Sandcastle
Table-talk Role Playing Game

English | 日本語

The First TRPG Created by a National Research Institute

The Sandcastle TRPG was created by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) in response to the changing needs of the science outreach community. But Sandcastle is not an educational game. It is designed by gamers for gamers to enjoy playing as a normal TRPG; it is also extremely flexible and capable of accommodating a wide variety of content. NAOJ will be using Sandcastle for astronomy outreach; we encourage other research and educational institutes to use it for their own outreach efforts; and encourage gamers to play it just for fun.

Join the Conversation

Find out what others are saying about the Sandcastle TRPG from NAOJ, and let us know your own thought by using #NAOJ_TRPG on social media.

Sandcastle TRPG Rulebook

Free PDF Download

All of the rules you need to play the Sandcastle TRPG, grouped into 3 sectons for ease of reference:

  • Core Rules
  • Game Masters Manual
  • Monster Rules & Data

Adventure: Bleakwood Tower
for Level-0 Characters

Murder in the sleeply little town of Meadowbrook leads to the doorstep of the mysterious Bleakwood Tower.

“Straight forward enough for beginners, but imaginative and interesting enough to hold the attention of even jaded longtime gamers.”

- Jeremy Wilson, creator of the Freegrazers RPG

Adventure: Starsmote Sandpit
for Level-1 Characters

Explore an ancient meteroite impact crater with ruins from a lost civilization and secrets which could change the fate of the world.

“This is a strong, well-conceived adventure with an excellent balance of adventure hooks and encounters based on a mix of geographic and story mythology encounters, as well as mixing fighting and roleplaying responses.”

-Donald J. Bingle, award winning game author

Print & Build

Bring more of the Sandcastle TRPG feel to your table-top games with custom dice and character standup counters. Easily download, print, cut, and assemble them yourself whenever and wherever you need supplies for a game.