Wyrmworks Publishing, a family-run venture committed to enriching the tabletop gaming community, is set to launch a Kickstarter campaign for their ambitious project: Free5e.
This free, open-source alternative to the 5th edition of the world’s most popular tabletop roleplaying game aims to break down the barriers that have historically limited access to the hobby. The Kickstarter is scheduled to launch on Tuesday, March 25th.
The other catch? You can get the books as a free bundle download already.
The publisher, a Making It Better LLC division, emphasises using tabletop games to foster mentoring and explore prosocial values within a fantasy context. Free5e is built on Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) licensed content, meaning that the material is freely available for others to use, modify, and distribute, even commercially, as long as they credit the original creators. This ensures high-quality, open-license material.
About Free5e
Wyrmworks say.
For too long, financial barriers have kept people from experiencing the magic of Dungeons & Dragons.
What makes Free5e different?
- Accessibility for All: Free5e is designed to be truly accessible, removing financial, corporate, and cultural barriers. The game is designed from the ground up for accessibility, with plans for dyslexia-friendly PDFs, digital braille, ePub formats, and at-cost Print-on-Demand options.
- New Accessibility Standard: The game seeks to set a new standard for accessibility with fully integrated disability representation, a first for a core 5e system.
- Complete Core Books: Unlike many free offerings that are simply samplers, Free5e will provide three full core books (titles to be confirmed):
- Player’s Guide: Containing character options, classes, ancestries, spells, feats, and more.
- GM’s Guide: Providing tools for crafting campaigns, including encounters, magic items, and world-building guidance.
- Monster Guide: A collection of creatures with stats, descriptions, art, and encounter guidelines.
- Community Empowerment: Free5e aims to empower local communities to translate and adapt the game to their languages, dialects, and cultures.
- Open System: Free5e will be a truly open system, ensuring that 5e remains free to play, create for, and expand upon indefinitely.
- Compatibility: Free5e is fully compatible with 2014 D&D and includes conversion guides for 2024 D&D, Tales of the Valiant (ToV), and Level Up: Advanced 5e (A5e).
Free5e aims to be more than just a set of rules; it represents a fundamental shift in how 5e-compatible systems are published, shared, and adapted, making the game belong to everyone.
You can find more information on the Kickstarter when it launches on March 25th.
Quick Links
- Kickstarter: Free5e
- Free to Download: Free5e bundle
