Here Are 2026's Most Anticipated TTRPGs... As Voted By You!

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The nominations were nominated, and the votes were voted, and now we have the final results: this year's official most anticipated TTRPGs--as voted by you! Well, a few thousand of you.

Just like we do every year, the EN World community votes on the games they are looking forward to. Here is last year's Top 10 (spoiler: the winner was Legend in the Mist). Previous winners include 13th Age (2013), Star Wars Force & Destiny (2015), Rifts for Savage Worlds (2016), Trudvang Chronicles (2017), Vampire: the Masquerade 5th Edition (2018), Savage Worlds Adventure Edition (2019), Dune (2020 & 2021), Twilight 2000 (2021), Blade Runner (2022), Pendragon 6E (2023), and Shadow of the Weird Wizard (2024). What will be the most anticipated RPG of 2026?

Let's find out!

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10. Twilight Sword (Two Little Mice/Free League)
1st appearance (and Two Little Mice's 2nd appearance).

This game from Italian studio Two Little Mice (Household, Outgunned) is inspired by classic video games like The Legend of Zelda and Final Fantasy. It raised close to a million dollars on Backerkit late last year and uses an original d12-based roll-under game system called the Created at Twilight (CAT) system. Publisher Two Little Mice appeared in this chart back in 2023 with Household, where players take on the roles of the 'Little Folk' of European folklore.

9. Old School Essentials 2026 Update (Necrotic Gnome)
1st appearance (and the 2nd for Necrotic Gnome).

The existing Old School Essentials is billed as a 'retro adventure game'. OSE boasts light rules based on the D&D rules of the 1970s and 80s, with clones of both the B/X D&D rules, and AD&D 1st Edition. This 2026 update is a new edition with update art and a completely OGL-free text. Publisher Necrotic Gnome is also known for Dolmenwood, which appeared on this chart last year.

8. Discworld: Adventures in Ankh-Morpork (Modiphius)
2nd appearance (and Modiphius' 5th appearance).

Appearing in the chart last year, Modiphius' take on Terry Pratchett's world made nearly $3M on Kickstarter. With all the satire, absurdity, and wonder of the Discworld novels, this game is set in the city of Ankh-Morpork.

7. The Black Company (Arc Dream Publishing)
1st appearance (2nd appearance for Arc Dream Publishing).

Currently in playtest, this is the second official Black Company TTRPG (the first coming from Green Ronin back in 2004). This time it's from Arc Dream Publishing, probably best known for Delta Green. Based on Glen Cook's gritty fantasy novel series of the 1980s, The Black Company featured morally grey characters with a military focus as it follows a mercenary unit through several decades of its history.

6. The Broken Empires (Evil Baby Entertainment)
1st appearance.

Described as a "Sim-Lite d100 skills-based TTRPG", The Broken Empires is a fantasy world which apparently draws on over 125 roleplaying games. "Sim-Lite" refers to games which prioritise fast and simple mechanics along with detailed 'simulation' aspects. The game boasts no stats, classes, or levels and combat which is both detailed and fast. The game made over half a million dollars on Kickstarter with a whole bunch of endorsements from prominent gaming influencers back in 2024, and is available for pre-order now.

5. Ars Magica Definitive Edition (Atlas Games)
1st appearance.

Ars Magica was created in 1987 and is famous for creating the concept of the 'verb-noun' magic system. Set in a mythical Europe, players take on the roles of wizards and their companions. Ars Magica was also the originator of troupe-style play, where players have more than one character and uses whichever character is appropriate to the game session. There have been 5 editions of Ars Magica, and this Definitive Edition is a deluxe, expanded version of 5th Edition (of Ars Magica, obviously).

4. Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 5th Edition (Cubicle 7)
1st appearance (Cubicle 7 also appeared at #2 in this list for WFRPG 4E in 2018).

In 2018, Cubicle 7 featured in this list for the 4th Edition of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. Now, in WFRP's 40th anniversary, it's back--with 5th Edition! Yes, lots of games have 5th Editions. Backwards compatible with refined rules and reworked combat flow, the iconic game is coming back in 2026. WFRP is known for its career system, in which characters advance by taking on sequential new careers, and its Old World fantasy setting.

3. Mistborn (Brotherwise Games)
1st appearance (or 2nd if you count it as included in last year's Cosmere TTRPG nomination).

Last year, Brotherwise Games broke every TTRPG record with its Kickstarter for Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere RPG--it made over $14M! That game is out in the wild now, but now they're following up with the Mistborn RPG. This was a stretch goal in the original campaign, so it won't be another multi-million dollar Kickstarter, but it is a separate game to the Cosmere RPG currently out there. There will be 3 hardcover books containing lore and rules, as well as an adventure called Mistborn Legacy.

2. Invincible Superhero Roleplaying (Free League)
1st appearance (and Free League's 13th appearance).

Where would this be without Free League's traditional Q4 Kickstarter? Invincible is based on the comic-book series and animated show by Robert Kirkman (the guy who brought us The Walking Dead--they did a game of that, too, which featured in this list in 2023). Invincible is a superhero story which features graphic violence, bright costumes, alien invasions, and more. This game will use Free League's Year Zero system.

1. Deathbringer (Roll For Combat/Dungeoncraft)
1st appearance for both the game and its creators.

The winner this year, with more than three times the second place's votes, is a game from Dan DeFazio, aka Professor DM, a well-known social media influencer in the tabletop gaming space. This looks like an old-school style game, at least from the logo. Expect rules-light, grimdark stuff. There's an earlier PDF version on DTRPG--a couple of pages of house rules to make D&D more dangerous--which is an Adamantine best-seller, the very top category in the store's sales rankings, and described as:

As seen on the DungeonCraft YouTube channel, Deathbringer RPG is a grimdark fantasy rules kit compatible with 5E and any OSR retroclone. This tri-fold rules set contains all you need for character creation, combat, & spellcasting. The unique Deathbringer Dice mechanic replaces traditional features, feats and skills with a fast, flexible alternative. Get ready for breakneck, bone-crunching, skull-smashing, action with DEATHBRINGER!

So, congratulations to Professor DM--the creator of the most anticipated TTRPG of 2026!

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Previous Winners Of The Annual EN World Most Anticipated Tabletop RPG Of The Year

 

[TrippyHippy]

It's a really sexy definitive edition they're producing for the game. Way too rich for my blood, given that there's little to no chance that I'd ever run it, but boy, is it great looking.

Aiming to introduce it to my group this year. For me, Ars Magica is a game I have participated in but never run before, so it’s definitely a ‘bucket list’ game for me. Worth noting it’s influence on both the design of D&D 3rd Edition (via Jonathon Tweet) and the World of Darkness games (via Mark Rein-Hagen).

The main features are:

• A very comprehensive and flexible magic system - including spontaneous magic - that allows wizards to develop their own style.
• Storytelling innovations, such as Troupe style play and collaboratively designed Covenants. You can have alternating ‘Storytellers’ (GMs). It is essentially a completely alternative way of playing fantasy to D&D, yet has the same level of structural diversity to run any story you want.
• A social set up with Wizards, Companions and Grogs (minor characters). This is Troupe style play, but it also creates a sense of community. It’s like building a medieval soap opera that feels almost Shakespearean.
• Wizardly Houses that function in the same way as Vampire’s Clans (for political intrigue), and effectively act as character classes. Also, the provision of mystery cults that characters can also join.
• One of the best developed RPG settings in existence based on a real 'Mythical’ European history (written by real Medieval scholars for the most part), split up into Tribunals for each region. A game set in the Highlands of Scotland will be completely different to that in the South of France, Transylvania or Mythic Arabia, etc. Take your pick, there are well over 50 supplements for the game.
• A relatively crunchy but fundamentally simple and highly elegant set of game of mechanics. Uses a single D10 for most tasks.

 

[dbm]

Ars Magica Definitive Edition was the nudge we needed to play it again - we’re currently about four sessions into a campaign and re-learning all the rules as we go.

It doesn’t change the rules as I understand it, more consolidate and re-present them, so we’ve being using our pre-existing 5e books but the Definitive Edition is available as a PDF to backers so we are starting to refer to that book, too.

Great fun!

 

[Aldarc]

Sad that Stonetop didn't place in the year that it will actually come out, but I'm happy that Twilight Sword did.

 

[Parmandur]

I never heard of Deathbringer before or Professor DM/Dungeon Craft. I've seen his videos come up in my feed but have been scared to watch as the titles seemed very click-baity. I watched my first today to see what Deathbringer is. From my understanding it is a self-contained RPG that is an iteration of Shadowdark which is an iteration of D&D.

He has interesting things to say, but he does push the clickbaiters buttons very hard, probably because YouTube rewards him for doing so. Occasionally can get a little "sky is falling down, get off my lawn you kids!"

This seems to be him deciding that just formalizomg his own personal houserules for D&D in a book makes sense in this day and age.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I have forgotten that one of my co-players mentioned a new Discworld RPG. I'd never run Discworld, I don't feel like I could do it justice, but he's interested in running apparently, so yeah, that works as most anticipated for me now.

 

[Morrus]

I have forgotten that one of my co-players mentioned a new Discworld RPG. I'd never run Discworld, I don't feel like I could do it justice, but he's interested in running apparently, so yeah, that works as most anticipated for me now.

The thing about Discworld is that the characters and NPCs all play it straight. It's the situations which are absurd, but the characters don't recognise that absurdity. So the published adventure(s) provide all that satire, humour, and surrealism--you just have to exist within that environment.

 

[Deaconhux]

Almost all of these are some form of traditional TTRPG fantasy. As someone who prefers other genres like space opera and pulp adventure, that's pretty disappointing.

 

[Parmandur]

Almost all of these are some form of traditional TTRPG fantasy. As someone who prefers other genres like space opera and pulp adventure, that's pretty disappointing.

While 9 out of 10 are fantasy, aside from Invincible, they cover a rather large genre range and have very different mechanics. Mistborn is not really a traditional Fantasy Setting, somewhat aggressively so, and Ars Magics is a very different sort of experience.

 

[Morrus]

Almost all of these are some form of traditional TTRPG fantasy. As someone who prefers other genres like space opera and pulp adventure, that's pretty disappointing.

Don’t be disappointed! Other peoples’ likes don’t invalidate your own!

 

[Atlatl Jones]

Ars Magica Definitive Edition was the nudge we needed to play it again - we’re currently about four sessions into a campaign and re-learning all the rules as we go.

It doesn’t change the rules as I understand it, more consolidate and re-present them, so we’ve being using our pre-existing 5e books but the Definitive Edition is available as a PDF to backers so we are starting to refer to that book, too.

Great fun!

Are Magica Definitive is the one top-ten game I voted for. It's historically one of my favourite games.

The fifth edition is more complex than my current preference. It's still very much an early-2000s trad game in nature. But the Definite Edition goes a long way toward explaining the rules and setting better, and consolidating and regularizing important rules that were previously spread across multiple books.