Deep Sky Ballad

Get your table playing in minutes, not hours.   GATEWAY RPG is a free, rules-lite d20 system built for zero-prep adventures, sudden one-shots, and seamless intro sessions. Familiar 5E-style mechanics with all the bloat stripped out, so you can run any genre instantly: neon-soaked cyberpunk streets, grit-filled noir alleys, high fantasy, cosmic horror, and everything in between. The Definitive Edition is now the main book. This is the complete, current version of GATEWAY RPG: updated core rules, solo play, a starter bestiary, and homebrew variants, character sheets all combined into one source. New artwork, professional layout, and everything players and GMs need in a single 132 page PDF. Want the history? Every older version of the rulebook, spanning 2017 to 2026, is bundled in the Legacy Zip below for collectors and the curious. Download the complete PDF bundle. AI Disclosure: This Enhanced Edition of Gateway RPG features some AI-generated artwork and layout assistance. The rules were still hand written by me and human proofread/playtested since 2017. As a one-man passion project with $0 budget, and $0 revenue gain from this game, this edition utilizes AI imagery only to provide a visually richer and cohesive experience while keeping the game entirely FREE. The original Classic Edition from 2017, featuring human-created artwork, is included as a bonus in the download files. However, if you are only looking for a gaming experience completely free of AI-generated assets, the standalone Classic Edition can be found exclusively on its own dedicated product page at https://gatewayrpg.itch.io/gateway-rpg-classic-edition. What’s Inside? Definitive Edition (Main Book): The complete game in one volume. Updated rules, solo play engine, starter bestiary, and homebrew variants. Legacy Zipfile (2017-2026): Every prior version of the rulebook, character sheet, supplement preserved as released. For archivists, returning players, and anyone who wants to see how the game evolved. Core Rules: The streamlined engine for players and Game Masters, in both English and Spanish (Reglas en Español). Character Sheets: Multiple Printable and Form Fillable Character Sheets Ready-to-Play Content: Pregenerated characters and one-shot adventure modules spanning multiple genres. Jump straight into the action. Player's Toolkit: Printable and form-fillable character sheets, a one-page quick reference guide, and the d20 Oracle for solo play. Starter Bestiary: 25 adversaries across 11 settings, from High Fantasy to Space Opera to Lovecraftian Horror. Homebrew Variants: Over 20 pages of optional mechanics, including Spark of Heroism (Inspiration), Pushing for Success (partial success), and genre modifiers for Survival and Cosmic Horror. Pocket Character Sheets: Compact sheets designed for portability. Solo Play Quickstart Zine: A portable, zine-style guide for on-the-go solo adventures. NEW: Android Player Companion App Character Builder: Create custom characters or select from 30 curated pre-mades. Pocket Rules: Quickly search core mechanics and references on the fly. Sheet-Integrated Dice: Roll checks directly from your sheet. Solo Engine: Built-in oracle for quick, on-the-go solo adventures. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aistudio.gatewayrpg.app Designer's Note: GATEWAY RPG grew out of a personal passion for tabletop gaming. Back in 2015, I discovered S. John Ross’s classic 1993 game, Risus: The Anything RPG. It was free, modular, ultra-flexible, and simple to pick up, but as I played more TTRPG's like DND5e, I missed the iconic d20 and the drama of critical hits and misses. I created GATEWAY RPG to capture that same beginner-friendly spirit while bringing back the thrill of the twenty-sided die and being able to use it for any setting. Whether you are running quick one-shots, playing standalone adventures, diving into solo sessions, or modularly introducing advanced rules as your group learns, GATEWAY adapts seamlessly to your table. GATEWAY RPG and Aurican's Lair are a Not-For-Profit Tabletop Roleplaying Game publisher.

Salvage Union is a RPG set in a Post-Apoc world where MegaCorps rules pockets of civilization and nomads on giant 'Crawlers' comb the wastes for 'salvage'. Players are part of the 'Salvage Union', on one of these roaming Crawlers and deploy out in jury-rigged Mechs to collect salvage and investigate their ruined world. Description Playing Salvage Union means playing a crew of salvager mech pilots living aboard a massive, mobile home base called a Union Crawler, scavenging a corporate-ravaged wasteland for scrap to keep their community alive. Beyond raiders and rival scavengers, threats include monstrous Bio-Titans, alien Meld, and the Corpos who still control most of the world's remaining resources. Much of the game's appeal comes from its two-layered loop: narrative exploration and salvaging runs outside the mech, and tactical, resource-managed mech combat once things go loud, tied together by a deep crafting system that lets pilots build and refit their machines from scavenged parts between missions.

NovArchaic is a modern-day science-fantasy tabletop role-playing game focused on identity-first character creation, a structured-but-creative action system, and fun, rewarding crafting. Character creation focuses on a character with a backstory rooted in the setting and goals that, once completed, unlock new ways to improve. All actions use a unified passive and active skill system, tied into a flexible critical-effect system. But what about the setting? NovArchaic's core setting is a world that didn't know it wasn't whole. The core reality shard is our modern world, with its cell phones and memes. Then there are fractures and other shards containing magic and monsters. Slowly, as time passes, these parts of the universe try to come back together, but it's a complicated, bloody mess.

Vagabond // Pulp Fantasy RPG is a d20-based OSR fantasy game designed by Taron "Indestructoboy" Pounds - an ENnie Award-winning designer previously known for third-party D&D 5e class content - and published through his own studio, Land of the Blind. It funded its development on Kickstarter in 2023, with a print run funded via Gamefound in 2024, and fans have taken to calling it "the Pathfinder of the OSR": an attempt to bring modern character-build depth to old-school-inspired dungeon crawling without losing the rulings-over-rules, low-prep philosophy that defines games like Knave, Cairn, and Into the Odd, several of which are explicitly credited as influences. Description Playing Vagabond means playing pulp-flavored fantasy adventurers - the kind of setting where a Goblin Gunslinger might delve a mummy's tomb alongside a Dwarf Witch hunting Excalibur - built specifically to keep GM prep and mental overhead low while still giving players a genuinely deep character-building toolkit. It's explicitly compatible with B/X-derived monsters, classic TSR modules, and Old School Essentials adventures, so existing OSR content drops in with little to no conversion. All rolls are player-facing, meaning players roll rather than the GM rolling against them, and creature stat blocks include a built-in "Action Gambit" describing exactly what a monster does in combat, aiming to strip improvised tactical decisions away from the GM entirely.

Natural Zero is a tool I build for myself and my group of beginner adventurers. It has a character sheet editor. If you have created your character sheet you can export it as PDF and/or use the Combat copilot to help you not forget anything in a battle. In this tool you can see all options you can take in combat and lists al conditions and active spells as well as health management.  As DM you can create battles with the Battle Composer and roll initiative to track the rounds, you can add your players here. Hopefully in the near future you'll be able to add character sheets your players created by inviting them into your campaign so it's even less manual work to streamline your sessions! I hope you enjoy using Natural Zero

Its gonna be May. /images/general-media/1778679800_avRWtoFC.gifThis is gonna ruin the tour... Well, it already is May - and its time for this month’s overview of what we have done during the last month. We would like to keep you updated as to how the platform is evolving and growing - especially since many of our updates might be something you have not noticed (you can read the last month's update log here). Birthday.. Of sorts It was the end of April of last year when we released the current version of Groupfinder. Partly. Most of you might not be aware that Groupfinder was first launched in 2021. We first created the platform for the Estonian TTRPG community to help our local players find groups and players more easily. And it was well-received and used, prompting us to keep working on it, improving and tweaking. /images/general-media/1778679949_qEWkiP3e.jpgHow far we've come since 2021.  Many years later, we decided to step it up a notch and redesign the entire platform and open it up to the world. More than half a year later, Groupfinder (now called Groupfinder, not Grupileidja) was finally released. It took us a few months before we were ready for the global audience. In september, we had our ducks in a row and we started spreading the word about the platform. Users from all over the world slowly started discovering the site and signing up. Gaining initial traction was a difficult task - users would not bother to use Groupfinder, because there weren’t users on the platform. A vicious circle that eventually was resolved thanks to our early pioneers, willing to give us a shot and posted their profiles and groups here. And now, a year later, we can see the platform has almost 6000 registered users with over 1500 active profiles and almost 700 active groups.    Players and systems During the last month, we improved player post creation - choosing the game system is now more visual and clearer. In addition - the process has been integrated with the Library. If a system exists there, it will be more visually distinct. As well as linked to the corresponding Library entry page. Hopefully more players will discover alternative systems to try out. /images/general-media/1778680166_bQADP9rj.pngChoosing the correct systems has never been easier. On Groupfinder The player profile page itself has also been updated and refreshed in multiple ways, making your profile a better calling card for you. Panel is Dashboard We used to call the homepage, the Panel. But we realized, that it didn’t make that much sense to most users. So it is now Dashboard. Not a huge change - but a change nonetheless. The dashboard also received multiple updates and tweaks to make things less cluttered and messy. Library is getting stocked During the month, the library has received multiple new entries. By multiple - I believe we can say well over a hundred new entries have been added. There are multiple new tools, video creators and podcasts/actual play entries for you to discover. Waiting for your next session? Perfect time to start enjoying an actual play series to keep the hype going and perhaps be inspired by the way other groups play. Article series “Covering the basics” We also started with an introductory blog series called “Covering the basics”. Something to guide new players taking their first steps in the hobby. Currently there is one for “Making a character” and one for “How to start as a Dungeon Master”.    And while not part of the series, you might want to take a look at the “Safety tools” article. Something to consider when starting a group with people you’ve never played with before. Tweaks & fixes We've kept a watchful eye on various bugs and problems that needed addressing. The mobile notifications were overly aggressive and at times got a bit spammy - we've told the messenger to calm down.  In messenger you can now react to messages, making it easier for you to agree upon a certain ruling or arrangement. Or, if you like, you can send an image of surprised Pikachu. Sending images in messenger is now possible. Sending a message to someone, but they just won't respond? Hover over their timezone on their profile and see what time it is for them. Maybe they are sleeping. Maybe you should also be? May-be that is all Thanks for reading this month’s update. We will keep on working on things in the background. You can join the Groupfinder discord server if you want to share some thoughts or problems with the platform.   And as always - if you have found Groupfinder useful in any way - be sure to share it with others. Either via a social media post, or just tell your friends about it. You sharing Groupfinder helps us grow. And with more users - more groups. Till next time.