WHAT IS ALBO?

Albo is a rules-light, tag-based role playing game system for 2 or more players. All you need to play it are some 10-sided dice (d10), some paper, pencils and these rules. You can plug ALBO into pretty much any game genre you want!

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Instead of stats or skills, characters are assigned a selection of Tags. These tags can be a word or a short sentence, and have both narrative and mechanical effects during the game. Some Tags are long-lasting, while others are interchangeable and consumable.

Whenever a character is attempting something where the outcome is not certain, they make a Test. A test involves rolling 1d10 against a roll table of outcomes. Players can apply up to 3 of their character's Tags to improve their chances of success. Depending on the situation, they might also be able to re-roll, taking the higher result with Help, or the lower with a Hitch.

Whenever the characters are faced with something more dangerous or risky than the average Test, this is called a Challenge. Challenges have a number of Tags (just like characters) depending on their difficulty. To best overcome a Challenge, the character will have to try and negate as many of those Challenge Tags as possible, or suffer some potentially devastating consequences!

CONTENTS OVERVIEW

Digital Version

• ALBO: A traditionally hand-illustrated PDF, with bookmarks, page hyperlinks and table of contents.
• ALBO (Text Only): A printer and colour-blind friendly version of the game document, with bookmarks and tagged for screen-readers.
• ALBO (Character Sheet): A traditionally hand-illustrated character sheet for both digital and print use. Form-fillable.
• UPDATE! ALBO (Text Only) ITA: an Italian translation of the Text Only document.

Pocket Version

A printable, zine-style booklet, containing an abridged version of the ALBO rules, for quick and easy reference.

• Printable PDF Format: Available in both A4 and US Letter formats.
• Printable JPEG in A4 format.
• Easy Assembly Instructions: Included instructions guide you through the assembly process.

Bookmark Pamphlet (NEW!)

A printable, reversible bookmark-sized pamphlet, containing an abridged version of the ALBO rules, for quick and easy reference, as well as a blank character sheet.

• Printable PDF Format: Available in both A4 and US Letter formats.
• No Assembly Required! Simply print both sides onto a sheet of paper, trim the edges and fold.

Print Version 

A 21 page black-and-white printed saddle-stitch zine. It's A5 sized. The mostly blank cover and black-and-white interior illustrations make the zine a sticker album, colouring book and rule book all in one!

You can purchase the Digital + Physical version of ALBO on my website.

LICENSING AND DISCLAIMER

You are free to create hacks, supplements and adventure modules based on ALBO, for personal and commercial use, so long as you include appropriate attribution:

ALBO designed and authored by Tom Fummo of Penflower Ink, 2026 - www.penflower-ink.com.

ALBO does not invite or legitimise the introduction of bigotry at the table. There is no discrimination based on colour, species, appearance, disability, faith, sex or gender in a game of ALBO. You may NOT create supplements or adventure modules based on ALBO if you also intend it to promote any of the forms of bigotry listed above. The Text-Only documents are tagged for screen-readers, and include the full license information, as well as a link to a curated list of TTRPG safety tools, which you can also find here.