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.

A roleplaying game of the far future. Characters work for AIs who can send themselves messages from the future. Attributes are based on built-in technology, and players can use Twists to affect the plot.

Once upon a time, fire was at the cutting edge of technology. Those who had it were almost gods to those who didn’t. They were warm in the winter. They could live farther north and higher in the mountains. They could flush out game. They were sick less often and lived longer. Those who could actually make fire were gods among gods, creating the light and warmth and power it gave with their own two hands and some very particular stones.

Of course, we know now that fire isn’t magic. It might be “magical” to some people, beautiful and dangerous, flickering and dancing with a life of its own, but it is comprehensible to those who use it. Eventually, as more people used it and understood it, although its beauty and danger remained, it was not seen as magic. It was a tool — one of the first pieces of technology.

Farsight Games presents ‘The 13th Year’ a complete and FREE Tabletop Roleplaying Game.

Explore the post-atomic wastelands of the alternate Earth of 1952 in ‘The 13th Year’, an original tabletop roleplaying game for the SKETCH system. Struggle against the odds to get home, try to start a new life or simply survive in the 13th year of the Second Great War.

With full rules, background and adventure ideas this 21-page PDF uses the SKETCH system, an extremely simple game that uses a single six-sided die for every aspect of the game.

The Second Great War didn’t end quite as well as the Allies would have wanted.
In June 1944 the Allies assaulted fortress Europe with everything they had on land, on sea and in the air. The Axis were on the back foot and the war intensified.

Within a year the Allies had pushed into Berlin and the war raged street by street. The Japanese were being pushed back in the Pacific theatre and the end of the carnage and sorrow seemed close at hand. Each foot of progress was paid for in blood on all sides.

We were once told that Adolf Hitler, the leader of Germany and the most hated man in Europe – possibly the world – was found dead by Russian forces, after committing suicide and then having his body set alight in a ditch. They were right in one thing, a body was found.
But it wasn’t Hitler.

Hitler had faked his death and escaped with the help of his Gestapo and SS, fleeing into Austria and then into a secret hiding place in the mountains of Switzerland. Hitler, unbalanced and near insanity, had a last part to play in the war. Unbeknownst to the Allies his scientists had developed a fully operational atomic bomb.

THE 13TH YEAR 3
They had developed the weapon a full year previously, and had even had time to produce dozens of these catastrophic weapons, and the modified V2 rockets to deliver them to far-off targets. Knowing the war was going against him and his Axis he had even secretly shipped some of these weapons to the Pacific to be placed into the hands of his Japanese allies. He wasn’t insane enough to use the weapons straight away. What was the use in ruling a world that had been burned to a cinder? His plan was to hold the world to ransom, threaten it with annihilation into submission.
But then he changed his mind.

Go to www.farsightgames.com for more details of the SKETCH system.

Dave Morris was once asked if he could go back and rewrite Dragon Warriors, his RPG gamebook series from the 1980s, what would he change.

He answered that he would have taken the advice of a friend and make the entire system revolve around a single six sided die.

I decided to take that as a challange!

The result is K U B O S, a low fantasy Role Playing Game of Action, Adventure and Six-Sided Heroics. I hope you enjoy it.

Welcome to Hive World Golgotha XVII; you are an Inquisitor of the great Imperium of Man in the world of the Warhammer 40,000 universe. You have been summoned to cleanse an underground base infested with Chaos.

This is a solitaire Role Playing Game and should be easily played and completed.

Inquisition was created by Neuicon and Sean Daniels. We hope you enjoy the game and remember that as an Inquisitor, you must purge the unclean!

Descending the Underground Base
At the very start of the game, you enter the main doorway and head into the base; you should note that the LOC statistic starts at one and will increase as you further your path down to the very core of the base, where an unholy evil awaits your arrival.

Every turn, roll a six-sided die and consult the Random Encounter Generator; every four turns, raise your LOC by one as it is assumed that every four turns, you descend a stairway or use an elevator to drop deeper into the base and come across new foes.

When combating enemies roll a six-sided die and score equal to or greater than their “TH” attribute (to hit) to kill them; if you fail, you take one point of damage and roll again until you kill the enemy. Each failure results in one point of damage. When coming across Health Packs and XP gains, simply add them in the correct location of your character sheet; these scores can grow without end, so get scoring.

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

The Kingdom of Blim, under the Not Too Bad Leadership of King Harold the Adequate, is no longer in need of Adventurers as the Kingdom has more than its fair share and has been satisfactorily protected from monsters of all sorts for quite some time.

With 80 percent of those listing their primary occupation as Adventurer reporting an average annual income of well below the poverty line, the Kingdom strongly recommends would-be Adventurers to instead seek employment in food services, blacksmithing, farming, or crafts.

You’re not going to listen to that, are you?

Yeah, yeah. You’ve heard it all. Your parents tried to convince you to take over the family hog farm, your girlfriend begged you to take that job her uncle got you at the tailor’s, but you were snagged by the seductive call of the Adventurer.

You want the wealth, the fame, the wenches. You want to be the rock star that the elite 10 percent of the Adventurers in Blim are.

So, even though you’ve never so much as thrown a rock at a goblin, you’ve traded in your meager savings for some basic equipment, joined up in a party of like-minded fellows, and have officially opened for business. Now, only if there was someone who needed saving!

Taverns & Drakes is a light-hearted riff on tradition fantasy poking fun at adventurer culture, classes, and fantasy races. It uses a simple system utilizing a single d20 for resolution with an emphasis on fast and fun play. Although intended to use for one-shot games, the setting and system are robust enough to handle long-term campaigns.

• Email the author at crayonsamurai@yahoo.com

Adventurer

Think it has a nice ring to it? Well so does most of the 16-24 age bracket in the Kingdom of Blim. In a recent census, 45 percent of that age bracket listed “Adventurer” as their primary occupation. Of those, 80 percent listed their annual income as five gold pieces or less, well below the Kingdom’s poverty line.

Adventuring is a cutthroat business. With the elite of the profession holding a monopoly on dragon slaying and saving the Kingdom, the entry level adventurers are left fighting annoying but rarely dangerous goblins, searching for the buried treasure of the local miser’s mason jars filled with copper, or defending a village against the occasional drake, the dragon’s smaller and ornerier but generally less dangerous cousin. Occasionally, when times are tough and their pockets are empty, adventurers resort to creating problems in order to save villages from them.

Adventurers group together in parties to increase their chance of making a decent living and of survival in case they run up against an angry troll or drake. The party is usually a diverse group who bond together over the common goal of making money and gaining fame. The top 10 percent of adventurers are revered in the Kingdom of Blim as celebrities and often receive free equipment, food, lodging, wenches and other perks for their service to the Kingdom. Most adventurers strive to make it to this upper echelon.

The Kingdom of Blim is a huge nation, encompassing vast plains, rocky mountains, rivers, swamps, and a lengthy coastline. If there’s a topographical feature you can think, it’s present in the Kingdom of Blim. The Kingdom is ruled by is 44th monarch, King Harold the Adequate. Under his reign, life in Blim isn’t too bad. Most people do okay, dutifully pay their taxes, go to work, and have a day or two off a week to spend with the kids or go fishing. Long ago, Blim was a dangerous place with lots of dragons spewing forth all types of deadly breaths, vampires, krakens, and other dangerous beasts.

The sheer amount of monsters required brave men and women to take the mantle of Adventurer and make the fledgling Kingdom safe for its people. As time went on, more and more people heeded the call. Eventually, most of the beasts were slain or driven away, but Adventuring remained a lucrative field for the few who could make a name for themselves because of the prestige and love lavished on them by the people.

Adventuring has been a largely poor career choice for some time now, but the lure of fame and riches still draws large numbers of men and women, mostly young ones but some old folks seek to get the glory they never had in their youth or need a new career after being laid off from the flour mill.

As a new Adventurer, you need to establish a name for yourself and make money… by any means you have available. Your party can help you out, but don’t forget that they’re in it for themselves as well. And you distinctly remember your party’s Bard badmouthing you outside the tavern the other night after that run in with those goblin punks…

As a badass Barbarian, you heft your mighty battle ax and cut down your enemies while trying to contain your rage.

As a badass Noble, you use your social position to scheme your way to power while trying to overcome your madness.

As a badass Sorcerer, you use blood to summon vile demons to do your bidding while trying to hide your deformity and maintain control.

Krone is a sword and sorcery game centered on a corrupt and decaying city in the middle of a poisonous swampland. Players have a choice of three classes – a raging Barbarian, scheming Noble, or corrupt Sorcerer.

Krone provides just enough of a setting to run with and a very simple system that focuses on speed of play and encouraging slaughter and mayhem. This is a perfect game to run on short notice when you don’t have enough players show up for your regular session.

• Email the author at crayonsamurai@yahoo.com

There’s this decadent Sword and Sorcery type city called Krone that’s situated in the middle of a vast swampland. It used to be the crown of civilization until something happened to the fertile plains surrounding it, turning the land into a subtly poisonous swamplands. Now the crops do strange things to people as does most of the drinking water found in Krone.

It has gradually begun to weaken the people’s minds, making them just a little off-balanced, and weakening their bodies just a little bit, making them a little more susceptible to disease.

But sometimes people are born with hideous deformities. They are either slain outright or abandoned/escape to the swamps. People don’t go into these swamps. There are demons living in
their murky waters and rumors are that sorcerers live out there as well, enslaving the foul demons to do their bidding. Rumors even say that the sorcerers are none other than the mutants themselves.

Several corrupt, decadent houses of nobility rule Krone in an uneasy alliance.

To the north the twisted swamps give way to purer lands and barbarians rove the steppes. They occasionally make trips to Krone in order to obtain weapons and medicines. The steppes are a barren land and resources are scarce.

But only the finest warriors are sent because of the dangers present not only in the swamps but the decaying city itself.

Abandoned

Your parents left you, left you to fend for yourself in the harsh world. Destined for a life of destitution and despair, you had little hope for survival.

The Emperor Rescued You

His servants found you and recognized the faintest sliver of greatness you held. They rescued you, gave you a new home and a new family.

All He Asks for in Return is Loyalty

Trained to be a warrior, to uphold the glory of the Empire. Your discipline is unmatched. Your skills unquestionable. Your word is law, backed by the Emperor himself. All he asks for in return is your unquestioning loyalty. All he asks for in return is that you serve him as a Sovereign.

Sovereign is a low-fantasy game centered on the themes of duty, loyalty, and power. Players take on the roles of Sovereigns. Orphans rescued by the known world’s greatest power, the Empire, Sovereigns are warriors beyond match. They are entrusted with the most dangerous duty in the world, protecting the people from evil and corrupt sorcery, as well as carrying out the will of the Emperor.

Sovereign uses a system that puts the focus and discipline of these warriors at the forefront and contains a setting with a rich backstory. Players should not read the Gamemaster’s Guide as this has the potential to spoil some of the more interesting setting elements.

• The Sovereign Gamemasters Guide contains optional rules for sorcery, advice on running Sovereign, and a complete adventure.
• Email the author at crayonsamurai@yahoo.com

Welcome to Sovereign

Sovereign is a low-fantasy setting where you and your fellow players take the roles of warriors without match, sworn by oaths of loyalty and a debt that can never be repaid to a hereditary emperor who rules over a vast empire. Adopted into the Emperor’s family, these warriors are granted the title “Sovereign.” From that point forward they dedicate their lives to endless training and service. Chief among their duties is protecting the Empire and its people against foul sorcerers, people born with
the ability to contact the forbidden realm of the spirit and enslave shades, the spirits of the dead, in order to gain great but unnatural power.

Due to a lifetime of intense training and discipline, Sovereigns have unparalleled martial abilities. Due to the backing of the Emperor, they have authority over all except the Emperor himself. Their authority and abilities, however, are tempered by a sacred oath and by responsibilities and debts they can never fully repay.

As a Sovereign, you are one of the known world’s most powerful weapons. You are the first and best line of defense for the greatest nation in existence and, as a result, for the entire world. Only you stand a chance against the evils of sorcery, a chance to defend the people’s right to live their lives.

Do you posses the strength to serve the Empire and fulfill your obligations?

The Sword of Martin allows players to take on the role of creature’s in Brain Jacques’s world of Redwall. It uses a versatile priority-based system that uses a roll-high d10 resolution mechanic. These two facets combine well, allowing players to truly take on whatever role they care to, from a former family man whose life was ruined by vermin to an exiled otter prince. The world of Redwall is yours.

Introduction
The Sword of Martin is a pen and paper roleplaying game that has, as an understood setting, the world that Brian Jacques depicts in his world-famous Redwall series. This rulebook assumes that the reader has at least cursory knowledge of both the Redwall series and roleplaying games. To properly play this game, the players (of which there should at least be two) at least one of each of the following die: d4, d6, d8, d10, and d10

Before players begin making their characters, they should now what they aim to create. This could be as simple as “Otter warrior-wanderer” or more detailed like “former family beast displaced by band of vermin”. By knowing more about your character’s past, they can become more than a collection of numbers, but legendary and fun characters to be talked about for years to come.

Tunnel Quest is a brief but complete set of fantasy role-playing rules.

The original ideas were spawned by Paul Elliot (of Zenobia fame; if you’ve never heard of it, Google it!) and further developed by myself.

The system favours a quick and easy style of play with limited bookkeeping for the GM – a single dice roll for combat determines whether the character hits or gets hit – no rolling for the GM!

NPCs can be described with a single number or detailed with unique abilities – examples are of both styles are included in the text.

This is a low-power low-fantasy game which uses small numbers and only 2 six-sided dice. Paul originally conceived the game to appeal to his young children but my players range from 21 to 48.

Enjoy

Mike Hill

The Basics

When the result of a character’s action is in doubt, the Game Master (GM) asks for a dice roll to determine the outcome. The player rolls 2-dice and must get equal to or greater than the Difficulty umber. In a fight the Target Number is the Rating of the Foe. Most tasks can be rated in this way (climb portcullis might be 6). A Difficulty Number of 8 would be a typical challenge; 10 or more would be difficult and 13 or more would be formidable for starting characters, at any rate.

In many circumstances, the character may possess a Skill applicable to the situation; in which case, the player may add the Skill level to the dice roll. The character’s Experience Level is usually added to the roll but only if the GM feels the task warrants it, given the character’s calling.

Example: Yuon the Barbarian is hunting small game with a bow and arrow. Yuon has Archery at +1 and the GM allows his player to add the character’s Level (+2, for a total of +3), as the activity seems like the sort of thing Barbarians get up to. Later, Yuon attempts to use his Repair Skill (+2) to fix the hem on Maid Morron’s court gown. Yuon does not get to add his Level in this particularly un-Barbarian-like activity!

Apathy: The Calling is a lighthearted RPG in the vein of games such as call of cthulhu. The Player’s play everyday joes picked by Cthulhu and must deal with their increasingly weird world.

[1.2] Introduction or This is YOUR life!

Stan sat there on the couch, while the Yuggya invaded his home, but it was okay, America’s Funniest Retards was on the TV. The Yuggya moved carefully their blind eyes useless, reaching out with their mind’s eye, looking for the spark of recognition, of horror, of gibbering denials. Stan was watching the multichannel, 600 hundred channels in one. Stan didn’t even have to click any more. The floors creaked under the Yuggya feet as they turned toward the door, their man form crammed with alien thoughts.

Their prey had evaded them somehow. Confused they left.

Stan sat there, watching the daily-night show for a little while more , before falling asleep in front of the television. The Infomericals lured him to sleep with the hypnotic lure of a weird flute. Asleep and on the verge of dream space, Stan stopped. Perhaps Apathy was the only way!

Welcome to Apathy:The Calling a Role Playing Game. In this game you play regular folk dealing with the mythos in the only way they can in the modern age, with apathy. As one of the select few for unknown reasons you can hear Dread Cthulhu as he dreams, calling you to commit unspeakable acts. Fortunately you’ve long been accustomed to ignoring inconvenient realities. You fight back with the inertia and apathy, that has defined you as a generation of slackers, miscreants, good for nothings, baby busters and losers.

Apathy, the Role Playing game is a game about the lost generation, everyday life and cthulhu.