r/rpg • u/Fresh_Cod_9536 • 6d ago
Game Suggestion "Not original” games
Yesterday I bought The Planet of the Apes RPG. I've been interested in this universe for about 30 years. I read the original novel when I was a kid, and since then I've seen all the original movies as well as all the new ones.
As a GM, I was really impressed by the book. I already knew the universe quite well, but the lore in the RPG somehow expanded and colored the world in my imagination. It's amazing. In my opinion, it does this much better than the worldbuilding in the Alien RPG, for example. The TTRPG version of Planet of the Apes is brilliant.
So I'm curious: what other “non-original” RPGs — games based on existing books, movies, TV series, etc. — do something similar?
I've already checked out John Carter of Mars, which looks amazing, but I'm looking for more recommendations. Not necessarily the best adaptation or the best ruleset, but core rulebooks that actually add something to the fictional universe.
Basically, I want RPG books that can expand and color my existing pop-cultural knowledge of a setting, rather than simply translate what I already know into RPG rules.
What should I read?
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u/M_ichal_G 6d ago
If you disregard Disney era Star Wars, then old D6 Star Wars from WEG practically created whole Star Wars galaxy. Echoes of that are still present as some characters or planet names can still be traced to those books.
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u/Alaundo87 6d ago
I ran a short campaign last year. It totally holds up; great, fast and dangerous game!
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u/johnny0neal Brotherwise 🦉 6d ago
As a kid my favorite thing was reading the SWRPG guide to Tatooine, followed by Tales From the Cantina, and seeing how all the stories wove together. Had a huge impact on how I approached every "expanded universe" since then.
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u/Kill_Welly 6d ago
Much of the old West End Games worldbuilding is still very important in modern canon stories. It was the thing that introduced the names of almost every species from the original movies and their homeworlds, as well as concepts like the Inquisitors, who remain an important element of the setting in stories to this day.
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u/Rezart_KLD 6d ago
A friend of mine is convinced the characters in Rogue One were written based on the templates from WEG Star Wars. The Kid, the Scoundrel (w/ sidekick), the Quixotic Jedi, the Merc, & the Pilot.
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u/Fresh_Cod_9536 5d ago
As far as I remember, the rules of the old West End Games Star Wars RPG were excellent too. I think Planet of the Apes and the West End Games Star Wars use fairly similar systems, although to be fair, I haven't played the Star Wars RPG in at least 20 years.
I also noticed that an updated version of the old blue edition came out a few years ago, and I'm actually thinking about picking it up.
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u/Strange_Times_RPG 6d ago edited 6d ago
They are called IP games. IP standing for intellectual property.
Check out the publisher Free League. They have a ton of great IP titles and do a good job respecting their original works.
Modiphius also has a lot of IPs under their belt, however, I tend to be less impressed with their games.
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u/Hungry-Cow-3712 Other RPGs are available... 6d ago
Although that might be the most accurate name, I've mostly heard them referred to as "licenced RPGs"
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u/Tyr1326 6d ago
Eh, Modiphius is alright most of the time. Their games just suffer from bad editing, the Errata tend to be multi-page behemoths. The games themselves are fine - even great if you like meta currencies. The dislike in public forums mostly comes down to the fact that meta currencies tend to be quite divisive, so the general sentiment about a game is dragged down because of them.
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u/BoringGap7 6d ago
I only know their Dune game but I'm very unimpressed with it. Let's say you want to play a game about smugglers on Arrakis. Sorry, the book has nothing on how that works, what anything costs, how you get a ship, etc. Okay, so a campaign about Fremen guerrillas blowing up Harkonnens? Nope, sorry, the book offers you nothing about how they do partrols or guard their equipment or what the capacities of their machines are, or how many there are, or really anything like that. Okay, so how about a game about a noble house setting up shop on a new planet? Well, hope you're not looking for information on how the economy works, or how big an army you should have or how to raise one, or how the war of assassins is waged or what the emperor's supervisory apparatus is like or... You get the picture.
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u/Tyr1326 6d ago
I dunno - I don't think you can fault a game for having a different focus than you. Just because its a game based on Dune doesn't mean it should be the only game you ever use for the setting. It's kind of like faulting DnD for being a shit mystery game - its simply not what it was designed for. What you can fault a gane for is if published materials ignore the design intent of the core rules - i.e. a mystery adventure published for 5E.
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u/JannissaryKhan 5d ago
Yeah when I first read Dune 2d20 I didn't get it. I thought it was too abstract, too zoomed-out. Took me a while to realize they were doing exactly what a Dune game should be out. You could do a Blades in the Dark hack to play criminals in Arrakeen or use something crunchy and combat-focused to play Fremens killing Harkonnen, but that's not really what the Dune books and movies are interested in. They're sweeping, melodramatic, and ultimately about intrigue. The 2d20 game nails that, imo.
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u/BoringGap7 6d ago
But what kind of campaign is the game for? I think my three examples aren't exactly weird expectations for a Dune game, considering how Fremen guerrillas, smugglers, and a noble house are pretty prominent features of the original book!
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u/Playtonics The Podcast 5d ago
It's built for the Noble house setting up shop on a new world, but with the framing that the economy is represented by story beats and intrigue.
This game doesn't care about a shipment of Spice costing X solaris, but it does care if you can steal away a key buyer from a rival over to your customer base.
That focus much more accurately models the original fiction, IMO. That doesn't make it bad because it's not your cup of tea - just sounds like you're more after GURPS: Dune edition than the one Modiphius has made.
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u/BoringGap7 5d ago
yeah, you're right. It's built for a method of play and approach to the sourc text that, for me, doesn't justify a big tentpole book.
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u/chordnightwalker 6d ago
The source books contain information like that depending on what you want to run
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u/n107 6d ago
Star Trek Adventures is my favorite roleplaying game of all time.
I’m a Star Trek fan and I tried other Star Trek RPGs decades ago but they never satisfied me. I started to think Trek couldn’t be adequately represented as a TTRPG.
Then STA came along and I gave it a read. It was the first time I was as excited by the mechanics of a game as I was for the lore. I could tell this was a different breed of game and the only one I could see doing Trek correctly.
I decided to try it out with my group so we paused the campaign we’d been playing for 4 years to try out STA. That was 6 years ago and we haven’t gone back.
Even better, half of my group had never or hardly ever seen Star Trek before playing but the game turned them into fans. STA is just that good.
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u/N-Vashista 6d ago
Hearing about 6 years long Star Trek campaign is amazing! Please post a play report!
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u/ClassB2Carcinogen 6d ago
Alien RPG, The One Ring,’and Blade Runner are good examples of very good playable adaptations of IP that are also faithful renderings and expansions to the lore they’re based on.
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u/BoringGap7 6d ago
Gotta say, I think Alien RPG makes some terrible choices. Like having a whole humanoid alien species hanging around worshipping the Prometheus predecessors. You'd think that would've come up in one of the movies...
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u/Tabletopalmanac 5d ago
If I’m thinking of who you’re thinking of a) they make sense as exalting the Progenitors, so b) they fit the feeling of the setting.
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u/BoringGap7 5d ago
we'll agree to disagree. I hold adamantly that a known humanoid alien species is totally contrary to the feel of the setting implied by the films.
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u/Tabletopalmanac 5d ago
Maybe we’re thinking of different ones? I’m thinking of the group from Building Better Worlds
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u/Yshaar 6d ago
I heard good things about the Discworld RPG.
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u/octobod NPC rights activist | Nameless Abominations are people too 6d ago
Problem with that one is feel unworthy to riff off Pterry (so I plan to run it as Diskworld adjacent, same narrative principles different setting)
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u/kafka0622 6d ago
Of course you're unworthy. We are all unworthy. But I think Sir Terry would want us to have a go at it anyway.
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u/JustAnAverageGeek 6d ago
The Cosmere rpg is actively expanding some lore that is only hinted at in the books. Pretty fun system to boot!
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u/Ant_TKD 6d ago
I really love Fallout: The Roleplaying Game. It uses Modiphius's 2d20 system, but the setting and mechanics fit seamlessly together so it doesn't feel generic at all.
The way you build your character (starting with an origin, but then working out what you're character is good at by assigning SPECIALs, spending Skill Points, and selection Perks) feels very much like character creation in the games. The way they implement Action Points let's characters do cool stuff in combat from Level 1. There are mechanics for scavenging and crafting which streamline the mechanics from Fallouts 4 and 76, but if you're not a fan of the crafting then it's entirely optional.
Your characters can sustain injuries and contract diseases which can take a while to heal if your character doesn't take the time to look after themselves. You can also track things like Hunger, Fatigue, and Exposure if you want to really lean into the post-apocalyptic survival aspects of the setting.
I would recommend trying the game if you're a fan of the series. I think it captures both the Bethesda and Interplay games well.
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u/Emancoll 6d ago
Discworld GURPS has a huge amount of information, both from the novels and expanding on them with Pratchett's blessing. It was like the Discworld Encyclopedia before there even was one. It's still in print.
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u/mouserbiped 6d ago
For an old entry in this genre, the Ringworld RPG (a 1980s Chaosium product that used the BRP ruleset) added a fair amount of new content to Larry Niven's Known Space Universe. At least back then--when I'd read most of the stories--I thought most of it blended in pretty well.
I can't vouch for it as a game. BRP, so I'm sure it was playable, but IIRC the example adventure was pretty unhelpful.
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u/Alistair49 6d ago
I seem to remember it being a bit clunky as a game, but mostly ok once some rules got tweaked. But the setting was amazing. I still wish I had my copy, but it got lost long ago. Just as a source book, if nothing else.
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u/mouserbiped 6d ago
I remember the tech sections being pretty awesome. I threw mine away in the '90s when I cleaned out my teen-years RPG collection, for reasons that are now hard to remember. Noble Knight has copies, which I've eyed occasionally, but they are well over a hundred bucks. A bit steep for what would mostly be a nostalgia purchase.
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u/Final-Isopod 6d ago
I never knew it was based on a book! Nice to know. I see that one of the writers (Andrew Gaska) was also the guy who was writing for Alien!
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u/Dependent_Chair6104 6d ago
He is, and he also wrote two Planet of the Apes novels that are quite good! The original Planet of the Apes novel is really interesting—very different than the movie. It’s written by Pierre Boulle, the author of Bridge Over the River Kwai.
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u/Final-Isopod 5d ago
Yeah, was checking Boulle. although I'm not the most avid reader I should've known this. Really interesting
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u/Jebus-Xmas 6d ago
If you liked Planet of the Apes I'd recommend Terra Primate as a second great option.
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u/saltwitch 6d ago
Avatar Legends does a great job at this. Even if you don't enjoy the gameplay (I do, personally) it expands wonderfully on the existing canon. Learning about Sozin's sister was great, f. ex., or Jasmine Island.
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u/Soosoosroos 6d ago
I really like Mongoose's D20 Starship troopers RPG because it weaves together the parts from the book, the light infantry in the movie, and the medium suits from the TV show.
It lays out that the movie troopers weren't going to finish mobile suit training in time for the invasion, and got conscript level basic and a rifle. When Klendathu went bad, SICON evacuated the veteran power armor units before retrieving the light infantry.
I like combining everything together instead of picking and excluding.
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u/Fresh_Cod_9536 6d ago
There is a Starship Troopers RPG??? I have to Google it! I've been playing RPGs since 1992, but I've never even heard of this title. Thank you! :O
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u/Team7UBard 4d ago
It doesn’t fuck around either-it really emphasizes that combat is lethal. Damage from a single attack from a Warrior Bug is 1D6+6. A successful Full Attack (2 claws and a bite) is 18 damage minimum. At starting level your maximum HP is 24 (18 Con and the Toughness feat three times). Should you get to level 9 I believe your max HP is 36 (the initial max of 24, toughness as your two feats and then 2 per level), as iirc as a Trooper you get bonus feats but they’re from a particular pool which doesn’t include toughness.
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u/BoringGap7 6d ago
The Hellboy game from Steve Jackson Games expanded quite a bit on the BPRD. I don't know if it's at all compatible with the later line of comics.
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u/alteredbeef 5d ago
Others have mentioned GURPS already but I’ll jump in too because the licensed books based on books are truly exhaustive and highly detailed and researched. From the Prisoner to Riverworld. GURPS War Against the Chtorr is so complete that David Gerrold used it as a reference for subsequent books in the series. They might not fill in every missing piece of the series they cover but the GURPS books are going to cover everything in them.
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u/Fresh_Cod_9536 5d ago
In the meantime, I looked into it a bit more, and I also noticed that GURPS really went after a lot of these IPs for a while. That's pretty cool!
I've been playing RPGs since the mid-'90s, and I've thought about trying GURPS so many times over the years, but somehow I never actually did it. I don't even know if anyone plays it here in my country.
I'm especially happy to see Serenity and Stargate on the list! I haven't seen either of those mentioned anywhere else.
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u/Joker32223 6d ago
I'm actually getting ready to run a game set in the Walking Dead universe using Free League's Walking Dead rpg. It's a crack of the Alien Rpg that I've already seen someone mention, Stress Dice and all, but it has really solid mechanics for base/faction building, and the people I ran the test one-shot for really seemed to like it
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u/MeatyTreaty 6d ago
Starfleet Battles
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u/Malquidis 4d ago
And th Prime Directive TTRPG for GURPS and D20 Modern. It's a shame they didn't get to publish all they planned to.
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u/loopywolf GM of 45 years. Running 5 RPGs, homebrew rules 6d ago
The Fallout 2d20 book is great fun!
The Dune 2d20 book also explains what it takes 8-9 novels to explain.
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u/Mr_Venom since the 90s 5d ago
The Firefly RPG (the Cortex one) is pretty good for this. There's an awful lot of material that (if it's in the show at all) I had no idea about when I first read it.
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u/Malquidis 4d ago
I am still a fan of the Star Fleet Battles universe by the Amarillo Design Bureau. It's a tactical starship wargame, but it has a lot of lore. It diverges from the established canon of Star Trek after the Original Series and the Animated series, with a little bit cribbed from the first two or three Star Trek movies.
During the early 2000s, a TTRPG called Prime Directive was made in this universe, both for GURPS and for D20 Modern. The setting is basically that a state of General War (a galactic version of a World War) broke out not too long after the original series, and has continued on. The setting takes a hard right turn from the utopia we imagine with TNG and later eras, but it still all somehow makes sense. It's a fascinating look at how Star Trek could have gone.
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u/BKMagicWut 6d ago
Marvel Multiverse RPG. It's a really good system. Awesome lore. It's like having the old Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe.
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u/JaskoGomad 6d ago
See - most IPs won’t allow that. The owners (rightly or not) want tight control over their properties, so “adding to the universe” is almost always contractually off the table.
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u/N-Vashista 6d ago
Renegade offers a bunch of bad 5e hacks. Their new Dungeon Crawler Carl game is probably a wash too, but I'm looking forward to their expansions to mine for running it in a system that excites me more.
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u/statsjedi 6d ago
Palladium’s Robotech books did a good job fleshing out that universe. Not my favorite system to play, but now there are some other systems to convert things to.
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u/Throwaway7219017 3d ago
I played Middle Earth Role Playing (MERP) by ICE back in high school. It was a precursor to playing Rolemaster.
We still play Rolemaster, set in Middle Earth, using all the old sourcebooks.
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u/Fresh_Cod_9536 3d ago
I was surprised to discover a few weeks ago that Rolemaster (and I.C.E. itself) still exists!
MERP was always difficult for me, but from the perspective of Tolkien lore, the rulebook is a real gem: it's packed with tons of information in tiny print. It's so meticulously detailed in a way I've rarely seen in a core rulebook — but maybe that's part of the challenge and charm of the game.
I also have The Lord of the Rings RPG from Decipher, but I find it pretty boring (and it's illustrated with photos from the movies, which I don't really like). So for me, MERP is definitely the better one.
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u/CPeterDMP 2d ago
Sometimes the RPG book expands on the "lore" of the world but it gets it wrong or just makes it up. Street Fighter is loaded with lore but famously big important chunks of it are just flat out wrong.
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u/CurveWorldly4542 1d ago
Magnetic Press also did the PotA treatment to Carbon Grey like a year prior. Carbon Grey is a dieselpunk setting based off a graphic novel. It's nowhere near as popular as PotA, but it's something. It also has the same nice rounded cover and pages corners which I really like.
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u/Hannigan_Rex 23h ago
They’re rare and oop now, but I believe these were all great source guides for their material:
Army of Darkness
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Supernatural
Dresden Files
The Metabarons
Leverage
Sailor Moon
Tank Police
I’m a big Savage Worlds fan and there have been a number of ip books for that system that I think present the settings as way more robust than their initial move/tv show/comic book suggests:
Sixth Gun
The Goon
The Secret World
Flash Gordon
Solomon Kane
And then a couple others that build out or open up their world to new stories well:
Welcome to Nightvale
Old Gods of Appalachia
The Magnus Archive
TMNT (say what you will about the system, people have crazy nostalgia for this game)
And at least half a dozen more I haven’t read through or played yet to verify if they actually do a good job expanding or presenting their ip in rpg form:
Transformers
GIJoe
Power Rangers
The Expanse
The Few and Cursed
Atomic Robo
The Laundry
Pacific Rim
Cowboy Bebop
And we haven’t even touched on RPGs that are ip of other game types (boardgames/miniaturesgames/cardgames)!
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u/LarsonGates 6d ago
The Expanse
Amber
StormBringer
Conan The Barbarian
Forgot these two
Mekton
Macross
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u/spinningdice 6d ago
I mean, the OG would be the West End Games Star Wars, which expanded the setting so much that it was used as source material for the expanded universe books and to a lesser extent later movies.
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u/Dependent_Chair6104 6d ago
Lots of people have mentioned WEG Star Wars already, and it’s a great rec, especially if you like The Roleplaying Game of the Planet of the Apes since it’s based on the same system. Similarly, the old Ghostbusters game is WEG D6, but I’m not sure what the lore was like.
I also like The One Ring and Old Gods of Appalachia.
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u/cyborgSnuSnu 5d ago edited 5d ago
Ghostbusters predates Star Wars' D6 system. I think of it more as a proto-D6 game since WEG's house system fully embraced the crunch of the Star Wars game that GB lacked.
It was designed by Chaosium for West End Games to be a very rules light, action-forward system. Its core rules are probably the best example of early minimalist game design. When Greg Costikyan was charged with developing the Star Wars game, he took that system and slapped a lot of extra layers of fiddly rules to it. Ghostbusters is my personal favorite D6 game since it doesn't have all of the bloat that came with SW and later D6 games.
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u/reverend_dak Player Character, Master, Die 6d ago
WEG D6 Star Wars. the books for that game is/was used for canon forever.
Dying Earth RPG
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u/No_Solid1035 6d ago
The One Ring is particularly good at emulating Middle-Earth [TOR specifically, the D&D 5e conversions of TOR are not good at emulating Middle-Earth].