Open Adventure is a full-featured tabletop adventure game that offers out-of-box support for medieval fantasy and science-fiction expeditions. In Open Adventure, you play as a heroic or villainous figure free to explore the perilous world created by the all-mighty Game Master. Along your adventure you'll battle ferocious enemies, solve complex puzzles and navigate labyrinthine mazes, and much more!
Simple: Open Adventure was born from a need for a simple, easy-to-learn game that could be taught in 10-20 minutes to someone who has never before played adventure or role-playing games.
Made for All Ages: Modern day RPGs can span upwards of 600 pages in rules. We wanted to bring back the "For Ages 10 and Up" moniker by keeping the rules lite (no more than 161 pages of rules per book), and simple English for all to enjoy.
One Mechanic: Instead of using a hundred different mechanics to represent a hundred different situations, we use one common mechanic to handle skill tests, saves, combat and so much more! For players, once they learn the simple "1d6 - 1d6" mechanic, they're ready to go!
Common Materials: No more will you have to buy funny-looking dice at a specialty shop. A couple of six-sided dice scavenged from a board game sitting in your closet will do just fine. No dice? No problem! You can use playing cards or even a rock-paper-scissors style alternative for the entirety of Open Adventure.
Limitless: Open Adventure doesn't lock players into a finite set of character types (known as classes). Instead, archetypes offer a broad set of characters that can be mixed and matched with in-game roles to form thousands of combinations! Races & species are limitless, since anyone can play as anything (including a creation of their own design). The dice system used throughout Open Adventure can be scaled infinitely to fit anything from the mightiest of planet-smashers to the meekest of mice.
Free & Libre: Who doesn't like free stuff? Not only is Open Adventure free to print and play, it's open source–meaning you're free to make your own changes to suit your play style. It's truly a game by the community, for the community.
Two Games in One: Do you prefer chocolate or vanilla? Why not both? In Open Adventure, two game genres are supported out-of-box: medieval fantasy such as you'd find in the tales of Lord of the Rings or Beowulf and science-fiction similar to Star Wars or Star Trek. Whichever one is your preference, you're sure to have fun casting spells or sailing the stars. If you're really feeling adventurous, why not mix and match the two? But that's not all! With a little modification, Open Adventure can be made to play just about any other genre of adventure game (post-apocalyptic, horror, western, etc.)!
Endless Play: There is no end to the fun! You can play for years or even decades. With OA, after your character has reached max level, they can begin amassing treasure and wealth. With it, build kingdoms, hire armies, set up far-reaching trade networks or even construct behemoth weapons of war. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination!
Comprehensive lists: Choose from over 85 weapons, 30 armors, a multitude of expedition gear, siege weaponry, kingdom building materials, starship systems and more. Employ over 50 skills, 70 talents and 125+ magical spells and psionics. Personalize your play style by choosing between 7 different character archetypes, 40+ roles and over 15 races or species, with the option of creating your own.
The files listed here are divided into different sections. The primary section, labeled "rulebook", is where the bulk of the game rules can be found. Additional OA-related products also exist to expand or augment the Open Adventure game. The project files are:
- Rulebook - The "BIEM" series which is divided into the Basic Rulebook, Intermediate Rulebook, Expert Rulebook, Master Rulebook and the Game Master's Rulebook. There is also a Complete Rulebook which is a compendium of all the Open Adventure rules.
- Pocket Quest - The revolutionary Open Adventure rules condensed into a single sheet of paper (printed duplex). The entire game (including equipment, magic, game master rules, etc.) can be played with six sheets of rules total. Pocket Quest aims to allow for OA to be played when few resources, time or rules are available. See 8-Bit Adventures below.
- 8-Bit Adventures - A Simple Text Adventure Game built completly off the Pocket Quest ruleset. 8BA uses a series of text files saved on your computer system to play a game similair to MUD mixed with a Choose Your Own Adventure, Roleplaying Game and Adventure Game elements. Played in a retro style.
- Character Record Sheets - The main character sheets used when playing OA. Comes in two versions: fantasy and science-fiction. The layouts are the same, only the title font is different.
- Adventure Pack - This is a secondary project that offers printable equipment, feat, talent, magic and character cards. May also include blank map templates.
- Canon Converter - A secondary project that aims to translate Open Adventure characters to the realm of the Dungeons & Dragons canon of the Rules Cyclopedia era. Also allows for RC-created characters to be converted to OA.
- Custom Character Creation Manual - An interim secondary project that allows for game masters to create robust non-player characters. When the Game Master's Rulebook is finalized, this document will no longer be needed.
- Cover Art - The artwork that is used in Open Adventure is released under an open source license. The artwork can be freely downloaded here in the OA Git Hub repositories.
- Open Adventure Media - A collection of Open Adventure logos for game designers, developers and game masters to use when creating adventures, caimpaigns or third-party products that are related to or compatible with OA.
- D6-D6 System Logo - The underlying game system that OA uses to power its mechanics. The D6-D6 system logo is used for any game designers, developers or writers who wish to release their own game, supplement, campaign or adventure under the D6-D6 system.
Most, if not all, of these files are released under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 or 4.0 license.
We have an active community of players discussing every aspect of Open Adventure. Join us on:
Open Adventure is an open source, free-to-play RPG system that is similar in play-style as B/X but can play both fantasy and sci-fi games (anywhere from LOTR or D&D to Star Wars or Star Trek).
We want to re-light the lost flame of old school gaming in a new way. Instead of recreating a wheel that's already been made, we have set out to bring modern day techniques and mechanics to the games of old. Help discuss and develop the game by offering your own ideas, art and homemade rules. Together, we can all create a game we love to play!
If this project has captured your imagination, or you find yourself wanting to know more, then we suggest you continue by reading the Introduction page, which details an overview of what OA is, what it stands for and what software and expertise you'll need to start contributing today!
The official website can be visited at: http://aelira.com/openadventure/