Undertaking, A Tabletop RPG

Now in Early Access on our Discord!

Undertaking is a d20 Tabletop RPG designed for immense character customization and the ability to act on any turn in combat.  

If you like D&D, but wish it went further, was more interactive, rewarded you for paying attention in combat, allowed for more customization on every level, had magic that's both more streamlined and more customizable at once, and let you push further in the moment of truth at the cost of some more pains later—then Undertaking is for you.

As of February 2026, Undertaking is a massive ~150k word book, with 4 unique classes (with a 5th in development), 10 mix-and-match races (each with 3-5 branch races, and with another 12 races in development), 9 mix-and-match backgrounds (with another 2 in development), 14 trade skills (non-combat actions and minigames done while traveling or resting), and various systems built around more active engagement.  It's releasing later this year (2026), and is planned to have further fixes, races, classes, sub-classes, backgrounds, and quality of life improvements added post-release.  We already have about 80k words of content in the playtesting phase, with more surely to come.  Join us on the Discord (link in the download) to see our progress, play with us, and give us direct feedback!

Key Mechanics: 

Act immediately, anytime, on any turn.  

• Desperate Actions cost your next turn to give you an action now.  If you're paying attention, you can deal decisive blows or save friend from dying.  If you're careless, you can leave yourself open to punishment.  Can you manage the risk?

Carve arrows, brew potions, entertain the party, or even play a mini-game to fish.  

• While resting, take Rest Actions to practice non-combat Trade Skills.  Gain short-term benefits during breaks or before entering a bad situation, or take your time and work incrementally toward long-term payoffs over days and weeks.  Play the way you like to play.  

• Character races are designed to be combined into mixed races, being mixed-and-matched based on parentage.  Want to play a half-elf?  Take the "core" Human traits and the traits of an Elf "branch" race.  Like the looks of a kobold branch race, but not the small size?  Swap the kobold core traits for the dragon-like Drachian's core traits.  Don't want to mix it up?  All races are designed to be played straight as well.  
• The same can be done by taking mixed backgrounds.  You can choose to take one background that determines your past experience and equipment, or choose both an early and later background.  For example, you may have been a sailor once, but joined the army once the war started, giving you sailor traits with more equipment from your more current wartime days.  Alternatively, maybe you were a noble, but now you've fallen on hard times and have become more of a streetrat?  This gives you both a set of equipment and skills to start with, but also a simple outline if you haven't written a backstory yet.

Classics reinvented.

• Fighters are versatile, swapping equipment to alter the mechanics they play by both in the form of fighting stances and weapon-exclusive abilities.
• Rogues are vicious, spending rolled damage to apply conditions to a target, only to exploit a target's conditions (their own or otherwise) to deal explosive damage.
• Wizards are inventive, both uniquely modifying and supercharging spells on the fly, as well as over time, as they build up their massive spell library.
• Clerics have faith in their dice, creating 'jackpot' numbers on their dice that, once rolled, grant them the many boons of their deities and more abilities to activate.  
• (In testing, to release later) Bards call the shots, projecting expectations into reality and setting roles for allies and enemies to support or inhibit their actions.

Customize your classes further with multi-sub-classing.

• Can't choose between two sub-classes?  Why not pick them both?  Or even a third?  Taking more than one sub-class is a core option in Undertaking, opening new strategies and character directions without feeling locked down.  Maybe go polytheistic and follow multiple deities, each with their own faith 'jackpot' numbers on Cleric, or study different areas of magic as a Wizard and combine your spell mods.  Or, focus in on what makes a class special and stick to one.  The choice is yours.
  
  

Interested and want to get in early?  Join the Undertaking Discord for updates, discussions, and playtest nights, including access to the Undertaking Foundry module.  A Discord link is included in every download of Undertaking.