The Ultimate List of DRM-free Bookshops

Rounak Bhunia is a creative professional specializing in crafting brand identities, writing, graphic design, and illustration work.

He's worked in the advertising industry, product design, in-house production needs, and a diverse range of freelance client work - and in his free time, he loves to design board games!

Rounak is the creator of Isles of the Sea-Kings, and the Ultimate One Page RPG Toolkit.

Founded in the 90s, Fanatical is an UK-based bundle and gaming distributor.

As well as computer game keys, Fanatical stocks thousands of DRM-free ebook and comics through their bundle deals with leading and independent publishers.

You can even build your own bundles from a selection of themed titles.

Rowan, Rook and Decard is a game publisher founded in 2017 by independent game designers Grant Howitt and Chris Taylor, with Maz Hamilton as business director.

Rowan, Rook & Decard publish Eat The Reich, Die, Heart, Spire, Honey Heist, Unbound, Goblin Quest, and many other tabletop games.

Their mission is to create awesome moments through exciting, beautiful, clever games. And their vision is to innovate and explore new ground with enduring, excellent experiences.

Frog God Games is a top-tier publisher of roleplaying games, adventures, and supplements for both modern and old school game systems.

Frog God Games is owned and operated by a partnership of creators and associates who all game just like you do — in many playstyles and with many rules systems. A deep and abiding love for the basic tenets of Original Fantasy Gaming (sometimes referred to as Old School Gaming) inspires everything they do.

Darling Bat make spooky-cute games and tools by Kona Goodhart.

Home of The Little Red Playbook for Thirsty Sword Lesbians, The Admirer Playbook for Thirsty Sword Lesbians, and Arcane Inversions games. I love the 'Powered by Lesbians' badges on the games.

The Merry Mushmen is the home of Knock!, the old-school tabletop fantasy roleplaying magazine.

KNOCK! is edited by Éric Nieudan and published by Olivier Revenu. Dubbed “an Adventure Gaming Bric-à-Brac and a Compendium of Miscellanea for Old School RPGs,” KNOCK! showcases breathtaking layouts, dazzling color, and a barrage of articles, essays, tables, rules, maps, monster stats, and adventures.

The DRM-free RPG bundle service, Bundle of Holding, says that

"Every overstuffed 200+-page issue features the most audacious designers in the Old School Revival."

and suggests you

"Keep these lavish ebooks close by for perusing, daydreaming, and prepping your next session."

Well worth a purchase for RPG fans.

Founded by Joseph Goodman in 2001, Goodman Games are based out of the San Francisco Bay area.

Goodman Games is your source for classic adventures! They're are best known for the popular Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game and associated adventures. Goodman Games also publishes popular titles such as Mutant Crawl Classics, Xcrawl Classics, Fifth Edition Fantasy, and the hit Original Adventures Reincarnated series.

Wyrmworks Publishing is an RPG shop & publisher, and is 50% of Making It Better LLC, a husband and wife team dedicated to making the world better.

The other 50% is Mom Makes It All, dedicated to making the world happier and more beautiful with handmade crafts and gifts. And 100% of our focus extends to caring for our family and community.

By joining our noble cause, you shall unlock extraordinary rewards. Access exclusive materials in various formats, join us in sharing freely with those in need, and forge direct connections with our dedicated team.

Outland Entertainment is a publisher, located in Kansas City, Missouri, with a focus in fiction, comics, original graphic novels, and games.

Beginning in 2008 as a creative services house, they decided to take all their years of experience developing projects for clients and plunged into publishing their own books and games in 2014. With a deep passion for trans-media, the majority of thir projects are planned to be released in different media, comics, graphic novels, games, and fiction as well.

Unwinnable is a website and digital magazine, founded in 2010 to provide a different kind of cultural criticism.

"We love to read about different perspectives, so we set out to collect a diverse group of contributors, amateur and veteran alike, to tell their stories."

Home of Unwinnable Monthly magazine, Exploits and other digital magazines, books, and comics, this is a treasure trove of content!

Formats may vary by product type.

Based in Swindon, UK, Mongoose Publishing was founded in 2001 and within 6 months became the UK’s largest publisher of roleplaying games.

Initially concentrating on d20 based products, Mongoose Publishing's first book was the Slayers Guide to Hobgoblins, part of the Slayers Guide series of books. Subsequent product lines followed in rapid succession with the release of the Encyclopaedia Arcane, Travellers Tales, Quintessential and Cities of Fantasy series of books.

As well as selling many titles in e-book-only format, many have a digital option, and every print book comes with a free PDF copy.

Digital titles are reasonably priced compared to paper copies.

Black & Green Games is the independent game publishing imprint of designer, Emily Care Boss.

An imprint of Shield and Crescent Press. Founded in 2005 with the release of Breaking the Ice, Black & Green Games brings you role playing games centered on exploring emotions and the human experience.

Based in Texas, USA, Skirmisher has published more than 120 wargaming, fiction, and roleplaying titles.

Its products include the "Swords of Kos" shared world fantasy fiction project and RPG campaign setting; numerous d20 publications and universal sourcebooks; the Wisdom from the Wastelands rules supplement for post-apocalyptic role-playing games; the Cthulhu Live 3rd Edition horror live-action roleplaying game (LARP); the H.G. Wells' Little Orc Wars miniatures wargaming system, which uses live catapult fire to resolve combat; a line of pre-painted resin Orc miniatures; and the "Quactica" and "Nuisances" lines of white metal miniatures.

Indie Press Revolution (IPR) is a network of creator-publishers devoted to bringing you the latest innovations in tabletop roleplaying and story games.

Launched December 1, 2004 with seven member-publishers, we've grown to connect more than one hundred small-press tabletop roleplaying and story game companies to retailers on five continents, conventions, and individual customers.

Born in Singapore but a global citizen, Joyce Chng writes mainly science fiction and YA.

She likes steampunk and tales of transformation/transfiguration. Her fiction has appeared in Crossed Genres, The Apex Book of World SF II, We See A Different Frontier, Cranky Ladies of History, and Accessing The Future.

Evil Hat started on a lark. When Fred and Rob created that first iteration of Fate on a road trip in 2000, they had no idea they were planting the seeds that would grow into a company.

Since then, we’ve broken ground and won awards with RPG games like Fate Core, Spirit of the Century, and the Dresden Files RPG, as well as growing into tie-in fiction and board games.

Kickstarter helps artists, musicians, filmmakers, designers, and other creators find the resources and support they need to make their ideas a reality.

To date, tens of thousands of creative projects — big and small — have come to life with the support of the Kickstarter community.

A huge number of Kickstarter rewards include e-books, either as the main project outcome, or as a side-pledge for backers. Most are DRM-free.

Check specific book formats in the reward details before pledging.

Monte Cook has written hundreds of roleplaying game products, along with numerous short stories, novels, nonfiction titles, and comic books.

He is probably best known for his work on such notable titles as Planescape, Ptolus, the 3rd Edition of Dungeons & Dragons (which he codesigned with Jonathan Tweet and Skip Williams), Arcana Evolved, and of course Numenera and the Cypher System. He is a cofounder of Monte Cook Games, and is their lead designer.

Books are reasonably price compared to the print counterparts.

itch.io is an open marketplace for independent digital creators with a focus on independent video games.

It’s a platform that enables anyone to sell the content they've created. itch.io is also a collection of some of the most unique, interesting, and independent creations you'll find on the web. We're not your typical digital storefront, with a wide range of both paid and free content, we encourage you to look around and see what you find.

The digital books sold on Itch.io are usually related to games development, games culture or or specific areas of game-related sub-culture. Enjoy!

E-books are available in a variety of formats, so check the individual product before buying.

Green Ronin Publishing is a Seattle, US based company dedicated to the art of great games.

Since the year 2000 Green Ronin has established a reputation for quality and innovation that is second to none, publishing such roleplaying game hits as Dragon Age, A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying, and Mutants & Masterminds, and winning over 40 awards for excellence. For an unprecedented three years running Green Ronin won the prestigious GenCon & EnWorld Award for Best Publisher.

Based in the US, Kobold are a small-press Role Playing Game publisher.

With a huge range of titles, including source books, guides, adventures, maps and magazine, covering Dungeons & Dragon, Midgard, Pathfinder and more, Kobold really are a fantastic spot for RPG fans.

Digital books are reasonably discounted from their print counterparts..

Worlds Without Master is an adventure fiction & gaming magazine and home of the Swords Without Master RPG.

As well as providing excellent games and scenarios in each issue, the magazine also contains articles and cartoons, along with beautiful full-colour artwork.

Every year, WWM runs the Epimas deal, where as well as getting a discount on their products, you can ensure that someone else gets a copy too. A great idea to help share the RPG love.

Worlds Without Master is also mentioned in a 2015 Guardian article on The joy of reading role-playing games.

DriveThru RPG are currently the largest online marketplace devoted to RPG and RPG-related materials.

Thousands of publishers—from big names you’ve seen in print, such as Wizards of the Coast and White Wolf Publishing, to our industry’s many talented small press innovators—have come together to list over ten thousand roleplaying titles to make sure you can get what you want when you want it on DriveThru RPG.

Titles are predominantly in PDF format.

RPG e-books are Bundle of Holding's business.

The bundles are usually chock-full of material, with an emphasis on rulebooks and supplements. If you're looking to make savings on the usually expensive rules, codices or bestiaries from both popular and obscure role playing games, this is for you.

Books normally provided as PDFs, but ocassionally in ePub and Mobi formats.

Lulu is a self-publishing and printing platform.

"We are passionate about providing a remarkable experience for you to tell stories, share knowledge and fulfill your creative potential."

Osprey was originally created as a spin-off from Brooke Bond tea in 1968 after the success of their collectible aviation cards.

Osprey Publishing is now a well known "military history brand... covering history from ancient times to the modern day". Their own history is an interesting read in itself, but Osprey is primarily an enthusiast press.

Their detailed reference titles on military history, units, vehicles and aircraft are the go-to books for military hobbyists and tabletop gamers alike.

Many Osprey Games RPGs and scenarios are available to buy digitally.

(PDFs are sold separately from epub & mobi, and is likely the best format when buying graphics-rich reference books.)