Keep an eye out for these new and up-coming roleplaying games

What a time to be alive! The genre of roleplaying games is constantly being expanded and new games are published now, more than ever or so it seems. Here are a few games that I’m keeping an eye out for, games that I find interesting or are expanding the hobby in one way or another. 

With the advent of Kickstarter and other crowd-sourcing platforms new and interesting roleplaying games are getting published all year long. What’s even better, it’s no longer solely in the hands of editors and publishers to choose what gets published, now it is in many ways in the hands of the players. We get to choose which games are interesting or brilliant enough to be funded and published. And I think that is simply awesome. It’s even easy to make your own D&D or Vampire material available through mediums like the dmsguild.com. This means that my Icelandic group could be playing a module written by an Australian game master, who, like us, is just another player who really loves what she is doing.

Here is list of a few interesting and up-coming roleplaying games. This is by no means a comprehensive list nor is there any science behind it, these are simply games that I find interesting and find worth mentioning. These include games from the States, UK, France, Sweden and Germany, but please, don’t hesitate add more to the list in comments.

Genesys

I think that Fantasy Flight is beyond doubt one of the most interesting publisher in the U.S. at the moment. Their Star Wars roleplaying game is really fun to play, it’s fast, cinematic and brilliant, though I admit I was skeptical at first, especially because I’m not a huge fan of novelty dice systems. Genesys is a general roleplaying system, much like BRP or Gurps, that you can use for almost any setting. If you are familiar with the Star Wars system, you will probably adapt quickly to Genesys. It uses novelty dice and is, from the looks of it and from what I’ve read so far, similar in many ways. The core rulebook is to be published late this year, and it will be interesting to read through it.

Lexoccultum

The Swedish publisher Riotminds, who publish Trudvang Cronicles, plans on publishing Lexoccultum in 2018. This game, that uses the same system as the aforementioned roleplaying game, is all about the secret societies of the 17. and 18. century, and the stories take place in Europe in that era. It’s a game of flintlock pistols, occult and mysteries. If you are as me and really like this kind of games, this is something you should check out.

Cavaliers of Mars

The Onyx Path publishers have so far delivered quality games and when I saw this game, Cavaliers of Mars, on Kickstarter I couldn’t help myself. First of all, it’s Mars! And not just as the red planet in our solar system, but the Mars from Edgar Rice Burrough’s Barsoom stories, or at least very close to it. If you’ve read those stories, you’ll know what I mean. Secondly, the game setting is designed by Rose Bailey, who took part in developing Vampire the Requiem and many other World of Darkness titles. Finally, this games looks sooooo cool! Cavaliers of Mars is powered by the DEIMOS system, in which a hero’s motivations and approach to problems strongly influence her chance of success. In combat, heroes face off with their enemies in contests of tactics and chance.

Forbidden Lands

Forbidden Lands by the Free League, the same publishers that did Tales from the Loop, was just recently funded through Kickstarter. This game seems to be perfect for old school roleplayers, or those who loved the Birthright D&D setting. In Forbidden Lands, the player characters are not heroes sent on missions dictated by others – instead, they are raiders and rogues bent on making their own mark on a cursed world. They will discover lost tombs, fight terrible monsters, wander the wild lands and, if they live long enough, build their own stronghold to defend. This is an open-ended, sandbox-form of roleplaying, more in line with the games that were published in the golden 70’s and 80’s.

Warhammer 4th edition

I used to play Warhammer strategy wargames and through them I got introduced to the roleplaying side of the game. I never embraced it fully, since I had D&D and other games that I found more interesting. Besides, the roleplaying game used the same stat system as the strategy game (it was the Black Library/FFG edition) and it simply didn’t cut it for me, at least not in the long run. However, I recently noticed that the UK publisher Cubicle 7 got the license to publish Warhammer 4th edition, and that’s something that I find more than little interesting. Their One Ring game is great, and their Middle-Earth 5E edition has gotten many great reviews. These people know what their are doing and I sincerly hope that they will make Warhammer RPG something awesome.

The Dark Eye

The Dark Eye is a German roleplaying game, who through successful Kickstarter campaign got funded and translated to English. The setting is called Aventuria and has already seen some additions published. Aventuria is a vast and detailed continent and a world in need of heroes. This is a game that has been played in Germany and Europe for over three decades.

The Shadows of Esteren

Shadows of Esteren is a medieval role-playing game, with an emphasis on the horrific and the gothic. It’s a game that draws upon films like the Sleepy Hollow. To put it short and sweet, if Ravenloft and Call of Cthulhu would have a child it would be called Shadows of Esteren. This game was published first 2012. What makes this game even more interesting is the fact, that the game designers are actively trying to expand the experience of playing the game, e.g. they’ve made music for the setting, held classical concerts and published it.

Are there any games that you are waiting for or find interesting? Let us know. 🙂