Donjon is free, but I can't seem to locate it at the moment.

Also, Dungeon Squad can be played competitively.

Donjon is availible on the creative commons section of Clinton's website.

I changed this from "competitive" to "GM-less" story games. That only eliminates one or two of the original games, adds three more, and removes the possibility of tripling the size of the list with dungeon crawls.

Most of the Nørwegian Style games are GM-less.
- Until We Sink
- Archipelago
- Zombie Porn
- Several of the role-playing poems
- Fuck Youth
- Storyboard
- It Wasn't Me

...um, more, I forget. You can check out the site and find them there, if you want!

I was able to find the Game Chef version of The Shab-al-Hiri Roach still available for download. It doesn't have all the wrinkles ironed out, but my group played it and loved it... then I bought the finished version.

Breaking the Ice?

Posted By: MULRAHI changed this from "competitive" to "GM-less" story games. That only eliminates one or two of the original games, adds three more, and removes the possibility of tripling the size of the list with dungeon crawls.

Alas, you also allowed me to add this list of my games (at least potentially):

In the Box - The game where you play a poem.

Pure Shoujo - A card based shoujo anime based RPG, actually nothing at all like Misery Bubblegum.

Coming of Age - the most recent public playtest version of the Young Adult game.

Slashfest - GM-less game where you play a slasher movie

Savagery - The game of emotional combat - using the no-GM rules.

Faust and Friends - My Game Chef 2007 game - where you deal with the consequences of romance and selling your soul.

and my five 2006 game chef games too...

Escape from Prince Charming - Fairy Tale Card Game

Someone to Love - Round Robin Dating Game

The Marraige of Persephone - Heroism and Theater, with required socializing with strangers.

One More Hour - A Last Chance to Make it Right

That Oh So Little Death - Sex, Dessert, and Transcendence

And these were meant to be played in order.

- Mendel S.

The best GM-less free RPG ever is City of Brass (ZIP file full of PDFs). It takes a while to make a set, and the game has its flaws, but it is GM-less human hope and brutality unleashed.

Posted By: Clinton

The best GM-less free RPG ever isCity of Brass(ZIP file full of PDFs). It takes a while to make a set, and the game has its flaws, but it is GM-less human hope and brutality unleashed.

Fuck yeah! Let's hear it for City of Brass!

See, the problem with this whole concept is XXXXtreme Street Luge. Because if you play that, it would win automatically.

I understand that Ben is working on the sequel, XXXXXtreme Street Luge.

Graham

If you're including Game Chef entries and the like, I've got a couple other GMless free games, one of which has received significantly more playtesting than House of Masks has gotten.

Awesome replies, everyone! I'll probably keep this open for another week or so before seeding the tournament.

It would be really helpful to provide links to play reports or reviews for your nominations. We'll probably do the tournament with only 16 or 20 games, and so far there are nearly 50 nominees. I'll be leaning on reviews, awards, and ratings to narrow it down.

timfire, the original post at first asked for competitive games, not GM-less games, which is why Donjon was suggested. I since edited the original post.

Johnstone, I agree. I'll probably knock both these games off the list.

I looked up these nominations last night and I think we're set for the first and second seeds in each bracket.

Third seeds look like they require at least one positive review or play report online. For example, I found a couple pleased play reports for City of Brass on the Forge so it's probably in as a third seed.

For now, fourth seeds need only a nomination from someone other than the designer, so XXXXtreme Street Lube, for example, is in by that standard.

If we have a slot left over, I'd love to include a roleplaying poem, but they do seem different enough that they merit a separate competition, which of course Norwegian Style has already done.

Thus, designers, if you can point me to positive reviews or playtests for your games, there's a good chance you're in. Non-designers, just keep nominating, and if you see a game already nominated that you like, nominate it again or, even better, write a review!

Based on the input so far, I think we've got 20 solid games, but I'll give the rest of the week for any final nominations. The five "top seeds" are basically the free versions of the commercial games listed in my original post plus the Shab-al-hiri Roach. Ten middle tier games include winners of Game Chef and Free Indie RPG of the Year plus any nominations that have positive reviews online (Drowning & Falling, City of Brass, Archipelago, Executive Decision).

The five "bottom seeds," which get in on the strength of the nominations from those other than the author include Grover Cleveland, XXXXtreme Street Luge, the Chrysalis Revolt, the Dinner Party, and Being a role-playing game on the topic of the High-Flying adventures of Beatrice Henrietta Bristol-Smythe, DBE, daring Aviatrix and accomplished Exploratrix, and her Gentleman Companion, who for a Modest Fee, accompanies Beatrice Henrietta Bristol-Smythe, DBE, when the Occasion warrants her an Escort.

If you think we're missing a game, nominate it. If you see a game above that you want to make sure we consider, nominate it again or get me a positive review/playtest from someone other than the designer.

Finally, it will probably take a year for my gaming group to play all these game through several rounds of a tournament, so we are open to others helping out. Let me know if you are interested.

My Enlge Matrix Games are GM-less - I'll send you an copy of an old version if you send me your address. I'll include the latest rules as well.

Do you like horror, murder mystery or samurai?

hamsterpress@gmail.com

Chris Engle

Posted By: MatrixGamerMy Enlge Matrix Games are GM-less - I'll send you an copy of an old version if you send me your address. I'll include the latest rules as well.

I can vouch for the Engle Matrix games being good games and fun (though we played it with a pseudo-GM).

Apocalypse Girl is both GMless and competitive. I know there's two AP threads on The Forge somewhere, and the modifications suggested in them would probably help.

You can find links here. The tournament has begun in this new thread.

Posted By: amp108Let's not forgetShock. Each player plays a protagonist to one story and an antagonist to another. The rules have cutesy neologisms (like *tagonists to describe player roles, or "zie" for "he or she"), but otherwise, it's a cool system.

But not free.


Lexicon fits, if you count text-based games.

Well, what the heck, I'll put "The Vampire," a tiny story-telling RPG that doesn't even talk about how many players should be included or a GM, into the running. It's simplistic but it could be fun to play. Also, I wrote it last night, so I'll probably be editing it. The link is here