A TTRPG where you star in your own fanfiction!

Play as yourself, explore worlds you love, and shape the story together.

A mockup of the Borrowed Worlds hardcover rulebook lying open to an illustrated spread

Green badge with the text "Kickstarter coming soon!" in bold black and white letters.

Thomas wearing an alien shaped astronaut helmet

2 - 7 players · 3 - 4 hours per session · One d20 · Starring you

Pick the worlds.
Everyone suggests worlds they love from books, films, games, and beyond. Your President (the game master) weaves them into a galaxy for your party to explore. Bring your fandom knowledge. Discover someone else’s favorite.
Play as yourself.
Your life is your backstory. Use your real experiences to gain bonuses, solve problems, and get out of trouble. The stories you and your teammates tell about yourselves can directly impact your party’s chances of getting out of a sticky situation.
Roll for each other.
Assist a teammate to improve their odds, or use Uppraise: give a real-life compliment, then roll to offer another chance after a failure. With one d20 and Advantage and Disadvantage Tokens, friendship becomes part of the rules.

An open book on a black background, titled 'Welcome to Borrowed Worlds,' with comic-style black-and-white illustrations of characters and text instructions on role-playing game setup.

A rulebook for worlds you already love

A black and white illustrated page spread from a book or guide about tabletop role-playing games, featuring sections on campaigns and game states, with a humorous drawing of characters, including a person in a wizard hat, a swordsman, and a person with a staff.

Open book with black and white space-themed illustrations, including planets, stars, a floating castle, and a Ancient Greek building.

Black and white illustration of a fictional city with labeled locations: Celestial Causeway, Agora, Kapeleia, Dionysus Box, Grand Stadium, and River Styx, with a circular stadium and surrounding buildings.

Build your galaxy. Tools for turning your group’s favorite fictional worlds into connected adventures.
Make teamwork count. Cooperative rolls, Uppraise, and the Rule of Cool give players ways to support each other.
Make yourselves at home. Customize your ship and recruit familiar characters and companions along the way.
Start with an adventure. An included three-session campaign takes you through The Jungle Book, Mount Olympus, and Dracula’s world.
Explore illustrated worlds. Maps of the included adventure locations help your group picture where they’re going and plan their next move.
Keep play moving. Planning worksheets and quick-reference material help the President prepare and run sessions.

Find your way into Borrowed Worlds

The Borrowed Worlds rulebook open on a tablet

PDF

The digital rulebook for reading and preparing your adventures.

Hardcover

A physical rulebook for your gaming table. (Cover design in progress)

Limited Edition

A special cover and GM screen bundle, planned as a single 300-copy print run.

Cartoon planets with faces drifting through space

Green badge with black and white text saying "Kickstarter Coming Soon!" in a playful font.

“Play testing Borrowed Worlds was easily the highlight of our PAX trip.”

— Wyatt

From our playtesters at PAX West

“It was so fun seeing how the story somehow came together with all the absurdly mismatched parts, and loved the creativity required from all parties involved to make that happen.”

— Emily and Max

“It was really fun play testing your game and I liked a lot about it! Talked to my D&D group about it today and two of them are interested in your system!”

— Justin

The cast of the book packed around a table buried in paper, snacks and empty cans

Illustration of a container with the word 'RICE' on top, a rolling pin, rice grains, and the words 'PUDDING' at the bottom, all drawn in black and white.

About us

Borrowed Worlds started in 2016 as a homebrew game Russell ran for his friends. It went through six “seasons” and eight years of playtesting before it was ever a book. Today Russell and his husband Apu run Rice Pudding Games with a small group of friends, turning that campaign into something other groups can make their own.