Playing D&D for FREE (and some other free RPGs)

Simply put, there need be no correlation between the amount of fun you have playing ttrpgs and the amount of money you spend on it.

With the completely free (and officially listened) Archives of Nethys, nearly all PF2E books have all their info available, and in easily searchable format! Exception is the adventures, but even with those the character options are also free. You can start in your own world for free at any time, no issue. They also have 4 free PF2e adventures available, releasing a new one every May. And while not free, the full adventures (level 1-10 or 1-20) are split into 3 chunks at 1/3 of the price. They're typically much larger than Dnd ones and start at the same standard $60, but being able to buy them in chunks means if you aren't liking the path or your party goes off the rails, you don't have to pay for what you didn't use. I find it much more affordable, and easier to swallow the price tag when we've played through a 3rd and know we're liking it. Plus they occasionally go into Humble Bundles.

I love pathfinder just due to how much info is free compared to the free edition of 5e

I love Basic Fantasy, we need more content around this awesome RPG. If you want low cost of entry, the game is completely free and open source, so you can modify the documents if you want to. Awesome system, tons of free adventures, good supplements. I recently picked up Old School Feats to help me flesh out the basic 4 classes to be more advanced, and I like that more than some of the class supplements. Some make the fighter practically useless. OSF gives everyone feats to chose from, some make your character more like classes from later additions, but still have enough to beef up a basic fighter and keep them relevant.

Basic Fantasy is pretty easy and has a TON of content.

Shadowdark and Dragonbane have free starters also. Mork Börg has the whole book and other resources for free on the web site too

Such a great topic!

Basic Fantasy RPG is where it's at.

Hey Nate, thanks for the video. This is my favorite DnD channel.

Love your D&D Videos, you explain everything thoroughly and easily 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Love when you cover non D&D games. I would love a deep dive into "The Warren" the Watership Down RPG.

Cut my teeth on AD&D in the 7th grade. Bought into 2nd Ed in the late 80s, and finally onto 3.5. When 4th Ed hit, I realized it was never going to end. The D&D rules crunch was getting to be too much, and got me looking into lite systems where you buy 1 book and off you go. Index Card RPG is my current go to. I have since started blending it with Electric Bastionland and Spire: the city must fall. Mixing settings is a blast! Mork Bork and EZD6 are great easy alternatives ti D&D and are super fun. Shadowdark is one Ive heard really good things about, so maybe I will check that out next.

Worlds Without Number is a beefier OSR type game. I love it.

Thanks Nate! Re: dice, if you really don't like having digital aids at the table, there used to be loads of hacks/methods for using everyday objects to simulate the various dice rolls - for example, I remember some instructions back in the 80s for using coin flips or a regular D6 to generate all the usual D&D dice ranges. Worth having a look around for them. But yeah, great video as always! Also, mini Cthulhu octopus on your t-shirt looks happy with this content too, so that's a win 😃

Great video as I'm just getting back into D&D. Haven't played since Captain Cook was a Seaman Cook. I've been told that a new edition is going to be released next year, would you recommend waiting to buy any of the core books until the new edition or just go ahead and purchase them?

ICRPG core rules is free and is the best GM guide for new players hands down

Dnd beyond basic rules includes everything from the srd. Thats why there is so much more in it.

Great video for some cheap options for making your games fun!! Awesome job, Nate!

Great tips! Thank you!

On the other hand, if you want even more rules, if 5e just doesn't have enough for you, and literally everything freely available on the internet...there's always pathfinder.