4 Dungeons and Dragons Style Games For When Your DM Can't Make Game Night

So, you’ve found yourself short a Dungeon Master. No worries. It’s all about you now. We’ve specialized this list of DM free games to recommend the perfect game for you based on your favorite part of Dungeons and Dragons. Whether they’re gone for the night, gone for good, or just want a turn to be a player themselves, we’ve rounded up 4 great games that don’t require a DM.

1 The best part of D&D is the epic campaign: Gloomhaven

If your DM is not coming back any time soon, we’d like to say sorry and/or congratulations. But you don’t need a DM to have legendary, sweeping, year long campaigns. All you need is this big boy of a board game. Gloomhaven has the complexity of a D&D game and 20 pounds of game pieces that take the place of a Dungeon Master. If you don’t have room to set up a 150 hour, 20 pound board game, then good news friend, there’s a digital version available on Steam.

2 The best part about D&D is combat: Archenemy: Nicol Bolas

Skip the fetch quests and cutesy NPC BS and get to the good stuff. Battle, bloodshed, and chucking cool a$$ spells at each other. Using Magic: The Gathering decks you’ll gang up on one player: the archenemy. Maybe that player is your DM. Maybe you need to punish them for killing your favorite halfling shopkeeper during your last play session, who knows.

3 The best part of D&D is hanging out with your friends: DIY Modded D&D

While you may be fresh out of Dungeon Masters, you love your play group and the intricate systems and lore of official Dungeons and Dragons. Well friend, it’s time to roll up those sleeves and get to modding. Dozens of randomly generated map makers and online resources mean that you and your group can cobble together rules as you see fit to get all the best parts of D&D. Modifying the game to find the perfect balance can be as much fun as the game itself.

4 The best part of D&D is the emergent narrative: Fiasco

Draw cards and discuss to create the first of a four act heist-gone-wrong story. Create a story worthy of the big screen as you and your gang-slash-adventuring party stumble into a job that went t*ts up. Rolling dice throughout satisfies all D&D players RNG (random number generator) cravings and crafts a unique story every playthrough. This is a perfect one-shot; games run between 1-3 hours. Also great for remote play groups because you can play Fiasco on Roll 20.

See? You don’t need a DM really. Maybe you don’t even want them to come back. How dare they leave in the first place?! We are a free, independent play group and we don’t need nobody!