it is simple and very good if there are adventures to go with it. Perhaps I should mention that I’m an experienced game master, though it was perhaps fifteen years since I threw the dices. Then, eventually, if we’re having fun, I might invest in some commercial products. But that is a later question. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-any-good-and-yes-free-pencil-and-paper-rpgs-out-there-to-download-as-pdf/653205/2 "2013-03-18T13:37:20Z")
I don’t have any particular recommendations other than [Fate](http://www.faterpg.com/resources/), maybe (don’t be alarmed by the “Fate 2.0 is old” nonsense. The “new” version doesn’t exist yet AFAICT.) However, The Internet has lots of opinions on this. [http://www.tlucretius.net/RPGs/kids.html](http://www.tlucretius.net/RPGs/kids.html) (Which, amusingly, includes Fate). I also strongly endorse Mouse Guard, but it’s not free. ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-any-good-and-yes-free-pencil-and-paper-rpgs-out-there-to-download-as-pdf/653205/3 "2013-03-18T15:19:17Z")
Depends on how old your kids are, and how experienced you are, but the 3rd edition of Dungeons & Dragons, the original pen and paper RPG, is available for free online: > **[The Hypertext d20 SRD (v3.5, 5e & Pathfinder d20 System Reference...](https://www.d20srd.org)** > > Contains the entire v3.5 & 5e d20 System Reference Document and is fully indexed, hyperlinked, searchable, and accessible. (It’s not a pdf, but I hope that format is not really a requirement. 🙂 ) Note that many fans (self included) prefer the refinements to the system made by Paizo, which they call the Pathfinder RPG. This too is available for free online: [http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/](http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/) Since D&D is the most popular RPG on the planet, there are lots of free adventures, maps, etc available online. You don’t even need to buy the fancy dice anymore: > **[Wizards of the Coast](https://company.wizards.com/en)** > > Wizards of the Coast is a family of studios specializing in building role playing, trading card, and digital games for all genres of players. ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-any-good-and-yes-free-pencil-and-paper-rpgs-out-there-to-download-as-pdf/653205/4 "2013-03-18T17:35:05Z")
There is [Dungeon World](http://www.dungeon-world.com/) - the free version does not have pretty art and fancy layout, but it has the full text and is functional. It is a rules-lite retroclone of D&D which uses the tropes of D&D as its roles. Each class has a set of “moves” , and when you use one, you roll 2d6 + a stat. If you score 10 or above, you get what you want. If it is lower but above 7, you suffer a side effect. For example, the Bard has a move “Turn it up to 11”. If you roll Cha + 2d6 and get 10+, you execute it perfectly. If you roll less than 10 but above 7, it goes out of control and the GM picks 1 additional target. There is also [Old School Hack](http://http://www.oldschoolhack.net/), another retroclone which is good for a pick up game. You may also want to check out Warrior, Rogue & Mage - it’s a simple game with just three stats – er, which are Warrior, Rogue and Mage. So if you want to smash something, you roll 2d6 + Warrior. To do something sneaky, use 2d6 + Rogue. And so on. If you prefer something closer to d20, there is also [Mircolite20](http://www.retroroleplaying.com/content/microlite20-rpg-collection), which is somewhat similar to the WR&M game above. You have three stats - Strength, Intelligence and Dexterity, and 4 classes - Fighter, Rogue, Cleric and Mage. There’s a skill associated with each class - Physical for Fighter, Subterfudge for Rogue, Communication for Cleric and Knowledge for Wizards. There are many expansions to this simple system to include clerics, paladins, rangers etc. You may also want to check out [Dungeonslayers](http://www.dungeonslayers.com/). It’s a rather medium crunch RPG, and it’s already in its 4th edition. The last free, good RPG I can of at the top of my mind is also [OpenQuest](http://d101games.com/books/openquest/), which is OGL version of RuneQuest. Standard D&D stats (it drops Charisma for Power and adds in a Size attribute), but it uses percentile to represent skills. Oh, if you don’t mind checking out drafts, there is also Barbarian of Lemuria. Rules-lite and lots of fun, especially the magic rules. It’s more Sword & Sorcery than high fantasy though. The commercial PDF can be bought off cheaply, the draft can be found through Google I think (it was a submission to a 24 hours RPG contest). ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-any-good-and-yes-free-pencil-and-paper-rpgs-out-there-to-download-as-pdf/653205/5 "2013-03-18T17:38:11Z")
> [@Airk](#): > > I don’t have any particular recommendations other than [Fate](http://www.faterpg.com/resources/), maybe (don’t be alarmed by the “Fate 2.0 is old” nonsense. The “new” version doesn’t exist yet AFAICT.) Fate Core is the new edition of Fate. They just finished running the Kickstarter for it. According to [them](http://www.faterpg.com/about-fate-core/), it will be released for free once ready. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-any-good-and-yes-free-pencil-and-paper-rpgs-out-there-to-download-as-pdf/653205/6 "2013-03-18T17:40:27Z")
> [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](#): > > Fate Core is the new edition of Fate. They just finished running the Kickstarter for it. According to [them](http://www.faterpg.com/about-fate-core/), it will be released for free once ready. Right. Which means that right now, it doesn’t exist. I’m sure it’ll be very exciting when it does, but for now, if you want Fate, you should be playing 2.0. ---
**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-any-good-and-yes-free-pencil-and-paper-rpgs-out-there-to-download-as-pdf/653205/7 "2013-03-18T20:50:53Z")
Wow, thank you very much **Airk** , \*\*gonzoron \*\*and **Cowbar**! I’ll check’em out, every one of them! ---
**Author:** ![Brainiac4](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brainiac4/32/3534_2.png) [@Brainiac4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brainiac4)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2013, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-any-good-and-yes-free-pencil-and-paper-rpgs-out-there-to-download-as-pdf/653205/8 "2013-03-27T03:02:54Z")
> [@Airk](#): > > Right. Which means that right now, it doesn’t exist. I’m sure it’ll be very exciting when it does, but for now, if you want Fate, you should be playing 2.0. That kind of depends on what your definition of existence is. It isn’t released yet, but if you backed the kickstarter, you already have the PDF of the rules. And sharing it with your playest group is specifically okay: > [@Fred Hicks](#): > > Sharing with playtest groups: > Now that said, once you’ve downloaded the file, are you allowed to share it with your local playtesting crew? Of course you can! You don’t need to force your fellow playtesters to drop a buck on the project as well in order to play in your test games. We’d love to have them, of course – their voices are important too. But it’s not mandatory. Which doesn’t mean it exists for you, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Nero\_Grimes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7bcc69/32.png) [@Nero\_Grimes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nero_Grimes)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-any-good-and-yes-free-pencil-and-paper-rpgs-out-there-to-download-as-pdf/653205/9 "2015-06-15T02:45:20Z")
I liked these three before I retired. Mini Six - a streamlined version of the original Star Wars RPG system > **[AntiPaladin Games](http://www.antipaladingames.com)** Fudge On The Fly [http://faterpg.com/dl/ontheflysrd.txt](http://faterpg.com/dl/ontheflysrd.txt) Risus: The Anything RPG a narrative driven and banter heavy lite RPG [www222.pair.com/sjohn/risus.htm](http://www222.pair.com/sjohn/risus.htm) Free RPGs at Dragonsfoot [http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=1777](http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=1777) ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-any-good-and-yes-free-pencil-and-paper-rpgs-out-there-to-download-as-pdf/653205/10 "2015-06-15T19:08:47Z")
For that \<10 age group, I’ve run sessions of [Roleplaying Is Magic](http://www.roleplayingismagic.com/), a My Little Pony themed RPG that promotes storytelling. The sessions I ran were the season 3 rules, but I see there’s now a set for season 4. ---
**Author:** ![Nero\_Grimes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7bcc69/32.png) [@Nero\_Grimes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nero_Grimes)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-any-good-and-yes-free-pencil-and-paper-rpgs-out-there-to-download-as-pdf/653205/11 "2015-06-20T19:27:18Z")
For that \<10 age group? I’d go with Risus. The GM/player banter lets the GM steer things without too heavy a hand. Tons of fan support. Plenty of settings and rules options. Be aware, the fans go from from kid friendly to infantile quickly. > **[Settings](https://www.risusiverse.com/home/settings)** > > Settings > Here's a collection of great settings for Risus, for GMs and players needing a world to play in. Add a link and a description to your submitted settings under the appropriate category. If you don't see your setting's category, feel free to... It took me a while to find this site again. [http://www.tlucretius.net/RPGs/kids.html](http://www.tlucretius.net/RPGs/kids.html) ---
**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-any-good-and-yes-free-pencil-and-paper-rpgs-out-there-to-download-as-pdf/653205/12 "2015-06-20T21:45:25Z")
I notice that my old thread has been revived. Thank you for the continued suggestions, I hope others will have much use of them. As for myself, I went with Basic Fantasy. As I anticipated, the kids loved it. My oldest son even likes pen-and-paper RPG more than any other board game or video game, and god knows he loves his MMORPGs. However, English is not our native language (as the observant may have noticed) and I found myself translating more and more – and eventually wrote my own Swedish so called retro-clone, based on the open game system (SRD). Great fun. Still working on it, the version that’s up right now is riddled by the printer’s devil’s work, not the least since going from Word 2010 to 2013 messed up a lot, for reasons I don’t understand. I also found a very talented illustrator who will add flavor to the text. So when the next version is up I’m going to market it a little bit; simply because I think it deserves some attention and there are probably a few fathers out there who look for a fantasy RPG in Swedish. Anyways, I know 99% of you can’t read it, but just for the fun of it you’ll find it at [www.monsterochmagi.com](http://www.monsterochmagi.se/). ---
**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-any-good-and-yes-free-pencil-and-paper-rpgs-out-there-to-download-as-pdf/653205/13 "2015-06-20T21:59:58Z")
Missed the edit window. It should be .se, not .com, but the link works. One can also google (or even bing!) for Monster & Magi and you’ll find it, which I’m a little proud of. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![shandarus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shandarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shandarus)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-any-good-and-yes-free-pencil-and-paper-rpgs-out-there-to-download-as-pdf/653205/14 "2015-06-23T18:58:19Z")
try Hunters Dark its free super fun and totally easy to play its like Monster Hunter the Pen and Paper version. > **[Hunters Dark](https://mattcintron.wixsite.com/huntersdark)** > > A fantasy RPG set in a world of darkness and destruction. With the majority of civilization fallen and a poisonous Mist sweeping the land humanity is facing tru ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-any-good-and-yes-free-pencil-and-paper-rpgs-out-there-to-download-as-pdf/653205/15 "2015-06-23T20:08:36Z")
> [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](#): > > There is also [Old School Hack](http://http://www.oldschoolhack.net/), another retroclone which is good for a pick up game. You may also want to check out Warrior, Rogue & Mage - it’s a simple game with just three stats – er, which are Warrior, Rogue and Mage. So if you want to smash something, you roll 2d6 + Warrior. To do something sneaky, use 2d6 + Rogue. And so on. I love Old School Hack. Today I ran a game for my 6yo daughter and 7yo niece and 9you nephew. I used a new stand-alone stripped-down D&D adventure, [Champions of the Elements](http://media.wizards.com/2015/downloads/dnd/MonsterSlayers_v3.pdf). They all had a great time. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-any-good-and-yes-free-pencil-and-paper-rpgs-out-there-to-download-as-pdf/653205/16 "2015-06-24T02:21:46Z")
[QUOTE=Wakinyan;18454796 Anyways, I know 99% of you can’t read it, but just for the fun of it you’ll find it at [[www.monsterochmagi.com](http://www.monsterochmagi.com)] ([http://www.monsterochmagi.se/](http://www.monsterochmagi.se/)). [/QUOTE] Holy smoke man. 223 pages? @\_@ I hope the idea isn’t to have kids READ this thing.