It’s Time for an All New Adventure!
Open Adventure RPG is a fast-paced, cinematic fantasy tabletop roleplaying game you can download and play for free. Designed as a rules-light, open-source system, it empowers characters to use their unique strengths to overcome any obstacle. From powerful warriors who smash through obstacles with raw force, to agile thieves who deliver a killing blow through daring acrobatics, Open Adventure lets your character shine, no matter the challenge!
Open Adventure RPG | A Free, Open-Source Fantasy Tabletop Roleplaying Game System
Free to Play. Open by Design.
Open Adventure: Fantasy is a free, open-source tabletop RPG designed to get groups playing quickly and customize freely. Released under the Creative Commons 0 license by the team at Mechanical Muse, not only can you play for free, but you can build and release anything you like for the game with no strings attached. There are no limits to what you can create, no rules for how you use it, and no limits to how you share it. Now and forever, Open Adventure belongs to everyone. Forever.
For complete licensing details about Open Adventure’s open content, visit Content Creation & Licensing.
The History of Open Adventure
Open Adventure is the result of a successful crowdfunding campaign by Mechanical Muse completed in 2023. The goal of the campaign was to create a new roleplaying game system and then give it to the world. There had been a lot of concern around the amount of control large proprietary companies potentially have over RPG system licenses and their restrictions. In the end, that problem actually worked out pretty well for everyone involved BUT many people were worried that their games—even their businesses and livelihoods—were at risk. As we said, it worked out okay in the end, but it got a few of us thinking.
What if there was another cool game system that wasn’t owned by a company? What if this system belonged to the RPG community instead? It wouldn’t matter if you were a publisher or a gamemaster or a player, you could create anything you wanted for this system for free and without asking anyone for permission! Together, we could create a fantastic set of compatible resources for gamers everywhere!
Welcome to Open Adventure.
Your Goal in the Game
Your goal in an Open Adventure game is to work together to create the coolest, most interesting, action-packed fantasy adventure possible by defeating villainous adversaries, discovering ancient secrets, and saving innocent lives from the forces of evil. The Core Rules help you determine what happens when the outcome of your characters’ heroic actions is not clear. For example, if the characters ask a local priest for directions to the castle, you won’t need rules. Just play out the conversation between the players and the Adventure Guide like it is a scene in a movie. On the other hand, if the characters want to convince the priest to loan them a powerful holy artifact to use in an upcoming adventure, well, things might not be quite so clear. In cases like this, the rules help you resolve the challenge to determine what happens next.
What You Need to Play
Getting started is simple. To play Open Adventure, you will need:
- One (FREE) copy of the Core Rules.
- A group of friends to play with.
- Pencils and paper.
- A set of polyhedral dice.
The Adventure Guide needs a copy of these rules, although it is helpful if everyone at the table has a copy. The digital version of Open Adventure: Fantasy is available free wherever you get your digital books, or you can download a copy from DriveThruRPG!
Digital Rules
Explore the complete Open Adventure RPG rules online. The digital rules hub provides free, searchable access to the core system, community owned content, and tools designed to help groups start playing quickly and customize their game.
who is mechanical muse?
We are a collection of unique and inspired professionals from around the world. Founded out of Dexter, Michigan in 2015, Mechanical Muse supports numerous projects and events while publishing original material such as the fantasy setting, The World of Aetaltis.
We love roleplaying games! Like REALLY love them. We’re also all huge fans of all things fantasy and science fiction, from D&D to Tolkein to Star Wars and beyond!
But we’re more than that. We’re writers, artists, game designers, and editors. We’ve written science fiction and fantasy for companies like DAW Books, written and edited for roleplaying games like Shadowrun, crafted articles for Dragon Magazine, created art for games like Magic the Gathering, and produced cover designs for best-selling authors like Terry Brooks, Brad Beaulieu, Anthony Ryan, and Brian McClellan.
What we want more than anything is to use our skills and experience to bring an amazing universe of adventure to you. We want to craft a universe that will awe and inspire you, that will make you laugh and cry, and most importantly, that will make you believe in heroes again. (If you’re like us, you’ll probably agree—the world could use a few more heroes.)
This is our passion and our purpose, and we can’t wait to share it with you.
