19 - Cosmic Dark - Grim Tokens Is it an RPG or is it an experience dressed like an RPG? Cosmic Dark is a little complicated. Let's put together a character.

#TTRPG #CharacterCreationChallenge2026 #CosmicDark

Are you looking for a super lightweight mechanical game which has a very scenario-focused mode of play? Cosmic Dark might be for you, or it might not. Let's poke at it.

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18 - Feet First Into Hell 2e - Grim Tokens When you put together a conscript penal squad for Feet First Into Hell 2nd Edition, things can get weird.

#TTRPG #CharacterCreationChallenge2026 #FeetFirstIntoHell

What if you like your adventure wargaming with a lot more wargaming and just a tiny little bit of character exploration? Well, you can drop Feet First Into Hell and ride with the Hell Patrol.

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17 - Bay of Villains - Grim Tokens What happens when you drop me in a kitchen sink superhero setting? Well, about exactly what you think. Let's go see a corporate necromancer about a job.

#TTRPG #CharacterCreationChallenge2026 #BayOfVillains

I think it's time to take up a little superheroics. *Bay of Villains* needs a new crew operating. Something a little corporate.

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16 - Boundless Tides - Grim Tokens Putting together a pirate and a ship on the *Boundless Tides*.

#TTRPG #CharacterCreationChallenge2026 #BoundlessTides

It's time for a trip out to the high seas with our straightforward swashbuckler, Renaud, and another lightweight, zero-cost game, Boundless Tides.

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15 - Fear and Panic - Grim Tokens Fast and easy percentile-based horror system that can be stretched in all kinds of ways. Fear and panic might scratch your itch.

#TTRPG #CharacterCreationChallenge2026 #FearAndPanic

It's time to take on a little fear and maybe a little panic. Fear and Panic is a lightweight percentile-based system for horror gaming. Let's see if it can handle an Alabama.

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13 - Sword Sorcery N 2d6 - Grim Tokens Super lightweight hybrid PBTA / OSR gaming goodness. We could do some more kitchen sink fantasy, sure.

#TTRPG #CharacterCreationChallenge2026 #SwordSorcery2d6

Minimalist OSR-adjacent PBTA-inspired kitchen sink fantasy that you can have for free? It's more likely than you think.

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13 - Sword Sorcery N 2d6 - Grim Tokens Super lightweight hybrid PBTA / OSR gaming goodness. We could do some more kitchen sink fantasy, sure.

#TTRPG #CharacterCreationChallenge2026 #SwordSorcery2d6

Minimalist OSR-adjacent PBTA-inspired kitchen sink fantasy that you can have for free? It's more likely than you think.

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12 - Elder Mythos - Grim Tokens Sometimes you want to play as the monster, and what greater monster is there than the Cthulhu Mythos entities?

#TTRPG #CharacterCreationChallenge2026 #ElderMythos

Sometimes you get to be the horror, and this is one of those times. Ever wanted to be a Cthulhu mythos entity? Ever wanted to take over, destroy, or subvert the world? Well, now's your chance!

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11 - Elegy - Grim Tokens Now in the beta edition of Elegy, how do we feel about librarian vampires, who also happen to be necromancers? Let's find out.

#TTRPG #CharacterCreationChallenge2026 #Elegy

New editions always add new complications in terms of game design. Some steps forward, some steps back. It's character creation time again for *Elegy*.

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10 - IronFrame - Grim Tokens Let's trudge through lightweight character creation that is still surprisingly unsatisfying. We need a recon hardsuit in IronFrame.

#TTRPG #CharacterCreationChallenge2026 #IronFrame

Sometimes you just need that reminder that they can't all be winners, even in a genre you love. Let's put together an IronFrame recon hardsuit pilot, shall we?

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09 - Bloodstained Fangs - Grim Tokens How about a little corporate necromancy today? We're going to go touch on Bloodstained Fangs, a supernatural urban fantasy, lightweight RPG.

#TTRPG #CharacterCreationChallenge2026 #BloodstainedFangs

We're going to dip our toes back into a little necromancy within a game named *Bloodstained Fangs*. Supernatural urban fantasy, I'm looking at you. More high speed, low drag mechanical design.

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08 - Lightweight Universal Roleplaying - Grim Tokens Let's create a character in one of the most lightweight systems, conceived Lightweight Universal Roleplaying. It fits on a bookmark.

#TTRPG #CharacterCreationChallenge2026 #LUR

Small enough to fit on a bookmark. Hardy enough to run your favorite characters. It's Lightweight Universal Roleplaying. And our new favorite shifty mech pilot with a secret.

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07 - Five Parsecs From Home - Planetfall - Grim Tokens Day 07: Five Parsecs From Home: Planetfall tags: #articles/CharacterCreationChallenge/2026 #game/wargame/five-parsecs-planetfall Character Creation Challenge 2026Character Creation Challenge Image.pn…

#TTRPG #CharacterCreationChallenge2026 #FiveParsecsFromHomePlanetfall

If you were looking for XCOM on the tabletop with all that entails, come and see this story of the worst colony administrator in the Unity.

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06 - Ensemble - Grim Tokens Minimalist, extremely loose fiction-forward gaming makes for fast and easy character creation. *Ensemble* knocks it out.

#TTRPG #CharacterCreationChallenge2026 #Ensemble

If you're curious about super lightweight, super minimalist, high-speed, low-drag, fiction-forward RPGs, then perhaps Ensemble is worth taking a look at.

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05 - Palatine - Grim Tokens The mighty powers of an interstellar empire can be yours to command as long as you have the wherewithal, the cunning, and the underhanded smile to make it happen. Today's Character Creation Challenge:...

#TTRPG #CharacterCreationChallenge2026 #Palatine

Ever wanted to be a High Lord of Terra or a high-ranking member of the Ecclesiarchy? How about a Mentat assassin, Master of Whispers? All that and more can be yours in Palatine.

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04 - Bloodstone - Grim Tokens Do you like Bloodborne and other souls like? Then brother, I have the RPG for you. Bloodstone.

#TTRPG #CharacterCreationChallenge2026 #Bloodstone

Super lightweight, four-page, Forged in the Dark, Bloodborne adjacent. If you were looking for a Souls-like tabletop RPG for one-shots, I've got your back.

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03 - Cold City 2e - Grim Tokens Return to 1950 at the beginning of the Cold War in Berlin, searching for the horrid remnants of Nazi occult science. Welcome to Cold City.

#TTRPG #CharacterCreationChallenge2026 #ColdCity

It's 1950. The Cold War has just begun in earnest. The Allied powers of America, the UK, France, the nascent Germany, and the USSR are stomping out the evils of Nazi science in Berlin. Join me, won't you?

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02 - The Burning Wheel - Grim Tokens A far less than flattering discussion as we wander through the wasteland that is the Burning Wheels character burning system. Eventually we find a way out, hidden behind a dangling participle, and esc...

#TTRPG #CharacterCreationChallenge2026 #BurningWheel

You wouldn't think that a 20-year-old, highly lauded fantasy indie RPG would require something on the order of 7,000 words to simply go through character generation, and yet here we are. Thanks, Burning Wheel.

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01 - Apocalypse World 3rd Ed Preview - Grim Tokens Brain-sucking apocalyptic nightmares in orbit? I'd never!

#TTRPG #CharacterCreationChallenge2026 #ApocalypseWorld

New Year, New Character Creation Challenge. First up on the chopping block is a new incarnation of a pivotal game: Apocalypse World Burned Over. Yes, it's third edition.

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