Best Tabletop RPGs That Don’t Need A DM

Summary

• Faewater & Forsooth! offer DM-less tabletop RPG experiences with unique settings and gameplay.
• Fiasco & Our God is Dead require players to collaborate in improvising and sharing responsibilities.
• Ironsworn is a versatile game designed for solo or cooperative gameplay without a DM.

One of the hardest parts of organizing a tabletop campaign or one-shot is deciding on someone to run the game, as usually, not everyone is quick to volunteer for that role. Most prefer to be in the player’s seat, as a Gamesmaster has the added responsibility of creating monsters, stat-blocks, and a narrative for the players to follow.

This can create a significant hurdle for groups that still want to play, but fortunately, not all systems require a DM to play. These RPGs place all players on equal footing as collaborative storytellers and player characters, so the pressure isn’t just on one person.

1

Cheat Your Own Adventure

A Collaborative Choose Your Own Adventure Journey

• Release Year: 2015
• Designer(s): Shane McLean
• Publisher(s): UKRoleplayers’ Collective

Choose your own adventures are sure to be free of the need for GMs, but most are purely designed for solo-play, as the player will flip through the pages of the book based on what action they choose to do. Cheat Your Own Adventure decided to take this concept and make it suitable for a multiplayer game.

Basically, the written adventure, be it physical or digital, is passed from player to player, who then chooses an action based on the options available and continues the story, presenting choices to the next player. Though simple, this game is sure to be fun when played with friends, and will likely very quickly go into unforeseen territory, but the unpredictable nature of this game is what makes it so fun.

2

Faewater

Beware The Dangers Of Fae-Kind

• Release Year: 2021
• Designer(s): ASmoulderingLighthouse
• Publisher(s): ASmoulderingLighthouse

Not every tabletop game needs several books spanning hundreds of pages to explain the world, rules, and lore to players, even though the most famous usually do. Sometimes, all that is needed to get players the info to play is a single page, which is exactly what Faewater does.

Playing into the fae folklore that these creatures are mischievous and often malignant, but often sought out by mortals for varying reasons, this DM-less game sees a group of mortals nearing fae-infested water, each for their own reason, and some players might choose to play a fae, and see if they can be moved to help the players in question. Playing on either side is bound to offer a refreshing and new tabletop gaming experience, as players are often on the same side.

3

Forsooth!

No Director Is Needed For This Stage Production

• Release Year: 2012
• Designer(s): Kevin Spak, Sam Liberty
• Publisher(s): Spoiled Flush Games

Tabletop gaming and Shakespeare meet in what might be the most unique tabletop game of all time. Rather than creating a spell-slinging elf to battle dragons, a newly awoken vampire hiding in plain sight, or an investigator who finds themselves running afoul of Old Gods, the players are just actors, ready for the performance of a lifetime as they put on of the Bard’s lost works on the stage, or rather, someone’s living room.

Players themselves will be tasked with the onerous but fun task of complete and utter improvisation, no hand-holding or guide rails included. It’s completely freeform and chaotically fun when played with the right people. What’s more is that everyone can be an actor, as it is up to all involved to improvise the next action or dialogue.

4

Fiasco

Decide On The Narrative Together

• Release Year: 2009
• Designer(s): Jason Morningstar
• Publisher(s): Bully Pulpit Games and Amusements

In every tabletop game, even those that require a DM, it is considered a collective effort of all who have gathered to help further the plot, as certain characters’ actions or backstories can factor into the narrative, but none are quite as collaborative as Fiasco. This tabletop RPG is all about a heist that has turned into what the title of the game is, and it is up to the players to decide on what and why.

As one can imagine, absolutely no DM is involved in this game, as everyone is a player sharing the responsibilities and the blame for the fiasco at hand. Fun, humorous, and relying on the creativity and improv skills of all at hand, while it may not be the most beginner-friendly game, it is definitely perfect for a seasoned party in which everyone has grown tired of the DM role.

5

The Quiet Year

Roleplay As Entire Communities In This GM-Less Game

• Release Year: 2013
• Designer(s): Avery Alder
• Publisher(s): Buried Without Ceremony

In most tabletop RPGs, players will only control one character, at most two if they are covering for another player missing a session, or an animal companion. Maps are usually provided either from the DM for their homebrew world or by whatever campaign book they are following for their game. These are two expectations that The Quiet Year destroys, resulting in an unusual game.

The players each represent an entire community, village, or settlement that almost perished after a particularly harsh winter, and each of the players must put forward their plans to rebuild and actually draw them. That’s right, in this DM-less game, players will be drawing the maps that serve as this game’s home as they prepare to rebuild and survive the next winter that is to come. Requiring only a few friends, paper, pencils, a playing deck, and six-sided dice, it is a relatively inexpensive game that doesn’t require any prep at all, making it perfect for stumped friends who need something refreshing to do on game night.

6

Our God Is Dead

Improvise And Act On The Spot

• Release Year: 2021
• Designer(s): Jordan Palmer
• Publisher(s): Jordan Palmer

This phrase is quite literally the premise of this tabletop RPG, as a group of clerics devoted to the same deity have discovered that they are dead on the worst possible day: a celebration day in that god’s honor. As there is no DM acting as the driving force, players work together to decide which god they have sworn loyalty to, their particular tenets and domains, and what a day in the life looks like in their service.

And then the fun comes in, as the clerics must trick the congregation that their god is still alive and well, using d6s to determine the success of these false miracles, they improvise and act their way through. The clerics will most likely be found out, but again, without a DM, that is up to the group. Fun, and perfect for one-off sessions, Our God is Dead is the perfect light-hearted fantasy game for parties who need a break from more serious campaigns.

7

Microscope

One Of The Most Freeform Games Available

• Release Year: 2011
• Designer(s): Ben Robbins
• Publisher(s): Lame Mage Productions

Tabletop RPGs, while offering some freedom, usually have lore and world-building down to specifics, relegating players to certain topics, themes, locations, and time periods. And then there is Microscope, a game with scope that is anything but micro. Freedom is at the core of this game, as players decide if they want to play in the present, past, or future, witnessing completely different periods and worlds different from their own.

With no GM or prep required, players are free to jump where and whenever they want, and collaborate to tell stories that defy the laws of space and time. The limit here is simply their imaginations, and Microscope offers the perfect vehicle for them to explore these places they conjure up.

8

Ironsworn

The System Is Designed To Be Played Multiple Ways

• Release Year: 2018
• Designer(s): Shawn Tomkin
• Publisher(s): Shawn Tomkin

Ironsworn is set in the harsh and rugged Ironlands, where people barely leave the safety of their settlements for fear of what may linger out in the wilds, apart from the possibilities of dying from hunger or exposure. In these lands, a vow is not something to be made lightly, and never to be forsaken, and it will act as a driving force behind every Ironsworn, as it provides the reason they left their settlement.

A dark and gritty fantasy RPG, Ironsworn seems like most others, in need of someone to run the system. But this game is designed with three play modes in mind: guided, for those who want the traditional GM/player dynamic; solo, for players who want their sessions to be just a party of one; and cooperative. This latter option is a group of players having their own adventure without a DM, just the players and whatever quests and challenges lie ahead.