Board Game Arkham Horror Getting an RPG from Edge Studio

Asmodee and Edge Studio announced the upcoming release of Arkham Horror: The Roleplaying Game. The game will launch as a boxed starter set available at Gen Con 2024 with a worldwide release coming on August 2.

The game will use the Dynamic Pool System (DPS), a d6 dice pool system with mechanics that “are easy to learn but contain strategic depths that are sure to entertain even expert TTRPG players”. The initial adventure, Hungering Abyss, will be divided into 10 scenes each playable in an hour or more.

The boxed set will include a 48-page adventure book, a Game Master’s reference board, 5 character portfolios, 24 six-sided dice (12 black and 12 green), 3 double-sided poster maps, 16 NPC profile cards, 21 item and spell cards, 3 punchboards of tokens and puzzles, and “several handouts”. All hobby stores that are part of Asmodee’s Hobby Next Program will have an additional set of dice as a bonus.

The original board game from Fantasy Flight Games originally came out in 2005. Players choose their investigator and explore the titular city of Arkham in the 1920s attempting to arm themselves with the items, skills, and spells they need to close the gateways spread across the city before the Ancient One arises. A living card game was also released in 2016.

Arkham Horror: The Roleplaying Game Starter Set will be available at Gen Con 2024 and in stores in the USA, Canada, UK, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and “some other European countries” on August 2, 2024, with a retail price of $34.99.

 

[Abstruse]

On the other hand, WEG's Star Wars ran for many years with plenty of sourcebooks for many elements of the universe (some of which became canon). It also had additions for the comic series, Heir to the Empire books, and etc. It was quite the licensed SW juggernaut (with the HAVw A6 itself being something that became canon through the RPG based on concept artwork).

That was a very different time. Star Wars was finished as far as anyone was concerned. Return of the Jedi came out and Lucas seemed done. There were no plans for a sequel or a prequel. WEG had much less oversight than most modern licenses do because nobody was worried about it contradicting future material or undercutting another product because there was nothing else to contradict and no other products to undercut. The novels didn't even start until a few years after WEG started doing Star Wars. You could argue the WEG Star Wars proved there was a life after movies for a lot of popular franchises.

 

[Peter BOSCO'S]

An RPG based on a boardgame based on a boardgame based on an RPG? neat.

No, it is an RPG based on a boardgame based on a boardgame based on an RPG based on a series of short stories....

 

[Autumnal]

WEG had much less oversight than most modern licenses do because nobody was worried about it contradicting future material or undercutting another product because there was nothing else to contradict and no other products to undercut.

For a while I lived within walking distance of K.W.Jeter, back when we were both in Portland, and had some good visits there. On one of them, he told some fun stories about dealing with Lucasfilm when writing his bounty hunters trilogy. At one point he had one of the characters say, “I think they’re toast.” One of the required changes was replacing thst phrase, because “it has not been established that there is toast in the Expanded Universe.” Some folks really were paying remarkably close attention.

 

[Abstruse]

For a while I lived within walking distance of K.W.Jeter, back when we were both in Portland, and had some good visits there. On one of them, he told some fun stories about dealing with Lucasfilm when writing his bounty hunters trilogy. At one point he had one of the characters say, “I think they’re toast.” One of the required changes was replacing thst phrase, because “it has not been established that there is toast in the Expanded Universe.” Some folks really were paying remarkably close attention.

It also depends on the specific timeframe. When the EU novels and video games became big later into the 1990s, they started paying more attention. One example I recall was Kevin Anderson writing Spice as a drug in one of his books and a mid-level Lucasfilm executive saying that it was not a drug, it was a food additive like cinnamon or clove. They had an argument because...nothing makes any sense if it's not a drug. The executive told Anderson smugly "I can ask George about this if you really want to bother him with it..." Anderson said yes, please, ask George if Spice is a drug or not.

So the executive made a big show about calling George Lucas and asked if Spice was a drug or if it was a food spice. Lucas said, "What? Of course it's a drug! It's space meth! What are you talking about?"

 

[ProfessorDetective]

Cool. The Arkham Horror Files continuum has been an off-and-on hyperfixation of mine since back when they were still actively supporting AH 2E. Was always too broke to BUY any of it past Elder Sign: Omens (the digital version of the "streamlined" dice game spin-off) and, recently, the long line of tie-in books (soon including a gamebook and a "Visitor's Guide" lorebook, apparently). Yeah, this'll probably just be Pulp Cthulhu, vibes-wise, but I am willing to give it a shot.

 

[Jaeger]

I'm surprised that there are no game-specific novelty dice mentioned.

They look like normal d6’s in black and green.

But knowing FFG, there is a specific game mechanic related reason why they have to be in two distinctly separate colors.

Evidently even normal d6’s are not safe from the FFG RPG design team…

 

[Von Ether]

For a while I lived within walking distance of K.W.Jeter, back when we were both in Portland, and had some good visits there. On one of them, he told some fun stories about dealing with Lucasfilm when writing his bounty hunters trilogy. At one point he had one of the characters say, “I think they’re toast.” One of the required changes was replacing thst phrase, because “it has not been established that there is toast in the Expanded Universe.” Some folks really were paying remarkably close attention.

Later licensing was much more strict after WEG. At a con panel, I remember hearing one writer (was it Peter David? I can't remember), saying he went through a big fight over one of his novels as it required R2-D2 to fly. This was before the prequels. He had to rewrite that section to only go see the prequels years later and see R2-D2 fly.

 

[Kariotis]

No, it is an RPG based on a boardgame based on a boardgame based on an RPG based on a series of short stories....

Wait wait, it's an RPG based on a shared universe comprising living card games, video games and board games based on an RPG based on a shared universe comprising several authors based on a series of short stories and novelettes by a guy who started out emulating ... Edgar Allan Poe and Lord Dunsany.

 

[ProfessorDetective]

Wait wait, it's an RPG based on a shared universe comprising living card games, video games and board games based on an RPG based on a shared universe comprising several authors based on a series of short stories and novelettes by a guy who started out emulating ... Edgar Allan Poe and Lord Dunsany.

AND Robert W. Chambers.

 

[Autumnal]

But things really came together when Arthur Machen joined the band!