If your idea of a Western RPG involves El Topo, peyote visions and outlaws who are usually one bullet from a sandy grave, today's your day. Free League Publishing has released a new hardback edition of Frontier Scum, the rules-lite 'acid western' RPG by Karl Druid, on 12 May 2026 for $48 with PDF included.
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Start organising for freeFrontier Scum, originally designed by Druid through Den of Druids and co-developed with Games Omnivorous, is a self-described 'LSD-infused take on Spaghetti Westerns'. Players run wanted outlaws scraping out an existence on a surreal Lost Frontier, where the rules stay out of your way and the tables for bounties, hunting and weird relics do most of the worldbuilding. The new 'More Rulebook' edition adds 19 backgrounds (31 in total), new name tables and an optional gun hand rule for when you want a touch more crunch in your shootouts. The complete adventure Escape the Organ Rail is also bundled in.
Free League is best known for the heavyweight likes of The One Ring, Mörk Borg and Symbaroum, so picking up the distribution rights for a scrappy little acid western is a noticeable shift. The new hardback is styled to look like an old almanac, which fits the source material perfectly. Influences cited by the designers run from Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man to S. Craig Zahler's Bone Tomahawk, with a healthy dollop of Alejandro Jodorowsky for good measure.
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Find events near youThe book is on the Free League webshop now and rolling out to hobby stores worldwide. If your group is bored of high fantasy and wants something short, weird and lethal for a one-shot at game night, this slides neatly onto the table.
Sources: Bleeding Cool | Free League
