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

How to play D&D for FREE (and other free TTRPGs)
👕 10% off at INTO THE AM 👕 intotheam.com/wasd20
Article about the OGL controversy - www.washingtonpost.com/video-...
D&D Starter Sets (NOT free) - amzn.to/3sFE6sI
💥FREE STUFF💥
D&D Basic Rules: dnd.wizards.com/what-is-dnd/b...
Basic Rules and free adventures on www.dndbeyond.com/
Secrets of Skyhorn Lighthouse: www.dmsguild.com/product/2156...
The Wild Sheep Chase: www.dmsguild.com/product/1709...
Adventures Await: www.adventuresawaitstudios.com/
Cairn RPG: cairnrpg.com/
Ironsworn RPG: www.ironswornrpg.com/
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0:00 - Why NOT to spend $$
1:39 - Boxed sets
2:01 - Free Rules
3:25 - Best Shirts Ever
4:31 - Free Adventures
7:05 - Free Dice
7:39 - Other Free RPGs

[@pdubb9754]

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.

[@pimc172]

Or maybe there is...a negative correlation but still a correlation

[@lightst33l]

Srry but it is unfortunately... İn my country dollar is x30 😥... İt is like fortune...

[@maromania7]

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.

[@doc8125]

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

[@WASD20]

Good tip!

[@pyropaul2408]

Yeah Archives of Nethys has everything you need. For PF1 and PF2.

[@doc8125]

@@pyropaul2408 yeah, since it's all free it's also super easy for 3rd party apps to work really well out of the box. No need to buy all your books again twice to have a digital character creator, some VTT just work with all the rules, monster, character stuff etc out of the box, you can find all the info converted to be accessible in stuff like one note or obsidian. It's just great stuff all around

[@crastestpixles5972]

@@WASD20 To be clear Archives of Nethys has "ALL" the rules for PF1 and PF2 and Starfinder on line for free. Paizo all so publishes a free adventure for all current editions each year for free RPG day.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Such a great topic!

[@KuittheGeek]

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.

[@bmoney599]

Basic fantasy is amazing iv been running games with it for years they have everything you need and more right on their website

[@josephbradshaw6985]

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

[@KuittheGeek]

I love BFRPG. So much to get, the rules are pretty straight forward, but still offer some crunch over other games with pass/fail rules, and like you said, they have tons of material. I love the Adventure Anthologies, and I think with a little bit of tweaking, you could port any of those adventures into any system.

[@wingusryu8289]

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

[@WASD20]

True. Those are great games and I recommend them. However, pretty much every game these days seems to have some free Quickstart rules.

[@pwtprojects5610]

Mork Borg is a design jewel too.

[@BScalise97]

Basic Fantasy RPG is where it's at.

[@poochmasterson]

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

[@WASD20]

I appreciate that!

[@cybrdroyd]

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

[@SteveSwannJr]

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

[@gmGrudgeMonster]

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.

[@Galvamel]

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

[@serimar]

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

[@SkittleBombs]

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

[@dirtywhitellama]

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.

[@michelmarcio6910]

Great tips! Thank you!

[@old_geeky_Michael]

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 😃

[@JohnnyH5]

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?

[@fiendslayergames]

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

[@NefliteArts]

Ironsworn has one of the warmest and supportive communities I have ever come across on the internet! And that game is soooo good, you can adapt it yourself or use one of the many settings others have created - from a Stardew Valley vibe to Cyberpunk or Vamppires, everything is possible :) So many heroes out there keep on creating nice and free stuff!!! Worth every second you research ^^

[@rtfmtech]

"Lost Mine of Phandelver is about 5 sessions" - My friends are so slow, we played almost weekly for a year and didn't even get to the end of it - granted I did add some of my own flavor to it, but still that one gave us a lot to chew - I know my experience is NOT anywhere near normal, I'm sure 5-6 sessions is average.

[@WASD20]

I actually just did a bit more research and it seems many people get well over 10 sessions out of it. Seems like you'd have to be cranking through things REALLY fast to finish in 5-6 sessions.

[@multiversedm]

As always I appreciate you and your videos. Thanks!

[@rendonor5070]

I'm a new DM, so thank you for this 🙏

[@kylepollander940]

loved you on roll play tabletop!

[@jessethames883]

Hey Nate, I recently got into D&D and your videos are the most helpful thing I've found on the entire internet. I was wondering if you play your virtual campaigns with your viewers? If so, I would love to join in on one or hopefully more!

[@WASD20]

Sorry, I’m not running online games at this time. Thanks for the compliments! Glad you enjoy the videos.

[@joshs_boxes]

Great video!

[@echodelta2426]

Great content. Another free alternative, specially for beginners is D&D Adventure League which is usually available to play at the Local Gaming Store, but there is also some online content if you want to run it yourself with friends. Love the vibrant color of the shirt and the art too, so i will definitely check out "into the AM"

[@battlemapbrawl]

Lost Mines of Phandelver is the GOAT. Great Vid WASD20. I'm always in support of free D&D.

[@IanBoyte]

I'd love to see you cover more smaller and independent RPGs on a regular basis. I guarantee for 95% of RPG players, there is a game other than WOTCD&D that will better fit the adventures you want to have at your table.

[@OurFamilyPlaysGames]

Great video! Good to know things like this just so we don't have to break the bank for the hobby! - G

[@Kurumi_Kazuha]

Im so confused, Drows arent in the basic rules stuff but I found another rule stuff but in my native language (spanish) and drows appear, and Im not sure why (they look very similar really )

[@iamcoolalot]

this is exactly my kind of content. i'm broke bro.

[@eminkucuk1902]

Damn it...I bought the books last week. Wish I knew!

[@pwtprojects5610]

I'm designing my own system, a spin off between Knave, EZ-D6 and Into the Odd, simplified for new gamers, small A5 character sheet pre-compiled or easy to create (1 minute), 1 page rule if possible. So i can open the D&D essential kits and play just modifying the monster stats or download, buy for cheap a lot of adventures around, let's be honest, we dont need D&D, we didnt in the past, we wont in the future.

[@efrique]

I commented earlier and posted a list of handy free (legal) resources for D&D, but the comment seems to have been removed or held back -- I'm guessing because there were a bunch of links in it. It's discouraging to put effort into providing resources if youtube is just going to remove it. Is there somewhere we can provide links to good resources that won't just assume we're spamming?

[@03dashk64]

You showed Fate, which is awesome. Cepheus (Traveller rules) is also PWYW online. Really weird that Pathfinder wasn’t mentioned at all. All of the rules are free online.

[@WASD20]

2 reasons - 1. I didn’t really know that. I own the book and have played a couple times but don’t know a ton about it. 2. It’s hard for me to actually call it “free” just because all the rules are freely available on a website. Then again, one could argue the same for DnD Beyond, which is why I don’t really consider DnD a free rpg. Almost any RPG CAN be played for free, but I wouldn’t label them all as free RPGs.

[@rpgchronicler]

​@@WASD20I find it strange the pf community recommends Archives of Nethys ad infinium when really they should be recommending something like a quickstart rules pdf or something like it since not everyone is able to access the internet for rules, especially during sessions.

[@edwardgiogi]

I would say there hasn't been a better time to stock up on 5th edition material, especially if you like that edition of D&D...

[@HUGSY_meh]

WHY DONT YOU UPLOAD MUCH ANYMORE I LOVE YOUR CONTENT!!!

[@WASD20]

Yeah, life has been a bit crazy for me and KZbin is very much a side gig for me. I'm doing my best to get something out at least once a month. I wish it was more frequent too! :) I appreciate your support.

[@CaptainDaccat]

The only Provoker that still uploads consistently. 😢

[@WASD20]

It is true. Many KZbinrs have come and gone, and here I stand! 😀 Those guys are still workin it in publishing w Absolute Tabletop, though. They make great stuff.

[@faenethlorhalien]

Oh, it WILL be different. Most classes, even if it's all D20 based, are not compatible with current content. They've massively revamped a lot of mechanics (Warlocks are completely unrecognizable, and so are Wizards too, and say goodbye to twinning spells as a Sorc, or having to take damage to keep your rage as a Barb). I rather they call it 6.0 or whatever than 5.X, because this is not 5E compatible AT ALL. Spells will not be compatible, many abilities won't either because they're getting rid of short rests, any smiting outside of smite spells for Paladins, and the use of sneak attack in reactions, for instance. Absolute madness and utterly ridiculous changes that in most cases make no sense and are being used to justify charging everyone again for content. I really hope that Hasbro loses a lot of money in this even if it means that many, many D&D players eventually get tired of the game and stop playing it.

[@WASD20]

When I look at the playtest rules as they stand now I am surprised how little they are changing. They’ve tried a lot of new things and then end up walking them back in subsequent versions of the playtest. But I guess it’s all a matter of perspective. I’m just not seeing the differences being as big as they were between previous editions is all.

[@hurpdurpueruhur]

they're extremely free if you're a very savvy internet user, yar.

[@hurpdurpueruhur]

also if you hate giving wotc money

[@fred_derf]

"Play D&D for free by paying the a**holes at Hasbro (Wizards of the Coast) a monthly subscription". I don't think you understand what the word "free" means. BTW: How much did Hasbro pay you for this D&D Beyond Ad?

[@Thandulfan]

imagine that you do not need to pay subscription for beyond to read the free rules they provide, mr hater

[@WASD20]

Uh, yeah. A subscription is absolutely not required for DND Beyond. Accounts are free. Subscriptions just get you extra stuff you don’t need.

[@WASD20]

Also, do you think they would pay me to throw them shade? Tell viewers they lied and have shady business practices? And also suggest OTHER roleplaying games as possible better choices?

[@fred_derf]

@@WASD20 The free account doesn't get you access to the books (unless you have paid for such access).

[@WASD20]

You don't NEED the books. You have the basic rules, which gives you everything you need to run the game. You also have several free adventures, all the PHB character options to create characters. Yes - you don't get everything for free. But you do get PLENTY to start a game and play for a good long while (or forever if you home brew adventures after finishing the free ones).