So you have decided to try out Dungeons and Dragons but you’re on a budget, or just don’t want to spend a bunch of money on something you don’t know if you will enjoy. Well lets look at how we can play DnD for free or very cheaply. Starting with….
The Rules
These days for some DnD is synonymous with the greater gaming genre of Table Top Role Playing Games (TTRPGs or just RPGs), and when you start to look at all the options, you may get hit with analysis paralysis, so lets have a look at some of the options available that you can try for free. All the games below are either fully free games or have quick start rules with enough substance for several game sessions.
Dungeons and Dragons (Wizards of the Coast)
Dungeons and Dragons is one of the OGs in the RPG space hailing all the way back to 1974, it is a well loved high fantasy RPG. Over the years there have been many editions from the White Box up to the latest 2024 edition being extremely popular. If you want to give it a try, Wizards of the Coast have released the Basic Rules on the website Dndbeyond. You can also often find the Players Handbook, the GM’s Guide, and the Monster Manual at your local library.
Call of Cthulhu (Chaosium)
Call of Cthulhu (COC) is a great horror game based on H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos and other eldritch horrors. In COC you will play as some regular human in the 1940’s to 1960’s investigating mysteries beyond your comprehension. Chaosium has a free quick start with an included adventure, as well as a choose your own adventure module to help you learn the game on their website Chaosium.
Mothership (Tuesday Knight Games)
Following the horror trend, Mothership is a horror RPG set far into the future taking inspiration from movies like Alien and Event Horizon. Set in the future you play as an employee of The Company, an enigmatic business that only cares about profit and less about its workers. The PDF of the Player Survival Guide can be purchased for free from their website Tuesday Knight Games.
Basic Fantasy RPG (Chris Gonnerman)
Going back to the fantasy genre we have Basic Fantasy RPG. Basic Fantasy RPG is a free open source modern retro clone of Dungeons and Dragons Basic / Expert edition from 1981. This means you will have the ability to run all the DnD B/X edition adventures along with the long list of free adventures on the Basic Fantasy RPG website. Click here for the rule book, It is also sold at cost on Amazon.
Shadowdark (The Arcane Library)
Another popular fantasy RPG is Shadowdark. Winning 4 gold medals at the 2024 ENNIE Awards, Shadowdark is a popular darker and grittier dungeon crawling RPG. Shadowdark is inspired by old school fantasy while modernising it for new audiences. Shadowdark can be purchased for free from the Arcane Library website.
Mausritter (Losing Games)
The final game we are going to look at today is Mausritter by Losing Games. In Mausritter, you play as a mouse on a fantasy adventure. You will fight rats, snakes, squirrels with swords made from needles and nails, bows made from sticks and rubber bands, and of course magic. Mausritter is easy to learn and fun for all ages. The full game is available for free on Itch.io. Also check out the Mausritter website to learn more.
In the end you can’t go wrong with any of the above RPGs, have a talk with your friends and discuss what type of game you are interested in. For the next couple parts of this series, I will be using Dungeons and Dragons in my future examples as it is the system I have the most experience in.