Open source P&P RPG engine?

**Blue Ghost** · #1 February 13th, 2017, 07:45 PM

So I've been trying to find a "freeware" paper and pencil RPG game that out there just to play around with. Every time I do a search all I get are computer gaming freeware stuff.

Has anybody poked around with other games that are in the public domain?

**aramis** · #2 February 13th, 2017, 08:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blue Ghost

So I've been trying to find a "freeware" paper and pencil RPG game that out there just to play around with. Every time I do a search all I get are computer gaming freeware stuff.

Has anybody poked around with other games that are in the public domain?

I'm unaware of any in the public domain - mostly because NOTHING in RPGing is old enough for the copyright to have expired, and no one's made any significantly visible declarations placing their works into the public domain.

As for freeware - which is different; you have to obey the license to use it - the term to look for is "System Reference Document"...

**Blue Ghost** · #3 February 13th, 2017, 09:57 PM

Oh yeah? Well I'm just a little tired of learning a new set of rules every time I go for a gaming session. I thought there might something like an open source D20 thing out there to play with casually.

I'd figured by now a group of games would have come up with one and posted it somewhere, and maybe there might be a PBP thread to jump into or something that wasn't setting specific.

Not a big deal. Maybe I'll make one up and post it on some site somewhere.

timerover51 · #4 February 13th, 2017, 10:50 PM

You might want to check on Board Game Geek for any possibilities.

**Blue Ghost** · #5 February 14th, 2017, 12:42 AM

Thanks, I'll have a look.

McPerth · #6 February 14th, 2017, 03:49 AM

I don't know what kind of RPG are you looking for.

For medieval fantasy ones, Powers and Perils (one of my favorites) have a page where the rules are posted and can freely be downloaded. As Robert Snider (its creator) participated on the page until his passing away, I guess there are no IP issues on it:

http://www.powersandperils.org/

cwfrizzell · #7 February 14th, 2017, 06:01 AM

Take a look here: http://www.darkshire.net/~jhkim/rpg/freerpgs/

Spinward Scout · #8 February 14th, 2017, 11:28 AM

Give this a shot, BG.

Google Search for free+tabletop+rpg

Moebius · #9 February 14th, 2017, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blue Ghost

So I've been trying to find a "freeware" paper and pencil RPG game that out there just to play around with. Every time I do a search all I get are computer gaming freeware stuff.

Has anybody poked around with other games that are in the public domain?

There's one based on Mongoose Traveller 1e, the SRD.

Cepheus Engine is pretty much Traveller without the Traveller setting, so the same kind of sci-fi. But this means you can use it to make and publish your own RPG using this system.
https://rpggeek.com/rpg/38235/cepheus-engine-system

There was a fantasy setting published for it already (before Cepheus, still Mongoose 1e I think).
https://rpggeek.com/rpg/20649/worlds-apart

Mods, feel free to remove if I'm out of line for some reason here.

**Blue Ghost** · #10 February 14th, 2017, 08:14 PM

Wow, great replies. Thanks all. Yeah, I don't know what it was I was typing, but every search engine I tried came up with a bunch of online games I'd never heard of. It was really frustrating, because I just wanted to jump into a group with some basic rules, and forget my troubles for a while.

Great replies. I'll look at all of these. Thanks again.