Planet of the Apes Roleplaying Game Coming from Magnetic Press

Magnetic Press announced Planet of the Apes The Role-Playing Game based on the classic, long-running science fiction franchise.

The game will use the Magnetic Variant system which is a variation of the D6 System created by West End Games for their licensed RPGs Ghostbusters and Star Wars in the 1980s. From the product announcement:

Become an intellectual Chimpanzee who seeks to better apekind through science and exploration. Choose an Orangutan statesape whose weapons are philosophical debate, political savvy, and the power of the Sacred Scrolls themselves. Perhaps a Gorilla soldier is more your style—honor bound to protect Ape City and lead aggressive expansions into new territories.

What else, if not an ape? Be a time-lost astronaut struggling to grasp a world gone insane. Become a mute tribal human forced to scavenge for resources as you are hunted by murderous gorillas on horseback. The rules even allow you to play mutant survivors who use the power of their minds to turn their enemies against each other.

Your adventures in this world of madness will take you to the ruins of a world destroyed—see what remains of the Statue of Liberty, the ostentatious Ape City, the foreboding Forbidden Zone, and the mysterious mutant undercity. It is a world defined by the stark contrasts of brutality and civility. Are you ape enough to handle the truth about the world you live in or will you lose your mind to it?

The launch lineup announced so far includes the 300+ page core rulebook, The ANSA Files classic film sourcebook, The Forbidden Zone adventure box filled with game-enhancing tools, Ruins of Tomorrow boxed set of 3D resin unpainted miniatures, and additional products that will be unlocked during the pre-order campaign.

The announcement does not say this pre-order campaign will be a crowdfunding campaign, but much of the terminology used heavily implies it. No date has been announced, but there is an email sign-up for notifications on the announcement page.

 

[aramis erak]

Huh. A friend and I were brainstorming "IP" that hadn't yet been made into a licensed RPG and "Planet of the Apes" didn't cross either of our minds.

There have been a few attempts at unlicened versions. One saw formal publication: Terra Primate (Unisystem Full).
Several are on DTRPG: Apes Victorious (Labyrinth Lord variant), Aces & Apes (QAGS),
One on Itch.io: Rise of the Apes (Rise system).

Someone was, just about the time of the Secret Service Raid, working up a proposal for GURPS: Apeworld... by having it halfway written before even seeing if SJ would be interested.

Someone else was working up a CORPS setting around 2002, but I can't find it with a search, and it's been 22 years, so the fact that my webpage contains mostly the same content still makes me odd...

Anyway, all of those are adaptations of existing games, and excepting Terra Primate, I've not got them. I've read TP, and it explicitly states its inspiration being PotA...

 

[JLowder]

There's some old school biological essentialism in that first paragraph. Oof...

I've done some consulting with the people behind the new PotA RPG and players will not be limited by "biological essential" roles. So you will be able to create and play gorilla scientists and so on. The intro PR is aimed at people familiar with the franchise. Hope that helps.

Cheers,
Jim Lowder

 

[Reynard]

I've done some consulting with the people behind the new PotA RPG and players will not be limited by "biological essential" roles. So you will be able to create and play gorilla scientists and so on. The intro PR is aimed at people familiar with the franchise. Hope that helps.

Cheers,
Jim Lowder

That is good to know. Thanks.

 

[damiller]

I wonder if they can/will also include both the Planet of the Apes television series (1974) and the Return to the Planet of the Apes cartoon (1975).

According to the description of the "ANSA files" book, it will:

"filled with reference resources from all of the classic films, TV series, novelizations, and animated episodes. 272+ Pages, 8.5×11″ hardcover."​