Free RPG Games

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This is the nightmare of modern office life: work that crushes the spirit, office cubicles as cells, and managers as wardens. The office is a dehumanizing environment for the employees – the kind of thing that makes you a cog in the machine – a number. Nothing.

Faced with that, driven to a breaking point, human beings generally do one of two things: create their own petty fiefdoms and delusions of importance… or Get Out.

Frogger is about Getting Out. You remember the artwork on the side of the old Frogger arcade console? (Here’s a hint: look at the picture on the front cover of this game.) A frog, rushing somewhere, vest and tie awry, briefcase in hand. It’s easy to think that he’s imitating the White Rabbit, muttering “I’m late, I’m late…”, except that you know from the game itself that he’s trying to get Home. He’s an office worker, trying to get away, get across all these obstacles, and get to the thing he wants – the thing he needs.

Something happened to our worker bee that made him want to get away from the buzz; something hit that cog and made it slip off.

This game was written as part of the 1KM1KT 24-Hour RPG challenge, which called for designers to adapt a computer game into a tabletop RPG in 24 Hours. Any computer game would have been fine; I could have done City of Heroes… I could have done X-Com (heck, I actually planned to do that one), but my girlfriend suggested Frogger as a joke, and the damn idea wouldn’t get out of my head.

Aside from the game itself, I’ve pulled a lot of inspiration from movies like Office Space, Clockwatchers, Falling Down, Lost in Translation, Harold and Kumar go to White Castle, and (to take it a bit further afield) Shawn of the Dead, Grosse Pointe Blank, and Road to Perdition.

And this is what I ended up with. Enjoy.

In ‘Doom: Semper Fidelis’, you can enjoy a quick solo RPG based on the computer game ‘Doom[tm]’. Be the Space Marine who travels to Phobos to kill lots of demons in order to save Earth. Then see if any of your soul remains after serving your world. “D:SF” is a quick read at 5 pages, requires a 6-sided die plus paper and pencil, and plays in under 3 minutes. This somewhat abstract slayfest will test your ability to choose goals, prioritize, and navigate a bizarre and random set of challenges while keeping true to yourself, your mission, and the Marine Corp. Failure… is an option.

UAC researchers on Mars’ moon of Phobos have inadvertently opened a gate into an infernal realm. Demons have plunged through and slain everyone on the base. It is now a beachhead for a demonic invasion of Earth. A soul survivor remains on Phobos, a lone individual who must fight the forces of Hell itself. That survivor is you– and you, my friend, are first and foremost a Marine.

As a marine, you have loyalty to the Corp and to your Country, for the rest of your days and beyond. And so you must travel through the 6 levels of demonic hell on Mars in order to stop the demon invasion of Earth.

You will face former marine Sergeants and heavy weapon soldiers, now mind-controlled into being your enemy. Strange demonic fireball-shooting Imps and pink gorilla-like Demons, plus their invisible kin the Spectres. The dead humans were turned into the flying skulls dubbed Lost Souls. Strange gaseous Cacodemons float the halls. Barons of Hell and the larger Hell Knights lead the forces. A Cyberdemon giant and the Spider Mastermind will threaten you. Will you prevail?

http://www.momentarylapsepress.com

This game is a game of adventure and a game of uncovering lies. In it, the players take on the role of an undercover agent disguised as a waitress that has infiltrated into positions of trust, and then they use the trust to gain evidence against their marks. While obtaining the evidence, the marks will ask the characters to perform objectionable actions that conflict with the waitress agent’s sense of duty, but by performing these actions, the characters will find more evidence. Slowly, the guilt of violating duty can overcome a character, so it’s a race to bring down or be brought down. And it’s about the ends justifying the means.

Comic Introduction

Man in Trench Coat

(Black coat, leaning up against a wall)

Welcome, to the Agent training course. Here you’ll learn about being an operative before heading off in the dangerous field.

Man In Trench Coat

The first step of your training involves is physical conditioning. All agents must be strong and fit in order to catch the bad guys.

Corner Box

For this training, each player takes three six-sided dice.

Man In Trench Coat

Okay, now that you’ve changed into running uniforms and shoes, let’s see you race. The goal is to come in first. Ready. Set. Go.

Corner Box

This is called a Conflict. The goal is to win the race. Roll the dice. The player who rolls the most ones wins, and the winning player gets to narrate the results. If there is a tie, then the players who tied roll one dice over and over until a one is rolled. The first player to roll a one wins.

Man In Trench Coat

Great job, ladies! Now let’s try something a little different. Let’s move into combat training. For this event, pair off and before you fight, and I want to know how you want the fight to turn out if you win this event.

Corner Box

A winning player’s intentions dictate how any conflict will turn out after the dice are rolled. So, before the dice are even rolled, a player must state in theopen what they want to happen if they win the roll. In any Conflict that doesn’trelate to the mechanics of stats, all sides must declare what they want to happen before the roll.

Man In Trench Coat

Consider the bell rung. Fight time.

Corner Box

Each player in the fight rolls his or her three dice. The one who rolls the most ones wins and then gets to narrate how the conflict happened.

Woman Agent One

I jump kick into the air and land a foot straight into the stomach of my opponent. She falls to the ground and I put my foot on her throat.

Man In Trench Coat

Good. I see that you are learning fast. Let’s try something a little different. I have a written test for you to take. You need to pass this test if you’re going to advance to the next part of training.

Corner Box

This is also a conflict. Anything that may have an effect on the future of play or the story must be rolled on. But don’t get crazy; you don’t have to roll for everyday actions. Here the agents have to pass the test. If they don’t, then what happens? During the game, one player, usually the person to the left will decide what happens if an agent fails. So, have each player state what will happen if they succeed in the roll, and the person to the left describe what will happen if the roller fails. Then roll. If a one is rolled then the roller describes the outcome. If no ones are rolled then the player to the left describes.

Man In Trench Coat

I hate tests just as much as you do, so I’m glad that that’s over. Now, I want to give you some tools that will help you succeed. But first, why don’t you reflect on your past. I want you to tell me a little about your family, what you did before we recruited you, and what motivated you to come and work for us.

Corner Box

Each player has one specific agent character that he or she will be responsible for during the game. During character creation, each player must write a back-story for this character. It doesn’t have to be long. One hundred words are plenty.

Man In Trench Coat

See girls, we recruited you because of your sense of duty and motivation to expose these evildoer crooks for what they are. Now that you’ve thought about your background, tell me what motivates you.

Corner Box

Each player should write his or her motivation on the agent’s character sheet.

Man In Trench Coat

Good work! This spying stuff is hard work isn’t it. We even work nights and weekend. Now, think about your background, the connections you’ve made, or the skills you’ve learned.

Corner Box

Each player should pick out two Adornments for their character. An Adornment is a skill or connection that the character learned or has from his or her background that the player will use during play to help their character succeed.

Man In Trench Coat

Good, now that you know what motivates you and what you’re good at, you can apply these connections, skills, or motivation while you’re out taking down the bad guys.

Corner Box

Motivations and Adornments add dice to the player’s conflict rolls, so, for example, if an Adornment was a Fast Runner +1, then the player would have rolled four dice instead of three in the above race.

Man In Trench Coat

Well, ladies, I tell this to all my recruits. I love you, but you’ve learned everything I can teach you. If you need something from me, I’m available. And let me give you some warnings.

Man In Trench Coat

You’ll be in deep cover and asked to do some dastardly favors for these corrupt bastards we’ll be exposing. You’ll also be paid pretty well with dirty money. Just keep your chin up, because I don’t need you to feel too guilty. Too many agents burn out when the guilt over comes duty.

Man In Trench Coat

By the way, we’re looking to do some promoting. One for you ladies will get my job and all the perks?I mean all the perks that come with it.

I got a bee in my bonnet to write another 24 hour RPG submission. A few weeks ago RPG Blog ran a story about some free (by license) fantasy clipart available for use by game designers. Since then I have been thinking that I would like to do a 24 hour game just so I could use the art… well, I got started last night and finished today (while at work, no less.) So I thought I’d send a copy of the game along.

Demetrius stepped quietly over the body of the fallen skeleton. The unnatural apparition had slain many good people from his village. Demetrius could feel the residual magical energy in the thing. It made the hairs on his arms bristle. He looked down at the formerly animated corpse squeezing his sword ever more tightly in his grip as he regarded it. It made him feel uneasy. Magic frightened Demetrius. It had invaded his world, and he knew that his world would never be the same.

Download (.pdf)

OK…this isn’t an RPG exactly…or at all, come to think of it.

It’s a game for anyone who’s ever failed to play more than TWO games of Warhammer OR 4k OR whatever…and has a pile of half painted plastic and metal miniatures taunting him from his shelves. It’s blurb should probably read like this:

Skull Crusher is a fantasy skirmish wargame that has no illusions about itself. It’s full rules fill a whole FOUR pages. It has no “peusdo-historical” backstory. It’s probably family friendly as long as it isn’t played while drunk. It welcomes all fantasy miniatures into play, regardless of origin, base or painted condition. Skull Crusher permits any online criticism of it’s rules, artistic direction and / or sales practices but would like to point out that you get what you pay for.

Hopefully that covers everything.

Owlbears and Owlcubs battle it out for control of the Dream Hive! A crunchy boardgame RPG suitable only for the most fit Owlbears.

Background

Flush from their victory against the scurvy Owlursines, the United Federation of Owlbears basked in their acquisition of planet Lizbob. Populated only by the diminutive Owlcubs, it contained a Dream Hive, source of the precious Dream Honey necessary for space travel. Since the UFO was built on fast travel and communications between its planets, it was in their best interest to secure the Dream Hive and put the Owlcubs to work harvesting the Dream Honey. (Also, that way the Owlcubs would deal with the Nightmare Bees guarding the Dream Hive, rather than the Owlbears.)

Unfortunately, the Owlcubs had other ideas. They had just thrown off the yoke of the Owlursines and wished to revel in their new freedom and eat lots of Dream Honey. (The Owlcubs do not know how to use Dream Honey for space travel. They just find it very tasty.)

Some of the Owlbears sympathized with the Owlcubs. Enslaving the Owlcubs, they claimed, would violate the spirit of the UFO. These Owlbears soon joined up with some of the Owlcubs to form the Anti-Imperialist League.

On the other hand, some of the Owlcubs were eager for the Owlbears to step in and introduce the many technological benefits available to members of the UFO. These Owlcubs joined the Owlbears in the Imperialist Society.

Now the battle for Lizbob begins!

Corrosion is a role-playing game of technological monstrosities. Machines stir from quiescence, propelled by evil. They stalk, terrorize and exterminate humans. Your characters are their human victims ? and whether they run, hide, or fight back, they will come to realize what the machines MEAN

Characters

Before creating your own character, talk to the other players about how all the characters will be connected. Why are they facing the same horror? Are they friends or family members? Do they live or work in the same building? Have they come together by chance (guests in a motel, strangers on a train)? Are they far-flung but linked by communication or shared interests? Once you agree on a context, each player can come up with a character concept, and flesh it out with a few biographical details: name, age, gender, job, etc. Players should also write down one thing that your character is especially afraid of and one common fear that doesn?t affect the character as much as it does most people.

Corrosion is set by default in the present, though you can play in any society that is being impacted by technological change. The moderator should pick specific locations that provide opportunities for interesting and scary scenes. As an example, for a two player game the players choose to be a young couple on their honeymoon in Hawaii. The wife will be particularly afraid of heights but about drowning since she is a strong swimmer. The husband will fearful of insects but fine with the dark.

Next, create a portrait of your character (either a head shot or a full length portrayal) by drawing a portrait on a piece of paper, cutting a picture out of a magazine, printing a image from the internet, or reproducing a picture from a book. If you have the materials, glue the picture to piece of cardboard or manila folder so that the pieces will be easier to handle.

Joy Division is a near-future role playing game of technological horror. Characters are agents of the Joy Division, a small but well-funded transnational espionage agency concerned with advanced, destabilizing technologies. Its mission is to neutralize major threats that might arise from transformative technologies, including planetary-scale biocide, genocide and related crimes against humanity, nonconsensual alterations of the human genome, and, where necessary, consensual but radical transformations of human identity. Characters will use a range of quasi-legal and illegal means – targeted investments, blackmail, commercial espionage, misinformation campaigns, kidnappings — to neutralize or limit technological threats.

The Change

In 1924 the writer Virginia Woolf noted that “on or about December 191 human character changed.” ** She was at least a century premature. With apologies to Ms. Woolf, who chose that date due to a provocative modernist art exhibit and expansion of the suffrage, you haven”t experienced change in character until your only daughter has her brain pulped and her personality embedded in an AI platform. Your values aren”t tested until you and your kind are viewed as expendable animals by a hypercaste of fantastically enhanced and ferociously careless hybrid machine-humans. And you can”t fully appreciate post-impressionist painting until you see the blue of the eastern horizon ripped to a congealing mass of doughy gray by invisible chains of poorly-programmed nanobots feasting on atmospheric gases, perforating the sky like termites crossbred with neutron bombs. I can”t tell you exactly when this change will come ? February 229 or June 238 or thereabouts ? because when it does there will be no one left to care, at least nothing that will concern itself with calendars or human character… Which is why we have to stop it.

By the late 2th century a number of futurists projected that accelerating technological developments would converge in the not too distant future in a Singularity ? an exponential, explosive transformation of machines, society, and human nature. *** Some celebrated the possibility that artificial intelligences and related transhumanist innovations would free mankind from the limits of human biology. Others doubted that these predictions were anything more than wishful thinking or science fiction ? techno-optimism run amok. Meanwhile a subset of the world”s business, scientific, and political elites grew concerned. They noted trends in robotics, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, nanotechnology and related fields, that, while intriguing and potentially profitable in the short term, were socially problematic when extrapolated along a curve of accelerating innovation.

Doubting that nation states or intergovernmental organizations were willing or able to track and regulate the coming singularity/transhumanist revolution, in 211 a group of the concerned convened a session on “Transformative Technologies” on the sidelines of the annual World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland. Participants drafted a declaration calling for a balance between innovation and regulation. They chartered a new organization, the Coalition on the Responsible use of Transformative Technologies (CRTT), to carry out public education, research and advocacy. Behind the scenes, conference organizers consulted with several highly-placed sympathizers who were unable or unwilling to sign the declaration. This inner circle provided funding for an Immediate Response Division (IRD). The IRD was designed as the clandestine arm of the CRTT. IRD agents would intervene surreptitiously but aggressively to stop or delay the launch of problematic technologies. And that”s what the IRD did. Although no one inside or out of the CRTT-IRD, except possibly the most unflinching bureaucrat, used that designation… They all called it the Joy Division.

An inhuman power hums in the shuttles and valves of a 19th century English factory town. An alien power that lies congealed in the cloth and steel manufactured there. A hostile power that twists bone, robs children of their youth, and turns neighbors against neighbors. It is more terrifying than any unholy spirit, slithering lifeform or doomsday device because this horror is real, grounded in social relations. It is alienation and it is generated anew each shift as men, women, and children toil at the machines. Satanic Mills is a role playing game about the production of alienation and the destruction of human lives. It is based on Karl Marx’s theory of alienation as expressed in his Economic and Philosophical manuscripts of 1844

Something Strange and Hostile

An inhuman power hums in the shuttles and valves of a 19th century English factory town. An alien power that lies congealed in the cloth and steel manufactured there. A hostile power that twists bone, robs children of their youth, and turns neighbors against neighbors. It is more terrifying than any unholy spirit, slithering lifeform or doomsday device because this horror is real, grounded in social relations. It is alienation and it is generated anew each shift as men, women, and children toil at the machines.

Satanic Mills is a game about the production of alienation and the destruction of human lives. It is based on Karl Marx’s theory of alienation as expressed in his Economic and Philosophical manuscripts of 1844. Marx believed that workers in capitalist societies are stripped of or separated from what should be meaningful in their lives ? and that what is taken from us fuels our exploitation. He identified four linked types of alienation. People are alienated from their labor, since work is not done to fulfill the worker’s human needs and creativity but to meet the external agenda of the owner. Workers are also alienated from the products of their labor, which profit capitalists and emerge as commodities that the worker must buy. Workers are alienated from other people as the exchange of money and commodities warps social relationships. People are finally alienated from their species being, since the loss of meaningful productive activity removes one of the main capacities that makes us human.

Alienation, forged in Satanic Mills, will inexorably damage the lives of the game’s characters, with you serving as both victim and executioner.

“Lord Knows I Don’t Begrudge Her It” is a 24-hour RPG inspired by William Faulkner’s novel, As I Lay Dying. The game is set in the southern U.S. in the early 2th century. The players take the role of a household in which one of the family members has recently died. Before their death, the deceased family member made the rest of the family promise to bury him or her in a nearby town. It is therefore the duty of the surviving family members to transport the corpse of their dearly departed kin to a proper burial site. However, each member of the family has ulterior reasons for wanting to go to town, and is largley using their newly dead relative as an excuse to get what they want. Unfortunately for them, it won’t be easy.

The Family

The first thing that the players must determine is the nature of the family itself. It is assumed for the purpose of the game that the family is composed of poor country folk. The size of the family will be equal to the number of players plus one (the dead one). The family may be comprised of ?immediate? family members (fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters) or it may include other relatives such as grandparents, aunts and uncles, and so forth. The family is assumed to all live together. The deceased may be any member of the family, from grandmother to daughter. As they will in some ways define much about the rest of the family, they are the first family member to be generated.

The Deceased

The players must discuss several aspects of the recently departed. What was their identity? How did they die? Why did they want to be buried away from their home? What was most important to them in life? Of what were they most afraid? Fleshing out the dead member of the family will help to give the players an idea of their own place in the family.

The Player Characters

After the departed member of the family has been fleshed out, the rest of the family must be constructed. This is in part an individual exercise, as each player creates their own character, but it should also be (at least partly) a group activity, as the characters are created to not only exist on their own, but also as members of the family unit. The characters need names.

Motive

Each player must choose one Motive for their character. In the game, the most important thing to your character is his or her Motive. This is what drives your character forward; what keeps them on the path toward their destination, and, most importantly, that which they value the most in the world. The Motive can be almost anything, but with the following requirements: there must be some reason that the Motive can only be fulfilled by a trip to town, where the dying member of the family has requested burial. Perhaps, for example, the motive is an object your character wishes to buy; perhaps there is someone in town that they wish to meet with. Or perhaps your character genuinely wishes to give your dead relative the proper burial that they deserve. Regardless, when obstacles threaten to turn you from the path to town, the only things that you can call on to make it through the hardship are your family and your devotion to your motive.