First, the disclaimer. RP Nowz is not affiliated with rpnow.net, and it is not a new version of it. RPNow.net describes itself as a dead-simple text-based roleplay website: you create a roleplay in the browser, invite people, and write. It is free and it is open source. Many roleplayers have good memories of it, and some still use it. This page is for people searching for something in the same spirit with more under the hood.
What stays the same
- Text roleplay with real people. No bots pretending to be your partner. Every post in an RP Nowz chat is written by a player, unless the owner deliberately adds an AI side character.
- Free. Creating characters, chatting, dice and joining worlds cost nothing. Credits are optional and only buy extras such as boosting a world's listing or painting custom dice.
- Share a link, start playing. Every chat has an invite link. Send it to your friends and they are at the table.
- Simple by default. Open a chat, pick a character, write. The extra features wait until you want them.
What is different
| RPNow.net | RP Nowz | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | Web browser | Native iOS and Android apps for phones and tablets, with push notifications, and any browser at app.rpnowz.com |
| Characters | Per roleplay | A library: profiles with portraits, relationships, timelines, facts and secrets, reusable in every chat |
| Finding players | Bring your own | World: browse public chats by genre and language, preview, and ask to join |
| Dice | No built-in dice | 3D dice rolled on the server, with notation and custom sets |
| Message modes | In character and out of character | In character, out of character and narrator, plus replies, typing indicators and read receipts |
| Offline | Needs a connection | Read and write offline; sends when you reconnect |
| Stickers, emojis, GIFs | Basic images | Custom emojis, stickers and GIF search from the composer |
| Story tools | None | Optional AI recap and story questions, owner-controlled |
| Languages | English | Ten, with a language filter in World |
| Source | Open source | Closed source |
Moving a group over
There is no importer, and you do not need one. Create a chat, give it the title and premise of your old roleplay, add your characters to the library (our character sheet guide has a template if you want to flesh them out), and send the invite link to your group. Paste a short recap of where the story stands as the first narrator post and carry on from there.
Who should stay on RPNow.net
If your group wants the smallest possible tool, a single roleplay page with nothing else on it is hard to beat. RP Nowz is for the groups who want characters, dice and discovery without gluing three tools together, on their phones or in the browser.
Same hobby, more table. RP Nowz is free on iOS, Android and the web.