Forged in the Dark (2017)

Blades in the Dark is a heist-themed tabletop roleplaying game system about a crew of daring misfits  on the streets of an industrial fantasy city. Published by Evil Hat Productions in 2017 and designed by John Harper, it introduced the highly influential Forged in the Dark rules engine. BitD revolutionized the heist genre in tabletop gaming by pushing players straight into the act, eliminating the "planning phase". The system it loosely evolved from is Apocalypse World Description In Blades in the Dark, players are part of a criminal organization in Doskvol, a grim Victorian era city. The city is protected by a wall of lightning, to keep any threat on the outside. Players create their characters as either smugglers, thieves, assassins or cultists and explore the criminal underworld, perform dangerous heists, manage gang warfare and grow their criminal organization. The game focuses heavily on narrative momentum and failing forward. Characters are competent but flawed, constantly accumulating stress, trauma, and heat from the law as their gang rises to power. System Overview & Key Features Action Roll (d6 Dice Pool) The core mechanic uses a pool of six-sided dice(d6) based on a character's action rating. The highest die result will determine the outcome of the action. 6 is considered a full success, 4-5 is a partial success with a consequence, and 1-3 is a failure. Rolling multiple full successes is considered a critical success. Position and Effect Before every roll, the Game Master explicitly states the character's Position (Controlled, Risky, or Desperate) and Effect (Limited, Standard, or Great). This transparently communicates the exact stakes and potential fallout of the action before the dice hit the table. Stress and Resistance Characters have a Stress track. Players can spend Stress to give themselves for extra dice when rolling. They can also use it to assist an ally, or fuel their special abilities. Players can also spend Stress when facing any situation or consequence the GM throws at them, this makes the characters very skilled, but forces them to consider when to spend it. The Flashback Mechanic Instead of spending hours planning a heist, the crew simply chooses a target, picks a detail, and jumps right into the action. Later, they can use Stress, to envoke a flashback moment, where they explain how they had already planned for such a situation, or had "solved" it beforehand. Progress Clocks The game uses circular progress tracks called Clocks to visually represent approaching danger or the progress of a complex task. A clock might represent the alert level of the city watch, the structural integrity of a safe vault, or the patience of a rival gang leader. The Crew as a Character The criminal organization the players run has its own character sheet. The organization gains experience, levels up, claims territory, and unlocks special abilities, ensuring that the gang's rise to power is just as mechanically significant as the characters' Additional links evilhat.com - Official Evil Hat Productions website bladesinthedark.com - Official System Reference Document and rules database

Ishanekon: World Shapers is the (probably) biggest free Indie TTRPG with over 2,500 character options. It has been mainly developed by Jan Luyken, aka Blaze Reason, with the aim of creating a game that can compete (if not surpass) the current biggest games on the market while remaining affordable for anyone. With its easily adaptable rules and wide range of options, from beginner-friendly to highly complex, it is designed to satisfy the needs of almost any story and play style. Description From epic fantasy and sci-fi to mundane humans facing everything from common threats to cosmic horror, Ishanekons: World Shapers’ modular design lets you easily adjust the rules to help you experience your stories. This game is designed with the idea that you bring the flavor, and the mechanics help you bring it to life. The 10 Archetypes with over 200 Sub-Archetypes, 1000+ Abilities, 600+ Talents, 300+ items and upgrades, and more allow you to build anything from a simple cat to a city-destroying kaiju. Role and complexity filters let you find what you need quickly while helping you avoid those features that might be too overwhelming for your liking.

Basic Roleplaying is the venerable "D100" engine that has powered Chaosium’s greatest hits for over four decades. Originally appearing as a slim booklet in 1980, it was most recently revitalized as the Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine in 2023. In 2026, it stands as one of the industry's most important open-source platforms, released under the ORC License, allowing independent creators to build and sell their own games using its legendary, time-tested mechanics. Description BRP is a "genre-neutral" toolkit that discards character levels and rigid classes in favor of a pure skill-based system. Whether you are playing a Bronze Age warrior, a 1920s detective, or a futuristic mech pilot, the core experience remains the same: your character is defined by what they can do. Because it uses percentages (e.g., "I have a 65% chance to climb this wall"), it is widely considered the most intuitive and "transparent" RPG system for new players to understand at a glance. System Overview & Key Features The Universal D100 Engine Every action is resolved by rolling two ten-sided (d10) dice to get a result from 1 to 100. If you roll is equal to or under your skill rating, the action is deemed a success. This approach simplifies the mechanical process of the game, as there are no complex tables to keep track of and compare to decypher whether it is a success or failure. Organic Character Growth There is no "Experience Points" system in the traditional sense. Instead, when you succeed in using a skill, you mark a "Skill Check" on your character sheet. At certain stops in the game/story, the player rolls to see if the character improves in those skills, meaning your character evolves based specifically on the actions they performed (and succeeded at) during the game. Modular Rule Design The Universal Game Engine is designed with variations and systems to choose from. GMs can choose whether they prefer to just use "Hit Points" or add a more detailed wound system with "Hit Locations" for more realistic tactical consequences. Systems for Magic, Sorcery, Mutations, or Superpowers (depending on the setting) can be added, instead of being baked in the core mechanics, ensuring the mechanics always fit the theme of the game. Deadly and Tactical Combat BRP combat is grounded and dangerous. Unlike high-fantasy games where adventurers have a vast health pool, a single strike of a sword or bullet in BRP can be fatal. This encourages players to think creatively and use mechanics and terrain to their advantage. Talking their way out of situations is often seen as more reasonable (and survivable), than just treating every conflict as a forced combat situation. The ORC License Revolution By introducing to the Open RPG Creative (ORC) license, BRP started a wave of third-party "Powered by BRP". This has expanded the system into new genres like Cyberpunk, Wuxia, and Cozy Fantasy, all supported by a single, unified ruleset and system, compatible with most themes. Compatibility with "The Big Three" Because the core mechanics have remained the same since the beginning, a monster or spell from a 1980s supplement is almost always compatible with the modern 2026 engine. This gives GMs access to one of the largest libraries of pre-written adventures in tabletop gaming, spanning Call of Cthulhu, RuneQuest, and Pendragon. Additional links chaosium.com/brp : Official BRP Universal Game Engine portal basicroleplaying.org : The primary community hub and "BRP Central" forums

Hope you are all having a nice summer. While we haven't been bombarding the site with massive updates these past few months, we have been working on things in the background. Just to keep you all somewhat updated and ensured, that we are still actively working on the platform - here is a brief update and check-in. Minor improvements Every now and then we have pushed new and small updates to the platform. Just today, we finally got around to implementing the time & day scheduling to the game posts. So if you have a game post running, be sure to edit it and add the days you are planning on running the game, and at what time the session would be starting. Players looking for games will be also able to filter the groups based on those parameters. Do keep in mind that since the feature is new, almost all of the games listed at the moment are still without a preferred day and time - so they will not be shown to you when you use the filter. But as time goes on and games update their listing, more and more will have those elements. Additionally a few updates were added to the game post creation process - nothing gamebreaking or -changing. Just some convenience factors. .gg We have officially shifted to a new primary web address (although you are free to keep using whichever domain ending you have before - nothing should be negatively affected. But Groupfinder can now be also accessed via groupfinder.gg Even though the platform is global - having the .eu ending seemed to cause more confusion than we had anticipated. But this is more of a cosmetic change - nothing in our core values or goals has changed as a part of this shift. Library evergrowing The library is rapidly growing - every week new entries are added. Some thanks to the help of a few volunteers, to whom we are extremely grateful. It is becoming a proper tabletop gaming resource now. But it will never be complete - we are seeing new tabletop projects and creators pop up all the time - and we would love to be a gateway between them and you. Group Manager This is the biggest element we have been working on since the start of the year (and even before). While not ready to go live - we are anticipating that the day is drawing ever closer by every week and testing cycle. Group manager will be a parallel mode to Groupfinder - a system to manage your.. well.. group. Keep track of timefinder polls to schedule the next session. Share files with your players - or make them private, so that only you can see them - or only some of the players. This will make it easier to keep track of various notes, lore and character backstories. Or just share gifs.. Also a viable approach. But until we have anything more substantial to report - I will be signing off for now. But will keep a watchful and helpful eye on the platform. And if you have a friend or a group that could benefit from using Groupfinder - be sure to tell them about the site - it will be a win-win situation. The more people know about Groupfinder, the faster your games get filled - and the faster you find a group to join. Till next time.

VVD is a visually driven world-building and campaign management platform launched in 2024. Created by an independent developer, it positions itself as a streamlined, "distraction-free" alternative to complex wikis like World Anvil. In 2025, the platform gained massive popularity on social media for its "clean UI" and its strict No-AI pledge, promising that all art and assets on the platform are created by human artists.  Description VVD is built for the "sparks of inspiration." It uses a card-based system to organize NPCs, locations, and magic items, allowing users to connect them visually through an interactive graph. Unlike traditional folder-heavy organizers, VVD feels like a digital corkboard or a personalized Wikipedia that prioritizes aesthetics and ease of use. It is a web-based tool, meaning it requires an internet connection, but it is highly optimized for mobile devices, making it a favorite for GMs who need to jot down world-building notes on the go.

In a world where the line between a hero’s rise and a catastrophic fall is as thin as the edge of a d20, the members of The Aston Menagerie & Tall Tails find themselves bound by more than just adventure. For the Menagerie, what begins as a Princely Pilgrimage quickly spirals into a journey across the kingdom of Ilsea and beyond, where forgotten secrets and ominous omens wait in every shadow. While for Tall Tails, A mercenary band named Murder Mittens has just decided to take a vacation and gets whisted away on a whirlwind adventure taking them across the entire world. From high-stakes royal balls to desperate searches for what has been lost, the party must rely on their wits—and their luck—to survive. As ancient powers stir and personal pasts begin to catch up with them, one question remains: When fate is on the line, will the dice be in their favor? Links spotify.com - Spotify feed youtube.com - Youtube channel