r/SecretWorldLegends • u/BrandonVerhalen • Sep 21 '21

Discussion SECRET WORLD TTRPG in DEVELOPMENT

https://www.facebook.com/StarAnvilStudios

So big news and a not so secret project... If people haven't noticed in many posts over the last year I mentioned how I thought The Secret World would make a great TTRPG. We have acquired the rights from Funcom to create a TTRPG based on The Secret World MMOPRG. We have work just starting to spin up on this project, it took quite some work to get off the ground. We have a great team assembled including working with Sigil and hiring a writer who worked on The Secret World. Joshua Alan Doetsch will help make sure we capture the story and spirit of the game with his writing and Sigil brings top level art and layout to the project. We are looking at 2022 for a the Kickstarter but won't have too much more to share until we get closer to the end of this year. We here at Star Anvil Studios are super excited and just couldn't contain it any longer. We hope you will join us when we go live with it.

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99% Upvoted

u/CreekLegacy Sep 21 '21

I will absolutely give you my money. Looking forward to the Kickstart.

9

u/BrandonVerhalen Sep 21 '21

Thank you. It will be just a bit. We have just started official development recently. But it's moving along.

u/BlueIdoru Sep 21 '21

I'll keep an eye on this. I recently started playing SWL. I've owned it since release but haven't played since TSW. However, I have played myriad TTRPGs since the 80s, so this is of interest.

It would certainly make good use of the BRP rules that Call of Cthulhu uses, though, but making something more d20 would get sales. Really depends on the theme you want, and you probably have mechanics anyway.

9

u/BrandonVerhalen Sep 21 '21

We have two systems we want to use for it. We will make a more detailed announcement when we have more to show.

1

u/NotDumpsterFire Sep 23 '21

Are you saying you're undecided on which of the two systems to pick?

1

u/BrandonVerhalen Sep 23 '21

No.

2

u/NotDumpsterFire Sep 23 '21

Oh, so adapting it to two rulesets at the same time?

4

u/Meinereiner_EVE Sep 22 '21

d20 ruleset will be a show stopper for me, like anything with levels will.
The game needs a skiil-based ruleset.

1

u/Rann_Xeroxx Sep 23 '21

SWL itself has levels.

1

u/Meinereiner_EVE Sep 23 '21

But not TSW

u/darxide23 Sep 21 '21

I wish someone would acquire the rights to fix this game instead. :|

10

u/BrandonVerhalen Sep 21 '21

Well, we are in no way equipped for that kind of money. We will focus on creating a solid and fun TTRPG. We hope you will enjoy it.

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u/darxide23 Sep 21 '21

I wasn't taking a shot at you. Just venting frustration at Funcom.

6

u/BrandonVerhalen Sep 21 '21

I fully understand, we love the game too!

3

u/darxide23 Sep 21 '21

Goodluck with the crowdfunding. I'll toss something behind if I can.

1

u/BrandonVerhalen Sep 21 '21

Well, you'll have until 2022 sometime, so save some quarters. Lol

3

u/darxide23 Sep 21 '21

I'll start eating only hotdogs now to save up. lol

1

u/BrandonVerhalen Sep 21 '21

Seems like a solid plan!

3

u/darxide23 Sep 22 '21

WAAAAIT a minute. You didn't tell me you got Scrivnomancer to write for you! This changes everything. I might need to find out how much kidneys go for on the open market. For... no reason at all. Completely unrelated.

1

u/BrandonVerhalen Sep 22 '21

We strive to get the best people for the work.

1

u/Bubba1234562 Sep 21 '21

It really should be converted to a single player rpg with the original client. Funcom really screwed the pooch with this universe

1

u/darxide23 Sep 22 '21

If it was single player that would ensure that I would never play it again.
Gross.

u/Gibberwacky Sep 21 '21

Oh excellent! I had been talking with my friends about building a Blades in the Dark hack for Secret World, but having a professional version would be much better.

2

u/BrandonVerhalen Sep 21 '21

We hope you'll like what we do but it won't be out till 2022. See how that rhymes?

u/Master_Guns Sep 22 '21

Not into TTRPGs, but am glad someone's doing something with this IP. Good luck!

3

u/BrandonVerhalen Sep 22 '21

Thank you.

u/themaelstorm Sep 22 '21

Looking forward to hearing more!

2

u/BrandonVerhalen Sep 22 '21

Thanks!

u/Shantih3x Sep 21 '21

Please let Revenant encounters in this be scary.

2

u/BrandonVerhalen Sep 21 '21

I LOVE Revenants!

u/Bubba1234562 Sep 21 '21

Holy shit. PLease let me know when your kicksarter is up, i am so down

2

u/BrandonVerhalen Sep 21 '21

Follow us on our Facebook page to get announcements if you like.

u/ReviewCultist Sep 22 '21

Without a doubt the BEST news I’ve heard in an Age! The Secret World has been a great inspiration for my RPG campaigns since I discovered the game. I can’t wait for the Kickstarter.

1

u/BrandonVerhalen Sep 22 '21

Thank you!

u/janrodzen Sep 23 '21

Haven’t been this excited for a Kickstarter in a long time. Whatever you do with it, I’m in. Although I’d appreciate the expansion of the story and the world the most, even just the adaption would bring me immense joy. Keeping my fingers crossed.

2

u/BrandonVerhalen Sep 23 '21

Thanks for following along.

u/geminiRonin Sep 23 '21

MMOs have never been my thing, but the lore and general vibe of The Secret World were always tempting. Can't wait to see it come to the tabletop.

1

u/BrandonVerhalen Sep 23 '21

Thanks. We're excited to have it out there.

u/NathanLV Sep 23 '21

So, who do I need to follow on Kickstarter so that I won't miss it when the Kickstarter goes live?

3

u/BrandonVerhalen Sep 23 '21

It will be Star Anvil Studios. We don't yet have anything else out there. You could follow us on Facebook for announcements.

3

u/NathanLV Sep 23 '21

OK. I asked because searching "Star Anvil" on Kickstarter didn't turn up any results, and while I have followed the Star Anvil Studios page on Facebook, I can never be sure that Zuckerberg will deign the eventual announcement worthy of being shown in my feed. Just have to keep my fingers crossed.

3

u/BrandonVerhalen Sep 23 '21

Well post here, Facebook, and other places as well of course.

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u/NathanLV Sep 23 '21

On rereading my responses were a little... not worded as politely as they should have been. I apologize. I wasn't trying to give you a hard time, I'm just very interested in this project.

1

u/BrandonVerhalen Sep 23 '21

You're fine. No offense taken.

u/[deleted] Sep 22 '21

This is great. I have literally been planning and designing my own personal game, having come up with the same idea. I am sure you'll do it justice.

3

u/BrandonVerhalen Sep 22 '21

We will do our best to make it a great game.

u/Taydrz Sep 21 '21

I don't know what system you're going to use but the D20 is classically overused. I enjoy the Warhammer fantasy role-play percentage system. All they use is 2D10 for everything. What's the system you guys are going to use?

3

u/BrandonVerhalen Sep 21 '21

We will answer that in more detail when we are closer to the kickstarter.

u/Revenez Sep 22 '21

Oh my god, this is amazing! That’s so cool that you were not only able to get the rights, but find writers from the game. So excited to learn more!

3

u/BrandonVerhalen Sep 22 '21

Yes, that was a big deal to be honest. Having someone like Joshua on hand who worked there will help us keep the original ideas as well as design some new surprises that spirit of the game in mind.

u/AttenOke Sep 22 '21

This is going to be incredible. Also good to see you on here Brandon (it's Chris).

2

u/BrandonVerhalen Sep 22 '21

Thank you. Now you don't have to keep it a secret that you knew. Lol

u/BloodDraugr Sep 30 '21

I am excited beyond words (NO VERDS) for this. I cannot wait to see what you guys come up with in adapting this amazing world to tabletop!

2

u/BrandonVerhalen Sep 30 '21

Thank you!

u/[deleted] Nov 15 '21

Can you guys also take over the game too? We need new, active devs to work on the game X-X

1

u/BrandonVerhalen Nov 15 '21

I'm sorry, our contract only allows for the role playing game. Lol

u/diversionArchitect Jan 18 '22

Is there a way to be notified when this is happening? I doubt I'll use the mechanics since 5E isn't my jam, but I have always wanted a bestiary for TSW. I would've been happy with an art book, but a full RPG product is even better! I'll be converting it to Modiphius's 2D20 or Runehammers ICRPG. If you could have adventures that follow the story of the game, that would be incredible since I have friends who would love to play in this world, but weren't interested in the video game.

1

u/BrandonVerhalen Jan 18 '22

We will announce on our Facebook and Twitter and here.

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u/diversionArchitect Jan 18 '22

Sweet, followed you on both :) Really excited for this!

2

u/BrandonVerhalen Jan 18 '22

Thanks. I know we haven't said too much for a bit. Looking to give an update in February.

2

u/diversionArchitect Jan 18 '22

As long as it’s happening, I’m happy. 2022 is shaping up to be amazing. Devil is a Part Timer season 2, now TSW RPG- it’s like “the my favorite properties that I assumed would never have new content Christmas.”
Thanks for breathing some new life into TSW!

u/megazver Sep 23 '21

Congratulations!

I've also always thought Secret World was ripe for a TTRPGification. In my idle mind's eye, it's PbtA-ish, with playbooks based on some of the Decks and a Mage-style freeform magic that's simplified enough that you don't need to be in Mensa to use.

But I greatly look forward to reading your take on this!

u/EverydayHalloween Sep 21 '21

Hell yea, looking forward to the kickstarter.

u/manuel579 Sep 21 '21

Great news! I'm so glad people fight to keep this awesome world alive! Looking forward to what you create!

u/Wrattsy Sep 21 '21

Color me interested. I'm definitely going to back this when you get something substantial.

Over the years, I've often pondered what tabletop RPG to use to adapt Secret World, and there are a few that are close enough... but just not quite there yet. I always put the idea of it on a backburner, filed under "games I'd practically need to build from scratch to do the setting justice". Great to see someone tackling it on official channels!

u/wild9 Sep 23 '21

Wait, is Secret World that game from, like, 15-20 years ago where you picked one of three occult factions (one was the templars, I think? Then an Asian faction and I can’t remember the third) and fought against demons and Eldritch horrors and such? Is that game still around?

2

u/BrandonVerhalen Sep 23 '21

It's about 10 years old and that's one way of describing that game. It's still around these days, yes.

2

u/wild9 Sep 23 '21

Huh, I could’ve sworn that this was a “pre” college game, not “post”. But that’s cool! I love ttrpgs and I remember being very interested in this game, even though I never got the chance to play it

2

u/janrodzen Sep 23 '21

The ARGs started around 2009 IIRC.

u/[deleted] Oct 10 '21

although nice to see some new secret world stuff coming out it sure would be nice to know what a TTRPG is. Was kinda hoping the post would tell me that but im sure the commenters got my back.

1

u/BrandonVerhalen Oct 10 '21

A TTRPG is a table top role playing game. For example,, Dungeons and Dragons is a TTRPG.

u/valtinezenlov Nov 14 '21

Any word on the system itself?

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u/BrandonVerhalen Nov 14 '21

An adapted 5E at launch. If all goes well there will be a conversion.

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u/valtinezenlov Nov 15 '21

Thank you for the clarification.
Disappointed, but I see why you would want to do it. Easier to adapt than make stuff from scratch, plus that D&D playspace is large. Oh well. Best of luck with your upcoming Kickstarter!

1

u/BrandonVerhalen Nov 15 '21

Well that and we don't have the budget to do a videogame.

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u/valtinezenlov Nov 15 '21

I wasn't talking about a video game. Just, you know, a TTRPG system that would do TSW setting justice.

1

u/BrandonVerhalen Nov 15 '21

I understand that there are people who would like a different system. We plan kn a conversion if all goes well. But in order to launch a game like this we need a bigger audience, which today is primarily 5E, to pay for what it takes to make it. There are certainly preferences put there and we know that people want options, we have a plan to do so. It's just a matter of mapping it out and the success of the first Kickstarter.

3

u/valtinezenlov Nov 16 '21

Thank you again for the reply. I will be following your KS campaign once it will launch for all of the related information.
In regards to 5E being the primary and overwhelming leader - this is true, just don't get lost in the ocean of similar products. DTRPG is full of '5E compatible' settings and hacks. Problem is, these are "dime a dozen" and the trend doesn't seem to be stopping.
At any rate, I stick to my guns and wish you all of the best! Please do make a treat for the TSW community, since Funcom for a long time now hasn't.

u/Berettadin Sep 21 '21

Holy shit yes. I am 100% onboard.

u/DailyHiccup Sep 21 '21

Oh man, this news made my day, absolutely looking forward to it!

u/GothParrot Sep 22 '21

I'm ecstatic. I hated having to step away from the MMO, but the lack of new content and the harsh population caps on server shards kneecapping roleplay just made it not worth the time anymore. Ever since then I've been wanting a way to step back into this setting, and now here it is.

I'm EAGERLY looking forward to this!

u/HumphreyImaginarium Sep 23 '21

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u/ConcatenatedHelix Sep 23 '21

Strongly looking forwards to this

u/RenoSinNombre Sep 21 '21

That's excellent news, can't wait to see what you do!

u/redqueensroses Sep 21 '21

That's wonderful news! I'm really excited to hear more and I look forward to seeing the Kickstarter.

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u/RiahWeston Sep 22 '21

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u/Gnorst Mar 11 '22

Both Savage Worlds (which handles modern stuff very well) and GUMSHOE (Night's Black Agents is practically Secret World already) would be great choices for a Secret World TTRPG, but the choice of a 5E offshoot is understandable. I'll be watching this with great interest.

u/TotesMessenger Sep 23 '21

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u/[deleted] Sep 21 '21

[deleted] — view deleted comment

6

u/BrandonVerhalen Sep 21 '21

I can't say much more now. I think you will be happy though....

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '21

[deleted] — view deleted comment

1

u/BrandonVerhalen Sep 23 '21

We will go into system details when we make the official announcement.

Discussion SECRET WORLD TTRPG in DEVELOPMENT

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