swords and wizardry both the core and simpler white box versions are free
S&W is a great system. Basic Fantasy RPG is also free. It's a clone of B/X D&D. You can find it at http://www.basicfantasy.org/ along with a lot of free modules and settings for the system.
Exact clone, no, but BFRPG has B/X at its core. Labyrinth Lord is closer to the source material but I prefer BFRPG's modernization of the system and its layout. But the main thing is the game is free, which is what the OP is looking for, and has a lot of free support material.
Hiya.
Dark Dungeons ( http://www.gratisgames.webspace.virginmedia.com/darkdungeons.html ) Fast n' fun! I've adopted it's method of to-hit to all of my "ascending AC" *D&D games (basic, AD&D1e, AD&D 2e, Hackmaster 4e, etc).
^_^
Paul L. Ming
Hiya.
Dark Dungeons ( http://www.gratisgames.webspace.virginmedia.com/darkdungeons.html ) Fast n' fun! I've adopted it's method of to-hit to all of my "ascending AC" *D&D games (basic, AD&D1e, AD&D 2e, Hackmaster 4e, etc).
^_^
Paul L. Ming
Out of curiosity, which specific version does it emulate? I looked it over, but I'm unfamiliar with the nuances of rule differences between early editions.
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Had to say Pathfinder.
I was going to say pathfinder but I wanted to see how many posts in we could go before someone else said it.
Lamentations of the Flame Princess is your choice if you want simple fantasy with twist of weird and horror. Also Raggi's adventures are excellent (like Tower of Stargazer, Death Frost Doom and Hammers of the Gods).
Word of warning thought: current "edition" is labeled 18+ game. Mostly because of the art work.
Had to say Pathfinder.
Simple? I mean its an awesome resource but not exactly quick to pick up for a one shot, IMO.
Had to say Pathfinder.Simple? I mean its an awesome resource but not exactly quick to pick up for a one shot, IMO.
If I had said 4th edition it would have been considered flame bait.
(And a 4e adventure, just in case.)
Just saw that you were asking about free rpgs. Luckily my suggestion still fits your needs as you can download LoftP rulebooks (without pictures) from the site. That even cuts away PG-18 recommendation.
I'd second Labyrinth Lord (the no art PDFs are free) which is essentially B/X D&D (race = class for demi-humans) and Basic Fantasy RPG (free PDFs)(separate race/class and ascending AC) as great choices for a simple dungeon crawl system.
For slightly more than free (less than $5) you can get the print copy of Basic Fantasy RPG off of Amazon and the original B/X D&D Basic Rulebook in PDF from dndclassics.com. Many of the older D&D and AD&D modules are $4.99 PDFs but dragonsfoot.org and other sites have free adventures available for download.
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Sword & Wizardry is free in all three varieties:
White Box is the simplest.
Core Rules adds in some more options.
Complete Rulebook adds in quite a few more options.
Very very free, very very simple, and unlike many of the other suggests, there's a wealth of support material both old and new and upcoming.