Free RPGs

Welcome to the RPG section of 1KM1KT. Here you’ll find member submissions of tabletop pen and paper role-playing games. All of the RPGs available in this section are free for download and are generally in .pdf format. If you’re interested in submitting your own RPG for publication, please visit our submissions page for details or send it to us using our contact form.

Star-Crossed Lovers is my submission for the Game Chef 2011 contest, an rpg based on the works of Shakespeare and utilizing the keywords of daughter, exile, nature, and forswear. It was inspired by Much Ado about Nothing, The Taming of the Shrew, Romeo and Juliet (of course), and the rpgs Kagematsu and Misspent Youth.

In this game, the players take the part of Renaissance suitors, courting both the favor of their father-in-law and the affections of their bride or groom-to-be. While the rules assume a group of male suitors suing a father for the hand(s) of the patriarch’s daughter(s), the game could just as easily center around a group of ingénues or a mixed group visiting the villa with marriage on their minds. The action takes place over the course of a week spent at the default setting of an Italian villa owned by Signore Torregrossa. While the match is all but assured due to careful planning on the part of the suitors’ parents, what the suitors do and say during this week will determine the future happiness of their marriages.

AdventureLand is a small, 4 pages RPG I wrote in a hurry (about 6 hours) for advanced role-players. It was originally titled “Cliches & Unicorns” but I found that, hmh, too cliched.

AL harks back to the simpler days of yore and as such it is limited in scope, easy to understand, flawed in many ways, probably incomplete, and, hopefully, fun. The moniker “for advanced role-players” is just a flimsy excuse to not explain basic role-playing concepts.

AdventureLand has a sweet, if minimalistic setting and a funny cosmology. There is probably more in it but I did not take the time to develop the concepts further. Maybe I will later. Just note that AdventureLand’s Universe is not cruel, just terribly overworked.

I hope you like it.

The System universal role playing game was originally designed in late 1985/early 1986 when most games were still genre-specific, and before the first generation universal role playing systems were available on the market. The content of this book was recently rescued from oblivion, given a (very) quick polish to the ruleset, and typeset with a decidedly retro (1st generation) RPG feel to it. If you’re looking for an early-generation RPG ruleset (with all of its quirks and idiosyncrasies), then The System is for you.

The Synergy Role Playing Game, officially the first release for Raven Lake Games, has been updated to version 1.5! This RPG is designed with spontaneous storytelling in mind. This game provides a rules-light framework that is easy to understand, requires cheep common materials to play, and does not require any preparation time besides the time it takes to create a character. It is not tied to any particular setting or genre and allows each player to contribute equally to the development of the story.

Super Crusaders is a superhero RPG designed with ease of use in mind. It has a minimum of jargon, a thorough index and the full color version contains bookmarks and internal links to help you find anything with ease.

Characters are made by choosing 1 of 4 Stats to specialize in and then picking any 10 customizable powers or bonuses. Taking disadvantages can allow extra powers.

Eleven hundred years after the God’s War, the world is still in chaos, trying to claw its way towards some semblance of normality. That goal remains a distant dream. Nations war with each other for dwindling resources, increased power and for revenge. Cultures clash over ideals and the right to exist. Meanwhile, the Cults of Darkness, long thought destroyed, slowly drag the world ever closer to the Abyss. Vhraeden is a place of stark contrasts where there are no limits for those cunning or violent enough to make their own rules and carve their own destiny.

Vhraeden is in turmoil and each aspect of this setting presents its own unique challenges and rewards. From swords, sorcery and guns for hire, to espionage, criminal and military operations, the world of Vhraeden is dangerous and multi-faceted. Characters are forces of order; professional spies, mercenaries, soldiers or police officers expected to keep the forces of chaos from spilling over into their nation. It is their job to keep their country and their people safe against those who would do it harm. Those enemies run the gamut from warlords to cultists. Do you have the strength to save yourself, much less your people?

This a complex and dark world where billions of sentient beings live and interact with each other as well as gods, devils and other unique beings. Within this milieu, conflict is inevitable. There is violence inherent in a world with over three billion beings spread over scores of nations, tens of races, hundreds of cultures and countless loyalties.

Running with the dead is an entry to the 1km1kt 24hr RPG contest. This year’s flavour is a Movie Mashup competition. There is an extensive list of movies to choose from, all of them very good ones!

I’d decided not to choose before hand, but select two at the beginning of the 24hr period. Some called this “going in cold like an echo”. However the truth is, I’m so busy with work, study, fatherhood and everything else life throws at you, I decided not to pressure myself with the competition, until I was ready to do it.

I present to you; Running with the dead, a mash up of Blade Runner and Dusk till dawn.

I don’t intend to adhere strictly to the source material. I consider it inspiration. Almost like a ronnies competition. This game is inspired by the movies and not a deliberate attempt to fuse them wholesale.

Inside you’ll find the setting, the rules and a sample adventure. I hope you have fun.

Feedback is encouraged and should be delivered to 1km1kt.net/forum

The end is near. The sounds of battle pound helplessly in the hearts of your victims as you choose from an array of deviants and miscreants, and of noble and honorable characters who dare enter the midst of bloodlust. Take one step in the wrong direction and it is over. Step over the boundaries and you suffer. Release the anguish of your alter-ego and pulverize your enemies to a quick and painful death. Or simply rearrange their plans so that they pant, waiting for a chance to commit their own crimes. Battles Armageddon gives you the power to control various Mobs whose abilities and spells are at your very whim. With over 35 Mobs and 75 Spells and/or Abilities, you are charged with millions of combinations in which you, the Player, may gain Rank and master the Mobs within. Choose well, for as soon as it begins, Armageddon will take over and there will be only one victor, you or your best friend.

We are thieves, rulers of the streets. Ours is the world. We are the Princes of Arabia.

This game was written for the 24 Hour RPG Movie Mashup Competition hosted in 1KM1KT. The idea was to mix two movies and make a game out of it. I picked Aladdin and Riders of the Lost Ark. From this movies came the idea of tomb riders in a fantastic version of ancient middle east, getting into trouble to find treasures protected by genies.

Necronautica is a short role playing game of brave heroes and heroines who have taken up arms against unfathomable alien forces from beyond space and time that threaten the human race and, indeed, the very fabric of reality itself. It is also my first attempt at a 24-Hour RPG since the Summer of 2004 – that is, Necronautica was designed, written, and laid out in 24 hours (so expect a few mistakes).