Draw Steel (2025)

Ishanekon: World Shapers is the (probably) biggest free Indie TTRPG with over 2,500 character options. It has been mainly developed by Jan Luyken, aka Blaze Reason, with the aim of creating a game that can compete (if not surpass) the current biggest games on the market while remaining affordable for anyone. With its easily adaptable rules and wide range of options, from beginner-friendly to highly complex, it is designed to satisfy the needs of almost any story and play style. Description From epic fantasy and sci-fi to mundane humans facing everything from common threats to cosmic horror, Ishanekons: World Shapers’ modular design lets you easily adjust the rules to help you experience your stories. This game is designed with the idea that you bring the flavor, and the mechanics help you bring it to life. The 10 Archetypes with over 200 Sub-Archetypes, 1000+ Abilities, 600+ Talents, 300+ items and upgrades, and more allow you to build anything from a simple cat to a city-destroying kaiju. Role and complexity filters let you find what you need quickly while helping you avoid those features that might be too overwhelming for your liking. System Overview & Key Features Combat d20, Skill d10 The core of combat is built around d20 attack and defense rolls with modifiers that try to beat the enemy's Evasion and DR Power, respectively. Skills, on the other hand, are rolled with d10s, creating somewhat of a dice-based separation between combat and non-combat. Cinematic Actions While IWS has a solid tactical core that will satisfy most war gamers, it also comes with so-called “Cinematic Actions”. These allow narrative-driven actions, independent of what the rules say your character can do, balancing the rule of cool so that role players have a rules-light way to interact with the action, bringing the best of both worlds. Flexible Character Customization This system allows you to mix and match all sorts of Archetypes, features, and Abilities. It encourages such behavior and does not introduce any blocks, such as stat requirements. All sorts of interesting mechanical and flavor combinations open up once you start experimenting. This is also true for items. An extensive upgrade and crafting system exists that can turn any old blade into whatever you want. Carefully Balanced The system's core math has been calculated to ensure that every character option is viable. Breaking the game is not trivial, and you will feel strong, no matter if you are a martial, caster, or something in between. Every weapon and armor type can be wielded to great effect, and each Stat has its uses. “Optimal play” should never get in the way of what fits your character narratively. Regular Patches As a digital product, IWS can be easily expanded. Monthly patches bring new content, buff weak options, and nerf broken combos to help this game evolve and become the best it can be. New digital tools are also added and expanded, such as online character sheets and an encounter calculator. Build Your Own Creatures The website comes with more than 100 creatures, each of which has Level 0 to 15 versions, but creature templates and an online creature builder help you as the GM to create whatever monstrosities you want to throw at your players. All those 2,500 options can also be used for whatever you cook up.

Nimble is a fast, tactical (and 5e compatible), TTRPG. Your game nights are too precious to waste with slow or fiddly rules! Slay the slog using the best elements from the greatest RPGs around. Nimble empowers players and GMs with more interesting choices, less waiting around, and have more fun playing epic stories Description Nimble RPG is designed to prioritize speed, tactical decision-making, and reduced administrative tracking for both players and Game Masters. The system condenses character sheets and streamlines the action economy to prevent long waiting periods between player turns. Its primary design philosophy centers on accelerating combat encounters without sacrificing strategic depth, utilizing highly lethal weapon mechanics and dynamic monster behaviors. The game is offered both as a complete standalone system and as a modular "rules hack" booklet that can be integrated directly into an ongoing Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition campaign. System Overview & Key Features Fast Combat Don’t waste your time rolling to see if you can deal damage, just roll your damage dice! You deal that much damage. Attacks miss on a 1, but rolling the maximum is an EXPLODING Critical Hit! Exploding critical hits Roll the die again and add it to the total. There is no limit to how many times this damage can stack, except your luck! Instant Initiative Get RIGHT into combat with Improved Initiative rules that get players immediately into combat in a way that serves the story without breaking up the flow. Quick to prep Nimble is quick to prep and easy to run. You've got enough going on while GMing—Mechanics are all designed to be easy to manage and track at the table. You can be ready to run an adventure in as little as 5 minutes! And there's no need to for new players to read though endless pages of rules, teach new players as you play. Easy to balance Easy Encounter Creation. No matter the size of your party—whether you play in a cozy group with just 1 or 2 heroes, or a huge group of 8 or more—Encounters are easy and intuitive to build and balance for just the right level of challenge you like. Craft massive scale combat encounters, down to legendary solo encounters. Strategic Weapon System A subtly DEEP weapon system that rewards thoughtful play. No more, “I guess I’ll pick the bigger one...” Every weapon is balanced to have interesting strengths & weaknesses in combat. Additional links nimblerpg.com - Official website and rules repository

Dragonbane is a classic fantasy tabletop roleplaying game published by Free League Publishing in 2023. It is a modern English translation and reimagining of Drakar och Demoner, Scandinavia's first and longest-running TTRPG, originally released in 1982. The game carries over four decades of Swedish gaming heritage into a sleek, accessible package designed around the philosophy of "mirth and mayhem": fast-paced adventures with minimal prep, where danger is real, luck matters, and even a humble merchant can become a legend. Unlike many modern fantasy RPGs, Dragonbane deliberately avoids the power-escalation treadmill of level-based systems. Characters are capable but mortal from session one, and the game works equally well for a single one-shot evening or a sprawling long-term campaign. It was a strong contender for TTRPG of the year on release, praised widely as one of the most accessible entry points into tabletop fantasy roleplaying. Description In Dragonbane, players take on the role of adventurers in the Misty Vale, a hidden mountain valley, ancient and full of ruins from fallen kingdoms, only recently cleared of orc and goblin occupation. The world is shaped by the eternal cosmic struggle between two great powers: the Dragons and the Demons, rival godlike forces whose conflict bleeds into mortal life. Players choose from six playable Kins: Humans, Dwarves, Elves, Halflings, the duck-like Mallards, and the feral Wolfkin and one of ten Professions (Fighter, Mage, Hunter, Thief, Artisan, Merchant, Mariner, Scholar, and others), each providing a distinct set of skills and heroic abilities. One player takes the role of the Game Master (GM), who builds the world, voices NPCs, and runs the dangers the adventurers face. The tone balances genuine peril and dark fantasy with moments of levity and absurdity. System Overview & Key Features Roll-Under D20 Skill System Dragonbane uses a clean roll-under mechanic. Every skill has a rating from 1 to 18, and to succeed, the player must roll equal to or below that number on a D20. There is no adding up bonuses or consulting modifiers, a skill of 14 means you need a 14 or lower. This keeps the math fast and intuitive while still creating meaningful differences between a trained and an untrained character. Rolling a Dragon & Rolling a Demon Natural 1s and 20s are not just successes and failures, they're narrative events. Rolling a 1 is "Rolling a Dragon": a critical success that triggers powerful, flavourful special effects. Rolling a 20 is "Rolling a Demon": a critical failure with immediate consequences. This naming convention ties the dice directly into the world's mythology and gives every roll dramatic weight. Push Your Luck If a skill roll fails, the player can choose to Push it, picking up the dice and rolling again. But every die that fails a second time inflicts a Condition. Characters can become Exhausted, Sickly, Dazed, Angry, Scared, or Disheartened, each imposing a specific mechanical penalty. Pushing is rarely free, and the decision of whether to push adds meaningful tension to every uncertain roll.. Willpower Points & Heroic Abilities Each character has a pool of Willpower Points (WP), a resource spent to activate their Profession's Heroic Abilities. A Fighter might spend WP to make a devastating counterattack; a Mage burns it to cast spells. Willpower represents the spark of exceptionalism that separates adventurers from ordinary folk, and managing it carefully is central to play. Card-Based Initiative Combat initiative is determined by drawing from a shuffled deck of initiative tokens. One per character and one per monster group. This creates a genuinely unpredictable turn order every round, keeping both players and GM on their toes and preventing the predictability of fixed initiative lists. Kin & Profession, Not Class & Level Character creation is fast: pick a Kin, pick a Profession, assign starting skills. After play begins, advancement is open: characters grow by spending experience on skills of their choice, unconstrained by class restrictions. This avoids the feeling of "wrong builds" and keeps development tied to what the characters actually do in play. Links freeleaguepublishing.com - Official website freeleaguepublishing.com - Free character sheets and campaign materials forum.frialigan.se - Free League forum

Tale of the Manticore is a hybrid between a dark fantasy audio drama and a solo Dungeons & Dragons RPG. The dice make all the important decisions and, as a writer, my job is to interpret them and tell their story. Part fiction, part game, it’s the story where ”Chaos rolls.” Links taleofthemanticore.com - Official website youtube.com - Youtube channel spotify.com - Spotify feed

The Ugly Goblin is a vibrant TTRPG media hub that thrives on the intersection of community, commentary, and the sheer chaos of tabletop gaming. Far from the polished, corporate feel of mainstream productions, the channel embraces an authentic and relatable "around the table" atmosphere, focusing on the stories, struggles, and triumphs that every player and Game Master experiences. Specializing in a wide array of content—from hilarious "horrors of the table" stories to thoughtful system reviews—the channel covers a massive spectrum of the hobby. While rooted in the mechanics of Dungeons & Dragons, The Ugly Goblin frequently ventures into the broader world of indie RPGs and community trends, providing a voice for the everyday gamer who loves the hobby for its quirks and its community. Links youtube.com - Youtube channel patreon.com - Patreon page discord.gg - Discord server

OracleTabletop is a free, lightweight virtual tabletop (VTT) designed for running tabletop roleplaying games with minimal setup. /images/general-media/1785088163_x8myELI2.jpeg Drag drop your map image - to create a map. Free access The platform operates without content paywalls, allowing game masters and players to upload custom battle maps, tokens, and homebrew content freely. Fast setup Built for low friction, enabling groups to launch a session, load maps, and handle dice rolls within minutes. System support Includes specialized features and interface integrations for modern rulesets like Nimble TTRPG, Daggerheart, and Monsterhearts 2, while remaining adaptable to generic TTRPGs. Core VTT capabilities Provides essential browser-based tools for live play, including interactive map viewing, token movement, dice rolling, armor/equipment management, and card tracking. Links oracletabletop.com - Official website