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SRDs You Can Use! Sticky

A topic by Beth and Angel Make Games created Mar 10, 2026 Views: 303 Replies: 9
Viewing posts 1 to 4
HostSubmitted (3 edits)

If you've made an SRD, please feel encouraged to share it in a comment! 

This collection from TheGiftOfGabes is what we look into every time we're looking for an SRD. It's an incredible list, and I'm always shocked to find newer SRDs on it: it's terrific that it's still being added to!

Angel also pointed out a previous jam: The TTRPG Resource Jam. There, you'll find loads of SRDs, supplements, and tools for use in making TTRPGs. 

Friend of the team, Avri, also shared his own SRDs to Explore collection in the comments below! :D

We've also made an SRD ourselves: On Poetic Hacks is a collection of five games that use the On Poetic Tides SRD, and it also includes the guidelines of the SRD itself. This system has players write poetry, short stories, poetry, songs, etc. 

Players remove most cards from a standard deck, and then draw one each turn. The game ends when all of the cards from a suit are drawn. The suits each represent a theme, and the numbers on the cards represent something good, bad, or neutral happening. The original game in the collection —On Poetic Tides— has players out at sea writing poetry. Clubs are "(Mis)adventure," Spades are "The Environment Itself," Hearts are "Longing," and Diamonds are "Discovery." Players use only the cards numbered 2-6; 2-3 are negative, 5-6 are positive, and 4s are up to the player to choose.

So if you use the On Poetic Hacks SRD, you just need to come up with a theme of your own, write the rules out however you prefer, define what each suit means, and then lay out the page. Boom, done! Most SRDs are like this too :D

However, you're free to change things. Maybe you want to use more cards so the game lasts longer, or make a really short game that only uses the 2-4 cards. Perhaps you want to have players draw rather than write, or only use two suits. These are all things you're free to do 🥳 

We've also made On Poetic Hacks free for the duration of this jam 🧡 Most SRDs are free, but we packaged ours with five games, so we charge for it.

(+2)

I keep an ongoing list of SRDs to Explore, for anyone interested.

HostSubmitted(+2)

Oh heck yeah! Thanks for sharing that 🥳 Mind if I link to it from the top post, too? Obviously you should keep your post about it here too lol, but that might make it easier for people to see

- ✨Beth

(+1)

Of course, thank you.

HostSubmitted(+1)

Thank YOU! It's there now :D It's a solid collection, too: it feels like that collection has the ones I'm most likely to use too, and I swear I saw at least one or two that aren't in the other collection.

- ✨Beth

Submitted(+2)

A great resource Avri! 

(1 edit) (+1)

Ayyy, i see my Misfits & Mayhem SRD in TheGiftofGabes’s collection! Nice!


I also have a guide that’s kind of an SRD for creating Belonging Outside Belonging/No Dice No Masters games (specifically my version of them, which is slightly different from the original version first used in Dream Askew / Dream Apart): https://jaztice.itch.io/one-page-guide-to-no-dice-no-masters

EDIT: I also have a Rock Paper Scissors RPG SRD lol https://jaztice.itch.io/rock-paper-scissors-rpg

HostSubmitted

Oh neat, I will have to check those out. Thanks for sharing!
~Angel

(+1)

That is awesome the Havoc Engine Toolkit is on the list. I have an interesting idea involving that SRD. Hopefully it works out.

HostSubmitted

That was the SRD that shocked me it was there, since it's so new! I'm excited to see what you do with it 🙌 

- ✨Beth