Five Quick Free RPG Rule Sets

There are many people writing free RPG rules these days. Most of these rules are published online in PDF format for download. Some of these free games are as big and complicated as the big names in the role playing world, others not so much. I have compiled a short list of quick free RPG rule sets. These rules are only a couple of pages long and most assume that you have done some role playing in the past and are familiar with the common terminology. If you have never played a role playing game before I would not suggest starting with these because most of the basic knowledge needed to play an RPG has been omitted. If you have experience with role playing these games offer a nice alternative to the major games on the market and because of the short rule sets they are great for those one off nights.



1- Super Hero Fun
Super Hero Fun is a very simple set of rules to role play super heroes.  The entire rule set is about six pages long and covers the basics of combat, character creation, and skill resolution. The game works on a dice pool system and exclusively uses six sided dice. With no back ground or NPCs there is a heavy reliance on the creativity of the GM. The rules are well written and work decent enough. I did find the format of the PDF to be a little strange and I missed some of the rules due to the text placement. If you are looking for quick and dirty super hero role playing give it a shot. The rules can be downloaded here.

2-Pocket Dungeon
This one is a little different in that it is a solo game. The idea of Pocket Dungeon is to be a "stealth" game that you can play just about anywhere by yourself. If you use the stealth dice rules this is something that you could play by yourself while sitting at your desk at work and your boss would never notice. The rules can be a little strange to wrap your head around because the entire game is played on graph paper and is set up almost like a computer rogue-like game. Once you grasp the basic concepts of the dungeon generation system pocket dungeon can be a lot of fun and a great way to kill time on your own. You can find the games homepage here, the files are hosted on boardgamegeek.com and will require you to register an account to download.

3- Zombie D6 Lite- It does not get any more lite than this. Zombie D6 Lite is a single page rule system for role playing a zombie apocalypse. The system here is not surprisingly really simply since it is only a single page of rules. There are no rules for character advancement so this would make for a great game for some on the spot gaming. Get a bunch of friends a couple of sheets of paper and see how long your players can handle endless waves of zombies. The page of rules can be found here.

4-Dungeon Squad-this one is short and neat as it is designed around younger players that do not have the attention span older players might have. While at it's core Dungeon Squad is a rather basic fantasy hack and slash everything has been designed to be fast, simple and streamline. If you have a younger sibling that you are looking to get into role playing this is a great way to start them. The Dungeon Squad rule can be downloaded here.

5-Risus-Designed around quick play and never taking itself to seriously Risus can be a lot of fun for those short bursts of role playing. Character creation takes less then a minute and the whole system is only six pages long and using on six sided dice. Risus is supposed to be a game of comedy but if you really wanted to it could be adapted for more serious game play, but it works so well as is I don't think you would want to. You can download the rules and expansions for the game here.

There you have it five short, quick and dirty role playing systems. There are a ton more free role playing systems out there for players looking for something different, but these five should give you some ammo when it comes to that last minute gaming session. Happy gaming I look forward to hearing your comments.