The Indie RPG Awards

The Zorcerer of Zo is the new fairytale RPG from Atomic Sock Monkey Press crafted to unite the ordinary and the extraordinary in your game. Through evocative setting, straightforward rules, direct gamemastering advice, and extensive Actual Play notes, ZoZ helps you be zantabulous!

Don't Rest Your Head is a sleek, dangerous little game, where your players are all insomniac protagonists with superpowers, fighting -- and using -- exhaustion and madness to stay alive, and awake for just one more night, in a reality gone way wrong called the Mad City. It features its own system, and is contained entirely within one book.

Spirit of the Century is a complete, stand-alone pulp role-playing game based on the award-winning Fate system (Indie RPG Awards include: Best Free Game of 2003, Best Support, and Andy's Choice). Spirit features a heavily revised, revisited, and reimagined vision of Fate. Character creation can be done as quickly as a few minutes, or expand to take up an evening; adventure design is a snap with three methods for creating relevant, flavorful, player-focused stories at a moment's notice. Spirit's mission is to deliver an evening of fun, a "pick-up" game that requires little preparation, but provides hours of entertainment.

Mortal Coil is a supernatural role-playing game. It begins when all of the players create a unique world of fantasy together, with magic powerful or subtle depending on the group's desires. You create characters to explore this world, their magic and passion shaping the stories which spring forth from your mind. You decide if you tell a tale of dark supernatural horror, of wise fools and giants, of the secret wars between sorcerous cabals, or of inhuman politics among beings that can never die.

The Shab-al-Hiri Roach is a dark comedy of manners, lampooning academia and asking players to answer a difficult question - are you willing to swallow a soul-eating telepathic insect bent on destroying human civilization?

No?

Even if it will get you tenure?

The inner solar system is the playground of colonial powers, plying the ether of the Greatest Sea in solar steamers. None of the Solar Powers are as great as the British Empire -- and none have as much to lose. Join the Royal Astronomical Navy to defend the safety and prosperity of the Empire. Fight pirates, tame alien tribes, and uncover plots against the crown. Long live the Queen!

The Full Light, Full Steam ruleset supports vital characterization, collaborative world creation, and a story that hits what the players care about without bogging down in the details they don't. Play opposite one friend or with half a dozen, across a table top or online, with one, many, or no GM. You choose the way to play; you choose the story to play.

Noumenon is a role-playing game of mystery and abstraction. Players assume the roles of the Sarcophagi, strange insect-like creatures trapped within the Silhouette Rouge. During their adventures, players will encounter bizarre entities and explore strange locations. The Silhouette Rouge, Noumenon's setting, is detailed enough to spark the imagination yet open enough to allow customization. In Noumenon, player cooperation is key. Noumenon uses a domino-based task resolution system that enables players to build upon each other's successes.

In Harm's Way: A Napoleonic Naval RPG is designed to allow you to emulate the Napoleonic Naval fiction of O'Brian, Forester, Lambdin, Pope, and many others.

FTL Now is the sequel to Cold Space, covering from the end of the Soviet Union in 1990 to 2006, including the attack on 9/11/2001 when terrorists plowed a comet into New York City, and the resulting interstellar War on Terror.

Play Panty Explosion and take the role of a Psychic Japanese schoolgirl. With the help of your friends you will endure high school, battle nightmarish demons, best rivals, achieve goals and explore the mysterious and terrifying world of modern Tokyo. You may be cursed with Psychic powers, or you may be left defenseless as a normal girl. It's up to you to see that your Student survives both the supernatural and mundane horrors of the Japanese educational system!

Hero's Banner: The Fury of Free Will is a game of grim fantasy about making life choices in a world filled with expectation. Faced with three intensely personal goals, your character must choose one above all others to pursue. There is no going back for your character. Once he has made his choice he must live the consequences. And then, he dies. Every session is an opportunity to begin with a new character. Each character looks up to the previous as a hero worth emulating. How will each future generation view those that have come before them? How will they face up to the choices that plagued their ancestors?

Hearts & Souls is a complete superhero role-playing game that takes you back to the comic books. Its "Drive" based system makes the reason your character is a hero more important to his success than stats and dice. Just what is Drive? It is a way to answer the question: Why are you a hero? So why would you do it? Do you feel responsible for powers beyond your fellow man? Choose a drive, make it what matters, and be a hero.

MYTHIC RUSSIA is a complete roleplaying game and setting, taking the HeroQuest engine to the ancient Russia of history, legend and folktale, a land of glittering onion-domed churches and dark, dangerous forests, home to heroes, fiends -- and the flame-feathered firebird. This standalone 320-page book, available in both limited edition hardback and standard softback, includes all the rules necessary for play, as well as copious information on the setting, maps and both an introductory scenario and many adventure seeds. Released 2006.

Sinister secret agents with shadowy employers and mysterious pasts. A bizarre landscape built from six- billion human minds. Arachnid-headed beings that guard a war-torn borderzone. And all the worst that Mankind has to offer, stalking the alleys and crumbling buildings of a place called Blue City.

Is it a dream? Is it a nightmare? Or is it just a game? And are you already playing?

Wild Talents is a complete superhero roleplaying game built for fast, thrilling action and unprecedented flexibility, based on (and expanding) the critically acclaimed GODLIKE rules-set by Greg Stolze and Dennis Detwiller.

With its innovative rules and extensive exploration of the world of Godlike, Wild Talents offers everything you need to build thrilling superheroic worlds.

Kenneth Hite's analysis of superhero campaign worlds guides you through the construction of wholly unique superhero settings, both in strange alternate futures in the world of Godlike and in incredible new worlds altogether.

Written by Dennis Detwiller, with Greg Stolze, Kenneth Hite, and Shane Ivey, and lavishly illustrated by Christopher Shy and Sam Araya, Wild Talents takes you to the brink of what we call reality and beyond. . . .

A mash-up of post apocalyptic and science fiction themes from the 30's, 40's and 50's creating a turbo-charged, hot-rod driving, rock and roll inspired road trip adventure environment.

Faery's Tale is a storytelling game of faery folklore for ages 6 & up. You play a pixie, brownie, sprite, or pooka in an enchanted forest, in which you are the tiny heroes who secretly ensure there's always a happy ending. Packed with For Kids sidebars on gaming with younger players, Faery's Tale provides a great rules-light introduction to gaming for all ages.

A humorous spin on traditional fantasy gaming, licensing the PDQ system and coming in at under 80 pages.

1587: A small group of English colonists establish a settlement on Roanoke Island.

1590: The Settlement is found completely abandoned with no trace of the colonists.

Roanoke is a role-playing game of dark mystery and wicked action. Based on the innovative Wushu game system.

Perfect is a roleplaying game rooted in a world akin to Victorian England, but which is under a harsh and Dystopic reign of terror. Laws are constricting to the point of absurdity, and status and fashion have turned into legally-regulated modes of oppression.

The characters you play are people who can't just settle into this system. You feel a deep-rooted discontent and distrust of the government and society around you. You begin to walk against the current, bending and breaking laws as you do so.

Ninja Burger, the world's only fast-food chain run by ninja, is looking for new recruits. Do you have what it takes to work for them? Pirates need not apply! The second edition of the award-winning Ninja Burger RPG has been completely revamped and rewritten, with an all-new game engine and all new ninja content:

Over 100 pages of funny, fast-paced action, ideal for both one-shot "Beer & Pretzels" gaming as well as longer campaigns

The PDQ system, a game engine designed for evocative simplicity, speed and flexibility in play, as seen in the award-winning Monkey, Ninja, Pirate, Robot and Truth & Justice (PDQ System Design by Chad Underkoffler, Atomic Sock Monkey Press)

Fully-customizable character creation, with five suggested jobs for quick-play action. Be a Ninja Driver, Chef, Deliverator, or even a master of Ninja Magic!

San Francisco - A complete city setting for all your Ninja Burger adventures

An 8-page starting adventure, plus four 2-page mini-deliveries

An rpg of literary adventure in the Victorian era, where the PCs can cross swords with the Scarlet Pimpernel, take the helm of the Nautilus, or match wits with the devious Professor Moriarty. The game system uses a single d20 to resolve all tasks and uses spread to determine degrees of success and failure.

Grab your Guns, the Wild West is about to get Wilder! Welcome to the World of Six-Gun Assassins, a fast play, rip roaring gunslingin' good time! Easy to learn and fun to play, Six-Gun Assassins has something for everyone!

Rebel Minis' Place & Play rules make it easy to live out your wild west adventures, grab your favorite figs, git on your horse and start raising a ruckus. Create your own scenarios with these core rules or try your hand that some of the scenarios provided.

Six-Gun Assassins has it all, so Saddle up outlaws there's some gun fighting to be had.

17 pages

A free version of EABA, complete enough to make characters, run combats and serves as a great handout for new players, or if you have an EABA supplement but don't have the main rules.

AGON is a competitive RPG set in a fantastic version of ancient Greece similar to that of the Illiad and the Odyssey. The heroes work together against the enemies and obstacles created by the Antagonist, but the players compete to win the most glory for their heroes.The player who earns the most glory wins the game.

An apocalypse that never arrived. An ancient secret society in turmoil.

Your loyalties are divided. Your beliefs are in doubt.

Do you stand with a shattered sect, or let it fall into chaos?

Create your own stories of what happens when you put your faith in the end of the world, but it doesn't happen. Where do you go when everything you believed is in doubt? When your duty and your conscience pull in different directions, what will you do? As an ancient conspiracy collapses, your characters will face their beliefs and come out changed.

Another romantically themed role playing game from the author of Breaking the Ice. In Shooting the Moon, two or three players tell the story of two Suitors pursuing a shared Beloved. All is fair in Love and War...

Shock: Social Science Fiction is a fiction game of culture and future shock. Based on the works of Bruce Sterling, Kim Stanley Robinson, Ursula K. LeGuin, and Philip K. Dick, the game pushes the players to make stories that matter to them -- stories about politics, philosophy, love, and death.

Explore one of the world's greatest and most dangerous secrets: the Hollow Earth, a savage land filled with dinosaurs, lost civilizations, and ferocious savages! Players take on the roles of two-fisted adventurers, eager academics and intrepid journalists investigating the mysteries of the Hollow Earth. Meanwhile, on the surface, world powers and secret societies vie for control of what may be the most important discovery in all of human history.

Set in the tense and tumultuous 1930s, the action-filled Hollow Earth Expedition is inspired by the literary works of genre giants Edgar Rice Burroughs, Jules Verne, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The subterranean action is powered by Ubiquity, an innovative roleplaying system that emphasizes storytelling and cinematic action.

Seemingly a murder mystery, this melancholy Norwegian game is in reality a vehicle for unravelling the stories of the characters' past. With different characters and episode structure each time, replay value is high.

An epic science fiction roleplaying game based on Christopher Moeller's critically acclaimed Iron Empires graphic novels, designed by award-winning game designer and author of the Burning Wheel, Luke Crane.

BURNING EMPIRES uses the Burning Wheel system as its core and expands it to encompass the sweep of stories that decide the fate of worlds! In this game you will find mechanics for ingenious technology, subtle infiltration, fiery revolution, searing debate, blazing firefights and strategic warfare.

The player characters are the protagonists in a story that will decide their own fate, the fate of their loved ones and friends, and the fate of their very world. It is a trial of conviction and belief. To save all that you hold dear in BURNING EMPIRES, you must pass through the fire. And you will be changed.

Mysterious strangers. Beautiful women. Enchanted swords. Talking camels. You play members of the Sultan's Court, whiling away the sultry nights by telling pointed stories to advance your own ambitions. Navigate the social maze and you could win your heart's desire; offend the wrong person and you suffer the Sultan's wrath.

This is a short (two pages) and simple game. Despite my ingrained aversion to universal systems, this just popped into my head one day, and I had to write it out. It's the most minimal of minimalist systems -- one stat. Give it a shot if you want to take a quick break from your normal gaming, and let me know about your experiences. It's perfect for introducing non-gamers into the hobby, but veteran gamers might have a hard time getting their brains around it, because it's so open.

In 'Cold City' you take the role of a member of the RPA, those secretive Cold war monster hunters. Characters are defined not just by who they are and what they are like, but by the views of the other characters and the trust that they have in them. For each character is, at the outset, seen as a national stereotype, a cliched representative of their chosen nation. But is this really the case? Do they live up to the stereotype or do they show themselves to be wholly unique individuals? And how does this affect the trust that the other character have in them?

untitled is an experiment in game design and artifact creation. It was born out of Ron Edward's Ronnies Contest, which it won one of the lesser prizes. Originally it was all about the artifact, with mechanics being a secondary concern. As time went on I realized that they are both important and I redesigned it to emphasize both.

The final product is something strange, and disturbing, that toys with the notions of sanity, reality, and game play. It is a game about a single man's quest for truth and fight against the draw of suicide, mirrored in game play by a single protagonist-player facing off against several antagonist-players.

Each copy of untitled comes with a hand-sewn journal with hand written notes, a letter, a rapsheet, a photocopy of a hand written journal, and an audio recording. Each is completely unique and holds references to many of the music, literature, and movies that inspired it's creation.

The revised version of the award-winning JAGS core game. It's rules-heavy, wonderfully illustrated. It's universal--not generic!

JAGS stands for Just Another Gaming System (and takes itself way, way too seriously).

Kyoko is a wind spirit, a kazekami. She is also a ninja. She is not a princess, as Kublai Khan thought before Kyoko stabbed him in the gut. He was trying to be amorous with his newest concubine. She was trying to prevent the Mongol invasion of Japan. As Kublai dies, the kazekami torments her husband by recounting how she has managed to seduce scores of his rare and beautiful wives.

Simple20 is a free, short, skill-based d20 system variant focused on low-powered characters. The rules diverge from many d20 system standards, with a different set of attributes, aptitudes instead of skills, health points, composure points, and character advancement based on rolling natural 1s and 20s.

A 15-minute party game for you, your friends, and a big pile of money...

The Fantasy Sagas is the first of a series of guidebooks created for the E-RPG system; an epic character driven, story-focused RPG. While many games exist that offer immersive and exciting worlds to play in, the creators of the E-RPG system believe that the stories always should have a focus on the driving characters in the drama. These are the characters created by the players of the game. The first of three separate rulebooks for players The Fantasy Sagas is only the first genre to be released. Each of the subsequent books (Modern and Sci-Fi Sagas) will use the same rule-set and so are completely compatible with each other, allowing game styles to be mixed and matched in any way a player or Game Master can imagine. Players can play in worlds that use any of the special features of one game type with another without making any special adjustments. Imagine playing in a world of computers, guns, and magic!

Set in the war-ravaged world of Mordredica, ancient battlefield of the Gods and prison of the Forty Sorcerers, the Battleaxe RPG places the players in the roles of Heroes exploring a deep fantasy world steeped in mystery and lore.

Explore Mordredica as an elf, orc, human, dwarf, or wulfir hero. Wield powerful magic as a Mage, plunder with brute force as the Warrior, or mow down your adversaries with speed and precision as the Ranger.

Purchase exploits and spells that grow more powerful as your hero evolves.

Score treasure from ancient vaults and craft magical armor and weapons to aid you on your epic adventures.

Plunder tombs, lay siege to strongholds, fight the undead, or devour the living with the first Battleaxe RPG supplement The Creeping Dead.

Divinity is a game where you play in the distant past, the present, or the distant future, fighting the One, who seeks to undermine all of Creation. Character sheets can be done on business cards; a single die is rolled for resolution. This is an "Ashcan Edition"; a future, expanded version of the game is planned.

Beat the Clock is a free, two-page RPG that uses an egg timer and a d12 to run exactly one kind of scenario: escape before time runs out! Designed for the "compact RPG challenge".

Chimaera was designed for the Reverse Engineering challenge, where a game was designed solely based on a character sheet that existed without a game. Adam Dray designed the character sheet, and Fred produced a game that involves folding panels, rock-paper-scissors like you've never seen it before, and asks the question, "When Godzilla and Mothra fight, what happens to their girlfriends?"