Where’s The Deathstalker RPG? Part 1

Remember 1983’s Deathstalker? Deathstalker is the titular character in four sword-and-sorcery, Conan-xploitation movies from 1983 to 1991, a 2024 comic book series, and a new movie coming soon. Despite appearing during the heyday of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons First Edition, there was never a standalone tabletop roleplaying game or a sourcebook dedicated to the fool and the hero, which begs the question, why isn’t there a Deathstalker Roleplaying Game?

What is Deathstalker?​

From Shout Factory’s description: “Deathstalker is a mighty warrior chosen to battle the evil forces of a medieval kingdom who sets off on a journey to…”

That idea, or one very similar, kicks off all of the Deathstalker movies and comics. The premise is simple: Roaming through a land of kingdoms, queendoms, sorcererdoms, spells, swords, festivals, tournaments, pig men, and frivolous nudity, Deathstalker thieves, fights, and commits unspeakable acts, all in the name of saving the people from evil. (Sorta.) Or getting what he wants. (Kinda.) Or debauchery. (Always.) Deathstalker is an archetypal murderhobo in a world that rewards his worst tendencies.

In 1983, the first Deathstalker movie premiered. From Roger Corman’s production company with a script by Howard R. Cohen, the first movie spawned three sequels, two of which were written by Howard, with the author directing the final installment.

• Deathstalker (1983, written by Howard R. Cohen and starring Rick Hill as Deathstalker with an appearance by Lana Clarkson)
• Deathstalker II (1987)
• Deathstalker and the Warriors from Hell (1988, written by Howard R. Cohen)
• Deathstalker IV: Match of Titans (1991, written and directed by Howard R. Cohen and starring Rick Hill as Deathstalker)
• Not a movie, but another piece of Deathstalker media: Vault Comics’ Deathstalker Vol.1: The Damned Blood (2024, collects the comic books by Slash, Tim Seeley, and Jim Terry)

The original films are Roger Corman productions, which means they’re entertainment content, not Oscar contenders. For a fuller picture, Alex Wolfe wrote a TTRPG-tinted review of the first film called “Dungeons & D-Listers: Deathstalker (1983)” at the Psycho Drive-In. These cult films created to cash-in on the success of 1982’s Conan The Barbarian developed a following among fantasy roleplayers in the 1980s. While there’s a Deathstalkers II RPG from Cutter's Guild Games, it is not related to the Corman films. There has not been a roleplaying game dedicated to the stalker of death.

Roger Corman's Deathstalker in 2025​

Let’s address the elephant in the room: Deathstalker is not progressive in any sense of the word. Instead, the movies luxuriate in 1980s cinema’s luddite views of women, sex, consent, maiming, and murder. The main character is not a hero, he’s an exploitative opportunist celebrated in the movies when he kills an even worse antagonist. On the Deathstalker Kickstarter page, the team behind the comics puts it this way: “The 80’s were a fun time, weren’t they? Our (totally immoral) hero warrior Deathstalker made his cinematic debut during that pinnacle of so-bad-it’s-good fantasy filmmaking.”

Because of its origins and treatment of women, any roleplaying game titled “Deathstalker” will not be for everyone as no game will delight every gamer. Regardless, Deathstalker fans will appreciate the game as much as they appreciate the movies.

You Could Homebrew Deathstalker​

This franchise was part of the 1980s sword-and-sorcery craze. That means these movies came out during the heydays of Dungeons & Dragons B/X (Moldvay/Cook), BECMI (Mentzer), and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st Edition. The mythology and combat within Deathstalker could easily be told through the lenses of any Dungeons & Dragons or any d20-based OSR ruleset. The subject matter is ideal for a highly lethal OSRs such as Mörk Borg. So why create a standalone game or even a sourcebook when you could homebrew the system?

In my “Where’s The Beastmaster Roleplaying Game?” article, I asked a similar question about whether that tale actually required a full, standalone tabletop roleplaying game or if an existing game could cover it. Deathstalker merits the same discussion. The setting, characters, powers, and adventures fit with standard Dungeons & Dragons tropes and rules. There’s not a huge need to reinvent the wheel with a full ruleset, just a setting book and a Deathstalker class/subclass would suffice. Unlike some properties where the rules need tweaks to replicate the feel of the world, Deathstalker is pitch perfect as an OSR, and a d20-related sourcebook, albeit one that features characters without good alignments, would be ideal.

A sourcebook for an existing RPG such as Dungeons & Dragons B/X (Moldvay/Cook), BECMI (Mentzer), Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st Edition, Old-School Essentials, OSRIC, Mörk Borg, HYPERBOREA, or Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition would maximize its usability. An art-heavy sourcebook of NPCs, locations, magic items, and adventures for a popular roleplaying game would be perfect for gamers and fans of the franchise. Add in a bit of history about the movies and you have a nice RPG sourcebook and a tribute to the films in one edition.

In the next article we’ll review the success of Deathstalker-related crowdfunding efforts, what publisher might take on the challenge of publishing a Deathstalker RPG, and the odd we’ll ever see one soon.

Egg Embry participates in the OneBookShelf Affiliate Program, Noble Knight Games’ Affiliate Program, Kobold Press Affiliate Program, and is an Amazon Associate. These programs provide advertising fees by linking to DriveThruRPG, Noble Knight Games, Kobold Press, and Amazon.

 

[Dire Bare]

As much as I liked the cheesy 70's and 80's Conan knock-off movies, I didn't see Deathstalker until recently (out of curiosity, and only the first). Yet, as bad as it can be in its depictions, the more recent Games of Thrones does way worse things during its run (especially the 3rd season; I almost dropped watching it for some of the things going on in that season). Anyways, a Deathstalker RPG wouldn't really be something I'd be interested in, though I do like the Sword & Sorcery genre overall.

However, if it was your bag, you could probably take the Conan d20 game and slap a Deathstalker poster on the front and just use that if you were inclined to. Heck, it'd probably work for Beastmaster as well.

Game of Thrones / House of the Dragon depicts some pretty horrific stuff . . . but it's depicted as horrific.

Deathstalker, and other 80s sword-and-sandal fantasy flicks, depicted some awful stuff as if it just the things heroes do. Kill, steal, rape, it's no big deal . . . .

The tone and intent is completely different. Of course, if you don't want to see that kind of stuff in your fantasy movies at all, that's fine of course.

To be "fair" to 80s fantasy movies, this kind of story existed in the source fiction as well. I'm struggling through Jack Vance's "Dying Earth" series right now, and . . . eesh.

 

[MGibster]

Let’s address the elephant in the room: Deathstalker is not progressive in any sense of the word. Instead, the movies luxuriate in 1980s cinema’s luddite views of women, sex, consent, maiming, and murder.

It's been a while since I saw Deathstalker, I must have been seven or eight years old when I first saw it (my parents didn't like me), and my immediate thought was, "Who is clamoring for a Deathstalker game?" Did the movie have excellent worldbuilding giving us plenty of fodder for a setting? Not really. Did it have compelling characters? No. I don't even think there is even any continuity between the movies. The only thing the first movie had going for it was violence, Barbi Benton, and Lana Clarkson. This seems like one of those games that people might buy but nobody really plays. I'm just baffled someone is making a game out of this. The movie poster is pretty cool too.

Ahh, Deathstalker. Where sexual assault replaces handshakes and sexually assaulting a guy who got turned into a woman is played for laughs.

I'm starting to get the impression you have a negative opinion of Deathstalker.

However, if it was your bag, you could probably take the Conan d20 game and slap a Deathstalker poster on the front and just use that if you were inclined to. Heck, it'd probably work for Beastmaster as well.

I could probably have some fun with a game designed to revel in the cheesiness of 80s sword & sorcery movies like, uh, The Sword and the Sorcerer, The Barbarians, Sorceress, etc., etc. I'm not sure I'd be comfortable trying to emulate the Deathstalker experience at my dining room table though.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

It's been a while since I saw Deathstalker, I must have been seven or eight years old when I first saw it (my parents didn't like me), and my immediate thought was, "Who is clamoring for a Deathstalker game?" Did the movie have excellent worldbuilding giving us plenty of fodder for a setting? Not really. Did it have compelling characters? No.

Dark Crystal and Labyrinth both got RPGs, and I can see the clear reasoning behind those.

Now, if there's any other 80s fantasy movie that deserves its own RPG that doesn't have one, I'd say it's Krull. It's got clearly defined species, classes, monsters, magic items. It's got a clear villains in the form of The Beast and the Slayers.

I could probably have some fun with a game designed to revel in the cheesiness of 80s sword & sorcery movies like, uh, The Sword and the Sorcerer, The Barbarians, Sorceress, etc., etc. I'm not sure I'd be comfortable trying to emulate the Deathstalker experience at my dining room table though.

A beer and pretzels general 80s sword and sorcery RPG could work. I'm thinking of something kinda like how Tales from the Floating Vagabond skewered the cinematic tropes of the time.

 

[Deset Gled]

I appreciate @Egg Embry's open and honest addressing of the issues with Deathstalker. It's certainly not going to be a game or movie for everyone. It's worth noting that the movie is rated R. There's a weird thing that goes on in RPG space where everything seems to max out around PG-13, even when it's based on much saucier IP. I think this is an example of a franchise that needs some form of an "adults only" notification to clarify that things inside will be outright nasty sometimes.

As for the Deathstalker movie itself, I have to mirror the reactions of others that is "why this in particular"? To be open, I'm 80% sure that I've seen Deathstalker, and there's at least a 50% chance that the version I saw was a cable TV edit that removed the nudity. I've seen more than my fair share of Roger Corman and other low budget movies. Deathstalker blends into the background of low budget fantasy for me so much that I can't really be completely certain if what I remember is actually Deathstalker.

In fact, if I am remembering the movie correctly, the most memorable thing about it is that the iconic monster used in all it promo material isn't actually in the movie. Which makes it even weirder to see it used again on the cover for the RPG material.

 

[Scribe]

Was this the one with the pig man/monster dude?

I may just have to make my own Sword and Sorcery book, built on the already mostly there core of Shadowdark.

 

[MGibster]

I appreciate @Egg Embry's open and honest addressing of the issues with Deathstalker. It's certainly not going to be a game or movie for everyone. It's worth noting that the movie is rated R. There's a weird thing that goes on in RPG space where everything seems to max out around PG-13, even when it's based on much saucier IP. I think this is an example of a franchise that needs some form of an "adults only" notification to clarify that things inside will be outright nasty sometimes.

For Deathstalker in particular, I don't think it's the adult content per se people have a problem with so much as the source material's protagonist engaging in sexual assault, sometimes for laughs. I do agree there's a place for rated R games though.

 

[John R Davis]

Can't recall ever watching a deathstalker though they are on channels I subscribe too.

And to correct everybody, it's Hawk the Slayer that needs an RPG!

 

[Jd Smith1]

The main character is not a hero, he’s an exploitative opportunist

That just described nearly every gamer I've had at my table since 1979.

 

[Tonguez]

There is already a Tales of Gor RPG and Deathstalker slides down the same slope of gonzo fetish gaming.

Generally though Deathstalker is doable in standard DnD, its just Conanesque Sword and Sandals with more slavery and misogyny.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I'm not sure we need an RPG based on a property that opens with a sexual assault committed by the "hero."