Free RPG Day launches on Saturday, June 24 2023. Much like its inspirations, Free Comic Book Day and Free Record Store Day, this is a day about building community, in this case, the tabletop roleplaying game community. Each year we look at what’s available for customers to pick up during this tabletop gaming store promotion.
If you’re interested in participating, reach out to your friendly local gaming store and prepare to sling some dice.
What is Free RPG Day?
The event is what the name implies: Free tabletop roleplaying quickstarts, adventures, maps, and dice given to fans at participating friendly local game stores (FLGS). On Saturday, June 24, you’ll be able to get an RPG, a die, some other bit of gaming, and likely join in on a gaming session. These items are either free to attendees, free to fans that play select games at the store on that date, or free with purchase; the specifics are up to the participating location.What's Available on Free RPG Day?
The free items are broken into a few categories. Quickstarts, adventures, accessories such as dice, and some items that are RPG-related games. There are details about each offering on the main webpage for the Free RPG Day website, just scroll down to the company logos and click “Sneak peek!” to get more details.Tabletop Role-Playing Game Quickstarters
These booklets are short rule sets, often with pre-generated characters, to give you a taste of the RPG. There’s enough information to sample the game and know if you’d be interested in upgrading to a starter set or the core rulebook. This year’s offering are:Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game
- Avatar FRPGD 2023: Movers & Shakers from Magpie Games
- System: Powered by the Apocalypse (Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game variant)
Root: The Roleplaying Game
- Root FRPGD 2023: Hacksaw Dell from Magpie Games
- System: Powered by the Apocalypse (Root: The Tabletop Roleplaying Game variant)
- Awards: 2022 Silver Ennie Award for Best Game and a 2022 Silver Ennie Award for Best Supplement for the Root: The RPG: Travelers and Outsiders
- Additional reporting: Check out my review of Root: The Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook
Dragonbane Quick Start from Free League Publishing
- System: Dragonbane
- Additional reporting: Charles Dunwoody’s interview with Tomas Härenstam about Dragonbane
Swords of the Serpentine from Pelgrane Press
- System: GUMSHOE (Swords of the Serpentine variant)
Mazes Fantasy Roleplaying
- MAZES Introductory Module from 9th Level Games
- System: MAZES
- Awards: Nominated in 2020 for an Ennie Award for Best Rules
- Additional reporting: My interview with Chris O’Neill (9th Level Games) about MAZES and my review of MAZES at Midnight
level 1: Indie RPG Anthology from 9th Level Games
- System: Various
- Awards: 2022 Golden Ennie Award for Best Free Game / Product
Heckin' Good Doggos from Wet Ink Games
- System: +One System
RPG Adventures
These are single session adventures, ideal for GMs looking to run a single evening of play. This year’s adventures are for systems like Pathfinder Second Edition, Starfinder, Dungeon Crawl Classics, Vampire: The Masquerade Fifth Edition, Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20, Zombicide: Chronicles, Critical: Foundation, and, of course, Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition. These are tailored adventures perfect for new and experienced players this Free RPG Day.Pathfinder: A Few Flowers More from Paizo
- System: Pathfinder Second Edition
Starfinder: Operation Seaside Park from Paizo
- System: Starfinder
Heist at the Museum from Loke Battle Mats
- System: Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition
Adventures in Rokugan: Storm Eel's Rest from Edge Studio
- System: Adventures in Rokugan (Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition Legacy of the Five Rings variant)
Animal Adventures from Steamforged Games/SFG
- System: Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition
Cobra/Con Fusion from Renegade Game Studios
- System: Essence 20 (A Dungeons & Dragons variant)
A Taste of the Moon from Renegade Game Studios
- System: Vampire: The Masquerade Fifth Edition
- Awards: 2022 Silver Ennie Award for Best Free Game / Product for Auld Sanguine: A Vampire: The Masquerade New Year’s Eve Story
Piercing the Demon's Eye from Goodman Games
- System: Dungeon Crawl Classics (DCC) NOTE: DCC uses regular polyhedral dice as well as non-standard dice such as D3, D5, D7, D14, D16, D24, and D30
- NOTE: Goodman Games has their own RPG holiday: DCC Day (July 22). About which, Goodman Games shared this:
Monsters Cards, Mini Adventure, and Pocket RPG Guide from Dragon Shield Roleplaying
- Featuring 1 Monster Card, 12 Mini-Adventures, and 12 Pocket RPGs per Free RPG Day 2023 kit.
- System: Dragon Shield Pocket RPG
Achtung! Cthulhu - Operation Kindling from Modiphius Entertainment
- System: Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20
Zombicide: Chronicles from CMON and Guillotine Press
- System: Zombicide: Chronicles
Critical: Foundation (Episode 0) from Gigamic and Hachette Boardgames USA
- System: Critical: Foundation
RPG Accessories
This year there are dice, paints, and more.- D&D Promos and Paint Kits from WizKids
- Avatar Black & White Tui & La Dice from Magpie Games
- Elvish Dice from Q Workshop
- Custom Dice Potion Tube from Hymgho
- Dice Bag from BCW
- Dice Tray from BCW
- Dragon Egg Mini-Pin from Foam Brain Games (North America only.)
Semi-Board Games & Graphic Novels
This Free RPG Day, there are a few items that straddle the line between a tabletop roleplaying game and another type of RPG experience. I’m curious to see the promo versions of these products.D&D Onslaught: Never Split the Party from WizKids
- System: D&D Onslaught
Adventure Party: The Role-Playing Party Game from Smirk & Dagger Games
- System: Adventure Party: The Role-Playing Party Game
- This RPG is a party game and you can back it right now on Kickstarter
Loup Garou from Van Ryder Gamers
- System: Graphic novel Choose Your Own Adventure
How Can You Participate in Free RPG Day?
Want to find out if your area has a participating gaming store? On the Free RPG Day website, they have a link to search for participating FLGS by city/town. Click here and enter your city’s name in order to find participating tabletop gaming retailers near you.Are These Items Really Free?
To customers of the participating tabletop gaming stores, yes. That said, the retailer may require you purchase something or limit the number available, but that’s because these products are not free to the retailer. The 2023 Free RPG Day Kit costs $169.99 with free S/H. For that, the FLGS get 173 units per kit, which breaks down to about a dollar a unit. Among 29 titles (28 outside of North America), there are 1 to 12 units per title.- RPG Quickstarts and standalone products: 47 units per kit
- RPG Adventures: 90 units per kit
- RPG Semi-Board Games & Graphic Novels: 14 units per kit
- RPG Accessories: 22 units per kit (19 outside of North America)
Where Will Egg Be on Free RPG Day?
Kapow! Comics and Games (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) at 540 Lake Center Pkwy Suite 108, Cumming, GA 30040 (USA). From noon until 6:00PM, I’ll be onsite with Egg Embry Publishing and giving out copies of HUMAN… ALMOST and OFF/FACE TRIBUTE RPG as well as dice, and running RPG demos. The store’s regular Saturday GMs will arrive at 5:30PM to guide their games. They’ll be happy to let interested fans ask questions, offer tips, and join their campaign.If you’re interested in participating, reach out to your friendly local gaming store and prepare to sling some dice.
