The Biggest RPG Story of the Year?

Green Ronin's Chris Pramas has offered some cryptic clues as to a product slated for Gen Con this year. "Our goal is to release Fantasy AGE in May. Then at the end of July we will release the game’s first setting book. This is our big GenCon release and part of something super exciting … that I can’t talk about yet. This will be the focus of our GenCon presence this year and perhaps the biggest RPG story of the year. Watch for an announcement in a few months." What could it be?

I mentioned Green Ronin's plans for 2015 a few days ago, including their whole product range. Fantasy AGE is the core rulebook of the system that drives Green Ronin's current Dragon Age roleplaying game. "This will be strictly a rule book with no attached setting. The core of the game will be well-familiar to Dragon Age fans but there are some differences, the biggest of which is the magic system. That of Dragon Age was meant to emulate how magic works in Thedas, so I am modifying it heavily for Fantasy AGE."

Is Steve Kenson writing it? Pramas says "Nothing we can talk about right now unfortunately, but stay tuned for some exciting announcements over the coming months. What has Steve Kenson been working on the last five months? Find out in April!" Steve Kenson is, of course, best known for superhero RPGs including Mutants & Masterminds and his own ICONS system.

So, a setting book for a fantasy RPG by Steve Kenson which might be the biggest RPG story of the year? I'm curious! What do you think it might be?

 

[The Black Kestrel]

Of the properties in traditional Fantasy that are hot right now but not as far as I know licensed, Brandon Sanderson's own work and settings (Mistborn, Elantris, Stormlight Archive, etc.) is the only big name I can think of that makes any sense. He's got very gameable world building with clear game influences, he's as prolific as Steven King, he's relatively young, and aside from GRR Martin is probably the biggest name in tranditional fantasy right now. Aside from Sanderson, the only name that even comes to mind is Patrick Rothfuss, but that's already going from like a B rate IP to a C rate property (no offense, Patrick).

...

On another note, does anyone know who has the Star Wars license?

AFAIK, Crafty Games still holds the license for Mistborn. FFG holds the license for Star Wars and has been producing SW RPG books for a year or so (it may be longer).

My vote is for the Malazan Book of the Dead, though Warhammer Fantasy is a possibility as well since Green Ronin previously designed the 2E books when Black Industries was publishing WFRP 2E.

 

[TerraDave]

For something not 5e...it would have to be Harry Potter....or it is just BS.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

My guess is that they have licenced one of the setting worlds that WotC owns. So I'd think it would be either Greyhawk, Dragonlance, Birthright or, and here's one that would get some people excited, Planescape.

 

[Dahak]

It is the first setting for "Fantasy AGE" and most of the "major" fantasy book series are already licensed. I think the video games route might be the right track.

Elder Scrolls is a good bet, particularly with ESO moving to F2P and coming to XBone and PS4 in June.

Fable might be another interesting choice.

Given the pre-existing relationship with Bioware something with the upcoming Shadow Realms might be another good fit. Particularly since Shadow Realms is "...finally bringing the magic of tabletop RPGs to the digital realm." (link)

I'm almost 100% sure it is not Elder Scrolls, for the reasons I stated in an earlier post. I just can't see Bethesda treating their IP as second-string to Dragon Age.

Where I do agree with you, and I think you've solved the mystery, is that I believe it will be Shadow Realms. The PR said the setting was "part of something super exciting", not that it was the end all be all by itself. Combine this with Shadow Realms bringing the tabletop experience to digital. Taken one step further, if the CRPG also uses the AGE system, you could bring digital characters into home games, and vice versa. That would be a pretty big story. Granted it's been tried before in the early days (playing an OD&D fighting man or T&T warrior in the old Apshai games, importing AD&D home game characters into gold box games through the modify feature, etc.)

 

[bluedao]

Its a longshot but Marvel is a possibility. Between the movie franchise and their just launched universe update it would be huge.

There are a bunch of other comics that would also work. Especially if they signed on with a publishing house that gave them a wide range of settings.

Borderlands iif were thinking video games.

A new kind of product (like say a living world with a full online integration tool so GMs can update the shared world they run offline)

50 shades of gray the RPG (sorry it was such a horrible thought I had to share)

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Its a longshot but Marvel is a possibility. Between the movie franchise and their just launched universe update it would be huge.

There are a bunch of other comics that would also work. Especially if they signed on with a publishing house that gave them a wide range of settings.

Borderlands iif were thinking video games.

A new kind of product (like say a living world with a full online integration tool so GMs can update the shared world they run offline)

50 shades of gray the RPG (sorry it was such a horrible thought I had to share)

A licenced superhero RPG would be a pretty big thing too, whether it be Marvel or DC Comics.

 

[Kinak]

My guess is it's not a license, but that instead the setting will be what Wil Wheaton and friends play in the Table Top RPG Spin off.

I'd be pretty excited about this. At the very least, TableTop could bring a lot of new players to RPGs, as they have with boardgames.

Cheers!
Kinak

 

[MatthewJHanson]

Except isn't TableTop going to be playing Dread? And this is a Fantasy AGE setting. Doesn't quite add up for me.

These are two separate things. There's going to be an episode of the main show where they play Dread. Then there's also doing a spin off show where they follow a single RPG campaign for the whole season. I'm fairly certain they have not yet announced what RPG they'll be using for that campaign.

 

[Darkstar360]

Tamriel would be a big, big deal. But I have doubts for a different reason - perception of brand value. The setting is supposed to be a supplement for a generic Fantasy AGE book. Dragon Age (a competitor to Elder Scrolls in the digital arena) has its own core rulebook, but Elder Scrolls is merely a supplement to an existing game? Seems unlikely that Bethesda would go for that.

Good point. They are direct competitors.

 

[dracomilan]

I bet the first setting book for a core fantasy system will be pretty big, but pretty generic.

Since they already have DA, as already pointed out, it will not be derived from a competing CRPG - it could be the setting of the new Bioware game, but I don't think so. I think it will be a literary source. And I guess it will be one not ever covered by RPGs before (so no Lankhmar or Discworld).

Shannara would be huge with the TV tie-in but is really low magic, Malazan seems more plausible to me, Robin Hobb's World of the Farseers is possible.