Roleplaying & Wargaming Material

This page contains all of the free, DIY roleplaying game material I publish. Below you will find Saga, a free gaming system that can be used to run any kind of campaign in any genre or setting. You will also find a number of campaign settings and supplements for Saga, as well as Tabletop Tactics, a free universal miniature wargame. Enjoy!

CORE RULEBOOK & TEMPLATES

Saga Core Rulebook, Version 3.5

Saga, a rules-light, narrative Roleplaying System

Saga is a roleplaying engine I developed as a greatly simplified version of an earlier RPG that I no longer publish. It is a rules-light universal system with all the advantages and unique features of my previous system, but in greatly reduced form. Battle is deadly, non-combat characters and skills are important, magic is actually arcane and chaotic, and the emphasis is on realism and storytelling rather than stat keeping.

Version 3.5, the most up-to-date edition, contains a number of important system changes and improvements. The Conflict Resolution System (i.e.: rolling dice) has seen a complete overhaul, and should be more realistic and much simpler to use. It also greatly simplifies and streamlines Mass Combat.

This edition comes in three options: black and white, color cover, and full color! The black version, although pretty badly pixelated, looks better on printers without color capability. Each of the following PDFs contains all the rules and information you need to run a campaign in any setting.

For seasoned roleplayers reluctant to switch systems, check out the rear cover (page 76) of this manual for a list of reasons why Saga is unique and worth choosing!

Saga, Core Rulebook Version 3.5 (FULL COLOR)

Saga, Core Rulebook Version 3.5  (COLOR COVER)

Saga, Core Rulebook Version 3.5  (BLACK & WHITE)

76 pages, 500-ish KB.

Saga Character Sheet

This is the default template for keeping track of player-characters (PCs) using the Saga system. Can be used in any genre or campaign setting. Character sheets #s 2, 3, and 4 are made for the Arcanum campaign setting, and are steampunk-themed as such. #5 is made for The Nahmurg Wastes or other post-apocalyptic games.

2 pages, 89KB.

Saga Character Sheet

Saga Character Sheet #2 (STEAMPUNK)

Saga Character Sheet #3 (STEAMPUNK)

Saga Character Sheet #4 (STEAMPUNK)

Saga Character Sheet #5 (POST-APOCALYPSE)

Saga NPC Templates

The following links each contain a sheet of NPC templates (1 page, front and back) for use with Saga. These are all contained in the Saga Core Rulebook, but are included here for easy printing. The names describe what each template is meant for.

Saga NPC Template #1- Individual NPCs, 2 pages, 29KB.

Saga NPC Template #2- Enemies in Groups,2 pages, 30KB.

Saga NPC Template #3- Units In Warfare,2 pages, 30KB.

 

CAMPAIGN SETTINGS

Campaign Setting #1: The Nahmurg Wastes

This is the first campaign setting released for use with the Saga Core Rules. This setting is a post-apocalyptic North America- called Nahmurg by the inhabitants- that is heavily influenced and based upon the CRPG Fallout series, the novel A Canticle for Leibowitz, and the indy comic Wasteland. It also takes influences from my own green anarchism, and my anticipation that this civilization (and all civilizations, really) will come crashing tumultuously down, as civilizations always do. Whether it’s a campaign setting or the near future for the American empire, look forward to many adventures in the Nahmurg Wastes. Now in full color!!!

70-ish pages, 3MB.

Campaign Setting #1: The Nahmurg Wastes

Saga Character Sheet #5 (POST-APOCALYPSE)

Campaign Setting #2: Chronicles of Magnamund

Finally, after months of work, I’ve finished the second campaign setting for use with the Saga. This setting, called Chronicles of Magnamund, is an adaptation of the world Magnamund from Lone Wolf fame. Anyone who played roleplaying gamebooks in the 80s knows this series intimately. It is with great hopes and anticipation that I release this campaign setting to all the fans of this groundbreaking series who can’t afford (or who don’t want) to pay for the corporate Lone Wolf RPG currently being produced.

The setting itself is a high-fantasy world called Magnamund. It is geographically identical to the original, though many flaws within that world have been altered and (I hope) bettered. There is no longer a strict dualistic dichotomy between good and evil, the Kai Lords are no longer the most important religious faction in the world, the world contains absolutely no racist high-fantasy stereotypes, and the political boundaries, cultures, and names of many nations and regions have been changed to suit this setting. Enjoy!

114 pages, 4 MB.

Campaign Setting #2: Chronicles of Magnamund

Campaign Setting #3: Braythmar

of Resistance to Early Empire in an Age of Bronze

As the name suggests, this high-fantasy campaign setting concerns the resistance of indigenous peoples to a budding empire.The land this setting takes place in is known as Braythmar, a land created with ancient Mesopotamia in mind. One tribe, the Jakkiolenna have conquered their neighbors and confederated themselves into an Empire. This Empire, the Lennar Confederacy, is Braythmar’s first civilization, and exhibits all of the symptoms of this vile disease: slavery, large scale hierarchy, reliance on agriculture and the domination of the natural world, oppression of women and minorities and the indigenous.

The native tribes of Braythmar are determined to continue their traditional existence, reliant on and caring toward their landbases. For many, this means actively and violently resisting the Empire and its forces, all the while working to survive in a harsh world.

This setting is modeled after my green anarchist politics. Players and Storytellers familiar with most fantasy settings will find Braythmar to be unfamiliar territory. There is no glorification of kings and emperors here, no love for knights and feudal lords. Similarly, the hackneyed tropes plaguing fantasy gaming are absent. There are Orcs and Lizardfolk, Humans and Trolls, but no stereotypes govern them.

Braythmar is 100% compatible with the Chronicles of Gantauruk Campaign Setting. To use them together, assume that Braythmar and Gantauruk are two continents on the same planet. Enjoy!

38 pages, 3.5 MB

Campaign Setting #3: Braythmar

Campaign Setting #4: The Hyborian Age

Hyboria, the World of Conan

This campaign setting is a compilation of materials detailing Hyboria, the world of the age of Conan the Barbarian as created by Robert E. Howard. Most of the information herein is from the website http://hyboria.xoth.net/. My thanks to Thulsa and the other folks at Xoth Publishing for the availability of the material.

Hyboria is a brutal, kill-or-be-killed low-fantasy setting that is written for Saga, but is certainly compatible with other systems.

64 pages, 2 MB.

Campaign Setting #4: The Hyborian Age

Campaign Setting #5: Arcanum

of Steamworks & Magic Obscura – a high-fantasy, dark urban, steampunk Campaign Setting

This campaign setting is based heavily upon the computer RPG of the same name. Don’t be misled by the name, though, as this Campaign Setting has so much more to offer than the game alone did. Arcanum is a world of high-fantasy that is just beginning the early stages of industrialization, steam technology, and clockworks. It is a world of many dichotomies and great conflict; Law vs. Chaos, Magic vs. Technology, Urban vs. Rural, Highborn vs. Lowborn, and so forth. This setting borrows heavily from and is influenced by Arcanum, the Thief series of video games, Planescape Campaign Setting for D&D, Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, and every fantasy campaign setting I’ve written before this one. Also, this campaign setting is FULL COLOR!!! And to top it of, there are three new, full-color, steampunk character sheets to compliment the setting. w00t!

100-ish Pages, 3 MB.

Campaign Setting #5: Arcanum

Saga Character Sheet #2 (STEAMPUNK)

Saga Character Sheet #3 (STEAMPUNK)

Saga Character Sheet #4 (STEAMPUNK)

Campaign Setting #6: Neverwhere

This campaign setting is based entirely upon the BBC series and novel of the same name by every high-school goth kid’s favorite author, Neil Gaiman. In this setting, every major city in the world sits atop an underworld unknown to and unexplored by the above-ground inhabitants. Monsters prowl, magic thrives, and feudal political intrigues unfold beneath the cities of the world in this dark urban fantasy.

Campaign Setting #6- Neverwhere

 

SUPPLEMENTS & MISCELLANY

Supplement #1:

Cloak & Dagger Compendium, Issue III: Thieves’ Cant, Parlance of the Underworld

This ongoing periodical strives to explore all aspects of thieving and the lifestyles of the rogue. This issue offers readers a selective glossary of thieving vocabulary from both historical and modern sources. This zine is an invaluable supplement for all roguish PCs and NPCs.

Cloak & Dagger Compendium, Issue III

Tabletop Tactics

a Universal Wargaming Engine

Inspired by my love of miniature wargames and my hatred of most wargames’ rules, I decided to make a universal miniature wargame of my own. This pdf contains all the information needed to play a battle or series or battles in any campaign setting or genre, and is completely compatible with Saga.

46 pages, 913KB.

Tabletop Tactics Templates

These templates are used for keeping track of units and troops in Tabletop Tactics.

4 pages, 41KB.

Name/Type: Size: Sex/Race: Classes/Titles:
Endurance: Intelligence: Speed: Strength:
Acrobatics: Animals: Art: Bushcraft: Combat, Melee: Combat, Ranged:
Combat, Unarmed: Communication: Courage: Crafting & Repair: Detect:
Entertainment & Performance: Gambling & Gaming: Magic & Psionics: Medicine:
Science & Gadgets: Stealth: Vehicles & Machines:
Weapons:
Armor:
Equipment: