List of pen & paper role-playing games

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This list of pen & paper role-playing games enumerates role-playing systems from the genre of pen & paper role-playing games and arranges them according to their genre . In addition to commercially published role-playing games also are free role playing listed if this game world Descriptions and rules of the game - manuals were published.

Fantasy

The black eye round at the Burg-Con in Berlin

Fantasy role-playing games are the largest genre group of role-playing games. Your game world contains elements of fantasy , which means that it is about the supernatural, fairytale-like and magical and is linked to myths , folk tales or legends . JRR Tolkien is considered the founder of the modern fantasy genre , to whom many authors such as Marion Zimmer Bradley , Tad Williams and Robert Jordan have linked since the 1970s . The first pen & paper role-playing games were played against fantasy backgrounds in the 1970s. High fantasy , low fantasy , contemporary fantasy , dark fantasy and humorous fantasy are considered important subgenres .

  • 7th See is a coat-and-epee-style film system that was released in 2001 and is set on the fictional continent of Theah.
  • Adventure in Magira is based on the simulation of the fantasy world Magira , which has been developed by the German fantasy club Follow since 1966.
  • Aborea is a beginner-friendly German fantasy role-playing game by Sebastian Witzmann, which has beenproduced and distributedby 13Mann Verlags- und Großhandelsgesellschaft mbH since 2011.
  • Arcane Codex is a German dark fantasy role-playing game whose game world is called "Kreijor" and is divided into many different zones and countries.
  • Alea iacta est is a free German role-playing game in the game world "Alea".
  • Ars Magica is an American game by Jonathan Tweet and Mark Rein Hagen.
  • Blue Wallet is a free German role-playing game.
  • Buffy, the Vampire Slayer - Roleplaying Game (also BtVS RPG) and Angel Role-playing Game are American role-playing games from 2002 that are based on the television series Buffy and Angel of the same name .
  • Câmelot is a free German role-playing game that was created in the early 1990s and is set in the world "Gaya".
  • Chivalry and Sorcery is an American fantasy game from 1977 whose world "Tannoth" is very similar to the earthly Middle Ages.
  • Chainmail was one of the first role-playing game systems by Jeff Perren and Gary Gygax in 1971, the forerunner of Dungeons & Dragons .
  • Conan. The Roleplaying Game appeared as a pen & paper implementation of the character Conan the Cimmerians, designed by Robert E. Howard from 1932, and the associated low-fantasy world "Hyboria" for the first time in 1985 at TSR , developed by David Cook. From 1988 Steve Jackson Games brought out the GURPS extension GURPS Conan . Mongoose Publishing has been publishing a new Conan since 2003 . The Roleplaying Game based on the d20 rules, since 2007 in its second edition.
  • The black eye (DSA) has been Ulrich Kiesow's best-known German system since 1984. It takes place on the continent " Aventuria "; In 2000 the continent " Myranor " was introduced as an additional game world with a different focus.
  • Das Weltenbuch is a free German high fantasy game in which the players play clichéd heroes on the open double page of the book.
  • Darc is a D10 role-playing game whose anti-heroes fight for survival in a post-apocalyptic, formerly flourishing medieval world.
  • Demonwright is a free German role-playing game about an old cult in the world "Pagan".
  • The Drachensturm is a free German role-playing game with a classic fantasy setting in which countless typical fantasy characters (trolls, fairies, elves, dwarfs, etc.) can be played.
  • The Dark Dimension is a free German role-playing game with a special magic system that was developed in 1993 as a spin-off of a computer game for the C64.
  • DUISI - dragons and intrigues are included is a German fantasy role-playing game by Michael "Duisi" Duismann that has been further developed for more than 15 years. The system works without dice or other random elements for decision-making. It is primarily designed for the supplied fantasy game world “Septanien”, but can also be used as a universal set of rules for any other game worlds. The set of rules contains optional and very simple D6 rules.
  • Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game (DFRPG), released in 2017, is an American role-playing game by Steve Jackson Games with a focus on classic dungeon crawling . It is based on the 4th edition of GURPS , but is completely independent.
  • Dungeon World was published in 2012 and is based heavily on Dungeons and Dragons , but comes with very simple rules and exaggerates common clichés about typical character classes and game situations.
  • (Advanced) Dungeons and Dragons ((A) D&D) has been Gary Gygax 's US market leader since 1974.
  • Dungeonslayers is a free German role-playing game with few rules by Christian Kennig with a classic fantasy setting and was published under the Creative Commons license by-nc-sa .
  • Earthdawn is an American fantasy game with an emphasis on magic.
  • Elfquest is based on the comics of the same name by Wendy and Richard Pini and uses a simplified version of Chaosium's basic role-playing system . The first edition was published in 1984 and the second edition in 1989 by Chaosium.
  • ERPS is a free German role-playing game by Ernst-Joachim Preussler, which has existed since 1995.
  • Everway is an American game that uses cards instead of dice.
  • Exalted (The Tall One) is a high fantasy RPG game developed by White Wolf that is influenced by Japanese manga and anime .
  • Feenlicht is a privately created free RPG game with an emphasis on living characters.
  • Feredoras - Chronicles of a Dark Age is a free German role-playing game.
  • HârnMaster is a realistic low fantasy game for " HârnWorld ".
  • HeroQuest is a mystical game in the world "Glorantha", which was published in 2003 and is based on RuneQuest .
  • The Lord of the Rings role-playing game was published in 2002 by the American publisher Decipher using the rules of the CODA systemand distributed in Germany by Pegasus Spiele after Iron Crown Enterprises had to cedethe rights to games in the fantasy world "Middle-earth" designed by JRR Tolkien .
  • Hyperborea is a low-fantasy barbarian role-playing game that focuses on an original combat system. In addition, a kind of team is played: a gun bearer and his god-inspired weapon. In 1991 it was published in France under the title Bloodlust by the publisher Asmodée Editions and was published in 2001 under Hyperborea by Truant Verlag in Germany.
  • Inaka is a free fantasy role-playing game set in a classic fantasy world.
  • Iron Gauntlets is a heroic game with a classic fantasy background, in which there are no character classes and experience levels. It was published by Precis Intermedia in 2005.
  • Ironclaw is an RPG with the subtitle Anthropomorphic Fantasy Role-Play . In the fantasy world designed by Jason Holmgren, anthropomorphic animals are formative.
  • KEAS is a free German role-playing game released in 2006 in the fantasy world "Kyriol", which has a late medieval character, but is characterized by natural and war disasters.
  • Legend of the Burning Sands is set in a mythological Middle East (Arabia, Egypt, Persia ...) and uses the same roll-and-keep system as L5R and 7th Sea .
  • Legend of the Five Rings (L5R) is set in "Rokugan", a world modeled on the mythological Japan with its feudal system. It was published by World of Games and received an Origins Award in1997.
  • Lejentia was published in 1989 first by Task Force Games, then by Flying Buffalo. It consists of a description of the world without its own system of rules, so that you can use any set of rules, e.g. B. one of the universal systems (see below) can play. A war-torn world is depicted in the two books that have been published. Many non-player characters and adventure ideas are presented. Mention should be made of the simultaneous appearance of a comic for the role play.
  • Malmsturm is a Fate- based Sword & Sorcery role-playing game thathas been published by Uhrwerk-Verlag since 2011 (now in its second edition).
  • MERS ( Middle-earth RPG ) was distributed by Iron Crown Enterprises from 1984-1999, hadrules derivedfrom Rolemaster and was set in the world of JRR Tolkien's novel The Lord of the Rings .
  • Meister der Magie is a free German role-playing game that was published under a Creative Commons license and is set in the world "Ganthor".
  • Midgard is the oldest German role-playing game published in 1981; it is published by Midgard Press and has produced the offshoots Midgard 1880 , Perry-Rhodan-RPG and Myrkgard .
  • Nornis is a German fantasy adventure role-playing game in the world "Aveon" released by Assertpress in 2006.
  • Orbis Incognita is a free German system against a renaissance background that was first published online in 2004 and in book form in 2007.
  • Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game is the second edition of a US system by Palladium Books , which was published in 1983 as The Palladium Role-Playing Game .
  • Pathfinder is based on version 3.5 of Dungeons and Dragons and was released in 2009. The game replaced the US market leader AD&D in 2011.
  • Pendragon is a four-edition system by Greg Stafford and Sam Shirley that has been published since 1985 and is set at the time of the Arthurian legend .
  • Pyramos - The World is a Tetrahedron is a high fantasy role-playing game from 2005, which is based on the primary role-playing game SysTem (PROST, see below) and plays on a world with four elementary levels.
  • Wheel of Time is a D20 system based on the fantasy novel series The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan and first appeared in 2001 as Wheel of Time on Wizards of the Coast .
  • Rolemaster is an American system from Iron Crown Enterprises that hasappeared in four editions since 1980, on which MERS , Space Master (science fiction) and Run Out the Guns (pirates) are based.
  • Ruf des Warlock (RdW) is a German game released in 1990 that uses a D30 as the main die and has parallels to DSA .
  • RuneQuest is an American game published by Chaosium in 1978 that influenced several other RPG systems.
  • Samyra is a free German fantasy role-playing game .
  • Soul Catcher RPG is a free German dark fantasy role-playing game.
  • Sorcerer is a free American fantasy storytelling role-playing game developed by Ron Edwards about demon-summoning wizards.
  • Splittermond is aGerman role-playing game publishedby Uhrwerk-Verlag in2014, which is set on the world "Lorakis" and whose basic rules are freely available.
  • Sturmbringer is the German name of afantasy system published in1981 as Stormbringer by Chaosium, which takes place in the world of Elric von Melniboné and islinkedto RuneQuest .
  • Sword World RPG is the name of the most popular Japanese role-playing game that has been set in Forcelia since 1989. Among the numerous publications on the game and the game world are over 40 “ Replays ”, a separate genre of literature in which pen & paper role-playing adventures are reproducedin the style of a light novel . The first replay and basis of the Sword World RPG world is Record of Lodoss War .
  • Tales from the Loop is a role-playing game that was released in 2017 and is based on the artwork of the same name by Simon Stålenhag and distributed by Free League Publishing.
  • Talislanta is a role-playing game on the continent of the same name, which was first published in 1987 by Stephen Michael Sechi.
  • QER is the abbreviation for "Quick Easy Roleplaying" and the name of a free German role-playing game with simple rules developed by Thomas Kathmann in 1999-2003. The most important game world of the project planned as a universal game system is an ancient world that tends towards low fantasy and was devastated by hordes of orcs .
  • The Shadow of Yesterday (TSoY) is a post-apocalyptic fantasy game released in 2004 by Clinton R. Nixon. The narrative-oriented game uses rules based on the FUDGE system under the name "Solar System" and plays on the world "Close". It was released under the Creative Commons license and won an award for independent role-playing games. In addition to other translations, a German version was published in 2007.
  • Tunnels & Trolls (T&T) was developed by Ken St. Andre in 1975and published by Flying Buffalo as a simpler alternative to Dungeons and Dragons . As one of the first role-playing games, T&T introduced solo adventure as a new elementand also offered rules for the post game . First published in German translation in 1983 as Swords & Demons by Ulrich Kiesows Fantasy Productions , T&T was the first pen & paper role-playing game to be sold commercially in German before D&D.
  • Warhammer Fantasy RPG (WHFRS) is a British system that was first published in 1986, the second edition in 2005 and is set in the world of the Warhammer Fantasy tabletop .
  • Yet Another Role-Playing Game (YARG) is a free German role-playing game released in 1994 by Jens Peter Kleinau.
  • Warrior, Rogue & Mage (WR&M) is a free role-playing game released in 2010.

Modern

Role-playing games established in the modern age mostly use the earth of the 19th or 20th century as a game world, but often also contain slight elements from other genres. For example, games set in the Wild West can contain magical elements, detective role-playing games can take up horror elements, for example, and advanced technologies are interesting for secret agent role-playing games, for example. Approaches of alternate world stories can take place before modern backgrounds.

  • Adventure! is anIndiana Jones-style RPG, releasedby White Wolf , set in the 1920s. It is part of the Trinity universe, as are Aberrant and Trinity .
  • Boot Hill was a pure Wild West role-playing game and was released by TSR in 1975.
  • d20 Modern is a modification that tailors the fantasy-oriented universal d20 system to modern game worlds.
  • Danger International was published by Hero Games in 1985 and is one of the forerunners of the Hero System with comparable rules. It's set in the secret agent genre.
  • Dogs in the Vineyard is a free Wild West game by D. Vincent Baker set in the provisional state of State of Deseret around 1849. The game, first published in 2004, depicts a Mormon law enforcement officer.
  • Far West is a free German role-playing game system from 2002, which is set in the Wild West around 1875.
  • Hollow Earth Expedition (HEX) was published in 2006, takes place in the 1930s and takes up the hollow world theory.
  • Hong Kong Action Theater (HKAT) is a Hong Kong cinema- themed game in the style of the Heroic Bloodshed films.
  • Itras By is a surrealistic role- playing game that has been awarded the German RPG Prize in a city full of strange occurrences, unusual places and bizarre characters. A special feature of the game are the decision cards, which replace the usual dice rolls.
  • Noir is a detective role-playing game in the setting of film noir , which was published by Archon Gaming in 1997 and is set in a fictional city called "The City".
  • Ninjas and Superspies is an American cinematic system released in 1988 by Palladium Books and revolves around secret agents and Far Eastern martial arts.
  • Old Slayerhand is another free German role-playing game that is set in the Wild West of the Karl May novels. It is based on the Dungeonslayers set of rules.
  • Private Eye is a German detective game in Victorian England , which was first published in 1989 and is now published by the Phantastik editorial team .
  • Recon is a mercenary role-playing game from Palladium Books that was originally set in the Vietnam War in 1982, but has also included Africa, Asia and South America as locations in more recent editions.
  • Spycraft is based on the d20 system and deals with super agents with a focus on the action genre.
  • Top Secret is a classic secret service role-playing game by Merle M. Rasmussen, published in 1980, reworked by Douglas Niles in 1987 and renamed Top Secret / S. I. (for “Special Intelligence”) was reissued.

Science fiction

Angel game round

After fantasy, science fiction role-playing games make up the largest genre group of pen & paper role-playing games. Science fiction as a literary genre, but especially science fiction film and science fiction on television that has existed since the 1950s, characterize these role-playing games. Authors such as HG Wells , Stanisław Lem and Isaac Asimov laid the foundations that unfolded in the popular classics Star Trek and Star Wars . A distinction must be made between utopian and dystopian game worlds. Numerous science fiction role-playing games are dystopian: their game worlds represent a dark future that can be divided into the subgenres of cyberpunk , steampunk and the post-apocalypse . In addition, the rarer dystopian genres of military science fiction and especially space opera shape the picture. Mech role-playing games, which are also part of science fiction, can often be combined with tabletop games.

  • After The Bomb is a post-apocalyptic system by Palladium Books , published in 1991 and again in 2001 , in which the players embody mutated anthropomorphic animals. The predecessor Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness , which was released in 1985 and based on the cartoon series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, had to be discontinued for licensing reasons. Only the title is identical to a post-apocalyptic youth book by Gloria D. Miklowitz .
  • Aliens is a 1991 game based on the Alien film series and published by Leading Edge Games.
  • Babylon 5 is a television series that has become the setting for several role-playing systems: The Babylon Project was published in 1996 by Chameleon Eclectic. Babylon 5 Wars was released by Agents of Gaming in 1997 as a mixture of role and miniatures game by the authors Bruce H. Graw and Robert N. Glass. Mongoose Publishing brought out Babylon 5 d20 in 2003 and in 2004also published a related miniature game called Babylon 5 A Call to Wars .
  • Bubblegum Crisis is a cyberpunk role-playing game with Fuzion rules published by R. Talsorian Games in 1997, which is based on the anime series of the same name and is set in "MegaTokyo" around 2030.
  • Chaos Earth by Palladium Books is set immediately after World War III and the magical apocalypse , but before the role-playing game Rifts . It uses the publisher's own "Megaversal System".
  • Cyberpunk 2020 and its predecessor Cyberpunk 2013 are based on William Gibson's Neuromancer trilogy . The game, originally published in 1988, is one of the most important publications by R. Talsorian Games.
  • Cyberspace was released by Iron Crown Enterprises in 1989 as the publisher's Rolemaster- based cyberpunk role-playing game in the same year as Shadowrun . Unlike Rolemaster and Space Master , it does not pursue a universal genre approach, but takes place in San Francisco in the year 2090.
  • Darwin's World is a Dark Future game with the d20 system that was first published in 2001 . It mainly takes place in the wastelands of the USA devastated by a global war with nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.
  • Degenesis is a free German role-playing game by Christian Günther. The self-designation of the genre is called“Primal Punk”in the Dark Future game,first published in 2004, and the rule system is called “KatharSys”. In the fictional world, the isolated continents of Europe and Africa have been reshaped after asteroid impacts, and only dark memories of the former secular history exist.
  • Eclipse Phase is a transhumanist science fiction role-playing gamereleased in 2009with strong horror and conspiracy elements. The game is published under a Creative Commons license, but isalso distributed as a print productby Catalyst Game Labs .
  • Endland is a German end-of-time role-playing game. It was developed and marketed by Baris Ilktac from 1998–2004, but is also available online free of charge. The main set of rules (V. 2.0, rule system referred to as "ApocaSys"), published in 2002, plays in the post-apocalyptic game world "Atomic Punk".
  • Engel is a German dark future role-playing game with the associated LARP system, SegensReich , which was published by Feder & Schwert in2001. The game developed by Oliver Graute, Oliver Hoffmann and Kai Meyer uses the D20 system. The players embody angels who protect the inhabitants of an earth devastated by ecological and natural disasters in the 27th century.
  • Entaria claims to be "the largest free science fiction role-playing game in Germany". The system developed by Sebastian Schenck includes Dark Future , Space Opera and Cyberpunk.
  • Ex Machina is a 2004 cyberpunk RPG that has been adapted for both the Tri-Stat dX system and the d20 system .
  • Exodus by Glutton Creeper Games is a post-apocalyptic role - playing game with the D20 system released in 2008 , which is based on the background of the computer role-playing game Fallout , but is not allowed to use this name due to license conflicts.
  • Fading Suns is a space opera by Holistic Design. The pen & paper role-playing game published in 1996 forms the basis for a computer game, a live role-playing game and a miniature space combat game.
  • Gamma World was developed by James Ward in 1978 and published by TSR . It describes a post-apocalyptic world in which players play mutants, mutant animals, or even plants trying to start a new civilization. Most recently, the rules werereissued in2003 by Fast Forward Verlag under the title Metamorphosis Alpha .
  • Headhunter 2.0 is a free German cyberpunk system, the forerunner of which was developed by Thorsten Kuhnert since 1998.
  • Heavy Gear is a combination of role-playing game and tabletop from the Canadian publisher Dream Pod 9, which is set on the colonized planet "Terra Nova" and was published in 1994.
  • Heredium describes the 23rd century on an earth on which the moon fell in the year 2190, whereby natural disasters almost wiped out civilization. In the post-apocalypse role playpublished in 2008,the author Andreas Schnell criticizes “overexploitation of nature”.
  • Jovian Chronicles is also a role-playing tabletop combination from Dream Pod 9. Its silhouette system is applied here to a future in which mankind colonized the solar system in the 23rd century.
  • LodlanD is a German system that plays under the oceans in a gloomy future and was introduced in 2003.
  • Macross II is a 1986 Palladium Books published Mech system, which on the anime Chōjiku Yosai Macross II - Lovers Again based.
  • Manhunter was first published by Kingslayer Publications in 1987, then by Myrmidon Press in 1993. It's about interstellar bounty hunters. Magic is also a theme in this role-play system.
  • The Mechanoid Invasion by Kevin Siembieda is the first RPG from Palladium Books , released in 1981. Human colonists fight on the planet "Gideon E" against cybernetic organisms with psi powers.
  • Mekton (1984) and the successors Mekton II (1987) and Mekton Z (1995/2000) are mech systems in the anime style published by R. Talsorian Games in order to implement the backgrounds of anime series such as Gundam, Robotech or Orguss can. Over time, its own background world has developed. Mekton uses the interlock system that was also used for Cyberpunk 2020 .
  • MechWarrior is a BattleMech role-playing gamebelongingto the tabletop BattleTech , developed by FASA Corporation and distributed in Germany by Fantasy Productions .
  • Mutant is a series of Swedish post-apocalyptic role-playing games, the first version of which was released in 1984. Themovie Mutant Chronicles and other spin-offs emergedfrom the 1993 Mutant Chronicles . The science fiction subgenres Steampunk, Military Science Fiction and Dark Future are represented in the post-apocalyptic game. In 2018 the Uhrwerk Verlag published the German translation Mutant: Jahr Null of the latest Swedish version Mutant: År Noll from 2014.
  • NoReturn is a German end-of-time role-playing game that was released at the end of 2016.
  • NOVA is a free German space epic in the 27th century that was first published in 2000.
  • Perry Rhodan role-playing game (PRRS) is the name of the transfer of the Midgard rules to the background of Perry Rhodan . The publisher for fantasy and science fiction games brought the game out in 1993 under the label Agema and again in 2004 in the Dorifer edition.
  • RiftRoamers is the free German sequel to Alien Encounters . The Dark Future game is set in 3030 AD after the earth was conquered by aliens.
  • Robotech is a BattleMech role-playing game produced by Palladium Books in 1986-2001. It uses the publisher's own "Megaversal System" against the background of the anime series Robotech and was reissued in 2008.
  • Serenity Role Playing Game is a role-playing game developed by Margaret Weis Productions in 2005 based on the television series Firefly - Der Aufbruch der Serenity and the movie Serenity - Escape into New Worlds , which combines a science fiction background with a Western atmosphere.
  • Shadowrun has been a style-definingAmerican cyberpunk game published by FASA Corporation since 1989. Today located at Catalyst Game Labs and Pegasus Spiele , it contains fantasy elements against a dark future background from the year 2050.
  • Like TORG, Shatterzone is a predecessor of the West End Games Masterbook system and was released in 1993. It essentially takes place in peripheral worlds near a dangerous but fertile asteroid field on the edge of the known worlds.
  • SLA Industries is a cyberpunk role-playing game published in 1993 by the Scottish publisher Nightfall Games, in which you depict employees of a mega-corporation in a distant future. So the game illuminates a topic of Shadowrun from the opposite perspective.
  • Space Gothic is a German game first published in 1993 with elements from space opera and military science fiction . Thegame setin a Dark Future in 2245was taken up againin 2007 by Ulisses Spiele .
  • Space Master is a space opera game from Iron Crown Enterprises that was designed totranslatethe Rolemaster system into the science fiction genre.
  • Space Opera was an early space role-playing game by Fantasy Games Unlimited when it was released in 1980 and had a style-defining influence.
  • SpacePirates is a free German space opera role-playing game under the Creative Commons license by-sa that has been developed by Jürgen Mang since 2008. The players represent a pirate crew and the universe is a wacky mix of 1980s cartoons and comics. It focuses on simple, narrative rules and a compact description of the world.
  • Splicers is a mecha role-playing game in which humans use organic technology to fight a robotic threat to survive. It was published in 2004 based on the “Megaversal System” by Palladium Books .
  • StarGate SG-1 is based on the television series Stargate - Kommando SG-1 . From 1998 a game of this name was developed by John Tynes for West End Games in the D6 system. After their bankruptcy, the Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG) published the StarGate role-playing game based on a D20 system in 2003, but had to stop publication after the license was not renewed.
  • Starslayers is a role-playing game that was released in 2015, which is the sci-fi offshoot of the fantasy role-playing game Dungeonslayers and is also considered to be extremely simple and easy to understand. It is formed both by its own developers and by players who can share their ideas and adventure developments with one another free of charge.
  • Star Wars was published in 1987, 10 years after the first film in the Star Wars series , in the D6 system of West End Games and existed until 1997. Two years later, Wizards of the Coast received the corresponding license and entered in 2000 Star Wars role-playing game under the in-house D20 system.
  • Star Trek role-playing games havebeen published by various publishersagainst the backdrop of Star Trek since 1978: Heritage models first published Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier . FASA released Star Trek: The Role Playing Game from 1982 to 1989. Prime Directive was developed in 1993 by Task Force Games andreissued in2002 by Steve Jackson Games on the basis of the GURPS system and in 2005 on the basis of the D20 system. The Star Trek Roleplaying Game , released by Last Unicorn Games in 1998, worked on by Decipher 2002-2007.
  • Star Guard is a military-focused game from TSR . Thegame, first published in English in 1982under the name Star Frontiers , combines the sub-genre of space opera with parts of action-adventure games .
  • Systems Failure was published by Palladium Books in 1999 based on the “Megaversal System”. In the underlying Dark Future scenario, extraterrestrial beetle-like energy beings invade Earth in 2000.
  • Transhuman Space was published by Steve Jackson Games in 2002. The game is set during the colonization of the solar system around the year 2100. The post-cyberpunk game that uses the GURPS set of rules is also about transhumanism .
  • Traveler is a classic game published in 1977 as one of the first science fiction pen & paper role-playing games by Game Designers' Workshop. The game developed by Marc W. Miller spawned numerous spin-offs. It takes place in the 6th millennium in a feudal society known as the “Third Empire”.
  • Trinity is a storyteller game developed by White Wolf . Released in 1997, the science fiction role-playing game contains superhero elements that work with psi powers . A D20 version was published in 2004. It is part of the Trinity universe, as is Adventure! and aberrant .
  • Twilight 2000 is set after a fictional atomic "Third World War" and has been published by the Game Designers' Workshop since 1984. The Dark Future game has produced several offshoots, such as Merc 2000 or Cadillacs and Dinosaurs . The new edition (version 3.0) was released in 2008, Twilight: 2013 .
  • Ultima Ratio - In the Shadow of Mother is a dystopian science fiction role-playing game from Germany. The game, which has been published since 2014, addresses, among other things, asurveillance state administeredby artificial intelligences .
  • Warhammer 40,000 RPG is a system first published by Black Industries in2008and shortly thereaftertaken overby Fantasy Flight Games . It takes place in the world of Warhammer 40,000 and the rules are based on the Warhammer Fantasy system .

Mystery and horror

He awakened Cthulhu at R'lyeh

The uncanny and terrifying is the theme, atmosphere and main motif of mystery and horror role-playing games. On the one hand, classics of horror literature are processed in the game worlds , such as the works of HP Lovecraft , Edgar Allan Poe or Bram Stoker's Dracula , on the other hand also mythical or in modern horror films . Since the feelings of threat, fear, horror or disgust are the decisive criteria for the assignment to this genre, it often overlaps with other genres through other elements: the supernatural as a fantasy element, the horror of real threats from realistic game worlds Fear of (at least fictitious) possible effects of technology as a criterion for science fiction horror and all kinds of mysterious conspiracies as the main element of the mystery area make mystery and horror role-playing games an original crossover genre. Sub-genres of mystery and horror role-playing games can also be named after these connections with other genres.

  • All Flesh Must Be Eaten , which was released by Eden Studios in1999, is primarily a zombie survival horror role-playing game based on the “unisystem”, but also contains satirical elements in numerous different game worlds.
  • Angeli is a game by Michael Deflize and Rainer Wagner, which deals with the battle between angels and demons using the universal rule system honorabilis lex ludi . Atra Poesis published the German edition of the horror role-playing game with fantasy elements that was not tied to epochs and was first published in 1993.
  • Beyond the Supernatural is a horror game by Palladium Books ,first published in 1987, which takes place in agame world basedon Call of Cthulhu and uses the "Megaversal System".
  • Call of Cthulhu (CoC) hasbeen published in six editions since 1981under the titles Auf Cthulhus Spur , Cthulhu or H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu . It is the first and by far the most successful horror role-playing game based on H. P. Lovecraft's influential horror literature .
  • Chill is an American role-playing game from 1984 that is reminiscent of horror films such as John Carpenter's Vampires or The Omen . In agame world similar to Call of Cthulhu , the players represent members of a secret society who protect mankind from evil.
  • Conspiracy X by Eden Studios , like the X- Files, turns toparaphenomena and addresses conspiracy theories about aliens and secret services. After using its own rule system based on two six-sided dice in the first edition in 1995, the mystery role-playing game also appeared in the GURPS system and in 2006 in the "Unisystem".
  • CthulhuTech is a science fiction and horror role-playing game created by Wildfire LLC and published by Sandstorm. It combines elements of the Cthulhu myth with anime mecha , horror and magic.
  • Dark Conspiracy is a horror game that was first published in 1991 by Game Designers' Workshop. It is based on the same rules as Twilight 2000 and Traveler from the same publisher, but takes place in a near-present future at the beginning of the 21st century, when the world economy has been destroyed by a massive crisis and civilization is falling apart, while various science fiction and fantasy Monsters spread.
  • Doctor Who was published by FASA in 1985 and is based on the BBC television series of the same name . In 1991, Virgin Books Time Lord was published on the same background. In 2009 Mongoose Publishing brought out another version.
  • Dread: A Game of Horror and Hope is a horror narrative role-playing game by Epidiah Ravachol and Nat Barmore , which was released in 2005 by The Impossible Dream andusesa Jenga tower for conflict resolution. The excitement of this game mechanics is used to create the tension and nervousness for the feeling of horror, but the game itself does not provide a specific setting. Characters are created on the basis of a questionnaire with leading questions. It was published in German as Dread in2018by System Matters .
  • Feng Shui (RPG) is a Hong-Kong - martial arts - action film system from Robin D. Laws , which was first published in 1996, which is about the struggle of secret societies around the world domination by controlling places with powerful Feng Shui goes. The simple rules focus on a fast combat system.
  • HeXXen 1733 is a German pen & paper role-playing game from Ulisses Spiele. The game is based on films such as Hansel and Gretel: Hexenjäger , Sleepy Hollow or Solomon Kane and is what the publisher calls a “cinematic popcorn role-playing game in a dark world”.
  • Kleine Ängste by Jason L. Blair is a narrative role play with minimalist rules, first published in 2001 and translated into German in 2003, which addresses childhood fears and takes place in the mysterious "land under the bed".
  • Kult is a Swedish role-playing game by Gunilla Jonsson and Michael Petersén, which has existed since 1991 and describes itself as "splatterpunk". It takes place in a dystopian present that regards reality as an illusion.
  • Necroscope is an RPG, published by West End Games in 1995 , set in the world of the Brian Lumley novel of the same name . It is based in principle on the masterbook system.
  • Nightbane is a 1995 (first under the name Nightspawn ) published by Palladium Books game by CJ Carella that uses the "Megaversal System" and is set in a near future. Monsters from a dark parallel world try to take over the world by replacing the various governments with doppelgangers. The players confront them as also supernatural beings, who try to maintain a facade of normality.
  • Over the Edge is a surreal horror role-playing game by Jonathan Tweet and Robin D. Laws that gets by with few rules and few game values ​​and was published by Atlas Games in1992.
  • Unknown Armies is an American game by John Tynes and Greg Stolze, which has been published by Atlas Games since 1998and focuses more on atmosphere than on sophisticated rules. Ordinary people of the present begin to recognize the work of the supernatural and to travel the "occult underground".
World of Darkness
  • The World of Darkness (WoD) or " World of Darkness " (WdD) is a game world for a series of horror role-playing games from the American publisher White Wolf , in which the players mainly play supernatural beings. The WoD is basically similar to reality, but with a clearly darker orientation, and characterized by corruption, conspiracies and the work of mysterious powers in the background. World of Darkness , old world of darkness , old World of Darkness (oWoD) and World of Darkness 1.0 (WOD1) also include terms for the use of this game world associated with role playing, all of the publisher's "Storyteller System" as a set of rules and in German by the publisher Pen & Sword were brought out. Since the best-known representative of the series, Vampire: The Masquerade , the following games have appeared from 1991, which were discontinued with the introduction of the new World of Darkness in 2004 after an overarching campaign known as the Time of Reckoning :
    • Changeling: The Dreaming was first published in English and German in 1995 (as Wechselbalg. Der Traum ) and treats people born with a fairy soul, the so-called changeling .
    • Demon: The Fallen is the last part of the WoD series, published in English in 2002, of which only the basic set of demons in German . The Fallen 2003 was released. The players slip into the role of demons , fallen angels of a Christian-oriented mythology who are bound to the human body of the recently deceased.
    • Hunter: The Reckoning first appeared in 1999 and the following year in German translation as Jäger. The retribution . The depicted hunters discover the world of darkness and fight the monsters that appear in it. In addition, they receive supernatural powers that stem from their views on the right way to fight monsters. Computer games for GameCube , Xbox and PlayStation 2 were also released based on the game.
    • Kindred of the East was first published in 1998 and waspublished in German in 1999under the name Kinder des Lotos . The game establishes a backdrop for the game world based on Asian legends. Vampires according to Asian mythology are intended as player characters: human souls who havenot fulfilledtheir Dharma , but were able to escape from hell and now try to reach their destination as half-living, half-dead beings. Over the year 1998, which was under the motto Year of the Lotus at White Wolf,additional books with Asian versions of Changeling , Mage , Wraith and Werewolf were published.
    • Mage: The Ascension isabout magicians who havemasteredan Aleister Crowley- inspired form of " magick " after gaining some kind of cosmic insight. The game, published in three editions with slightly different rules since 1993, was named Magus in 1996 . Enlightenment translated into German.
    • Mummy: The Resurrection was published in 1992 in English and in 2002 in German translation as Mumien. The rebirth . Based on Egyptian mythology , the player characters emerge from connections between ancient Egyptian souls and recently deceased modern people. Thefigures named" Amenti "in reference to the guardian of the Egyptian realm of the deadare in constant battle against Apophis .
    • Vampire: The masquerade is next to Call of Cthulhu the most successful horror role-playing game, for which numerous source volumes and spin-offs have been published since 1991, since 1995 also as Vampire. The masquerade in German. Numerous parallels point to Bram Stoker's Dracula and Anne Rice's Chronicle of the Vampires as sources of inspiration. Two computer games were also released based on the game: Redemption and Bloodlines .
    • Wraith: The Oblivion was published in 1994, the second edition in 1996, but never in German. The players represent spirits of the deceased who are bound to the world of the living by special circumstances. In addition - this is the most noticeable specialty of this role-playing game - each player represents the evil counterpart called “shadow” of a fellow player and thus hinders them in achieving their goals.
    • Werewolf: The Apocalypse has appeared in three editions in English and German since 1992 (as Werwolf. Die Apocalypse ). The werewolves ,designated by the French term “Garou”,stand on the side of the earth mother Gaia in the fight against the destructive “wyrm”. The game contains elements of natural religions and pollution criticism.
  • The WoD also includes the role-playing game Orpheus , which was published in six volumes in 2003 and 2004 and - similar to Wraith: The Oblivion - is about the spirits of the deceased.
World of Darkness 2.0
Interpretation of the cosmology of the New World of Darkness
  • Since White Wolf's first publications appeared in 2004, a similar but independent role-playing game and its game world have also been referred to as "World of Darkness" and, to distinguish it from the older game world of the same name, also World of Darkness 2.0 (WoD2), new world of darkness or called the new World of Darkness (nWoD). The modified rules of the nWoD compared to its predecessor are now called the “storytelling system”, and the mood and background story of the game world also differ fundamentally from the oWoD . The Mannheim publishing house Feder & Schwert also translated the nWoD products, but gave up in 2006 due to a lack of sales. First published and also most widespread in nWoD - after Die Welt der Dunkelheit, which is required for all games in the series . Basic rules - the game about vampires . The three central series of nWoD also include games about werewolves and magi :
    • Mage: The Awakening . The magicians in the real world regard this as a lie and a "falling world", while the supernatural realm is separate from it. The magic comes from Atlantis , and compared to its predecessor, some rules, the background and many terms have been changed in the game, which was published in English in 2005 but was not translated into German.
    • Vampires: Requiem . The vampires, who do not have all the strings in their hands here, differ in various ways from the vampires of the previous game Vampires: The Masquerade .
    • Werewolf: The Forsaken . The players represent "Uratha", a group of werewolves who guard the border between the material world and the spirit world. The game and its German translation Werwolf: Paria was published in 2005.
  • Orpheus' publication concept from the oWoD was adopted for complementary games about other supernatural beings, for which fewer materials have appeared or appear, usually limited to two years of publication and around six volumes:

Superhero

Model for role-playing characters are superheroes of the mid-20th century such as the Mystery Man

If the player characters in role-playing games are superheroes , the game worlds are mostly based on the well-known colorful comics from the predominant publishers Marvel Comics and DC Comics , which also own the trademark rights to the English term superhero . Since the emergence of the first superhero Superman in the 1930s, superhero stories based on the comics and graphic novels have conquered the cinema and - mainly as animation - the format of the television series and thus influenced the corresponding role-playing games. Actually a subgenre of fantasy and science fiction, superhero role-playing games - like their literary and cinematic role models - also process influences from horror, comedy and crime.

  • Aberrant (RPG) is a RPG set in the Trinity universe and Adventure, released by White Wolf ! and Trinity .
  • Champions is arole-playing gamefirst published by Hero Games in1981, which was one of the first games to use a "purchase system" instead of a random generator to generate characters in order to be able to generate numerous different superheroes and their abilities. In 1989 the game was connected to the Hero system .
  • DC Heroes is a now discontinued superhero role-playing game by Mayfair Games in the world of DC Comics that was released in three editions from 1985 to 1993. The rule system is called "Mayfair Exponential Game System" (MEGS) and is geared towards the representation of power differences in different orders of magnitude.
  • DC Universe Roleplaying Game was setin the same DC Comics universeby West End Games . It was published from 1999 to 2002 and used a modification of the publisher's own D6 system called the "Legend System".
  • Golden Heroes was first released in 1982 on a private basis. Games Workshop then released a more complete version in 1984. The abilities of the characters were randomly rolled at the beginning of the campaign, but had to be justified by the player using a plausible background story. The system included some elements from the comic genre.
  • Heroes & Heroines , published in 1993 by Excel Marketing, was designed for any superhero background, including source books for The MAXX .
  • Heroes Unlimited was developed by Kevin Siembieda for Palladium Books on the basis of the “Megaversal System” and was first published in 1984 and the second in 1998.
  • Marvel Superheroes was first published in 1984 by Tactical Studies Rules under license from Marvel Comics and expanded in 1986 as the Marvel Superheroes Advanced Game . By means of the changeable character values ​​“Resources” and “Popularity”, the possibilities of financial strength and (positive or negative) public reputation, which are often discussed in the Marvel universe, are taken up. A German-language edition was published by Schmidt Spiele . In 1998 the successor Marvel Super Heroes Adventure Game appeared .
  • Marvel Universe Roleplaying Game takes up the name of the competitor product DC Universe Roleplaying Game . Thesystem published by Marvel Comics itself- after thelicense grantedto Tactical Studies Rules was withdrawn - in 2003stands out from most other commercially produced pen & paper role-playing games because of the lack of dice and other random number generators.
  • Mutants & Masterminds (M&M) from Green Ronin Publishing is loosely based on the d20 system and is not tied to a specific superhero game world. In the system published in 2002 and again in 2005, superheroes of different levels of power can be represented by varying the number of “power levels” and “power points”.
  • Superhero 2044 was the first superhero role-playing game. It was published by Gamescience in 1977 and was possibly the first role-playing game to use a point-buying system for attributes, skills and powers.
  • Villains & Vigilantes was published in 1979 by FGU ( Fantasy Games Unlimited ). It was unique back then in that the player was suggested to build the game character on themselves. For this purpose, the attribute tables were provided with values ​​that made it possible to carry out a corresponding attribute determination.

satire

Nosferatu caricature

Satirical role-playing games mock, satirize or parody individual role-playing games, entire role-playing or literary genres, social and cultural developments, or a combination of these elements. In this respect, many satire role-playing games are also crossover systems. Since humor is a basic element of this type of role-playing game, both the rule system and the game world are usually geared towards it.

  • Barbarians! is a German satirical role-playing game by Frank Tarcikowski with the subtitle Das Macho-RPG . Sexism and brutality are important game elements, in the rule system they are represented by the character values ​​"Geil" and "Aggro". In the style of barbarian films such as Conan the Barbarian, the game satirizes manhood delusion and the low-fantasy genre.
  • Das Weltenbuch is a free satirical fantasy role-playing game under the Creative Commons license by-nc-sa , which plays on an open “double page” and has been developed by Jürgen Mang since 2004. The player characters are described by their " cliché " and belong to both typical peoples from fantasy role-playing games and unusual races such as yetis or pixies . You advance in a purchase system with levels from would-be hero to legendary hero or demi-divine hero .
  • DORP. The role-playing game is a free German role-playing game that was developed in 2003 by Marcel Gehlen, Matthias Schaffrath and Thomas Michalski. The players represent members of the organization DORP who want to establish the parallel world “Nerdor” in our world. In the struggle of these nerds for “the nerdization of humanity”, there are two rule systems to choose from, in which either tarot- like Dorpana cards or, in the Die4-Color system , colors are interpreted.
  • HackMaster was initially a fictional role-playing game that appeared in the 1990 comic strip series Knights of the Dinner Table and mainlyparodied Dungeons & Dragons . Since it was first published in 2001 as HackMaster 4th Edition , it has been Kenzer and Company's most important role-playing game. Awarded an Origins Award for Game of the Year in 2001, the game mainly uses therules licensedby Wizards of the Coast from older versions of D&D . It takes place on the continent "Garweeze Wurld". Power Gaming and control discussions are required, accessories such as master screen and character sheet are dimensioned absurd exaggeration.
  • In Nomine Satanis / Magna Veritas ( INS / MV ) is the most successful French role-playing game, which appeared in four editions between 1989 and 2003 and was discontinued in 2006. The humorous and macabre double role-playing game deals with the conflict between heaven and hell, in which the players represent demons (in In Nomine Satanis ) or angels (in Magna Veritas ). An English version of Derek Pearcy appeared in 1997 as In Nomine by Steve Jackson Games.
  • InSpectres. Paranormal Investigation and Termination is an independent ghost hunter role-playing game by Jared A. Sorensen, published in 2002 by Memento Mori Theatricks , which, based on Ghostbusters, is a mixture of horror, comedy and crime. The player characters are branch founders of the InSpectres group and deal with Whodunit cases against a paranormal background. In the game, which was translated into German by Disaster Machine Productions in 2003 , the concise system of rules determines which player is allowed to describe the effects of an action: In the case of successful actions, the player whose character was just successful tells the story; In the event of failure, the game master decides on the results.
  • Goblins! is the German title of 1999 as Kobold ate my baby! First publishedat 9th Level Games , which describes itself as "Beer-and-Pretzel RPG". Pegasus Spiele translated the game developed by Christopher O'Neill and Daniel Landis, in which the players embody goblins who want to steal human toddlers. The control system becomes BEER Engine! and also used in the role-playing games Ninja Burger and Warhamster .
  • Macho Women With Guns (MWWG) was developed by Greg Porter in 1988, published in a second edition in 1994 and a D20 versionin 2003. The players slip into the roles of beautiful, lightly dressed women with heavy weapons. The game simultaneously parodies the post-apocalyptic scenario, action films and other role-playing games.
  • Orc! was conceived by Todd Miller and Chris Pramas in 2001 and published by Green Ronin Publishing . The players embody rough, violent and vicious orcs , as they usually appear as "monsters" in fantasy role-playing games. The German revision,published by Truant Verlag in July 2003, wasillustratedby Franz Vohwinkel .
  • Paranoia is an absurd and satirical science fiction game set in a totalitarian, computerized surveillance state. Thegame, producedby West End Games in 1984, has since appeared in five editions, the first in German in 1989.
  • Plüsch, Power & Plunder (PP&P) was first published by Norbert Matausch in 1991. In subsequent editions, Ralf Sandfuchs, Steffen Schütte and Thomas Finn developed the game in which each player takes on the role of a plush toy that has come to life.
  • Pokéthulhu is a combo parody of Pokémon and Cthulhu role-playing games. Therole-playing game,written by S. John Ross andillustratedby John Kovalic , appeared from 2000 with few but complex rules, and since 2002 by Cumberland Games.
  • Primetime Adventures , subtitled A Game of Television Melodrama, is an independent television series RPG directed by Matt Wilson and published by Dog-eared Design in 2003 . Based on the few and openly designed rules, the players develop a television series against any background, the main characters of which they represent.
  • Tales from the Floating Vagabond is a multi-genresystem developed by Avalon Hill in 1992 by Lee Garvin, Nick Atlas and John Huff, the starting point of which is the bar The Floating Vagabond in the center of the universe, from which players take a dimensional journey to game worlds oriented towards different genres can get.
  • Toon is an animated role-playing game developed by Steve Jackson Games , the first version of which Greg Costikyan and Warren Spector wrote in 1984. The rules system based on 2D6 is simple and uses familiar elements of the cartoon background: Bonuses are given to those who make the game master laugh; if a figure falls deep, the player must leave the room for a few minutes. Additions were released for comic versions of various RPG genres, a deluxe version in 1991.

Universal systems

Cube sets for different systems

Universal role-playing systems provide a basic framework of game rules that are designed to be adapted to numerous game worlds from different genres. The best known universal - or generic - systems are d20 and GURPS .

  • 1w6 is a German role-playing game system that is freely licensed under GPL , whose modular rules are compatible with GURPS and FUDGE and only use one W6 .
  • Action! System Gold Rush Games is a generic, open, cinematic game, similar to Fuzion .
  • Basic role-playing was the first universal role-playing system. It is based on a simplification and generalization of the RuneQuest system and was developed by Greg Stafford and L. Willis in 1980 and published by Chaosium as a stand-alone book. It forms the basis for many other role-playing games published by Chaosium and other publishers.
  • CODA-System is the name of the system developed by the publisher Decipher for its role-playing games for The Lord of the Rings and Star Trek , in which 2d6 is rolled. Fans have developed additions for use in other genres like Harry Potter since Decipher closed its role-playing division after a few years.
  • Daidalos is a dice-free, free German role-playing game by Jochen Eid.
  • Demiurgon is a free German system with modular rules.
  • D6 system appeared in 1996 at West End Games as a universal variant of the earlier Star Wars role-playing game .
  • d20 is a role-playing game system publishedby Wizards of the Coast under the Open Game License without a predefined campaign world . The game worlds of the publisher mostly use the d20 system, but other publishers and free role-playing games also use it.
  • Ephorân is a German universal system that appeared in 2008. The book contains three campaign worlds. For one of them, called "Galactis", an update of this Space Opera game world was later made available as a PDF on the website.
  • Fate is a free role-playing game system by Fred Hicks and Rob Donoghue, which is based on FUDGE (see below) and has meanwhile been published in several versions that are specialized for certain genres or settings.
  • FeBaRoS (= "Skill-based role-playing game") is a free game system, which is mainly based on skills and five basic attributes.
  • FUDGE is a free system that uses keywords instead of numbers in character descriptions.
  • Fuzion is a variant of the Hero System , under whose label various comic genres such as superheroes, Dragon Ball and Bubblegum Crisis were released.
  • GURPS is a well-known universal system by Steve Jackson , for which there are several hundred source books.
  • Hero System is a universal system that has been developed since 1981 and has been supported by Steven S. Long since its 5th edition in 2001. The most important role-playing games based on this rule system are the superhero role-playing game Champions , from which the Hero System emerged in 1989 as a universal system, the science fiction game Star Hero and the fantasy game Fantasy Hero . The 6th edition was published in 2009.
  • How to be a Hero is a free system that is published under the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license. It found its origin in the rocket beans ; meanwhile it is an independent and registered association.
  • Idea! is a universal role-playing game by Daniela Festi that uses playing cards instead of dice. It is designed for a narrative or cinematic style of play, as the playing cards used leave room for interpretation.
  • LIQUID is a free German role-playing game that is no longer being developed.
  • Masterbook is the version of TORG that was released in 1994 by West End Games and has been expanded for universal campaigns in any genre .
  • Lite is a simple, fast and narrative system from Jürgen Mang. The game has adjustments for some settings and can be quickly adapted to other settings. It is under the CC-BY-SA license.
  • NIP'AJIN is a free, German-language system by Markus Leupold-Löwenthal. The game is particularly suitable for fast and unusual role-play scenarios. The system is extremely short and uses five different cubes. Samples are always rolled to a specified target value, whereby the used die is "used up".
  • OSIRIS is a free German system.
  • Palladium Books is the name of the role-playing game series from the publisher of the same name. The games are independent of one another, but - apart from the role-playing game Recon - are based on the same basic mechanisms, the Megaversal System .
  • Per Aspera - On Rough Paths is a free system and successor to Runemaster .
  • Powered by the Apocalypse means something like "inspired by Apocalypse World". It is not prescribed which elements have to be taken over from the Apocalypse World System in order to be “powered by the Apocalypse”. Often, however, it is W6 systems with compact sets of rules that get by with very little learning effort and enable quick character creation, both of which are advantageous for one-shots.
  • PROST (“Primary Role Play SysTem”) is a free German system.
  • Risus: The Anything RPG is a free, rule-poor generic game system by S. John Ross, the German translation of which is titled Risus: Das "alles geht" RPG .
  • Rookie's Die is a free rule system aimed at beginners under the CC-BY-SA-4.0 license that uses a W6.
  • Savage Worlds is a cinematic system in which playing cards are sometimes used instead of dice. If the dice is rolled, then with the various dice D4, D6, D8, D10 and W12. The system released in 2003 builds on the rules of the previous games Deadlands and Great Rail Wars .
  • Silhouette or SilCORE is a generic system from the Dream Pod 9 publisher from 2003, on which its role-playing games Heavy Gear , Jovian Chronicles and Tribe 8 are based.
  • The Pool is a narrative role-playing game developed by James V. West.
  • TRiAS is a free, German-language system by Markus Leupold-Löwenthal. The game uses an unusual dice system and is particularly suitable for semi-historical game adventures because of the rudimentary magic system.
  • Tri-Stat dX is by Mark C. MacKinnon and uses three attributes for free dice selection.
  • TRAUMA is a universal role play .
  • TWERPS stands for "the world's simplest role-playing game system" and is by Jeff and Amanda Dee.
  • The university system differentiates between a classic and a cinematic version, both developed by CJ Carella.
  • URPG is a percentage-based universal system with realistic rules that calculate time with timing points instead of laps. Three game worlds in particular were developed for the independent URPG system: Transfer is a background world of hard science fiction with cyberpunk elements. Seven Moons is a high fantasy world made up of seven magically connected moons orbiting a blue planet. Kluster is a crossover game world that takes numerous genres into account.
  • Wushu is a cinematic role-playing game developed by Dan Bayn.

Crossover and other systems

The beginning of the industrial age . Interwoven with science fiction elements and adventure romance, it becomes a steampunk setting

Crossover role-playing games combine elements of different genres to form hybrid game worlds that can no longer be clearly assigned to one of the original genres.

  • Amber is an RPG that does not require any random factors. It was published in 1991 by Phage Press and is based on the novel cycle The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny . The role-playing game was designed by Eric Wujcik.
  • Bloodshadows was released in 1994 by West End Games and combines elements of horror, fantasy and film noir in the 1920s, but in an end-time world called Marl. It uses the masterbook rules.
  • Castle Falkenstein is a steampunk role-playing game that is set in an alternative 19th century with fairies, dwarves and magic. The rule system is based on playing cards.
  • Clansblut is a free German pulp fantasy role-playing game that combines fantastic and technological elements against a superhero background.
  • Deadlands is an RPG system that crosses elements of the Wild West genre with horror and steampunk and was designed by Shane Lacy Hensley in 1996. First, Pinnacle Entertainment broughtout the role-playing game, which later also received branch settings ( Hell on Earth and Lost Colony ), then made available for other rule systems ( GURPS and d20 ) and finallyreworkedin the Savage Worlds set of rules.
  • Dominium is a role-playing game system that represents a mixture of science fiction and fantasy and contains individual impressions of steampunk and westerns. The system was developed in 2004 by Jens Schultzki. According to two privately published sets of rules, the third version is offered free of charge on the Internet.
  • Forgotten Futures is a “shareware” steampunk role-playing game that was developed by Marcus L. Rowland in 1993, but was initially only offered for free on the Internet. In 1999 it was published in print by Heliograph.
  • Justice Inc. was published in 1984 by Hero Games and developed for pulp action adventure based on pulp magazines . It is one of the forerunners of the Hero System .
  • Lords of Creation was released by Avalon Hill in 1984 and is possibly the first genre crossover system. The system is designed so that the characters can wander through space, time and thus also genre.
  • Mechanical Dream is a game published by SteamLogic in 2002. The divided game world consists of the rational "Kaïnas" and the mythical "Naakinis", so that a fantasy-steampunk crossover is created.
  • Opus Anima is a horror role-playing game with strong steampunk and science fiction elements.
  • Private Eye is a German role-playing game with a focus on Sherlock Holmes-style criminal cases. The setting is therefore also Victorian England without any fantastic elements.
  • Milan is a new system that is to be financed through an ongoing crowdfunding. It can be played in any time between year 0 and year 2500 on our earth. A human character is played with supernatural powers.
  • Nobilis is an epic game system that completely dispenses with random elements such as dice. The players play demigod-like beings in a battle for creation.
  • Rats! is a D6 short role-playing game from Prometheus-Verlag. The game world is a large abandoned department store and, in an extension, an abandoned space station.
  • Rifts is a multi-genre crossover released by Palladium Books in1990. It is set against an end times background and contains elements from cyberpunk, science fiction, fantasy, horror, westerns and other genres.
  • Run Out the Guns is a pirate role-playing game based on Rolemaster and set in the 17th century Caribbean.
  • Skull & Crossbones was published by Fantasy Games Unlimited (FGU) in 1980 and, as the title suggests, takes place in the Caribbean on the threshold between the 17th and 18th centuries. It does not contain any fantasy elements.
  • Space: 1889 was the first steampunk role-playing game in 1988 and deals with the colonization of the solar system by means of so-called aether ships. The game was brought out by GDW and builds on the board game / tabletop Sky Galleons of Mars, which was released shortly before in the same year.
  • Thyria Steamfantasy is a free German role-playing game that was developed by Thomas Waßmann in 1997 and sets the steampunk genre on a fantasy world. It was the first German steampunk role-playing game and, together with the German editions of Castle Falkenstein and Deadlands, is one of the first steampunk role-playing games in German. This is probably the first time that the term “Steamfantasy” appears, which, according to the author, was a separate word creation.
  • TORG is a multi-genre cinematic game released by West End Games in 1990.
  • TRI is a German crossover game that takes place on the three mystically connected worlds "Terra" (1930s horror), "Rulegard" (medieval fantasy) and "Ion" (cyberpunk), the first letters of which make up its name.
  • Tribe 8 is a Canadian crossover system that was released in 1998 and combines science fiction and fantasy against the backdrop of an end-of-time world. It uses the Silhouette system from the Dream Pod 9 publisher.
  • Western City is a German game leader-free system, released in 2008, in which a western city is created, populated and played together.

Web links

Commons : role-playing games  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See Wikipedia article Buffyverse role-playing games .
  2. ↑ Dungeon Fantasy. In: Steve Jackson Games . Retrieved November 27, 2019 .
  3. ↑ feenlicht-rollenspiel.de
  4. ↑ Inaka. Retrieved November 27, 2019 .
  5. ↑ http://www.malmsturm.de/
  6. ^ Warrior, Rogue & Mage. In: Stargazer Games. Retrieved November 27, 2019 .
  7. ↑ Welcome to - NoReturn RPG. In: www.noreturn-rpg.de. Retrieved January 19, 2017 .
  8. ↑ Ultima Ratio - In the Shadow of MUTTER, Dystopian Sci-Fi RPG. In: Ultima Ratio - In the shadow of MUTTER, Dystopian Sci-Fi RPG. Retrieved November 3, 2016 .
  9. ↑ The One Cube System now under the GPLv3 . In: 1w6.org , February 12, 2009. Retrieved April 4, 2010.
  10. ↑ http://wiki.thku.de/index.php/Demiurgon
  11. ↑ Galactis. Space Sci-Fi with Ephorân ( Memento from September 9, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  12. ↑ http://www.faterpg.de/
  13. ↑ How to be a Hero. Retrieved November 29, 2019 .
  14. ↑ http://apocalypse-world.com/pbta/policy
  15. ^ Rookie's The Homepage .
  16. ^ Thilo Bayer and Jan Christoph Steines: Private Eye, publisher: Redaktion Phantastik. (No longer available online.) In: www.phantastik-kalender.de. Archived from the original on June 14, 2016 ; accessed on June 14, 2016 .