[Free RPG Day 2025] SHIFT Roleplaying Game Basic Rules

Now in its eighteenth year, Free RPG Day for 2025 took place on Saturday, June 21st. As per usual, Free RPG Day consisted of an array of new and interesting little releases, which are traditionally tasters for forthcoming games to be released at GenCon the following August, but others are support for existing RPGs or pieces of gaming ephemera or a quick-start. This included dice, miniatures, vouchers, and more. Thanks to the generosity of Waylands Forge in Birmingham, Reviews from R’lyeh was able to get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day.

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SHIFT Roleplaying Game Basic Rules is not a quick-start, but rather than an introduction to the rules. It is published by Hit Point Press, best known for the anthropomorphic Humblewood Campaign Setting, written for use with Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition. It is designed to be quick to learn with minimal rules. Both Player Characters, their Traits and those for everything else in the game are measured in SHIFT Dice. These form a ladder that starts with the four-sided die, and then runs down the ladder with the six-sided, eight-sided, and ten-sided die to the twelve-sided die. Lower dice are better than higher dice. When rolled, the aim is to a get a result of one, two, or three, no matter the die size. A result of one is a critical success, whilst results of two and three are ordinary successes. Any other number is a failure, except for the maximum number on the die, which is a critical failure. When a critical failure is rolled, the die type for the trait is shifted down and that is what the player will the next time he tests the trait. Ultimately, if the player rolls critical failure on the twelve-sided die, the trait becomes exhausted and is unable to use it until the character rests. What this means is that the lower the die type, the greater the chance of roll being successful. Of course, the lower the die type, the greater the likelihood of rolling a critical failure.

A Player Character has three Core Traits. These are Mind, Body, and Soul. A six-sided die is assigned to one Core Trait, an eight-sided die to a second Core Trait, and a ten-sided die to the third Core Trait. Other Traits are Focus Traits, the example given being ‘Ray Gun’. As well as a Keyword, the Focus Trait can also have a Drawback. A Drawback can gained because the roll with the Trait roll failed or the Trait’s die is shifted down.

Action rolls typically involve a combined roll of a Core Trait plus a Focus Trait. If both dice roll a one, then it is a critical success; if a success is rolled on one die and the highest value on the other die is not rolled, the action is a success; if a success is rolled on one die and highest value on the other die is rolled, the action is a mitigated success; if there are no successes rolled, the action is a failure; and if no successes are rolled and highest value on the other die is rolled, the action is a critical failure. A critical success grants a bonus, such as the player being able to shift a die up to a smaller die type for either his character or that of another, or shift an enemy’s die down twice to an even larger die size. Other options include a negate a Drawback, gain information, grant an advantageous situation, and so on. A roll can also be Risky or Inspired. A Risky roll means that all failures on the dice are counted as Critical Failures, and are going to be stepped down, whilst an Inspired roll means that all successes on the dice are treated as Critical Successes.

SHIFT Roleplaying Game Basic Rules explains some basics of encounters and combat. Initially, the Game Master determines which side has the advantage and acts first, whilst on subsequent rounds, each player will roll an Action Roll using his character’s Core Trait to determine if his characters acts before or after the enemies. Action Rolls are rolled as normal for anything that the player wants his character to do in a round.

And that essentially, is it as far as the SHIFT Roleplaying Game Basic Rules is concerned. There are no rules for combat included, there are no stats provided for anything other than the Ray Gun mentioned, and there is no setting or background material. Mention is made of ‘Dorado Station: A sci-Fi Western World Spark’, a micro-setting that the Game Master can download.

Physically, the SHIFT Roleplaying Game Basic Rules looks good, but the layout is untidy.

The SHIFT Roleplaying Game Basic Rules is an adequate introduction to the basic mechanic of the SHIFT Roleplaying Game. However, that is exactly what it is and no more, there is no explanation of combat, no sample Player Character or adversary, no sample setting or scenario… What it means is that the Game Master really cannot do anything with it beyond reading it.