Cairn: Barebones Edition

Cairn: Barebones Edition is an adventure game about traversing underground tunnels, decrepit castles, dark forests, and other dreadful places. Character creation is entirely random and fast, exploration is tense and rewarding, and combat is chaotic and lethal. 

The rules and procedures match those in the Cairn Second Edition Player’s Guide, but this version removes the implied setting and structured creation process. It assumes a generic fantasy world, embracing full randomness, much like the original Cairn. It retains full compatibility with Cairn Second Edition adventures but offers an even more minimal, flexible framework for old-school play.

This "barebones" version of Cairn is presented art-free (aside from the cover and character sheet) and is released under CC-BY-SA 4.0.

Grab the Cairn Bestiary and the Warden's Guide as companions to this game!