Brutal is a basic hack and slash RPG that uses a dice pool system with opposed rolls to resolve an action. The game is designed to handle massive battles quickly. Author David Stanley writes:
This game is for serious players only! Hordes of Heart-stopping-pounding, Heavy-hitting, Hack-and-Slash action adventure await! This game is not for sissy players who don’t want their characters to die. In a BRUTAL game, your characters get killed all the time. How long can your characters stay alive?
Maeshowe is a solo print and play game about tomb robbers in AD1150. From the game’s description:
According to the Orkneyinga Saga, Earl Rognvald Kali Kolsson broke into the chambered tomb of Maeshowe, on Orkney, in AD1150. In AD1153, Earl Harald Maddadson and a group of his men sheltered there during a snowstom. The sagas tell us that Rognvald found treasure there and that two of Harald’s men went mad. When the Victorians opened the tomb in 1861, they found Runic graffiti demonstrating that both of these episodes were based on real tomb-breaks. This game combines the two events from the 1150’s and casts you as Harald and Rognvald.
Th game uses standard playing cards (or you can print specialized cards) a board and a few tokens.
Ars Magica is a role playing game set in Mythic Europe — nominally 1220 AD, but a land inhabited by faeries, daemon and other magical creatures. Its a great game that I’ve enjoyed playing over the years.
Ars Magica set the benchmark for magic in fantasy roleplaying. It pioneered the storytelling style of roleplaying that has become so popular today. Its setting, Mythic Europe, sparked the imaginations of fantasy fans and history enthusiasts alike. The 272-page fourth edition introduced improved systems in several key areas such as combat, character advancement, and covenant generation. This version of the game retained and improved upon Ars Magica’s powerful and flexible magic system – widely regarded as the best rules for magic in all of gaming.
Atlas Games has all sorts for free downloads for the 4th Edition of this marvelous game.
The Men and Supermen Role Playing Game is designed to allow super powered characters to fight along side normal characters. In doing this the RPG takes on what I think is one of the most difficult of tasks — creating a common scale between units of disparate strength.
Birdsong is a free print-and-play roll and write game about bird watching. Roll and writes are all the rage right now in tabletop gaming.