Thistle Games

Thistle Games offers resources for playing imaginative games and roleplaying games (RPGs). That includes presenting information about finding and playing games, as well as offering complete, free games for download.

All downloads are linked below. News and posts are shown on the Updates page.

About RPGs

The RPG Cookbook

Our RPG Cookbook is packed full of information on getting started with RPGs, running RPGs and designing both adventures and campaigns.

Related links: RPG E-Commerce, Visual Roleplaying

Adventures

Hope

Hope is an on-going build of an adventure for Corruption, Renegade, Swords & Wizardry and similar clones such as OSRIC, Labyrinth Lord and Adventurer Conqueror King.

What was going be a short adventure has turned into a mini-campaign. Development continues, but it’s a larger undertaking than first anticipated. For now it’s a GMs-only zone if you like the idea of playing through the adventure when it’s done.

Advocacy

Facebook RPG Advocacy Group

Up for growing the RPG hobby, showing RPGs in the positive light they deserve and encouraging more people to try-out RPGs? If so, there’s a bunch of us hang-out in the RPG Advocacy group to shared ideas and talk about ways to promote the hobby as a whole. Please feel free to join in.

Games

Corruption

Corruption clones and remixes the original rules of the world’s most popular fantasy RPG, as published by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson in 1974. The game focuses on challenge-based gameplay and support for step-by-step adventure- and campaign-building. Corruption is a Swords and Wizardry variant, but contains lots of new/ extra content that’s useable with any Old School RPG system.

The game also sets out options for rapidly shaping gameplay to offer gritty, heroic adventures – with a comic book ‘dark’ flavour. This involves facing difficult opponents in dangerous settings; but is not about violent or horror gameplay.

Corruption is an expanded take on cut-down clone Renegade, (see below). It is suitable for teenagers and adults – and is sold to pay for the site’s bandwidth. Corruption is currently available through DriveThruRPG. For May 2012 the PDF is on offer all month for just $7.

Corruption PC Sheet

Bonus XP Sheet

Skills - a short, optional skills check system being tried-out for Corruption and Renegade.

Please note: owners of Corruption have permission to print as many personal copies of the Players’ Guide as they have players.

Renegade

Renegade is a clone of the original, and most popular, RPG invented by Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax in 1974. The game is FREE to download and offers a straightforward version of the original rules – which is ideal for introducing new players to RPGs and delivering open-ended gameplay.

Renegade adds to the basic recipe with a wide range of character classes, items and monsters drawn from many OGL sources. There is also a strong emphasis on step-by-step support for adventure- and campaign-building. As a result, the game particularly encourages challenge-based play.

The content has also been edited to keep the game family-friendly. This editing removes a few monsters and more destructive options that can cause some parents concern.

Renegade download (Right Click Save Link As to download directly) – Update – 27/4/12

Standard PC Sheet

Bonus XP Sheet

Please note: Renegade is free to download and it is permitted to make electronic and print copies for personal use. In addition, publicly run schools, libraries, hospitals and charities are allowed to copy and distribute copies of Renegade for the personal use of their visitors/ users.

Team Renegade

Team Renegade is a persistent, distributable Alternate Reality Game (ARG) linked to playing RPGs. The game plays as a type of ARG called a Collaborative Production Game (CPG) and is playable alongside any RPG. CPGs are all about taking on real world and gameplay challenges involving collaboration, production and personal goals.

In Team Renegade you play the role of an adventurer or Renegade struggling to become an elite freedom fighter known as a Renegade Legend. The gameplay switches between ‘real world’ challenges and ‘in-game’ challenges. Your team mates and you work together to complete challenges f2f or remotely. You decide which challenges to set yourself and/ or your team.

Treasure

Treasure is a fully-featured fantasy roleplaying game (RPG) that’s completely FREE to download. Players take the part of adventurers and set out to explore lands filled with magic and monsters. Treasure can be played in exactly the same way as standard Tabletop RPGs. Alternatively, it can be played as a boardgame or a very inexpensive Collectible Card Game. The game comes with a Creative Commons licence and is instantly recognisable as a Tabletop RPG aka Adventure Game.

Treasure offers the option of using icons, symbols and images to represent everything from skills and spells to monsters and palaces. This can result in a game that is quick to play and more intense and atmospheric than standard roleplaying games.

HTML – Win 32 Installer

HTML – ZIP

PDF