Intellectual properties that deserve to be made into RPGs/RPG supplements?

[Isamu Dyson]

The Dark Tower (novel series): A blend of science fiction, fantasy, and horror across multiple worlds that's tempered by bursts of highly cinematic action. In my opinion, King should've sold an RPG license back in the late 1990s/early 2000s when the series was going strong, but I think there would be enough fan/gamer interest now to make releasing it worth the effort.

The Legend of Zelda (video game series): A high fantasy setting with an incredibly long in-game history, and still wildly popular. I know there is an unofficial PDF floating on the internet, but why did Nintendo never try to pitch this setting to RPG developers?

Half-Life/Half-Life 2 (video game series): Half-Life alone might have been slim, even with the material of the expansions, yet Half-Life 2 introduced a worldwide war with a human Resistance and second high-tech corporation (Aperture Science, via Portal) that leaves plenty of room to play around in. There's also the dimensional politics of the G-Man and whoever he serves to spice things up. Oh, and, a twenty-year gap between the invasion and "present" presents many opportunities for adventures.

Gargoyles (cartoon series): Colorful cast of personalities and enough myth that fuses science-fiction and fantasy together to spawn many campaign ideas. This is a great low-realism (generally) / high action and intrigue setting.

Sliders (television series): While the basic premise was already handled by Alternity's Tangents supplement, it didn't specifically cover the world created by Tracy Tormé. I imagine that this system should focus more on roleplaying how we react to different ethics and morals (conveniently enforced thanks to the divergent human populations on other worlds) than straight up adventure, but, of course, that would still exist.

Resident Evil (video game series): Why this was never picked up by Eden Studios (creators of All Flesh Must Be Eaten) or ANY developer of a "modern day setting" system is a mystery to me.

The Walking Dead (comic book series): ^ Ditto.

[Grinner]

The Legend of Zelda (video game series): A high fantasy setting with an incredibly long in-game history, and still wildly popular. I know there is an unofficial PDF floating on the internet, but why did Nintendo never try to pitch this setting to RPG developers?

Because it's own by a multinational corporation of Japanese origin, meaning it's both outside their culture and too small of a project for them to otherwise care.

Half-Life/Half-Life 2 (video game series): Half-Life alone might have been slim, even with the material of the expansions, yet Half-Life 2 introduced a worldwide war with a human Resistance and second high-tech corporation (Aperture Science, via Portal) that leaves plenty of room to play around in. There's also the dimensional politics of the G-Man and whoever he serves to spice things up. Oh, and, a twenty-year gap between the invasion and "present" presents many opportunities for adventures.

Have you ever associated the words "proactive" or "punctual" with Valve Software? I'm more inclined to associate them with the term "development hell".

Gargoyles (cartoon series): Colorful cast of personalities and enough myth that fuses science-fiction and fantasy together to spawn many campaign ideas. This is a great low-realism (generally) / high action and intrigue setting.

Because it's a cartoon.

[Isamu Dyson]

For a cartoon, Gargoyles is incredibly nuanced and surprisingly mature.

Don't be so quick to judge purely on appearance alone.

[Grinner]

For a cartoon, Gargoyles is incredibly nuanced and surprisingly mature.

Don't be so quick to judge purely on appearance alone.

I'm not.

I'm saying it's a cartoon, and since when are cartoons licensed out for RPGs?

[Isamu Dyson]

I'm not.

I'm saying it's a cartoon, and since when are cartoons licensed out for RPGs?

Didn't Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles receive an RPG?

[Grinner]

So it did. I stand corrected.

Still, I daresay it's an anomaly rather than a trend. I'll also note that it was released in 1985, arguably the hey-day of pen and paper gaming.

[The Glyphstone]

RPGs can get cartoons (D&D: The Animated Series), so why not the reverse?

[Totema]

I would have said Fallout, except google tells me that they already did! Kinda.

[Frozen_Feet]

Uh, pen and paper RPGs definitely aren't outside Japanese cultural sphere. Point first: all computer RPGs, very definitely including JRPG subgenre, started as emulations of D&D. D&D is up there with Space Wars and Pong as one of the biggest influences on videogaming culture. Point Second: LoZ has always had JRPG elements, with the second part of the series pretty much being one. Point three: Japan has its own tabletop RPG subculture. It's pretty niche, but tabletop games are niche everywhere.

Really, considering all other LoZ trash merchandise, it would be right up their alley. I think it's mostly Nintendo being money-grubbing bastards and clinging to their classic series with zealous fervor so no-one else gets to ruin it.

Oh well, we still got History of Huryle. It pretty much passes for a RPG setting book.

[Grinner]

RPGs can get cartoons (D&D: The Animated Series), so why not the reverse?

Because cartoons should stay in the ghetto where they belong.

[Totema]

Uh, pen and paper RPGs definitely aren't outside Japanese cultural sphere.

QFT. Record of Lodoss War is still one of my favorite anime-ish series.

[(Un)Inspired]

You guys know how they made Streetfighter: The Movie: The Game?

Dungeons and Dragons: The Movie: The Game

[LimeSkeleton]

The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, by Rick Riordan. A bunch of teenage demigods fighting Ancient Greek monsters and wielding incredible magical powers? Sounds great to me!

[Isamu Dyson]

The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, by Rick Riordan. A bunch of teenage demigods fighting Ancient Greek monsters and wielding incredible magical powers? Sounds great to me!

Is there a strong in-universe setting (including established NPCs and an expansive history) to draw upon?

[Jacob.Tyr]

I'm really confused to find Zelda on here, because I've been playing in a Pathfinder game in the Zelda-verse and several of the players have hard cover copies of a sourcebook. I've been trying to find the damned thing online now, but it doesn't seem to show up in any google search or on amazon and I'm very confused.

[Isamu Dyson]

I'm really confused to find Zelda on here, because I've been playing in a Pathfinder game in the Zelda-verse and several of the players have hard cover copies of a sourcebook. I've been trying to find the damned thing online now, but it doesn't seem to show up in any google search or on amazon and I'm very confused.

This book?

[Jacob.Tyr]

This book?

Nope, that book doesn't seem to include item rules based around the d20 system so I don't think that is it.

[Rosstin]

Surprised no one has mentioned Avatar and Pokemon yet.

Avatar: The Last Airbender was practically made for tabletop. Hardly a stretch of the imagination to see 4 players each from a different elemental tribe setting out to save the world. The only part that seems tricky is the thing where the show has the Avatar, who has a sort of role of central importance. But the show provides a good model of the Avatar not being all-powerful and standing alone. I think there are already some fan-made systems for this, and they made it so that gaining all 4 types of bending makes you less proficient at the specifics of each element. So maybe the Avatar can use all 4 elements, can merge them, and do some special Avatar stuff, but only the Water Bender can blood-bend or is a proficient healer, stuff like that.

I admit I was skeptical that you could make a non-silly tabletop RPG out of Pokemon, but I saw a really good fan-made PDF of it that captured my imagination. The PDF did a great job of looking at different kinds of trainers and the abilities they could have, explaining the different goals trainers could have, and laying out some adventures and campaign arcs. It has a very well-defined world ripe for all kinds of adventure. As long as the players were into it, it would make an excellent tabletop campaign.

Oh, I guess I should also mention Homestuck. Regardless of what you think of Homestuck, like Avatar it basically begs to be a tabletop campaign.

I think it's important to pay attention to the elements that make a good world, so that you can learn how to design one. A good tabletop world is the kind of place that makes you wonder: Who would I be if I lived there?

[Sith_Happens]

The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, by Rick Riordan. A bunch of teenage demigods fighting Ancient Greek monsters and wielding incredible magical powers? Sounds great to me!

From what I've heard about Scion, it's basically a White Wolf-ified version of Percy Jackson.

[Isamu Dyson]

Why didn't the Sword of Truth (novel series) receive an RPG the way the The Wheel of Time (novel series) did?

[Kitten Champion]

The Grimnoir Chronicles by Larry Correia. It's basically the X-Men meets Raymond Chandler, but with magic instead of mutation. An alternate universe 1930's where people have been manifesting magical abilities for about a century, and a magical secret organization which fights against the exploitation and oppression of magic-users by muggles and the more pernicious element of their own kind.

Why didn't the Sword of Truth (novel series) receive an RPG the way the The Wheel of Time (novel series) did?

Wheel of Time has a comprehensive and specified setting, whereas Sword of Truth does not.

[TuggyNE]

You guys know how they made Streetfighter: The Movie: The Game?

Dungeons and Dragons: The Movie: The Game

That reminds me of reading a novel adaptation of the Little Women movie. Just … why would you do that? Whyyy?

[CubeB]

I've always wanted to do a game based in Persona.

The concept is great for an RP heavy campaign. A group of ordinary people get caught up in a mystery involving Shadows, and have to overcome their own neurosis and insecurities in order to gain the power to fight back.

You don't even need to call upon much of the universe besides Shadows and the Velvet Room, though there's a potentially expansive one there. (You can stick with the P1/P2 era universe, the P3/P4 era universe, or combine them into a larger cosmology if you're feeling ambitious.)

The issues I've found with most adaptations are that they're either incomplete, or oddly complicated. The closest system I've found that can do it is Monsters and Other Childish Things (based on the one roll system), which even has a Social Link mechanic. But it doesn't do well for the human side of combat, just the persona side, and personae are weird to model in combat. (Are they always there? Do they disappear after you use a power?)

Plus there's the question of who (if anyone) gets to be a Wild Card, and then the question of Persona Fusion...

[Gamgee]

Mass Effect!!!! Come aaaaannnnnn!

Witcher series.

[Hazzardevil]

Tyrant: by Christian Cameron, I'm surprised we haven't just had any general Ancient Greek RPGs. It's set in Ancient Greece during Alexander the Great's campaigns the wars afterwards. This time period would have plenty of adventuring to be done. I can understand why it hasn't, the series is quite small.

It comes down to the fanbases of stuff is rarely as large as people think it is. There's a big difference between the people who consume the media and the "fans" who will buy the merchandise/tat that goes with it.

[(Un)Inspired]

Breath of fire would be so cool. It could be based on any of he games settings.

Even Dragon Quarter!

[Scootaloo]

You know, I've given this thought to MMO's - i want to see dune and Legend of the five rings MMO's so damn bad - but not actually to pen and paper RPG's.

I would like a good version of EverQuest for pen-and-paper. The swords and sorcery make is functional, i guess, if you squint...

Naomi Novik's Temeraire series could definitely be adapted to P&P RPG.

I'm going to second the Gargoyles idea.

Kick-Ass; the RPG has all kinds of potential. There's lots of games where you pretend to be a superhero... but no game where you pretnd to be a guy who's pretending to be a superhero. if you've ever wanted to make "guy who robs a convenience store" an actual risk for the characters, there you go!

[Isamu Dyson]

I'm going to second the Gargoyles idea.

Sweet !

[DarkKensai]

You know, I've given this thought to MMO's - i want to see dune and Legend of the five rings MMO's so damn bad - but not actually to pen and paper RPG's.


I'm going to second the Gargoyles idea.

I would LOVE anything that ran with Frank Herbert's Dune! One of my favorite books ever.

Gargoyles sounds fun too.

[Silverbit]

I recall that there were several attempts to make a Dune RPG, but I don't think any of them worked out well. Dammit, all I want to do is play a Freman! Is that too much to ask?

And whilst it wouldn't need it's own system, I'd rather appreciate a sourcebook or setting book for the Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series. If you ignore the fairly generic elves it's a good setting for adventure.

Edit: doubly Dune Sardaukar'ed. This proves that Dune needs an RPG!